No early morning service today.
But the Emperor got up very early and summoned Consort Xian and the Ninth Prince to have breakfast with him.
Huaifu and his palace servants carefully attended to him.
Suddenly, the emperor said, "Bring that dish of golden jujubes to Xiao Jiu'er."
Huaifu was stunned. These were tribute items that had only arrived this morning, yet the Emperor had already bestowed them upon the Ninth Prince.
Huaifu personally served the golden jujubes, only then noticing that the Ninth Prince was wearing a jade pendant with a dragon pattern at his waist, which startled him once again.
If it weren't for the emperor's personal bestowal, which prince would dare to wear such a jade pendant?
Moreover, the jade pendant with dragon patterns worn by the Ninth Prince was made of white jade pebble material, which is only used by the Crown Prince.
After breakfast, the emperor inquired about the Ninth Prince's recent studies and praised him for his excellent "Strategies for Governing the Country" written at such a young age.
Consort Xian laughed from the side, "It's just a child's nonsense. Your Majesty, don't praise him too much, or he'll become arrogant and ignorant."
The emperor laughed: "Little Jiu'er is my and my beloved concubine's son. He must be a chosen one of heaven and deserve my praise."
Just then, Cui Shao came from outside to report, "Your Majesty, Prince Xuan and Fan Tieshan have brought Prince Jing into the palace, saying that they found evidence of Prince Jing's rebellion in Prince Jing's residence and want to present it to Your Majesty for review and decision!"
The emperor's smile vanished instantly, his expression turning icy, but he showed no surprise.
He washed his hands, had Huaifu wipe the water off them, and then prepared to take the Ninth Prince to the Zichen Palace.
Consort Xian quickly stopped her, saying, "Your Majesty, Xiao Jiu'er is still too young to go to the Zichen Palace."
The emperor waved his hand: "If I say it's okay, then it's okay!"
Zichen Palace.
After the emperor arrived with the ninth prince, everyone quickly knelt down: "Greetings, Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"
The emperor sat on his high throne and ordered someone to bring a chair for the ninth prince to sit next to him. Only then did his gaze sweep down, taking in everyone.
After his gaze fell on Fan Tieshan, the emperor frowned: "Fan Tieshan, what happened to your arm?"
While losing his arm was painful, Fan Tieshan also felt a sense of satisfaction when the emperor asked about it, as he felt the emperor cared about him.
He could eliminate a major threat to the emperor by sacrificing an arm; his future is undoubtedly limitless.
He stepped forward, knelt down, and replied, "This humble servant was ordered by His Majesty to search the Prince Jing's residence, but unexpectedly, the stolen goods were poisoned. I was caught off guard and my hand was poisoned. I had no choice but to cut off my arm to save my life!"
The emperor's face darkened: "What kind of stolen goods could contain such potent poison?"
Yun Xun glanced at Yun Zhuo and stepped forward, saying, "Father, your son and Lord Fan searched the Jing Prince's residence and found countless gold and silver treasures. Those treasures were hidden in the rice jar in the kitchen, but Prince Jing said, said..."
The emperor's voice was deep and resonant: "What did you say?"
Yun Xun said, "Brother Jing does not admit that those were the people's ill-gotten gains he plundered to buy people's hearts, raise private soldiers, and attempt to rebel. Rather, he said that he retrieved them from Empress Shen and Prince Ding, but he just cannot report them to Father Emperor or hand them over to the national treasury for the time being!"
Yun Zhuo immediately looked at Yun Xun.
Yun Xun neither flinched nor avoided his gaze, meeting his eyes in return.
Yun Zhuo sneered. He and Ye Qingxue had been thinking that Xuan Wang's killing of Empress Shen was clearly an attempt to steal credit, or perhaps it was just a coincidence.
But now it seems that it was not a coincidence.
Yun Xun had been planning this for a long time!
Yun Xun thought that he could kill him once he got the iron box, so he stopped pretending and showed his true colors.
Yun Zhuo said, "Father, I suspected that Empress Shen and Prince Ding were plotting a rebellion from the very beginning, so I gathered evidence in advance. Unfortunately, I was swept away by the flood before I could present the evidence to you."
"Afterwards, it was determined that it was 'unauthorized troop deployment,' and I was seriously injured and confined to the palace. Indeed, I have not yet had time to present those gold and silver treasures to Father Emperor!"
"Father should know!"
This statement is indeed irrefutable.
Yun Xun did not intend to refute.
He ordered his men to bring up the iron box: "Alright, even if the gold and silver treasures were looted by Empress Shen and Prince Ding, how does Prince Jing explain the contents of this iron box?"
Yesterday morning, after the coup attempt ended, he returned to the Xuan Prince's Mansion and met with Ji Mingwei.
Ji Mingwei discussed with him that since the emperor had charged Yun Zhuo with "unauthorized troop deployment," if they could take this opportunity to solidify Yun Zhuo's charge of "rebellion," they could directly eliminate a powerful competitor.
So he didn't sleep and asked to enter the palace again to meet the emperor.
He told the emperor that while Yun Zhuo's unauthorized troop deployment was wrong, it was entirely for the purpose of saving the emperor, and Yun Zhuo had rendered meritorious service in saving the emperor. He should not be treated this way, otherwise the people would feel disheartened.
All we need to do is send someone to search Prince Jing's residence to confirm that Yun Zhuo has no intention of rebelling, and then we can let the matter drop.
Yes, during his conversation with the emperor early yesterday morning, while "pleading" for Yun Zhuo, the two words he used most often were "rebellion"!
The emperor did not immediately express his opinion, but simply asked him to leave the palace. Yun Xun did not linger and left the palace.
Last night, the emperor summoned him to the palace and ordered him and Fan Tieshan to lead a search party for Prince Jing's residence.
He knew about the existence of the iron box from the beginning. Without even opening it, he knew that it must contain the correspondence between Yun Zhuo and Qin Tianrui, revealing their intention to rebel.
There were even reports of Yun Zhuo communicating with the Heavenly Eagle Holy Kingdom and colluding with enemy countries.
—Perhaps these letters are all forgeries, but so what? They exist in this iron box, which matches Yun Zhuo's "unauthorized troop deployment," and that's enough.
Yun Zhuo's eyes narrowed dangerously: "This is indeed something from my Prince Jing's manor, but it's not something you can question! I advise you to stop now!"
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