The maid's road to success

No one cares about what happened in Shou'en Palace. Everyone in the palace is planning for themselves.

The Fourth Prince originally thought that he could use the Queen Mother's scandal to directly depose her and have her imprisoned in the cold palace, and at the same time, have people create momentum around the Emperor's appearance in order to pave the way for his own seizure of the throne later. But as a result, that damn Gong Li, his Crown Princess had clearly used death to prove the affair between the Queen Mother and Gong Li. As a result, he took out a so-called prescription for curing madness and confirmed with the people of the Prince of Lin'an's Mansion that the Crown Princess of Lin'an had already had madness. Then he said a lot of words to whitewash the Queen Mother and committed suicide. The most powerful witnesses are now dead.

He did not achieve his original goal, but was exposed by the Sixth Prince for murdering the Grand Princess' children. Under normal circumstances, he would have been able to minimize the consequences of this matter. However, the Emperor had just made him lose face by exposing the Queen Mother's affair in public, and now he had been holding on to the accusation, saying that the prince was guilty of the same crime as the common people, not to mention that he had poisoned his cousin who grew up with him, which was an extremely heinous crime. He wished he could let the people from the Dali Temple try him right now.

However, the Fourth Prince was only angry that such a good arrangement did not weaken the power of the Queen Mother and the Emperor too much, and that the Grand Princess had the ability to make him

"Your Majesty, please make the decision for me. I am old now and can no longer have my own children. What should I do in the future when the Fourth Prince does this? I think I have never done anything to let the Fourth Prince down. The late emperor was busy with government affairs, and I took good care of you brothers. When you were punished by the tutors, I spoke for you. When you were scolded by the late emperor, I also helped you. Now, you are being harmed by your own nephew, Your Majesty, please make the decision for me."

The eldest princess cried sadly, crawling on the ground with a very humble attitude.

The emperor was moved when he saw her like this.

They were the children born after the late emperor ascended the throne. The late emperor valued beauty and focused all his energy on state affairs and concubines in the harem, and paid little attention to the children.

The tutors were strict and often reprimanded our children harshly for not doing their homework well. Our father would also punish us for making mistakes.

At that time, it seemed that the eldest princess really protected her nephews and nieces more.

In my impression, the eldest princess has always been calm, intelligent, and competitive. Even her father has never reprimanded her.

But now, she has been framed by the Fourth Prince and has suddenly become decadent and aged. She no longer looks like the aunt who was once elegant, proud and ostentatious.

"Fourth Prince, do you plead guilty?"

The Fourth Prince naturally denied it and said it was a misunderstanding and that someone was trying to sow discord between him and the Grand Princess.

"Fourth brother, the emperor will decide whether you have done it or not. Please look at your aunt. She has worked the hardest for you. How can you bear to hurt her like this? Do you have a conscience?"

The Sixth Prince's goal today is to bring down the Fourth Prince. Although there were many incidents in the middle, it did not affect his goal.

The Fourth Prince gritted his teeth as he looked at the Sixth Prince who was still biting him.

"You are not qualified to say whether you have a conscience or not. The Royal Grandmother was poisoned today, and you and your wife despise her the most. What qualifications do you have to convict me?"

The Sixth Prince felt that the poisoning of the Imperial Grandmother today was most likely a trap arranged by the Fourth Prince. A Mid-Autumn Festival banquet was held to expose the ugly deeds of the Empress Dowager, attack the Empress Dowager and Duke Cheng'en, and at the same time poison the Grand Empress Dowager and frame himself.

The purpose is to take the opportunity to eliminate the two forces and not only cut off the possibility of the Queen Mother supporting the illegitimate son to enter the palace and smoothly inherit the throne.

It can also make the already elderly Empress Dowager completely bedridden and take the opportunity to put everything on himself. Firstly, he will lack help in the future, and secondly, he will be convicted.

The emperor will be embarrassed because of the empress dowager's affairs and will be questioned by the royal family. Even if the emperor cannot be dethroned, he will be embarrassed.

He became the first emperor of Chen State without face and dignity.

And the biggest beneficiary among them is the Fourth Prince. If I hesitated today and did not expose his crime of poisoning the Grand Princess's children, or because of the Fourth Prince's series of actions.

If these matters had not been brought up in time and were overshadowed by the matters of the Queen Mother and the Grand Empress Dowager, the Fourth Prince would have been the biggest winner tonight.

"Fourth brother, don't be so ruthless. If I hadn't resolutely reported your crime today, or if Aunt hadn't discovered that you were the culprit, you would have gained the most tonight, and often the one who benefits the most from something is the murderer."

Gong Qisu looked at his two younger brothers biting each other below, and suddenly realized something.

Yes, how could the Sixth Prince attack the Empress Dowager? He was raised by the Empress Dowager since he was a child.

His foundation was arranged by the Empress Dowager. Even though she is old now and cannot help much, she is still his greatest support and source of information in the harem.

The Sixth Prince is not that stupid, so who could it be?

After all, the Empress Dowager is the elder of the royal family. Her husband, son, and grandson are all emperors. It is not an exaggeration to say that she is the most noble woman in the history of Chen Kingdom.

Anyone who dares to attack the Grand Empress Dowager must have a grudge against her or there must be some benefit in poisoning her, so it is very likely that he is the Fourth Prince.

He insisted on having ministers participate in the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in order to expose his mother's shamefulness to the public, with the goal of completely deposing her, but it also caused himself a lot of trouble.

It is also very likely that this will hit the Sixth Prince at the same time. With the death of the Empress Dowager, the Sixth Prince will definitely be the one who suffers the most.

What a good move. Now everyone seems to think that the Fourth Prince is the mastermind behind all this tonight.

The Queen Mother looked at the Fourth Prince, and glanced at Gong Li's body still exposed in the hall, and the Crown Prince's Consort whose face was disfigured from a collision.

She was filled with hatred, she was just one step away from success, so she even used the last poisonous insect. The Emperor had already arranged to bring the child to the palace as his adopted son today.

She had found the best costumer in advance to conceal the child's appearance, but it was the Fourth Prince.

By arranging such a situation, he would get stuck in a quagmire, his lover would die to save his reputation, and the child would have a hard time surviving.

Even if the emperor ordered to save herself, she would become the most vicious and despicable empress dowager in the history of Chen Kingdom.

From today on, she can no longer walk in front of people. She will have to hide in deserted places like a rat for the rest of her life until her death, all because of the Fourth Prince.

"Your Majesty, the Fourth Prince summoned the ministers to the banquet in order to frame me. Moreover, he was favored by the Grand Princess but he was ruthless and sent her to a miserable hell. He also accused the Sixth Prince of poisoning. All of this was his evil plan. How could it be such a coincidence?"

The Queen Mother rubbed the purse on her forearm, and a faint smell of blood came from it. The blood in the purse had burst and oozed out, staining her forearm red.

"I also ask His Majesty to make a decision for me, for the Empress Dowager, and for the Grand Princess Fu'an. We must not let the traitors go unpunished. We must seek justice for the victims."

The emperor's eyes were obviously dazed for a moment and then regained clarity. He looked at the Fourth Prince, immediately frowned and spoke angrily.

"The Fourth Prince committed treason and framed him, and he deserves death. I order Prince Li and the Dali Temple to investigate the truth. The Sixth Prince was also involved and we will investigate it as well."

After the emperor finished speaking, he felt a lot more relieved. He looked at the empress dowager to calm her down, but he did not forget his purpose today.

"I received a secret letter some time ago. Duke Cheng'en has many guards in the Linjing Villa. There are many problems with the military pay, weapons, and armor that my uncle has handled over the years. In order to prove my uncle's innocence, I think someone should investigate it thoroughly and not wrongly accuse my uncle. I have also thoroughly investigated in the palace to find out who dared to play tricks in front of me and sow discord between me and my uncle."

Duke Cheng'en reacted when the emperor first mentioned that he had placed people among the imperial guards. The emperor must have known something.

In order to get the Sixth Prince back to the capital, the man who kept the account book exposed him during court sessions. He later found out that the Sixth Prince only had records of his own corruption and bribery, but he had no idea that he had withheld weapons and armor.

At that time, he felt that someone was deliberately making trouble for him, but he didn't expect that the rest would be in the hands of the emperor.

Duke Cheng'en counted all possible enemies, and there were only a few who were capable. If there was any evidence of raising private soldiers, they would not restrain themselves from pulling him down.

So he guessed that the emperor did not receive the secret letter but got the account book from the beginning, and deliberately gave it to the Sixth Prince, using the Sixth Prince's hand to divide his military power in Kyoto.

He also let the Sixth Prince come back to continue fighting with himself and the Fourth Prince to balance the political situation.

Firstly, the military power in Kyoto is in the hands of the royalists, so the emperor's safety is guaranteed; secondly, with the three powers in a tripartite balance of power, the emperor's court is more stable because of mutual checks and balances.

The biggest beneficiary is the emperor, and the only one who dares not rashly reveal that he maintains an army is the emperor, because if it is revealed before all this happens, he will immediately rise up in rebellion.

At that time, the defense of Kyoto was under his control, and it was the best time to coordinate internal and external forces.

But now the city defenses don't obey me, the palace is on high alert, and I've been seriously injured by the Sixth Prince's attacks. No matter how you look at it, the Emperor is the one who benefits the most.

Duke Cheng'en looked at Gong Qisu, narrowed his eyes, and smiled with his face but not his heart.

"Of course, Your Majesty, please clear my name."

Lord Cheng'en never expected that the young man who could only rely on himself back then would now grow into a fierce tiger. He really underestimated him.

But he had been planning for so many years, so he wouldn't let a nephew who used to be under his thumb drag him down.

As early as when the emperor mentioned the imperial guards, his people had already left the palace to report the news. Thanks to the wonderful performance of the Fourth Prince and the Sixth Prince, he bought a lot of time. Now I am afraid that the personnel who were going to transfer the private soldiers in Linjing to other places are already on the way.

The emperor did not expect Duke Cheng'en's reaction. He was not at all panicked. After a closer look, he found that the man who had been following Duke Cheng'en was missing. That man was Duke Cheng'en's most trusted butler.

Gong Qisu was immediately shocked. No wonder he was so shocked. He actually reacted early and left the palace to report the news.

"Sixth Prince, take your people to investigate. Make sure you investigate thoroughly and don't let anyone have the opportunity to frame Lord Cheng En."

The emperor can only hope that the Sixth Prince can act quickly and get some evidence against him.

The Fourth Prince wanted to ask the clan members he had visited to save the situation for him, but they turned out to be cowards. Seeing that the Sixth Prince, the Grand Princess, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager were determined to kill him, they dared not say anything.

He fell to the ground all of a sudden. This time he was in great danger. So many people wanted him to die in agony, so how could they give him any room to turn things around?