The pretty widow is addicted to money, and the little wolfdog asks for a hug

The emperor's face was filled with anger. He raised his hand and signaled all his ministers to be silent.

After the scene suddenly quieted down, the Emperor turned to look at Duke Liang and said sternly, "Did Lord Liang really find the thief? Who is that person?!"

Duke Liang raised his chin slightly, bowed to the emperor, and said in a suspenseful tone, "Of course."

"Who is it?!" The emperor gripped the handles on both sides of the dragon throne tightly, with murderous intent in his eyes.

This thief actually dared to steal from the imperial palace. Once he is found out, all nine members of his clan will be beheaded!

Duke Liang raised his eyebrows slightly, looked towards the guest seats, and raised his voice, "The thief is among the guests!"

There was an uproar at the scene again, and a huge buzzing sound instantly filled the entire hall.

"What? The thief is among the guests?! How...how is it possible?!"

"Yes, all the people who came today are important figures in the court. How could they be thieves? Could it be that Duke Liang made a mistake?"

"Could it be that someone has offended Duke Liang, and he wants to use the theft incident to settle a personal grudge?"

"It's possible. Let's listen first and see what he says."

……

Perhaps because he was too excited, the emperor suddenly started coughing, his face turned red, his coughing was heart-wrenching, and his whole body was shaking uncontrollably.

"Your Majesty!" Eunuch Tian exclaimed, and immediately raised his hand, gently stroking his back to help him relax.

Prince Yi also hurried forward and said, "Brother Emperor, don't be excited and take care of yourself."

Concubine Luo and other concubines looked at the emperor worriedly.

Only Concubine Liang Shu was too lazy to even pretend. She sneered and admired her newly applied nail polish as if it had nothing to do with her.

When the ministers saw that the emperor was so weak, they couldn't help but look at each other.

The emperor is in this state now and has not yet decided on the candidate for the crown prince, which puts them in a passive position and they don't know which side to stand on.

If the emperor died suddenly, I'm afraid the capital would be in chaos.

After a long period of relaxation, Emperor Dingde finally regained the strength to speak. He leaned back on the dragon chair, looked at Duke Liang, and said weakly, "My dear Liang, there is no need to be mysterious. Just tell me who the thief is."

Duke Liang, the Third Prince, and Consort Liang all looked at each other, turned around and pointed at Gu Qinghuai, angrily saying, "Your Majesty, the thief is the Princess of Qinghe County—Gu Qinghuai!"

what? !

It turned out to be the Princess of Qinghe County? !

The Princess of Qinghe County took the initiative to present high-yield sweet potato seeds to the emperor. She was a woman, so how could she be a thief? !

Everyone at the scene turned their shocked gazes towards Gu Qinghuai.

At this moment, most of the guests still felt that Duke Liang was seeking revenge. After all, the Princess of Qinghe stripped his granddaughter Liang Qianxi naked and paraded her through the streets, making her defecate and urinate in the street, which brought great humiliation to the Liang family. Duke Liang must be holding a grudge against her.

Gu Qinghuai sat calmly with a faint smile on his face, but he was in no hurry to explain.

Qi Yuanshuo shook her hand, stood up and shouted, "Duke Liang, please stop slandering me. Everyone knows that you are seeking revenge for your personal gain and are deliberately throwing dirty water on my wife!"

Although he and Sister Xiaohuai both knew that this would happen today, he still couldn't tolerate others bullying his Sister Xiaohuai, so even if it was a performance, his anger was real.

Prince Yi was stunned for a moment, then turned around and pointed at Duke Liang, cursing, "You old Liang! You are slandering me again! Do you want to slander anyone in the court who doesn't do what you want? Is it your Liang family that is the only one in power? My Great Xia belongs to your Liang family?"

Duke Liang was so angry that he was breathing heavily. He clasped his hands and arched them in the direction of the emperor. "Prince Yi is the one who is slandering you. I am loyal to the emperor! I will not tolerate your slander!"

Concubine Liang Shu also said in a sharp voice: "Prince Yi, you are the emperor's brother, but you are so mean. Gu Qinghuai stole the emperor's private treasury! For such contempt for the emperor's power, he should be executed by slow slicing! All nine clans should be exterminated!"

"Ugh!" Prince Yi slammed his palm on the table. "Liang Shufei, you old shrew! You have harmed my sister-in-law's family, slandered the former crown prince for treason, exterminated the nine clans of Duke Wei, and now you want to harm the Princess of Qinghe County and her family. God sees all the evil things you have done, so just wait for the punishment from God!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience fell silent.

Everyone knows that the case of the former crown prince's rebellion is a taboo for the emperor, and no one dares to mention it in the court.

When the ministers who had participated in framing the former crown prince heard Prince Yi say "divine punishment", their faces changed drastically.

Because at this moment, they realized that all the officials in the imperial capital whose property was stolen, except the young general, had participated in framing the former crown prince!

The emperor's cheeks flushed, and he leaned on his right arm, panting heavily. After a long while, he shouted, "How dare you! How dare you... How dare you make a scene in front of me. Your words and actions... are so shameless!"

Prince Yi, Concubine Liang and others glared at each other, snorted coldly, and stopped talking.

Emperor Dingde raised his head and signaled Eunuch Tian to feed him a pill.

After taking the pill, he leaned against the dragon chair, exhaled a long breath, looked at Duke Liang and said, "Duke Liang, you said that the Princess of Qinghe County was the thief in the theft case in the imperial capital, do you have any evidence?"

"Of course!" Duke Liang clapped his hands, and several guards walked in with a group of people.

Gu Qinghuai looked up and saw two guards walking in the front of the team. Behind the guards came Magistrate Lu, Song Wenjie and five or six unfamiliar faces, and behind the unfamiliar faces came a dozen people from Zhoujia Village and Tuniu Village.

Hmm? The Li family from Tuniu Village and the people from the Gu family's old house...are here too!

It seems that Duke Liang and Concubine Liang had spent a lot of effort to bring her down. They actually got these people here so quickly. They must have traveled day and night.

Look at those people, all of them have dark circles under their eyes, yawning all the time, and look listless.

Qi Yuanshuo held Gu Qinghuai's hand tightly and whispered softly in her ear: "Don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

Qi Yuanshuo was not worried about the theft, but he was afraid that the fact that Xiao Huaijie was a descendant of a princess from the previous dynasty could not be concealed.

Gu De should also know about that.

Gu Qinghuai chuckled, "Don't worry, I'm not worried. I've made all the necessary preparations."

When Xiao Yuan, the Right Minister of the Dali Temple, saw Magistrate Lu, hatred flashed in his eyes and he clenched his teeth secretly.

This ungrateful former son-in-law is now trying to curry favor and make trouble for his future!

The emperor said coldly: "My dear Liang, tell me what is going on!"

Duke Liang said loudly, "Your Majesty, since the theft in the imperial capital, I have suggested that Your Majesty issue a notice to the whole country in order to find the thief, hoping to find similar thefts. I didn't expect that I really found one. Magistrate Lu, you go first."

It was the first time that Magistrate Lu saw the emperor at such close range. His legs were shaking with excitement. He knelt before the emperor, wishing that every pore of his body was filled with flattery. "Your Majesty, I am Magistrate Lu of Pingyuan County. Song Wenjie's family in Feitian Village under my jurisdiction was robbed. The theft method and the scene were exactly the same as the theft in the imperial capital. I have brought all the witnesses here. Song Wenjie, you tell the story."