Chapter 235 Chu Lingxi Is so Ruthless that Prime Minister Gu Simply Refuses to Save Him

Lu Yan filled the soup bowl in front of her, "The queen and the prince have been planning for several years, but they have never taken action against Prince Duan. Now even Chu Qingyi and Jiang Li are included in the plan. They must have made arrangements to kill Duan." Wang's party caught them all in one fell swoop."

Shen Qing picked up the spoon and stirred it gently in the soup bowl. "The fifth prince is missing. If something happens to Prince Duan again, there will probably be some changes in the harem."

At present, although the crown prince, Prince Duan and the fifth prince have the highest voices in the court, it does not mean that the emperor only has three princes.

Chu Lingyuan's whereabouts are still unknown. If something happens to Chu Lingxi again, then the emperor will definitely support another prince.

It doesn't matter that he's underage. A few more years of training will make him a better person. The most important thing is that the emperor's body is now very strong.

Suddenly, Shen Qing thought of something and raised her head to look at Lu Yan, "I remember that the eighth prince under An Bi's knees is just ten years old this year, and An Bi is also an old man in the palace. It has been many years since he was promoted."

An Bin had a friendship with the deceased Mo Wangsheng, and it was An Bin who helped Lu Yan secretly investigate Lan Meiren.

Lu Yan nodded, "Yes, but An Bi's mother clan is not in Shengjing."

Lu Yan's meaning was very clear. An's mother clan was not in Shengjing, and even if she wanted to fight for the throne, she would be unable to do so. Therefore, if the emperor really wanted to support the eighth prince, he would probably have to put a lot of effort into it.

Shen Qing scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew it gently and put it into his mouth. After swallowing, he said, "Your Majesty, you have no other choice now."

It is true that the eighth prince's maternal background is not good enough, but there are no princes of the same age as the eighth prince, and the next one is the eleventh prince, who is only five years old.

Seeing that Shen Qing was about to put down her chopsticks, Lu Yan gave her another piece of pumpkin pie, "Eat more, you have lost weight recently. If my father-in-law sees me and thinks I'm treating you harshly, I won't be able to wash it off even if I jump into the Yellow River." ”

Shen Qing smiled, picked up the pumpkin cake in the bowl and took a bite. Seeing this, Lu Yan continued: "An Bin has no intention of seizing the throne. Even if Your Majesty intends to train the eighth prince, in the end it will only be to buy time for the fifth prince. That’s all.”

Lu Yan knew that Chu Lingyuan had always been Shen Qing's preferred choice for emperor.

…

As Lu Yan and Shen Qing thought, the Queen and the Crown Prince were so powerful that Prime Minister Gu had no time to deal with them.

Because the queen left a witness, it was easy for Dali Temple to find out the so-called mastermind.

The arrested man in black was named Dou Ping. He was a guard in Prince Duan's palace and one of Chu Lingxi's confidants. He insisted that Chu Lingxi had ordered everything and was willing to die to apologize, just to avoid any harm. and his family.

The minister of Dali Temple found his family according to the location provided by Dou Ping. The Dou family members all said that Dou Ping had been working for Chu Lingxi for many years. Even if he did something wrong, he was acting on Chu Lingxi's order, so his crime would not lead to death.

In addition, the Dali Temple Minister also found Chu Lingxi's autographed letter on Dou Ping's body, with Chu Lingxi's personal seal stamped at the bottom.

With all the witnesses and material evidence available, Chu Lingxi could not argue.

Dali Temple reported the matter to the emperor, who ordered Chu Lingxi to be banned from Duanwang Mansion and asked Dali Temple to investigate the matter in detail.

After all, Chu Lingxi is a prince. Even if he really makes a big mistake, he must get to the bottom of the matter before he is convicted.

However, there are loopholes everywhere in Prince Duan's palace, so the Minister of Dali Temple only needs to make simple inquiries and use some punishments to find out how Chu Lingxi planned to assassinate the queen and where he summoned the people. .

In addition, the Minister of Dali Temple also searched for evidence that Chu Lingxi formed a party for personal gain and accepted bribes. For a time, the matter became more and more complicated.

In just one night, King Duan of Chu, who was so famous yesterday, became a national worm that harmed the country of Chu.

Looking at the stacks of account books with detailed records in front of him, the emperor was furious and sent Chu Lingxi to prison that night.

After some tossing, Prime Minister Gu also came to his senses.

After all, he was an old fox who had been planning for many years. He was caught off guard by the queen and the prince at first, but there was no doubt about his methods and the government. So the next morning, Prime Minister Gu brought half of the officials to petition Chu Lingxi, saying that Chu Lingxi had always been an upright person. , knowing filial piety well, would never do such a treacherous and unethical thing, please the emperor to investigate this matter again.

At the same time, he asked himself to participate in the re-investigation of Duan Wang's case, and he was bound to give justice to Duan Wang.

The emperor was filled with anger, but in the end he did not refute Prime Minister Gu's face and agreed to the matter. He wanted to see what Prime Minister Gu could find out.

Prime Minister Gu had known for a long time that Chu Lingxi was doing something secretly, but it wasn't until he personally investigated Chu Lingxi's case that he realized how much Chu Lingxi had done without telling him over the years.

If nothing else, Prime Minister Gu knew nothing about the account books handed over to the emperor by the minister of Dali Temple.

In other words, Chu Lingxi had long wanted to start his own business. The most ridiculous thing was that all the stolen money was obtained through his name.

Coupled with the fact that Chu Lingxi secretly supported his subordinates before, Prime Minister Gu only felt more and more chilled.

The prince he tried so hard to support actually wanted to use him as a pawn.

In addition to the stolen money and private soldiers, Chu Lingxi also secretly contacted Prime Minister Gu's subordinates, intending to get them to truly side with him. Of course, he still pretended to continue to obey Prime Minister Gu's orders.

Prime Minister Gu laughed angrily. What's the use of saving such a helpless person?

What's more, each of these is a fact that is on the surface. However, Chu Lingxi still leaves many loopholes. How difficult is it to save people?

So Prime Minister Gu didn't bother anymore. After two days of investigation, he reported to the emperor, stating that the investigation in Dali Temple was all true. He also called out several ministers who were apparently on his side but had actually been incited to rebel by Chu Lingxi. It's like giving a job to the emperor.

At this point, Chu Lingxi's case has been finalized.

The emperor thought for a moment and then decided on the punishment for Chu Lingxi: In five years, Chu Lingxi embezzled a total of 300,000 taels of silver, secretly recruited more than ten officials, assassinated the queen, and injured the princess and the princess. Several crimes were punished at the same time, and in the end he was directly demoted to a commoner. All the property of the palace was handed over to the treasury, and all the servants in the palace were exiled.

When the emperor's imperial decree reached the harem, Concubine Shu was about to go to the emperor to plead for mercy.

Concubine Shu panicked when she learned that Chu Lingxi had been demoted to a commoner and was about to be driven out of Shengjing.

Chu Lingxi has an arrogant and paranoid temperament and extreme behavior. He has offended many people over the years. If he were to leave Shengjing like this, it would be no different from directly condemning him to death.

Concubine Shu had certainly heard about the news that Mu Ziqian was driven out of Shengjing and was eventually killed, and no matter how bad Chu Lingxi was, he was still her son, so she would never let Chu Lingxi go further. The footsteps of Mu Ziqian.

Concubine Shu went directly to the imperial study without any hesitation, but was turned away by the emperor.

Wang Huai persuaded Concubine Shu to go back and not be strict with her children. It was already good that the emperor did not express his anger at her, but she wanted to touch the emperor's brow again at this juncture. Isn't this just looking for trouble?

However, Concubine Shu did not leave. Instead, she knelt stubbornly in front of the imperial study room and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, I know that Xi'er has made a big mistake. As his mother-in-law, I have no shirk of responsibility. I voluntarily moved to the cold palace, and I only ask that your majesty demote Xi'er to a fiefdom!"

There was silence in the imperial study, as if no one was there, but Concubine Shu knew clearly that the emperor was inside.

Chu Lingxi's last hope lies inside, so she can't give up.

"If Your Majesty feels that the punishment of moving to the cold palace is not enough, I am willing to die to atone for Xi'er's sins. Your Majesty, Xi'er is our son. He was born in ten months of pregnancy. I cannot watch him suffer this disaster." Ah, Your Majesty!"

Word by word, Concubine Shu screamed heartbreakingly, and by the end of the sentence, tears had completely blurred her eyes.

Just when Concubine Shu felt that her legs had lost all feeling, the familiar voice finally came from the room, "Wang Huai, bring her in."

…

On the early morning of August 24th, Prince Jing'an received the news——

Concubine Shu was punished on behalf of her son and died after hitting a pillar in the imperial study. The emperor was grateful for his motherly heart and withdrew the punishment of demoting Chu Lingxi to a commoner. Instead, he was sent to a fiefdom and was not allowed to return to the capital in this life. At the same time, the fiefdom was changed from the originally rich and vast Ningzhou to the barren and desolate western Lizhou.

A flash of surprise flashed in Shen Qing's eyes, and she obviously didn't expect that things would take such a turn.

Chanyi wondered: "Princess, do you think Your Majesty really loves Concubine Shu?"

The entire Shengjing knew that the emperor doted on Concubine Shu and gave her power only below that of the queen, but now he still forced her into this situation.

Shen Qing responded: "Love is love, otherwise Concubine Shu would not have been unscathed when Chu Lingxi made such a big mistake, let alone take back her life when the imperial edict had been issued. However, as an emperor, love is always the least worth mentioning."

And this was also the reason why Shen Qing didn't want Lu Yan to compete for that position.

She believed in Lu Yan's feelings for her, but as an emperor, many things were helpless.

Lu Yan on the side seemed to feel something and secretly squeezed her palm.

Shen Qing turned around and saw Lu Yan looking at him tenderly.

Although he didn't say a word, he seemed to have said everything.

Shen Qing smiled and held his hand back.

Upon seeing this, Chanyi quickly retreated out without forgetting to close the door.

With a gentle pull from Lu Yan, Shen Qing fell into his arms. His right hand wrapped around Shen Qing's slender waist. Lu Yan said seriously, "Jiaojiao, I never thought about competing for that position."

Shen Qing smiled and nodded, "I know."

When the two were deeply in love, Li Ze's voice suddenly came from outside the house, "Master, Princess, there is a letter from the Yining Marquis' Mansion, saying that you are invited to come to the Yining Marquis' Mansion."

The two looked at each other, and each other's eyes lit up.

As for what they were doing at the Yining Marquis Mansion, the two of them knew without asking that it must be Rong Heng who made the antidote!

The charming thoughts in their hearts completely dissipated, the two of them got up, tidied up a little before leaving the mansion, and took a carriage towards the Yining Marquis Mansion.

However, as soon as he arrived at the gate of Yining Houfu, he met an uninvited guest.