Chapter 44 Give me back my father's memorial tablet!
Morning next day.
More than a dozen ministers in the court asked for leave, all for the same reason: their mansions had been emptied, they were so angry that they vomited blood, fell ill and could not walk, let alone attend court, so they asked for leave.
The seats in front of the first and second-rank ministers were mostly empty, with only a few standing in front, making them extremely conspicuous.
The Emperor glanced at the assembled ministers, not seeing the Crown Prince, and asked, "Where is the Crown Prince?"
At this moment, a minister stepped forward and reported, "Your Majesty, the guards from the Eastern Palace just reported that the Eastern Palace storeroom has also been emptied. His Highness the Crown Prince was furious and kicked the wall, twisting his ankle. He even summoned the imperial physician."
The Emperor's face darkened, and he slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne. "How dare you! Who is it that dares to intrude into the palace?"
It's one thing for the residences of ministers outside the palace to be considered, but the palace walls are high and there are countless imperial guards patrolling inside. Could it be that the thief can fly or disappear into the ground?
Impossible, there's no such thing as a god in the world.
The Emperor is worried that the national treasury and his own private treasury may also be stolen, so he has ordered that patrols in the palace be strengthened in the coming days, and that not even a mosquito be allowed to get close to the treasury.
"Your Majesty, the people outside are saying that... it is the vengeful spirit of the Prince of Zhenbei that is causing this."
The Emperor called upon Minister Zhou of the Imperial Observatory, "Minister Zhou, tell me, is it the work of a vengeful spirit or human intervention?"
"Your Majesty, I believe it is not a vengeful spirit. If there were truly vengeful spirits at work, there would be no one in this world who has done anything wrong."
It must have been deliberate; the perpetrator intentionally shifted the blame onto the wronged spirit to confuse the public and hide themselves behind the spirit.
"Could this matter be related to the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion?"
The Imperial Guards surrounded the Prince's Mansion, waiting only for an order to send them to meet the King of Hell.
The emperor didn't believe in ghosts or gods at all, and ordered the memorial tablets of the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion to be moved to another place for 'enshrinement'.
On the surface, it's an offering; behind the scenes, it's destruction.
The eunuch went to deliver the order, and the Imperial Guards, swords drawn, stormed into the ancestral hall of the Northern King's Mansion.
Xiao Xiuning refused to admit her mistake because she questioned whether the child in Yun Zhaoxue's womb was her third brother's, and she even knelt in the ancestral hall.
The Imperial Guards burst through the door with a loud bang!
"Who?" Xiao Xiuning turned her head and saw that the other party was full of murderous aura, and the visitor was not friendly.
But to protect the ancestral tablets of the Xiao family, he still stood tall and questioned the other party, "This is not a place for you, get out! My Xiao family ancestors are above, how dare you be so presumptuous!"
Seeing that the Imperial Guards' eyes were fixed on her father's memorial tablet, she spread her arms to block it.
"His Majesty has ordered that the memorial tablet of the Prince of Zhenbei be moved to another place for worship. Please, Miss Fourth, make way and do not put your subordinate in a difficult position."
"No, I will not allow anyone to take away my father's memorial tablet."
A flash of cold light appeared as the commander's sword was drawn, its blade pressed against Xiao Xiuning's neck. "Get out of the way!"
He shouted coldly, pressing the sword repeatedly against Xiao Xiuning's neck, leaving bloodstains on the blade.
A hoarse voice came from the doorway, "Ning'er..."
Xiao Xiuning cried out anxiously, "Mother, Mother, they're taking Father's memorial tablet away..."
The commander of the Imperial Guard secretly gathered his strength, intending to brush Xiao Xiuning away.
Yang rushed over and stood in front of the woman.
He could only withdraw his hand; the emperor only ordered him to move the memorial tablet, not to harm anyone.
Lady Yang was also a first-rank imperial consort.
The commander still held her in some respect. "Your Highness, I am ordered to move the tablet of the Prince of Zhenbei to another place for worship."
“My lord, my late husband served on the frontier for thirty years, bearing twenty-seven knife and arrow wounds. How could such a man betray his country and collude with the enemy? The Great Zhou could not tolerate him, and now it cannot even tolerate this small piece of sandalwood?” Madam Yang’s voice was not loud, but her words were firm and powerful.
The commander's gaze was cold and stern, his jaw taut, showing no emotion whatsoever. He said in a cold voice, "I am acting under orders. Please do not make things difficult for me!"
He bypassed the other person to retrieve the memorial tablet.
Xiao Xiuning rushed over and grabbed the memorial tablet, crying, "Don't take it away, put it down..."
The other person slashed at her arm with a knife.
"Ah!" She instinctively let go, then lunged forward again to grab the corner of the memorial tablet. "If you want to take my father's memorial tablet, you'll have to step over my dead body."
The other party had become impatient with the entanglement and swung his knife at the target again.
"Stop!" Yang shouted.
The other party dragged the memorial tablet away and walked outside.
Xiao Xiuning chased after him again, "Stop..."
Lady Yang knew that the Imperial Guards were not to be trifled with and would really kill her, so she advised her daughter to give up, saying, "Both thunder and rain are the Emperor's grace. As a subject, one cannot disobey the imperial decree. You have already done your best."
"No, no, Father, we can't let them take Father away..." Xiao Xiuning struggled and cried out.
The Imperial Guards took the memorial tablet away.
Xiao Xiuning shook off the old woman who was holding her arms and chased after her again.
"Father, don't take my father away..."
"Fourth Miss, Fourth Miss..." the maids called after her.
Upon receiving the news, Xiao Xuanwu used his lightness skill to step onto the rooftop, leaped down, and blocked the Imperial Guard Commander's path, reaching out to him, "Give it back to me! Give me back my father's memorial tablet!"
The boy roared and charged at the Imperial Guards.
He threw a punch straight at his opponent's face, but it was easily deflected by the sword sheath.
The Imperial Guard sneered and swung his elbow at his chest.
The boy staggered backward.
He gritted his teeth and charged again, crouching down to sweep his leg, but was knocked over by the opponent's knee.
The Imperial Guard stepped on his shoulder, saying, "You can't beat me."
"Give it back to me!" the boy roared, reaching out to grab the memorial tablet from his hand.
But the opponent's sword sheath slammed heavily into the boy's chest, "Bang!"
He was thrown to the ground, coughing up blood violently, "cough cough..."
At this moment, Xiao Xiuning also chased after him, drew her soft sword from her waist, and thrust it straight at the commander's back like a silver snake.
Without turning his head, the commander swung his sword sheath backhand, "clang!" parrying the blade, and then slashed at her wrist.
The soft sword slipped from his hand.
Xiao Xiuning spun around and launched a flying kick, but the commander grabbed her ankle and flung her several feet away.
Yun Zhaoxue appeared with Zhuiying.
To avoid revealing his martial arts skills, Zhuiying lunged forward to act as a human cushion for Xiao Xiuning.
Hongzao and the others exclaimed in surprise, "Fourth Miss..."
Xiao Xiuning landed on Zhuiying with a loud thud!
The expected pain didn't come. Xiao Xiuning opened her eyes and realized someone was cushioning her fall. "You..."
The servants surrounded her, calling out, "Fourth Miss, Fourth Miss, are you alright?"
When Yang caught up and saw her son and daughter lying on the ground, she swayed slightly but quickly regained her balance. She walked slowly toward her son, who was closer, and hugged him in her arms, wiping the blood from the corner of his lips with a handkerchief.
"Mother, your son is incompetent, cough... I couldn't take back Father's memorial tablet."
Madam Yang hugged the child tightly, patting his back gently as she had when he was a child. "Good child, I don't blame you. Your mother knows you did your best. Your father in heaven won't blame you either, good child..."
Where no one could see, a fleeting pain flashed in her eyes, which then transformed into a deep, unwavering resolve.
But the hand that was clenching the handkerchief, the bluish-white knuckles, betrayed a pain as if her heart had been ripped out.
Her husband was assassinated by a villain, and his body was buried in a foreign land. Now, she can't even keep his memorial tablet.
The eldest and second sons died on the battlefield, and the third son suffered in prison and became a cripple.
The fourth daughter and fifth son were severely injured in an attempt to reclaim their father's memorial tablet.
Three years ago, the family was enjoying the Mid-Autumn Festival moon in their backyard.
How did the Xiao family end up like this?
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