Emperor Yuanhe usurped the throne and killed the former crown prince who should have ascended the throne. Moreover, the former emperor ordered that Yu Nanqing's military power would never be taken back. How could he not resent this?
How can we let Yu Nanqing go?
Whether there is still any evidence for these things, he doesn't know and doesn't care.
Moreover, these are all matters of the Great Jin Dynasty, what does it have to do with him?
Since the internal turmoil in the capital of the Great Jin Dynasty, no one was happier than the envoys from the Southern Kingdom and the Northern Yue Kingdom.
Since the incident involving the eldest princess, Emperor Yuanhe's face has been dark whenever he appears in public. Because of the eldest princess's death, all festivals and celebrations in the city have been banned.
On Mid-Autumn Festival, the city would normally hold a lantern festival, but now it is desolate. On market days, there are even fewer people walking on the streets than usual.
At this time, another thing happened that gave Emperor Yuanhe a headache.
Fengxiang Palace was the palace where the Empress resided.
In the past, whenever he encountered something troublesome, Emperor Yuanhe would usually summon the eldest princess to the palace. He rarely went to the empress's palace, and he had little to talk about with the empress.
After the death of the eldest princess, Emperor Yuanhe visited Fengxiang Palace more often.
At first, he went to the palace of Consort Xian, but Consort Xian was spoiled and wanted to be pampered. Even on occasions like the death of the eldest princess, what she said was unpleasant to hear. Emperor Yuanhe was annoyed and went there less often.
Later, he went to see Consort Lin. He had grown up with her, and he felt that they must have some common topics to talk about.
However, Consort Lin was the Empress Dowager's niece, and every afternoon she would go to the Empress Dowager's palace to keep her company and relieve her boredom, which Emperor Yuanhe had agreed to from the beginning.
Therefore, whenever Emperor Yuanhe visited Consort Lin, he would not stay long. She would leave after less than half an hour of conversation, which Emperor Yuanhe found boring, so he eventually came to Fengxiang Palace.
At this moment, the Empress both longed for his arrival and did not want him to come.
She had been husband and wife with Emperor Yuanhe, and seeing his worried face, she was concerned, but when she thought that all of this was because of the Princess, she couldn't be happy.
To be honest, the Empress had long disliked the Princess. Not only was she arrogant and rude, but her power was second only to Emperor Yuanhe. Even the Empress had to give her some respect.
If anything happened, even if Emperor Yuanhe listened to the eldest princess, he would not listen to a single word from the empress.
She couldn't voice her dissatisfaction, nor could she show it on her face. In front of the eldest princess, she was practically dispensable as empress.
But now, with death being the greatest event, she could no longer show any dissatisfaction in front of Emperor Yuanhe.
Most importantly, she doesn't know what Emperor Yuanhe is thinking. The princess's body has been in an ice coffin for over a month, but he has yet to order its burial.
The Empress wanted to offer advice, but didn't know where to begin.
If this continues, not only the court officials but also the common people will have complaints.
"This eel soup tastes delicious to me, Your Majesty. Please try it."
Empress Xia Yunshang, with a perfectly timed smile, ladled a spoonful of eel soup for Emperor Yuanhe.
Emperor Yuanhe took a bite as she suggested and nodded, "Hmm, not bad."
Judging from his expression alone, Xia Yunshang couldn't tell whether he was in a good mood or not.
The words that had been brewing in his throat for so long ultimately remained unspoken.
She certainly appeared to be a glamorous empress, but in reality, Emperor Yuanhe did not value the Xia family much, especially after the Xia family handed over their military power. Emperor Yuanhe's attitude towards her remained lukewarm.
After this conversation, the hall fell silent.
Emperor Yuanhe took a deep breath and realized that there seemed to be an insurmountable gap between Consort Xian, Consort Lin, and the Empress.
They didn't understand what was happening in the imperial court, and he didn't want to hear about the affairs of their harem.
In the midst of this awkward silence, Eunuch Liu bowed and stepped in from outside, cautiously calling out, "Your Majesty."
He seemed to be holding something in his hand.
"What is it?" Emperor Yuanhe responded almost instantly, as if he had been saved.
Eunuch Liu glanced at the Empress, and seeing that Emperor Yuanhe had no intention of leaving, he lowered his eyes and reported, "Just now someone came to report that a large number of people have gathered outside the palace gates, all of them... all of them have come to plead for Prince Gong."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Yuanhe, who was already unhappy, immediately darkened his face.
The atmosphere instantly plummeted to freezing point.
The Empress pursed her lips and cautiously called out, "Your Majesty..."
However, before he could even utter the words, Emperor Yuanhe suddenly slammed his chopsticks heavily on the table with a loud "bang": "A bunch of unruly commoners!"
Eunuch Liu trembled and knelt down with a thud: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
Xia Yunshang had no choice but to stand up and kneel down: "Your Majesty, please calm your anger."
"Prince Gong... injured the envoy from Donghai and plotted to murder the Eldest Princess. Now the evidence is irrefutable, yet they still have the nerve to plead for Yu Nanqing!" Emperor Yuanhe looked at Liu Rencai: "Who instigated this! How many people in the court have already turned against Yu Nanqing!"
The tone was almost certain.
The first thing that came to his mind was the Chang and Shun families, who had been frequently interacting with Prince Gong's Mansion in recent days.
But after the incident, he sent people to investigate, and they found that it was all about Dai Zhiwan, Xu Yixuan and Su Wanyan's private affairs. They found nothing else. And now, Su Wanyan has also disappeared. Even if he has suspicions, he can't just arrest people out of thin air.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. The matter concerning the Eldest Princess has not yet been investigated. If we rashly convict her, we will only lose the support of the people," the Empress advised, frowning.
The eldest princess, the eldest princess—she gets annoyed whenever she hears about the eldest princess.
During her lifetime, the emperor bestowed upon her unparalleled glory and favor; even in death, he would not allow the Great Jin Dynasty to live in peace.
She wasn't on Yu Nanqing's side, but she was particularly dissatisfied to see Yu Nanyi so disoriented because of Yu Tingyi.
She boldly spoke up: "If Prince Gong really wanted to harm Her Highness the Eldest Princess, why would he leave such obvious evidence? That letter was presented by Donghai, which is clearly a frame-up, Your Majesty. I urge Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly."
Emperor Yuanhe frowned, deeply disgusted by the Empress's words, which was why he was unwilling to come to the inner palace.
Only Yu Tingyi and her siblings always made the same decisions!
However, despite his aversion, he was actually well aware of the truth.
Because they knew the truth, Yu Nanqing did not treat him as a criminal, and Su Wanyan only ordered a search, not an arrest!
"Your Majesty," Eunuch Liu said tremblingly, "those commoners who came to the palace gate to plead for Prince Gong are all... are all people whom Princess Gong's wife once helped. The person who came to report said that they signed a petition with a thousand signatures, imploring Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the case of the disappearance of Prince Gong's residence and to strictly investigate the envoy from the East China Sea."
As he spoke, he presented what he was holding.
Emperor Yuanhe gritted his teeth, not wanting to read it, but having no choice but to accept it.
However, before it could be opened, a soldier suddenly rushed into Fengxiang Palace.
He ran while shouting, "Battle report! Urgent battle report! Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened!"
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