Chapter 173 After the Wrath of Thunder...
"Consort Xian and Consort Shun have been found guilty of allowing their trusted confidantes to secretly communicate with those outside the palace, thus facilitating collusion between the inside and outside. Their titles are hereby revoked, and they are to be confined to their quarters for three months..."
"The Empress failed in her duty, and the power of the Empress has been transferred to the Empress Dowager, which is a great relief..."
The imperial edict delivered by Eunuch Fu Man seemed casual, without even a reduction in rank. However, the sky seemed to have fallen for the several concubines who went to the palace gate to receive the edict.
Compared to demotion and salary reduction, stripping someone of their title is a blatant humiliation.
In the imperial harem, where appearances were of utmost importance, this was like a blatant slap in the face, burning with shame. Even if the emperor didn't punish them by confining them to their quarters, they wouldn't have the face to go out and see anyone for months.
Even if they can go out in the future... the rank of imperial concubine already allows them to meet with noblewomen from both inside and outside the court at the New Year's banquet. As long as people see them, and as long as this matter isn't over, they will speculate in their hearts:
'What grave offense did they commit? What secrets did they leak within the palace that warranted the stripping of their titles?'
Just thinking about the days to come makes my vision go black!
Consort Shun's face turned pale, and she swayed as if she were about to faint. She could only barely accept the imperial decree: "Your Majesty... I accept the decree."
She had won the Emperor's favor because of her obedient nature. Later, she adopted the seventh prince and was thus granted the title of concubine. Lacking confidence, she lived a cautious life, never daring to make any big mistakes, let alone be arrogant or proud.
This year, His Majesty suddenly paid more attention to her palace and began to scrutinize the Seventh Prince, whom he had always favored, with a colder gaze. Only then did Consort Shun realize that her adopted son, though young, had already developed feelings for her.
Enraged, she gave her family a severe dressing-down and sternly reprimanded her adopted son—it's fine to have ambitions, but where did you learn such underhanded methods? Why are you so eager to seize power at such a young age? Most importantly, even if you've done something, you shouldn't have revealed it to your father!
Wouldn't that mean she and her entire clan would hang themselves together?
Only after a good scolding was the trend of stirring up trouble finally stopped.
But that incident left a shadow in Consort Shun's heart, causing her to worry from time to time and send people to keep a close eye on her adopted son, fearing that the same thing might happen again. After several months of silence, Consort Shun thought that the matter was over.
result……
Although Consort Shun was suddenly struck by lightning and humiliated in a state of blankness, her first thought upon regaining her senses was:
Could it be that the Seventh Prince secretly used his men to do something outside and was discovered again?
To find out if something was true or not, usually waiting for news would have been enough. But this time, the imperial edict reprimanded them for spreading rumors inside and outside the palace. After Emperor Hongren's reprimand, the harem was as secure as an iron barrel, and no matter how many doubts Consort Shun had, she could not find any answers.
Even if she wanted to ask the Seventh Prince, she was confined to her quarters and unable to see him. This time, His Majesty made a special exception, ordering the princes to simply pay their respects to their mother at the sealed palace gates morning and evening, without needing to meet her in person.
...The other person involved in the stripping of her title, Consort Xian, was even more wronged.
As a pitiful woman whose children all died young, she had always lived a quiet and unassuming life, but now she has lost even her last shred of dignity and has nowhere to seek justice.
However, her trusted maid, who had been by her side since childhood, was arrested and taken to the Ministry of Punishments, and there has been no news of her since, and it is unknown whether she will ever return.
After much deliberation, Consort Xian gritted her teeth and reluctantly ordered her servants to storm out of the palace gates, hoping to plead for an explanation.
"Your Majesty... if we go, we will anger His Majesty!" The head eunuch was caught in a dilemma, unable to decide whether to stop her or not. He choked back tears and sobs, but still managed to protect his mistress as they passed the eunuchs guarding the door and ran all the way.
Getting involved in such a major court affair, where the true charges are still unclear, is enough to make their scalps tingle. How could they possibly provoke His Majesty's wrath any further?!
Consort Xian was disheveled, her hair in disarray, yet she still frantically lifted her skirt, disregarding her image, and headed straight for the Ziqing Palace before the Emperor, where she knelt and begged for forgiveness.
“I know that… but don’t you know Xiangzhu’s personality? We rarely send letters out of the palace, and this time she went to pick up flowers. How could she possibly be responsible for something so serious?” Consort Xian spoke hurriedly, panting a few times. “We must have gotten ourselves into some kind of trouble…”
"If His Majesty blames me afterward, I will take full responsibility. But if what Xiangzhu did was not a serious matter... I cannot abandon her. How could I possibly live in the palace after that!"
"Your Majesty..." Upon hearing this, the palace maids and eunuchs who had escorted Consort Xian out all showed expressions of wanting to cry but were unable to hold back their tears, and were all deeply moved.
Consort Xian was clear-headed.
Or rather, after losing her children, she felt she couldn't gain much of the Emperor's favor in the harem. She usually lived in her own little world behind closed palace gates. If she didn't have her usual confidants, who could she rely on?
His Majesty can punish her if he wants; now that she's even been stripped of her title, considering her wealthy family background, he can't be so cruel as to take her life.
After much deliberation, the virtuous concubine knelt before the Ziqing Palace to plead guilty.
At least, this opportunity will allow her to figure out what exactly happened...
Inside the Empress's palace.
In comparison, the Empress was the most well-informed. After finding out what punishments the other palaces had received, she slumped onto the couch with a wry smile. Seeing the Sixth Prince, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, almost beaming with joy, she breathed a sigh of relief and said to her, "Mother! Thank goodness... Father still cares about your reputation."
"It's out of consideration for your feelings." The Empress shook her head, not wanting to say that her son shouldn't have come to visit at this time.
His Majesty seemed to treat her lightly, merely stripping her of her palace power, without openly reprimanding her like the two concubines... The Empress was no longer concerned about the distant prospect of regaining her palace power; my son's thinking was still one step too shallow:
Given His Majesty's temperament, this is clearly a covert operation, waiting patiently for a decisive strike.
Your Majesty, you still haven't cleared your mind about the matter of Consort Ye in the Cold Palace!
"I'm afraid Mi Mao won't be coming back." The Empress clutched her chest and sighed softly, feeling a pang of heartache.
She and Consort Shun and Consort Xian's confidants were all taken away and punished by His Majesty's men. She dared not risk everything to protect them like Consort Xian did. Most importantly... she was not entirely innocent, and she would eventually be punished for her role in this matter.
"But..." A shadow still lingered in the Empress's heart, "Is this truly the end of it?"
The sixth prince's heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "What does Mother mean by this?"
"On the surface, it's said to be a collaboration between insiders and outsiders, but who doesn't know that this is to vent your anger over your second brother's murder? Is it really going to end so easily?" The Empress's unease stemmed from the fact that Emperor Hongren was not the kind of coward who only dared to use other reasons to punish people.
He has now encountered the heinous crime of his own son being murdered, yet the punishment is so lenient, and on some other pretext. There must be a reason behind this...
Unable to find the reason, the Empress remained deeply troubled and her heart pounded with anxiety.
"Keep a close eye on the situation during this time." The Empress was extremely flustered, but she managed to calm herself down and firmly grasped the Sixth Prince's hand, instructing him, "But whatever you do, don't get involved, don't get even a little bit involved."
"Your subject understands." The sixth prince had never encountered such a major event before. Feeling completely lost, he pursed his lips and reluctantly left.
...
The Empress, as expected of the wife who had been with Emperor Hongren since childhood, proved her suspicions correct in subsequent events.
The imperial harem was thoroughly purged by Emperor Hongren. Numerous palace maids and eunuchs, both high and low, were arrested and sent to the Censorate. Some were released, while others never returned. The empresses' spies and informants suffered heavy losses this time.
In the previous dynasty, Emperor Hongren's spies, after enduring many days of silence, finally gathered a thick stack of evidence during a period of complacency and had it detonated in court by an imperial official. Consort Xue's (formerly Consort Xian) family members were unable to refute the accusations and were punished severely, with most of their relatives who had been sent to serve as officials in remote areas being demoted.
Only Xue Dashi, the pillar of the Xue family, fearfully submitted a letter requesting to resign, but Emperor Hongren refused and forced him to remain in his position.
On the other hand, the crimes committed by the Liu family, the maternal relatives of Consort Yuan Shun, were even more shocking. The first of the three major crimes, "murdering a prince," was enough to imprison the entire clan and implicate a large number of people.
The ownership of the Seventh Prince was also moved out of the palace of his adoptive mother, Consort Liu, and obediently returned to the princes.
For a time, both the imperial court and the harem were silent, and the atmosphere was completely renewed.
Upon hearing this news, Consort Liu (formerly Consort Shun) fainted on the spot.
The young seventh prince was struck dumb upon hearing this, sitting there in a daze for a long time, unable to recover.
How could my father be so heartless...
He was the youngest, and currently could only rely on his adoptive mother's uncles and some members of the Liu family. But after this sudden turn of events, he had no maternal relatives left!
He will have no maternal clan anymore!
Is the only hope that we can have wives in the future, who knows when?
The people who did it were all indirectly connected to Consort Xian. He had planned it all out, so why was Father Emperor still able to find out? Why isn't the crime of plotting against the prince on Consort Xian?
The seventh prince didn't understand, but he felt a growing fear of his powerful father.
...
In the days following the execution of the entire Liu family, the stench of blood lingered outside the palace gates for a long time.
For some time now, the capital had been gripped by an atmosphere of unease and fear. No household dared to hold a banquet, let alone utter a sound of music or laughter. Even officials lacking political acumen dared not breathe, acutely aware that the struggle for the throne among the princes had escalated to a new level of intensity.
No wonder His Majesty was furious this time; plotting against the imperial heir is truly his bottom line.
Qi Chengming received several thick letters from the capital while on the ship. When he finally understood the whole story, he was still a little dazed.
"The matter has been investigated... So, it was the Seventh Prince who murdered me?"
The Empress, Consort Xian, and Consort Shun were all implicated in this punishment decree.
Whether they are all innocent remains to be seen. After all, besides Qi Chengming's recent entrapment, he had previously been inexplicably poisoned, and there were also inexplicable impeachments against him in the court. It's unclear who was behind all those things.
Let's just talk about this attack on Tanzhou and the incident on the ship...
After Qi Chengming made a big fuss about the matter, the capital will definitely have to give him an explanation.
Logically speaking, judging by the emperor's mindset—the empress has a legitimate son, Consort Shun has the promising seventh prince, and the people who acted on Qi Chengming's side were indeed connected to Consort Xian's family. Regardless of who the culprit was, the one who would ultimately be convicted and suffer the consequences could only be Consort Xian.
Emperor Hongren did not make the judgment based on the most favorable scenario.
From the perspective of those related to Consort Xian's family taking action, their downfall and demotion were already a great act of mercy from the Emperor. Conversely, Consort Shun's family was ruthlessly sentenced to execution. Although the Seventh Prince was removed from the picture and exonerated, can he truly be exonerated?
Anyone with eyes can see what the Liu family relied on to dare to take action.
"This...is this Emperor Hongren giving me an explanation?" Qi Chengming sat alone in the room, thinking hard but still unable to come to his senses.
The current emperor, that Hongren Emperor, didn't use any tricks or schemes at all. He just honestly and straightforwardly found out the real culprit and avenged him.
Is he crazy?
Regardless of the future struggle for the throne among the princes? Don't they consider that Qi Chengming, the second prince, is no longer favored? Don't they plan to elevate the talented seventh prince to compete with Qi Chengming in the future?
Qi Chengming couldn't understand it.
He wanted to give his opponent a hard time before returning to the capital and try to eliminate one of his rivals... But he didn't expect that the original male lead, the Seventh Prince, whom he was most wary of, would be so severely punished by Emperor Hongren.
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Author's Note: In the middle of the night, Qi Chengming would suddenly wake up and sit up, puzzled: "...Why is that??"
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