Chapter 25: Zhaoqing's Horror
The virtuous concubine took it and took a look. It said: The situation is unclear, stay dormant for the time being.
Xian Fei handed the note to Shu Fei, who read it and said, "Very clever."
Then he ordered, "Shihua, have the Duke send a skilled person from his household to investigate the details of Wanhua Tower. Remember not to alert them."
After Concubine Shu finished speaking, Shihua took the order and left.
Tai Chi Palace.
Li Yueyao was giving the emperor a medicinal bath, acupuncture, and reading memorials.
After the emperor fell asleep, Li Yueyao put the Blood Phoenix Bracelet into the emperor's hand again.
After a while, the emperor was heard shouting again: "Mother, Zhaoqing will take care of it.
Grandmother, I was wrong. Don't worry, my relatives wouldn't do that... I promise I won't...
Great-grandmother, I dare not, I dare not..."
Li Yueyao took away the Blood Phoenix Bracelet when she saw that the emperor was about to wake up again.
After waking up, the emperor looked at Li Yueyao and asked, "Aunt, I dreamed of my mother and the Empress Dowager..."
Before Li Yueyao could speak, the emperor asked again, "Where is Zhaoqing?"
"Just keep kneeling in Fengxian Hall." Li Yueyao shrugged indifferently.
The emperor covered his forehead and said, "We can't let her kneel forever. If she agrees to donate money for disaster relief, let her go first."
"What's wrong? Did you dream about her too?" Li Yueyao asked.
"No, just now in my dream, my mother talked about her alone, and I just remembered that she is still in the palace."
Li Yueyao looked at the emperor, not sure what he meant for a moment, so she asked, "Zhaoqing, what do you mean?"
"It's up to you, Auntie, to handle her affairs. I can never be cruel to her.
But in the dream, the Queen Mother was very angry and wanted to come over and beat her up immediately."
Li Yueyao thought for a moment and said, "That's fine, Your Majesty, you can rest first. I'll go to Fengxian Hall and talk to her in front of our ancestors.
If she is obedient, let her go back. If she refuses to change her ways, let her continue kneeling.
If she continues to persist like this, I will just raid her princess residence."
The emperor covered his forehead and nodded.
Li Yueyao took Nanny Qin and Cuiwei to Fengxian Hall.
Usually, half of the lights in Fengxian Hall are lit, but today, because Princess Zhaoqing is here, the clever palace maids lit all the lights in the hall.
When Li Yueyao entered the hall, she saw Zhaoqing sleeping on the futon with his mouth drooling.
He waved his hand back, and everyone stopped at the door and stared.
Li Yueyao walked forward step by step, squatted quietly, and put the Blood Phoenix Bracelet into Zhaoqing's hand.
Then he stood up, knelt on the cushion beside him, and bowed to the ancestral tablet.
Zhaoqing beside him soon began to dream.
"Ah... Mother, I was wrong, ah... Stop hitting me...
Ah...Grandmother...stop hitting me, stop hitting me..."
The maid outside heard it and wanted to come over to see what was happening, but she saw the people Li Yueyao brought standing quietly at the door.
They all gave up all thoughts and stood there, not daring to move.
After a while, Li Yueyao saw that Zhao Qing's voice had become softer and he seemed to be waking up, so she went over and took the Blood Phoenix Bracelet away.
Zhaoqing opened his eyes and saw a person standing in front of him.
Looking at the clothes in front of me, I saw Li Yueyao's face.
Zhaoqing was suddenly startled, sat up, looked around, and found himself in Fengxian Hall.
He quickly straightened his clothes and knelt down facing the altar.
Li Yueyao looked at the tablet on the altar, without even glancing at Zhao Qing, and said, "He's awake.
I just heard you shouting in your dream, "Stop beating me!" How come you were sleeping in Fengxian Hall and got beaten by our ancestors?
Zhaoqing suddenly remembered his dream and felt a surge of fear.
He didn't have time to answer Li Yueyao's words, and bowed earnestly to the tablet on the altar.
Li Yueyao sneered inwardly when she saw Zhaoqing suddenly become pious.
"How's your reflection going?"
Zhao Qing quickly replied, "I know I was wrong. Aunt, please let me go back."
"Come, tell me in front of our ancestors, what did you do wrong?"
Li Yueyao picked up three incense sticks from the side, lit them, and inserted them into the incense burner.
"I shouldn't have kept a lover, shouldn't have amassed wealth, and shouldn't have used the Changping Warehouse and the Zuozang Office..." Zhaoqing's voice was very low.
After saying that, he quickly apologized loudly, "I won't dare to do it again. I was wrong. I was really wrong."
Li Yueyao smiled and said, "You have a good attitude in admitting your mistakes."
Zhao Qing looked up at Li Yueyao and asked cautiously, "Aunt, can I go back now?"
"You know you're wrong, but the punishment hasn't been announced yet, so how can you leave?"
Zhao Qing said with a bitter face: "There is still punishment? Aunt, you decide, I will do everything I can."
"Lingnan is suffering from floods and is short of 1.1 million taels of silver for disaster relief. You will pay for this."
"What?"
Zhaoqing shouted loudly after hearing this.
Li Yueyao raised her hand and hit Zhaoqing on the head.
"In the Fengxian Hall, in front of the ancestors, shouting and yelling, is there any etiquette?"
Zhao Qing didn't care about the slap, but lowered his voice and looked at Li Yueyao with a ferocious face.
"Aunt, where did I get 1.1 million taels of silver?"
"You haven't? Your Majesty has been on the throne for seven years. Starting from the second year, the Left Treasury Office has been underreporting 70,000 to 80,000 taels of silver each year, and the number has been decreasing accordingly.
Over the past few years, the accumulated amount has reached at least one million taels, not to mention the Changping Warehouse."
Li Yueyao still looked at the smoke rising from the incense burner in front of her and said nonchalantly.
"Auntie... I really don't have that much money... Auntie, please forgive me..."
Li Yueyao said, "Look up at the ancestors above and swear that you don't have this 1.1 million taels of silver.
If you lie, your ancestors will come into your dreams and beat you every night. Do you dare?"
Zhaoqing looked up at the tablet. The faces of her mother and grandmother in her dream appeared one after another and beat her. She was a little scared.
These words were hard to say.
After a while, she turned around and pulled Li Yueyao's skirt and begged, "Aunt...Aunt, can you change the punishment? I really don't have any money."
Li Yueyao said: "Okay, before I came, your royal brother said that you should pay the money.
Otherwise, I will demote you to a commoner and confiscate your property, but you will still have to pay the one million taels of silver."
Zhao Qing wailed, "Ah... Father, Mother, Brother, and Aunt bullied me..."
Zhaoqing was wailing when half of the lights in Fengxian Hall suddenly went out.
Seeing this, Li Yueyao said, "Try to wail a few more times. Be careful, your father and mother will come looking for you again tonight."
Zhaoqing was so frightened that he shut up immediately.
Li Yueyao bowed toward the altar again, then looked at Zhao Qing and said, "Choose one of the two. If you've figured it out, send someone to let me know."
After saying that, he walked out of Fengxian Hall and returned to Taiji Palace with Nanny Qin and Cuiwei.
As Li Yueyao walked down the high steps of Fengxian Hall, she heard a scream from inside the hall.
"Ah! Auntie... Auntie, help me... Auntie, I'll give you some money, I'll give you..."
Li Yueyao looked back and saw that half of the remaining lights in Fengxian Hall were extinguished, and the entire hall was pitch black.
Zhaoqing was frightened and panicked, and ran out crawling.
He stumbled down the platform, grabbed Li Yueyao and said, "Aunt, I want to... figure it out... I understand...
I am willing to pay the money, I am willing, I am willing."
Seeing this, Li Yueyao smiled faintly in the darkness and said, "In that case, Nanny Qin will escort Princess Zhaoqing out of the palace.
Tomorrow at noon, deliver 1.1 million taels of silver to me in the west hall of Taiji Palace.
If you don't see the silver, then you can wait in the palace for the imperial decree to confiscate your property."
Zhao Qing was frightened and panicked, nodding his head repeatedly and saying, "Okay, okay."
Seeing this, Li Yueyao continued walking forward, saying, "Yesterday, your brother was knocked unconscious in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
Yesterday and today, his ancestors appeared in his dreams every night, and today you also dreamed of it.
Do you know what this means?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com