"Guards! Consort Zhuo Shengjiang is Consort Wanrong, holding the highest position in Chengfu Palace. Investigate Chu Yue thoroughly!"
He had been wanting to teach the former court officials a lesson, and this was the perfect opportunity.
In the Shenxing Division, the palace maids who were interrogated were all tortured. Since there were no servants born to Chu Yue in the palace, they couldn't withstand the torture and all confessed their crimes!
They quickly uncovered all of Chu Yue's actions.
Before long, all the people in the palace were brought before the emperor.
When Chu Yue saw Qi Jingxuan, her face was full of sneers. Only Qiao'er dragged her injured body forward and said, "Your Majesty, this matter was done by me alone from beginning to end. I just couldn't stand Consort Qiao's arrogance. I wanted to help my mistress, so I thought of taking revenge on her. Your Majesty is wrong in every way. Please forgive Consort Qiao!"
She could die, but Chu Yue couldn't. They had grown up together since childhood. The second young master was a premature baby, weak and sickly. What would happen to him if he didn't have a mother?
Only Qiao'er knew how difficult Chu Yue's journey had been. She was willing to sacrifice herself to fulfill the Empress's dream of becoming Empress!
Qi Jingxuan looked at Qiao'er, who was on the verge of death on the ground. This was the bond between sisters. Even though she herself was in dire straits, she was still protecting her empress.
"I remember you, Qiao'er. You are a loyal subject, but your loyalty has been misplaced. You shouldn't have followed someone like Chu Yue and done such despicable things!"
"It was this servant's fault, it has nothing to do with Your Highness!"
"Shut up. The Ministry of Justice will decide right and wrong. Guards, immediately revoke Chu Yue's title of Consort Wanrong and replace her with Consort Jiang from her palace."
Qi Jingxuan stood up and looked around, his eyes devoid of any tenderness. He walked straight to the guard, drew his sword, and stabbed Qiao'er to death with a single blow!
"From now on, in this harem, if anyone dares to harm another's life, I will show no leniency! See clearly, this is the consequence! Humph!"
Chu Yue had never seen such a scene before. She never expected that Qi Jingxuan would be so ruthless.
"Qiao'er, Qiao'er... It's my fault, Qiao'er!" Chu Yue knelt on the ground, crying hysterically.
"It sounds awful! Drag them all away, drag them all away for me!"
He then ignored everyone and returned to the Qianqing Palace.
My injuries have only just started to heal in the last couple of days, but if I stay at Yongshou Palace any longer, things could get really out of hand.
They had intended to keep it a secret, but the main army had already reached the southern border, so it seemed unnecessary now.
Qi Jingxuan looked at Qiao'er on the ground and Chu Yue being dragged away, feeling a mix of emotions.
Upon returning to the Qianqing Palace, he quickly wrote an imperial edict, ordering General Xu to immediately raid the Princess's residence and bring along the evidence of corruption he had previously collected, thus bringing down several princes from the previous dynasty in one fell swoop.
Eunuch Wu did not speak, nor did he grind ink.
It was only after this action that Qi Jingxuan realized that the reason why Eunuch Wu had suddenly stopped making any moves after so many years in the palace was because he wanted to plead for them.
"Eunuch Wu, is there something you want to say?"
"This old servant, this old servant..." Eunuch Wu immediately knelt down. "This old servant is very old. Please, Your Majesty, allow this servant to leave the palace."
So that's how it is. They were afraid of being implicated, so they decided to leave the palace to retire!
"OK!"
Seeing Qi Jingxuan, Eunuch Wu breathed a sigh of relief and knelt on the ground to express his gratitude.
"Xu Yunchuan, send someone to keep an eye on this Eunuch Wu and see what he's up to. Xiao Shunzi, grind the ink for me!"
The Princess's family received a letter from the palace early this morning, saying that Consort Wanrong had made a mistake and might incur the Emperor's wrath. The prepared silver hadn't even been delivered to the palace yet!
When the Chu family learned of the Emperor's punishment of Chu Yue, they were terrified. Many of the maids had already begun packing their belongings and secretly fleeing. By the time General Xu arrived with his men to raid the house, there were hardly any people left.
The Chu family, which had dominated three dynasties, finally declined amidst the changing of emperors.
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