Chapter 54: The Servant Wants to Become a Nun
This accusation is like pouring cold water into boiling oil!
Yun Zhao stopped crying instantly, her eyes widening in disbelief. Then, grief and indignation filled her, and her voice suddenly rose, carrying the extreme pain and indignation of being slandered, echoing throughout the side hall: "Your Highness! You and the Imperial Concubine were caught in this shameful act by His Majesty! Instead of reflecting on your own mistakes, you dare to slander and frame me?! Since you already have someone in your heart, why are you still clinging to this engagement, putting me in such an embarrassing situation?! You...you are simply going too far!"
[Acting? Everyone knows how to act! You bastards, tonight I'll ruin your reputation!]
Yun Zhao seemed to be overwhelmed by great grief and humiliation. He suddenly broke free from Xiao Jin's hand and rushed towards the closed palace door regardless of anything!
"Shang Shi can't do that!" Wang Gui exclaimed, but it was too late.
“Bang—!”
Yun Zhao used all his strength to shove the heavy palace door open! Dazzling light poured into the dimly lit hall, illuminating the area outside—which was packed with clan members, important officials, and prominent female officials and eunuchs from the six palaces who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the news! The quarrels and cries from within the hall had already been heard through the crack in the door!
The unbearable scene in the hall was instantly exposed to everyone's eyes!
After the dead silence, there were uncontrollable gasps and whispers!
Yun Zhao's eyes searched anxiously among the crowd, and instantly locked onto his pale mother. As if she had found her only support, she burst into heartbreaking sobs and rushed over:
"Mother! Please help me! The King of Qin... he and the Imperial Concubine... I want to cancel the engagement! I'd rather die than marry such a shameless man! Please, Father and Mother, help me!"
Almost at the same time, a palace maid's terrified scream broke the eerie silence:
“Ah! It’s…it’s Concubine Su! The disheveled Concubine Su!”
The scream was like lighting a powder keg!
In the crowd, Su Yuan, Su Mingli's father and the current cabinet minister, saw his face instantly turn from blue to black, then from black to purple, and finally to a terrifying ashes. He trembled all over, pointed at the hall, and roared fiercely, trying to save the last bit of face:
"Shut up! Shut up! This... there must be a huge misunderstanding here! Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please see clearly--!" His voice was filled with a desperate roar, but it was drowned out by the buzzing discussions of the crowd and Yun Zhao's sad cries.
Yun Zhao's shocking push was like lighting a fuse, completely detonating a carefully planned palace scandal in full view of everyone!
Yun Chongshan's hair stood on end in anger. He took a step forward, his voice like a bell, carrying with it the murderous aura tempered by the battlefield: "This is intolerable, what is unbearable! Your Majesty! I, Yun Chongshan, beg for your permission to cancel the engagement! My daughter has suffered such a great humiliation, and my heart is broken! If I cannot cancel the engagement, I cannot face my ancestors, let alone defend the territory for Your Majesty!"
Behind him, everyone in the Yun family knelt down in unison, their grief and anger rushing straight into the palace.
"No!" Empress Dowager Zhou's stern voice carried unquestionable majesty. She hurried over, supported by palace maids, her well-maintained face now clouded with gloom. "Please calm down, Duke! There must be something fishy going on! Marriage is a matter of great importance, and it was given by the late Emperor. How can we treat it as a joke? Can we just call it quits? We have to investigate thoroughly..."
"A thorough investigation?!" Yun Zhao suddenly raised her head, her forehead stained with red marks from the heavy knock she had just made. There was no trace of cowardice in her eyes anymore, only the bitterness and determination of being forced into a desperate situation. Her voice was low, but it clearly drowned out the lingering sound of the empress dowager, with a heart-wrenching sadness: "Your servant witnessed with your own eyes my fiancé and the imperial concubine in the same room with disheveled clothes. In front of so many people, where is the face of the royal family? Where is your innocence?! Father and Mother! I am an unfilial daughter! I cannot retreat, I cannot die, I only wish to shave my head and become a monk, to spend the rest of my life in the presence of the Buddha! I beg Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, for permission!"
She kowtowed again, and the sound of her forehead touching the cold gold brick struck everyone's heart.
"How dare you!" Xiao Jin strode over, his dragon robe bringing up a gust of wind. He pulled Yun Zhao up from the ground with such force that she staggered.
His gaze was like lightning, sweeping across the entire room, carrying with it the pressure of an emperor and undeniable heartache. "Yun Zhao! You are a fifth-rank Shang Shi appointed by me personally! I didn't kill you, nor did I ask you to become a monk, so you must live well for me! You are the victim in this matter, how can I let you suffer any more injustice!" He suddenly turned to the Queen Mother, his voice suddenly rising, filled with long-suppressed resentment: "Mother! Do you know how I feel? One is my bedmate, and the other is my brother! How long will you continue to be so partial?! Tell me, who has such great ability to frame them?! Is it their servants? Or a powerless female official?!"
Every word pierced his heart! The palace was in a dead silence. Indeed, if he had not willingly fallen into the trap, who could have forced these two precious royal relatives?
Su Yuan's face was ashen, and he fell to his knees, his voice trembling: "Your Majesty! I...I have failed to teach my daughter well, and I deserve death! I beg Your Majesty..."
"Of course you're a bad parent!" Xiao Jin interrupted harshly, showing no mercy. "You're to blame for Su Mingli's humiliation today!" He turned his gaze to Yun Chongshan, his tone heavy and resolute, "But the Yun family is a family of loyal valiant men for generations! Last time, the Duke was framed for corruption by the Imperial Guards Commander Zhou Si, and I've investigated. It was a traitor! I'll investigate the mastermind behind this! Today, my female attendant has suffered such a terrible humiliation. If I don't respond, how can I convince the people? How can I face the loyal ministers of this world?!"
He took a deep breath, his gaze swept across the silent ministers, finally landing on the pale Xiao Yan and the limp Su Mingli. His voice, like the clanging of metal, echoed through the hall with the emperor's decisiveness:
"Pass on my oral order! Effective immediately, the engagement between Yun Zhao and Qin Wang Xiao Yan is annulled! Su Mingli, for defiling the imperial palace, is deposed from her position as Imperial Concubine, stripped of her title, and demoted to the rank of commoner! Immediately escorted to the National Temple, where she will be shaved and forced to practice Buddhism. Without my decree, she will never be allowed to leave the temple or marry!"
"Prince of Qin, Xiao Yan, has trespassed into the forbidden inner palace and behaved improperly. He is hereby confined to the palace for six months! No one is allowed to visit without my permission! Anyone who violates this will be punished with the same crime!"
"Your Majesty!" Empress Dowager Zhou screamed, trying to make a final struggle, "Ali must have been ambushed! Emperor, you can't be so hasty! We need to investigate thoroughly..."
"A thorough investigation?!" Xiao Jin turned abruptly, his gaze like an icy blade piercing the empress dowager. His voice suddenly rose, filled with thunderous fury: "Mother! Do you want the world to laugh at me for being a tyrant who can't even investigate the scandals in the harem?! Do you want to dishearten Duke Yun and the entire court?!"
"The Jingxiang rebellion is imminent, and the Duke will lead his troops into battle tomorrow! In my mother's heart, the safety of this country is not as important as a royal scandal with irrefutable evidence?! Or does my mother think that my sword...is not sharp enough?!"
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