Ever since Empress Lu ordered Jin Zhi to visit the Lu family, she had been thinking about how to tell Xiao Yan the clues without being suspected by the eunuch.
After finally figuring out a way, he planned to invite Mrs. Lu into the palace and take the opportunity to capture her, when he heard that Mrs. Guan was dead.
Queen Lu frowned: "How did you die?"
"Suicide." Jin Zhi spoke very quickly: "The Black Armored Guards went to the Lu family today and searched the residence of the female members of the Lu family. Qin Xin and the things that were previously sent to the eldest lady were searched out. The eldest lady thought that the Lu family and the Xiao Yan’s face was pierced through the throat with a hairpin.”
Empress Lu breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this. She stretched out her hand to hold the cup beside her and smiled: "It's better to die. Dead people don't speak. With her life, she can accompany Prince Cheng. I want to come to Xiao Yan and His Majesty." We can all let it go, and Prince Cheng’s case can be concluded..."
"Mother, the fourth prince is the one taking people to the Lu family today."
"boom!"
The cup of tea suddenly fell to the ground, and the water inside splashed onto Queen Lu's hand. She suddenly raised her head: "What did you say?!"
"The one who took the black-armored guard to the Lu family today is His Highness."
Jin Zhi's tone trembled slightly when he spoke, and his face turned pale: "His Royal Highness led people to break into the Lu family, and ordered the black-armored guards to search the residence of the female members of the Lu family. It was also the eldest lady who was interrogated by His Highness. After the eldest lady's death, her body was transported along the way. When she entered the palace, it was said that there were scars on her body and face. It was... the fourth prince's hands had touched her before she died..."
"absurd!"
Queen Lu's fingers were hot and red, but she didn't care about the pain at all. She stood up suddenly and said angrily:
"Isn't the black armored guard Xiao Yan's? Why did the emperor get involved with him? Xiao Yan is investigating the Lu family's affairs. How could the emperor lead someone to break into the Lu family..."
The ferocious look on her face could not be more virtuous: "Is it Xiao Yan? Is he taking advantage of the emperor?! Xiao Yan, that eunuch, how dare he use the emperor as a knife!"
Jin Zhi said quickly: "No, the fourth prince is from the Lu family who has received the emperor's order."
"The emperor's order?" The anger on Queen Lu's face froze: "How did your majesty know?"
Jin Zhi shook his head: "My servant did not find out the news. I only heard that Princess Cheng came into the palace today and made a big fuss. She wanted to break up with Prince Cheng. After she left the palace, your Majesty summoned Governor Xiao to the palace. After that, Your Highness has received the imperial order to conduct a thorough investigation of the Lu family."
Seeing the queen's ugly face, Jin Zhi said cautiously:
"I can't find out the news from the emperor, but I heard that His Majesty was furious before Governor Xiao entered the palace. The people who came out of the palace to announce his entry also left in a hurry. Governor Xiao entered the palace directly from the Criminal Division. , the clothes were stained with blood and I didn’t even have time to change. I feel that it was not him who told His Majesty what happened to Prince Cheng and the Lu family.”
Queen Lu's eyes were gloomy. She originally thought it was Xiao Yan who used the fourth prince as a knife, but it turned out to be His Majesty. However, the anger in her heart not only did not dissipate, but her expression became more and more resentful.
The Lu family is Zheng'er's maternal family, and Zheng'er's blood is flowing from the Lu family. She dragged the Guan family in just to protect their mother and son from being implicated. Even if they still broke with the Lu family in the end, outsiders would only think that they were Disdainful of what the Lu family did, he was "forced" to sever ties with the Lu family.
But Emperor An actually asked Zheng'er to investigate the matter and let him uncover the scandal of the Lu family with his own hands, ruining the Lu family's reputation.
No one would think that the Fourth Prince killed his relatives out of justice. They would only say that he was cold-blooded and ruthless in order to please His Majesty, and that he was ungrateful regardless of family ties.
The Lu family can be destroyed by anyone, but it must not be destroyed by the fourth prince.
Queen Lu's face was livid with anger: "Xie Tianyong...he wants to destroy my Zheng'er..."
Jin Zhi didn't dare to speak when he heard the queen calling the emperor by his name. After a long while, the queen said coldly: "You said that Rongyue entered the palace and wanted to have a righteous relationship with Prince Cheng?"
Jin Zhi lowered his head: "Your Majesty did not allow it."
Before Queen Lu could laugh at Rongyue's whims, Jin Zhi said cautiously:
"Princess Cheng was extremely righteous, but His Majesty refused, so she started a quarrel. In the end, blood almost spilled in the palace, before His Majesty relented and allowed her to reconcile with Prince Cheng. In order to appease Princess Cheng, he allowed her to establish a palace in the Rong family and conferred titles on her. As a first-class Rongguo wife, she also... also handed over all the property of Prince Cheng's Mansion to Princess Cheng..."
Seeing that Queen Lu's face was getting more and more ugly, Jin Zhi's voice became lower and lower, until it was almost inaudible in the end.
Empress Lu gritted her teeth and pinched her fingertips, then waved her hand and pushed the screen fan aside, breathing heavily with a gloomy face.
Mrs. Rongguo?
Is she worthy of Rong Yue? ! !
"Where is the fourth prince?" Queen Lu asked coldly.
"Still in the imperial study room."
"Go wait outside and ask him to come over as soon as he comes out!"
Just as Jin Zhi was about to agree, Empress Lu changed her mind: "Forget it, I will go there in person!"
…
In the imperial study room, Guan's body was placed in the center. Her body was covered in blood and her eyes were staring blankly.
Emperor An only glanced at her, then frowned in disgust, and had her body carried away. His eyes immediately fell on the letters and the sapphire bracelet on the table.
"... I led people to search the residences of several female members of the Lu family, and also interrogated the servants around them one by one. These things were all found in Mrs. Lu's room, and according to the account of the maid next to her, Mrs. Lu She met Prince Cheng before marrying into the Lu family, and it was she who replaced the Lu family and Prince Cheng’s heirs..."
The fourth prince recounted what happened today before continuing: "This letter was written by Prince Cheng, and the sapphire bracelet is a token of love between Prince Cheng and her."
Emperor An opened the letter and took a look: "It is the handwriting of King Cheng."
When he was young, he went to study with Prince Cheng in the same study room. Later, after the death of Prince Ru, he competed with Prince Cheng for the throne. Naturally, he recognized Xie Tianyu's handwriting. As for this bracelet, the late emperor did obtain a piece of sapphire and made it into an object. Give it to the people in the palace.
At that time, he was not favored by the late emperor, and his mother and concubines were not favored by the palace concubines. He had no share of such good things. At the palace banquet that year, he and his mother watched the princes and concubines who had received rewards. The concubine could only secretly envy her, so she had a deep memory of this incident.
Emperor An stroked the lines on the bracelet, raised his head and asked, "So, Lu Zhinian is the son of King Cheng?"
"yes."
"What about Xie Yin?"
"It's the blood of the Lu family. Who it belongs to remains to be investigated in detail."
Emperor An burst out laughing when he heard this. It was just a whim guess before, but he didn't expect it to be true. This is really interesting.
His eyes fell on the pale Lu Chongyuan who was kneeling not far away. Seeing that he was in utter embarrassment, he suddenly felt refreshed. Lu Chongyuan had relied on his own merits over the years and relied on the power of the aristocratic family to suppress him everywhere. To think that such a scandal had happened.
Emperor An threw the jade bracelet on the table: "Lu Qing, what do you want to say?"
How could Lu Chongyuan not know that Emperor An was watching his joke? He lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice, "Old minister, I'm guilty."
An Di was surprised to see him confess his crime straightforwardly.
Lu Chongyuan knelt on the ground and said, "My fault lies in my lax management of the family and poor education of my children."
"These old ministers only care about the court and your Majesty's country, but forget to control the people in the palace. First, there was the traitor Lu Zhao who interfered with the grain and money, and he was corrupt, and then there was the Guan family, who was shameless and without moral integrity. My daughter-in-law is at fault because I have failed to live up to His Majesty’s high expectations.”
"The old minister Qi's family is not at peace, and he has caused such scandals. He has no face to stay in the court anymore, let alone take up the post of Zhongshu Ling." He kowtowed directly to Emperor An: "Please give me your permission, Your Majesty." The veteran resigned and took the Lu family back to Yuanchuan."
