This sudden suicide happened extremely quickly. Everyone first noticed Yu Yan falling to the ground, and then they discovered that Xu Ruyu was standing in front of Chen Xiao.
But at this moment, no one had time to joke about it; everyone was shocked by Yu Yan's actions.
Xu Qian was filled with mixed feelings. Although he knew that Yu Yan had no intention of living, he did not expect her to be so decisive and resolute as to commit suicide in front of him.
He silently took off his cloak and draped it over Yu Yan. After a long while, he sighed, "You've ruined my carriage."
Chen Xiao knew that Xu Qian must be feeling bad, because as soon as Yu Yan spoke to Xu Qian, she quickly went to her space to check Ye Chao's records.
This was given to her by Xixi back in Guangling.
The record contained information about many talented and extraordinary people in the Night Dynasty. Yu Yan's name was among the records, and it was also briefly mentioned that Yu Yan was also in Xiaoyuan when she was young. She was familiar with Xu Qian and Chu Yanxi. Because she was older than the two of them and had helped them a lot, they called her "elder sister".
Upon seeing this record, her heart sank. If it was so familiar even in childhood, how much more so in her youth?
The group looked at each other, unsure how to comfort Xu Qian, and the carriage fell silent for a moment.
Hearing the sudden silence inside the carriage, Ye Qi mistakenly assumed that everyone had finished talking, so he approached the carriage and whispered to Chen Xiao, "Reporting to Master, the carriage has been parked inside the palace for quite some time, and there are many guards around it. It can be ready at any time..."
But before he could finish speaking, Ye Qi smelled a strong stench of blood. His expression changed, and he hurriedly lifted the carriage curtain to look inside. When he saw that Chen Xiao was unharmed, he put the curtain down with relief and began to observe the surrounding environment.
The silence inside the carriage was broken by Ye Qi's action. Xu Qian snapped out of his thoughts, looked at Chen Xiao's worried expression, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, it is getting late, so I will return to my residence first."
Chen Xiao nodded, and together with Yuan Yin, they helped Yin Yuyao up. Then, together with Xu Ruyu and Xu Ruyan, the group got off the carriage one after another.
Once the group had settled, the carriage slowly carried Xu Qian and Yu Yan's body away from the palace.
Yin Yuyao woke up at this moment, and the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was Chen Xiao's knowing gaze. She had lived for more than a hundred years, and this was the first time she had ever felt... awkward in front of a young man.
She had been awake for a while, the moment Yu Yan stepped into the carriage.
But she didn't open her eyes. These were the secrets of the Night Dynasty, and she shouldn't have been there in the first place. Although she had heard of the Thousand Illusions Realm of the Rong Dynasty, as a deposed empress in the cold palace, she couldn't interfere with anything.
When she heard that the Thousand Illusions Realm was destroyed by the little princess of the Rong Dynasty, she was a little shocked. That was her daughter, the daughter she had never met.
Thinking of this, her fingers trembled slightly. She didn't expect that such a slight change would be noticed by Chen Xiao.
But Chen Xiao didn't say anything, only leaving the words "Let's talk about it tomorrow" before ordering someone to send her and Yuan Yin back to the palace where they were temporarily staying.
The two women who are still nominally Chen Xiao's concubines continue to reside in the harem.
A night of silence.
The next day, as dawn broke, Chen Xiao got up early to wash and prepare for court.
There is one morning morning every week and one morning morning every month.
Today was only the second time Chen Xiao had attended court since ascending the throne, but unlike before, she was now at peace and no longer felt the tension she had felt a month ago.
She ordered someone to summon Xu Ruyu and the other two. The three of them arrived in the hall early, but seeing that they had no desire to talk to each other, they looked at each other and remained silent.
Then Qi Yanshang and Qi Yanyun also stepped into the hall.
The other officials entered one after another at this moment. Upon seeing the scene before them, their previously tired faces were immediately replaced by expressions of shock.
This...this...!?
Could it be that they haven't woken up yet? Why are several concubines attending court? And Princess Yuanyin too? Could something have happened?
Chen Xiao stood in the middle of the group, unmoved by the officials' surprised expressions.
Their expressions changed when they saw Xu Qian and Yu Yao enter together.
Xu Qian and Yu Yao arrived last, their faces were no different. Behind them followed Zhu Zhengbin, the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, and Du Jingshu, the Director of the Imperial Academy. The difference was that the two of them looked somewhat pale.
Seeing this, the officials realized that something big might be about to happen, and dared not say anything more. They all stood in their positions and tacitly reserved the first row for Xu Ruyu and his group of five, and then waited for His Majesty to speak.
Chen Xiao glanced at the three scoundrels a few times before sitting on the dragon throne. After Chief Eunuch Shen announced the start of the court session, Chen Xiao spoke, "Today's court session is different. I have been away from court affairs for more than a month and have discovered a very serious matter. There are also participants present, so I will not say more. Yu Yao, Zhu Zhengbin, and Du Jingshu, you three explain to the assembled ministers."
Without wasting words, Yu Yao knelt down before Chen Xiao and confessed all the wrongdoings she had committed in the Iris Company, but made no mention of Yu Yan.
Xu Qian listened quietly until Yu Yao finished speaking before slowly adding, "Your Majesty, I have discovered that Yu Yao's sister, Yu Yan, also provided assistance to Yuanxing. However, Yu Yan was deceived by Yu Yao and was unaware of the truth. Even so, she is still guilty. Yu Yan knew this well and had already taken her own life before."
Upon hearing Xu Qian mention Yu Yan, Yu Yao's eyes darkened. She did not refute him, but instead went on to elaborate on Yu Hang's affairs, clearly explaining all of Yu Hang's actions, which naturally included Li Qian's matter.
However, he did not mention Zhao Siyuan. Whether it was because of Chu Qiaoling or something else, Chen Xiao did not care. He simply handed the evidence to Steward Shen, who presented the evidence to the officials one by one.
Hearing such a big story all at once, which involved the relationship between Emperor Wende and the General of the Cavalry, and was interspersed with royal secrets, made the officials break out in a cold sweat, fearing that Chen Xiao might kill them all in a fit of anger.
But their ideas were clearly too far-fetched. Seeing Chen Xiao's calm demeanor, they realized that Chen Xiao had tacitly allowed them to know these royal secrets.
They panicked even more, sweating profusely as they wiped the beads of sweat from their faces.
Upon seeing this, Xu Qian snorted coldly, and the officials dared not continue in this manner. They all stood up straight and pretended to be calm.
Yu Yao finished recounting most of the story about the kite-flying incident. The other two participants simply followed Yu Yao in committing evil deeds, completely unaware of these events, and merely knelt and trembling, kowtowing.
It was at this moment that Chen Xiao mentioned Qi Yuan.
Like Yu Yao, she succinctly and directly exposed Qi Yuan's evil deeds and the prefect's cover-up to the public.
The officials then realized the purpose of Qi Yanshang and Qi Yanyun's presence. It was likely that His Majesty, for the sake of the Grand Princess, had decided to publicly announce the punishment of the Qi family, or even exile them all.
Regardless of the circumstances, these two will certainly not have a good ending.
Just as the officials were making wild guesses, Chen Xiao dropped a bombshell on them: "Qi Yuan's matter has nothing to do with his wife and children in the mansion, so I have decided to release Qi Yanshang and Qi Yanyun from the palace, and Qi Yanshang will temporarily take over the position of governor of Guangling."
What?! His Majesty actually spared Qi Yuan's son and even granted him a fourth-rank official position?
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