The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

Chapter 139 A brilliant melodrama

Before Shen Tianjiao returned to the palace, she had already ordered all officials to gather in Zhenghe Hall to discuss matters.

When Shen Tianjiao returned to the palace, all the officials were already waiting in Zhenghe.

This time, Shen Tianjiao did not sit behind Feng Zhulian in the side hall, but sat on the chair in the main hall.

After sitting down, Shen Tianjiao looked up at the officials standing below and saw that they all stood straight with their heads down. They had no objection to her extraordinary behavior, and they didn't even whisper to each other.

This was the first time that the court was so quiet and orderly since Shen Tianjiao became regent.

Although Shen Tianjiao wanted this effect, she felt something was wrong. These court officials were so quiet and obedient, which was totally different from their usual style.

Shen Tianjiao couldn't figure out what went wrong for a moment, but she didn't have time to study it now. She had more important things to do.

"Everyone has heard that someone attempted to assassinate the Crown Prince in the street yesterday. It has now been investigated and it was done by Prince Qing and Feng Dafu."

"Assassinating the prince is equivalent to conspiracy to rebel!" Shen Tianjiao raised her eyes and glanced down, and sure enough, she did not see the shadow of that bastard Li Hong.

"Prime Minister Wang, where is Prince Qing Li Hong?" Shen Tianjiao's intimidating voice made the atmosphere in the entire hall even more tense.

Hearing Shen Tianjiao calling him, Wang Yunzhi came out to report: "In reply to the Queen, I sent someone to Prince Qing's residence to invite him to attend the court meeting, but the person I sent was stopped outside. They said that Prince Qing was unwell and could not attend the court meeting."

"Oh, is he not feeling well, or is he afraid to come because he has something to hide?" Shen Tianjiao already knew that no matter what, Li Hong would not come today.

But even though she knew it, the show still had to go on. Otherwise, what reason would she have to question Li Hong's guilt?

"Where is the deputy commander of the Imperial Guards?"

Yan Mingde has not returned to the court yet, and the imperial guards are temporarily under the command of Deputy Commander Zhang Hui, who is naturally also the Marquis of Zhenbei's men.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Hui obeys your orders."

Zhang Hui stepped out and opened his mouth with a voice as loud as a bell, echoing throughout the hall.

"Deputy Commander Zhang, I order you to go to Prince Qing's mansion and bring Li Hong to Zhenghe Hall. He should give me an explanation as to whether he was the one who did this."

Shen Tianjiao looked around at the expressions of the officials below. Some stood still, some were getting nervous, and some even had changed expressions.

She snorted in her heart, thinking that it was time to change the situation in the court.

"Zhang Hui obeys the order." Zhang Hui was an impatient person. When he received Shen Tianjiao's order, he stood up and left without saying a word.

After Zhang Hui left, Shen Tianjiao looked at the officials and said, "Prime Minister Wang, is there solid evidence that Feng Dafu colluded with Li Hong to assassinate the prince?"

"To answer the Empress, the evidence is irrefutable. Feng Dafu has already confessed and signed, personally admitting his crimes."

Wang Yunzhi took the evidence of collusion between Feng Dafu and Li Hong that was sent to his house by Shen Tianjiao and presented it to Shen Tianjiao.

Shen Tianjiao nodded and said, "Then let's circulate it among you."

After receiving Shen Tianjiao's order, Wang Yunzhi handed the thing in his hand to the person closest to him, and then it was passed from one person to another, and finally the evidence returned to Wang Yunzhi's hands.

"Everyone has seen this. Do you have any objections to this matter?"

Shen Tianjiao could have directly ordered Feng Dafu to be executed, or had him detained and imprisoned in the Ministry of Punishment.

But she did not do so. Instead, she asked Wang Yunzhi to circulate the evidence to the court officials one by one, with the aim of making the matter a foregone conclusion and irreversible.

"In reply to the Empress, there is irrefutable evidence that Prince Qing colluded with Feng Dafu to assassinate the Crown Prince. We, the ministers, have no objection."

Wang Yunzhi spoke first and said that since Prime Minister Wang, the head of all officials, had no objection, how could others dare to have any objection?

Then all the officials followed suit and said, "We all have no objection."

"Alright." This was what Shen Tianjiao had been waiting for. "Since all the ministers have no objection, then Feng Dafu will be executed immediately. As for Prince Qing Li Hong, he is, after all, a royal relative and your Majesty's uncle. I will give him a chance to defend himself."

"After Prince Qing Li Hong defends himself, we can discuss how to decide this matter later."

Outside the palace, Zhang Hui and his men were rushing towards Prince Qing's mansion, but were stopped halfway.

The person whispered in his ear, and Zhang Hui's pupils dilated and his jaw almost dropped.

However, after a brief surprise, Zhang Hui quickly regained his composure and began to act according to the instructions of the visitor.

In Prince Qing's mansion, Li Hong had already received a notice from Wang Yunzhi, asking him to attend the court meeting.

How could Li Hong possibly attend the court meeting at this time? He wasn't a fool, so he wouldn't walk into Shen Tianjiao's trap and wait for her to deal with him.

But what Li Hong could not have imagined was that Shen Tianjiao's action this time would be so swift. It seemed that with the support of Marquis Zhenbei, Shen Tianjiao was really not afraid of anything.

"Your Highness, what should we do now?" Yuan Jiang looked at Li Hong anxiously and said, "We can't wait any longer. The Queen will probably send someone to summon you to the palace soon."

What Yuan Jiang didn't finish saying was that if Shen Tianjiao sent someone to invite Li Hong into the palace, and if Li Hong refused to go again, Shen Tianjiao would have an excuse to lead the troops to surround the entire Prince Qing's Mansion, just like she surrounded the Feng family.

At that time, although they could escape through the tunnel in Prince Qing's mansion, the risk would be much greater, and they might be caught as soon as they came out of the tunnel.

In that case, all of them would become prisoners.

Li Hong frowned. He knew that this was a critical moment and he could not afford to hesitate any longer.

The fight between him and Shen Tianjiao was inevitable. Either Shen Tianjiao would die today, or he would die.

"Let's go, let's go now." Li Hong gritted his teeth and made up his mind. The urgent environment did not allow him to hesitate any longer.

As long as the green mountains remain, there will be no shortage of firewood. He will return to this capital city sooner or later.

"Okay, then I'll prepare it right away." After hearing the answer he wanted to hear, Yuan Jiang was in a good mood. As long as he left the capital, Li Hong would be admitting the fact that he was plotting treason.

Since he has already admitted that he was plotting treason, would it be difficult to get Li Hong to lead troops in rebellion?

"No need to prepare, just take some guards and escort me out of the city first." Li Hong is a man who covets power and is afraid of death.

At such a critical moment, escaping to save his life was his first choice. As for the rest, his wife and children were not important.

After hearing what Li Hong said, Yuan Jiang asked, "Your Majesty, what about the princess and the prince?"

"As for them, wait until I leave the city, and then have someone escort them out of the city."

Li Hong waved his hand impatiently and said, "Hurry up and leave."

It looked like he was afraid that if he left a step later, he would not be able to leave the city and would be in great trouble.

Li Hong hurriedly left Prince Qing's mansion under the escort of the guards. He escaped in the carriage, but he never expected that he was under complete surveillance from the moment he left the mansion.

What Li Hong could not have imagined was that as a result of his escape, a huge blame that could cover half of the capital city had quietly fallen on his head.

Zhang Hui and his men walked halfway and then turned back to the palace.

A big drama was going on in the palace at this time. Prince Qing Li Hong was caught red-handed when his plan to assassinate the prince was exposed. He was trying to escape with Li Minghua, the child he had with Feng Yuanyuan.

After a fight, the deputy commander of the imperial guards, Zhang Hui, was injured, and Li Hong took the opportunity to escape.

When Zhang Hui, wounded, returned to Zhenghe Hall to report the news to Shen Tianjiao, Shen Tianjiao was completely stunned. What on earth was going on? Why hadn't anyone told her?

These ladies are really good at making trouble.

The key is that if you want to make trouble, just make trouble. Why don't you tell her in advance so that she can prepare in advance? How can she deal with such a big thing that suddenly pops up?

At this moment in the Zhenghe Hall, not only Shen Tianjiao was stunned with shock, but even the ministers were so shocked that they didn't know what to do.

The second prince was actually the child born from the affair between Prince Qing and Concubine Feng?

Is it okay for them to listen to such a bloody royal scandal? Will they die after listening to it?

The entire Zhenghe Hall was in a quiet and eerie atmosphere at this time, and everyone was thinking about their own things.

After a long pause, Shen Tianjiao, who had recovered, finally said, "Deputy Commander Zhang, is everything you just said true?"

"In reply to the Empress, every word is true. Not only did I and my subordinates see it, but many people in the harem saw it."

Zhang Hui lied without blushing or beating his heart, as if this farce was real.

"I was ordered to go to Prince Qing's mansion. The gatekeeper stopped me outside, so I forced my way in. But I couldn't find Prince Qing anywhere."

"Later, I interrogated the steward of Prince Qing's mansion and learned that Prince Qing had entered the palace. So I led my subordinates back to the palace and encountered Prince Qing leading his men in a fight with the palace guards."

"Prince Qing coerced Aunt Ruan from the Empress's palace. I was afraid of harming Aunt Ruan's life, so I gave Prince Qing the opportunity to escape."

"I have failed in my duties, and I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

"Get up." Shen Tianjiao looked at Zhang Hui, who looked honest, and couldn't help but complain in her heart: "It's true that you can't judge a person by his appearance. The more honest a person is, the better he is at acting."

"It's not your fault. After all, it happened suddenly, and Aunt Ruan's safety is more important than anything else."

Shen Tianjiao looked at the officials sternly and said, "It is true that Li Hong assassinated the prince. Now he is secretly having an affair with the imperial concubine to confuse the royal bloodline and plot a rebellion."

"Now you are punishing me for both crimes, Zhang Hui."

"The minister is here."

"Lead the imperial guards to surround Prince Qing's mansion. Don't let even a mosquito escape. Immediately dispatch men to apprehend Li Hong. If he resists, execute him on the spot without further questioning!"

At this time, Shen Tianjiao had calmed down. This seemingly not very clever farce actually solved many problems for her.

"Your Majesty, Zhang Hui obeys your orders."

Apart from Zhang Hui's voice, no other sound could be heard in the Zhenghe Hall, as if all the officials in front of him were dummies carved out of wood or clay.

There was such a big commotion in the harem, how could Li Rui not know about it?

When he heard what had happened, he fainted on the spot. He was already very weak and usually relied on ginseng soup and tonics to survive.

Now that he has been dealt such a sudden blow, it would be strange if he could bear it.

But good fortune never comes alone, and misfortune never comes singly. There is another blow waiting for him to wake up and hit him hard again.

While the bloody drama between Li Hong and Feng Yuanyuan was unfolding, the affair between Tian Qingqing and Su Wenzhi was also exposed.

The only difference between the two is that one is acted out, and the other is a conspiracy designed to expose the evil.

"Empress, the Emperor just fainted." When Shen Tianjiao returned to Yuxiu Palace, she saw Xiao Yunzi coming to report.

Shen Tianjiao pondered for a moment and said, "I understand. You go back first. I'll go check it out later."

Originally, Shen Tianjiao didn't want to see Li Rui, but Li Rui couldn't die at this time. Although he was a waste now, waste also has its uses.

As long as the waste Li Rui is alive, he will still be the emperor of Yunli. As long as he is the emperor, there will be no more power seizure and abdication for the time being.

This would also buy Li Muyang more time, allowing him to make a safe transition, hand over the imperial power to Li Rui, and become the next emperor of Yunli Kingdom.

"Why should we go to see him? It would be better if he died." Qiong Niang's hatred for Li Rui increased instead of decreased as time went by.

"Okay, stop complaining. Do you think I want to go? I have no other choice. He can't die now. If he dies now, who will protect Mu'er from those open and hidden arrows?"

Shen Tianjiao calmed down and looked at Qiong Niang and said, "All of you should just sit here and reflect on yourselves. The ones among you who are so bold can poke a hole in the sky right now."

Qiong Niang smiled and stuck out her tongue, not daring to say anything else. They were indeed a bit bold in what they did today.

Maybe it was because she had been with Ruan Yuhu for too long, but Qiong Niang felt that she was now much braver and was becoming fearless.

Looking at Qiong Niang's expression, Shen Tianjiao couldn't help but reach out and give her a big slap, then turned and left.

Qiong Niang covered her head and dared not say a word because she was in the wrong.

When Shen Tianjiao arrived at Taihe Palace, Li Rui was still in a coma and had not woken up.

"Your Majesty, may you be blessed with good health and happiness." Seeing Shen Tianjiao coming, Huang Chunhua hurriedly led the people from Taihe Palace to perform the ceremony of kneeling and paying homage.

"Well, everyone get up." Shen Tianjiao waved her hand and dismissed everyone.

Shen Tianjiao looked at Li Rui, who was lying on the bed, looking pale and frighteningly thin, and asked, "What did Doctor Qin say?"

"In reply to the Empress, Imperial Physician Qin didn't say anything." Huang Chunhua lowered his head. He was in a very complicated mood. He had guessed from Imperial Physician Qin's attitude that Li Rui might not live long.