Yun Qishan waved his hand, and soldiers entered the room, placing their swords against the defenseless court officials.
The people standing in the hall quickly came to Yun Qishan's back.
It turned out that he not only had people outside the palace, but also an inside agent within the palace. However, the previously unknown Consort An stood up from among the concubines, came before Yun Qishan, bowed gracefully, and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Yun Qishan helped the woman up and made her stand behind him.
"Consort An, how could you..."
The emperor remained silent, but the empress spoke angrily.
Consort An was her maid who had always been by her side. Later, she was promoted to the emperor's concubine, and even allowed to give birth to the emperor's eldest son out of consideration for her loyalty. She really couldn't understand how such a loyal maid could get involved with Yun Qishan.
"Good question!" Yun Qishan pulled Consort An to his side and said gently, "Tell her what it's all about."
Consort An, abandoning her usual submissive demeanor, declared loudly, "For the sake of my Yu'er, who is the Crown Prince favored by the Emperor!"
The emperor she was referring to was not the one who was under the influence of drugs and powerless to fight back, but rather Yun Qishan, who was standing beside her.
"Traitorous officials who have disrupted the royal bloodline deserve to be executed!"
Liu, the Imperial Censor who always considered himself righteous, could no longer tolerate it and spoke up. He had originally intended to say that Yun Qishan's entire family should be executed, but since Yun Qishan was a member of the royal family, if he said that his entire family should be executed, wouldn't that mean even the emperor would be killed?
He narrowly changed the wording, partly to show his loyalty, and partly out of his personality. He was a defender of the royal lineage, and anyone whose legitimacy was questionable was his enemy.
There are many people like him in the court, but no one has stepped forward. Now that he has spoken, many people have started to call for an attack on Yun Qishan.
If it were just one person, Yun Qishan could simply kill them. But seeing so many people like this, Yun Qishan changed his mind. He wanted to see how these people would behave if he were in that position.
"Well said, very well said. Yun Qitian, did you hear that? He called me a traitor, but little does he know, you are the traitor who usurped the throne!"
"Back then, Father Emperor clearly intended for me to be the crown prince, but because I was young and impetuous and wanted to play for a couple more years, he changed the name to you the very next day. Why?"
"Since ancient times, the eldest son should be chosen as heir apparent, but Father Emperor insists on doing the opposite. You must have said something behind my back. When I said I didn't want to be the crown prince for the time being, I only said it to you. Can you honestly say that you owe me nothing?"
The emperor remained silent. At the time, he had only meant well, wanting to buy his elder brother two years so he could have his fill of fun. The late emperor's direct decree was also unexpected. He never imagined his elder brother would hold such a grudge!
“Brother Wang, the late emperor’s decree was his own will. If you had wanted to, you could have told me.”
"Mingyan? Mingyan, will you return Yuzhu to me? Mingyan, will you return the throne to me? Mingyan, will my mother be spared from being given poisoned wine?"
Upon being suddenly called out, Consort Yu trembled, wishing she could bury her head in the ground immediately. She had no idea that Yun Qishan harbored designs on her.
Consort Yu looked at the Emperor with tears in her eyes. Seeing him shake his head in comfort, she felt relieved and moved back a little without saying a word.
“Brother, Yuzhu was chosen by the Empress Dowager, and the throne was appointed by the late Emperor. Your mother poisoned the Empress Dowager in order to seize power, and was given poisoned wine. She deserved it.”
"Fine, fine, fine!" Yun Qishan laughed angrily. "These things have nothing to do with you. I could have gone to my fiefdom and lived a leisurely life as a prince, but you actually sent someone to assassinate me. If I hadn't been lucky, would I be in this situation today?"
The emperor was stunned and asked in confusion, "Wasn't it you who forced the emperor to abdicate and was severely injured by the imperial guards?"
"Yun Qitian, have I never told you that I hate your innocent face the most? You dare to do it but not admit it. Do you deserve the position behind you?"
"Yun Qishan, this old minister knows a little about this matter, but it has nothing to do with Your Majesty."
Grand Tutor Wen said in a deep voice, "Back then, when the late emperor discussed the matter of establishing an heir with his ministers, most of them agreed to establish the eldest son, but—"
Grand Tutor Wen looked up at Yun Qishan and shook his head, saying, "Your birth mother was too violent, malicious, and ambitious, while you were too easily swayed. The late emperor was worried that you would be blindly filial and bring disaster to the country and the people, so he changed the crown prince to the second prince. The old ministers present should all have been involved in this matter."
After saying this, Grand Tutor Wen couldn't help but sigh again. It seemed that he was the only one left of the old ministers from the previous emperor's generation.
"Hmph, a new emperor brings a new court. Wen Lu, you are a Grand Tutor, yet you spout such nonsense. Aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?" Yun Qishan's eyes flashed with cold light, filled with murderous intent.
“Your servant can testify. Although I was young back then, I was on duty in the palace,” Eunuch Lu explained, enduring his dizziness. “The late emperor ordered us not to divulge secrets, so it’s understandable that you don’t know the inside story. However, the emperor is the one destined by heaven, and if you dare to seize power today, we will swear to protect the emperor to the death!”
"We swear to protect the Emperor to the death!"
Although the court officials were too weak to stand up, their determination to protect the emperor remained unwavering.
“Yun Qishan, my son and you are best friends, why would you harm my son?” Cheng Zheng couldn’t help but ask.
Back then, Yun Qishan collapsed at his doorstep, covered in blood.
Out of consideration for his past friendship with Fang'er, he saved him and secretly sent him away.
Later, the late emperor passed away, and the new emperor ascended the throne, granting a general amnesty. He also specially pardoned Yun Qishan's crimes and conferred upon him the title of prince.
Over the years, he had always believed that the emperor was angry that he had saved Yun Qishan back then, and feared that his son would naturally become close to Yun Qishan, so he repeatedly sent him to the battlefield, which ultimately led to Fang'er's death on the battlefield.
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