Chapter 174 Ye Chutang follows her husband
In order to make the show complete, the old prince and Concubine Chen immediately knelt before the emperor.
"Your Majesty, Zhou'er was just speaking in anger. The Chen Palace has no intention of rebellion, and has not colluded with the 'Ghost Thief'. Please thoroughly investigate the matter of weapons and tributes!"
The emperor ignored the two and asked Qi Yanzhou, "Is Prince Chen still the head of the family?"
What this means is, will it count if you ask for exile yourself?
Qi Yanzhou nodded affirmatively.
"My decision is the decision of Prince Chen's Mansion. If anyone is unwilling to stand together with the Qi family, then they should take a divorce letter or a severance letter and leave Prince Chen's Mansion. From now on, honor or disgrace will no longer be related to us."
Aunt Su is the emperor's spy and doesn't want to be exiled and suffer at all.
Just as she was about to ask the old prince to write a letter of divorce, she was frightened and shut up by the emperor's cold eyes.
Seeing that no one wanted to leave the Qi family, Qi Yanzhou said to the emperor again: "I ask to be exiled!"
The emperor was delighted, but he asked sternly, "Since Prince Chen has a clear conscience, why did he ask to be exiled?"
"Because the emperor doesn't trust the Qi family, he has long wanted to deprive the Qi family of their titles and wipe them out!"
These words were straightforward and sharp, exposing the emperor's ugly thoughts to the world.
Although the emperor thought so, he would not admit it.
"Nonsense! If I didn't have the tolerance to tolerate others, I wouldn't have given you military power and let you lead the troops to fight!"
Qi Yanzhou thought that since he had already broken off relations with the emperor, there was nothing he couldn't say.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust in allowing me to lead the fewest soldiers, suppress the most fierce bandits, and fight the most uncertain battles."
emperor:"……"
"I trust your ability, so I entrust you with this important task."
Qi Yanzhou looked at the guests and said mockingly, "Your Majesty, please ask them if they believe it?"
Anyone who is not blind can see that the royal family has long intended to eradicate the Qi family.
The Dali Temple Minister was the emperor's man, and he quickly replied, "Yes!"
Many ministers followed suit.
"letter!"
Qi Yanzhou had long lost hope in the corrupt court and was accustomed to officials' fawning over him.
He felt it would be a waste to say anything more, so he looked at the emperor.
"Your Majesty, I ask to be exiled. From now on, you don't have to worry about the Qi family gathering troops and becoming powerful, and the Qi family doesn't have to worry about making mistakes and bringing disaster to the whole family."
The emperor didn't know whether Qi Yanzhou's words were sincere or false.
But it doesn't matter.
Exile was more to his liking than confinement.
"I didn't expect that Prince Chen had such a deep misunderstanding of me. Since you have made up your mind to go into exile, I will not persuade you."
The emperor looked at the officials in the courtyard and said, "From now on, Prince Chen will be stripped of his title, the golden medal of immunity from death and the Shangfang sword bestowed by his ancestors will be taken back, all his property will be confiscated, and he will be exiled on a chosen day. But regarding the matter of weapons and tribute, I will send people to continue investigating and give the people an explanation."
He just said this casually, it is impossible for him to clear the Qi family's name.
Qi Yanzhou bowed to the emperor.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your help!"
"Before the imperial decree of exile is issued, the Qi family is not allowed to leave the front yard."
After the emperor finished speaking, he looked at the Dali Temple Minister.
"Lord Kang, you will be in charge of the confiscation of property."
"I accept your order."
"Eunuch De, please assist from the side."
"I obey your command."
The emperor then instructed the commander of the imperial guards, "Keep an eye on everyone in the Qi family."
Hearing this, Qi Yanzhou said, "Your Majesty, I am asking to be exiled, not guilty. Please spare the innocent servants of Prince Chen's Mansion."
For the emperor, this was just a matter of words.
"Everyone in Prince Chen's Mansion will be thoroughly investigated. If they are innocent, I will naturally not make things difficult for them."
After saying this, the emperor looked at Ye Chutang.
"Miss Ye is not on the Qi family tree yet. She is not a Qi family patriarch, so she can leave."
Everyone's eyes were on Ye Chutang, and they were not surprised at all that the emperor advised her to leave.
They are not stupid and have long realized that the crime of treason against Prince Chen's Mansion was a setup by the Emperor and Ye Jingchuan!
Everyone thought that Ye Chutang would cut off ties with Qi Yanzhou without hesitation.
But she said, "Azhou and I went through the three letters and six ceremonies, got married, and became husband and wife. Even if we are not included in the family tree, we are still members of the Qi family."
When these words were spoken, everyone was shocked except the three people who knew about it.
"The emperor has spoken, but Ye Chutang doesn't appreciate it. What is he thinking?"
"Why would someone ask for trouble? Don't they know that people can die on the road to exile?"
"Qi Yanzhou believes that the Shangshu Mansion framed him, but Ye Chutang wants to be exiled with him. Is he crazy?"
"She may have been blinded by so-called love and wants to follow her husband's lead!"
The emperor listened to the officials' discussions, his anger boiling and his face became terribly gloomy.
"Ye Chutang, are you sure you want to go into exile with the Qi family?"
Ye Chutang heard that the emperor was threatening her with the antidote to force her to enter the palace and become an imperial concubine.
She said, "Your Majesty, I have something important to report to you privately."
The emperor took Ye Chutang to the pavilion in the garden.
The Chen Palace was under the complete control of the Imperial Guards, and there were people checking the garden as well, but that did not affect the conversation between the two.
A set of white jade teapots is placed on the stone table in the pavilion.
The emperor slapped it to the ground.
"Ye Chutang, you don't want to live anymore, right? Why did you go into exile? The plan went wrong. Is it because you like Qi Yanzhou and are interfering with it?"
Instead of being a good imperial concubine, he had to become an exile who could lose his life at any time, which made him think a lot.
Facing the emperor's wrath, Ye Chutang remained very calm.
"The emperor thinks too highly of me. Even if I wanted to help Qi Yanzhou, I couldn't get the letter from Ye Jingchuan colluding with the prince, or the fabric for making the dragon robe."
"You don't have the ability, but you can tell Qi Yanzhou my plan. He has the ability to join forces with the 'Ghost Thief' to turn the tables!"
Ye Chutang kicked the broken tea set away and sat down on the stone bench.
"Your Majesty, please take a seat and let me analyze it for you."
The emperor looked at the stunningly beautiful Ye Chutang, suppressed his anger, and sat down opposite her.
"Go ahead."
Ye Chutang asked the emperor before he could talk nonsense.
"Your Majesty, what do you think is the purpose of the 'Ghost Thief' appearing in the capital?"
The emperor said without hesitation: "Stealing money."
"No, it's the destruction of the country!"
As soon as the words "destroy the country" were uttered, the emperor's face became so gloomy that it seemed as if ink could drip out.
He stared at Ye Chutang coldly, "How did you come to this conclusion?"
"Money is the foundation of a country. Without silver, we cannot buy food and fodder, and we cannot pay the soldiers. Your Majesty should know the consequences of making the soldiers feel discouraged."
Hearing this, the emperor suddenly realized.
"So this is what the 'Ghost Thief' was planning. I underestimated him!"
Ye Chutang rolled his eyes in his heart and asked again.
"Your Majesty, why do you think Qi Yanzhou asked to be exiled?"
The emperor thought about this problem.
"Of course, they are worried that I will use the secret possession of weapons to imprison the Qi family and find an opportunity to wipe out the entire family!"
He was worried that the Qi family would be rehabilitated if they stayed in the capital, and Qi Yanzhou was also worried that he would be wiped out while under imprisonment.
Asking for exile and staying away from the capital is the best choice to preserve the Qi family.
Ye Chutang nodded and gave a conclusion.
"So, the 'Ghost Thief' and Qi Yanzhou are not in the same group. The crime of treason will not benefit the Qi family in any way. Qi Yanzhou's goal can't be exile, right?"
The emperor nodded in agreement.
There is no reason for Qi Yanzhou to destroy the Qi family's century-old reputation and go into exile to suffer!
"Go on."
"I guess the 'ghost thief' attacked Prince Chen's mansion, firstly to avenge Qi Yanzhou's trapping of him, and secondly to set a trap for the emperor and make you despised by the people."
The emperor didn't understand, "What do you mean?"
"It is obvious that the emperor wants to destroy the Qi family. Now, three thousand weapons of unknown origin have been found in the Chen Palace. If the emperor punishes the Qi family for this, the 'ghost thief' will definitely release evidence that the Chen Palace is wrongly accused, and you will become a tyrant who persecutes loyal people!"
After listening to Ye Chutang's analysis, the emperor felt a chill on his back.
"What a vicious mind!"
"It is indeed vicious. As long as the emperor takes action against the Qi family, he will be a tyrant. Now Qi Yanzhou has asked to be exiled. As long as the emperor does not take the opportunity to step on the Qi family, the crisis can be resolved. If the emperor wants to deal with the Qi family, there will be plenty of opportunities on the way to exile and in the place of exile."
Ye Chutang said so much to the dog emperor just to prevent the Qi family from being charged with treason.
Since the Qi family is innocent, they do not have to be bound by the rules of exile and will suffer less.
The emperor felt that what Ye Chutang said made a lot of sense and he admired her even more.
He reached out to touch Ye Chutang's face, "Chu'er, how do you think the imperial decree of exile should be written?"
Ye Chutang suppressed his nausea and slapped the emperor's hand away.
She took preemptive action before the emperor got angry.
"Your Majesty, do you still want to talk about business?"
The emperor tactfully withdrew his reddened hand.
"Please enlighten me, Miss Ye."
The impotent man in his forties pretended to be a gentleman, and Ye Chutang was so greasy that he wanted to vomit.
"The imperial edict only needs to state the facts. It is true that 3,000 weapons were found in Chen Wang Mansion. It is true that Qi Yanzhou asked to be exiled to prove his innocence. It is true that the emperor confiscated Chen Wang Mansion to fill the national treasury. It is true that the emperor let the servants of Chen Wang Mansion go. It is also true that the emperor sympathized with the Qi family and allowed them to be exiled easily."
The emperor nodded repeatedly after hearing this, "That's right, first do enough surface work, then kill the enemy in secret!"
After saying that, he stared at Ye Chutang and asked, "Why did you want to go into exile with the Qi family?"
"I don't want to compete with the three thousand beauties in the harem for a man, and I don't want to be trapped in the palace without freedom."
The emperor knew that Ye Chutang was different from ordinary women.
He said: "I will give you the utmost favor, grant you the title of Imperial Noble Consort, and allow you to leave the palace three times a month."
Ye Chutang refused without hesitation, "No need."
These words made the emperor's face turn cold.
"Are you interested in Qi Yanzhou?"
"How can I possibly look down upon a dying person?"
Hearing this, the emperor suppressed his excitement and asked the question even though he knew the answer.
"What dying man?"
Ye Chutang raised his eyebrows.
"Didn't the emperor give Qi Yanzhou the fire poison? Don't you know that he won't live long?"
"really?"
"Given Qi Yanzhou's physical condition, he won't live more than a month."
The emperor became even more curious, "Then why did you go into exile with him?"
Ye Chutang made up a story, "I want to ask for a favor after helping the emperor eliminate the Qi family."
"What grace?"
"I want a fiefdom to be king."
The emperor looked at the ambitious Ye Chutang and said, "I can eliminate the Qi family without your help!"
"Then let's make a bet. If the emperor can eliminate the Qi family without me, I will return to Beijing to be the imperial concubine. If the emperor needs my help, he will give me a fiefdom. How about that?"
"I promise you!"
"Then let's make a written agreement."
The emperor thought that Ye Chutang's life was in his hands and he did not dare to betray him, so he agreed.
He ordered the Imperial Guards to find pens, ink, paper and inkstone.
Ye Chutang asked, "Has the emperor decided where to exile the Qi family?"
The emperor was not on guard against Ye Chutang and told her his analysis.
The result was the same as Ye Chutang's guess.
Exile - Desert Northwest.
Ye Chutang said: "The Qi family will definitely not be able to reach the northwest. The emperor can use Tianshan County as the final place of exile to show his great grace."
"Okay, then Tianshan County!"
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, the imperial guards brought him writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone.
Ye Chutang wrote the bet himself.
The emperor signed his name with his reign title - Emperor Yongchang - and pressed his handprint.
Ye Chutang accepted the bet, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, it's time for me to go back to the front yard."
"Go ahead. I'll wait for you to return to the capital and become my imperial concubine."
Before leaving, Ye Chutang reminded: "Your Majesty, don't issue the imperial decree of exile too early. You must first check the origin of the weapon, otherwise it will appear too hasty and the people will be suspicious."
She has to set aside time to empty her enemy's warehouse!
The emperor looked at Ye Chutang, who always cared about him, and nodded.
"I understand. Don't worry. I won't let you suffer during your exile."
"Your Majesty, Qi Yanzhou is suspicious by nature, so it is better to let the officers treat everyone equally. You can search his house, but don't search his body."
Ye Chutang said this while fiddling with the golden hairpin on her head.
The emperor understood what Ye Chutang meant.
"Don't worry, I will leave the gold and silver items on my body to the Qi family for use on the road."
But it is hard to say whether the Qi family can keep the gold and silver!
When Ye Chutang returned to the front yard, the tables and chairs used for the banquet in the yard had been cleared out and filled with treasures seized from Prince Chen's Mansion.
The Imperial Guards were still moving out one after another.
Because the emperor did not leave, the officials and their families did not leave either.
They all crowded in the corridors of the side hall and the main hall, looking in amazement at the enormous wealth accumulated by the Qi family.
When the emperor returned from the garden, he was also dazzled by the wealth and glory.
He had always known that the Qi family was wealthy, but he had never expected it to be more than his private treasury.
Such many treasures can not only fill the national treasury, but also fill his private treasury!
Thinking of this, the emperor was in a good mood.
In an instant, worry arose in his heart again.
Will the “ghost thief” lay his hands on these treasures?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
