Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 141 Purple Palace

He is Li Zhao's man...

Do you mean Madam Ping An?
Guan Ya and Yu Qianli stood respectfully with their hands hanging down, not daring to breathe.

The tense and delicate atmosphere froze instantly...

Xue Sui quietly took two steps back and avoided it without making a sound.

"Why are you hiding?" Li Zhao glanced over with eyes as fast as lightning.

Under those sharp and handsome thick eyebrows, her eyes were like tempered cold jade, reflecting her deliberately distant appearance at this moment.

"With me here, what is there to fear?"

Xue Sui frowned slightly and remained silent.

Amid the sound of the jade clock, the young prince stood facing the wind, his posture was upright, his aura was wanton and flamboyant, as if he had the power to resist all worldly and conventional things, and the whole country was within his reach...

If he were to ascend the throne as emperor one day, would he still remember the passionate and ambitious look of his youth today?
It is not easy to confront the Xiao family head-on this time.

Not to mention it's like trying to hit a rock with an egg, it's also very difficult.

Because the Xiao family that Li Zhao mentioned was not an ordinary Xiao family, but a large Xiao family that had been operating in the court for many years and was deeply rooted. It "held power with civil positions, consolidated its foundation with military positions, and wove a network with in-laws." Many of its members held important positions in the court and held real power in the local area.

Without mentioning the influence of Prince Duan Li Huan in the court, let's talk about the three pillars of the Xiao family:

Concubine Xiao's father, Xiao Song, was a prime minister, the highest official in the country.
His elder brother Xiao Jing was the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Salt and Iron Transport Commissioner, and was in charge of tax collection and salt and iron monopoly in Daliang.

His younger brother, Xiao Yan, was the general of the Jinwu Guard and the governor of Longxi, and he had a large number of troops under his command.

In addition, there were his uncle Xiao Yun, who was the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple, and his nephew Xiao Zhengyuan, who was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works.

And the Xiao family's side branches have been infiltrating for many years, using the power of marriage to control the mouthpieces of the Five Surnames and Seven Families, manipulate local military affairs, and control the salt tax in Jianghuai...

Such a complex family can control the imperial power, form alliances with powerful families, and seize the power of the government without restraint...

Xiao is not alone.

But it is a huge force that is united as one.

Princess Pingle acted wildly, not only because she had the emperor's favor but also because of the Xiao family's support behind her.

As for the current Emperor Chongzhao, he is certainly not completely unaware of the harm caused by his foreign relatives, but he cannot be easily shaken.

"Have you seen enough?" There was a hint of teasing in Li Zhao's voice.

"Want to say something?"

Xue Sui lowered his eyes slightly, bowed respectfully, and saluted him.

"Then Xue Liu would like to wish His Royal Highness the Crown Prince a successful start and immediate success."

After saying that, Xue Sui bent down to pick up the medicine residue scattered on the wooden table, and was suddenly grabbed by Li Zhao's fingertips.

"let go!"

"do not move!"

The two of them spoke at the same time.

The room suddenly became quiet.

Li Zhao chuckled softly.

"This love thread Gu looks like a favor from a beautiful woman, but it's actually a poison that penetrates the intestines - don't you think so, Madam Ping An?"

Xue Sui stared at their folded hands and suddenly spoke.

"If I had known that Your Highness' emotions were easily aroused and that he could not bear being provoked, I would not have given you this poison."

Li Zhao's face changed, he grasped her hand tightly and pressed it against his heart, feeling the rapidly beating heart and the hoarseness in his Adam's apple caused by the ravages of the love poison.

"I will be back to Beijing at 11:00 AM. Don't make me angry anymore."

His dark eyes revealed a hint of grievance.

Xue Sui thought of the torment he had endured, and glanced at the bloody bandage on his shoulder, and finally swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

"I will stay and look after Concubine Wan for two more days..."

"I am worried."

"How can you be so precious?" Xue Sui pulled his hand back, bent down to pick up the handkerchief that had fallen to the ground. Just as he was about to speak, the copper bell on the eaves rang crisply, disturbing the silence in the room.

Suddenly there was a shout from outside.

"His Royal Highness Prince Duan has arrived—"

Li Huan arrived very quickly.

Before Xue Sui finished combing her hair, Li Huan's boots had already stepped into the courtyard through the puddles.

After the rain, the air is especially fresh.

He walked slowly up the bluestone steps, his steps steady and his robe fluttering in the wind.

Xue Sui hurriedly stood up to greet him, but was held up by his warm palm.

"No need to be polite, Ping An. I heard that you were attacked on the way to the palace. Are you injured?"

Xue Sui shook his head, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am not hurt at all."

Li Huan looked Xue Sui up and down, his gaze lingering on her hair. Although there was a gentle smile on his face, there was not much warmth in his eyes.

"You too, why didn't you tell me in advance that you came to visit Wen Jia? I was so tired that I had to come and pick you up in person."

Letting His Royal Highness Prince Duan come to pick her up personally is a courtesy shown to a favorite concubine.

A low laugh was heard, "My royal brother, you came at a good time." Xue Sui turned around and saw Li Zhao standing lazily under the porch. The hem of his moon-white robe was stained with a few petals of crabapple flowers. It seemed as if he came from a courtyard full of flowers. He was not in the same room with her.

The words stuck in her throat disappeared silently.

Li Zhao looked calm, his fingertips stroked the bandage that had just been wrapped around his shoulder, and he smiled gently.

"I am the one who is injured. Shouldn't your Royal Brother be concerned about me?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is frightened." Li Huan bowed slightly and a sigh escaped from his throat.

"This time, thanks to the Crown Prince and the East Palace Guards who risked their lives to rescue us, otherwise..."

He glanced at Xue Sui meaningfully. Knowing that Li Zhao opposite him was carrying a threat of impending storm, he still reached out to hold Xue Sui's sleeve, looking intimate.

"I'm afraid my wife Ping An will be murdered."

Xue Sui suddenly felt a slight pain in his forehead.

The interaction between the two royal nobles was full of undercurrents, which placed her at the center of an invisible storm.

Don't do it!

She took a half step back, and there was still traces of Li Zhao's dried blood on the corner of the handkerchief that was clenched between her fingertips.

"I'm going to check on Consort Wan's medicine. Your Highnesses, please do as you please."

Li Zhao noticed the resistance in her eyes and a laugh escaped from his throat, mixed with a hint of teasing.

Li Huan asked with concern: "The prince is too seriously injured to be moved. I brought a sedan chair for you. Why don't you send him back to the East Palace to recuperate?"

"Don't worry, my brother. I think you should go back earlier to see Concubine Xiao..."

Seeing Li Huan's surprise, Li Zhao smiled nonchalantly.

"What a coincidence... Yesterday, the guards of the Eastern Palace were leading the rescue team and accidentally found evidence that Xiao secretly communicated with Xi Zi, raised private soldiers, and poisoned Zhaoyi... I have reported it to the emperor. I am afraid that the imperial concubine will not be able to bear it after hearing it..."

The courtyard washed by heavy rain suddenly became dead silent.

Li Huan's face changed again and again.

Li Zhao smiled faintly, his fingertips casually stroking his cuffs, as if silently tearing away at the power behind him.

"The court will discuss this tomorrow morning. I hope my brother will avoid suspicion."

Li Huan's Adam's apple rolled: "Of course."
-
At five o'clock in the morning, Emperor Chongzhao broke the wolf-hair brush in his hand in the Zichen Palace.

Concubine Xiao knelt on the golden bricks in the hall and cried bitterly.

"Your Majesty, please understand. My brother led the imperial guards to guard the Western Frontier. How could he privately raise soldiers and set up an ambush in the palace? I am a woman living in seclusion in the deep palace. How could I find the secret medicine of Xizi to poison Consort Wan and Princess Wenjia?"

"Your Majesty, there must be something hidden behind this. Someone has framed me and maliciously framed me, Your Majesty..."

"Are you saying that I framed you?" Empress Xie slowly walked into the palace in the morning light, the gold embroidery on her court dress gleaming.

"The account books of Xiao Zhengyuan's misappropriation of the money for river management, the deeds of Pingle's seizure of civilian land, the confession of the assassin who assassinated Concubine Wan yesterday, and the Xizi seal seized by the prince - humph! Does the Xiao family want to swallow up the entire Liang kingdom?"

Emperor Chongzhao's eyes ached as he looked at the evidence spread out on the imperial desk.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember the rainstorm three years ago?" Empress Xie slowly bent down and knelt on the ground in grief, saying angrily, "Your Majesty was praying for the people affected by the flood in Luo River in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, but you didn't know that the Xiao family--"

She turned her head and looked coldly at Concubine Xiao.

"The Xiao family is drinking human blood and blaspheming your majesty's benevolence!"

"Queen, please stop slandering me!" Concubine Xiao gritted her teeth angrily.

"Your Majesty is wise, I am innocent - the prince must have been tortured into confessing and is now biting back. Your Majesty, the Xiao family is full of royal relatives and enjoys the grace and honor of Daliang. How could they have such a wolfish ambition..."

"What a royal relative!" Empress Xie said sternly, "The Luo River is flooded, and there are starving people everywhere. The people are exchanging their children for food, and your nephew Xiao Zhengyuan, instead of taking the money for river management, is making a seven-treasure glazed couch for Princess Pingle..."

Concubine Xiao's face changed drastically. Seeing that Emperor Chongzhao remained silent for a long time, she suddenly threw herself under the throne, grabbed the hem of the dragon robe, and cried with her head raised.

"Your Majesty, that was done by my nephew using his own money for the sake of the royal family's reputation. It has nothing to do with Pingle. I am willing to swear in the name of my ancestors..."

Empress Xie stared at Emperor Chongzhao's right hand covering his heart, a complex look flashed in her eyes, and then she chuckled.

"Before you swear, please think about what you have done. Princess Pingle secretly kept the secret medicine of Xizi under the pretext of recuperating from illness, and you poisoned the blood swallow soup that I gave to Consort Wan. If it weren't for Consort Lu's cleverness in finding the antidote, Consort Wan would have died..."

Lu Youan!
For him, Pingle gave up her status as a princess, and was humble and submissive to him, protecting him in every way.

But he didn't care about the relationship between husband and wife at all, and turned against her...

Concubine Xiao was so angry that her eyes widened.

"Your Majesty, you are so calculating! How can you put the blame on me for the blood swallows that you personally gave to Concubine Wan? Lu Youan stole the antidote from the princess's mansion, so he should be held accountable..."

Empress Xie looked at her calmly and responded, "Does it have to be that I, too, let my hair down and go out on the street to beat the drum in public in order for the truth to be made known to the world?"

"Enough! Shut up!" Emperor Chongzhao was so angry that he grabbed the Hetian jade paperweight on the table and threw it to the ground.

With a splash, the flying jade chips drew a bloody line on Empress Xie's brow.

The emperor's eyes were red, like an angry lion. He stared at Empress Xie who looked calm and composed, then glanced at Concubine Xiao's tearful face. Then he threw the confession presented by the eunuch into the case file beside him.

"I have my own opinion on this matter. I will discuss it with the important officials in the court tomorrow. The harem - shall not interfere in politics."

Upon hearing this, Empress Xie bowed slightly, her demeanor remaining dignified.

Concubine Xiao fell to the ground, unable to get up, her body trembling slightly.

The two of them glanced at each other quietly from the corner of their eyes where Emperor Chongzhao couldn't see, and there was a bone-chilling coldness in their eyes.

Tear off the veil of hypocrisy between each other, and from now on fight to the death for the sake of their respective sons.

Xue Sui: See you tomorrow, fellow readers. Remember to vote for me~
Li Zhao: Throw, throw, and perform a chest-breaking stone.