A pin drop was heard in the Great Hall.
The Emperor’s smile receded a little.
Snap!
The wine marble in Consort Zuo’s hand fell to the ground and rolled out far away with bones, spilling wine all over the floor.
The people in the main hall were awakened by the sound of the wine marble falling to the ground, and all looked at the Second Prince incredulously.
As if he had not heard, the Second Prince insisted that the Emperor give an answer, “Father, you have not answered my son’s words.”
Consort Zuo was so frightened that her soul was out of her body, how could An’er ask such words? Did he not want to live?
“An’er, you are drunk …… still don’t apologize to your father!”
The second prince strained his neck, his eyes were clear, not the slightest bit drunk, “My son is not drunk, my son is sober now, my son just wants to know if my father really did that beastly thing and defiled Concubine Qin.”
The emperor picked up the wine caldron in his hand and smashed it, but the second prince dodged it with his head, which made the emperor even angrier, “Someone, take him down!”
“Your Majesty!”
Consort Zuo fell to her knees, “An’er is just drunk, he is talking nonsense, please spare him.”
“Mother Consort does not need to plead for me.”
The Second Prince seemed to have really gone out of his way, “Back then, Uncle Qin Wang quelled the palace mutiny with his own efforts, supported Father to take that position, and later led his troops to the frontier to defend against strong enemies, so that Father would have no worries, how could such an Uncle Qin Wang enter the palace and assassinate Father?”
“Stop talking to me!”
Some palace staff had already come forward and tried to cover the second prince’s mouth.
The Second Prince kicked one away and continued, “So, Father really defiled Concubine Qin back then, and that’s what provoked Uncle Qin to come into the palace and assassinate you, isn’t it?”
The Emperor was so angry that he was about to turn his back, “Take him down!”
Sun Qi rushed in with two imperial guards and put a foot in the second prince’s knee socket, kicking the man to the ground and stepping forward to hold him down.
Consort Zuo was about to faint, kowtowing one after another, “Your Majesty, An’er must have been framed, he wouldn’t say such things, someone must have drugged the wine, please investigate.”
The Duke of Qin also came out from behind the table and fell to his knees, his official robe was soaked through, “Your Majesty, I also think that the Second Prince looks like he has been drugged, please investigate clearly, Your Majesty.”
“Grandfather, you don’t need to plead for me, he doesn’t deserve to be ……”
A sharp hand slash from Sun Qi slashed at his neck and the Second Prince’s voice came to an abrupt end.
A dead silence also fell in the great hall.
Only the Emperor’s ragged gasps echoed.
Concubine Zuo wanted to pounce but did not dare to, kowtowing with a thud, “Please be clear, please be clear, Your Majesty.”
The emperor copied the fruit plate and smashed it over.
Consort Zuo did not dare to dodge.
The fruit plate hit her head and blood dripped out and landed on the ground.
Concubine Zuo’s eyes were black, but she was still pleading for mercy, “Please be clear, Your Majesty.”
“Your Majesty, I also think there is something fishy about this matter.”
The Duke of Ding came out and knelt beside the Duke of Qin.
With him at the head, the rest of the officials came out and knelt down after him.
The Emperor’s ragged breathing slowly subsided, and he stared grimly at the second prince who had been knocked unconscious, gritting his teeth, “Summon the imperial doctor!”
It was now New Year’s Eve and the imperial doctors were all with their families on New Year’s Eve, there was no one on duty in the palace, so Sun Qi sent two imperial guards on fast horses to fetch the man.
The imperial doctor stumbled into the main hall.
He had heard from the imperial guards on the way, and when he came in he went straight to the Second Prince’s side, pinched his wrist, and after the numbering he picked up the wine jug that had fallen by the Second Prince’s side and sniffed it, and then walked over to the table made by the Second Prince, opened the wine jug and sniffed it too, put it on the table and knelt down, “Your Majesty, the wine does contain a drug that causes hallucinations.”
Again there was dead silence in the great hall.
“Investigate for me, find out and beat him to death with a stick!”
……
Eunuch Huang stood at the entrance of the main hall, watching as the palace staff who had entered and left the palace today were brought over one by one.
A young eunuch hurriedly approached and whispered in his ear. Eunuch Huang’s face sank as he followed the young eunuch to where the palace people were staying.
A palace maid was hanging from a beam, the same one who had changed the wine for the second prince.
“Search!”
Several eunuchs quickly separated and searched the room, finding a purse with a thousand taels of silver and a bracelet in the palace maid’s cupboard.
Eunuch Huang thought the bracelet looked familiar, took it and looked at it carefully, his expression changed slightly, he turned around and hurried back to the palace, presenting the bracelet to the emperor, wanting to speak but not stopping.
“Speak!”
Eunuch Huang lowered his head and held his breath, “My servant remembers that this was your reward to Your Highness, Your Highness.”
There was dead silence again in the main hall.
The crowd of officials and ladies hated that they hadn’t come to the palace banquet tonight.
Instead, the Emperor laughed in exasperation, “Good, very good.”
Eunuch Huang responded by not moving his scalp.
Across the table, he could feel the emperor’s anger.
Consort Rong was bold enough to drug the Second Prince and say those words through his mouth. Did she think she was not dying fast enough or did she think the First Prince was not dying fast enough?
The Marquis of An Guo and his wife’s clothes were soaked through.
They knew that the situation had changed and they had tried to keep a low profile these days, except for essential shopping, no one in the house was allowed to go out.
But they had never imagined that their daughter would do such a foolish thing, pushing not only herself but also the Marquis of An Guo’s household into the abyss.
“Bring Concubine Rong here!”
……
After the Grand Prince was relegated to the status of a commoner, Concubine Rong was also confined to her palace, unable to hear any news from outside.
But she knows that today is the palace banquet, and in past years she would have accompanied the emperor, and although not the most favoured one, she was one of the four concubines.
Consort Rong smiled bitterly.
She had accompanied His Majesty when he was still the Crown Prince, and at that time, apart from the Crown Princess, she was the only one who accompanied him.
After the Crown Princess had miscarried a child, her body had been very weak, and it was she who had given birth to the Emperor’s first child, and at that time the Emperor had been overjoyed, holding the child lovingly and naming him personally.
Later, when the Emperor ascended to the throne, the Empress was princely within two years, and the Emperor took many people into his palace, but still treated her differently and came to her palace the most, and it was only when Consort Shu entered the palace that she gradually fell out of favour.
But she was not afraid, she had the eldest son of the emperor, and in the future he would give the crown prince’s seat to her son.
But she had waited for more than ten years for Yuan’er to grow up and open another house, to go to the imperial concubine, to have her own children, and she hadn’t even waited for the emperor to make Yuan’er the crown prince.
The second and third princes grew up, so they became anxious and plotted every step of the way, but the heavens were not kind to their mother and son.
Bang!
The palace door was kicked open and Eunuch Huang barged in with his men, walking into the room without a care in the world.
Consort Rong’s heart tightened.
She had been in the palace for more than ten years and naturally knew what it meant when Eunuch Huang barged in like this.
“Your Majesty, please take a walk.”
“What is it?”
“Your Majesty will know when you go.”
Consort Rong rose slowly, “Dress me.”