Marrying a concubine and swallowing her dowry? The mistress turns around and marries a high-ranking

Chapter 285

Empress Echu and Duke Changguo, seeing that they could not find any evidence, turned completely pale.

The emperor watched coldly from the sidelines, then sneered at Empress Chu, "You don't need to make excuses anymore. What's the use of stalling for a little more time?"

Empress Chu trembled all over, her hands and feet were ice-cold. She knew she was standing on the edge of an abyss, but she was still unwilling to give up. In a desperate move, she shouted:

"Your Majesty! It must be Shen! She must have secretly tampered with my sacrificial food and wine during the ceremony! I beg Your Majesty to summon Shen! Search her! Let me investigate her! We will surely find out the truth!"

She suspected Shen Lingjun the most. At that time, Lady Wen had already returned to the palace with Consort Jing, leaving only Shen Lingjun at the scene, making him the most likely person to commit this act.

During the previous incident with the witchcraft doll, she suspected that Shen Lingjun had switched the doll, but she hadn't found any evidence. However, she felt that Shen Lingjun must possess some kind of supernatural ability, and it wouldn't be difficult for her to add something to the blessed wine this time.

But by this time the emperor had lost his patience.

"enough!"

He interrupted Empress Chu with a sharp shout.

"You're even throwing mud at others! You ruined the sacrificial ceremony and disgraced the royal family. Do you think you can escape punishment like this?"

Even if we take a step back and assume that Empress Chu was indeed framed, she still defecated in front of hundreds of people during the sacrificial ceremony. How could she possibly continue to be the empress who ruled the world as if nothing had happened?

Empress Chu trembled violently, realizing the Emperor's meaning.

Whether she was murdered or not is no longer important, because it has no impact on how the emperor will deal with her!

Immediately afterward, she heard the emperor say coldly, "Empress Chu has behaved improperly in public during the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven, disrespecting Heaven and our ancestors. She is unworthy to be Empress. Effective immediately, Empress Chu is hereby deposed, demoted to commoner status, and banished to the Cold Palace!"

Then he turned to Duke Changguo: "Duke Changguo, Chu Jinxun, has failed to properly educate his daughter. He is stripped of his title of Duke and demoted to Marquis of Changguo. He is also fined one year's salary and ordered to stay in his residence for three months to reflect on his mistakes!"

Empress Chu and Duke Changguo were both as if struck by lightning, their faces turning deathly pale.

Empress Chu—no, she was now just Lady Chu—could not face this reality. She burst into tears and knelt down to the emperor's feet, trying to tug at his robes.

"Your Majesty! I was framed, my crime is undeserved! ... I beg Your Majesty, for the sake of our many years of marriage, and for the sake of Princess Fukang I bore for you, please show me leniency! I wish to continue serving Your Majesty!..."

Being demoted to a commoner and banished to the cold palace meant that her life was completely over!

The Chu family enjoyed a life of luxury and privilege. She was the noble eldest daughter of the Chu family before entering the palace and being directly named Empress, second only to the emperor, enjoying the pinnacle of wealth and honor.

Now, however, she has fallen from grace and into the mire, destined to spend the rest of her life in the cold palace. She simply cannot accept such an ending!

The emperor looked at something disgusting and filthy, and took a step back.

Logically speaking, Chu's disruption of the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven was a capital offense. The fact that he didn't execute Chu was already a lenient punishment out of consideration for the Empress Dowager and Chu's daughter, Princess Fukang.

She's so clueless!

Marquis Changguo felt a chill and quickly pulled Chu Shi back, pressing her down to kneel and kowtow repeatedly.

"Your humble servant, along with my daughter, confesses my sins! I am deserving of death, but Your Majesty's magnanimity has overwhelmed me with gratitude! Thank you for your great kindness! Long live the Emperor!"

Marquis Changguo knew much more about this than the Chu family.

The Chu family has committed such a heinous crime that there is no room for leniency, not even with the Empress Dowager's intervention. It's already a miracle they've survived; if they continue to anger the Emperor, they won't even have a place in the Cold Palace!