"Do you know why I called you here today?"
"Your Majesty, please give us your instructions." Everyone said in unison.
Si Chao swept the plate of pastries on the table forward, and when the plate fell to the ground, they also knelt down.
"This cake is poisoned."
The Minister of Food was the first to kneel down and said, "Your Majesty, please understand. We, the servants, would never dare to poison your food!"
At this time, they actually all knew that it was probably the previous chef who did it.
"I know it wasn't you, it was her who did it using the remaining staff in the Food Department." Si Chao looked at the former Shang Shi.
He played with the cup in his hand, rubbing the cup wall with his fingertips. "I called you here today to tell you that from now on in this palace, seeing Zhaoyi is like seeing me. Her affairs will always come first."
"Yes, I will obey His Majesty's order."
"Also, I called you here today so that you can watch the execution."
Watch the execution?
Everyone in the hall bowed down, and Si Chao waved his hand, "Go, drag the man to the outer courtyard of Qingliang Palace next to Fengyi Palace for execution."
"Wait."
Seeing that the ladies-in-waiting were about to leave, Si Chao spoke again, "Go and call all the people in the harem to come to the court and watch the execution."
Tu Qingyu then spoke up, "There's no need to make such a big fuss."
"Making a big fuss?" He sneered. "That's just how the people in the palace are. If I don't discipline them, it's like I'm playing with them."
He held Tu Qingyu's hand and said, "You don't have to worry about them. They are very brave."
How can one not be considered courageous if one dares to stir up trouble in such a popular atmosphere?
Indeed, in this harem, one receives all the love and all the resentment.
So what? As long as he is strong enough and intimidates the harem, they will not dare to take action no matter how angry or resentful they are.
In the former dynasty and the harem, as long as the emperor wants to protect someone, there is no one he cannot protect.
"I mean, Concubine De just took the little princess back from her place, and she still has to take care of her, so she and Deng Chongrong don't need to go."
Si Chao looked at her expression and understood what she meant in an instant.
He held her hand and said, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
It doesn't matter whether her Qingyu is really smart or is simply on good terms with Concubine De.
As long as she wants it, he can satisfy her.
An hour later, the court in the palace was full of people.
All the concubines from various palaces, including Concubine Wang who had just been ordered to be under house arrest, were carried in, as well as the palace ladies, maids and eunuchs.
Except for Concubine De and Deng Chongrong, almost nothing is left out.
"What's this for?"
"Yeah, why did you call us here suddenly?"
"Is there another banquet going on in the palace?"
"Didn't they say the polo match wouldn't start until a few days later?"
“Why do I feel like there are fewer people?”
"In the harem, Empress Defei, Empress Zhaoyi, and Empress Chongrong are all gone. And... oh, there's also Concubine Le!"
"Ever since she lost her child, Concubine Le has not been around in the harem. It's normal for her not to come."
"I don't think it's normal. Look, Concubine Wang, who was just punished to kneel and confined to her room, has been carried here."
…
"quiet--!"
The eunuch beside Si Chao waved the forbidden whip, and everyone on the field immediately shut up.
Afterwards, the former Shangshi, who was already covered in blood, and Le Jieyu, who had just been captured, were dragged up.
There were more than a dozen people in total, including the former Shangshi, Yue Jieyu, and the palace maids and eunuchs who handled this matter.
The eunuch announced the imperial decree, "Jieyi Le and former Shangshi Shen Ruxin conspired to poison the emperor's cakes. Their intentions were extremely vicious... The entire Le family is sentenced to death and will be executed in the autumn. The remaining five members of the Le family will be exiled to Lingnan.
Le was beaten to death, Shen Ruxin was lingchied, and the eunuch Shui Liang, who poisoned the people, had his limbs cut off and turned into a human pig!
The whole audience was in an uproar. Beating to death and lingchi were already scary enough, and now there was also the human pig.
When the whip sounded, the people below shut their mouths, lowered their heads, and remained silent.
Only Le was still shouting as she was dragged onto the torture bench, "I didn't murder the emperor. It was clearly Zhaoyi. My cakes were for her!"
No one covered her mouth, which was exactly what Si Chao wanted.
He could not leave a bad reputation for Tu Qingyu in the previous dynasty or in history books.
If he turned a person into a human pig just because of a palace concubine, it would inevitably cause criticism.
It was nothing for him, but he was afraid that the pens and tongues of the literati would hurt Qing Yu.
Therefore, these people can only be punished for plotting to murder the monarch.
But we can't let them know nothing, as this will not have a deterrent effect.
At this time, it is very important for Le to shout a few times.
Soon, the only sounds in the entire arena were the sound of the board hitting flesh and Le's wailing.
Not long after, Le could no longer scream, and her lower body had almost turned into a ball of flesh, covered in blood.
"vomit……"
Concubine Wang was the first one who couldn't help but vomit. As soon as she vomited, the arena was filled with the sound of vomiting.
When the whip-ban sounded, they had to hold back again.
Next was Shen Ruxin. The lingchi torture was even more cruel, and no one in the harem dared to watch it.
Being stared at by the guards sent by Si Chao, he had no choice but to watch.
After watching the human pig, most of the people on the field were paralyzed.
"Why does His Majesty treat us like this? Aren't we his concubines?"
"The emperor is killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, warning us not to touch his beloved in the future."
"Is this Le family crazy? It wasn't Tu Zhaoyi who killed her child, so why would she poison someone else?"
"Is it that hard to guess? Back then, her child was gone, and she couldn't figure out who had done it. His Majesty was always ruthless. If she had evidence, it would have been easy to explain, but unfortunately, she didn't. She went around accusing everyone, saying that they had killed her child.
That person's hands and feet were really clean, and the emperor couldn't find anything on the surface, so he let it go."
"You mean, she hates the emperor?" But what does this have to do with Tu Zhaoyi?
"She hates His Majesty, but dares not touch him. She only wants to touch the woman His Majesty loves and make him feel distressed."
…
After the execution, the entire court was filled with blood and a foul smell.
Many people in the harem were carried back.
It took several days to clean the Ju field. After it was cleaned, it started to rain again.
It rained for two months, but it didn't rain all the time. It rained for one day and stopped for a few days. In short, there was no sunny day.
When the sky finally cleared up, even Si Chao breathed a sigh of relief.
"Qingyu, the weather is good now, we can finally hold the polo match." He was getting anxious seeing people stuck here these days.
Especially when Tu Qingyu was sitting in front of the window watching the rain, the aura on his body that seemed to be about to disappear in the next second made him feel uneasy.
"What are you in such a hurry for?"
"I'm just bored and can't wait to go out for a walk."
On the day of the polo match, almost all the people in the harem and the dignitaries in the capital were present.
Tu Qingyu thought that after passing by the Juchang field, no one would dare to be rude in front of her.
After all, in the past two months, people in the palace were even more terrified to see her than to see Si Chao.
But as soon as she arrived at the polo field, she received a provocative look from Concubine Wang.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
