bestfiction Chapter 236 Threat
Chapter 236 Threat
After she finished speaking, it was obvious that something was wrong with the palace maid.
Seeing her hesitation, Cao Qinmo simply dropped the last straw.
"Little Dongzi is already dead. After Hongfang died, you immediately committed suicide, but someone stopped you. The Fourth Prince was afraid that the matter would be exposed, so he immediately ordered someone to deal with him."
"Of course, if you don't believe me, you can just ask someone to go check it out."
As she spoke, Cao Qinmo looked at the emperor and said, "I cannot bear to see your majesty deceived while the traitor remains at large. I know my crime is unforgivable, and I only hope to do my best to restore the truth in order to make up for my sins."
The emperor looked at Cao Qinmo and tacitly agreed to this matter.
Soon, someone came back and said, "The young eunuch has indeed died a few days ago."
As soon as she finished speaking, the palace maid seemed to have breathed her last. Her eyes became completely dead, and her body, which had been broken by torture, collapsed limply to the ground.
"Duo'er, aren't you going to tell me yet?"
The palace maid stared with her eyes wide open like a dead fish, gasping for breath on the ground.
After a while, he struggled to get up.
"Your Majesty, I am guilty. I am guilty."
As she spoke, the palace maid's eyes turned bloodshot, and hatred spread completely in her eyes.
"Fourth Prince, you said that as long as I die, Xiao Dongzi won't have to die. If that's the case, I won't have to cover up for you."
The Fourth Prince's eyes flickered, "Nonsense, when did I agree with you on this? You colluded with the Guarjia clan, and now you are listening to Xiangpin's instigation. Why are you blaming me?"
"Besides," the Fourth Prince gritted his teeth, "Xiangpin really has a sharp tongue, Father Royal, you must not listen to her nonsense."
"Who are you doing this for? I'm afraid you have planned this to harm me."
"If you want to incriminate yourself, why bother?"
Although the Fourth Prince spoke with great righteousness, in reality his hands were shaking and his back was covered in cold sweat in the middle of winter.
"Fourth Prince, the lives of our servants are worthless, but... the Emperor should not be deceived by what you did."
As she spoke, the palace maid tried to hold herself up.
"Your Majesty, it was the Fourth Prince who ordered me to open the window of Prince Hongfang. As for Lady Guaerjia, she did plant someone next to the Prince, but that person never had time to act. The Prince also knew that Lady Guaerjia had a grudge against Concubine Wu."
The palace maid was so disheartened that she no longer had any desire to live. She told the story one by one about what the Fourth Prince had done.
All of these things were shocking. No one present had expected that the Fourth Prince had done so much behind the scenes.
He is quite capable. A prince who is not favored by Concubine Wu can set up such a big plan.
However, when the concubines looked at Ulanara's face that had turned green, they felt that they were being bitten back hard and were actually raising a tiger to cause trouble.
"Your Majesty, it is not a pity for me to die."
After the palace maid told everything, she had no more strength left.
Cao Qinmo took this opportunity to apologize again.
"I knew that the Fourth Prince was ambitious, but I didn't expect that he would do so many wrong things. I know that I have sinned deeply, but I stood aside and watched these things. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
Cao Qinmo implicitly took the blame on himself, looking extremely guilty.
The emperor looked at her deeply. But Cao Qinmo was still determined. Huimin didn't even glance at Cao Qinmo, but looked at the Fourth Prince instead.
"Xiangpin, your title is revoked and you are demoted to a noble lady."
"You will be confined for three months. During this time, you should read the palace rules carefully."
"As for Wen Yi, she will be raised by Consort Xian for the next three months. As for the future...it depends on whether you know how to repent."
This punishment is really not severe, but everyone knows that Cao Qinmo cares about her daughter Wen Yi the most. Taking Wen Yi away is the biggest punishment for Cao Qinmo.
Cao Qinmo seemed panicked and begged desperately.
"Your Majesty, I...you can punish me in any way you want, but Wen Yi cannot leave her mother."
But the emperor turned a deaf ear to him. "You knew about it but didn't report it this time, which makes you an accomplice. Don't let it affect Wen Yi. Fortunately, you still have a conscience and didn't make a big mistake with the Fourth Prince. If you can change, Wen Yi can go back."
After easily dealing with Cao Qinmo, the emperor looked at the culprit.
"Fourth Prince, you have killed your brothers and sisters. You are truly shameless and have committed many evil deeds. You are not worthy of being a prince."
Then, the emperor showed a disgusted expression, "He was born in a lowly family, but his heart is higher than the sky. He was born by a lowly woman, and it is the same bloodline."
"Remove the yellow belt and demote him to a commoner."
After this punishment, the Fourth Prince could no longer bear the blow.
He was already deposed by the emperor in front of so many people because his biological mother, Li Jingui, was not favored by the emperor, and was denounced as of low birth. He was also stripped of his clan membership and demoted to a commoner.
This means there is no possibility of succession.
The Fourth Prince immediately panicked and used his hands and feet to crawl towards the Emperor.
"My Emperor, my Emperor, please have mercy on me! Please have mercy on me, my Emperor!"
"I know I was wrong. I know I was wrong. Please give me another chance."
But no matter how much the Fourth Prince begged, the Emperor remained unmoved.
Soon, the emperor looked at the queen.
"Ulanara Yixiu is imprisoned in Jingren Palace. No one in the palace is allowed to go out. From now on, Su Peisheng will be in charge of all matters related to Jingren Palace. Jianqiu will be executed immediately."
Then, the emperor looked at the crazy Guarjia Wenyuan.
"Guarjia clan, sentenced to death."
Finally, the emperor looked at Concubine Wu.
"To murder the queen is a capital crime, and to fail to take good care of her is a crime that cannot be escaped."
"But..." The emperor paused for a moment, "Thanks to the Empress Dowager's mercy, the death penalty can be spared, but the punishment of life cannot be escaped. You will be punished with thirty strokes of the cane, demoted to a commoner, and moved to the cold palace."
After saying this, the emperor seemed to have no more energy and left in anger.
Of course, the emperor ordered a thorough investigation into the Fourth Prince's affairs.
The palace servants were also dragged away.
Guarjia Wenyuan had her mouth blocked and was forcibly dragged away by several young eunuchs.
Concubine Wu still had some respectability. According to the emperor's intention, the thirty lashes would not kill her, but disability was inevitable.
As for the queen, her eyes were empty, as if she had lost all her soul.
Jianqiu had been with her for many years. Now that she was lost, the Queen had lost her right-hand man and also lost someone with whom she could talk during her long period of confinement.
As for the Fourth Prince, it is really a pity.
Su Peisheng personally "invited" him to leave the palace.
As for Cao Qinmo, she looked extremely distressed, with tears streaming down her face.
After the emperor left, Concubine Jing gave the concubines some instructions as usual and then let everyone go.
So many things happened at once today, and the concubines were all very tired.
Huimin felt relaxed riding on the sedan chair.
The Fourth Prince's efforts and years of planning were not in vain.
Another stumbling block for Hongyao was removed.
Huimin felt relieved and her stiff body relaxed a little.
I still have a lot of things to deal with next, so I can't relax just yet.
Cao Qinmo will bring Wen Yi here soon, so you have to go back and prepare.
As for the Emperor, we must be extremely alert and prepared.
He suddenly saw the true faces of so many concubines in the harem, especially Ulanara. He thought that as a loving mother, she would inevitably come to his Chengqian Palace to seek comfort.