"Prince?"
Nalan Yunzhi glanced at Hua Qingcheng who stood up from the seat in the East Palace, and a hint of understanding and unspeakable pain flashed across his sharp eyes.
As a legitimate daughter who returned from the common people, she must be feeling resentful because of her father, Empress Feng Lingyan...
However, Lingyan was no longer with her, and she had been devotedly devoted to her for sixteen years, never having chosen a new queen. Regardless of whether Feng Lingqian in the General's Mansion was Lingyan or not, Lingyan was already far away from her...
Seeing Nalan Yunzhi slightly stunned, Hua Qingcheng glanced at An Zihao beside Nalan Yunzhi and spoke again, saying coldly: "Mother Queen, I oppose the establishment of the noble Lord An as the Emperor, and the Empress of my Laifeng Kingdom, the father of the world!
"I believe that Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess must have her own considerations behind this move. I think it would be better to listen to Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess's opinion." General Ouyang Yiqun raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and he was gloating without any concealment.
Xia Hou Jing, who was sitting at the Pingxi Prince's Palace, also watched the fun and responded without hesitation, "I also think we should consult Her Highness the Crown Princess's opinion."
"As Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess is the crown prince, I also believe that her opinions are of great reference value." Gu Luzhu, the censor of the Censorate, also stood up from his seat and expressed his views.
"I second the motion."
"I second the motion."
"I second the motion."
…
Then, except for Prime Minister Situ Luoyun and General Feng Cailan, all the civil and military officials in Baohua Palace expressed their opinions and overwhelmingly supported Hua Qingcheng.
Seeing this, An Zihao clenched his fists tightly and dug his sharp nails into the flesh, only then was he able to suppress the anger in his heart.
But he had a gloomy face, and he managed a stiff smile. He stared directly at the dashing, bright yellow figure sitting in the East Palace, and asked in confusion, "Your Highness, but...but what did I do wrong to offend Your Highness?"
"Yes, Princess, why are you so determined to oppose me making the Emperor An the empress?" Nalan Yunzhi patted An Zihao's hand beside him gently, trying to comfort the man who seemed to be trembling slightly because of nervousness (actually he was angry).
Then, Nalan Yunzhi sighed slowly and looked at the legitimate daughter below who looked exactly like Feng Lingyan, his eyes full of sadness.
But she said earnestly, "Princess, you oppose my appointing a new queen, but is it because of your father? I lost Lingyan, and I am heartbroken too. But, Princess, Lingyan... he is no longer here. The dead are gone, and the living are like this. You, too, should let it go..."
"Your Majesty, I oppose the enthronement of Noble Emperor An as the Crown Prince. This is not due to personal preference, but rather because the current Noble Emperor, An Zihao, is unworthy of the position. If he were to become Empress, I'm afraid the people would be heartbroken, and the souls of the children who died unjustly in Xiangyang Temple would be restless day and night!"
Hua Qingcheng, dressed in a bright yellow court dress of a princess, exuded a cold aura. She looked at An Zihao, who was sitting on the left side of Nalan Yunzhi, with sharp eyes and cold words, like a thousand-year-old glacier, chilling to the bone, and like ten-thousand-year-old black ice, every word seemed to be able to freeze people's souls.
As Hua Qingcheng finished speaking, silence fell throughout the Baohua Palace. Everyone gasped, then looked in disbelief at Hua Qingcheng, who was speaking confidently at the East Palace seat, and then at the sullen-faced Noble An, who sat beside the Emperor at the top.
Nalan Yunzhi was shocked when she heard this, and her face immediately became solemn. She first glanced at the man beside her leisurely, and then said sternly: "My lady, you can't say this casually. Do you have any evidence?"
Hua Qingcheng bowed solemnly to Nalan Yunzhi and said, "Your Highness has evidence. Queen Mother, do you remember that a while ago, many children disappeared not only in the capital, but also in various parts of our Laifeng Kingdom. In the end, the murderer was pointed to Xiangyang Temple in the northern suburbs of the city?"
"My princess, hasn't the Dali Temple concluded its trial of this case? The main culprit, Wang Zhenyi, died in court; one of the accomplices, Si Tianyu, was also executed by slow slicing; those involved in the case were either beheaded or imprisoned; even the Xiangyang Temple has been sealed off; Wang Zhenyi's accomplice, Gong Yanan, is being wanted nationwide. Are there any other questions about this case?" Nalan Yunzhi looked puzzled.
"Mother Queen, this is a huge problem! Do you know why Wang Zhenyi, the fake Taoist priest from Xiangyang Temple, wants to kidnap children?" Hua Qingcheng asked directly in a sharp tone.
At the mention of this, Nalan Yunzhi's expression grew serious. "Didn't he say that he used the heart blood of young girls and boys to make pills, and used the remaining blood to water the red rose flower fields?"
"That's right. Then does the Queen Mother know what the effects of these pills are?" Hua Qingcheng asked again a soul-searching question.
Nalan Yunzhi sighed and said, "It is so inhumane and cruel, it must be an evil creature."
"What the Queen Mother said is absolutely true. It is indeed an evil object, and it is... it is also an evil object that can make people radiant and young and beautiful!"
"Young and handsome..." Upon hearing this, Nalan Yunzhi looked at the handsome man next to him who looked to be in his early twenties in disbelief.
"Madam... Madam, you... you mean..." Nalan Yunzhi felt uneasy as she thought of a possibility. She suddenly sat up, staggered back two steps, and raised her hand, trembling, to point at An Zihao beside her.
"The Queen Mother guessed correctly. The reason why your Lordship, Emperor An, becomes more and more beautiful day by day is because he took the 'Golden Pill for Rejuvenation' made from the heart blood of young girls and boys!" Hua Qingcheng's face was as gloomy as water, and she spoke word by word.
An Zihao suppressed his fear and quickly knelt to protest, "Your Majesty, Your Highness is slandering me. I have never done anything so heinous!"
"Hmph, if you don't want others to know, then don't do it yourself. I will expose your mask in public because I already have solid evidence." Looking at An Zihao who was struggling to death, Hua Qingcheng sneered.
Nalan Yunzhi clutched her aching chest, but she closed her eyes slightly and then opened them again, suppressing the myriad thoughts surging in her heart. She then looked at Hua Qingcheng and said expressionlessly, "Show me the evidence."
"A Zuo!"
Following Hua Qingcheng's order, Shan Zuo, dressed in black, walked in from outside Baohua Hall, escorting a young eunuch.
As An Zihao, seated at the head of the table, watched the increasingly familiar figure approaching from outside the hall, his legs weakened and his expression suddenly darkened. This was because the figure was none other than Xiao Xinzi, his personal attendant.
"Xiao Xinzi, why don't you tell the truth?"
Hua Qingcheng walked up to Xiao Xinzi and looked down at him condescendingly. That cold look contained the immense pressure of someone in a higher position, causing Xiao Xinzi's body and soul to tremble uncontrollably...
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