Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Since someone has made his intentions, the state of Tai Shang, and the ecology of the capital city come together, he doesn't necessarily have to be a bad person.

Emperor Zhaoming hummed again, then waved his hand and said, "Forget it. The Grand Lord is old, and I don't want to make him sad.

"Since these people are dead, then... they are dead!

"What to do after death? The military will draft an edict for you to see!

"As for their respective accomplices——"

Emperor Zhaoming looked at the group of idiots who were eager to speak up for others with a gloomy look, as if he was looking at a dead person, and laughed grimly:

"Punish according to the law, and do not pardon if there is any!"

There was a sudden silence below.

Emperor Zhaoming stood up, looked at everyone coldly again, and walked away.

Tao Xingjian hurriedly followed behind and shouted: "Dismiss the court!"

Then he ran away quickly.

The people below, who had not yet come to their senses, stared blankly as Emperor Zhaoming's back disappeared. When they came to their senses, they quickly surrounded Cao Feng!

"Lord Cao, what does His Majesty mean?"

"That's right! Instead of punishing the main culprit, the people who had no choice but to follow him will be severely punished..."

"Lord Cao, since the Crown Prince and the Imperial Concubine were accidents..."

Cao Feng raised his hands and everyone immediately shut up.

"My Lords, your Majesty and Empress Yuan were deeply in love, but the Crown Prince was the only one who died like this.

"Your Majesty, what is it like in your heart? Even if you don't have a wife or children, you still have parents, right? Don't you understand?

“As for the two kings, although they committed suicide, what they did was treason.

"If the accomplices of the rebellion are not killed, then what? Are they still kept for you to worship?!"

Cao Feng rolled his eyes, clenched his hands together and raised his chin.

Everyone dispersed in embarrassment.

Someone murmured quietly: "Look, the four kings and eight dukes, the King of Zhongshun, and the King of Yu have all fallen suddenly, leaving only the man with the surname Cao.

"This is what we call a true monopoly!"

This is too heartbreaking.

He was quickly pushed away by a familiar colleague nearby.

Cao Feng didn't care.

Who doesn't speak behind their backs, who doesn't speak behind their backs?

He still has a lot of things on his hands -

The Ministry of Revenue now has only one old assistant minister, and the Ministry of Rites doesn’t even have a hall official!

All of Prince Yu's followers were arrested and imprisoned, freeing up more than a dozen important and noble positions. Many people were eyeing him with envy, so he had to quickly come up with a set of rules and discuss them with the emperor.

And there is King Dun.

He had clearly made great contributions in defending the capital, so why was his case shelved by the emperor just because he advised against killing members of the royal family?

I heard that the King of the East fell ill when he returned home this morning...

Old fox!

I don’t know whether it is a real disease or a fake one!

Cao Feng thought that among the people who had fought side by side with him, only Feng Tang was left, and he couldn't help but sigh.

General Feng is a very shrewd man.

He is guarding the Daming Palace at the moment because the emperor really has no capable leader of the imperial guards.

If there was one person who could be used, he would probably be "sick" by now, and the excuse would be ready: the poison had relapsed.

The most outrageous thing was that just after he got up in the morning and arranged his shift, Supervisor Tao had someone quietly tell him that Princess Zhaoqing had been accused of laziness by His Majesty and was confined to Shoukang Palace. He was told not to make any noise no matter how big the news was.

He knew that the aftermath of this major event in the capital would be entirely his responsibility!

While enjoying the pleasure of being "favored alone", Cao Feng muttered about the exhausting work of being alone, and strode towards the military affairs duty room with mixed feelings.

The death of Lady Shi was simply passed over in the court.

Emperor Zhaoming did not even offer a word of compensation.

The Ministry of Rites was in chaos, so naturally no one asked questions.

The officials in the Ministry of Personnel are so busy that they have no time to care about such "extra" matters.

Inside the Rongguo Mansion.

Everyone cried their hearts out.

When the Supreme Envoy came to "question", everyone heard the reason: the old military token of the Jia family was given to the rebel, the Crown Prince died as a result, and the Imperial Concubine was given the death penalty.

After this news, the special envoy also deliberately informed another thing: Rongfu was his last stop. He had been to the Dali Temple before, and also sentenced Jia She, Shi Nai and others to death.

They just put it nicely to outsiders. The imperial concubine said it was an accident, and those few said they committed suicide out of shame.

The special envoy stared at the old lady Shi and asked her, "Has the Supreme Lord done his utmost to you?

"You have been blessed by the Emperor for many years, enjoying wealth and power, yet you have committed such evil deeds that are worse than those of pigs and dogs. Do you still have any sense of loyalty, righteousness, and shame in your hearts?"

Old Lady Shi fainted before she could finish listening.

The special envoy woke him up by pinching his Ren philtrum and feeding him ginseng soup. He sneered and asked:

"The Supreme Lord asked Shi, you have a superb imperial decree, you gave birth to sons and daughters, and raised granddaughters, but you have raised your children and grandchildren to be like this!

"How can you face the two loyal and righteous Lords Rong and Ning? And how can you face the ancestors of the Shi family!?"

Old Lady Shi cried and kowtowed to confess her guilt.

The envoy looked at her lightly and said the last sentence: "For the sake of Zhaoqing and Yimin, I will leave your body intact."

Go ahead and go.

Everyone was stunned.

Old Lady Shi was carried back into the house, crying and covering her face. She managed to say a few words, but passed away in less than half an hour.

When the towering tree fell, everyone panicked.

Mrs. Xing hugged Xichun and Jia Cong and cried particularly bitterly - Jia She had committed suicide, and Jia Lian was afraid that he would not escape death either.

I originally thought I could really save my life and be exiled three thousand miles away, but who knew that these few words from the Supreme would ruin it all.

"Now that the old lady is gone, I'm afraid Princess Lin... won't take care of us anymore!" Li Wan was extremely panicked and kept crying while holding Wang Xifeng's hand.

Wang Xifeng and Baoyu were the first to recover.

The two wiped their tears and discussed in a low voice for a moment. Wang Xifeng then ordered Ping'er to quickly boil some hot water, while Amber followed Wang Xifeng to look through Lady Jia's clothes.

Baoyu took his troublesome jade and went to exchange it with the guards for a thin-skinned coffin: "Grandmother... please fulfill our filial piety!"

The soldiers looked at him kneeling on his knees and kowtowing in the snow, at a loss as to what to do.

The captain at the gate, however, gave them some leeway: "Well, just pack up and park in the room next door.

"We have to report this to our superiors.

"If the higher-ups don't care, I'll ask outside for you.

"Didn't they say that your cousin is the young lady of the Huaiyuan Marquis's mansion?

"Their family is very popular now. If you think they can be trusted, write a piece of paper and I will deliver it to you."

Baoyu thanked him profusely, wrote a short note, and presented the jade: "Please have a cup of hot tea, Captain."

The team leader raised his eyebrows and accepted the jade. Then, after finishing his shift early the next morning, he went to report to the Huaiyuan Marquis Mansion.

By the time Xiangyun learned the news, it was already noon.

While crying, she begged the marquis's wife to let her go to Rong Mansion to see the old lady off, while she was also busy sending a letter to Daiyu in the palace.

Madam Hou sighed and helped her up: "We can help with Mrs. Shi's funeral, but you are not allowed to go.

"Not only are you not allowed to go, you are also not allowed to send any letters to the palace."

Xiangyun was confused: "Why?"

"If this news could really reach the palace, why would it be your turn to deliver the letter?"

The marquis' wife lowered her head and looked at her knees - Marquis Huaiyuan had just returned and had told her in secret everything that had happened in the morning.

She immediately understood Emperor Zhaoming's intention:

"If His Majesty was willing to give you and Princess Zhaoqing this face, why would he remain silent on the news of Old Madam Shi's death?

"Let's quietly give Bao Ge'er some money and let him handle it himself.

"That should be what your majesty meant."