Chapter 363: The Self-Torture Strategy
Concubine Shu arrived at the door of the Imperial Study and was about to rush into the palace, but was stopped by the Imperial Guards: "Your Majesty, if you enter the Imperial Study without permission, you will be committing a serious disrespect. Please think twice."
Concubine Shu was deeply concerned about the news of the Lin family's execution. She had lost her usual dignified and proper demeanor and looked embarrassed: "Your Majesty... I want to see Your Majesty..."
The eunuch guarding the door had received favors from Concubine Shu on a daily basis. Seeing that Concubine Shu had lost her mind, and thinking that the Emperor of Northern Qi had not issued an order not to see Concubine Shu, he took the initiative to go in and pass on the message.
"Your Majesty, the Consort Shu is requesting an audience outside the palace. Do you wish to summon her?"
The Northern Qi Emperor sat in his dragon throne, flipping through the evidence of the Lin family's crimes. The more he read, the tighter his brow furrowed. Previously, he had been obsessed with protecting the Lin family to avoid disrupting the balance.
Now that the Lin family has been held accountable, many overlooked doubts have surfaced.
For example, he arranged for someone to monitor the Lin family, but no one reported the Lin family's numerous crimes to him. Was it that the spy was bribed by the Lin family, or was it that the Lin family had connections and was able to conceal the truth?
No matter which one it was, it made him feel fearful.
If the Lin family had any intention of rebellion, wouldn't they kill him without anyone noticing? And then support the virtuous king to take the throne?
Thinking of this, the Emperor of Northern Qi couldn't help but congratulate himself for being wise enough to deal with the scourge of the Lin family.
He threw the evidence on the table and looked up at the eunuch who came in to report. When he was about to speak, he heard the voice of Concubine Shu outside the hall clamoring to see him, and then he shifted his gaze to the direction of the hall door.
The Northern Qi Emperor pondered for a moment, but ultimately did not meet Concubine Shu: "If Concubine Shu refuses to leave, she will be punished according to the crime of inappropriate behavior before the emperor and sent to the cold palace."
The eunuch's face changed. He did not dare to disobey the Emperor of Northern Qi. He followed the order and left the hall, repeating the Emperor's original words to Concubine Shu.
He pointed out: "Your Majesty, you are not alone. If you don't think about yourself, you must also think about the prince."
Concubine Shu's heart was plunged into ice water. The man who was still whispering to her last night had thrown her whole family into prison today. He didn't even want to see her and even said that he would send her to the cold palace.
As the saying goes: The most ruthless family is the imperial family.
She always thought that the Emperor of Northern Qi treated her differently. Even when she wanted to see Princess Yizhen tame a wild beast, he silently indulged her.
Over the years, whether the Lin family committed crimes or she angered the Emperor of Northern Qi, as long as she showed goodwill, the Emperor of Northern Qi would let bygones be bygones.
So much so that she forgot that there was no difference between the emperors of the world.
Concubine Shu couldn't bear to watch the Lin family being beheaded, nor did she dare to continue making a fuss. She stared at the closed palace door with a pale face.
After a long while, she slowly turned around and walked down the white jade steps, kneeling on the ground, hoping that she would use the trick of self-torture to make the Emperor of Northern Qi pity her, and then give the Lin family a lighter punishment, or even make some concessions and let her meet Old Madam Lin.
The gray sky matched Jing'er's, and fine snow fluttered down and landed all over her.
It was not until the lights were turned on that the Emperor of Northern Qi came out of the imperial study. He saw Concubine Shu kneeling on the steps and paused.
The fine snow fell on her, and she looked like a snowman.
The Northern Qi Emperor slowly walked towards her, standing on the jade steps, looking down at her condescendingly. "I have shown special mercy by not investigating the serious crimes committed by the Lin family. You should be content with that, instead of begging me to grant you extrajudicial favors."
Concubine Shu's teeth were chattering from the cold, and her usually rosy face turned pale. Before she could say anything, tears started to flow.
She said sadly, "Your Majesty, the Lin family has always been upright and honest. I don't believe they would commit such a capital crime. I just want to ask you if there is any other misunderstanding."
"The Lin family blatantly violated the law by smuggling tea to foreign countries. They charged interest several times the original cost, cruelly exploiting the people and causing them to lose their fortunes and families. The Lin family has at least a hundred, if not a thousand, lives."
The Northern Qi Emperor, with a stern face, enumerated the Lin family's crimes and said in a cold voice, "If I don't punish the Lin family, how can I explain this to the people, and how can I maintain the stability of my government?"
Shufei was kneeling in the snow with a slender and thin figure, covered with a thin layer of white snow, looking pale and fragile.
She looked at the Emperor of Northern Qi with red eyes, without saying any sophistry, just crying, looking extremely pitiful.
The Northern Qi Emperor said in a deep voice, "If you are not afraid of the Lin family's case implicating yourself and the virtuous king, then continue to kneel here and plead for the Lin family."
Having said this, the Northern Qi Emperor walked past Concubine Shu.
"Your Majesty..." Eunuch Liu saw Concubine Shu fainted in the snow and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty has fainted."
The Emperor of Northern Qi stopped and turned around to see Concubine Shu lying in the snow, her face so pale that it almost blended into the fine snow.
He thought for a moment, and instead of asking the palace maid to help Concubine Shu return to Zhaohua Palace, he personally carried Concubine Shu back to the imperial study and instructed Eunuch Liu to call the imperial physician.
-
The King of Qi was extremely happy about overthrowing the Lin family. He went to Changle Palace to pay his respects to the Queen and share this happy event.
When he arrived at the gate of Changle Palace, he saw Luzhi coming out of the palace.
Luzhi saw the King of Qi and bowed, "Greetings, Your Highness."
The King of Qi asked, "The weather has been so changeable lately. How is the Queen Mother's health?"
"The Queen's health is no different from previous years and has not improved." Luzhi's face was full of worry, and she felt very sorry for the Queen.
The King of Qi frowned and walked straight into the hall, where he saw the Queen holding a bowl and drinking medicine.
He stood aside, waiting for the queen to finish drinking the medicine. He took the medicine bowl and placed it on the tray. He said with concern, "Mother, you have been bedridden and your health has not improved. I heard that Prince Guangling is on the verge of death and found a miracle doctor who cured him. How about I send someone to the Great Zhou to ask the miracle doctor to come and treat you?"
A smile appeared on the queen's cold face: "Life and death are determined by fate. There is no need to deliberately search for a miracle doctor for me."
"Mother..."
The Queen didn't want to say more, so she interrupted the Prince of Qi and changed the subject: "I heard that you went to expose the Lin family's crimes today?"
As expected, the Prince of Qi echoed the Queen's words, saying, "I have discovered that the Lin family is selling illegal tea and lending money at high interest rates. They have lost lives. Even if Your Majesty wants to protect the Lin family, you wouldn't dare to do so."
Last time, Lin Yi had the intention of murdering the royal heir and wanted to burn the people. Before the conspiracy could succeed, the censor died to remonstrate with the Lin family.
Now that the Lin family has actually done these things, if things really get out of hand, I'm afraid my father won't be able to suppress them.
The queen took a sip of water to dilute the bitter taste in her mouth: "How did you find out?"
The Prince of Qi vividly described to the Queen what had happened in the Lin family tea shop two days ago.
At the end, he said with some emotion, "I have planted spies in the Lin family, but they have never been able to find any evidence against them. If it weren't for a new tea shop that opened in the capital and sold cheaper tea than the Lin family, and if a regular customer hadn't sent people to cause trouble at the tea shop, I don't think we would have found any clues about the Lin family selling illegal tea."
The queen frowned slightly, feeling that this matter was not simple.
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