nucmednet Chapter 291 Appalling
Chapter 291 Appalling
During that period, Emperor Jing Zhao never gave up on monitoring Si Heng, a nine-year-old child.
Old Madam Xie’s mother’s family and the Sheng family are old friends, and Old Madam Xie almost watched Zhuang Qingtang grow up.
The Zhuang family are people of great righteousness. They always donate generously and never stingily in times of national crisis.
However, it was this loyalty and generosity that one day became the fuse for the banker's downfall.
The legend about the treasure of the banker was like a sword hanging over the head of Emperor Jingzhao.
He would not tolerate the bankers' excessive wealth, nor would he allow any factors that threatened the stability of his imperial power to exist.
So the dealer became the most innocent and crucial chess piece in this game of power.
Two years later, someone revealed the conspiracy against the Zhuang family, which was launched by the Tai Shi Party, the Empress's family.
Emperor Jing Zhao acted quickly and personally supported the Sixth Prince's mother and her family.
At the same time, a thunder-like blow was dealt to the Queen's party, and the Grand Tutor's family almost collapsed overnight.
The former crown prince, who was forced into a desperate situation, launched a coup, but the natural result was that his attempt to abdicate failed.
The former empress, the powerful minister whom Emperor Jingzhao feared the most in the court, completely disappeared in the long river of history.
However, in fact, the Zhuang family was confiscated and exiled just because it was a chess piece laid by Emperor Jing Zhao in order to completely overthrow the Tai Shi family.
Emperor Jing Zhao's move not only eliminated the threat from the court, but also took the wealth of the banker into his pocket, which can be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
As compensation to Si Heng, the son, he was brought back to the palace to be taught personally.
Si Heng was crowned king when he was thirteen years old, becoming the first prince of Dasheng to be crowned king and set up his own palace while he was still a minor.
For a time, Si Heng, this outlier, naturally became a thorn in the eyes of the Sixth Prince, whose power was growing.
It was also in that year that Si Heng suddenly fell ill, and only later did he find out that he had been poisoned for two years.
That is to say, from the year that Emperor Jing Zhao forcibly brought him back to the palace, Si Heng was poisoned.
In a rage, Emperor Jing Zhao summoned all the imperial doctors in the palace, but no one could cure the poison in Si Heng.
Because of Si Heng's poisoning, Emperor Jing Zhao once again massacred the harem, and many palace maids and concubines died.
At that time, the entire imperial city was shrouded in solemnity and panic.
Old Madam Xie also officially broke off relations with Emperor Jing Zhao and forcibly took Si Heng away, but Emperor Jing Zhao did not stop her this time.
Si Heng was poisoned, and all the evidence pointed to the Sixth Prince.
Emperor Jing Zhao punished the Sixth Prince and Concubine Zhao, asking the mother and son to reflect on their mistakes behind closed doors, and also took back some of the power in the hands of the Zhao family.
Old Madam Xie knew very well in her heart that it was just the emperor's usual political tactic.
Emperor Jing Zhao was afraid that the Zhao family, which he had personally supported, would become the second Tai Shi family, so he used this incident to weaken the power of the Zhao family, while also testing the Zhao family's bottom line.
Si Heng was once again used as a pawn in the power struggle, using the same method that Madam Xie's father, the Emperor, used to eliminate the Xie clan, her mother's family.
Old Madam Xie was disheartened and took Si Heng away from the capital to seek medical treatment. It was not until she met Qin Ruo that she was able to turn around her inevitable death.
"Father, I have something else to report to you today. My son and my seventh brother captured a group of people today. The other party claimed to be the second emperor, and held the imperial decree that your father wanted to make him the emperor. What's even more strange is that he is accompanied by a woman who looks very similar to the late Concubine Yun. Don't you think this is strange?"
Si Heng's gaze fell on Emperor Jing Zhao's sallow face, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
He ignored the increasingly pale face of Emperor Jing Zhao and continued slowly, "They were actually led into the city by the Duke of Zhenguo..."
"What did you do to them?" Emperor Jing Zhao stroked his chest and glared at Si Heng, breathing heavily, and interrupted him.
"Father, pretending to be the heir to the throne and forging an imperial edict is a capital crime. After being caught, the other party kept saying that one was the second prince and the other was Empress Yun. Naturally, I don't believe them. The second prince died when he was born, and Empress Yun has been gone for a long time. So I and my seventh brother unanimously concluded that the Duke of Zhenguo had gone insane and actually brought in two deceased imposters in an attempt to disrupt the government. So I temporarily detained the Duke of Zhenguo, and of course, the mother and son were killed on the spot..."
Upon hearing the words "execute on the spot", Emperor Jing Zhao's eyes turned black, and the only hope left in his heart was gone.
He leaned on the dragon bed and raised his hand with great effort, wanting to slap Si Heng: "Rebellious son, how dare you. Did you know this a long time ago..."
"Know what? Father, are you referring to the fact that you personally had the Second Prince born to Concubine Yun swapped with the Third Prince born to the late Queen? Or is it that Concubine Yun faked her death and left the palace, and lived with the Third Prince who disappeared after the palace coup in Taizhou for more than ten years?"
"No, I was wrong. His real identity should be the second brother. Poor Queen, I'm afraid she will never know the moon until she dies. How could such a meticulous plan to force the emperor to abdicate be leaked? In the end, her entire clan was killed, right? I'm afraid she would never have dreamed that the son she raised by her side would be Concubine Yunniang's biological son, right?"
"Oh, right. I remember after the coup, Concubine Yun had a nanny by her side. She seemed to be from southern Xinjiang. It should be easy for her to fake her death. Father really took great pains for my second brother and Concubine Yun. No wonder I was poisoned by the cold fire. My sixth brother was pitiful. He took a lot of blame for my father. Ji Ce and his grandson were also controlled by my second brother, right?"
"The person you really wanted to make the crown prince was only your second brother. You switched the crown prince and faked his death. Father, you really played this game beautifully. You made the brothers who were eyeing the throne fight to the death, clearing the way for your second brother to ascend the throne. You are really far-sighted and cautious. I am afraid that I will never be able to learn your tricks in my lifetime."
Si Heng's voice was calm, but every word he said was like a sharp blade piercing the heart.
"You plotted against my aunt, who supported you to ascend the throne, to wipe out my maternal ancestors. You were afraid of Concubine Zhao's maternal family, but you had to rely on them. You dragged your fourth and fifth brothers, two idiots, to the court to compete with your sixth brother, but you were just using them to consume the power of the Zhao family. You were afraid that the Marquis of Wu'an would be more powerful than the master, and you wanted to get rid of the Shen family once and for all."
"Everyone in the harem said that the person you really wanted to make the crown prince was your seventh brother. Everyone said that her mother was your beloved when you were young, but you created an accident and imprisoned your seventh brother in the palace..."
"Father, it's a pity that your wishful thinking has failed. After decades of planning, it failed at the critical moment. Father, you must be very upset now, right? In the end, the country of Dasheng still fell into the hands of me and my seventh brother. What do you think we should do?"