frightfiction Chapter 537 Is the 3rd Prince His Child?
Chapter 537 Is the 3rd Prince His Child?
At the beginning, it was Concubine Xiao who secretly replaced the non-venomous spider that Jiang Wange released with a poisonous one, which led to Zhou Shuren being bitten and having his limbs amputated.
Shen Maoxue came back from Yangzhou after providing disaster relief. At his celebration banquet, he poisoned Concubine Liu and tried to drag many people into the water. In the end, it was Concubine Liang who was put to the blame, and it was Concubine Xiao who did it!
On the day of the Third Prince's full-month ceremony, Concubine Xiao directed and acted out her own performance, applying rouge and powder on his drum in an attempt to drag Concubine Xian and Concubine Shu into the affair.
Before Concubine Xian and Lady Zhou gave birth, Concubine Xiao wanted to use the eldest princess to get rid of their fetuses, but the eldest princess was kind and did not listen to her.
Concubine Xiao ordered her men to chop off the woman's feet and throw her body into a deserted well.
Also, the poisonous snake that appeared in Chengqian Palace before was also made by Concubine Xiao. She wanted to kill Concubine Xian during her childbirth, but she suffered the consequences and also put the blame on Concubine Liang.
During the Fourth Prince's full-month ceremony, the word "Jun" composed of bees appeared on the wall, which was also done by Concubine Xiao.
And the well-known poisoning of the Queen Mother.
There are too many evidences of crimes to list...
The emperor had already known about some of these things, but for the sake of the Third Prince, he had never punished Concubine Xiao.
In the end, big things become small, and small things become nothing.
But there are more things... Nangong Xuanyu also knew the truth for the first time!
Since marrying into the Qiandi Palace, Concubine Xiao has always been gentle, graceful, quiet and beautiful.
After the incident in Gyeongbokgung Palace, although Nangong Xuanyu understood that she was not as good as she seemed, he never thought that Concubine Xiao could be so vicious!
The most important thing is... everything Concubine Xiao did was inseparable from the support of her cousin, the imperial merchant.
If he hadn't known that the palace was strictly guarded and that there was no possibility of an affair between the two, Nangong Xuanyu would have doubted whether the third prince was his own...
The emperor did not speak, but anyone could feel the low pressure around him!
Even Li Changde was so frightened that he dared not breathe...
After a long while, the emperor placed the confession in his hand heavily on the table and said in a deep voice: "Pass on my decree. The crimes committed by Concubine Xiao are few and far between. You shall be demoted to a commoner and sentenced to death immediately!"
"The three tribes of the Xiao clan!"
Everyone understood that among all the crimes committed by Xiao Shuren, the most unforgivable was his attempt to murder the royal heir and poison the Empress Dowager!
Although the virtuous concubine did not fall for her poisonous scheme and gave birth to the fourth prince safely, it was an indisputable fact that the queen mother was paralyzed...
The Xiao family was not innocent at all in ending up like this.
As for why not execute all nine clans? The Minister of Justice knows best.
The punishment of killing nine generations of an entire clan is too cruel, and it would be difficult to implement because too many people are involved.
Taking all these reasons into account, emperors of all dynasties rarely issued orders to execute nine generations of an entire clan.
In fact, in history, the execution of nine generations of a clan has only happened twice, and the impact was extremely far-reaching.
The emperor paused and continued, "The Fang family aided the tyrant and was stripped of their status as imperial merchants. All adult males will be beheaded in public, and males under the age of 18 will be exiled to the frontier. The female family members will be sent to the Jiaofang Division!"
"All the palace servants involved will be executed!"
I don't know how many people will die if these decrees are passed down...
When the emperor is angry, blood flows for thousands of miles.
This sentence is not just talk...
Everyone immediately said, "Yes!"
This matter has come to an end here.
After everyone left, Nangong Xuanyu sat on the cold chair, a hint of contemplation flashing in his eyes.
Xiao's cruelty and viciousness far exceeded his imagination.
But... with Xiao's cunningness, she had made all the necessary preparations, including plotting to murder Nian Nian on the day of her delivery, and even forged evidence to make Concubine Liang take the blame.
Finally, why did the snake-attracting powder appear in Chengqian Palace?
If Nangong Xuanyu continued to ask people to investigate further, they might be able to find out the truth.
But he didn't.
Instead, the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment came to an end.
Because deep down in his heart, he didn't want to face the facts that might be revealed...
In his heart, Nian Nian has always been a simple and kind-hearted woman. How could she fight back against the Xiao family so badly?
For some things, as long as there is no solid evidence, he can pretend not to know.
The emperor probably never imagined that one day he would deceive himself for a woman...
……
After word of what happened in the Yangxin Palace spread, everyone had different thoughts.
Some people were jealous and regretful that His Majesty actually went to so much trouble to prove the innocence of Concubine Xian.
Lord Shen also escaped unscathed from this incident, and His Majesty even bestowed him with many rewards as a consolation.
It seems that not only will the virtuous concubine not fall out of favor, but her favor will continue to grow...
Some people secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, ever since Concubine Shu fell out of favor and was demoted, many of the palace concubines who used to curry favor with her have turned to stand on the side of Concubine Xian.
If the virtuous concubine loses power again, they will turn to others, wouldn't they really become fence-sitters...
Zhongcui Palace.
Everyone only knew the emperor's decree, and was not clear about some of the details. However, Yuanbao had a very good relationship with Xiao Huizi, and he found out some news that others did not know.
"… Madam, I heard that His Majesty was furious after hearing the reports from the others!"
"Xiao Huizi secretly told me that His Majesty sent someone to the border to take a person's finger and give it to Duke Dingguo..."
Needless to say, everyone knew who that person was.
Handan smiled and said, "Why do I feel that the third young master of the Liu family is a victim? The people of the Dingguo Mansion are enjoying the good life in the capital, but he is the one who is responsible for the mistakes..."
Fuqiu said calmly, "He was born in the Duke Dingguo's Mansion. He has enjoyed so many years of glory in the past, and now he has to bear the consequences brought by his family."
Handan nodded: "That's true."
"But...how did Duke Dingguo's Mansion displease His Majesty this time?"
Shen Zhinian deliberately angered Concubine Shu last time to set a trap for her. Now it seems that Concubine Shu is impatient and has really jumped into it.
It is not difficult to guess that the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion must have forged evidence against her in this incident. The emperor gave them this warning after knowing it.
After listening to Shen Zhinian's story, Handan was a little scared: "... Madam, you are taking too much risk."
"If Your Majesty hadn't discovered what the Duke Dingguo's Mansion had done, wouldn't they have really thrown dirty water on you?"
Shen Zhinian smiled and said, "Why would I do something I'm not sure of?"
In her previous life, although she did not see the end of the Duke Dingguo's Mansion, after Lu Jianglin became a close minister to the emperor, Shen Zhinian learned from him that the emperor had sent people to monitor the Duke Dingguo's Mansion a long time ago.
In this case, if the Duke Dingguo's Mansion wanted to forge evidence against her in a short period of time, how could they hide it from the emperor's eyes?
She would not gamble with her own and Ah Xu's safety for no reason.
Although Handan and the others didn't know the inside story, seeing that Shen Zhinian looked like he had everything under control, they didn't ask any more questions.