What the Emperor didn't know was that the wine incident had already been discovered by Marquis Cheng'en. Having been involved in secret affairs for years, Marquis Cheng'en had some experience.
But Marquis Cheng'en didn't dare to say it, and even killed the person who found out the news.
It's not that he is cruel, but if the emperor finds out, everyone in the Cheng'en Marquis's mansion will be finished.
Marquis Cheng'en never gambles on the emperor's conscience, no matter who sits on the throne.
Therefore, it is unfair to say that the death of the retired emperor was unjust, but it is also not unfair to say that it was not unjust.
Among his six grown-up sons, only the eldest son, Prince Zhuang, and the fifth son, Prince Rong, did not take action, while the other four sons all made small moves.
Among these four sons, the most wronged one is the sixth son, Prince Li. He really has no bad intentions.
But the final result was like this, and he couldn't escape it.
The emperor looked at the contents found by the three ministers of justice on the memorial in his hand, and couldn't help but feel a little happy in his heart, "It seems that my uncle is not as omnipotent as my father said! My father is old after all."
No matter what the emperor was thinking, it didn't affect him. He threw the memorial in front of Prince Zhuang and the others.
"Look at what you have done." The emperor looked extremely angry at this moment.
The third prince Gong and the fourth prince Yan, who were particularly suspicious, could not help but tremble. Especially the fourth prince, who had tampered with the horse, was so scared that he almost fainted.
Prince Zhuang looked at the furious emperor, picked up the memorial in front of the four people tremblingly, took a deep breath and opened it.
After seeing this, Prince Zhuang's first reaction was to kneel a little further away from his brothers, looking at the other three in disbelief, "Third, fourth, sixth, you..."
When the other three princes saw their eldest brother's reaction, they all knelt on the ground in despair.
But people will not give up until they reach the Yellow River. Prince Gong and the other two also picked up the memorial and read it one by one.
In the end, everyone present in the hall read the memorial. Many people, while watching the excitement of the royal family, were also glad that this matter did not affect them, except for Marquis Xuanping.
Lord Xie, the Marquis of Xuanping, knelt on the ground with the memorial in his hand. For the first time, Lord Xie regretted not stopping his daughter from liking the emperor.
The Sixth Prince Li was in a daze for a moment, then he kowtowed and pleaded, "Brother Your Majesty! Brother Your Majesty! I really don't have any bad intentions. I just felt that my father didn't bring any guards with him, and I was worried that something might happen to him if he stayed outside for too long.
I just want my father to catch the rabbit as soon as possible. My royal brother..."
The Emperor, feeling somewhat guilty and his Sixth Brother having no ill intentions, paused for a moment before speaking: "Prince Li Jingfu of Li, strip him of his title, and order him to be confined to his residence for one year, with his salary suspended for a year.
Li Jingfu, are you convinced?"
Prince Li had already prepared himself for the possibility of his life being in danger, but he hadn't expected it to be just a matter of stripping him of his title. This was a blessing from heaven for Prince Li, and he was incredibly satisfied. "I'm convinced, Your Majesty! Thank you, Your Majesty, for your wisdom!"
The emperor looked at his grateful sixth brother, feeling extremely satisfied. He added expressionlessly, "Wait until your father is buried before you return to confine yourself!"
"Your humble servant obeys your order!" Li Jingfu's kneeling posture was much more standard now, with his back straight.
Li Jingfu decided that he would never hang out with his brothers again. They were too scary. Especially his fourth brother who even dared to tamper with his father's horse. How scary!
Li Jingfu knelt down towards his elder brother without any expression.
Prince Zhuang: I actually don’t want to kneel with you either.
When the third prince Gong and the fourth prince Yan heard the emperor's punishment of the sixth prince, they both had secret hopes in their hearts.
Hoping that the Emperor would show them some mercy, Prince Gong and Prince Yan kowtowed repeatedly on the ground, "Your Majesty, I was confused for a moment and really didn't mean to kill my father.
Your Majesty, have mercy on me!"
Prince Gong and Prince Yan stopped quibbling and pleaded directly.
After all, besides this incident, they were also involved in other matters. If the emperor got angry and investigated them thoroughly, there would be no hope for them to survive.
I used to think the title of a prince was too low, but now I can't even guarantee my life. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have made such a fuss.
The emperor on the dragon throne didn't even look at Prince Gong and Prince Yan, "What do you think, my dear ministers?"
The people below began to express their opinions. Some said that the crime of murdering the retired emperor was unforgivable; some said that the retired emperor had just passed away and probably didn’t want to see the unfilial son; and some said that the retired emperor was lonely and asked the two families to go down to serve him...
In short, the mildest of these opinions is to expel descendants from the clan and confine the entire family.
Li Jingfu, who was kneeling beside Prince Zhuang, couldn't help shaking his hands as he listened to what these people in the hall said about their fate.
Prince Zhuang felt that his timid brother was pale and looked like he was about to faint from fear at any moment. Prince Zhuang sighed helplessly in his heart and calmly handed his sleeve to the sixth brother, motioning him to hold it.
The emperor wanted to sentence the third and fourth sons to death. He was afraid that these two would continue to investigate the matter in order to overturn their own verdicts.
The emperor hopes that this matter will end here.
But just as the emperor emeritus died, two more princes died, and his reputation was about to be ruined.
The emperor hesitated for a long time before ordering the death of the third son, Li Jingbai, and the fourth son, Li Jingxuan. The emperor did not vent his anger on their families.
Of course, he also lost his title.
Li Jingbai and Li Jingxuan were silent for a while, and then accepted their fate. At least the child was still alive.
Although he no longer had a title, at least he was not expelled from the royal family. He would remain an ordinary member of the royal family and would be protected by the Li royal family.
Maybe you won't necessarily have tremendous power, but you will at least have enough food and clothing.
The Xuanping Marquisate was not so lucky. Three of their clans were executed, and Concubine Zhen in the palace was sentenced to death.
The emperor also said that this was for the sake of Princess Li Shihuan and Prince Li Chengqian.
With everything investigated, the funeral of the retired emperor was about to begin. The emperor summoned all the civil and military officials in the court and finally made an exception and gave the retired emperor the title of "Shengzu Wenwu Emperor".
This posthumous title is quite high.
When Eunuch Hou, following the imperial order, personally carried the poisoned wine and sent Concubine Zhen off, Concubine Zhen was not surprised. Instead, she calmly asked, "I want to see the Emperor!"
Eunuch Hou had spent a lot of time with the emperor, so he naturally knew that this was the only person the emperor had ever loved. He didn't dare to force anyone to drink, so he could only gently persuade her, "Your Highness, please stop struggling. The emperor doesn't want to see you."
"I won't make things difficult for you, eunuch. If I don't see the emperor today, even if I die, the emperor will be in a lot of trouble. Just tell the emperor this, and he will come to see me."
At this time, Xie Zixin was sitting casually on a chair, wearing a phoenix robe that only the queen could wear, and she still looked unattainable.
Eunuch Hou felt a toothache just watching this. "Your Majesty, please wait. I will go and report to the Emperor myself."
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