"General Yue Mengyang requests an audience with the Emperor."
A middle-aged man with a burly figure and a resolute face appeared in everyone's sight. The imperial concubine held back her tears. The eldest brother who loved her the most was back.
The emperor hurried forward to stop Yue Mengyang from saluting, "My dear minister, you have worked hard guarding the border over the years. This time, you have completely defeated the Northern Rong and made great contributions to our dynasty."
Yue Mengyang looked loyal and said, "It is all thanks to the Emperor's grace and the soldiers' bravery that we have today's results. I dare not take any credit for it.
Originally, I was supposed to arrive with the main force tomorrow, but knowing that the Imperial Concubine was pregnant, I hurried on. Entering the city, I saw flames rising from the direction of the Imperial Palace. I woke them up in the middle of the night by knocking on the palace gates. I am guilty.
Although he said he was guilty, he had just won a victory. Although the emperor was unhappy in his heart, he pretended to be in harmony with his subjects. "My dear minister, you are also worried about the imperial concubine. The love between brother and sister is deep, so it is understandable."
Yue Mengyang looked at the scene and said, "There was a fire in the palace, and only the Imperial Concubine and my nephew-in-law were injured. I wonder if the Emperor knows the inside story."
He guessed this based on the information he had received over the past six months, based on Dan Ruo standing next to Lin Hancheng.
The emperor's face turned awkward, knowing that what was coming would eventually come. "I don't know yet. Rong An's consort just rescued the imperial concubine, and now the two of them have just finished seeing the imperial physician."
The Queen stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the fire has just been put out. A palace maid just reported that when the fireworks were being set off, a spark accidentally fell into the oil barrel storing lamp oil in the palace, causing the fire.
Everyone else was watching the fireworks in front of the palace, but the Imperial Concubine stayed inside to wait. This was purely an accident."
The Imperial Concubine was very excited: "Your Majesty, this is not an accident, it is murder. If we seal the palace gates now, we may be able to stop the thieves."
She recounted everything that happened to her in the hall, including the secret cabinet and the secret passage where the body was hidden.
The Queen looked incredulous:
"The Imperial Concubine was already advanced in her pregnancy, and all the palace maids perished in the flames before her, so it was inevitable that she was experiencing hallucinations. How could there be a secret cabinet in this palace? As for a secret passage, that's even more impossible."
Dan Ruo sneered: "Whether it is an illusion or the truth, we will know it once we investigate. I also ask the emperor to ask the Shuntian Prefecture Governor, the State Defense General, and the Imperial Guard Commander to investigate together."
The emperor secretly glared at Dan Ruo, disliking him for making things worse, but the general had already asked for his life, so he had to be carried down.
The three adults checked the ruins together and found the secret cabinet and secret passage. They followed the secret passage and arrived at a rockery somewhere in the imperial garden.
The emperor issued an order: "Immediately seal off the entire palace. Each palace is to conduct its own investigation and must find those thieves."
With the help of the Samsara Pearl, Danruo knew that those people were hiding under the carriage that was delivering slop and were about to leave the palace, so she immediately reminded the general who was guarding the country.
A moment later, five palace maids were dragged out, and three of them committed suicide by biting themselves with poison the moment they were discovered.
The Imperial Noble Consort confirmed that these were the people.
The emperor wanted to take the man to the Ministry of Justice for trial, but Yue Mengyang knelt down to stop him:
"Your Majesty, these men are skilled in martial arts and are clearly assassins. They also know the secret passages in the palace. If they wanted to assassinate Your Majesty, they would probably succeed.
According to your opinion, you should let me try this case as you would a spy from an enemy country. Just give me a stick of incense and I will give Your Majesty a result."
Other generals echoed this, and some loyal ministers also followed suit, saying, "The emperor's safety is the most important."
The emperor agreed. The queen's eyelids kept twitching. She wondered why the remaining two assassins didn't bite themselves to death. Didn't they want to kill their entire family?
There was no such thing as mercy for women in Yue Mengyang's eyes. After all, there were quite a few female spies on the enemy side, and soon the two of them could not bear it and confessed.
The mastermind behind the fire was the Queen, and the fire was man-made, not an accident.
The Queen was panicked but looked aggrieved: "The General was tortured into confessing, clearly to help the Imperial Concubine ascend to the throne. This testimony is unreliable."
Lin Hancheng stood up and said, "At that time, my son-in-law wanted to accompany the Imperial Concubine, but the Empress tried her best to prevent me from staying. Moreover, she spoke to my son-in-law in an uncharacteristic way when setting off fireworks.
The son-in-law knows that he comes from a merchant family and the Queen usually dislikes him. The Queen is so kind to him today just to distract his attention and prevent him from observing the situation in the palace in time and saving the Imperial Concubine.
This shows that the Queen had indeed made arrangements in advance and was afraid that the son-in-law would ruin her plans."
The ministers thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case.
The queen was furious and stepped forward to slap Lin Hancheng. "You, a lowly person, allowed me to slander you. I condescended to show my concern, yet you allowed me to throw dirty water on my head."
Lin Hancheng took a few steps back and avoided being hit by the Queen. The Queen became even more crazy and was controlled by someone ordered by the Emperor.
The emperor's face turned ugly and he shouted angrily: "Enough."
Dan Ruo's eyes were filled with anger, and she tearfully questioned the emperor, "Father, the pariah the Queen is referring to is the husband you chose for me. This shows how displeased the Queen is with me, and how much she wants to burn my mother and brother to death in the flames. How long will you continue to protect the Queen and the Crown Prince?"
The Queen was as nervous as a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "It's none of the Crown Prince's business."
The entire court, including civil and military officials and their families, was present. The emperor's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. "Queen, what else do you have to say?"
The Queen gritted her teeth and refused to admit it. She couldn't let the Crown Prince have a guilty mother. "I can't admit to something I didn't do."
Yue Mengyang knelt and said, "Now we have two witnesses who have confessed. Moreover, the fire in the palace could not have been caused by human error. With all the evidence, I ask Your Majesty to handle this matter impartially and not to disappoint the countless soldiers on the border."
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