"Your Majesty need not worry. I merely added some special spices to the incense burner to allow Your Majesty to rest for a few days. I will then take charge of this beautiful land of Xiliang in Your Majesty's stead!" Consort Shu smiled brightly and charmingly, but her beautiful eyes flashed with a chilling coldness.
"Why did you do this? Haven't I treated you well?" With his trusted guards and eunuchs arrested and his inner strength sealed, the emperor had no power to resist. He assessed the situation, softened his voice and attitude, and subtly tested Consort Shu.
"Your Majesty, now that things have come to this, why bother with your act? You have never had any affection for me as husband and wife, nor have you ever loved my sixth son. The Duke of Mu's mansion, which has made great contributions on the battlefield, is nothing more than a tool for guarding the border in your eyes. In your heart and eyes, you only see your eldest son, Ye Qianlong. He is the most important person in your heart."
"According to ancestral teachings, he is destined to be the Emperor of Xiliang. What's wrong with me showing him some favoritism? Duke Mu embezzled military funds, and I ordered a joint trial in three courts. What's wrong with that?" The Emperor coldly stared at Consort Shu, who subtly arrested the guards and eunuchs standing outside the study. She was incredibly capable. For over a decade, he had truly underestimated her.
"Favoritism? Is your favoritism towards him only slight?" Consort Shu laughed sarcastically. "If you had even a shred of affection for my Duke Mu's mansion, you wouldn't have allowed the Prince of Yan and the Marquis of Zhenguo's mansion to join forces to interrogate him, and you certainly wouldn't have summoned young women from the families of civil and military officials to the palace to select consorts for Ye Qianlong on the day of his third trial!"
"Listen to the Chuxiu Palace, how lively it is! And go to the main hall of the Jingzhao Prefecture and see how my brother, the Duke of Mu, a mighty general on the battlefield, has been reduced to a prisoner, kneeling in the hall, being pointed at and talked about. How miserable he is!"
---Aside---
The trip to Xiliang is coming to an end soon, and we'll be returning to Qingyan quickly. Many mysteries will be revealed then. If you have tickets, please remember to send me a few!
Chapter 186 Palace Turmoil
"Qianlong is already nineteen years old, well past the age of marriage. Shouldn't he be chosen as a concubine? Duke Mu has fought on the battlefield and made great contributions. When have I ever shortchanged him on his monthly salary or his rewards? The wages issued by the Ministry of War are all the blood and sweat of the soldiers. How dare he embezzle them? He has become a prisoner, kneeling in the main hall of the Jingzhao Prefecture, losing all face. It is all his own doing."
The emperor looked at Consort Shu with sharp eyes, his words resolute and eloquent, each one a gem, showing no sign of yielding.
Consort Shu narrowed her snowy eyes slightly, showing no sign of weakness, and said confidently, "The salary was not embezzled by Duke Mu."
The emperor snorted and said arrogantly, "Then please produce the evidence. As long as the evidence is true and conclusive, I will never wrong him!"
The Ministry of Justice of Jingzhao Prefecture is indeed at odds with Duke Mu, but Duke Mu's power should not be underestimated. He will definitely use all his connections to prove his innocence. Now that the two trials have been held, both witnesses and physical evidence point to him embezzling silver. There is no hope of overturning the verdict. He definitely embezzled the salary.
Consort Shu narrowed her beautiful eyes. Mu Tao was the son of the Duke of Mu. He embezzled money, and the Duke of Mu's mansion was also involved. The Duke of Mu had failed to educate his son properly, and the border soldiers were short of money. He had an inescapable responsibility. If they continued to argue, they would not gain anything. "Put the matter of the Duke of Mu aside for now. Your Majesty, have you ever had even a shred of affection for me?"
The emperor coldly looked at Consort Shu: "If I had no feelings for you, would I have favored you for so many years? If I had no feelings for you, would I have bestowed upon you the title of Consort Shu? If I had no feelings for you, would I have allowed you to give birth to a prince?"
"Since Your Majesty is indeed deeply in love with me, I dare to ask for one more thing, and I hope Your Majesty will grant it." Consort Shu's beautiful eyes were full of affection, and her gentle smile was bright and dazzling, like a cunning hunter who had dug a big trap and was gently guiding his prey to jump in.
The emperor gazed into those beautiful eyes and said calmly, "You want me to pass the throne of Xiliang to Xiao Liu."
"Your Majesty is wise!" Consort Shu's bright smile slowly blossomed in her eyes. The Emperor bestowed upon her unparalleled status and wealth not out of affection, but because she was the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Mu's family. In order to make the Duke of Mu's family more attentive to the Emperor of Xiliang, he had to put on a show.
Imperial favor and imperial grace are illusory things, invisible and intangible, and still in the hands of the emperor. He can take them away at will. Only power and status are real and important.
"Dream on." The emperor looked coldly at Consort Shu, shattering her beautiful dream without any mercy: "Since ancient times, there has been an order of seniority. He is the sixth child, with several older brothers. The throne will never be his!"
Consort Shu's face darkened: "Your Majesty, why be so stubborn? The Western Liang kingdom needs a capable ruler. Establishing a virtuous leader is more important than establishing a legitimate heir. I dare to guarantee that among all your princes, none can compare to him..."
"Shut up!" The emperor interrupted Consort Shu coldly, his sharp eyes flashing with icy light: "I will decide who will be the next emperor of Xiliang. It is not for a woman like you to interfere!"
Good, very good! Does she have no right to interfere in the next Western Liang emperor's affairs?
Consort Shu looked at the Emperor with a gentle smile, then suddenly raised her hand, pressing a gleaming dagger against his neck. Her red lips parted slightly, and a cold, ruthless warning echoed slowly in the room: "If you want to live, quickly issue an edict to depose Ye Qianlong and make my son the Crown Prince. Otherwise, I will kill you!"
She tried everything—emotion, reason, and persuasion—to explain things to the emperor, but he remained unmoved and insisted on passing the throne to Ye Qianlong. Well then, she wouldn't be so rude to him.
The cold, sharp blade pressed against the emperor's neck. If Consort Shu exerted even the slightest force, he would die. The emperor did not beg for mercy or compromise. He coldly looked at Consort Shu and said, "Qianlong is the crown prince. If I die, he can rightfully ascend the throne. As for you, no matter how powerful you are, without my consent, you will always be traitors and rebels."
How dare they threaten her!
Consort Shu's eyes turned cold. She withdrew her dagger and struck the emperor hard in the chest with her backhand.
The emperor, having lost all his internal strength, was limp and powerless to resist. He was knocked to the ground, his chest heaving with blood and qi. He barely managed to hold back from vomiting blood as he looked at Consort Shu in astonishment: "You actually know martial arts?"
They had shared a bed for over ten years, and he had never discovered that she was a martial artist with profound inner strength and excellent martial arts skills.
"I come from a military family, how could I not know martial arts? It's just that you're foolish and didn't observe carefully enough to notice!" Consort Shu looked at the emperor provocatively, a mocking smile playing on her lips. Her slender fingers pulled open a drawer in her desk, revealing a series of memorials. Without even glancing at them, she tossed them aside and quickly searched for something.
"I underestimated you!" The Emperor looked at Consort Shu's swift movements, his tone low and sharp: "Consort Shu, this is the Western Liang Imperial Palace, my domain. Do you think you can walk out unscathed after seriously injuring me?"
Consort Shu chuckled and looked back at the Emperor, her smile bright and smug: "Your Majesty, to be honest, many days ago, we were already speculating about the outcome of the joint trial and secretly made all the arrangements. If Duke Mu is innocent, the Duke Mu's mansion will be safe and sound, and we will be fine. If Duke Mu is found guilty, it means Your Majesty has abandoned us, and we will no longer be loyal to the Ye family's empire."
"Just now, the Jingzhao Prefecture sent a signal that Duke Mu has led his troops in rebellion. My people are also secretly purging the palace. The palace is no longer yours."
"You want to rebel!" The emperor's icy gaze suddenly shot towards Consort Shu, his eyes burning with rage. They had been plotting for a long time; the Duke of Mu's mansion wanted to rebel against the Ye Dynasty. They were truly audacious.
"If Your Majesty makes Liu'er the Crown Prince and pardons Duke Mu, we will not rebel!" The drawers were all emptied; Consort Shu, unable to find what she wanted, frowned, turned gracefully, her beautiful palace dress billowing in the air. The sharp dagger was once again pressed against the Emperor's neck, and she demanded sharply, "Where is the Imperial Seal? Where did you put it?"
The emperor gave a cold laugh and said arrogantly, "No one but me can find what I have hidden!"
The imperial seal represents the emperor of a country and symbolizes a noble status and position. The emperor kept it very tightly under his control. The reason why Consort Shu talked to him so much was not only to buy time and make it easier for her people to clean up the palace, but also because she hoped that he would take the initiative to stamp the imperial seal.
Unexpectedly, the emperor was stubborn and insisted on his own opinion. Even after many things were made clear, he remained unmoved by either soft or hard approaches, leading to a tense situation between them. Consort Shu was pressed for time and could not afford to delay, so she had no choice but to press him for the whereabouts of the imperial seal.
"Without my personal command and the imperial seal, you will forever be traitors and rebels, deserving of death by all. Don't even think about rightfully ascending the throne!" The emperor looked at Consort Shu, his sharp eyes filled with disdain and mockery. The Ye family's empire needs to be inherited by a true member of the Ye family, and it must not fall into the hands of these clowns.
Consort Shu looked at the Emperor and suddenly smiled: "Then please open your eyes wide and see clearly, Your Majesty, whether we can control this great land of Xiliang without the Imperial Seal!"
As she spoke, Consort Shu turned around, her small, fair hand pressing on something, and a hidden compartment popped open in the ground. Inside lay a military tally, the tally of the Imperial City Guard. Whoever possessed it would have control over the entire capital of Xiliang.
The emperor's face instantly turned as black as ink, and he roared, "Consort Shu!" He rammed his tall body, which had gathered all his strength, into her. She knew where he had hidden the military tally; no wonder he was so confident.
Seeing the figure hurtling towards her, Consort Shu sneered, overestimating herself, and suddenly raised her foot, kicking him hard in the chest.
The emperor had lost all his internal strength. The immense force sent him flying three or four meters before he finally landed on the ground. He felt a heavy, uncomfortable tightness in his chest and couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. His body was weak and powerless.
Then, Consort Shu picked up the military tally from the hidden compartment, examined it carefully, confirmed it was genuine, and gracefully walked out of the study.
"Someone come here!" Consort Shu's charming voice, subtly imbued with inner strength, echoed out of the courtyard, startling the soldiers guarding outside.
"Your Majesty!" Two soldiers descended from the sky, and upon seeing the military tally in Consort Shu's hand, their cold voices became much more respectful.
"Send down the order to arrest Prince Qingyan An, Dongfang Heng; Princess An, Shen Lixue; the entire family of the traitorous Marquis Zhenguo; and..." Consort Shu looked at the half-open window of the Imperial Study, a strange smile playing on her lips, and deliberately raised her voice, "Crown Prince Ye Qianlong of Xiliang!"