His eyes, like those of a hawk, were fixed intently on Shen Hechuan.
"Where's Ah Hao?"
"Where have you taken my Ah Hao?"
"Give me back my Ah Hao!"
Emperor Rongcheng grabbed Shen Hechuan's shoulders and roared angrily, his face full of furious rage.
Shen Hechuan brushed away Emperor Rongcheng's hand, took a step back, and slowly spoke.
"I was simply following my mother's last wish and letting her leave."
Emperor Rongcheng was even angrier.
"You're lying!"
"Why would your mother want to leave?"
"You killed Ah Hao! I'm going to avenge Ah Hao!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Imperial Guards around him quickly drew their long swords, glaring menacingly at Shen Hechuan.
Almost simultaneously, countless guards rushed in, surrounding them and creating a standoff.
For a time, tensions rose between the two sides.
Emperor Rongcheng glared at Shen Hechuan.
"Shen Hechuan, you actually intend to rebel?!"
Shen Hechuan was neither humble nor arrogant.
"Father, you're overthinking it. I didn't mean that. I just wanted to seek justice for Mother."
Emperor Rongcheng glared at Shen Hechuan, and saw the suppressed anger in his eyes.
"Fairness? What fairness?"
"You killed my Ah Hao, and I still want..."
Shen Hechuan handed a box to Emperor Rongcheng, causing the emperor to abruptly stop speaking.
He stared at the box in front of him, his hands beginning to tremble.
"This is……"
Shen Hechuan's voice trembled slightly.
"These are clothes that my mother made for me by hand back then."
"Unfortunately, she never had the chance to give me the clothes until I grew up."
Looking at these clothes, he felt as if he had returned to the moment when he first saw them and couldn't stop crying.
"These clothes carry my mother's longing and love for me."
As Shen Hechuan spoke, his voice turned cold.
"But it is because of you, because of your unfounded suspicion, because of your doubts, because of your selfishness and paranoia, that I was separated from my mother from a young age, causing her to cry every day and become exhausted."
Shen Hechuan looked at Emperor Rongcheng, suddenly raised his voice, and pressed him further as he spoke.
"You keep saying that your mother loves you. Then I'll ask you now, Father, under these circumstances, why should your mother love you?"
"Father keeps saying that I killed Mother, but Father should know very well that it was you who killed Mother."
"It was you who first confined the Empress Dowager in the palace, making her believe that you love her, that you only love her, and that her life revolves around you."
Then, you doubt her, treat her coldly, isolate her, and finally deliver the final blow with another woman, leaving her to live in self-doubt and loneliness, causing her health to deteriorate.
"In the end, it was you who personally fed her poison and killed her!"
"So, Father, it was you who killed Mother!"
"It's you!"
Emperor Rongcheng took a step back in disbelief, and those memories he had subconsciously hidden deep in his mind were revived at that moment.
"No, no, no..."
He kept backing away, refusing to accept the fact.
The words and images he had been avoiding kept echoing in her mind.
"I killed her!?"
"I personally fed her the poison!"
Emperor Rongcheng suddenly raised his voice and, as if possessed, threw his head back and burst into laughter.
He looked at the moon in the sky and seemed to see Jiang Xianhao.
"Ah Hao..."
He murmured to himself.
"Ah Hao, it's my fault, Ah Hao, I was wrong, Ah Hao..."
As he spoke, he felt dizzy and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, then collapsed to the ground.
While Emperor Rongcheng besieged the Eastern Palace, all the officials were trembling with fear.
Upon receiving the news, they rushed into the palace without even bothering to put on their clothes properly, just to persuade Emperor Rongcheng to think twice before acting and to make sure the Crown Prince was not harmed.
When they rushed into the palace, they saw Emperor Rongcheng being hurriedly escorted back to the Wanhe Hall.
The officials, led by Grand Tutor Wang, watched this scene from afar and all stopped in their tracks.
They glanced at Emperor Rongcheng being carried by the Imperial Guards, and then at the Eastern Palace, which showed no signs of being besieged.
Everyone fell silent.
Someone muttered something under their breath.
"What's going on? His Majesty wasn't... beaten by His Highness the Crown Prince, was he?"
After he finished speaking, everyone in the room trembled.
Then, they all turned around at the same time.
They left hastily, as if they had never been to the palace.
******
One month later.
The court has completely stabilized.
Prince Rui was demoted to a commoner and exiled to a remote and desolate border region.
Officials associated with Prince Rui were also implicated to varying degrees.
Gu Nansheng was sentenced to death.
All of the Yong'an Marquis's family members were sentenced to exile.
Only Gu Erli was spared from being implicated because of his merit in assassinating Gu Wei'ang.
However, because of his status, he is not suitable to stay at the border.
So they let him stay in Tiandu.
Even before the news was delivered, Chu Qianlan knelt at the entrance of the East Palace, begging Gu Jingchun to help her and to say a few good words to the Crown Prince so that Gu Nansheng could be spared.
Gu Jingchun not only ignored him, but also reminded Shen Hechuan that all of these family members should be imprisoned as well.
That's why Gu Jingchun was able to have some peace and quiet.
Gu Jingchun's actions sparked discussion among the public, with many secretly calling her cold-blooded and ruthless.
Since the last siege of the Eastern Palace, Emperor Rongcheng had fallen ill and had been unconscious for most of the time.
The officials jointly petitioned Shen Hechuan to act as regent.
Gradually, the entire court began to follow Shen Hechuan's lead.
When Emperor Rongcheng awoke and learned of this news, he simply nodded and ordered someone to hand over the imperial seal to Shen Hechuan.
After that, Emperor Rongcheng seemed like a completely different person, spending all his time in Jingyu Palace and no longer concerning himself with any state affairs.
The entire court now follows the Crown Prince's lead.
The status of the ministers who were part of the Crown Prince's faction also rose accordingly.
Especially the ministers who stood with Shen Hechuan on the day of the palace coup, they were already the Crown Prince's confidants. Even when discussing matters, the Crown Prince would give them some face.
As a result, their daughter also developed some desire to marry into wealth and status.
After all, Shen Hechuan is young and handsome, and it's only a matter of time before he ascends the throne. If you can enter the Eastern Palace now, you can at least get a concubine position when Shen Hechuan ascends the throne.
Therefore, the ministers tried every means to get their daughters into the Crown Prince's palace.
During this time, Gu Jingchun continued to serve as a female official in the Eastern Palace.
Besides handling her own business, she spends her days playing with Gu Jinxi and making "fun" little things, living a very leisurely life.
Therefore, this has attracted the attention and dissatisfaction of some people.
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