Qi Zhen felt a chill in his heart—no, it was more than that. His entire back was covered in goosebumps.
When he finally forced himself to return home, he couldn’t wait to rush to the study.
They no longer used the study for discussions; everything had been moved to Mingyue Tower.
But this time was different. As soon as Qi Zhen entered the study, he grabbed Old Marquis Qi and asked urgently: “Father! Did you hear that? Princess Baorong—when she was so young, she already….”
That was over a thousand lives!
Even now, for such a large number of deaths to occur, it would usually have to be during a border conflict—a major event with heavy casualties that must be reported to the court.
Back then, Princess Baorong was only a few years old!
This girl was even more terrifying than Qi Yuan.
No wonder Empress Feng had been forced into seclusion in the palace, refusing to appear even on the first and fifteenth of each month when the empress traditionally received the noblewomen’s greetings.
No wonder Empress Feng had been forced to go to Baiyun Temple to beg the Eldest Princess, insisting on sending Xiao Yunting away to be raised elsewhere.
If it weren’t for that, would Xiao Yunting even be alive today?
Old Marquis Qi glanced at him and slowly rolled up his painting scroll: “So, what? You’re panicking? What are you panicking about?”
Panicking?
Qi Zhen didn’t try to hide it: “What do you think I’m panicking about? Of course I’m afraid that Ah Yuan won’t be able to defeat Princess Baorong!”
Qi Yuan was indeed formidable in her own right.
But she was just a marquis’s daughter, and all she had was her martial skills.
Princess Baorong, on the other hand, could sway the emperor’s moods with a single word.
If the emperor grew angry, it could mean rivers of blood and mountains of corpses.
This was no joke!
Old Marquis Qi let out a dismissive laugh, his eyes sharp: “The game’s not over yet—how do you know Ah Yuan can’t win?”
Since the steady downfall of Duke Chu’s faction, the tides had completely turned.
Especially this time—with Duke Chu as the head, the entire Min-based noble faction was likely to be uprooted.
Even if not completely destroyed, they would at least be hanging by a thread, unlikely to regain their former power.
What did this prove?
It proved that the forces supporting Noble Consort Xiao Liu and Qi Wang from the previous reign had suffered a major blow.
Old Marquis Qi looked at Qi Zhen and shook his head: “Look at you. Your foresight isn’t even as good as Ah Yuan’s. Think bigger. What’s this to worry about?”
Without Qi Wang, what tricks could Princess Baorong possibly pull?
Did she think she could still become the Eldest Princess?
Qi Zhen gradually calmed down, closed his eyes, and exhaled a long breath.
Yes, that was true. What was he panicking for?
What was there to panic about? Up to now, had Qi Yuan ever lost?
Who would win or lose—it was still too soon to tell.
It was already late at night. Noble Consort Xiao Liu sat under the lamplight, sobbing quietly.
Her crying made Qi Wang extremely irritable.
His leg had been examined by countless imperial and famed physicians. Despite their best efforts, all they could do was restore his ability to walk normally—his leg still remained lame, though it wasn’t as noticeable.
His mood had been utterly miserable because of it.
But as it turned out, things hadn’t hit rock bottom yet—they just kept getting worse.
His leg wasn’t even fully healed, and now Duke Chu’s household had encountered such a huge disaster.
Seeing Noble Consort Xiao Liu’s tear-swollen eyes, like two peaches, he impatiently snapped: “Royal Mother, what’s the point of crying in front of me?”
If Emperor Yongchang were here and saw Noble Consort Xiao Liu sobbing with tears and snot flowing, perhaps he would still feel pity and affection. But the problem was—he wasn’t Emperor Yongchang!
Noble Consort Xiao Liu widened her eyes.
Having been favored for so many years without ever suffering setbacks, she was still naive like a young girl. Her eyes clearly wrote her disbelief: “How could you be so heartless? We still don’t even know what’s happened to your grandfather!”
This time, the incident had escalated far beyond what Noble Consort Xiao Liu had expected. She vaguely sensed that things might be extremely serious.
Because even Princess Baorong had said words like abandoning Duke Chu’s household.
At this moment, Duke Chu had already arrived at the Taiji Hall.
Outside the Taiji Hall, a full circle of Embroidered Uniform Guard guards had been stationed. Lai Chenglong had gone in ahead of time and only came out after a while. As he passed by Duke Chu, Zhu Bin, and the others, he coldly curled his lips at them.
Zhu Bin was still fuming over how Lai Chenglong had slashed Chen Hao’s sleeve earlier and cursed, “What’s he so arrogant about?!”
Soon, Pu Wuyong came out from inside, his shrill voice shouting, “Summoning Duke Chu to an audience!”
When they saw Pu Wuyong, the faces of several nobles instantly darkened.
He was the grand eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, usually dealing directly with the Grand Secretariat, and held the power of sealing imperial edicts. He was truly a powerful and influential figure within the palace.
Duke Chu straightened his robe and strode confidently into the Taiji Hall.
He had already carefully planned how to handle the situation.
First, he would kneel and report the tragic death of Duchess Chu.
Then, he would bitterly recount how he had fought and sacrificed for Emperor Yongchang all these years.
He would accuse Jiang Yanzhen of being greedy and blinded by profit.
He would claim he had been framed, that he had clearly been at home mourning his deceased wife, yet was falsely accused of murdering Eldest Madam Lu.
But all these preparations became utterly useless the moment he stepped into the Taiji Hall.
Emperor Yongchang sat on the dragon throne, and on the floor, already kneeling, were Princess Consort Lu, Prefect Ma Xuan, and Zhou Wang.
……
Lu Minghui, that useless fool!
He failed to kill Lu Mingan and even let him return alive!
The Eldest Princess, who had been wiping her tears at Emperor Yongchang’s side, immediately pointed at Duke Chu and cursed harshly: “Liu Qinghou, you beast in human skin! To make room for your outside mistress, you murdered your wife and hunted your legitimate daughter. You are truly wicked beyond redemption, utterly heartless!”
Duke Chu’s heart sank. Seeing Emperor Yongchang’s face darken with rage, he quickly knelt and was about to plead his innocence.
But at that moment, Emperor Yongchang suddenly hurled a memorial at his face.
It hit him with full force, leaving Duke Chu stunned.
Emperor Yongchang stood up in fury and roared, “Look! Read it yourself! See clearly what you’ve done!”
He was so angry he staggered on his feet.
For so many years, he had shown extraordinary favor to Duke Chu’s household, believing he was compensating Liu Wangfei, doing his utmost to support her family.
But who would have thought—he had been supporting the very enemies who killed her!
What did these people take him for?!
What did Duke Chu’s household take him for?!
Duke Chu realized something was terribly wrong. He opened the memorial, read through it, and all the color drained from his face.
It was written by Jiang Yanzhen himself.
That coward, that fool, had written in detail how back then the Duke had deliberately set up a scheme, falsely claiming Liu Jinghong and Liu Wanqiu were Madam Jiang’s children to hide them in the Jiang family’s household. When the deception was discovered, he poisoned Madam Jiang to silence her.
When Liu Wangfei saw through the plot, he had deliberately delayed her return to the capital.
He had colluded with the Lu family to hunt down Liu Wangfei while she was pregnant.
Everything was described in meticulous detail.
The memorial even listed specific witnesses for each event—named clearly, person by person.
Of course, most of these witnesses had long since been eliminated by Duke Chu’s household.
But the fact that the memorial listed each name so specifically made it all the more believable.
Duke Chu slowly closed his eyes.
Emperor Yongchang was seething: “Speak! Aren’t you always so good at explaining? Just days ago, you were still kneeling in front of me, swearing you had never done any of these things. You said you were innocent—where is your innocence now?! Is this how you mock me? Do you take me for a fool?!”
As he spoke, the emperor grabbed a nearby teacup and hurled it at Duke Chu’s head, splitting his forehead open and leaving him bleeding profusely.
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