They had long been disgusted with the Queen. How could she have spoiled a mere consort? Why couldn't she fly to heaven? The Queen was, after all, a woman, and she was really short-sighted.
These princes did not say they did not care in the past, which meant they thought these trivial household chores were not suitable for men to take care of, and they did not want to be the first to offend the emperor and empress.
Now that things have come to this point and Prince Li has stepped forward, they couldn't help but whisper a few words.
The sounds were not loud, but they were clearly heard by the emperor, as if he were being slapped in the face.
Prince Li ignored the emperor's ugly expression and said righteously, "Since the emperor is unable to take care of his sister, the empress dowager can take care of her. This is also the empress dowager's love for her children."
These words stabbed into the emperor's heart like a knife.
emperor:"……"
The emperor's breathing became more rapid, and his angry eyes were fixed on Prince Li.
He wanted to get angry, but there were at least seven or eight clan elders, whether distant or close, present, especially Prince Li. Prince Li was the clan leader and the late emperor's legitimate brother, and was highly regarded by the late emperor. In the past, he even dared to scold the late emperor. It was only in recent years that he had grown older and his temper had improved a lot.
The emperor was holding back his anger, standing with his hands behind his back, and said through his teeth: "Uncle, I was negligent."
The emperor listened with leniency to these words and took the queen's words upon himself, causing several princes to stroke their beards and nod with satisfaction.
In fact, the emperor hated Gu Jue and Queen Mother Yin in his heart, and this mother and son insisted on making things difficult for him during the New Year.
The emperor used all his strength to suppress the raging dragon in his heart. He did not turn around to look at Gu Jue, but continued to look at Prince Li and said, "In the future, I will ask the queen to take good care of the imperial sisters."
He said it lightly, wanting to pass on the topic as quickly as possible. It was New Year's Day, and the emperor had no interest in standing in the cold wind and being scolded.
He lost all his face today!
Gu Jue in the crowd at the back didn't say a word, nor did he whisper anything to the others around him. He just watched the emperor being scolded quietly.
Now that the emperor's lecture was over, Gu Jue suddenly spoke up: "My royal brother cares about the whole country, so it's inevitable that he will lose sight of one thing while focusing on another."
His expression and tone were calm, and there was no emotion in his words, but when these words came out of his mouth, they naturally carried a hint of sarcasm.
To the emperor, words like "caring about the world" and "losing sight of the big picture" sounded meaningful and pointed.
The emperor's expression, which had finally recovered a bit, became visibly worse, and the air suddenly cooled down.
The clan members around immediately sensed the strange atmosphere, and they all consciously moved to the sides, leaving a path between the emperor and Gu Jue.
The emperor slowly turned around and looked directly at Gu Jue. The two brothers were less than two meters apart.
There were two brothers. One was not yet forty, but his hair was already gray and his brows were covered with deep wrinkles from his irritability. The other was just over 40, in the prime of his life. He looked so handsome and energetic in a bright red leather suit that he looked like the blazing sun in the sky, attracting everyone's attention.
In this solemn atmosphere, Gu Jue remained calm and composed, and casually moved the sleeve warmer from his left sleeve to his right sleeve.
In addition to charcoal fire, incense was also placed in the sleeve stove, so a faint fragrance wafted out, filling the sleeves with fragrance.
The elegant fragrance carried into the emperor's nose with the wind, but it only made him feel suffocated.
The emperor curled his lips coldly: "Gu Jue, are you blaming me?"
The emperor called Gu Jue by his name, and the atmosphere became increasingly solemn and depressing.
Crown Prince Gu Nanjin looked gloomy and felt empty inside. He had mentioned Princess Jingle's affairs to the Queen several times in the past, but the Queen didn't listen and the Emperor didn't even want to hear it.
The emperor and the empress are both responsible for the situation having come to this point.
"You are overthinking, my brother." Gu Jue's expression was indifferent, and his wide sleeves were puffed up by the cold wind. "Jingle and the others are close to our mother. I am very happy to hear that they can often come to the palace to pay respects to our mother. That is also fulfilling their filial piety for us. What do you think, my brother?"
“……”The emperor’s expression changed again and he did not answer.
The princesses did not need to hand over their badges when entering the palace. After all, the palace was the princesses' natal home, and there was no reason to stop them from returning to their natal home. If the emperor and empress ordered the princesses not to enter the palace, it was often because the princesses had made a serious mistake.
The emperor suddenly understood that Gu Jue and the empress dowager and her son were trying to win over Jingle and the others in such a roundabout way, probably just for this reason.
If the eldest princesses went to Shouning Palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager from time to time, and the Empress did not go, it would be considered as unfilial. That would mean that the Empress, the princes, the princesses and other younger generations would have to go to the Empress Dowager often to "perform their filial duties."
As long as the Queen Mother can show her face, she can use filial piety to suppress the Queen.
The Queen Mother clearly wanted to seize power and take back her control over the harem step by step. The matter between Jingle and Lu Fangrui was just a means for her to achieve this goal.
The more the emperor thought about it, the more he felt that this was the truth. With a cold look in his eyes, he objected without saying a word: "Ninth brother, mother has not been feeling well these years and needs to rest. It is better not to let her worry too much."
Others were not surprised by the emperor's reaction. After all, the emperor had been trying to control Gu Jue by imprisoning the queen mother for many years, so how could he easily agree to "release" the queen mother? Gu Jue sighed quietly, "Over the years, my mother has been bedridden all year round, and as a son, I am also very heartbroken..."
The emperor consciously evaded the topic, with a slight smile on his lips, but heard Gu Jue continue: "Royal brother, in my opinion, this imperial physician is too useless. Why don't we ask the genius doctor from Jishidiang to take a look?"
"When my father was alive, my mother was always in good health. How come after my father passed away, my mother has been sick for more than 300 days a year?"
emperor:"!!!"
The emperor's heart skipped a beat and he thought to himself that something was wrong.
He was wrong before. Gu Jue was actually waiting for him here!
Prince Li and other princes of the royal family looked at each other in bewilderment. Some of them had already sensed something unusual in Gu Jue's words.
Before the emperor could react, Gu Jue asked another question: "Brother, I wonder what disease the Queen Mother has?"
The emperor gritted his teeth and told the public what he had said over the years: "My mother suffers from liver and kidney yin deficiency, and her yin cannot contain her yang, causing her liver yang to rise. As a result, she often suffers from dizziness, sore waist and knees."
"Really?" Gu Jue raised his eyebrows, "Did my royal brother really go to pay his respects to the Queen Mother? The Queen Mother drinks ginseng tea every day. As far as I know, ginseng tea cannot be used for hyperactivity syndrome."
emperor:"!!!"
The emperor naturally didn't know whether people with Yang hyperactivity could drink ginseng tea. He couldn't help but look at Eunuch Ni with a seeking look, and Eunuch Ni nodded slightly.
The expressions of the other princes around them became increasingly strange.
Everyone knew that it was impossible for the emperor to be filial to Empress Dowager Yin, but he still had to observe the proper etiquette to save face. If he was caught doing something wrong on the spot, it would ruin the emperor's own reputation.
Gu Jue took a step towards the emperor, and that short step made the emperor feel a tremendous pressure coming towards him.
Gu Jue asked again: "May I ask what disease my royal brother's mother has?"
Although his voice was neither light nor heavy, it already released an aggressive aura.
The emperor's expression was stiff. After a moment of confusion, his mind calmed down a little. He remembered that ginseng is a qi-tonifying medicine, so he changed his words and said, "The queen mother is suffering from qi and blood deficiency. I made a mistake for a moment."
He was afraid of saying more and making more mistakes, so he just vaguely said "deficiency of qi and blood" to get rid of it, but he didn't know that his attitude made people more suspicious.
Many people looked at the emperor with a hint of inquiry in their eyes.
"Oh?" Gu Jue's last tone changed to a subtle one, "Mother is really deficient in Qi and blood. Could it be that my brother remembered it wrongly again?"
emperor:"!!!"
If it wasn't for the emperor's own slip of the tongue, he would have turned hostile by now. How dare a prince question him, the emperor? How disrespectful! Seeing that the two brothers started to get on edge after just a few words, everyone's heart was also raised.
Prince Li laughed and said, "Yes, we haven't seen the Queen Mother for a long time. Why don't we go and pay our respects to her during the rare New Year?"
Prince Li also had good intentions, thinking that Gu Jue usually had no chance to meet Queen Mother Yin. It just so happened that he was going to the palace today, it was New Year's Day, and there were so many people present, so the emperor couldn't stop the mother and son from meeting.
On the other hand, Prince Li also wanted to maintain peace and was afraid that the two brothers would quarrel again.
When Prince Li spoke, the other princes all responded. Most of them had the same idea and just wanted to keep the peace.
Amid the chorus of voices, there seemed to be a sense of unity among the people. The emperor felt even more unhappy and wanted to leave in anger.
However, he still had some rationality and knew that in this situation, if he opposed paying respects to the Queen Mother, it would be a clear sign of unfilial piety. If the news got out, he would never be able to clear himself even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
The emperor's eyes were as sinister as an owl's, and he could only say dryly, "Then let's go together."
Then the emperor stopped talking to Gu Jue, waved his sleeves heavily, and with the help of Eunuch Ni, he got on the dragon chariot first. A line of carriages and horses surrounded the emperor and returned to the palace from the Taimiao. Then, everyone went to Shouning Palace in a grand procession.
In Shouning Palace, Chu Qianchen, Princess Li, Jingle and the other princesses had not left yet. With the addition of the emperor and his entourage, the place suddenly became more lively.
There were no secrets in the palace, and with so many eyes watching, it didn't take long for everyone in the palace to know that the emperor, Prince Chen, and other princes of the royal family had all gone to Shouning Palace.
After the emperor and his entourage arrived, there was a burst of salutes. The people on the empress dowager's side saluted the emperor, and the people on the emperor and Gu Jue's side saluted the empress dowager.
After half a cup of tea, everyone sat down one after another, with the emperor naturally sitting first.
This was the first time the emperor met Empress Dowager Yin after the third princess' coming-of-age ceremony. She looked sick and weak, with the corners of her lips curled up almost imperceptibly.
The palace maids in Shouning Palace had not seen the emperor in person for a long time, so they felt a little restrained. Even the movements of serving tea were stiff.
Gu Jue and Chu Qianchen looked at each other, both of them had smiles on their faces, and everything was said without words.
Many other people were stealing glances at the emperor, and the atmosphere in the warm room was a bit awkward.
Logically speaking, at this time, the emperor, as his son, should be the first to show his filial respect to the queen mother, but the emperor seemed to not even know how to act and just picked up the teacup.
Prince Li had some understanding of the emperor's temperament and was too lazy to count on him. He cleared his throat and asked Queen Mother Yin, "How is the Queen Mother's health these days?"
Queen Mother Yin replied politely, saying that she was fine, but she had a headache again last night.
"The Queen Mother, please take care of yourself." Prince Li said sincerely, and then changed the topic to Jingle. "Hey, Jingle's matter... The king and the emperor just heard about it. Hey, the emperor didn't know that the prince consort was so bold. He was furious just now. The Queen Mother deserved to be punished! It's time to kill the chicken to scare the monkey and set an example!"
Prince Li's words were very beautiful, and everyone else nodded frequently, which made Jingle's divorce from her husband a matter of public record, representing that the Emperor and all the royal family members supported the Queen Mother's decision.
Things had come to this point, and the emperor naturally could not object afterwards. After all, the emperor's words were golden and could not be changed overnight.
Even if the emperor was disgusted by Empress Dowager Yin's meddling in his affairs, at this moment, he could only save face by saying "Not at all" and praising the empress dowager for her "motherly heart."
At first glance, this mother and son seem to be very loving and filial, and they live in harmony with each other.
This matter has come to an end.
The princesses all breathed a sigh of relief, especially Jingle, who felt completely relieved and at peace.
She has experienced the worst days and survived them. It won’t be worse. No, it should be said that it will only get better.
Jingle's eyes lit up, she reached out from under the coffee table and happily grabbed Chu Qianchen's sleeve.
Chu Qianchen turned her head and smiled at Jingle with appreciation. If there hadn't been so many people around, she would have raised her hand to touch Jingle's head.
Jiang Yuan noticed Jingle's little movements and secretly felt that the princess was like raising a white rabbit.
In this warm and pleasant atmosphere, a distinct smell of ginseng came from the direction of the door curtain, and then Nanny Yan came in with a tray with a blue and white porcelain cup on it.
The rich ginseng tea flavor cannot be blocked even by a lid.
6◇9◇Book◇Bar
When Nanny Yan saw so many people in the room, she immediately looked a little terrified and at a loss what to do.
She lowered her head and walked timidly to Empress Dowager Yin, bowed and handed over the blue and white porcelain cup with both hands: "Empress Dowager, please have some ginseng tea."
Before the teacup was placed on the tea table, Gu Jue's cold voice suddenly rang out: "What disease does the Queen Mother have, and what kind of ginseng does she use every day?"
"You, come here and show this ginseng tea to me."
Gu Jue raised his finger and pointed at Nanny Yan.
Everyone's eyes followed Gu Jue's hand to Nanny Yan, and almost no one noticed that the emperor's expression changed.
Nanny Yan's hand holding the teacup shook violently, and the next moment, the blue and white porcelain teacup in her hand slipped out of her hand and smashed onto the gold brick floor below. The ginseng tea spilled all over the floor, and the teacup shattered into pieces.
The noise was so loud that the entire warm room fell silent.
Nanny Yan's wrinkled face turned pale and she knelt down all of a sudden. Her skirt was wet by the ginseng tea. She looked embarrassed and uneasy, with her eyes darting from side to side.
The look on her face simply showed "guilty" written all over it.
Everyone frowned, with different expressions, some were disgusted, some were suspicious, some were thoughtful, and some just stood by and watched.
Queen Mother Yin also frowned, her graceful face unable to hide the suspicion and shock, and her eyes gradually became sharp.
The Princess of Prince Li and others did not know what had happened in the Taimiao and had not thought much about it. However, Prince Li, the Crown Prince and others recalled that the Emperor had even misjudged the Empress Dowager's illness just now, and they could not help but speculate about the Emperor with the greatest malice.
But in just a few breaths, they had already staged a palace drama in their minds.
In the end, they all lead to the same conclusion:
The Emperor poisoned the Empress Dowager!
Therefore, the emperor just said that he was not clear about the Queen Mother's illness, and changed his words hesitantly. Therefore, the maid of Shouning Palace felt so guilty because of Gu Jue's question. She was obviously afraid that Gu Jue would find out about the problem with the ginseng tea! Thinking about the ins and outs of this matter again and again, everyone felt that they had found the truth. No wonder, no wonder Queen Mother Yin was only forty years old, but her body was so broken! "..." The emperor felt that the blood in his body had frozen into ice.
Even if he didn't ask, he could tell what those royal princes were thinking. Not to mention them, even the crown prince looked at him with disbelief.
Gu Jue's face darkened, his thin lips pursed into a straight line, his eyes became as cold as an ice sword, shooting straight at Nanny Yan, and asked again: "Tell me, what is in this ginseng tea?"
Nanny Yan knelt on the ground, trembling all over, not daring to raise her head.
Her silence further proved her guilt.
The female relatives who had not noticed anything wrong at first also understood the underlying meaning of Gu Jue's words, and the princes were even more certain that there must be something wrong with the ginseng tea.
The emperor could naturally feel the suspicious glances directed at him, and each glance was like a knife cutting into his body.
He felt that even if he had mouths all over his body he wouldn't be able to explain it, not to mention that he knew in his heart that there was indeed something wrong with this ginseng tea.
He always believed that the palace was under his control and never thought that there was a possibility that the matter would be exposed. He was completely unprepared and did not know how to deal with it most appropriately.
The emperor's eyes wandered around, revealing a bit of guilt and panic. He raised his voice and ordered, "Come here, this slave girl has not served the empress dowager well. Drag her out and beat her to death."
Prince Li was sitting next to the emperor and noticed the strange look in the emperor's expression. His suspicion, which was only five points at first, instantly rose to eight points.
Eunuch Ni immediately went to pass on the order. Just as he took a step forward, Chu Qianchen, who was not far away, spoke at this time:
"Does the Emperor want to silence the witnesses?"
Her words were so shocking that they tore through the thin window paper and exposed the truth that was about to be revealed.
At this moment, there was no smile on her palm-sized face, her beautiful phoenix eyes were like a cold pond, and the fourteen-year-old girl looked at the emperor calmly.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Although everyone present had doubts in their hearts, no one dared to speak out. After all, they were afraid of angering the emperor.
Everyone else was looking at the emperor, but Jingle was looking at Chu Qianchen so intently, with eyes full of admiration.
The emperor's face turned from pale to livid. He was furious at Chu Qianchen's words. He slammed his palm on the coffee table and said angrily, "How dare you! You actually doubt me without any evidence!"
"Is there anything wrong with this ginseng tea? You can ask the imperial physician to check it out!"
The emperor's voice became increasingly high-pitched, revealing a sense of weakness that came from his outward appearance.
In his shame and anger, he just wanted to prove that there was nothing wrong with the ginseng tea, but Eunuch Ni shook his head secretly: The emperor naturally holds the initiative because of his status as the Son of Heaven. He can stubbornly say that Nanny Yan made a mistake and can either cane her to death or punish her. Whether she will die after being caned depends on Nanny Yan's "fate".
However, now the emperor's thoughts have obviously been led astray by Princess Chen, and he only wants to prove that there is nothing wrong with ginseng tea.
The emperor made a wrong move.
Eunuch Ni couldn't help but think of the last time when the emperor suspected Gu Jue of colluding with Qin Yao to rebel, Chu Qianchen faced the emperor and Chu Lingxiao alone in the imperial study, but calmly forced the emperor back step by step. This Princess Chen is really not simple.
"Brother, isn't the imperial physician your man?" Gu Jue said indifferently, "I don't trust him."
He openly said that he did not trust the emperor.
Perhaps only Gu Jue dared to say this.
The other people around were even quieter, watching the development of the situation in silence, each of them with turbulent waves in their hearts that could not calm down for a long time.
"!!!" The emperor clenched his fists, the back of his hands were tense, and the blue veins under his skin bulged as if they were about to burst.
“Or we can invite that miracle doctor from Jishidiang over. Didn’t my royal brother designate Jishidiang as the national medical clinic?” Gu Jue looked at the emperor with a smile, meaning that since the emperor designated Jishidiang as the national medical clinic, it meant that he recognized Jishidiang’s medical skills.
Having said this, Prince Li, Prince Shun and other royal princes were all 99% sure that the Emperor had tampered with the ginseng tea that Empress Dowager Yin drank on a daily basis, and must have put medicine or poison in it.
Everyone sighed as they looked at Queen Mother Yin's face, which was as pale as a wall, and their brows furrowed even more tightly.
Yes, no wonder that since the death of the previous emperor, Queen Mother Yin has hardly ever shown up even during festivals.
At first, the emperor said that the empress dowager was too sad, and later he said that the empress dowager was depressed because of her heart disease. Over the years, other people occasionally visited the empress dowager, and the empress dowager was always ill.
It was only after Gu Jue returned to Beijing last year that the Empress Dowager began to show up twice despite her illness.
Before today, no one had ever doubted that the emperor would take action against Queen Mother Yin. It was probably because the emperor did not want to be bound by filial piety and felt that the Queen Mother was an eyesore, so he took such a cruel action.
Everyone sighed secretly, looking at Empress Dowager Yin and the Emperor with more complicated expressions.
In the past, they had always believed that the emperor wanted to use the empress dowager to control Gu Jue, so he imprisoned the empress dowager, but now that the truth has suddenly been revealed, they all feel horrified.
The emperor could also see the suspicion others had for him, and he felt as if he was being cut into pieces by everyone’s gazes, being publicly executed.
He wanted to argue, but he had no way to refute it. He did have someone do something to him.
The emperor had handed over full authority over this matter to the empress. The emperor himself had never even seen the candidate the empress had placed in Shouning Palace, let alone who was in charge of the ginseng tea matter until this moment.
Thinking about Jingle and Lu Fangrui again, the emperor was completely annoyed with the queen. He felt that the queen was useless and only held him back, and that the people he used were not reliable at all.
Trash, all trash! The more the emperor thought about it, the more he hated them. He hated Gu Jue, Chu Qianchen and Queen Mother Yin to the core.
He looked at Gu Jue with a poisonous gaze and said through gritted teeth, "Who knows if the Ninth Prince will deliberately find someone to frame me?"
His voice was so cold that ice chips seemed to fall out of it, and he pointed out directly that Gu Jue intended to collude with Jishidiang to frame him as the emperor.
Prince Li, Prince Shun and others remained silent.
As the saying goes, there is always a time when teeth and tongue collide.
Queen Dowager Yin was the second wife of the late emperor and was appointed empress dowager by the late emperor. It is natural for the emperor to have a grudge against Queen Dowager Yin.
However, if the emperor really drugged her, it would be murdering his stepmother, which is a serious crime of filial piety, a lack of morality, and contrary to the way of being a monarch.
The Great Qi Dynasty attached great importance to filial piety.
Thinking of this, Crown Prince Gu Nanjin and several other princes broke out in cold sweats. Once the emperor's guilt was verified, the consequences would be disastrous.
(End of this chapter)