Everyone's faces immediately darkened. Was this kid an idiot, or did he think his father was a god? He slept with the emperor's woman; how could he not die? If he didn't die, where would the emperor's face be?
It seems that there's really something wrong with Lord Sima's upbringing. His son treats him like a god, which is why he's so arrogant and ignorant.
Feng Zixiao's veins were bulging on his hands, and with a wave of his hand, there was no room for negotiation.
"Drag him away and beat him to death with sticks."
Sima Yuan was filled with despair upon hearing this, as his son continued to cry out, "Father, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I haven't had enough yet!"
"Why are you touching the Emperor's things when you haven't had enough?" That's what everyone present was thinking.
Ye Xiuying also turned pale and screamed repeatedly: "Your Majesty, this has nothing to do with me! This has nothing to do with me! I don't know why this is happening! Your Majesty, you must investigate this matter!"
Just as Sima Zhuo and Ye Xiuying were being dragged away, a sharp, clear voice suddenly rang out in the darkness: "The Empress Dowager has arrived."
A sedan chair came rushing over, and as soon as it stopped, someone helped the Empress Dowager out of it.
As soon as Sima Yuan saw the Empress Dowager approaching, he rushed to her sedan chair, hugged her legs, and cried desperately, "Empress Dowager, please save Zhuo'er, please save Zhuo'er! He must have been framed! I clearly ordered someone to send him back, how could he be in the palace again?"
At this moment, Sima Zhuo also came to his senses and pleaded repeatedly, "Yes, Empress Dowager, I left the palace, but I don't know why I came back. Please spare my life, Empress Dowager."
Ye Xiuying's face was also streaked with tears as she desperately pleaded, "Your Majesty, save me! Save me!"
She never dreamed that she would encounter such a thing upon entering the palace. The harem was truly terrifying. She knew that someone had plotted against her, but who was it that had brought her here without her noticing? Before, she had only vaguely thought that the person who was making love to her was the Emperor, but who knew it was that lecherous Sima Zhuo? She couldn't possibly be interested in Sima Zhuo, but now it was no use saying anything. She didn't want to die.
Empress Dowager Sima Lan was no less furious than Feng Zixiao, but Sima Yuan was her brother, her only son. If she executed him, wouldn't her brother hate her to death? Moreover, the new Great Zhou Dynasty was not yet firmly established, and she still needed to rely on her brother. She had already heard the news that Bai Ye's 20,000-strong Bai family army had vanished into thin air. This was a matter of utmost importance. Right now, they should be working together to figure out how to find Bai Ye. Finding the Bai family army was the key to dealing with the Jiang family army.
"Your Majesty, we pay our respects."
Before the Qinyue Pavilion, the officials paid their respects to the Empress Dowager, all thinking to themselves, "Now that the Empress Dowager is here, Sima Zhuo might not have to die, right?"
The Empress Dowager nodded slightly, gesturing for everyone to rise, and then said calmly, "It's late, everyone should go back now. I believe you'll all forget what happened in the palace tonight after a good night's sleep."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The Empress Dowager's words were quite meaningful, and everyone understood them perfectly. They quickly nodded to show their attitude: "Yes, we know nothing and have seen nothing."
"We take our leave."
Everyone who shouldn't have stayed was removed, even the unconscious Grand Tutor Ye was dragged away. In the end, only Sima Yuan and Sima Zhuo remained, along with the Emperor and Ye Xiuying, as well as the palace eunuchs and maids.
The Empress Dowager squinted and glanced around, then said sternly, "If anyone tells anyone about what happened tonight, they'll be dead."
"We dare not," the guards, eunuchs and maids all knelt down in fear. After such a thing happened, which of them would have the guts to go out and learn from it? It's not like they didn't want to die.
"Go down."
Now even the guards, eunuchs, and palace maids retreated, leaving only the person involved, the Empress Dowager, and her two maids...
Chapter 72
Under the cover of night, Feng Zixiao's chest heaved, his piercing gaze fixed on his mother. Could she be planning to release Sima Zhuo again? What about his reputation? Would he still have the face to sit in the Golden Phoenix Palace?
"Mother, you?"
"Your Majesty, please go back and rest. I will handle this matter and will not let Your Majesty become a laughing stock."
"Mother," Feng Zixiao knew immediately that his mother wanted to release Sima Zhuo. His eyes were like those of a wolf as he stared fiercely at Sima Zhuo. This man actually dared to sleep with his woman. Although he did not want Ye Xiuying to enter the palace before, now that she had entered the palace, she was his woman. He would have no face left.
"Alright, my son, let's go back."
The Empress Dowager's firm order caused Feng Zixiao to open his mouth, then close it again. Finally, with a gloomy expression, he strode away. The eunuchs who had retreated far away quickly followed, saying, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
The Empress Dowager watched the departing figure stride away, knowing that a rift had indeed formed between mother and son. Any man would want to kill the fool in this situation, especially since this was the imperial palace and Ye Xiuying was the emperor's concubine.
"Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager."
Sima Yuan spoke quickly, and the Empress Dowager glared at him and his son before calmly ordering the two nannies, "Take Ye Xiuying back to Qingxin Palace."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Two elderly nannies grabbed Ye Xiuying and headed towards Qingxin Palace, completely ignoring her struggles and cries. Although she was the daughter of the Grand Tutor, what happened tonight was too shameful, and even the Ye family would have nothing to say about it.
Sima Yuan reached out and helped Sima Zhuo follow the Empress Dowager to Qingxin Palace. As they were leaving, he looked at Qinyue Pavilion with a puzzled expression. What the hell? How could something have gone wrong? The little eunuch said that he had clearly seen the Left Prime Minister enter the pavilion with the Empress, but why was his son inside?
The area around Qinyue Pavilion finally quieted down. Hidden in the tall trees, two people had watched a good show and were feeling extremely pleased, especially Hailing. Seeing Feng Zixiao and the Empress Dowager suffer a setback made her heart leap with joy, and seeing Ye Xiuying's miserable state made her even happier.
"That woman really brought it on herself."
At this moment, Xi Lingfeng released Hai Ling's body, so she forgot that she had been nestled in the Left Prime Minister's arms just a moment ago, and was only focused on being happy.
Xi Lingfeng's lips curled into a cold smile, his eyes unfathomable, and he said indifferently, "Who told her to mess with you? And that Yu Zheng, if it weren't for the fact that she's pregnant, I would have settled the score with her tonight too."
"ah,"
Hai Ling opened her mouth wide. It turned out that all of this was Xi Lingfeng's scheme. This man's scheming was indeed deep and terrifying. However, thinking that he was doing this to avenge her, she was not afraid of him at all.
"Ling'er, you should go back now."
Seeing her expression, with her mouth slightly open, Xi Lingfeng felt a pang of tenderness and an urge to kiss her. However, this was not the right time. She was still unaware of what was going on between them, so it was best to remain calm and wait.
Xi Lingfeng composed himself, reached out and took Hai Ling's hand, and the two of them jumped down. A few figures emerged from not far away: Yan Zhi, Xiao Ke, and Lian Yi. The three of them rubbed their heads and muttered in confusion, "How did we fall asleep? Where is the Empress? Where did the Empress go?"
"Miss?"
When Rouge realized that Hailing was missing, she became nervous and started calling out.
To avoid alerting others, Hailing quickly called out, "Rouge."