It turned out that this was also the plan of the emperor and Zong Ling. The two brothers wanted to take this opportunity to remove the empress dowager's family from the position of Minister of History and the position of empress dowager, and let their own mother, Concubine Rong, become the empress dowager.
"Please stand up, everyone. I heard that the imperial concubine was invited to the clan residence by the emperor. Did she make the prince angry? I will help him vent his anger and bring her back to the Cining Palace to teach her a lesson." The empress dowager openly acted on behalf of the emperor, but secretly asked the emperor to let the imperial concubine go and let her take people back.
Everyone here heard the empress dowager's hidden meaning. The emperor and Zong Ling sneered. After setting such a big trap, she thought she would let it go like this. Isn't that wishful thinking?
"Empress Dowager, help! My daughter-in-law has been taken into a dark room by them, Madam..." When Concubine Cheng heard the Empress Dowager's voice, she knew that her savior had come and she didn't need to open the coffin, so she shouted loudly.
When the guards heard Concubine Cheng crying for help, they knew something bad had happened. The Emperor and the Chief of the Imperial Clan had ordered that Concubine Cheng must confess and sign.
The two men quickly grabbed Concubine Cheng and put their wet hair on her face to stop her from continuing.
The guards around the empress dowager wanted to rush in to rescue people, but were stopped by the secret guards around the emperor.
"Mother, how can you use force in the clan house? This is a crime of treason. What, mother, is going to rebel?" The emperor said a few words lightly, and the empress dowager was shocked. How could she have forgotten this clan rule?
According to clan rules, only the clan leader and the emperor were qualified and authorized to use imperial guards and secret guards in the clan house. Anyone else who used imperial guards or resorted to violence in the clan house would be treated as guilty of treason.
"The prince was joking. Your mother was anxious and lost her composure, and she refused to leave." The empress dowager had to admit her mistake and reprimanded the guards.
"Since it wasn't my mother's idea, come, beat those guards to death." The emperor said to the imperial guards.
"Empress Dowager, help!" The Royal Guards dragged the Empress Dowager's guards away, and the Empress Dowager's guards cried out for help.
"My son, please spare their lives." The Queen Mother was so angry that she wanted to kill the Emperor, but she couldn't. The Emperor was no longer under her control and was no longer the child he used to be.
"Mother, I have already let them go for your sake.
The crime of treason is punishable by the execution of nine generations of the clan. I only want to take their lives, not the lives of their families. This is already giving face to my mother.
"Your Majesty, if you really want to plead for them, you'll have to sacrifice yourself," the Emperor said to the Queen Mother.
"It's mother's fault. Your son is right. They acted on their own and almost harmed me. Your son was right." The empress dowager praised the emperor openly, but secretly she hated him with gritted teeth. Her heart was bleeding. The guards she had trained with great difficulty were gone just like that.
Soon the Imperial Guards came to report that the Empress Dowager's guards had been beaten to death.
The Queen Mother became even more upset, and her mood, which had finally recovered, became even worse.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Cheng has confessed. Here is her confession." The guard who took Concubine Cheng into the dark room to open the coffin came back to report and presented the emperor with a confession.
Eunuch Hong took the confession and presented it to the emperor. After reading the contents of the confession, the emperor clenched his fists in anger, wishing he could kill the vicious woman on the spot.
After calming down, he handed the confession to Zong Ling, who was also furious after reading it.
When the Empress Dowager heard Concubine Cheng's confession, she was so frightened that she leaned back. Fortunately, the nanny beside her supported her and prevented her from falling to the ground.
"My son, these dogs must have been tortured into confessing. The imperial concubine is innocent. She is loyal and devoted to the emperor. Please, my son, seek justice for the imperial concubine." The empress dowager said to the emperor with forced calmness.
Only she knew in her heart that what Concubine Cheng did was more or less allowed by her, and that people from her family took advantage of her connections to make a lot of money and did many evil things, which she had secretly dealt with.
"Your Majesty Mother means that I have wronged the Imperial Concubine. It was I who ordered the Imperial Concubine to try to open the coffin and paste it. It is my fault." The Emperor did not want to deal with the Queen Mother anymore. He felt tired.
It would be better to end this quickly and go back to accompany the Queen and the Prince.
"Your Majesty, did you use the coffin-opening sticker on the imperial concubine?" The empress dowager questioned the emperor in a trembling voice.
"Yes! Is there any problem? If the prisoners in the clan house refuse to confess, they will be sealed with coffin-opening stickers. Doesn't your mother know?" The emperor looked at the empress dowager with a sneer.
The Queen Mother was looking at her with a guilty conscience. She knew it, of course. She had given it to several concubines in the palace to keep them in line, which would have ensured her position as Queen would remain secure. If she hadn't done that, she would have been unable to bear children and would have been deposed long ago. It was because she had used it on others that she knew how terrifying the coffin-opening sticker was. How could her niece possibly endure it?
"Your Majesty, she is your concubine and the one who sleeps by your side. How can you use such cruel means on her?" The Queen Mother pretended to be angry and said to the Emperor.
"Is it cruel? But I saw with my own eyes that the Queen Mother also used this coffin-opening sticker on her. She was very happy at that time. I thought the coffin-opening sticker was not cruel, so I asked the Imperial Concubine to test how she felt back then." The Emperor spoke with a forced smile about how the Queen Mother had punished her mother. He didn't look unhappy at all.
Those who know the emperor well know that the more indifferent he looks, the more angry he is.
Of course, the Queen Mother also understood the Emperor's temper. Her heart skipped a beat and her heartbeat quickened. She knew that something bad was going to happen.
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