Her tone was as calm as water as she said, "It was all thanks to my husband. He found the entrance to the cellar, broke the mechanism inside, and only then did he find those weapons and dragon robes."

As she spoke, she gave the credit to Xu Qiu.

All of this is what Xu Qiu deserves. If it weren't for him, Qin Jianjia might have returned empty-handed.

Moreover, if Xu Qiu had made contributions, the empress would not punish him arbitrarily in the future, or even beat him to death.

Just as Qin Jianjia was speaking.

The eunuch who had gone to deliver the imperial edict came in again, holding a four-clawed golden dragon robe in his trembling hands.

The guards behind him also entered the hall carrying the confiscated weapons.

At the same time when Qin Jianjia reported back, it was displayed in the court, and at the same time, followed by the captains of the imperial guards, they all knelt in front of the palace.

When the ministers saw this, they were all stunned.

Unbelievably, he said, "I didn't expect it to be true...!"

"Who is so bold as to make a four-clawed dragon robe? I will kill all nine generations of my clan!"

"Who owns this Taixi warehouse on Wanhe Street?"

The court officials were talking at once.

His eyes were constantly on the dragon robe.

Secretly storing gunpowder only means that he has the intention of rebellion, secretly storing weapons means that he really wants to rebel, and the meaning of the dragon robe is that the other party's status is not low at all, and his status is even higher than that of the ministers in the court.

After all, the four-clawed dragon robe is one level lower than the five-clawed dragon robe, but it also shows that someone wants Empress An Qintian to be the emperor, because Empress An Qintian is wearing a five-clawed dragon robe.

It's obvious that someone wants to force the emperor to abdicate.

Only the princes or those related to the royal family would do such a thing.

Therefore, the court officials began to speculate who was so arrogant.

"General Qin, you have done a great deed. You are worthy of being my beloved minister. As for your husband, I will reward him with a thousand taels of silver and give him a cute official position."

The empress cast an approving look at Qin Jianjia.

However, everyone noticed that Empress An Qintian's expression became more and more solemn, her brows were furrowed, her neck gradually turned red, and her phoenix eyebrows scraped across everyone present like a sharp knife.

The ministers couldn't help but tremble.

"Who can tell me, who owns the Taixi warehouse on Wanhe Street?"

An Qintian's voice echoed in the court.

No one spoke at this moment.

Everyone fell silent, even the Prime Minister Gu Tianshou, who remained silent and slowly retreated into the crowd.

I had already cursed An Tingwu a hundred times in my heart.

It’s bad enough that this idiot secretly stored gunpowder, but I didn’t expect that he even made a dragon robe. He didn’t even have a chance to explain himself.

Seeing that the court was as silent as a forest, Empress An Qintian became increasingly angry.

Suddenly, Qin Jianjia's emotionless voice came, "Your Majesty, I know who it belongs to. It is the property of the Fourth Prince An Tingwu."

Qin Jianjia's voice had just fallen.

The other court officials looked over.

With Qin Jianjia taking the lead, other court officials began to speak up, "It's true that the Taixi Warehouse on Wanhe Street is considered the Fourth Prince's property because it belongs to Concubine Zhang."

An Tingwu was born to Concubine Zhang.

No matter what, An Tingwu is the indirect owner of the warehouse.

After An Qintian ascended the throne, he did not attack the An family, nor did he disband the harem. He allowed them to continue to exist. However, the selection of concubines was never carried out again. After all, the emperor was now an empress, so choosing a concubine was more appropriate.

However, An Qingtian did not expect that even though he was so tolerant, the other party still harbored evil intentions.

At this time, all the assistant ministers from both the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works came out.

"I can also testify that the Taixi warehouse was registered with the Ministry of Works. The Ministry of Works also has the deed to the warehouse. When Concubine Zhang was chosen, these were all dowries given by the Zhang family."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shaoqing, a fourth-rank official from the Imperial Household Department, immediately knelt down in front and said, "Your Majesty, our Zhang family did not participate in this incident, and we didn't even know that Concubine Zhang would indulge the Fourth Prince!"

The fourth prince An Tingwu rebelled, and now the Zhang family's crotch is covered in mud, it's either shit or sh*t.

Empress An Qintian didn't even look at him.

Instead, he said to the officials of the Dali Temple: "Take him down and investigate thoroughly! I want no information to be missed!"

"I obey your order!"

The Dali Temple official bowed.

Then the empress said to General Yiyong of the Imperial Guards: "An Tingwu and Concubine Zhang have secretly stored weapons with the intention of treason. From now on, you will be expelled from the clan and executed tomorrow... You go and arrest An Tingwu, and also arrest his close ministers, attendants and maids, and the Zhang family as well. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy!"

The voice of Empress An Qintian was like the roar of a dragon.

It kept echoing in the court.

"I will obey your order!"

General Yiyong of the Imperial Guards bowed and accepted the order.

At this moment, the empress decides life and death in an instant.

When the Prime Minister of the time, Gu Tianshou, heard this, his face turned pale and he felt as if he had aged a lot.

His investment in An Tingwu was completely wasted.

Now we have gone straight back to the time before liberation.

Unexpectedly, what happened today would make it impossible for An Tingwu to recover.

Suddenly Gu Tianshou caught a person, that was Qin Jianjia’s husband Xu Qiu.

He heard it clearly. Qin Jianjia relied on Xu Qiu to find the location of the gunpowder and the mechanism in the cellar. The dragon robe was also found by Xu Qiu.

Xu Qiu and An Tingwu had an argument last night, and something happened to An Tingwu today.

Gu Tianshou thought this was too much of a coincidence!

Originally An Tingwu wanted to kill Xu Qiu, but now the situation has reversed.

What is the origin of this Qin family son-in-law? At this moment.

Ye Liangchen's expression was not much different from Gu Tianshou's.

He couldn't believe that the fourth prince An Tingwu, whom the prime minister had always supported, fell so quickly.

What puzzled him the most was, "How did the little son-in-law of the Qin family know about the Taixi warehouse? Did he go there? No, even if he had been there, he would not know the mechanism inside. He is just a poor scholar."

Ye Liangchen couldn't figure it out at all.

But at the same time, I was filled with hatred.

…

The other side.

Inside the palace.

over time.

An Tingwu became more and more calm in the palace, and even made himself a pot of hot tea.

The servant next to him said, "Your Highness, I think General Qin has returned with a defeat. According to the news from the court, the empress has issued several decrees to summon General Qin back to his position... I'm afraid that the little son-in-law who contradicted you yesterday has already been executed at Caishikou."

An Tingwu thought of Xu Qiu who had contradicted him last night.

Now that he was doomed to die, he immediately said grimly, "What's the use of great cooking skills? He who deserves to die will die anyway. How can a commoner trample on the dignity of the royal family?"

Just as he said this.

A palace maid ran in in a panic.

Without even having time to salute, he said directly: "Your Highness, the Fourth Prince, this is bad. The dragon robes in the Taixi warehouse have been discovered. Now the Empress wants to behead you as a warning to the public!"

This palace maid was Concubine Zhang's person, and she came in a hurry to report the news.

But, she had just finished speaking.

A knife slashed across her head, and a lieutenant of the Imperial Guards cursed, "How dare a little palace maid be so presumptuous? The Empress gave the order, and she passed on the message right after!"

At that moment, An Tingwu watched the palace maid beside his mother being chopped to death, and he stood there.

"This... this is not right..."

As An Tingwu muttered to himself, his hands and feet were shaking and his face was full of fear.

At this time, the captain of the Imperial Guard came up to An Tingwu and said, "An Tingwu, you are no longer a prince. If you dare to plot treason, you will be executed tomorrow! Come here, arrest them all."

The captain of the Imperial Guard gave an order.

A large number of imperial guards rushed into the inner palace and arrested servants, attendants, and guards.

Even the fourth prince, An Tingwu, was caught.

But he still couldn't believe it and said, "This is impossible. They can't find the cellar, let alone the dragon robe!"

(End of this chapter)