Chapter 22: I only want the throne, not favor (22)
The news that the Prime Minister of Chu forced Li Hong to issue an edict of succession in the court quickly spread throughout the capital.
The entire capital city also knew that the emperor had a "short life". After the Queen of the Chu family was deposed, her health declined rapidly.
It was said that Li Hong ascended the throne thanks to the blessing of the former Queen of the Chu family. After the former Queen of the Chu family was deposed, the blessing was gone, and Li Hong's fate could not withstand the aura of an emperor, so his health declined so badly.
As soon as such rumors appeared, people began to have different opinions on whether Li Hong was truly the emperor.
Even rumors of patricide and fratricide appeared.
When Li Hong heard the news in the imperial study, he was so angry that he vomited blood.
"Quickly call the imperial physician!"
The news of Li Hong's illness soon spread to the harem.
For a moment, the concubines began to worry. Once the emperor fell, except for Chu Wanqing, it was likely that everyone else would be buried with him.
"Chu Wanqing!"
Gao Min of Yumin Palace did not expect that Li Hong's health had deteriorated so badly. She asked the imperial physician to check her pulse every day, but there was no sign of stomach pain.
Chu Wanqing, who was supposed to have an abortion, now has a healthy baby in her belly.
Nothing happened.
Gao Min felt that she could no longer sit idly by and needed to do something.
"Noble Concubine Gao, the emperor has issued an order requiring her to come to the palace to attend to the patient."
Before Gao Min could think of getting rid of the baby in Chu Wanqing's belly, Li Hong's oral instruction stopped her from thinking about it.
Why could she be asked to take care of the sick now?
Isn't it because she is domineering that she might take advantage of his serious illness to get rid of Chu Wanqing's child?
"Noble Concubine Gao, please."
Gao Min was asked to take care of the sick. Chu Wanqing knew that it must be Gao Yansheng who was behind it.
She originally thought that Gao Yansheng would not help her.
Unexpectedly, Gao Yansheng attached great importance to the baby in her belly.
At night, when Gao Yansheng visited Chu Wanqing again, he gave her a satisfactory answer.
Li Hong has already agreed to issue a decree of succession, and even the child in Chu Wanqing's belly, regardless of gender, will be the next monarch.
He was assisted by Gao Yansheng and Chu Xiang.
Li Hong, who issued the edict, was lying on the bed in humiliation and ignored Gao Mindai.
He was ruined. Why didn't he kill Gao Yansheng before Gao Yansheng returned to the court?
It actually gave Gao Yansheng the opportunity to join forces with the Chu family!
"Your Majesty, Concubine Chu requests an audience."
Gao Min paused slightly as she stirred the medicine bowl with the spoon, then sneered and stood up: "Then I will take my leave first."
Without waiting for Li Hong to say anything, Gao Min put down the medicine bowl and walked out of Li Hong's bedroom.
When I opened the door, Chu Wanqing was standing not far away.
Gao Min walked forward with a cold face, and was about to bump into Chu Wanqing. Chu Wanqing spoke first: "The emperor is seriously ill, and he probably doesn't want to see anything happen to Long Si, otherwise -"
Chu Wanqing didn't say the rest of the words, but Gao Min and she knew it very well.
Gao Min glared at Chu Wanqing's belly hatefully.
Cheng Shuhan felt someone staring at her, she curled her lips and sent out a stream of spiritual energy.
After Gao Min finished glaring, she slipped and knelt straight on the ground with her knees facing Chu Wanqing.
Chu Wanqing was surprised, then smiled and said, "Your Highness, I don't deserve such a great gift."
"Chu Wanqing!" Gao Min gritted her teeth and spat out Chu Wanqing's name.
Chu Wanqing was too lazy to pay attention to Gao Min and walked into Li Hong's bedroom.
"You're very proud, aren't you?"
As soon as Chu Wanqing entered, Li Hong's voice reached her ears.
Li Hong's unwillingness made Chu Wanqing curl her lips in sarcasm. "I'm not really proud of it. After all, I naively thought that the Emperor would show some leniency to my parents because of our long-standing relationship."
"You did it." Li Hong widened his eyes, as if he wanted to rush to Chu Wanqing and strangle her to death.
Chu Wanqing smiled brightly: "What did the emperor say?"
Li Hong was breathing heavily and staring at Chu Wanqing, as if he wanted to pull out her tendons and drink her blood.
Chu Wanqing approached Li Hong and looked down at him. "The Chu family has never had any intention of rebellion. This situation is entirely your own fault." As she spoke, Chu Wanqing leaned closer to him and said word by word, "Do you think I want the position of Queen Mother?"
"You are wrong. What I want is the throne."
"You're crazy!" Li Hong lost his voice and wanted to curse her again, but he was too angry to speak.
Chu Wanqing tutted her words twice: "Do you know what people say outside? They say you are unlucky and can't be an emperor."
How could Li Hong not know how the news spread outside?
It was because he knew this that he was so angry that he lay in bed and couldn't get up.
Chu Wanqing touched her belly and said slowly: "You can go on your journey with peace of mind. After all, the baby will be born in five months."
At first, Li Hong didn't think much about it and just thought the baby would be born full-term in five months.
By the time he reacted, he lost his breath instantly.
He already had not much time left, and when he found out that the child was not his, Chu Wanqing was so angry that she almost died.
Chu Wanqing stood up with a cold face, pushed open the door of Li Hong's bedroom, and shouted to the outside: "The emperor has passed away!"
The funeral bell rang, and the entire palace fell into mourning.
Gao Yansheng, wearing a white official robe, entered the harem to see Chu Wanqing, holding the imperial edict left by Li Hong in his hand.
"What you want." The imperial edict was copied by Gao Yansheng. Of course, the person who copied it had already died at this time.
No one would know that this edict of succession was fake.
Even if they knew, no one dared to say it.
"Do you really want to take the risk and sit in that position?" Once Chu Wanqing sat in that position, she would be caught in endless abuse.
Chu Wanqing raised her lips nonchalantly: "So what? Insulting the emperor will result in the punishment of all nine generations of your clan."
Gao Yansheng looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar face in front of him and felt that he no longer recognized the person in front of him.
The once kind and gentle Chu Wanqing has disappeared.
In their place are cold and heartless people who are only concerned with power.
"How do you plan to deal with the people in the harem?" Gao Yansheng asked this question, actually asking about Gao Min's future.
Chu Wanqing raised her chin slightly. "Noble Concubine Gao had a deep love for the Emperor. She committed suicide in the palace and was posthumously named Imperial Noble Concubine. How about that?"
She only mentioned Concubine Gao.
Gao Yansheng sighed: "I understand."
Gao Min never expected that she would be hanged to death in the palace by her brother with a three-foot white silk before she could plan anything in her new life.
Gao Yansheng wanted Gao Min to fake her death.
But Yun Fei took advantage of him and his men were bribed to silence Gao Min.
When Gao Yansheng met Concubine Yun, she was fighting birds in the palace.
"She will disband the harem. You should prepare to return to the Yun family."
Concubine Yun turned around and said, "She won't let me go."
The Yun family is her stepping stone and also the tool she needs to appease the public.
Gao Yansheng frowned: "What did the Yun family do that I don't know about?"
Concubine Yun raised her lips: "A lot."
So many that he couldn't count them.
She had been planning this since her sister was tortured to death by Li Hongling, but unfortunately, she was eventually discovered by Chu Wanqing.
However, she was also very happy that Li Hong died like this.
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