The maid who testified was a second-class maid in Concubine Jing's palace. She was in a trance due to excessive worry about her mother's illness. When she was helping Concubine Jing to wash her face, she accidentally spilled water on her.
Concubine Jing immediately slapped her twenty times and made her kneel for a day. She was filled with resentment and went to report to Concubine Yi.
Everything was well-reasoned and the evidence was conclusive. Ning Yuxi took charge of the affairs of the six palaces. According to the palace rules, Concubine Jing was beaten with a stick thirty times and imprisoned. The emperor would make his decision after he woke up.
Fengluan Palace.
The once magnificent and luxurious palace was now lifeless, with mottled walls in the courtyard, old furnishings in the house, and it was empty without a trace of life.
The Queen, who had always looked haggard, showed a rare hint of joy. "The heavens are helping me, making that bitch Ning Yuxi's son seriously ill. Now, if I can bring down Concubine Jing and her son, the world will belong to my son. Then I will be the Queen Mother, the most noble woman in the world."
When she had not lost her power, Concubine Jing depended on her. She had known for a long time that Concubine Jing practiced witchcraft. Concubine Jing hated Ning Yuxi and used witchcraft to curse her, which was discovered by her accidentally.
But Concubine Jing was still useful at that time, so she kept the matter under wraps.
This time, Concubine Jing was exposed for practicing witchcraft, which led to the Third Prince falling ill. It was her instigation. She had been imprisoned here for so many years, so she had to do something.
Of course, Concubine Jing did not curse the third prince, but she did curse Ning Yuxi. No matter who she cursed, she could not escape the charge of practicing witchcraft.
She brought down Concubine Jing, and her father brought down Concubine Jing's father, so the Fourth Prince would no longer be a threat.
Sure enough, not long after, it was revealed in the court that the Minister of Revenue Zhou Zhongqin had embezzled more than 100,000 taels of silver, and he was also found to have formed a clique for personal gain and accepted bribes.
Fu Ge Lao, who was ordered to supervise the country, was surprised when he found out that the truth was true. Zhou Zhongqin was the first person in history to blatantly embezzle the national treasury. How could he be so stupid?
Although he was surprised, the evidence was conclusive and Zhou Zhongqin had no words to refute. Lord Fu dismissed Zhou Zhongqin from his post and detained him according to the law, awaiting the emperor's decision.
When the imprisoned Concubine Jing heard the news, she didn't care about her injuries from the caning which had not yet healed, and tried to get up immediately. However, the burning wound on her buttocks made her fall to the ground with a thud.
The personal maid Yun He hurried forward to support him and said worriedly, "Master, you are still injured. You must not move."
Concubine Jing refused to listen and struggled to get up. "No, my father is innocent. As the Minister of Revenue, how could he openly embezzle the national treasury? Someone must have framed him!"
Yunhe was a maid who came with the dowry, so she knew something.
To achieve great things, money and power are naturally indispensable, but the Zhou family has only just risen in recent years and has limited financial resources, so naturally they have to find ways to make some money.
Those officials who wanted to curry favor with her gave her a lot of gifts privately, but it was not enough. She was a daughter of the Zhou family, and her father was a steward close to the master.
She had heard her father mention this when she went home to visit her family. Half a year ago, her master heard that merchants returning from the sea could make a lot of money, so he used the money bribed by officials to buy a boat and go out to sea with them.
But after the Empress got into trouble, many officials who had been currying favor with the Master switched to the Second Prince's side and reported him for accepting bribes.
If officials accept bribes, it is considered forming a clique for personal gain. Naturally, the master dare not take this responsibility. He just says that the money was borrowed and he needs to return it.
But all the money was used to build ships for the voyage, so how could there be money to repay? Shangshu Zhou had no choice but to embezzle money from the national treasury in the name of official business to repay the debt, and then pay the debt back when the ship returned in two months.
But high returns are often accompanied by various risks. Unfortunately, the Zhou family’s ship encountered a tsunami. No one on board survived, and the ship and cargo were also lost.
Thinking of this, Yun He felt despair. She was afraid that the Zhou family was going to go bankrupt. As they were all slaves of the Zhou family, they would also suffer the same fate.
Seeing her master's stubbornness, Yun He burst into tears, "Master, it's useless."
Concubine Jing turned to look at Yun He, and seeing her expression, she hurriedly asked, "What do you know?"
Yunhe told Concubine Jing what her father had said to her. Upon hearing this, Concubine Jing struggled to get halfway up and then fell heavily to the ground, her eyes full of despair.
…
Prince Shen's Mansion.
Chenghui was hugging his princess Chu Jingyao and rubbing her ears.
Chu Jingyao was shy and said, "Your Highness, it's still broad daylight, what are you doing?"
Cheng Hui said with a bright smile: "This prince and his princess are in love, so what's wrong with that?"
He was happy in his heart. Now that the Fourth Prince had fallen, all his obstacles had been cleared, and ascending to that position was just around the corner. How could he not be happy?
Cheng Hui was touching the person in his arms all over, while he took Chu Jingyao's earlobe in his mouth and rubbed it in her ear, saying, "It's all thanks to the person who told Minister Zhou about the voyage. Otherwise, he wouldn't have fallen into the trap."
Chu Jingyao moaned softly, "Your Highness has many talented people under him. It's not long before he takes that position. Jingyao congratulates Your Highness first."
Cheng Hui held her lips and said vaguely: "Your little mouth is so sweet, thanks to your father-in-law's good plan... Come, let me taste whether your other parts are as sweet..."
"Your Highness~"
…
Without the restraint of the Fourth Prince, Chenghui and Marquis Wu'an became more and more arrogant.
There were more and more memorials requesting the appointment of a crown prince, and memorials directly requesting the appointment of Prince Shen as the crown prince also popped up like mushrooms after rain.
After all, the third prince is seriously ill and the fourth prince has fallen. Those wavering officials have taken sides one after another, and Prince Shen has become famous for a while.
But Lord Fu, the head of the civil officials, and Duke Yu, the head of the military generals, remained unmoved.
The Duke of Yu is the in-laws of the emperor's elder sister, so he naturally sides with the emperor. The granddaughter of Lord Fu is engaged to the third prince, but now the third prince is seriously ill and is about to die, so Chenghui has set his sights on him.
As long as he can get the support of Lord Fu again, what can a mere Duke of Yu do? Although he holds military power, he is old and may die one day.
The prince of the Duke of Yu is sickly and weak, and although his grandson is outstanding, he is still young after all. The Duke of Yu's Mansion has no successor, so how can they do anything about him?
It’s a pity that Chenghui went to the house several times in person, but returned empty-handed.
Cheng Hui was so angry that he smashed several sets of teacups. Wang Qiren calmed him down and said, "Your Highness, calm down. Don't let your anger get to your health."
Cheng Hui's chest heaved violently. "Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang three times to ask him to come out of retirement. I have also visited him three times now, but who the hell is Fu Yun? He's even more arrogant than Zhuge Liang!"
"Don't be angry, Your Majesty. If you really want to subdue Elder Fu, there are ways."
Cheng Hui raised his eyes to look at him, "What's the solution?"
Wang Qiren said, "Mr. Fu loves his granddaughter the most. As long as you can get Miss Fu, are you afraid that Mr. Fu won't listen to you?"
Cheng Hui frowned, "But this prince already has a wife."
Wang Qiren: "Who says she has to be the principal wife? Your Majesty, you will take that position in the future. Even if I am a concubine, I still have a rank. It is not unfair to Miss Fu."
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