The Emperor was on the verge of fainting from rage, his expression terrifying.
But the Second Prince, mistakenly believing his father’s anger was directed at Empress Lu and the Fourth Prince, grew more excited as he knelt and spoke.
If not for his concern about others’ opinions and the Fourth Prince’s fate, he wouldn’t even be able to maintain the shock and indignation on his face.
“Your son was reluctant to believe these things, but after the sudden death of the Fourth Prince’s consort and the fire at Fengxi Palace, I feared the Lu family was seeking to destroy the Empress and her son over old grudges. So I visited the Fourth Prince in the imperial prison. In his anger, he inadvertently revealed that when he went to the Lu family to investigate Prince Cheng’s case, Lady Guan, before her death, kept crying out that she was wronged.”
“The evidence of Lady Guan’s affair with Prince Cheng was a jade bracelet he supposedly gave her, an item bestowed upon Prince Cheng by the late emperor. But before her death, Lady Guan shouted that the bracelet was a gift from the Empress, delivered to the Lu family by a palace maid named Jinzhi just days before the incident.”
“The Lu family covered it up, claiming outwardly that Lady Guan had an affair with Prince Cheng. Though the Fourth Prince sensed something was amiss, he feared Lady Guan’s dying words slandered the Empress and would ruin her reputation if spread, so he didn’t pursue it. It wasn’t until I mentioned Lu Yin’s actions at the Jingzhao Prefecture that the Fourth Prince confided in me and asked me to investigate.”
“Who could have known my investigation would uncover such issues? My men found Jinzhi, the Empress’s supposed ‘suddenly deceased’ maid, who claimed she escaped the palace after the Empress tried to silence her.”
“She personally told me that the jade bracelet on Lady Guan’s wrist was sent to the Lu family by the Empress after Prince Cheng’s downfall, under the pretense of his long-standing affair with her.”
“The Empress used the Fourth Prince to threaten Prince Cheng, forcing him to swap his legitimate heir years ago and later to poison Lady Rongguo to prevent her from bearing children. Even the private soldiers and weapons in Prince Cheng’s residence were prepared for the Fourth Prince…”
The Second Prince spoke incessantly, but everyone in the hall was left speechless.
They had thought this was solely the Second Prince’s discovery, but it turned out the Fourth Prince had contributed as well.
Knowing his mother had implicated the Empress, he still dared to ask the Second Prince to investigate. Did the Fourth Prince have an ocean for a brain? His own mother had cuckolded the Emperor, and yet he was helping to dig up the truth.
What kind of unparalleled filial son was this?
The Second Prince was solely focused on destroying the Fourth Prince, denying his legitimacy and ensuring the world knew of Empress Lu’s affair with Prince Cheng, leaving the Fourth Prince no chance of recovery.
He didn’t notice the Emperor’s increasingly grim expression or the barely restrained murderous intent in his eyes.
Cui Lin hadn’t expected the Second Prince to uncover even more than he had, let alone find the Empress’s personal maid. Cursing inwardly, he planned to settle the score with the Second Prince later but first moved to seal the Lu family’s fate.
“The Second Prince speaks the truth. I also found that when the Lu family forced Lady Guan’s death to cover for Prince Cheng, she had no way to protest because the Empress acted meticulously, leaving no proof of the bracelet’s origin. However, Lu Zhao’s son, Lu Zhixuan, personally saw the Empress’s maid deliver the bracelet to Lady Guan under the pretext of praying for Lu Zhao’s blessings.”
“Afterward, when Lu Zhixuan reported this to Lu Chongyuan, he was forcibly confined to the residence and forbidden from speaking of it. The Lu family’s main branch servants even said Lu Chongyuan seemed afraid the matter would leak, neglecting his eldest son’s severe illness as if intending to silence him, just like the fire at Fengxi Palace.”
“With her tainted status, Empress Lu married Your Majesty and deceived you for years. Her shameless affair with Prince Cheng, the Lu family’s attempt to muddle the imperial bloodline, and their ambition to use the Fourth Prince to seize the throne, all these are acts of treason. If Your Majesty does not punish them severely, it will be difficult to restore order and stabilize the realm.”
“We beseech Your Majesty to reconsider!!”
Grand Tutor Liang stared at Cui Lin, who was eagerly competing with the Second Prince to deliver the fatal blow, feeling his vision darken.
He had wanted Cui Lin to “kick them while they’re down,” using him to sever ties between the Lu family and the other noble families to prevent the Lu family’s crimes from implicating them. But he hadn’t expected Cui Lin to drop such an earth-shattering bombshell, let alone be the one to place such a massive green hat on the Emperor’s head.
Listening to Cui Lin’s fervent speech and seeing the Emperor’s face turn utterly black, Grand Tutor Liang’s breathing grew ragged, wishing he could faint.
Someone reached out to steady him. When he turned to Feng Qiuli, he saw his face pale as death, his hands trembling as he supported him.
…
Furious to the point of a headache, Emperor An was escorted out of the court by Eunuch Feng, ordering only the Second Prince, Cui Lin, Xiao Yan, Cao Dejiang, and Grand Tutor Liang to remain.
No resolution was reached on the Lu family matter during the morning court, but everyone knew the Lu family was finished.
Not just the Lu family, Empress Lu, the Fourth Prince, and anyone connected to them were all doomed.
The Second Prince was brimming with triumph, unfazed even by Cui Lin’s sour expression.
“Your Highness, well played,” Cui Lin said.
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