Chapter 162 The secret to a fertile constitution is finally revealed!
A few days later, the morning court session began.
As the routine administrative report was nearing its end, Lian Chenxi suddenly stepped forward, carrying a thick stack of documents:
"Your subject, Lian Chenxi, has an important matter to report! I wish to impeach General Yi Xingyao—for colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, deceiving the emperor and disrespecting the emperor, the evidence of which is irrefutable!"
The moment those words were spoken, the entire hall erupted in uproar!
All the civil and military officials looked up in shock, staring at Lian Chenxi in disbelief.
As fate would have it, Yi Xingyao took leave today and did not appear at the morning court session.
"Bring it up!"
Before anyone could react, Lian Chenxi raised his voice.
The guards outside the hall immediately brought in a person.
This man had a weathered face and even unhealed scars on his body, but his eyes were unusually firm.
Many military officers recognized him as soon as he appeared.
This man was none other than Zhou Linghuan, the deputy general under Yi Xingyao who was said to have died heroically in the last battle!
Zhou Linghuan knelt before the emperor, his voice hoarse from years of wandering.
"Your Majesty... This humble general, Zhou Linghuan, risks his life to expose Yi Xingyao's crime of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country!"
"The great victory in the Northwest was a ruse! Yi Xingyao, in order to claim credit for the victory and cover up his strategic mistakes, had already secretly colluded with the enemy leader! They agreed to feign a retreat, using the lives of our soldiers to embellish his own record of merits!"
"This humble general accidentally discovered his secret correspondence with the enemy and intended to report it to the imperial court, but was ambushed by his confidant on the battlefield. He barely escaped with his life and lived in hiding all the way, dodging several assassination attempts. Only today can he finally meet the Emperor!"
Lian Chenxi then presented the documents: "Your Majesty, these are the secret letters between Yi Xingyao and the enemy generals that General Zhou Linghuan risked his life to bring out. The evidence is irrefutable!"
Yi Xingyao's father, Inspector Yi Ming, was sweating profusely. He rushed out, knelt down, and shouted in a trembling voice.
"Your Majesty, please investigate! This...this must be a frame-up! Your son, Xingyao, is utterly loyal to Your Majesty and the court, as Heaven and Earth can attest! Someone must be jealous of my son's military achievements and has devised this treacherous scheme!"
The Yi family henchmen behind him also knelt down in agreement. Emperor Zhaoheng sat on his throne, his gaze slowly sweeping across the loyal faces of these people, his eyes gradually narrowing.
Just as chaos erupted in the imperial court, a series of light footsteps suddenly came from outside the hall.
Feng Shunxiang bowed and led a woman dressed in a light purple palace dress slowly into the main hall.
The person who arrived was none other than Yi Shuyao!
Her body trembled slightly, but her eyes revealed a resolute determination, like burning one's boats.
Yi Shuyao walked step by step to the center of the golden hall, knelt down, and spoke softly, yet her voice clearly reached everyone's ears:
"Your Majesty... I have something to say! I am willing to testify that Yi Guichun and Yi Xingyao, brother and sister, have wreaked havoc in the palace and colluded with foreign officials!"
Upon hearing this, even Yi Ming's wailing stopped abruptly, and he stared in disbelief at the illegitimate daughter.
Yi Shuyao took out a small jade pendant engraved with the character "Yi" from her sleeve and held it high above her head.
"This item is a token used by Yi Guichun and Yi Xingyao to secretly communicate! I have personally witnessed Yi Guichun using this token to send messages outside the palace and to exchange secrets with Yi Xingyao on many occasions..."
"They even...they even discussed how to support the power of the Yi family as maternal relatives! Their intentions are despicable!"
Her small face was pale, and she seemed to have used all her strength to continue:
"And last month... the fake account book that framed Consort Jin for extravagance and overspending! It was also Yi Guichun who coerced and bribed me to find a steward I knew in the Imperial Household Department to forge it!"
Yi Shuyao raised her head, tears streaming down her face, and looked at her father, whose face was ashen.
"Father! I know this is a heinous crime, but what my elder brother and sister have done is a grave offense of deceiving the emperor, betraying the country, and disrupting the court!"
"Though I am of lowly birth, I know loyalty to the emperor and love for my country, and I dare not stoop to their level! Today... I have no choice but to sacrifice my own family for the greater good! Please, Father... forgive me!"
"You! You unfilial daughter! You wretched creature! My Yi family has no daughter like you!"
Yi Ming never imagined that this concubine's daughter, whom he didn't care much about, would make such a slanderous accusation!
He disregarded court etiquette and rushed forward to slap Yi Shuyao hard across the face!
Yi Shuyao screamed and was slapped to the ground, blood instantly spilling from the corner of her mouth.
Chaos erupted in the imperial court.
"Enough!"
Emperor Zhaoheng slammed his hand on the imperial desk and said in a cold voice:
"Excellent! Excellent Yi family! Excellent loyal and courageous general who protects the country! Excellent Consort Yi who assists in managing the six palaces!"
"Deceiving the emperor! Colluding with the enemy and betraying the country! Causing chaos in the harem... Your Yi family, you have truly audacious!"
His sharply defined profile was icy cold, radiating the overwhelming rage of an emperor, as he roared:
"Someone come here!"
"Go to the Yi residence immediately and arrest Yi Xingyao! Interrogate him thoroughly!"
The commander of the imperial guards immediately obeyed the order and left.
However, half an hour later, in the Imperial Study.
A bodyguard strode in and whispered a few words in Emperor Zhaoheng's ear as he returned to his study.
Emperor Zhaoheng's face instantly turned extremely ugly.
"What? They ran away?!"
The guard reported, "According to the statements of the servants of the Yi family, a man rushed into the mansion to deliver a message before dawn today."
Upon hearing the news, Yi Xingyao immediately led several trusted bodyguards and rode out of the back gate of the mansion at breakneck speed, heading straight for the west gate! At this moment... he has probably already escaped the capital!
"waste!"
Emperor Zhaoheng was furious. "Close all city gates! Give me the order to pursue him! Issue my decree to issue arrest warrants nationwide for the traitor Yi Xingyao!"
"Anyone who provides clues will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold! If this traitor can be captured, I will bestow upon him the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households!"
He looked coldly out of the hall, his tone chilling.
"Even if he escapes to the ends of the earth, I will dig three feet into the ground to find him and bring him back to be torn to pieces!"
Immediately, he issued a series of decrees, acting with great swiftness and efficiency:
“Inspector-General Yi Ming has failed in his duty to educate his son, allowing him to commit violence. He is hereby stripped of all his official positions and imprisoned in the imperial prison to await trial.”
“All adult male members of the Yi family will be imprisoned. After their crimes are investigated, they will be exiled three thousand miles away and never pardoned.”
"All the women of the Yi family shall be confiscated and sent to the government slave garrison!"
"The entire Yi family's property shall be confiscated and deposited into the national treasury!"
A series of imperial edicts definitively declared the downfall of the once-powerful Yi family.
Not long after, Feng Shunxiang, holding a bright yellow imperial edict and accompanied by a group of expressionless guards, barged straight into Changxin Palace.
Upon hearing of the unexpected events at the morning court session, Yi Guichun was already flustered and restless.
When she saw Feng Shunxiang's cold face and the tray covered with bright yellow silk cloth in the guard's hands, she slumped into the armchair as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
Feng Shunxiang unfolded the imperial edict: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Yi Guichun, in collusion with his treacherous brother Yi Xingyao, spied on the palace, falsified accounts, and framed concubines. His heart is wicked, and his crimes are unforgivable!"
"Furthermore, Yi Xingyao's crimes of treason and collusion with the enemy are irrefutable, and his entire family is guilty! Considering his past service to me, I hereby grant him a cup of poison, sparing his body. So be it—"
Before Feng Shunxiang could finish speaking, Yi Guichun burst into tears: "No! Impossible! It's fake! It's all fake! How could my brother have colluded with the enemy?!"
"It's Narcissus! It must be that bitch Narcissus and that bastard Yi Shuyao who framed us! She's jealous of my favor... The Emperor has been deceived by her!"
She acted as if she had gone mad, and suddenly tried to rush out of the palace: "I want to see the Emperor! I want to tell the Emperor face to face that it was Shui Xian who harmed me!"
The guards immediately stepped forward and stopped her without hesitation.
Amidst the struggle and wrestling, a graceful figure slowly entered through the palace gate.
Narcissus wore a moon-white palace dress, without any makeup, her dark hair simply tied up with only a white jade hairpin, as if she were offering a sacrifice.
She walked steadily toward Yi Guichun, who was being restrained by the guards and was still screaming wildly.
When Yi Guichun saw her, he roared like a wild beast that had seen blood, his eyes bloodshot: "It's you...it's you! It's all your fault!"
"If it weren't for you, how could I have ended up like this! I shouldn't have... I shouldn't have recommended you to the Emperor in the first place!"
"You ungrateful, despicable woman! You'll die a horrible death!"
Narcissus turned to the side, easily avoiding her attempt to pounce.
Yi Guichun was held down by the guards and could not move. He could only let out desperate roars like a trapped beast.
Narcissus handed her the poisoned wine on the tray, her tone eerily calm.
"Yi Guichun, even now you're still so stubborn? Do you think I don't know that you recommended me back then just to have a child through my womb?"
"After I give birth, will you not hesitate to leave the mother and child behind?"
Upon hearing this, a flicker of panic crossed Yi Guichun's eyes.
How could Narcissus have known her plans?!
Little did they know, Narcissus had already experienced the taste of despair once before.
Narcissus was dressed in plain clothes, and her voice was calm yet heavy as a thousand pounds.
"You siblings of the Yi family, one of you is a traitor who colludes with the enemy and treats the lives of soldiers on the border as worthless! The other is a troublemaker in the harem who disregards palace rules and imperial authority! This cup of wine today is what you owe me, and it is also what your Yi family owes to the people of the world!"
Yi Guichun stared intently at the clear glass of poisoned wine, shaking his head frantically while still cursing viciously.
"Once a lowly servant, always a lowly servant! Even if you wear a phoenix robe, you can't change the baseness in your bones! You and the bastard in your belly will not have a good end!"
Her indiscriminate cursing instantly drew angry glares from the eunuchs and palace maids around her, who were also of humble origin.
Narcissus did not want to say anything more to her.
She vividly remembered how Yi Guichun tormented her in her previous life, ultimately causing her tragic death.
Having been reborn, she had imagined countless times how she would take revenge and make Yi Guichun taste all the suffering she had endured.
But when that moment actually came, she discovered that the greatest retribution was not physical torture, but the complete stripping away of everything she valued most.
Power, family, life.
As for those humiliating methods, she was unwilling and did not want to become like the madman in front of her.
Seeing Yi Guichun struggling endlessly without any remorse, the last ripple in Shui Xian's eyes also subsided.
She seemed to intend to hand the poisoned wine to a nearby guard to administer, and then leave.
However, Narcissus's complete indifference deeply stung Yi Guichun.
"Hahaha……"
Yi Guichun suddenly let out a shrill, twisted laugh. She was being forced to drink poison by the guards, but her laughter continued unabated.
Narcissus turned around expressionlessly and looked at the deranged Yi Guichun.
As the poisoned wine went down his throat, pain gradually crept in. Yi Guichun's face contorted, but his gaze toward Shui Xian revealed a twisted pleasure.
"Narcissus...cough cough...do you think you've won?"
"You think that with this incredible ability to conceive, you can have a smooth life? Hahaha... Ridiculous! How ridiculous!"
She struggled, using her last strength, and pointed at Narcissus's stomach, spitting out black blood, her voice like a curse:
"Why do you think my mother wouldn't give me that medicine!"
"All things in heaven and earth...have their own destiny! Forcibly taking...cough cough...will ultimately backfire...your heaven-defying physique...will eventually...ultimately take your life!"
"Haha...uh..."
The poison took effect violently, and Yi Guichun's body convulsed violently, blood flowed from his seven orifices, and his face became extremely ferocious and terrifying.
Her outstretched fingers froze in mid-air, as if trying to grasp something, before suddenly stopping abruptly. Her eyes, wide open and filled with endless resentment, fell heavily to the ground, lifeless.
Tinglu, who was standing next to Shuixian, felt a chill, but what Yi Guichun had just said was even more frightening than what she was seeing.
Her lips trembled as she looked at Narcissus: "Your Majesty..."
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