nycdaug Chapter 324: Eliminating the Remaining Poison
Chapter 324: Eliminating the Remaining Poison
The Empress Dowager Song and Princess Yongqing were not harmed, nor were they forced or bribed by the rebels. They were just imprisoned in the palace and were not allowed to enter or leave freely.
Old Cai and Jin Tai went up to deal with several masters of the imperial guards. When the imperial guards saw the emperor and the empress dowager arriving, they had already knelt on the ground.
All the relatives were safe and sound. After Luo Li comforted her mother and Yongqing, she hurried out of the palace. Her breastfeeding baby son remained in the Mo Yun Cavalry Camp outside the city. The rest of the task of eliminating the remaining enemies would be left to others!
The palace gate had been opened long ago. The elite Mo Yun Cavalry soldiers and the big-footed female soldiers were guarding every intersection and gate of the palace with solemn expressions. Hong Gu and Mo Ming, along with a few shadow guards and a thousand elite Mo Yun Cavalry soldiers, escorted Luo Li out of the palace and headed straight for the Mo Yun Cavalry camp outside the south city gate.
It is urgent to eliminate the remaining poison. Fortunately, the cowardly father and son of the Cheng family confessed the list of people involved in the coup and the implementation plan without reservation.
Feng Xuanzi sat in the palace, protecting the little emperor, Wu Chizi, Old Caitou, Jin Tai, and several commanders of Mo Yunqi who led the troops to arrest people overnight. They brought the imperial edict and rushed into the high-walled courtyards and heavily guarded military camps according to the list of names.
A total of thirty-six civil and military officials were taken to prison and interrogated overnight.
What was unexpected was that the Vice Minister of War, Wang Kui, confessed that Cheng Wuya, the former commander of the Imperial City Division, was the instigator of this palace coup.
It was Cheng Wuya who used the inhumane persecution of aristocratic families in Shu to prevent the Regent Zhao Defang from using the new policy as an excuse to promote it in the Song Dynasty. He secretly instigated and bewitched several court officials who were from aristocratic families. These court officials in turn bewitched and lured the greedy and ambitious Cheng father and son, and carefully planned and launched this coup.
They went to a hidden yard to capture Cheng Wuya's men, but returned empty-handed. Cheng Wuya, who was more cunning than a loach, had already smelled the danger and escaped with a few of his men.
The young emperor Zhao Wuzhi was so angry that his steel teeth almost broke. He immediately issued an imperial decree, notifying the Ministry of Justice to issue a warrant for the arrest of the traitor Cheng Wuya.
Luo Li once again witnessed the ruthlessness of the young emperor Zhao Wuji. All the officials who participated in the coup were executed along with their entire families, and their property was confiscated.
At her intercession, the lives of the Cheng family were reluctantly spared. Cheng Zhuang and Cheng Haodong were sentenced to exile to the border, while Cheng Haonan, who had made meritorious contributions while serving his sentence, was demoted three levels and sent to the newly recovered Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun to serve as a lieutenant. The Cheng family's sons and daughters were sentenced to three years of house arrest.
Empress Dowager Zhaoning never complained about the prince's cruelty, nor did she plead for mercy on behalf of her family. Her heart had already been broken by them.
Luo Li personally saw Cheng Haonan off and took a farewell glass of wine from Hong Gu and handed it to him, "General Cheng, thank you again for your understanding of justice. I hope you can kill the enemy at the border, make more military achievements, and restore the glory of the Cheng family as soon as possible."
Cheng Haonan's face was calm. He took the wine and drank it all. "Good wine! I would like to thank the princess again for keeping her promise and protecting my Cheng family from death."
Don't worry, Princess. I will not give up. I will kill the enemy and restore the reputation of our Cheng family's ancestors for their loyalty and bravery."
Watching Cheng Haonan riding away with a dozen of his personal soldiers, Luo Li sighed, "What a pity, such a wise and brave general with great ambitions was betrayed by his brainless father and elder brother."
Mo Ming also said with deep emotion: "The ancestors of the Cheng family were a family of military commanders with great achievements, but they were brought into decline by the idiot head of the family, Cheng Zhuang. Cheng Zhuang had a good hand but played it badly. If it weren't for the wise Cheng Lao Er, the Cheng family would have almost ended up with the whole family being executed.
The main family is not as promising as the side branches. General Cheng Yucheng has good vision, he followed the right people and stood on the right side, and he has made many military achievements under the prince. "
Luo Li laughed out loud, "Cheng Yu is a talented person, and Cheng Haonan is not bad either, he is just held back by his family. As long as he is determined, he will have a great reputation one day."
Zhao Defang, the regent of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, received his subordinate Feng Zian, who was known as the "God of Wealth". The various businesses of the palace were to be expanded one by one in the recovered Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.
Feng Zian said calmly: "Your Majesty, my opinion is that we should open shops and workshops here for the cotton cloth and toilet paper businesses. These two businesses are related to people's livelihood. People with a little more money can afford them. The product prices are not high, but they are highly profitable industries.
In less than a year or two, it will bring huge income to our palace."
Sima Qingyun waved his sandalwood fan, looked at Feng Caimi with sarcasm, and curled his lips, "Feng Caimi, that toilet paper business belongs to the princess, no matter how much money is made, it will not belong to our palace's treasury."
Regent Zhao Defang glanced at Sima Qingyun, who was acting weird, and said, "Zi'an, I have decided that from now on, all the money earned from our palace's business will be handed over to the princess's private treasury."
Feng Zian was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "As the prince commands, I will hand over the income from next month's business to the princess's private treasury."
Sima Qingyun was not annoyed by the criticism. He smiled happily and cunningly, "My Lord, you are really good at calculating. The income of the princess's business is about to catch up with the income of the palace business, and will surpass it next year. Once you merge the palace storehouse and the princess's private storehouse, we subordinates will be bold to ask for money in the future, so that Feng Zian, the stingy money-grubber, will not be able to make excuses and cry poor."
Yun Yi suddenly walked in, clasped his fists and saluted, "Your Highness, a secret report came from the capital that the Cheng family father and son and more than 30 court officials launched a palace coup while Your Highness was away from the capital."
Before Yun Yi finished speaking, Zhao Defang came over and asked, "How are the princess, her son, and the emperor?"
"The princess and her men successfully suppressed the rebellion. All our people are safe and sound, and the rebels are being arrested and imprisoned one by one."
Regent Zhao Defang then heaved a sigh of relief, and the heart that had been stuck in his throat fell to the ground. He was usually calm in the face of great difficulties, but now that he had the most important person in his life to worry about, he was really scared.
"Qingyun, Zi'an, the affairs of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun are now handed over to you. I will return to the capital today."
Sima Qingyun and Feng Zian, who had been frightened just now, immediately straightened their expressions!
He clasped his fists and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, you can return to the capital to take charge of the overall situation. We will do our best to handle the affairs of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun."
An hour later, the anxious Regent Zhao Defang, with three thousand elite Moyun cavalry, rode towards the capital.