Adoption brings disaster

It is said that the people in the palace have been trained by special people to do their work, and they have to be outstanding, so their movements are naturally orderly and efficient.

But today, for some reason, I lay in the yard for half an incense stick of time, but no one from the palace came.

I have been waiting like this for a long time and I am getting a little impatient. However, due to my status, I can't go to the gate to greet people. I can only lie there bored and wait for people to come.

I lay there bored for half an incense stick of time, and finally someone from the palace came. It was an old acquaintance, General Lu.

When General Lu saw me lying there leisurely, his pupils dilated and he was indescribably shocked.

He stared at me like this for a while, then steeled himself and lied with his eyes wide open, "I haven't seen Qian Qiuqing, so I guess he's not in Prince Yong's mansion. But the grace of heaven is immense, so everyone should search thoroughly. Only then will we not let the emperor down, and I can give an explanation to the entire court."

The soldiers who came in with him received orders to search everywhere in Prince Yong's Mansion, but they tacitly avoided me, as if I had cast an invisibility spell.

General Lu pulled Ah Er aside and started to scold him.

General Lu said angrily, "Didn't the palace send out the news long ago, asking His Highness Qianqiu to leave the capital? Why is he still here now? You must be taking advantage of your favor and being so arrogant that you're not doing things with all your heart. I've been wandering around the capital for so long, just trying to buy more time so you can get His Highness Qianqiu out of the capital."

Ah Er was in great pain after hearing General Lu's scolding. He could only droop his eyes and said, "Brother Lu, you are wrongly blaming me for this matter. You have been in the Northern Territory for a long time and don't know how powerful His Highness Qianqiu is. If he doesn't want to leave, I can't send him away."

General Lu was stunned, subconsciously glanced at me, and then continued to say to Ah Er, "His Highness Qianqiu has been away from the capital for a long time. He doesn't know the situation in the capital, but you don't know it either. This is a critical moment, and we must not make any mistakes."

Ah Er was speechless. General Lu was so anxious and annoyed that he couldn't help but speak without thinking. He said, "I had advised His Royal Highness Prince Yong to send His Royal Highness Qianqiu away from the capital earlier, but His Royal Highness Prince Yong couldn't bear to part with the beauty and delayed sending her away. What should we do now?"

General Lu became more and more anxious as he spoke. Finally, he gritted his teeth and walked towards me. He looked at me with a resolute look and said in a low voice, "Your Highness Qianqiu, I'm sorry. The future is decided. I will accept any punishment you want to give me. But now, you can't stay in the capital and become a variable."

General Lu walked towards me step by step, and the soldiers he brought with him quickly drove away all the servants. Without Ah Er's permission, the guards and secret guards in the mansion seemed to be blind and deaf, and no one came over.

I watched General Lu walking towards me with murderous intent, but I was not panicked at all. I just looked at him calmly, rocking the recliner, as if I was looking at an insignificant person.

When he reached me, he slowly stood up and said in a voice that only he and I could hear, "I've lived an honest life. Although I haven't lived on thin ice, I've always been law-abiding and followed the rules. Naturally, I haven't made any major mistakes. The only thing that requires me to leave Beijing is my identity."

After hearing this, General Lu paused, his eyes became complicated, and he thought secretly in his heart. After a moment, he took two steps forward and got closer to me. I could even see beads of sweat on his face because of anxiety.

General Lu said, "Your Highness Qianqiu is a man of great foresight and wisdom. This humble official knows this, but this matter is complicated. Even the most meticulous planning would be of no avail. I beg Your Highness to leave the capital as soon as possible and seek refuge. Do not let down His Highness Prince Yong's painstaking efforts."

I chuckled and said, "I just want to not let Guang'er down, so I have to go and solve this matter myself." After saying that, I straightened my robe and walked outside.

General Lu naturally knew where I was going and was about to stop me when I heard me say, "General Lu, have you ever heard that when two meet on a narrow road, the brave prevail? Since the other party has already set up a trap, how could they let me leave so easily? Since you can delay time at will, and I can easily leave the capital, then leaving the capital is their strategy. Now the only right thing to do is to do the opposite."

This makes sense, but General Lu disagreed. He was about to say something, but I didn't give him the chance. Instead, I turned to look at General Lu and said, "Do you know why Ah Er didn't send me away? Because he knew very well that if I didn't leave, I would be the one facing this matter, not His Royal Highness Prince Yong. No matter how many tricks the other party had, they would only be used on me."

After hearing this, General Lu fell silent and wavered, but he knew how important I was to His Royal Highness Prince Yong, and was also afraid that something might happen to me and hinder His Royal Highness Prince Yong's future arrangements, so he still wanted to persuade him.

I waved my hand and continued, "I am your father, and I hold a high position. Even if that story is true, they won't be able to do anything to me anytime soon. Besides, I haven't been idle all these years."

General Lu was startled when he saw me bring up the subject, but then he saw my confident look and asked, "Could it be that His Highness Qianqiu has already devised a perfect countermeasure?"

I chuckled and replied confidently, "It's completely untrue. Why would I need a solution? All I need to do is stand up. That's the best solution."

General Lu was of course willing to sacrifice me to protect His Royal Highness Prince Yong. Having said that, he stopped trying to persuade me, but respectfully sent me into the palace, to the court where I, a concubine, could never enter in my life.

The location of Prince Yong's Mansion is naturally excellent. It is right at the foot of the imperial city. It only takes an incense stick of time to get there on normal days. Today, with General Lu leading the way, it will naturally be faster.

However, it took half an incense stick of time. It was not because the horses were too weak to move, but because the general walked slowly along the way and briefly explained to me the whole story.

In fact, this matter was not carefully planned by the people on the prince's side. At most, it can only be said that the prince just went with the flow.

After the relatives of King Zhenbei were threatened by me with evidence of their crimes and had to leave the capital, these relatives, who were used to taking advantage of others' power, naturally could not tolerate this, and the young people were even more so.

Among them there was one who was quite talented. He held back his anger for a while, but when he took a step back, he became even angrier.

Unable to bear such a great humiliation for a while, he found a way to avoid the escort and sneak back to the capital.

This man is also smart. He knows that he is alone and has no way to deal with me, so he doesn't care about his dignity anymore and just cries out for justice at the palace gate.

Moreover, he was extremely ruthless in what he did. He cried out for injustice when all the civil and military officials were in court. He was crying and sobbing in front of all the civil and military officials. He looked so pitiful.

Seeing the younger officials filled with righteous indignation, they were about to rush into Prince Yong's house to cause trouble for me.

That alone would have been fine, but this man was a scoundrel who cried and made a scene at the palace gate that morning and was finally subdued by His Royal Highness Prince Yong.

Unexpectedly, he climbed up to the tallest restaurant in Beijing in the afternoon and had the same experience again.

Although His Royal Highness Prince Yong had many capable people under his command who responded quickly and prevented the incident from becoming a big deal, there were still many people in the capital who knew about it.

Of course, considering the good things I have done for the country and the people over the years, this is not a big deal. I just need to explain it clearly.

His Royal Highness Prince Yong was afraid that I would be upset, so he asked Er and the others to keep it a secret from me. Naturally, I didn't know about this and missed the opportunity to confront them face to face.

This missed opportunity meant there was no chance for a face-to-face confrontation, because the young man was killed that night. It was really like yellow mud falling into the crotch, it was shit at best.

Things can actually be controlled at this point. After all, it was not His Royal Highness Prince Yong who ordered this to happen.

Unexpectedly, this young man had no idea how deep his hatred for His Royal Highness Prince Yong was, and actually left a blood letter in advance, crying out that His Royal Highness Prince Yong was unfaithful, unfilial, unkind, and unjust, and was a villain who was blinded by beauty.

That's fine, they're just false accusations without any real evidence.

However, the blood letter was obtained by the crown prince again. Early this morning, the crown prince took out the blood letter to protest. After reading the blood letter, the civil and military officials also quarreled in the court. Someone pushed Zhang Ge Lao out and said that he had obtained the position illegitimately.

Although Lord Zhang has no virtue or talent, he obtained the position of Lord in a legitimate way, so His Royal Highness Prince Yong naturally has nothing to fear.

Unexpectedly, Lord Zhang could not withstand the pressure and confessed on the spot that I was not his biological son and that he had drowned on the eve of the election.

Zhang Ge Lao was afraid of the Prince of Zhenbei, so he had no choice but to let the servant of his own son pretend to be his son and enter the palace to become the current father of Qianqiu Qing.

The blood letter incident was originally a minor matter, but once it was exposed, it became a major incident of deceiving the emperor. The court was immediately shaken. Although His Royal Highness Prince Yong wanted to suppress it, he was powerless to change the situation. He had no choice but to spread the news and let me leave the capital to seek refuge.

After listening to General Lu's words, I had a clue in my mind. I was a fake after all. Ever since I was promoted to the position of minister, I have been thinking about how to deal with this matter.

I have been preparing for so many years now. I have rehearsed some scenes in my mind countless times, and I have brewed some words in my stomach countless times. Now I am naturally not afraid at all. I got off the carriage and walked towards the court.

I have been in the palace for many years, but I have never been to the court, not even to take a look from afar.

First, I am not greedy for power, so naturally I have no desire for the core of the empire's power.

Secondly, my dream is to get a high pension, live in a big house, have a group of people to serve me, and live a retirement life of eating and waiting for death. I have no interest in this kind of work that is hard work and can easily lead to the death of the whole family.

I walked across the square outside the court and into the court. Hundreds of officials were standing densely outside. General Lu told me that officials below the fourth rank would attend court here, and officials above the fourth rank had to have actual vacancies to enter.

I scoffed at this and said, "These petty officials all look so weak, what can they possibly hear from such a distance?"

My voice was not loud, but the minor officials within a few meters around me could hear it clearly. Coupled with my leisurely stroll, it seemed as if I was here to receive a reward, not to be interrogated.

Once inside, it was just like what was shown in TV dramas, with the emperor sitting at the very top, and below him were the crown prince, Prince Yong, Prince Gong and other royal ministers, and below them were people standing according to their official titles and departments, so there wasn't much to say.

I walked up in small steps and saluted the emperor respectfully.

After paying my respects, I looked up and saw the deathly aura lingering on the emperor's face. I couldn't help but feel sad. The aura of death was so thick that the emperor didn't have much time left. No wonder everyone felt that the situation was about to be settled.

I forced a smile and said, as if chatting with ordinary friends, "It's been a long time since we last met, Your Majesty. You look even more elegant than before."

The emperor smiled and was about to say something, but he started coughing violently. In the end, he just raised his hand and motioned me to stand up.

As soon as I stood up, a minor official from the back of the hall rushed out and shouted at me, "Chen Jiu, you are a heinous criminal who deceives the emperor and deceives his superiors. You dare to stand in front of people? You are really a fool who doesn't know how to live or die."

The curse was harsh, but I acted as if I didn't hear it and didn't even turn around to look at the person.

I know in my heart that this man is just trying to take a chance. If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince inherits the throne in the future, he will be a great contributor in this matter, and he will naturally get all the benefits.

If His Royal Highness Prince Yong inherits the throne, although he will lose the emperor's favor, he will gain a good reputation for not fearing power and giving strong advice. It is always a good thing.

I turned around and chuckled, "Chongguang, I haven't been in the capital for many years, and I don't know if your academic performance has declined. How about letting me test you?"

When His Royal Highness Prince Yong saw me asking, he naturally behaved like a junior, standing respectfully aside and saying, "Your father's teachings are still fresh in my mind, and I dare not slack off for a moment. Qianqiu, please feel free to ask."

I spoke casually and Chongguang answered seriously, just like an old father who had not been home for a long time checking his son's homework, so warm and harmonious.

"How should the law of the Northern Shang Dynasty punish a commoner for insulting a noble?"

I asked calmly, but His Royal Highness Prince Yong's answer was filled with murderous intent. He glared at the ignorant official and said, "To insult a noble with a commoner is a crime of treason. You must be punished with fifty strokes of the cane and exiled to Lingnan."

After saying this, His Royal Highness Prince Yong glared fiercely at all the ministers who were eager to try, and said, "But I think this method is not very reasonable. Few people can withstand fifty lashes of the cane, so how can they be exiled to Lingnan?"

This was a naked threat, but the man had already drawn the arrow and had to shoot it.

If he retreated like this, not only would he gain nothing, but he would also damage his official reputation. It would be impossible for him to make a name for himself in the future, so he had no choice but to continue speaking.

Like a loyal minister risking his life to advise the emperor, he said, "There is evidence of your substitution, and I have no room for you to quibble."

I didn't respond to this, but just looked around casually, thinking that this thing was finally about to begin, and then I would end it with a gentle smile.

Predict what will happen in the future, and listen to the next decomposition.