143. Tyrant

The whole hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

But Rong Se knew that in this era, even if Concubine Yan did not do it willingly, they would still blame the fault on the woman, and Rong Se did not care whether they felt ashamed and guilty about it from the bottom of their hearts. Back then, Cao Lun led the censors to advise against the death of Yan Shuang, and now it was this group of people who advised against impeaching him for the murder of Rong Xu.

However, this time, Rong Se is not the helpless Yan Shuang and her son.

Those who should pay the price should pay the price; it doesn't matter whether they truly reflect on it.

"My mother died unjustly, Lord Cao, Li Yushi, and... you."

Rong Se's eyes swept over the people he named and the censors who had been kneeling just now. Except for Cao Lun, everyone else began to avoid his gaze.

"I asked for an imperial decree to sentence her to death. You all helped to do that. The past is like smoke. I did not want to pursue it. But I did not expect that you all would use the same old tricks today and try to pin the blame on me for what Queen Mother Cao did."

Rong Se's eyes were sharp and his words were as sharp as a knife. He said word by word: "He who has this heart should be executed!"

The four words fell to the ground with a loud sound, shocking Li Yanheng. He gritted his teeth and retorted, "What nonsense! Even if the death of the late emperor had nothing to do with you, it is a fact that Concubine Yan was the concubine of the late emperor and served two generations of monarchs! You say she was forced? Such a slut deserves to die!"

Even though Rong Se was not Yan Shuang's son, his face darkened when he heard this.

"Of course there are people who can prove that what I said is true, but Li Yushi's tongue is really annoying, so there is no need to keep him. Someone come!"

In the face of Li Yanheng's suddenly terrified look, Rong Se calmly ordered: "Drag him away and cut off his tongue."

Rong Se thought that his values ​​were acceptable, but he was definitely not a good man. He had tolerated Li Yanheng's mouth for a long time.

Lan Ying gave a signal, and someone immediately came forward to drag Li Yanheng away. Li Yanheng knew that he was in imminent danger, and he could not care less. He begged Cao Lun for help at the top of his lungs: "Master Cao, Master Cao! I have done everything you said, Master Cao, please save me!"

Cao Lun was being forced to his knees by Lan Ying, who was stepping on his ankles. He was unable to take care of himself and had to close his eyes without saying a word.

Soon, there were hoarse and exhausted screams coming from outside the hall, as if the throat seemed to be torn apart. The agony was unspeakable, but it soon turned into vague wails, as if someone had blocked the mouth, and the sound gradually disappeared.

The screams outside were met with even deeper silence in the hall. The censors who had been kneeling together to impeach the emperor now looked extremely pale, fearing that they would be the next ones to have their tongues cut off.

When Rong Se was younger and more energetic, he had fought with people to the death. He was not a good person who would just accept everything that happened to him. His kindness and tolerance were very limited. Once he crossed the limit, he would not have any mercy at all. Just like at this moment, listening to the howling outside the hall, Rong Se did not frown at all and remained calm as always.

"Bring the person up." Rong Se ordered.

Soon, an elderly eunuch and an old palace maid were brought into the hall, and they both performed the ceremony in turn.

"Tell me how Rong Xu shamelessly defiled your father's concubines." Rong Se ordered.

The old maid kowtowed first and said, "I work in the embroidery shop, taking measurements and making clothes for the late emperor and the ladies of the palace. I served before the Emperor and met Concubine Yan Gui a few times. The late emperor favored Concubine Yan Gui and gave her gifts many times. All the cloth that was offered as tribute from various places was first sent to Concubine Yan Gui for selection, but Concubine Yan Gui was very reluctant and refused. I also saw it with my own eyes. The late emperor threatened Concubine Yan Gui's young son, and Concubine Yan Gui had no choice but to serve him in bed. This is absolutely true, and I would never dare to lie to you, Your Majesty."

The old eunuch also echoed, "That's right, that's right. I work in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The older palace maids know something about Concubine Yan Gui. Although the servants who served Concubine Yan Gui were all sentenced to death, if you ask around in the palace, you will find that many of the palace maids have seen her. We dare not lie to her. And, there is also the prince... The rumors in the palace that the prince was responsible for beating and killing palace maids are even more nonsense. Even palace maids and eunuchs can be rude to the prince at will. With the prince's instructions, they are even more reckless in bullying the prince. Sometimes... when I was young, even the then crown prince would do it himself. Everything I said is true."

The servants who served Concubine Yan Gui were implicated and sentenced to death, but when Rongse came to this world and decided to complete the wish for the original owner, he set out to investigate Zheng Fu, and also checked the Zhao family and the old people in the palace, all of whom were preparing for today.

Not only does he want the truth to come to light, he also wants Rong Jing's mask of gentleness and generosity to be completely exposed.

The officials were all shocked. They all thought that the Regent had been cruel since childhood, but they didn't expect that it was all just an empty talk. The real cruel and vicious one was the emperor who couldn't even handle the affairs of state.

Rong Jing's fingertips trembled, but he didn't have time to utter any rebuttal.

"Everyone has heard it." Rong Se sneered, "Disrespecting the emperor and father, and defiling the mother, this is what the emperor of the Jin Dynasty did, and yet he put all the blame on a woman. You should spit on that shameless emperor, not an innocent woman! As for our current emperor, it's easy to say, if the top beam is not straight, the bottom beam will be crooked."

Now that things have come to this, there is no point in making excuses. The stigma that has been placed on Yan Shuang over the years has finally been completely cleared today.

The truth coincided with the rumor, and many courtiers in the palace could not help but sigh. They had used the greatest ill will to speculate about a woman, but in the end, the one who made the big mistake was the emperor respected by everyone.

One of them forced Concubine Yan Gui into a coercion, while the other tortured and killed her. Their children also bullied and humiliated other people's children.

...So everything the Regent did became reasonable.

Especially in recent times, the Regent's reputation for being diligent and caring for the people has been growing.

"Uncle." Rong Jing said with a pale face, "This... is a family matter anyway. Why bother to come to the palace to discuss it? Xuanzheng Hall is where the court holds meetings. All officials discuss politics, and what they discuss is also a major issue in the world."

"Family affairs? When your uncle and the censors forced my mother to death, it was no longer a family matter?" Rong Se retorted unceremoniously, saying coldly: "Why, Your Majesty, do you feel ashamed now? But with such parents, the son is not much better, they are all birds of a feather."

"Uncle!" Rong Jing was very concerned about his reputation, so he could not stand Rong Se's sarcasm. His face became even uglier. "Don't make it harder to end. Family shame should not be made public. Do we have to let the whole world know about it? Where will the royal family's reputation be in the future?"

It is also the so-called royal face.

"If you are afraid of losing face, then don't do anything embarrassing." Rong Se didn't buy it at all, and sneered: "I don't know where the royal family's face is, but now all the adults do know about your father's ugly deeds. Your Majesty wants to save the royal family's face. How about your uncle and mother silencing them in the past? Why don't you follow suit today and kill all those who know about it here, so that your father's deeds will not be spread out, how do you think?"

Rong Jing’s face turned even paler and he gritted his teeth in hatred.

All the officials were looking at him. After all, their lives were at stake. Especially those officials who were unaware of the truth and only learned about the moral character of the previous emperor today, they all became alert.

But all those here are important officials of the court, and he couldn't really silence them all. Rong Se just said something to Rong Jing casually. He looked towards the outside of the hall with a far-reaching look in his eyes.

Outside the palace, people were shedding blood for him, and further northwest, people were fighting for the entire Dajin.

Rongse knew that a fight was going on between the Xuanji Camp and the Imperial Guards. If the Imperial Guards won, everyone would be happy, otherwise, they would be defeated.

That battle truly determined today's situation, but in the Xuan Zheng Hall, this battle belongs to him, and he must fight beautifully.

"But your majesty is right. We should discuss politics in front of the Xuanzheng Hall." Rong Se slowly changed his words, as if he was unaware of the bloody storm outside the palace at the moment. He leaned back on the throne leisurely and said, "Let's talk about politics. After talking about the family scandal, it's time to talk about state affairs. In the case of the thirteen households in Jizhou, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple found out the governor of Jizhou, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and even the prefect of Jingzhao. But the files sent to the court by the Ministry of Justice bypassed the minister, and they all had Rong Se's personal comments. Minister Lu and Lord Yu, who are supervising this case, should know about this matter."

When the old matter was brought up again, Lu Shangqian understood what Rong Se wanted to do. After a moment of silence, he nodded slowly: "Your Highness is right. The file contains the late emperor's comments. The late emperor knew about the disaster in Jizhou, but the Ministry of Revenue did not allocate funds for disaster relief. The matter was left unresolved, and then the thirteen unjust cases in Jizhou were reported. All the memorials related to them passed through the hands of the late emperor."

In other words, Rong Xu knew what was going on from beginning to end, but he turned a blind eye for his own selfish reasons and allowed court officials to kill innocent people indiscriminately for the sake of temporary stability.

There were also officials in the court who still had some conscience. After hearing about this, they were all shocked and talked about it in low voices.

"This, this is really absurd! How can you be a king if you behave like this?"

"What guilt have the people incurred? How sorrowful are the people!"

"The emperor is like this. This is clearly a sign of the country's demise!"

"As a king, you don't care about the people, and allow officials to kill and embezzle at will." Rong Se sneered, and the Xuanzheng Hall became quiet for a while. The officials looked at the regent sitting on the throne, with complicated thoughts in their minds.

Most of them had been prejudiced against Rongse, and even many officials from the Regent's party looked down on him for his background. They were simply driven by interests.

Rongser was not surprised by this.

After all, the matter of forcing Yan Shuang was just a character issue in the eyes of the ministers. It might have affected Rong Xu before he became emperor, but now he is sleeping in the underground palace, and this private matter is not enough to ruin his reputation.

But the nature of the Jizhou case was completely different. Rong Xu was not only negligent in supervision, but also guilty of tolerating the crime, which could truly shake an emperor.

"Jizhou was filled with grief. Thirteen innocent families were killed. An innocent pregnant woman who had donated to the people was hanged alive at the city gate. Although Empress Dowager Cao's regicide was a serious crime, she accidentally saved the people from harm."

Rong Se stopped talking and turned to look at Rong Jing with a calm look.

"Rong Xu has done more than one absurd thing. Your Majesty, do you know why Marquis Dingbei is so harsh to you?"

Rong Jingxin said that he didn't know what was good for him, and he resented Rong Se for having such a charming appearance. Now that things had come to this, he knew that there was no room for retreat. He immediately sneered and said, "How could I not know? Of course, it was because of the good looks of the emperor's uncle that Dingbei Hou was blinded by lust. How could he have room for anyone else?"

He almost exposed the ambiguity between Liang Shenyu and Rong Se. The officials also had some guesses, but there was no conclusion.

But this time, Rong Se acquiesced to it.

He did not refute, but smiled slightly, looked at Rong Jing openly, and spoke slowly and gently: "More than that, Your Majesty."

The officials didn't know what to be shocked about.

They knew too much today. The Regent had revealed all the royal secrets, one after another, so the "affair between the Regent and Marquis Dingbei" seemed less eye-catching.