"Fortunately, one of Consort Li's maids survived. Perhaps she knows the truth! Huaifu, bring that maid before me. I want to know the real situation in Consort Li's palace on the night of the Lantern Festival!"
The emperor's tone remained one of rage.
Huaifu hurriedly went out to invite the young palace maid. As he passed General Lan, Huaifu glanced at General Lan again.
If General Lan hadn't arrived in time, bringing the villagers of Taoxi Village with him, the emperor probably wouldn't have wanted to overturn the case against the deposed crown prince.
Forced to this point, the emperor had no choice but to overturn the verdict, which gave the young palace maid beside Consort Li a chance to meet the emperor.
"Your Majesty, this humble general will go to Taoxi Village immediately! I will definitely bring the deposed crown prince back to the palace unharmed!" General Lan also bowed and withdrew.
At the entrance, he brushed past the young palace maid without glancing at her, as if he had no prior knowledge that this maid was the one who could prove the deposed crown prince's innocence.
In fact, what happened in Pan Yuanzhou's bedroom tonight also happened in his general's mansion.
However, Ye Qingxue and Yun Zhuo had given him advance notice, telling him that this was a conspiracy to frame the loyal ministers and generals of the Great Zhou as the deposed crown prince's faction, and then eliminate them along with the deposed crown prince.
At that time, Ye Qingxue and Yun Zhuo emphasized to him that he should never be fooled into going to the outskirts of Kyoto.
When he saw Yun Zhuo, he was as shocked as the Prince of Yu and his wife, and he couldn't completely believe what they said.
Ye Qingxue then said, "It doesn't matter if General Lan doesn't believe us now. You can arrange for people to listen for any sounds outside the capital city. When the wind picks up, you can come out and check the situation yourself. Then General Lan will know whether we are lying or not!"
Therefore, before it even got dark, General Lan had already arranged for men to hide outside the city.
They hid in Taoxi Village late at night.
After the assassins came to his room crying and saying that the emperor had suddenly fallen ill and might die, he went there in person.
After enduring the cold wind for half the night, he finally saw the assassins enter and slaughter the civilians. He also saw Pan Yuanzhou and his group in Taoxi Village and heard their confrontation with Yun Zhuo.
Finally, it was Yun Zhuo's men who escorted the five villagers out of the city without anyone noticing, and then they went to the palace to find the emperor.
The whole thing was arranged in advance by Yun Zhuo and Ye Qingxue. To be precise, he was just going to verify something.
However, he had planted people among the guards at the city gate beforehand, which is why things went so smoothly.
Yun Zhuo anticipated the emperor's thoughts and guessed that even if the emperor doubted the truth, he would not easily agree to overturn the case.
Because it involves the massacre of Consort Li and her entire palace, as well as the deposition of the Crown Prince and the tragic destruction of the Eastern Palace.
Too many lives have been lost in this.
The emperor had always aspired to be a benevolent ruler, so how could he allow such a grave mistake to be made?
The young palace maid was summoned into the hall. She was thin, dressed in tattered clothes, and presented a letter with trembling hands.
The edges of the letter were stained with blood.
The young palace maid said, "This servant did not intend to offend His Majesty. It's just that these days, people have been chasing me. I was trying to protect Consort Li's letters from being stolen, which is why the letters are stained with blood..."
The emperor rubbed his temples, his face revealing neither joy nor anger.
He glanced at Huaifu, who immediately took the letter, unfolded it, and flattened it on the table in front of the emperor.
At the beginning of the letter, Consort Li thanked the Emperor for his favor, and then said that the taller the tree, the more the wind blows, and that the Crown Prince was framed with the lives of his entire clan threatened. In order to protect her clan, she had no choice but to do so.
The letter was filled with sobs.
The ending emphasizes that there was no affair between the Crown Prince and her, and that she apologized for framing the Crown Prince and disappointing the Emperor.
The emperor's gaze swept across the letter, from top to bottom and back again, even turning the letter over to look at the back, but he still couldn't find any mention of who Consort Li was threatening her!
The emperor felt he had another reason to be angry: "Did your master say who threatened her with the lives of her entire clan to frame the Crown Prince?"
The palace maid said, "That man killed Your Majesty's three-year-old nephew. This is the first time he has threatened Your Majesty."
"Several more people died in her family afterward, but unfortunately, the person never showed up. Consort Li still doesn't know who is threatening her. But she guesses... guesses..."
The emperor's tone was somber: "Guessing what?"
"Consort Li suspects that this matter may be related to the struggle for the crown prince position. By framing the crown prince, the position of crown prince will be vacant..."
"The position of Crown Prince." The emperor pondered these four words, his eyes deep and filled with murderous intent, but he remained silent for a long time.
...
The assassins and guards surged forward in layers.
Yun Zhuo was still fighting, his body soaked in blood and sweat, and every time he swung his sword, blood sprayed out.
Screams could be heard everywhere.
All he wanted now was to fight his way out, get to the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion, and give his blood to Ye Qingxue as medicine.
Just as they were about to break through the encirclement, General Lan rode up on horseback and delivered an imperial edict, ordering Yun Zhuo to lay down his weapons, for everyone to cease fighting, and to enter the palace immediately!
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