Zhu Qizhen couldn't bear to eat, and he didn't want to eat or drink. He finally stayed up until the afternoon, and finally waited for Zou Qian to see him.
However, the news delivered by Zou Qian shocked Zhu Qizhen and the close eunuchs around him.
Zhu Qizhen couldn't believe that his mother would instigate someone to poison his grandfather? Would his mother have ordered people to poison Queen Hu and Princess Shunde? Will his mother really take the palace son as her own?
After a long while, Zhu Qizhen asked sternly: "The Marquis of Huichang said that the queen mother took the son of a man from the palace and thought she was her own son. Is there any conclusive evidence?"
Zou Gan shook his head: "There is no evidence for the moment. The Marquis of Huichang could only prove that the Queen Mother had indeed planned it, and Jin Ying's confession was true, but he could not provide evidence, nor could he tell who the palace maid was who gave birth to the child.
The eunuchs and maids involved in the incident that Jin Ying confessed have all died, so it may be difficult to verify. "
Zhu Qizhen fell silent again, which means that this matter sounds true, but there is no conclusive evidence, and it is difficult to make an authoritative conclusion. So it depends on whether everyone chooses to believe it.
Zou Qian advised again: "Your Majesty, the emperor asks you to preside over the court meeting on your behalf."
"Presiding over the court meeting on your behalf? Should I go to host the court meeting and criticize the crimes of the queen mother together with the officials?"
Zou Gan bowed his head and waited for orders, and did not reply.
Xing'an tried his best to dissuade him.
Zhu Qizhen glared at Xing'an coldly: "Let's go to Fengtianmen."
I finally have the opportunity to host the court meeting again, why not go. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If we can communicate face-to-face with civil and military officials, it will be of great help in launching a coup in the future.
Thinking of this, Zhu Qizhen was secretly proud: his brother finally made a miscalculation. He wanted to kill people and punish his heart, but he wanted to build a plank road openly and infiltrate Chen Cang secretly.
By criticizing the Queen Mother, he gave up his car to save the commander-in-chief, and by sinning in public, he gained sympathy.
After the vassal king came to Beijing, he took advantage of the situation and launched a coup, turning things around in one fell swoop.
My poor brother, he is smart, but he lacks experience. He will eventually fall into the dust when he is most proud.
The more he thought about it, the happier he became. Zhu Qizhen even began to wonder whether he should imitate Tang Taizong's story and take over his younger brother's beloved concubines.
If it was a second- or third-rate woman like the Wang family or the Hang family, Zhu Qizhen would have no interest at all. After all, they were all the ones he chose and didn't want before giving them to his younger brother.
But these concubines chosen by my younger brother, especially the twin sisters, are really too tempting.
It's also strange that the inner court has always had many rules. When selecting concubines for the emperor, they care more about virtuous ones, and they don't really care much about the lustful ones, as long as their appearance is more or less passable. Before Zhu Qi went hunting in the north, he had never experienced the most exquisite woman.
This is all gossip, but it is said that Zhu Qizhen came to Fengtianmen surrounded by a group of eunuchs.
All the officials knelt down to welcome him, and the crowd was excited. Unexpectedly, Emperor Gongrang would still be able to preside over the court meeting one day.
Some sentimental ministers even wiped away tears: This is the legitimate son of Xuanmiao, this is the truly orthodox emperor. His Majesty personally conquered Oara for the sake of the country and the country. It is true that things are unpredictable and God is unfair.
However, before the officials could sigh for long, Sun Zhong's testimony and Jin Ying's confession were circulated by Wang Wen and others.
Soon, Fengtian Square was filled with people and order could no longer be maintained. The officials ignored etiquette and began to gather together to discuss.
The law does not punish everyone, all ministers are like this, and there is no way to stop and punish them.
Zhu Qizhen didn't bother to care.
Moreover, Sun Zhong also appeared in person to speak out, tearfully complaining about his nightmare experience.
The Queen Mother's biological father serves as a witness, which has great influence.
The noise lasted for more than half an hour, and the officials finally calmed down after discussing almost everything.
The gongs and drums were noisy when they were noisy, but when the noise was enough, just for a moment, the collective fell silent.
Everyone looked towards Emperor Gongrang, waiting for the former emperor to express his stance.
However, Zhu Qizhen looked at him and told him emotionally about his hard work from ascending the throne to retreating to Nangong.
When he talks about the bitterness, he bursts into tears.
A large number of officials also started crying.
In the end, Zhu Qizhen severely criticized Sanyang, which was regarded as his statement on this incident.
However, Zhu Qizhen chose to ignore the various accusations involving the Queen Mother Sun for the time being.
The court meeting finally ended with the Emperor Gongrang crying until he couldn't help himself and walked away.
The officials dispersed in confusion. In such an important court meeting, apart from the announcement of a bunch of testimonies and confessions, there was no real decision-making.
There is no word on how to deal with the relevant people.
Of course, there are substantive decisions, but they have not been announced yet.
In the inner court, Ruan Xi led the Jing army and had already surrounded the Yinghua Palace. This time, the Queen Mother Sun completely lost her freedom and was imprisoned.
It was not until after the officials dispersed that Ruan Xi entered the Yinghua Palace and told the Empress Dowager Sun everything that had happened today.
After hearing this, Empress Dowager Sun was so shocked that she was speechless: Why was the Sun family caught doing such a secret thing and returned it to others with the stolen goods?
Is it a coincidence? Or did his concubine nephew and niece know his plan in advance? Is there a traitor in his palace?
Ruan Xi continued to report: "The Queen Mother, according to the decree of the Holy One, I have replaced all the eunuchs and maids in your palace. From now on, no one in the palace is allowed to step out of the gate, otherwise they will be killed."
"Are you going to put me under house arrest?"
"This is the Holy Majesty's will. I am just acting according to the order. Please forgive me, the Queen Mother."
"Then can you tell me who betrayed me?"
Ruan Xi shook his head: "No one betrayed me. It was my niece who was so flustered that your niece noticed the abnormality. If you have to say betrayal, I dare you to say that it was the Marquis of Huichang who betrayed me."
When Queen Mother Sun heard this, she was so angry that she threw the tea cup at Ruan Xi: "Get out of here, get out of here, everyone..."
Ruan Xi said nothing, bowed and left.
Then a group of eunuchs and maids entered the palace, waiting for the Queen Mother's orders at any time.
This day was very long and difficult.
A night of silence.
Early the next morning, when hundreds of officials went to court, they found that the entire imperial city was still under martial law.
Martial law for two consecutive days was very rare in Jingtai Dynasty.
However, on the third day, martial law continued.
However, these three days of martial law were limited to the Imperial City. In other places in the capital, you can move around at will.
Good things don't go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles.
The whole incident was spread out in its entirety, causing a sensation throughout the capital.
In the streets and alleys, everyone was talking.
At noon, Zhu Qizhen had just had lunch and was about to listen to Chen Xiang's report on the developments of the past two days. However, Xing'an rushed in hurriedly, knelt on the ground and cried:
"Your Majesty, it's not good, the second prince, the second prince..."
Zhu Qizhen stood up and quickly led Xing'an and Chen Xiang towards Concubine Wanchen's bedroom.
As soon as she entered the dormitory, she heard Concubine Wan Chen's heartbreaking cry.
Queen Qian, Queen Zhou and other concubines all knelt on the ground to welcome Zhu Qizhen's arrival.
Empress Qian cried softly and replied: "Your Majesty, my condolences, the second prince has passed away."
When Zhu Qizhen heard this, he felt dizzy. The third prince was gone, and now the second prince was gone too. His two sons were poisoned to death by Jin Ying like this?
The Queen Mother ordered her to do it, and she was really able to do it.
Zhu Qizhen already believed 80% of the time that the Queen Mother Yin took the son of a man from the palace as his own son. Only in this way can we reasonably explain why the Queen Mother put the life of her grandson above her personal honor and disgrace. If it is not her own, then everything makes sense.
"Go, go to the Ministry of Punishments and deliver the order, ordering Jin Ying to be quartered and all the palace officials who participated in the poisoning of the prince to be quartered."
When Xing'an and Chen Xiang heard this, they said, look at me, look at you, neither of them wants to take this job.
Zhu Qizhen angrily shouted: "Xing'an, do you want to resist the decree?"
Xing'an felt a chill in his heart. It turned out that this unlucky job had actually fallen to him, his most favored companion.
But there was nothing he could do. Xing'an had no choice but to bite the bullet and reply: "I obey the order."
As for Zhu Qizhen, he had no choice but to patiently comfort Concubine Wan Chen. After entangled for half an hour, Zhu Qizhen was able to get away and return to his palace.
(End of chapter)
