Feng Changye's voice was solemn.
"My fault is that I am naturally irritable and easily disobey others' advice. I am stubborn and self-willed and willfully follow my own way."
"My temper scares you, making you only dare to argue and advise me on trivial matters. But when it comes to matters of great importance, such as those concerning the royal family, you dare not offend me. It is my brutality that makes you choose to keep silent and protect yourselves."
He looked at everyone. "Just like last time."
"News has arrived from the border that the Duke of Zhenguo has betrayed his country by surrendering to the enemy. The death of 40,000 soldiers, coupled with the testimony of the generals defending the city, makes the matter seem irrefutable."
"Then, I learned from the Queen Mother that the Duke of Zhenguo was born to Princess Xiyuan. With Xiyuan blood flowing in his veins, it was only natural for him to betray Daning. So, I became stubborn and decided to kill the entire Zhu family."
"At that time, you all knelt down and begged me to investigate thoroughly. Many of you even risked your lives to protect the Zhu family—"
"But I said that anyone who dared to plead for the Zhu family would be guilty of the same crime as the Zhu family. I was furious and immediately dismissed the Imperial Envoy from his position. I scared you so much that you never dared to speak against my will again."
"It is my brutality that has silenced you. It is me that has made you lose your trust in me."
He stood up slowly.
"Ever since I nearly accidentally killed a member of the Zhu family that day, I've reflected deeply on this and decided to change my violent ways. I'm sure you, my dear ministers, have seen this over the past two months, haven't you?"
"Over the past two months, you have become increasingly bold, sometimes even getting outrageous. However, I have been suppressing my temper and have not threatened to chop off your heads to frighten you, have I?"
"I made mistakes, and I am correcting them. In three days, I will lead you all to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to reflect on my mistakes before our ancestors."
"I also hope that from now on, you, my dear ministers, will work with me to govern this world well. Do not turn a blind eye to the evil deeds of my royal relatives and nobles, and allow them to harm my people, out of fear that I will kill them."
He stood with his hands behind his back and slowly glanced at everyone, "Did you hear clearly, my dear ministers?"
The ministers were very moved after hearing this.
They looked at the emperor sitting on the dragon throne with red eyes. Indeed, the emperor had restrained himself a lot in the past few months and was no longer as moody and capricious as before.
The emperor is making changes, and they are really touched.
The emperor is going to the Taimiao to reflect on his mistakes, so how could they not believe him?
Then the left and right prime ministers looked at each other and walked out on their knees.
"Your Majesty, I have something to report—"
Feng Changye looked at the two of them and nodded with satisfaction, "Speak."
The Left Prime Minister clenched his fists and looked at the emperor with some worry, then comforted himself in his heart, don't be afraid, just treat it as a test for all the officials to see if the emperor's words about correcting his violent temper are true or not!
"Your Majesty, among the royal family, the only one who has committed many evil deeds is the Si family. I don't have anything else to report—"
The Left Prime Minister said cautiously, "I want to report to the Emperor about something. It's the daughter of the former Crown Prince..."
The daughter of the former crown prince?
Hearing these five words, Feng Changye was slightly stunned.
He ascended the throne seven years ago, and the former crown prince, second prince and fourth prince died eight years ago respectively.
At that time, several princes were fighting among themselves. The second prince wanted to get rid of the crown prince and become the heir to the throne. The crown prince was enraged by the second prince. Not only did he want to get rid of the second prince, he also wanted to get rid of the fifth prince, who was favored by his father, the emperor who was good at acting.
In order to protect himself, he was forced to join this chaotic battle for the crown prince.
It's hard to tell who's right or wrong, or who's more cruel and ruthless. The Crown Prince and the Second Prince plotted to make him fall off a cliff and nearly die. They later framed him several times. After escaping death, he ruthlessly killed the two men.
It no longer mattered who was right or wrong back then. After the Crown Prince, the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince died, he became the Crown Prince and the Emperor.
He hadn't considered exterminating the Crown Prince and the Second Prince's children. But he couldn't let them live out their lives under his watch, so he found a remote royal manor and dumped them there, leaving them to live under the watchful eyes of his guards.
Seven years after he ascended the throne, no one dared to mention the former crown prince and the second prince in front of him. He was busy with his own things all day long, and he was almost forgetting these children.
So, when he heard the Left Prime Minister say the five words "daughter of the former crown prince", he was stunned.
After clearing his mind, he came to his senses and looked at the Left Prime Minister.
"What happened to her?" "Reporting to the Emperor——"
The Left Prime Minister, unsure whether the Emperor would be angry, whispered, "The former Crown Prince's daughter is eleven years old this year. She bears a striking resemblance to the former Crown Princess. Even before she reached the age of marriage, she already possesses a captivating beauty... Therefore, the guards who were assigned to guard them recently harbored evil intentions towards her..."
Feng Changye immediately became angry, "Did the guard hurt her?"
The Left Prime Minister hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Although the guard had evil intentions, he didn't dare to harm anyone in the royal family. He wanted to secretly take the former Crown Prince's daughter away from the manor and hide her in Yanliu Street. He wanted to use the royal woman as a gimmick to attract the wealthy young men in Kyoto to spend a fortune with her..."
Feng Changye became even more furious after hearing this!
Even if a royal woman is a prisoner, she is still a prisoner of him, the emperor. How can others touch her?
That guard was so bold that he actually dared to sell the princess like a prostitute. He deserves to die!
The Left Prime Minister continued, "What I want to talk about is that on the night the former Crown Prince's daughter was kept in Yanliu Street, your cousin, the Seventh Young Master of the Si Family, spent five thousand taels to buy the former Crown Prince's daughter's virginity... But after the Seventh Young Master of the Si Family entered the former Crown Prince's daughter's room that night, she raped him..."
The Left Prime Minister felt it was an insult and could not bring himself to speak.
After taking a deep breath, the Left Prime Minister continued, "The former Crown Prince's daughter knocked him unconscious, then used the iron spikes from the candlestick to pierce his lower body, turning it into a pulp... She also severed the tendons in his hands and feet and blinded one of his eyes..."
Hearing this, Feng Changye was stunned.
He thought he would hear his niece being bullied, but he didn't expect to hear this twist!
Instead of being bullied, his niece beat the bully into a pulp!
He is worthy of being a member of the royal family!
Even though he grew up like a prisoner in a village, he still has blood and pride in his bones!
The corners of his mouth curled up with a hint of pleasure, "Well, where is my niece now?"
The Left Prime Minister hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, your second uncle wanted to take her back to the Si family to punish her privately. I secretly intervened and rescued her from your second uncle. She is now imprisoned in the manor's woodshed, guarded by a family guard I sent."
Feng Changye nodded, as long as the person is okay.
He said, "Then bring her to me, and I will examine her myself and decide what to do with her."
Glancing at the relieved Left Prime Minister, he frowned, "If I don't have a frank conversation with you today, are you planning to keep this a secret from me forever?"
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