An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

"You...you...are talking nonsense. Your Majesty is the legitimate emperor who passed on the throne through an imperial edict personally issued by the retired emperor. You...don't slander me." The dog emperor stuttered when he said this, and it was obvious that he had no confidence at all.

The emperor's Adam's apple rolled, cold sweat oozed from his forehead, and by the end of his words, he was almost breathless. His eyes were erratic, and he didn't dare to look the Prince of Yan in the eye, clearly feeling extremely guilty.

"Edict? Legitimate? Has any member of the royal family seen the edict of succession? Have any of the ministers here seen it? Why don't you take it out for everyone to review?"

The Prince of Yan brought his sword down slightly, leaving a thin bloody mark on the emperor's neck. His voice was as cold as ice, and every word pierced the emperor's heart, forcing him to turn pale.

The Prince of Yan only slightly shifted the hilt of the sword in his hand, and the dog emperor immediately uttered a panicked "Ah Ah," "Royal brother, slow down, please speak properly."

The slightest movement of the sword frightened the emperor to death, and his voice changed. Where was the imperial majesty at all?

Prince Yan's words also successfully attracted the attention of all the officials below the stage. Even at this critical moment, the crowd was talking about it.

The court officials whispered to each other, and the sound of whispers spread like a tide. Some were surprised, some suddenly realized, and some showed anger, obviously dissatisfied with the emperor for a long time.

"Plotting to usurp the throne? That can't be true, right?"

A left-hand minister stroked his sparse beard, his brows furrowed, his eyes full of disbelief.

"Indeed, whether the imperial edict is authentic or not is only known to Duke Hua and Grand Tutor Peng, and they are already dead."

Another person murmured in agreement, his tone heavy.

"Duke Tao and several other senior officials who raised questions in the court had their entire families brutally exterminated. Could it be to silence them?"

A general snorted coldly, his fists clenched so hard that they made a creaking sound.

"It is said that the Emperor Emeritus favored Prince Yan and personally trained him. This rumor is not groundless."

In the ranks of civil servants, someone was muttering quietly, with complex emotions flashing in his eyes.

"Killing his father and usurping the throne? No wonder the Prince of Yan was granted land upon his return and so many imperial guards were escorted out of the capital. There must be something else going on."

The discussions grew louder and louder, and there was an uproar in the court.

...

There was a commotion below, filled with the chatter of court officials. Aside from the imperial guards engaging with the Prince of Yan's men, no one on the steps seemed to care about the emperor's safety.

The palace was as noisy as a market, yet no one spoke up for the emperor. The imperial guards and the Prince of Yan's personal guards faced off, swords flashing and sabers blazing, yet no one dared to act rashly.

"You… you're slandering me. That's just… justifying your rebellion."

The emperor's voice was sharp and piercing, yet seemed particularly pale and weak.

"I can testify to this matter." Suddenly, an old but powerful voice came out from behind the officials.

A hunched figure slowly walked out from behind the crowd. Nanny Zhou's voice was hoarse but firm, like a rusty but still sharp sword.

"I can testify!"

She repeated it again, her cloudy eyes fixed on the emperor, as if she wanted to nail him to the throne.

"It's Madam Zhou, the Empress Dowager's personal nanny." Someone among the officials recognized her and shouted. "During the last fire, His Majesty said Madam Zhou set herself on fire and deserved death."

"It's a good thing that Nanny Zhou has no relatives in her family, otherwise she would definitely be punished by having her entire clan exterminated."

"It's not a deliberate frame-up, maybe Madam Zhou knows something."

The ministers were shocked, and they obviously recognized the old nanny who had served in the palace for many years. Although she had changed a lot in the past ten years, her tone and eyes had not changed.

"Before the Emperor passed away, he took over Kunning Palace, where the Empress Dowager was staying," Nanny Zhou pointed bluntly at the figure on the throne. "He sent over a hundred people to surround Kunning Palace. Not even a fly could escape."

Her fingertips trembled, but with overwhelming hatred, they pointed directly at the emperor.

"At that time, I had just been sent out by the Empress Dowager. Seeing that things were not going well, I changed my clothes and begged Doctor Zhang to take me into the Yangxin Palace."

Her voice was choked, as if she had returned to that nightmarish night.

"The emperor's face turned black at the time, indicating his death, but he did not announce it to the public."

Nanny Zhou took a few quick steps forward, climbed the stairs, and pointed at the dog emperor with clenched teeth. "Only he and Eunuch Li were present at the time. It wasn't like what was later said, that there were princes and ministers around. There was no imperial edict on or beside the bed of the retired emperor."

Every word she spoke seemed to be poisoned, stabbing the emperor fiercely.

"Not long after Imperial Doctor Zhang came back from his consultation, he disappeared. Over half of the palace's doctors also died. If this old servant were truly Imperial Doctor Zhang's medicine boy, he would surely have died."

A trace of sadness flashed in her eyes. Those who died were all victims of this conspiracy.

After saying this, Nanny Zhou seemed to have lost all her strength and her hands dropped down.

"It's a pity that the Empress was not able to see the Emperor Emeritus before she was directly confined to her house. The only person who stayed with her until the end was the Prince of Yan, who was later forced to become a hostage."

Her shoulders slumped, and she seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. The hall was completely silent, with only her heavy breathing echoing.

"Bitch, you have no evidence, you are making a false accusation."

The trembling emperor pointed at Madam Zhou, not a single regal word in his voice. His voice was as sharp as ripping silk, bursting from his trembling lips, as piercing as fingernails scraping across a bronze mirror. The light filtering through the hallway shattered into a scattering of dancing stars.

He stumbled forward half a step, only to be blocked again by the King of Yan's sword. The gold-embroidered Zhai pattern on his chest rose and fell, as if ready to pounce and peck at someone's eyes.

"How can we prove it based on the empty words of an old lady in the palace?" At this time, the right prime minister stood up. He and the left prime minister had always been at odds with each other and had always been at odds with each other in the court.

The Right Prime Minister is also an old minister. Although his court robes are brand new, they are still the old style from more than ten years ago. At this moment, they seem to be suddenly filled with wind and swell up into a fluttering flag.

As he stepped out of his post, he deliberately rolled the heel of his boot over the seams of the gold bricks, making a crisp "click" sound that startled the shoulders of two young censors nearby. The five fingers of his right hand opened and then tightened, the knuckles turning bluish-white, as if he had already grabbed someone's throat.

He never cared about right or wrong when doing things, only cared about his own principles, and only sided with the emperor, without caring about the common people. That's why he is an old minister who still stands in the court.

He glanced at the bronze crane at the corner of the hall. The incense in the crane's beak had long since burned out, leaving only a grayish-white stalk hanging down, like a dead silkworm.

When Jiujiang and Jian'an County were hit by floods a few years ago, his expression when he withheld the memorial for disaster relief was exactly the same as it is now - the drooping curve at the corners of his mouth looked like it was carved by a knife, and even his wrinkles were filled with coldness.

In recent years, the number of officials following him has decreased, and his sense of crisis has become increasingly serious.