Princess Menglang is hard to change, the whole capital is embarrassed for her

"Don't bother saying that," the old prime minister interrupted, not wanting to listen to her lies. "It's useless. The emperor won't believe it. You might as well just insist that it was the empress who summoned you into the palace."

Seeing his daughter and Shen Zhaojiang looking at him in confusion, the old prime minister coughed uncomfortably.

As a father, what kind of thing is it to teach your children to lie?

"The Empress summoned Shen Li into the palace and locked her up not long ago. Not many people outside know about it, but the Emperor and the Empress Dowager do know about it. So if you say this, even if the Empress and her people deny it, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager will believe your story and exonerate you from the crime of breaking into the palace."

After hearing his words, Xiao Zhao felt touched. It turned out that her father had already thought of the most reasonable explanation for her from the very beginning, and her father was still worried about her.

"But father, if I do this, my daughter will completely offend the Queen." The effect of the medicine in her body disappeared completely, and she regained consciousness. The more she thought about it, the more scared she became. "Shen Li really hurt my daughter badly."

"Do you think you wouldn't have offended the Queen if you hadn't said that?" the old Prime Minister said bluntly, "No matter what the circumstances were for you to say those words, the Queen hated you. She knows what you're saying deep down, so don't even think about reconciling with her. Besides, the Emperor won't let her off easily. It would be best if you had no further contact."

"Father, where are the Queen and the Second Prince?" Little Zhao said softly.

Humph.

The second prince.

The old prime minister sneered, "So what if he's the Second Prince? When the Emperor killed Concubine Liu's nine clans, did he ever care about the Fourth Prince?"

"How can the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince be the same?" Little Zhao asked in confusion, "The Queen is also different from Concubine Liu. The Liu family had a palace coup, but the Yao family didn't. The Yao family just..."

"Just what?" The old prime minister said calmly, "You can't go on, right? Don't forget, the crime the emperor originally charged the Yao family with was treason, otherwise how could he have raided their house? Do you think the emperor made that charge arbitrarily? Do you think that in the emperor's eyes, the crime of killing Queen Chu is less serious than the coup? No, in the emperor's heart, Queen Chu's death is far more serious than the coup. In this matter, let alone the Second Prince and the other princes, even if the Queen Mother intervenes, the emperor will definitely not let the Queen go this time."

Shen Zhaojiang's brows knitted together, as if he understood something instantly, his eyes filled with surprise. "Did the Emperor want to punish the Yao family back then? Is that why he deliberately blew a small matter into a big deal and charged them with treason? But why?"

"Why else could it be? Before his execution, Concubine Liu was imprisoned. The Yao family sent people to kill him, but he feigned death and evaded the attack. The next day, he requested an audience with the Emperor. No one except Fang Yao knew what he said. However, Fang Yao soon fell out with the Yao family, and letters of treason were found in the Yao family's home, leading to the Yao family being convicted. Think about it, how could such a coincidence happen? It's possible that Commander Liu had already told the Emperor the truth about Queen Chu's death, and Fang Yao was simply helping the Emperor set a trap for the Yao family, while the Emperor had already begun planning it. Now, it's time to depose the Empress."

Deposed queen?

The couple listened to the old prime minister's words in a daze and couldn't help but shudder.

Deposing and enthroning a queen is a major national event. The court officials have different positions, and there will definitely be another quarrel.

"Chu Hengsheng from the Northern Frontier has received a letter stating that the Northern Di have deployed a large number of troops to the border. Chu Hengsheng is requesting that the court quickly prepare money and food supplies to prevent the Great Zhou from being put on the defensive if a war breaks out."

"The Emperor has been so worried about sending people to collect taxes lately that he has no energy to listen to the court officials arguing over the dethronement of the Empress. With your ready-made evidence, the Emperor will definitely not let this opportunity go."

"Just wait and see. The decree to depose the empress will be issued soon," the old prime minister slowly said to Xiao Zhao. "The emperor is ostensibly punishing you for trespassing in Fengyi Palace, but deep down he's actually more pleased with the current situation. You've unintentionally helped the emperor break a trap. Otherwise, why do you think he asked me to bring you back? Don't you know you've committed a capital crime?"

As they were talking, the old butler came hurriedly outside and knocked on the door, "Master, the Second Prince wants to see you."

Several people were stunned and looked at each other.

"Dad, what is the Second Prince doing here?" For some reason, Xiao Zhao felt a little nervous when she heard the Second Prince's name.

The old Prime Minister thought for a moment and understood. He said to the two, "I guess he heard that the Emperor ordered me to bring you to the Prime Minister's Mansion for questioning, so he came here to test the waters. You two go down first. Kun'er's mother is not allowed to go anywhere for the next few days. Be careful that the Empress and the Second Prince will kill you to silence you. After this period of time is over, you can take Kun'er and go to Miss Shen to apologize. Sincerely apologize for what happened to her mother and ask for her forgiveness. We will talk about this later. Leave now."