Chapter 75 Long Live Your Majesty 11 The Land is So Beautiful
"Father, it was indeed wrong of me to break Liu Yizhou's legs and imprison him in the Heavenly Prison, but he went too far, and I simply couldn't stand it..."
Qi Min lowered her head, not looking at Qi Wang's face: "Daughter is willing to accept punishment."
Regardless, Liu Yizhou was, after all, an official of the court. Her actions of breaking the other party's leg and throwing him into prison were not entirely appropriate. Although it was satisfying, she still needed to report it to her father, the Emperor.
Father Emperor won't get angry with her over Liu Yizhou.
As Qi Min had guessed, Qi Wang did not get angry with her over this matter.
“You are a princess, and you are only dealing with a minor Hanlin scholar. It is nothing. Moreover, he offended the princess first and showed contempt for the royal family. His crime is more serious. He deserves this fate.”
As the next successor chosen by Qi Wang, Qi Min did more than just do that.
She submitted evidence of Liu Yizhou's collusion with the deposed Crown Prince Qi Zhen, and also presented evidence of his collusion with Ye Chaoyu, the leader of the Imperial Guards.
“Father, although I have my own selfish reasons for punishing Liu Yizhou, his actions are indeed not clean. He not only colluded with the deposed crown prince, but also had close ties with the leader of the palace guards.”
At this point, Qi Min suddenly stopped. She hesitated for a moment, seemingly unsure whether she should continue.
Seeing this, Qi Wang signaled to Qi Min not to worry.
"Taiping, get up first. What do you want to say? You don't need to hide anything from Father Emperor."
Qi Min let out a breath and mustered her courage to speak: "Father, actually, the relationship between that Liu Yizhou and the deposed Consort Pei Yan is not quite normal either..."
Qi Min didn't have direct evidence; she had only heard Liu Yizhou's inner thoughts. However, Qi Min wouldn't tell Qi Wang about being able to hear someone's inner thoughts.
Although she can only hear the thoughts of a few people now, such as her father and mother, as well as the other concubines in the harem, if others find out about this, it will inevitably cause trouble.
"I have no direct evidence of this matter; I only learned about it by chance... Liu Yizhou came to see me today in order to use me to enter the prison and rescue his beloved."
Now that she has completely let go of Liu Yizhou, she must crush him completely, leaving him no chance to recover. Otherwise, since the two have become enemies, if Liu Yizhou gains power in the future, he might try to trip her up.
Although Qi Min felt that Liu Yizhou was not a reliable scapegoat, it was better to nip it in the bud. Even a flea that keeps jumping around is annoying enough.
So she made up her mind and revealed the affair between Liu Yizhou and Pei Yan.
The Emperor deeply despises Pei Yan. Liu Yizhou and Pei Yan are deeply involved. Although it is unknown how far their relationship has progressed, it is enough for the Emperor to know that they are related.
As expected, when she mentioned that Liu Yizhou and Pei Yan had some entanglement, Qi Wang's face darkened, and his breathing became heavier, showing that he was in a bad mood.
Qi Min secretly observed Qi Wang's expression and realized that he was indeed angry, which made her secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
That's settled now; Father Emperor won't hold it against her for punishing Liu Yizhou.
However, what Qi Min didn't expect was that Qi Wang would entrust her with the task of investigating Pei Yan.
Qi Min raised his hand and pointed to himself, his tone filled with disbelief.
"Father, are you really letting your son go?"
Shouldn't the affairs of the imperial concubines be investigated by the Imperial Clan Court? At the very least, they should be investigated by the Ministry of Justice. Can she really handle it?
Qi Wang turned to look at her: "What, you don't have confidence?"
Qi Min immediately shook his head: "No, I was just a little surprised, but since this is Father Emperor's arrangement, I will do my best to investigate and will never fail Father Emperor's trust."
Regardless, she agreed first.
After all, as a princess, she would never normally be entrusted with matters involving politics. Since her father was willing to give it to her, the political implications are self-evident.
Even if there are countless difficulties and dangers along the way, Qi Min will find a way to complete it.
"Don't worry, I won't let you investigate empty-handed. I will send a squad of imperial guards to you, and I will also assign Ye Chaoyu to assist you. I will write an imperial edict and bestow upon you the Imperial Sword. If necessary, you can act first and report later."
Upon hearing this, Qi Min suddenly looked up at Qi Wang, his tone filled with excitement.
"Father, are you really willing to bestow upon your daughter the Imperial Sword?"
That's an imperial sword, capable of executing both imperial relatives and corrupt officials.
Even the deposed crown prince, who was so favored by his father, the emperor, did not have the imperial sword.
But now her father has actually bestowed the Imperial Sword upon her!
It would be a lie to say that Qi Min wasn't excited. She looked intently at Qi Wang, never before had she felt so clearly how much Qi Wang valued her.
Her father really values her, and he genuinely wants her to be the crown prince.
Although she never heard her father's true feelings, the fact that he was willing to give her such great power was enough to explain everything.
Even if the edict to establish a crown prince was never issued, and even if she ultimately failed to become crown prince due to various forces, she would accept it.
However, since her father was willing to give her such an opportunity and overcome all difficulties to let her sit at the table, then she, Princess Taiping of the Daqing Dynasty, would surely fulfill her father's wish.
She will inevitably be the next emperor.
Seeing the burning fighting spirit in Qi Min and the undisguised ambition in her eyes, Qi Wang felt deeply gratified.
He didn't think it was a bad thing for a woman to be ambitious.
Qi Min is ambitious. Next, he will see if Qi Min's abilities can match her ambitions.
Of course, it doesn't matter if she's not a good match, since Qi Min has him standing behind her.
With him around, there was no possibility that Qi Min would not be able to ascend the throne.
Qi Min withdrew, and Qi Wang's imperial edict was soon issued.
When Ye Chaoyu learned that he had been transferred to serve the Fifth Princess, his upright face was clouded with gloom.
Fifth Princess?
How could a mere woman be qualified to be his master?
Ye Chaoyu was dissatisfied, and this dissatisfaction naturally showed on his face. When facing Qi Min, his tone was harsh and showed no respect whatsoever.
Qi Min merely glanced at him and didn't hold it against him.
Unlike Ye Chaoyu, the deputy captain of the guard was much more attentive and enthusiastic.
Qi Qiuwu said respectfully, "Your Highness, rest assured, I will do as you command and will not dare to be negligent in the slightest."
"Your Highness is wise and mighty, and is a role model for us. We will obey Your Highness's orders and will go through fire and water for you without hesitation."
Everyone likes to hear nice words. Although it was known that Qi Qiuwu was likely just flattering him, it was still pleasing to see him put on such a loyal act.
Qi Min smiled and nodded: "Don't worry, I won't treat you unfairly. You'll be richly rewarded if you do well."
Qi Qiuwu was the first to kneel down: "Long live the Fifth Prince! We will go through fire and water for the Fifth Prince without hesitation."
The rest of the crowd also knelt down, shouting "Long live the Emperor!"
After everyone else knelt down, the person who was still standing there stood out conspicuously.
Qi Min looked at Ye Chaoyu, who was standing still, and said calmly, "Commander Ye, do you have a problem with me?"
Ever since she obtained the imperial sword, Qi Min has become increasingly confident. Her father even assigned her a squad of the imperial guards who were responsible for protecting the palace. All of this is enough to prove how much her father values her.
Behind her stands the current emperor. What is Ye Chaoyu? How dare he act arrogantly in front of her?
Ye Chao bowed, his tone still firm: "Your Highness, I am not the kind of person who flatters and fawns. Moreover, I am loyal to the Emperor and cannot be like those two-faced people. If I were like those petty men, I would not be able to sit in this position of commander of the Imperial Guards."
What he said was all high-sounding and righteous.
However, Qi Min stared intently at him, and then, as she wished, she heard Ye Chaoyu's innermost thoughts.
"She's just a princess, yet she thinks she's something special, daring to boss me around? Ha."
Qi Min: "..."
So what if she's a princess?
Is the fact that she's a princess his reason for belittling her?
She was a princess of the Daqing Dynasty, and this was how Ye Chaoyu treated her?
Qi Min showed no displeasure whatsoever: "Oh, you mean that just because you are loyal to my father, you can't be loyal to me, the princess? All those who are loyal to me are just sycophants?"
Ye Chaoyu: "Your humble servant dares not."
"Knowing this all along, why invite humiliation upon yourself?"
His true feelings were laid bare to Qi Min's ears.
"If Yan'er hadn't been trapped and I hadn't needed you to save her, why would I have submitted to you?"
Qi Min: "..."
Swallows, it's swallows again.
Who could this Yan'er be? She's none other than that deposed concubine who was imprisoned in the imperial jail.
Qi Min didn't know. She had seen Pei Yan before. Pei Yan was indeed quite pretty, but not to the point of being so stunning that she could bewitch a nation.
How come she couldn't see what was so good about Pei Yan?
Why are all of them so devoted to Pei Yan?
Not only did the deposed Crown Prince Qi Zhen have an affair with her in the palace, but Zhang Yu, the chief eunuch by the Emperor's side, also fell deeply in love with her. As a result, he was thrown into the Imperial Clan Court by the Emperor. After interrogation, it was discovered that he was a fake eunuch. After being castrated again, he was put into the Department of Cautious Punishment.
The newly appointed top scholar, Liu Yizhou, was also deeply in love with her. For her sake, he was even willing to "lower himself" to ask the princess, whom he despised the most, for help.
As expected, he got what he wanted. Qi Min broke all three of his legs and threw him into the prison, where he became neighbors with Pei Yan. The two could finally see each other across the prison gate and relieve their longing for each other.
Who would have thought that not only were three men devoted to Pei Yan, but now a new man has appeared.
Ye Chaoyu, putting aside his status as the commander of the Imperial Guards, came from a prestigious family. The Ye family was a prominent clan in the Great Qing Dynasty. What kind of beauties hadn't he seen? Yet he was so hopelessly in love with Pei Yan.
Could it be that Pei Yan used all her skills on how to seduce men?
Ye Chaoyu's behavior was already considered extremely disrespectful.
However, the same approach used against Liu Yizhou cannot be used to deal with Ye Chaoyu, since he has the Ye family behind him.
Before Qi Min gained sufficient power, she did not intend to confront the Ye family.
"I understand. You may leave."
Qi Min smiled and did not punish Ye Chaoyu, but simply dismissed him.
She was beginning to understand why her father had placed Ye Chaoyu under her command.
This is probably a test from her father, to see if she has the ability to deal with Ye Chaoyu.
She didn't believe that her father, with his wisdom and martial prowess, couldn't see that Ye Chaoyu and Pei Yan had an affair.
Ye Chaoyu was the person her father had chosen as her practice subject.
Qi Wang: "..."
The young girl was overthinking things. Actually, Qi Wang didn't have any other thoughts; he was just too lazy to deal with these matters.
Being an emperor is not easy. Qi Wang was good at being an emperor, but he did not want to get himself involved in politics.
Qi Min's growth takes time, but Qi Wang doesn't mind speeding up the process.
In fact, Qi Min's performance was also very impressive.
Ye Chaoyu is backed by the Ye family, but the Ye family is not monolithic. Ye Chaoyu is the eldest grandson of the Marquis of Boyuan, but the Marquis of Boyuan has a total of five eldest grandsons.
However, the title of Marquis of Boyuan could only be held by one person.
Because Ye Chaoyu disregarded the interests of the Marquis's mansion for the sake of beauty, many people naturally wanted to bring him down.
Qi Min took advantage of this point.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
