novelraw Chapter 387
Chapter 387
Murong Feng looked completely stunned, only to see another person stand up.
"I, Yan Xiuan, can testify that it was indeed the Emperor who killed Grand Tutor Rong with his own hands!"
"I, Shi Hong, can also testify..."
Gradually, more than half of the people in the hall stood up.
Murong Feng pointed at them with his mouth wide open, unable to utter a single word. The look of sudden realization on Gu Sun and the others' faces deepened.
No wonder Yan Zheng dared to brazenly raise an army and attack the capital!
Look at these people... Ji Yao of the Ministry of Revenue, Shi Hong of the Ministry of Justice, Yan Xiuan of the Ministry of War. There were ministers, vice ministers, and high officials. Who knew when they had all become his men!
Among them, Duke Zou was the most shocked.
He had always thought that the Ministry of War under his command was impenetrable, and Yan Xiuan had always opposed Yan Zheng in the past. He didn't expect it all to be a facade!
Then the one who set fire to the Internal Affairs Department and rescued the Cao and Xie families was also this spy!
Empress Dowager Su could no longer hold back and rushed forward, her voice as sharp as her nail guards: "Traitor!! You never wanted the Emperor to abdicate, you want to usurp the throne! Your wild ambitions have finally been revealed!!"
Chu Ruoyan's brows furrowed, but she heard Mei Hexuan say loudly: "What usurping the throne? Didn't your Murong family usurp the throne from the Yun family? How come you allow the capable to take it, but don't allow our commander to take the throne?"
Empress Dowager Su was so angry that her face turned purple. She trembled her hand and couldn't say a word for a long time.
An unconvinced old minister in the court said: "Mei Hexuan! You and your father received great imperial favor, how dare you rebel along with the traitor Yan?"
Mei Hexuan sneered and looked at him sideways: "The imperial favor of exterminating my entire family, do you want it? The reason why the Mei family is where it is today is all because of that dog emperor!"
The old minister was so angry that his eyes rolled back. Yan Zheng raised his hand, and the arrogant young general immediately restrained his expression and stepped back.
"Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, I raise an army today only to seek justice."
He slowly spat out these words. Prince Yu saw hope: "What justice do you want?"
The corners of Yan Zheng's lips hooked up slightly, and he looked sideways at the woman beside him.
Chu Ruoyan's heart trembled, and she squeezed his hand hard to signal that there was no need for this.
But Prince Yu had already let out a strange cry: "Are you doing this for her? Because my royal brother wanted to kill her?" Thinking carefully, before the Emperor touched her, everything had been peaceful. But ever since he captured Chu Huaishan to force her to show up, everything had changed!
Yuzhou rebelled with the speed of lightning, and strange stones fell from the sky on the Weishui River...
So all of this was Yan Zheng playing tricks behind the scenes. He was doing this out of anger for a beauty!
Prince Yu thought he had seen through the secrets of heaven, and crawled over to the Emperor: "Royal Brother, did you hear that? Yan Zheng doesn't want to rebel, he just wants to give his wife justice. Why don't you just soften up and bow your head?"
Murong Feng was so angry that his eyes turned scarlet: "Old Fifth, are you crazy? You want me to bow my head and apologize to a remnant of the previous dynasty?"
Seeing that he couldn't get through to him, Prince Yu turned to persuade the Empress Dowager. Who knew that Empress Dowager Su was exceptionally clear-headed at this moment: "The winner becomes a king, the loser becomes a rebel. At this point, do you think Yan Zheng will retreat just because of an apology from the Emperor? Don't be naive!"
Yan Zheng nodded slightly: "The Empress Dowager is right. When my wife wanted justice, no one gave it to her, so I had to do it myself."
After saying that, he didn't say any more. He asked Mei Hexuan to bring people in to disarm them, and said loudly: "Dukes and ministers, the Son of Heaven is unkind, harming his benefactors and relatives, acting perversely, and is unfit for the great responsibility! Now I invite you all to accompany me to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility to invite the Second Prince to ascend the throne."
The courtiers were all stunned, and Mei Sheng also asked in confusion: "Commander? This..."
They had fought bloody battles all the way to the capital, not to let a young child ascend the throne!
However, Yan Zheng's word was law in the army. If he didn't speak, the others didn't dare to say more.
Seeing that no one in the hall spoke, Chu Ruoyan pursed her lips and looked at Gu Sun: "Lord Gu, you are a veteran of the cabinet, please lead the way."
Gu Sun looked at her and sighed: "County Princess Changle, sigh..."
Things had come to this point, should they blame heaven or blame people?
He had no time to think more, and could only stand up and lead the mighty crowd towards the Palace of Earthly Tranquility.
Because of the news of the rebel army breaching the city, the palace was also in chaos.
Except for these important ministers who were still there, the eunuchs and maids were all fleeing in terror. Some even began to steal palace property, making Prince Yu curse loudly! But what was the use? The world was in chaos, and these lowly slaves who were usually the most humble wouldn't care about any prince!
A large group of people arrived at the Palace of Earthly Tranquility.
Before they even entered, they smelled a bitter and choking smell of medicine.
The slaves in the palace had long run away, leaving only two momos who had entered the palace with Empress Pei still serving.
Hearing the commotion, they hurried out and were stunned to see a dense crowd of people.
Pei Zhuo pushed past the two of them and ran straight in: "Second Sister, Second Sister!"
Running deep into the inner hall, he finally saw his second sister. The Empress, who was supposed to be the mother of the world, was now as thin as a skeleton.
Her hands, feet, and limbs were all chained with iron chains. With a slight movement, they made a clanking sound.
Pei Zhuo's eyes immediately burst with fire: "Who did this? Was it Murong Feng?!"
Empress Pei's face was blank. Hearing this angry sound, she shrank back in fear. The momo who had hurried in quickly comforted her: "Your Highness is fine, it's the Young State Uncle, the Young State Uncle is here!"
Then she turned her head and wiped her tears at Pei Zhuo: "Young State Uncle, you're finally here! Do you know what kind of life Her Highness has been living these past few days? She has no clothes to cover her body and no food to eat. Whenever the Emperor comes to the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, he beats and scolds her. He even knocks the food on the ground and pulls Her Highness's iron chains to force her to lick it clean... As long as Her Highness doesn't do exactly as he wishes, he will beat the Second Prince!"
Pei Zhuo's eyes were tearing open, and he turned his head, wanting to rush out and kill Murong Feng.
Hearing the name "Second Prince", Empress Pei's eyes showed great panic: "No, no! Your Majesty! Rui'er hasn't recovered from his injuries, he can't be punished anymore. It's all my fault, I'm willing to be punished for him, I'm willing to do anything!"
As she spoke, she lay on the ground, crawling forward like she had done countless times before, trying to lick the tip of Pei Zhuo's shoes.
Pei Zhuo roared violently, smashing the low table with a punch, and squatted down to hug Empress Pei tightly: "Second Sister, it's me! I'm Pei Zhuo, your tenth brother!!"
Empress Pei seemed extremely afraid of the hug and struggled desperately: "No, Your Majesty, I was wrong, I was wrong! I won't dare do it again, I beg Your Majesty to spare me!"
Every word was like a poisonous thorn, piercing the people present so much that they turned their faces away.
Who would have thought that the dignified Empress, the mother of a country, would be abused by the Emperor to such an extent?
Even the old ministers who were originally dissatisfied with Yan Zheng's rebellion couldn't help but feel ashamed when they saw this scene.
Is an emperor who can torture his bedfellow like this really worth supporting?
Empress Pei was still struggling. Chu Ruoyan stepped forward and signaled Pei Zhuo to let her go, saying softly: "Your Highness the Empress, don't be afraid. Do you still remember me?"
Empress Pei seemed less resistant to women. Her unfocused gaze flickered on her face: "You are Chang... Chang..."
She had been tortured for too long to remember the complete title.
Chu Ruoyan smiled and said, "Yes, it is me. I am Changle. You still remember."
The gentle voice slightly soothed her panic. Seeing this, Pei Zhuo endured his pain and stepped back. Chu Ruoyan then continued, "Your Highness, you are safe now. Changle and Young State Uncle Pei are here to rescue you. We also need to save the Second Prince. By the way, where is the Second Prince?"
Empress Pei's eyes glazed over for a moment before she screamed in terror, "Right, save Rui'er! Go save Rui'er quickly!!"
Hearing this, everyone's hearts sank.
What did this mean? Could it be that the Second Prince had already...?
Right at that moment, a weak yet firm voice rang out, "This prince is here."
Everyone immediately looked down, only to see a person hiding beneath the phoenix couch, which was so low it could hardly accommodate anyone. It was none other than Murong Rui!