In the bedroom of Changle Palace, Concubine Liu was lying on the couch with a slightly frown on her face and her eyes closed to rest. It was a rainy night last night, and the scars on her body began to itch again, so she didn't sleep well all night.
She was already in a bad mood, and when she heard Yu Cong yelling, her brows furrowed even deeper. She stood up impatiently and yelled, "What are you yelling about? Get out of here!"
Yu Cong shuddered with fear, but at this moment she could no longer care about being afraid. She said anxiously, "My queen, it's bad! The general has been taken to prison by the emperor!"
Concubine Liu was so shocked that she stood up suddenly and grabbed Yu Cong's arm tightly with both hands: "What did you say? What happened to father? Why did the emperor put father in prison?"
Yu Cong ignored the excruciating pain in his arm and anxiously said, "It's about the general's illegal iron ore mining. Today, Deputy Captain Ning captured the general's subordinate who was responsible for mining the iron ore and brought him to the Golden Palace. The emperor interrogated him and he confessed everything."
Concubine Liu was also panicked when she heard this. She tried her best to calm herself down: "It's just mining iron ore. The emperor once rewarded my father with a vein of ore. It will be fine."
"Your Majesty, this time is different. The mineral veins the Emperor previously awarded were not even one-tenth the size of this one. Moreover, the general mined them privately. Mining mineral veins privately is a capital crime."
Concubine Liu was startled by Yu Cong's words. She slapped him and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? How dare you curse my father?"
Yu Cong fell to the ground after being slapped, and tears flowed unconsciously.
Concubine Liu ignored her and murmured absentmindedly, "The Emperor has always valued my father. It's okay, it will definitely be okay. Where's the Emperor? I want to see him."
As she spoke, she didn't bother to tidy up her appearance and was about to go out in a panic. Yu Cong quickly stood up and stopped her: "Your Majesty, the Emperor has forbidden you to leave. You can't go out now."
Concubine Liu pushed Yu Cong away and said, "Get out of here! Don't stop me!"
Concubine Liu shook off Yucong and ran out. The emperor ordered her to be confined to her house but did not send anyone to guard the door. She ran out directly and rushed all the way to Qingzheng Hall.
Song Qu saw Concubine Liu hurriedly walking towards them from a distance. He hurried forward to stop her and said, "My Lady Concubine, the Emperor has ordered that no one should be seen. You should go back."
Concubine Liu gave Song Qu some face. She stopped and said patiently, "Eunuch Song, I want to go see the emperor. Please don't stop me."
Song Qu looked helpless: "Aiyou Madam, it's not that I want to stop you, it's the Emperor who ordered you not to see anyone."
She no longer entangled with Song Qu, looked at the closed palace door and said loudly: "Your Majesty, my father is innocent. There must be a villain who framed my father. Please investigate, Your Majesty."
She screamed until her voice was hoarse, but the tightly closed door showed no sign of opening.
…
At dinner time, Luoying came in from the doorway carrying food. She looked at Ning Yuxi who was sitting on the couch working on her needlework and said, "Master, Chunxing came to deliver the food just now.
She told me that General Liu was imprisoned this morning for illegally mining iron ore. When Concubine Liu found out, she went to the Qingzheng Palace to plead for mercy, but the Emperor refused to see her. She knelt until the afternoon and then fainted.
Ning Yuxi raised her head. The illegal mining of iron ore had finally been exposed. She asked, "Do you know who exposed General Liu's illegal mining of iron ore?"
Luoying: "It seems to be Prime Minister Bai."
Ning Yuxi nodded. Prime Minister Bai was also an old man from the time of the previous emperor. He was upright and loyal to the emperor, but he had many disagreements with General Liu and they had been resentful of each other for a long time. He must be hoping that General Liu would be in trouble.
A few days later, the emperor's people found out that General Liu not only mined minerals privately, but also used these minerals to privately cast weapons!
For a moment, the whole court was shocked!
What was he trying to do by privately casting weapons? He didn't believe it was for the country. The country had war supplies and weapons, and all expenses were paid by the country. He could only cast weapons privately for himself!
All the ministers submitted petitions, demanding that this ambitious man be executed immediately. He usually relied on the emperor's favor to act arrogantly. No matter who he met, he looked down on them, and he looked down on those civil officials from the bottom of his heart.
How could those civil officials who had been despised and humiliated by him let him go so easily?
Concubine Liu fainted several times outside the palace, did not eat or drink for several days, and is now in a coma, but the emperor still did not go to see her.
In this tense atmosphere, the emperor heard another shocking event.
Prime Minister Bai reported to the emperor separately, saying that he had found out that General Liu had traded the city of Xianzhou for 3,000 fine Wuhuan horses during the battle with the Wuhuan people at the beginning of the year.
In other words, he deliberately lost the defense map of Xianzhou and actually gave it secretly to the Wuhuan people. He pretended to be defeated and let Xianzhou fall in exchange for the Wuhuan's fine horses.
After this incident, the emperor lost the last bit of mercy he had for General Liu. He was privately casting weapons and hoarding good horses. Wasn't this a sign of rebellion?
What's more, the transaction made with the enemy country at the cost of the territory of a city in Dajin was simply appalling and something he could not tolerate!
The emperor immediately sent the Imperial Guard to investigate the matter. After confirming that it was true, he was determined to kill the person, but he did not take action immediately.
He was waiting, waiting for the most appropriate time.
…
October 19th is the Queen Mother's birthday. This year marks her fiftieth birthday. She recently defeated the Wuhuan and Western Chu in succession, and the Emperor ordered a grand celebration for her.
All the royal family members and nobles in the court came to the palace to celebrate the empress dowager's birthday, except for the Duke of Yu who was unable to come due to a sudden old illness.
Except for Concubine Liu who was recuperating in bed, and Ning Yuxi who was under house arrest waiting to give birth, all the other concubines in the harem arrived at the Cining Palace early to celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday.
The palace was suddenly bustling with activity, forming a sharp contrast to the silence here at Ning Yuxi's place.
In Shuqing Palace, Ning Yuxi's pregnancy has been more than eight and a half months. She is pregnant with twins and the due date is in the next few days. The queen has always been cautious and she had prepared two midwives waiting in Shuqing Palace a few days ago.
This time, Ning's mother was not there to accompany her. In the entire Shuqing Palace, apart from her, there were only Ruyi, Luoying and the two midwives. She recalled how lively it was when she gave birth to Cheng Zhao last year.
But Ning Yuxi didn't have time to think about these things now. She felt vaguely uneasy today. The emperor hadn't made a decision on General Liu's matter for such a long time. This was a bit unlike the emperor's decisive character.
Not long after she had lunch, she was digesting her food in the yard. Ruyi and Luoying were supporting her when she suddenly heard some noise coming from outside the door.
Her ears have always been sensitive, and she had already heard it vaguely before Ruyi and Luoying noticed it.
She couldn't help but go to the palace gate that was locked from the outside and look outside through the crack in the door.
Ruyi and Luoying were puzzled: "Master, what's wrong?"
Ning Yuxi said, "Listen carefully."
The two of them listened intently for a while. The noise was getting closer and closer, and they both heard it.
"What's that sound?" Luoying asked in confusion.
Ruyi spoke tentatively, "Today is the Empress Dowager's birthday. I'm sure the palace has invited a troupe of opera singers or something, but... the sound doesn't sound like opera."
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