Emperor Xuande's rhetorical question made Princess Yongjia break out in a cold sweat.
When the emperor selects generals, he naturally looks at their talents and achievements.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I misspoke. What I meant was, how could someone of such unknown origin lead such a large army?"
"And just based on the fact that he committed the crime of deceiving the emperor, he should be punished."
Emperor Xuande snorted, "Deceiving the emperor? Back then, you were the one who solemnly told me Yunzhou's life story, and I even granted the Li family a great honor because of it. If you want to talk about deceiving the emperor, weren't you the one who deceived the emperor first?"
Without waiting for Princess Yongjia to speak, Emperor Xuande continued, "Li Yunzhou did not deceive the emperor. Last night, he came to the palace and told me the truth. He also took the initiative to ask me to revoke his title of Prince of Ning and the military power of the northern border."
Princess Yongjia was shocked. Did Li Yunzhou enter the palace yesterday? Oh, right, Chen Ping said Li Yunzhou had been staying at the Shen family home and only returned home that night. Now it seemed they had quietly entered the palace to look for the emperor.
She was too impatient and careless, but it didn't matter, she still had a trick up her sleeve.
After her mind raced, Princess Yongjia knelt on the ground and burst into tears again.
"I beg my royal brother to help me. Li Yunzhou has been disrespectful to me ever since he returned to the capital after his meritorious service."
"He relies on the emperor's favor and doesn't take me, his legal mother, seriously at all."
"Originally, considering that he is Sister Yongning's biological son, I was planning to treat him well. But since he is not Sister Yongning's son, I can no longer tolerate it."
"No matter what, can you let him leave the Li family first?"
Princess Yongjia's tearful accusation made many people present look at Li Yunzhou. Now it seemed that this mother and son were not as loving and filial as the outside world said.
Emperor Xuande looked at Princess Yongjia's crying with disgust.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to reprimand her, he heard Li Yunzhou say, "Since my mother has brought this matter to the Qianyang Palace, I should also give an explanation to the emperor and all the civil and military officials in the court."
"Your Majesty, I would like to summon a few people to the palace. Everyone should know the reasons behind what happened back then."
Emperor Xuande nodded and said, "Do as Prince Ning says."
Afterwards, the Dragon Guards followed Li Yunzhou's instructions and went out of the palace to look for someone.
Princess Yongjia didn't know what he was up to, but it was impossible for him to find Liu Fangcheng.
For Princess Yongjia, there are two things related to Li Yunzhou that cannot be known to others: one is her entanglement with Li Jingchuan and Yongning, and the other is her actions towards Li Yunzhou over the years.
Not many people knew about what happened back then, and with Liu Fangcheng dead, even fewer knew about it. As for her beating and scolding Li Yunzhou, some servants in the Li family did know about it, but they were all her confidants, and they wouldn't, and wouldn't, dare betray her.
Thinking of this, Princess Yongjia calmed down. Even if she couldn't punish Li Yunzhou, at least she could expel him from the Li family.
Emperor Xuande glanced at Princess Yongjia, who was kneeling on the ground, and said, "Get up, and step aside and wait."
It wasn't that he felt sorry for her kneeling, but she was kneeling right in front of him, and he felt annoyed just looking at her.
Princess Yongjia felt inexplicably relieved, as her brother still cared about her.
She stood up and stood aside, glancing at Li Yunzhou.
Li Yunzhou stood with his hands hanging down, staring at the white marble bricks, not knowing what he was thinking.
In order to avoid wasting time, Emperor Xuande and his court officials started talking about state affairs again.
It was not until a quarter of an hour later that the Dragon Guards returned with their men.
"Your Majesty, we have brought all the people that Prince Ning mentioned."
The name "Your Highness Prince Ning" made Princess Yongjia's teeth itch with hatred. Who the hell was he, worthy of being called "Your Highness"?
Today she must strip him of his royal skin.
When Li Yunzhou heard that everyone had been brought here, he said, "Your Majesty, please summon Mr. Liu Fangcheng in first."
Princess Yongjia's expression froze when she heard this. Wasn't Liu Fangcheng dead?
But she didn't have time to think about it at this moment, because Liu Fangcheng had already entered the palace while she was stunned.
"I, Liu Fangcheng, pay my respects to His Majesty." Liu Fangcheng bowed respectfully.
Emperor Xuande still had an impression of Liu Fangcheng, as Yongning had learned painting from his father a lot at that time.
"Stand up and talk." Thinking of his sister, Emperor Xuande's voice unconsciously slowed down a bit.
Li Yunzhou said to Liu Fangcheng, "Sir, why don't you tell me what happened between Princess Yongning and Prince Shan? That will help to clarify the facts and prevent her from being misunderstood."
Everyone looked puzzled. Is there any need to explain this?
Isn't it that Princess Yongning was in love with Prince Shan, and after Prince Shan married Princess Yongjia, she was so sad that she went to live alone in another courtyard.
Later, on a moonlit night, the two of them got together by chance, otherwise Prince Shan would not have mistaken Li Yunzhou as his son.
Others thought so, but Princess Yongjia's hands unconsciously clenched under her sleeves.
Liu Fangcheng began to talk about the little-known incident of that year, his tone gentle and fluent.
"Yongning had received favors from the old princess of the Shanjun Palace, so when Li Jingchuan left the city for the border town, he sent someone to deliver a few boxes of snacks and also wrote a letter."
"But the letter was unsigned, and its content simply encouraged him to achieve great success on the battlefield."
As soon as Liu Fangcheng said this, Li Jingchuan couldn't help but say, "You're talking nonsense. Those snacks were given to me by Yongjia. And the letter was also written by Yongjia."
As soon as he finished speaking, the eyes of all the civil and military officials present lit up. This story was so inspiring that it was even more exciting than the storytelling on East Street.
Liu Fangcheng did not argue with Li Jingchuan, but chuckled and said, "That snack was what Yongning was best at when he was young. Everyone in the palace knew it at the time."
Li Jingchuan frowned. He was unaware of something that everyone in the palace knew. The reason was simple: the Li family had already fallen on hard times by then, and they didn't interact much with the palace. Naturally, he didn't know about such inner palace affairs.
Liu Fangcheng added, "As for the handwriting, I still have the letter Yongning wrote to me. It wouldn't hurt to show it to you."
As he spoke, Liu Fangcheng took out a letter from his arms, folded it in half, brought it to Li Jingchuan, and showed him the first two lines.
Li Jingchuan froze there, thinking of the snacks Li Yunzhou brought back that night and the words he said.
He subconsciously looked at Princess Yongjia, but Princess Yongjia didn't look at him.
But they had been married for more than twenty years, and he could tell something was wrong just by looking at her expression.
Liu Fangcheng continued, "After returning to the capital, Prince Shan married Princess Yongjia, but Princess Yongning didn't take it to heart."
"She sent that snack and wrote that letter out of respect for the old princess. She said the Li family had fallen on hard times, and her son was constantly complaining about himself. Yongning was kind-hearted, so she wanted to do something. But fearing trouble, she didn't even dare leave her name."
When Princess Yongjia heard the words "Yongning has a kind heart", she finally couldn't help but speak.
"Is she really as you said, without any personal feelings for the prince? But what about that unexpected consummation of the marriage?"
"Even if the child isn't the prince's, it doesn't change the fact that Yongning wantonly seduced a married man."
"The prince just stayed overnight at the villa, and she did something shameless like that. How do you explain it?"
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