Chapter 101 Everything is going well in the city
Starting with the Governor-General of Liangjiang, the officials colluded with each other, and their corruption and dereliction of duty led to the destruction of the river embankment and the devastating floods. Yin Mingyun took the blame for this crime.
Before the emperor had even returned to the capital, the edict to depose the crown prince had already been circulated throughout the land.
In addition, there were also punishments for other members of the Crown Prince's faction, including the Prince of Ying being demoted to a Prince of the Second Rank, and the Prince of Rui being stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner...
Kunning Palace
"Smack—"
A series of loud crashes and smashes ensued as Empress Wang smashed everything within her sight and reach throughout the palace to pieces in her rage.
If it weren't for the guards inside and outside Kunning Palace, Empress Wang, who was already acting like a madwoman, would have rushed out of there.
"The deposed crown prince?!"
"Yun'er has been the crown prince for so many years, how could he be deposed now?!"
Empress Wang's eyes were bloodshot from years of suppressed frustration.
At this moment, she walked barefoot in the hall, her whole body filled with resentment, questioning him bitterly.
"The floods in the two rivers are nothing more than a natural disaster. It's just that those lowly people are unlucky. What does it have to do with Mingyun?"
"The emperor used to favor that lowly woman Zhang, and then he promoted Yin Mingmao, who has repeatedly competed with my Yun'er!"
There are guards both inside and outside the palace, so there's no need to talk about "walls having ears"; they're just openly shouting.
Inside the hall, Consort Zhao and Nianqin quickly stepped forward to persuade Empress Wang.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please be careful with your words."
"Your Majesty, you must not act so impulsively."
"Your Majesty..."
Clearly, no one could stop the mad Empress Wang.
Having endured years of pent-up frustration, Empress Wang managed to maintain her rationality through that sliver of hope, barely managing to hold back.
Now that even this last glimmer of hope had been cruelly and completely extinguished, Empress Wang felt as if she were a ball of fire burning within her.
"Even this is not enough for His Majesty. In recent years, he has also been favoring that lowly slave girl from the inner palace, Lady Jiang!"
"For her sake, he disregarded all sentimentality, confining me, the Empress, to the palace for over a decade, making me a laughingstock throughout the land!"
"Favoring a concubine at the expense of the wife!"
"How disheartening are these incidents, one by one?"
"Seeing that the wicked child raised by that lowly servant is getting old, you can't wait to make room for him, can you?"
"The emperor has now deposed the crown prince. Ha, what else is he going to do? Next, he'll order the execution of all these people?"
"Very well, I will leave the palace today. I want to ask the Emperor in person!"
Empress Wang showed no fear whatsoever in the face of the armed guards outside.
Instead, she became even more aggressive and threatening—
"Come on, draw your swords!"
"Draw your sword against me! It would be best if blood were spilled all over Kunning Palace, so that all the people of the land could see how an emperor favors his concubine and murders his wife!"
At this moment, naturally no one dared to draw their sword against Empress Wang.
Without the emperor's permission, no one dared to lay a hand on Empress Wang.
Only a few palace maids could grit their teeth and step forward to block Empress Wang's path.
"Your Majesty the Empress!"
Having regained some of her composure, Consort Zhao stopped Empress Wang, then knelt before her, tightly hugging her legs, and repeatedly pleaded with her head tilted back.
"Your Majesty, I know you are filled with grievances, but the matter is already settled."
"Moreover, even if the crown prince is deposed, His Highness is still the Prince of Qinghe, and he can still go to his fiefdom in the future."
The fact that Consort Zhao's son, the Prince of Ying, was only stripped of his title and demoted, and that his life was not in danger, was a stroke of good fortune for Consort Zhao.
Now that the Crown Prince's fate has been decided, if these people are willing to obediently accept the imperial decree, there will naturally be no problem. Even if the emperor doesn't show any mercy, the punishment will end there.
If Empress Wang continues to be so relentless, her resentment bordering on madness and near-suicidal, who knows if the emperor will grant her wish, then turn his anger on others and punish her again.
Consort Zhao had no intention of letting her and her son be buried with the insane Empress Wang.
"Your Highness, His Highness is the most filial son. Even now, he must still want to serve you well. If you act so impulsively, how will His Highness face the consequences?"
"And then there's the young prince, and His Highness Prince Rui. Prince Rui has always been frail, and now that he's been demoted to a commoner, besides you, who else in this world could care for and look after His Highness?"
"Your Majesty, I beg you to reconsider!"
Zhao Jieyu's desperate pleas shoved at Empress Wang's sanity.
Empress Wang stood there blankly.
Now that things have come to this, she is naturally not afraid of anything. She even wishes she could end it all and risk making Emperor Xuanpei infamous in history.
But in this world, even the dead have to consider the living. Could Empress Wang really drag everyone down with her for this sake?
"Thud—"
Empress Wang held the gold hairpin in her hand, and the hairpin hidden in her sleeve fell to the ground.
Startled, Consort Zhao quickly picked up the gold hairpin that had fallen to the ground.
Huiyue knelt before Empress Wang, carrying the embroidered shoes, and helped her put them on. Then, she and the other palace maids helped Empress Wang walk into the palace.
Empress Wang did not struggle; she let these people do as they pleased. However, as she was being helped to the inner palace, she threw her head back and burst into laughter.
A noblewoman of the Langya Wang clan, betrothed by the late emperor, and destined to be empress... She lived a life of unparalleled power and prestige, but in the end, she became a laughingstock.
"Jiang Qingxue, Jiang Qingxue, your younger sister is much more capable than you."
"She'll do anything to climb the ladder. If you saw her like this now, would you still be able to laugh?"
Empress Wang chuckled and murmured, "If you had even half her skill, you wouldn't have ended up dying with your eyes wide open in disbelief."
......
Yuheyuan
Seeing that many guards had suddenly appeared in the palace, Consort Zhang was initially startled, thinking that Prince Rui and his men were about to make a move.
As it turned out, those were all people from the imperial court. Yanqing Garden was immediately surrounded, and the Crown Prince was deposed... Well, Empress Wang has extraordinary abilities; she'll never be able to turn things around in this lifetime.
As for other matters, Consort Zhang was too lazy to say anything more. She waved her hand at Prince Qi and said, "Once we return to the capital, you should hurry to your fiefdom and take up your post."
Even now, Prince Qi was still somewhat dazed. He had been fighting with the Crown Prince for so many years, and seeing that there was little hope, he had already given up, but the Crown Prince suddenly fell from power.
“I have had a good relationship with the Jiang family over the years, and Mingchen is a good person. They have no reason to make things difficult for me.”
"Don't get involved in these things in the capital anymore."
Consort Zhang didn't have any good instructions for Prince Qi; on the contrary, she was quite reluctant to part with her little grandson.
As she saw Prince Qi off, she couldn't help but say, "Let the Princess and Ping'er stay with me for a few more days." After all, it would be difficult to see them again later.
Prince Qi looked up at Consort Zhang, whose eyes were lined with fine lines, and after a long while, he smiled softly and said, "Mother, I will build you a garden in Shangluo, just like the one in Huicheng."
Consort Zhang paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Okay."
......
After the floods, the greatest fear is the epidemic. Even though he had been deposed as crown prince, Yin Mingyun still requested to stay in Liangjiang to guard against the disaster.
As the lush green leaves of the long Xiang tree in Chengji Palace turned golden, the Emperor returned to his temporary palace.
"Mother!"
Azhu reached out and hugged the Seventh Princess, who was rushing straight towards her.
"Mother," the Seventh Princess said, hugging A-Zhu and nuzzling against her, "I missed you so much."
Not only the Seventh Princess, but even the Ninth Prince could not hide his excitement and hurried towards A-Zhu.
"Mother..."
The Seventh Princess, who was holding A-Zhu, stepped back a little, and knelt down with the Ninth Prince before A-Zhu: "These days, we have worried our mother."
Tears immediately fell down her cheeks. A-Zhu stepped forward and helped one of them up with one hand, saying repeatedly, "Good children, it's good that you're back, it's good that you're back, get up quickly."
After the Seventh Princess and the Ninth Prince stood up, Granny Azhu touched this one and then that one, her eyes filled with tears but she smiled and said, "You've gotten darker, thinner... and taller."
As the autumn wind began to blow outside, the Seventh Princess and the Ninth Prince quickly helped A-Zhu into the palace.
Azhu glanced instinctively toward the entrance of the palace.
Seeing this, the Ninth Prince said softly, "Mother, Father, he went to see Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother."
Azhu nodded.
"Mother, Mother." The Seventh Princess held Ah Zhu's hand and excitedly recounted her experiences along the way.
"After leaving the capital, we traveled by boat with the Master to Shuntian Prefecture."
The seventh princess couldn't help but gesture with her hand.
"The official boats are so tall and so big, with three or four stories. They are much bigger than the dragon boats I've seen in the palace. Oh, and there are also the salt merchants' boats, lined up in a long row on the river... It looks quite spectacular."
"besides......"
Where the Seventh Princess is, it will never be deserted.
Moreover, it was what she had personally witnessed along the way.
This is completely different from the scene that passes by in a carriage or sedan chair.
The chief priest led them on a steady journey, interacting with all sorts of people, and the seventh princess was moved to speak at this moment.
Genuine feelings are always the most attractive. Even Qingliu and Lvfu, who were bringing the soup, couldn't help but listen attentively and act as the "straight man".
After lunch, seeing that the Seventh Princess was rubbing her eyes sleepily, A-Zhu wanted her to go back and rest, but the Seventh Princess was reluctant to leave, saying that she was not sleepy.
"How about resting here with Mother?"
Ah Zhu smiled and ruffled the Seventh Princess's hair. "You sleep in the inner palace, and Chen'er will sleep in the inner palace too. Take a short nap. Your mother wants to hear you talk about the Minhou King from the common people."
Despite saying she wasn't sleepy, the Seventh Princess lay down on the couch and fell asleep almost immediately. Yin Mingchen, smelling the familiar, faint fragrance of the palace, also slowly closed his eyes.
A-Zhu got up, walked around the screen, and came out, only to see Emperor Xuanpei already at the palace gate.
Emperor Xuanpei also saw Azhu. His expression softened, and he gave a faint smile.
The person in front of me flapped their wings and "flew" straight towards me like a bird returning to its nest.
With a "whoosh," Emperor Xuanpei reached out and caught the person in his arms.
Hearing Ah Zhu's soft sobs, Emperor Xuanpei, who was holding her tightly, patted her back and kissed her hair.
"I am back."
......
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