mtl008 Chapter 207 Tooth for Tooth
Chapter 207 Tooth for Tooth
Emperor Jingde was seriously ill and had been absent from court for many days.
At most, when he was in better spirits, he would summon his ministers to his bedroom to discuss matters.
After last night's treatment by Dr. Fei, he felt much more relaxed. He got up early, sat on his bed, and had Concubine Jiang pat his back for a while, which helped him cough up a lot of phlegm. Then, he had a refreshed breakfast and asked Eunuch Shun to summon everyone to the palace to discuss matters.
Outside the hall, everyone who was supposed to come had arrived.
What happened in the General's Mansion and the Dali Temple yesterday has spread everywhere. At this moment, everyone is gathered in groups of three or five and chatting animatedly. The cold wind in the empty square in front of the hall cannot stop everyone from gossiping.
"Do you know? General Pei's eldest son is actually the eldest prince's posthumous child. There was a big commotion at the Dali Temple yesterday."
"I heard that Lord Tantai went to arrest him personally, but ended up getting stabbed to pieces by His Royal Highness Prince Kang at the Dali Temple."
"What does this have to do with King Kang?"
"..."
"I heard it was dropped in the end. Judging from the situation, is the Emperor planning to let bygones be bygones and acknowledge this grandson?"
"Guess so!"
"Just wait, there will probably be news today."
"Oh, by the way, a few days ago my wife came back and told me that there's a very hot play going on outside, and it seems to be alluding to this incident."
"I saw it too. Now that I think about it, it's actually true."
"Hey, so you're saying that it was Concubine Wen and Prince Jing who really killed the eldest prince?"
"Shh!"
Everyone shrank their necks and saw Prince Jing walking towards them with a gloomy face.
"Meet His Royal Highness Prince Jing."
Everyone quickly bowed and made way.
Prince Jing looked around coldly, feeling extremely heavy-hearted.
Yesterday afternoon, he received a secret report: all the people who ambushed Pei Heng in Mangshan were wiped out. Not only that, Pei Heng followed the clues and seized one of their strongholds!
Even my mother was scolded by my father.
This time he didn't gain anything good, and not only lost his wife but also his army!
As soon as I walked up the steps and arrived at the door of the bedroom, I saw Pei Heng standing in the corridor in court robes. His slender figure stood out among a group of old men, like a crane among chickens.
Prince Jing felt so angry when he saw Pei Heng.
Pei Heng saw that Prince Jing was also in a bad mood, so he just exchanged a cold look with him and turned away. Neither of them paid any attention to each other. When they heard the summons from Eunuch Shun, they lifted their robes and entered the bedroom.
As soon as everyone stood still, General Lin roared and took the lead, kneeling on the ground and crying loudly:
"Your Majesty! You are finally well! Your Majesty, please make the decision for this old minister!"
Emperor Jingde was leisurely drinking his health-preserving tea, but when he heard General Lin's shout, he started to choke and cough, and it took him a long time to recover.
"Old General, what are you doing? Get up and speak."
General Lin knelt on the ground motionless, tearfully accusing:
"Your Majesty, I wish to accuse Noble Consort Wen and the Marquis of Jinyuan of mistreating Consort Li and the Ninth Princess while Your Majesty is ill. Your Majesty, you don't know that Consort Li was imprisoned by Noble Consort Wen and falsely claimed to be seriously ill even though she was clearly not ill. Even the Ninth Princess was not spared from their clutches."
"It's freezing cold, and she's been locked up in this cold room without a single servant. Your Majesty, the Ninth Princess is your most beloved daughter! Even the princesses of the royal family are being mistreated like this. They are simply not human! They don't even take Your Majesty seriously!"
After hearing this, Emperor Jingde was filled with anger.
During this period, he was very ill. Not long ago, he seemed to hear Concubine Li crying beside his bed, but he never saw Concubine Li again.
Concubine Wen told him that Concubine Li fell ill because she worked too hard to take care of him, so he didn't take it too seriously. Now when he heard this, he was shocked.
"How can this be! Where is Marquis Jinyuan?"
Marquis Jinyuan came out of the queue in a panic, lowering his head and saying:
"Your Majesty, I only learned about this matter afterward. Ever since the Ninth Princess married into the Marquis's mansion, she has been at odds with everyone there. Her disrespect for her parents-in-law and elders is well known. The Imperial Concubine is worried about my wife, so she took action to discipline her. I am terrified!"
"I bother!"
General Lin spat at Marquis Jinyuan and said angrily,
"Marquis Jinyuan, you shameless man, you're still arguing after all this. Relying on the power of the Imperial Concubine and Prince Jing, you let your wife and son torture and abuse the princess in the backyard. It's clear that you have ulterior motives."
"You say the princess is disrespectful to her elders and parents-in-law, but are you really the kind of parents-in-law you are? Not only did you indulge your son in favor of a concubine over his wife, but you also blamed the princess for the death of your illegitimate son, making her the laughing stock of the entire Shengjing City! If you're not happy with this marriage, just divorce. Why are you being so vicious? You even drove away everyone around the princess and locked her up!"
"My Ninth Princess was fine, but when she was rescued from the Marquis Jinyuan's mansion, she was neither human nor ghost! She couldn't even save the baby in her belly!"
"Instead of drawing your sword and committing suicide to thank the world, you're still trying to shirk responsibility! You're so shameless! I'll fight you to the death!"
As General Lin spoke, he jumped up from the ground, thrust out the tablet in his hand, rolled up his sleeves and punched Marquis Jin Yuan in the nose.
Marquis Jin Yuan cried out, his head thrown back and he fell to the ground, his nose bleeding. General Lin was not giving up yet, and rushed forward, straddling Marquis Jin Yuan and ready to strike with his fist as big as a sandbag.
Emperor Jingde slammed the cup in his hand and shouted angrily:
"enough!"
After cursing, he started coughing again, which scared the eunuch Shun so much that he quickly stepped forward and patted his back.
Everyone finally managed to pull General Lin over, but Marquis Jin Yuan's face was already covered in bruises.
Emperor Jingde was so angry that his face turned pale. He pointed at Marquis Jinyuan and said angrily:
"The Ninth Princess is my daughter, a princess of the royal family. No matter how bad she is, it's not your turn to discipline her. And your son, he's still not satisfied after marrying the princess. I've heard about his affairs with that concubine more than once. He's such a jerk!"
"You, who can't even manage your own household affairs, how dare you take on the affairs of the court! Hand in your duties and go home to reflect! When you have thought things through, come and talk to me again!"
"As for that bastard son of yours, with such a bad character, he's not even worthy of being the heir to the Marquisate! His title will be revoked effective immediately!"
Emperor Jingde dismissed Marquis Jinyuan from his post and stripped Pei Yan of his title of Crown Prince with just a few words.
Marquis Jinyuan wailed and looked towards Pei Heng, trying to get him to plead for mercy in front of the emperor. But Pei Heng was so focused that he didn't even look at him from beginning to end.
He fell to his knees,
"I thank the emperor for his grace."
"As for the Imperial Concubine, you're meddling in other people's affairs for no reason. You're simply too idle to bother with anything. I'll punish you by copying a hundred scriptures to pray for the Ninth Princess's deceased child."
Emperor Jingde simply passed over the matter of Concubine Wen.
Pei Heng lowered his eyes slightly. This was only the first wave of the day. No rush, take your time.
At this time, Meng Youxing from the Ministry of Justice came out and said:
"Your Majesty, ever since I took on the Zhongqiu Tongtian Tower case, I have never given up on the investigation. Fortunately, I have finally fulfilled my mission and found some clues a few days ago."