nycdaug Chapter 106: Failed to report, instead detained!
Chapter 106: Failed to report, instead detained!
Only kids make choices: eat or eat watermelon?!
The older kids want both food and watermelon!
This palace banquet was, of course, prepared to celebrate Princess Zhi's wedding; isn't a wedding all about being lavishly red?!
So, is the blood red enough?!
General Lin's gaze remained calm, a mocking smile playing on his lips: The real show has only just begun!
Yang Guifei, who had just miscarried and was also ill and injured, was sitting next to the current emperor, Qing Tingmo.
Yang Guifei's face had become wrinkled, and the makeup stuck in the wrinkles fell to the ground with a thud as she coughed.
The palace maid Green Sleeve behind her looked at the person making the complaint below the stage, and it was...it was Yu, Yuzhu?!
"Your Majesty!!!" Green Sleeves grabbed Yang Huizhang's shoulder in a panic, her face filled with worry and pain.
"It's alright, Zhu'er. Perhaps she has her own difficulties!" Yang Huizhang tucked the blood-stained handkerchief into his sleeve and patted Green Sleeve's hand.
Empress Lin glanced at the favored concubine who had borne twins, now looking old and lowly, and felt a surge of pleasure in her heart!
Lin Qin softened her expression and patted her increasingly prominent pregnant belly.
"Tonight's palace banquet has turned into a dungeon for reporting filth! Guards, drag this unruly servant away!" Empress Lin gestured to her guards to take action.
"Yes, that shameless little wench!"
"Guards, gag her!" Eunuch Kang waved his whisk and scurried down from the platform to punish Yuzhu.
Amidst the disgusted and mocking gazes of the crowd, Yuzhu pressed her head down hard, her body trembling uncontrollably.
General Lin, standing on the platform, looked at this useless lackey and spoke with a cold sarcasm.
"Slandering members of the royal family is a serious crime. How can we believe you based on mere empty words?!"
Upon hearing these instructions, Yuzhu bit her lower lip until it bled, and cried out in tears, "This servant has evidence!"
"Yang Guifei met secretly with her lover outside the palace every night, and stacks of love letters were kept in the inner cabinet of the Imperial Palace;"
"Even worse, Yang Guifei, jealous of the concubines in the harem who were pregnant, secretly used witchcraft to curse the imperial heirs!"
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!! Your humble servant also has important matters to report!"
The eunuch from the Badge Palace also shouted at the top of his lungs, slid down to his knees in a panic, and cried out, "This servant wants to accuse the Yang family of colluding with the enemy and disrupting the country, thus causing chaos in the court!"
"Enough! Produce the evidence!" General Yang stared intently at the people below the stage, his voice firm and authoritative.
"Hahaha~ So these traitors are so eager to jump out?!" The Vice Minister of War sneered and gave General Lin a meaningful look.
"Tsk tsk tsk ≈ Hahaha~ How interesting! The world is going to the dogs, and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be!" Mr. Li gulped down a bottle of strong liquor.
Then, Mr. Li threw away his crutches, dragged his injured leg, and limped down the platform.
"Lord Li, what are you doing?!" The powerful man sipped his wine and leisurely played with walnuts.
"Hmph!!!" Li Zongzhi didn't want to pay attention to this traitorous minister, so he snorted and knelt down before the Emperor.
"Your Majesty! I, General Li, also have important matters to report!"
"Oh?! What brings you here, Lord Li?!" Qing Tingmo sat firmly on the high platform, his eyes piercingly cold.
"Your Majesty, I must accuse this damned traitor!!"
"The Yang family has guarded the border for generations. General Yang was loyal and upright throughout his life. At an age when he should be enjoying family life, he still led his troops to defend the front line!"
"Tonight, how dare such a despicable person slander a high-ranking official of the state?!"
Mr. Li's hands trembled, and his face contorted with rage as he pointed and cursed at the two juniors who were prostrate on the ground, accusing them!
"Oh dear, Lord Li, why are you so angry?!"
"Evidence! Let's look at the evidence!" The supply commander's words hit the nail on the head, full of provocation!
"Your servant, your servant has evidence!!!"
"On the day the Zhang family was wiped out, General Yang abused his power and spared Zhang Bai's life!"
"The only son of the Zhang family was also present tonight; he, he can testify!!"
As soon as the eunuch finished speaking, Zhang Bai, who had been hiding in a corner of the palace banquet, took off his black coat and slid down to kneel at the emperor's feet.
"Your Majesty! Our Zhang family has dedicated our lives to the Yang family, yet now we are utterly abandoned!"
"In my lifetime, I cannot bear to see my Emperor suffer injustice, and I am willing to die to expose the true face of the Yang family!"
Zhang Bai, dressed in patched hemp clothes and with half of his foot, which had been chopped off by refugees in the suburbs, naked, cried out to the sky.
"Hmm~! Does Yu'er have any opinions?!"
Qing Tingmo rubbed his sore eyes and then passed the question to His Highness the Crown Prince, who was still reminiscing about his past love life.
"Father, I am inexperienced in this matter. In my humble opinion, this matter is entirely up to you to decide!"
Qing Tingyu stared at the chaos below the stage, finding it extremely offensive. How could he get involved in something like a dog biting its owner and dirty his own hands?!
Qing Tingmo felt even more heartbroken after being rebuffed. How could they let such a cruel and wicked act, involving the murder of a concubine and father-in-law, be laid bare before him?!
"Alright, take these lackeys to the dungeon and let the Court of Judicial Review decide their fate!"
"Ha~ I'm feeling tired. Ministers and princes, please enjoy yourselves!!!" Qing Tingmo flicked his sleeves and left Tingmo Terrace on his own.
"Respectfully bidding farewell to our Emperor! May our Emperor enjoy peace and prosperity!!"
After seeing off the current emperor, the leaders of various factions were somewhat puzzled, unable to figure out what the emperor was thinking!
"Alright, take these lackeys to the Dali Temple!" Qing Tingyu gestured to the guards behind him to do so.
"Ahhh! Let me go! Let me go!"
"The Yang family has committed treason and collusion with the enemy, a crime deserving of death! We urge Your Majesty to make a swift decision!!"
"The Yang family has colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country; their crimes are unforgivable! We urge Your Majesty to make a decision as soon as possible!!!"
The servants, who were being dragged away by the Crown Prince's guards, were still speaking in unison the phrases they had prepared in advance.
The piercing accusations pierced through the entire Tingmo Terrace, echoing wave after wave on the eerily quiet platform, creating a chilling atmosphere!
At midnight, the birds that had been roosting in the paulownia trees were startled and fluttered their wings, leaving this place of trouble in flocks.
Qianqian followed behind the Crown Prince, blending into the crowd leaving the banquet;
She knew the plot was deviating from the original story again; the Yang family had not been wiped out, and Yang Guifei's twins had only miscarried, not been crushed to death at the Meridian Gate.
So, what about my fate? Has it also been rewritten?
Qianqian stopped in her tracks, her eyes red as she stared at the Crown Prince's retreating figure.
She stared for a long time, until tears welled up in her eyes and her vision was clouded with tears, and the Crown Prince's figure became more and more blurry!
"Cough cough cough! Ah! Ha!!" The sudden heartache made her sway and kneel on the ground.
Qianqian clutched her chest, collapsing to the ground in pain, unable to straighten up.
"Luo, Young Master Luo!!" Gui Ning'an, who had just come down from the platform, saw this and flapped his short legs, intending to go and save Qianqian Luo.
"How dare you! Get back here!" Prime Minister Gui gritted his teeth and kicked the brat to the ground.
His Highness the Crown Prince felt the heat behind him slowly dissipate, and as if sensing something, he turned around.
He had just turned around when he saw his good servant clutching his chest, writhing on the ground like a pretzel.
"General Luo, is it because I have bestowed too much favor upon you that you cannot bear it any longer?!"
Qianqian bit her lower lip, her face contorted in pain, her vision blurred as she stared at the pair of gold-embroidered dragon boots that appeared before her!