Chapter 346 Knocked Out
The prince's usurpation of the throne had far-reaching consequences. The prince, the queen, and even the pregnant princess were all beheaded. The entire family of Prime Minister Zhao and the family of Prince Duan were also executed.
As for other followers of the prince, those whose cases were serious were dismissed and investigated, while those whose cases were not serious were demoted.
The emperor would not take any action this time, but once he took action, it was a big move. There was a major purge in the court, and all officials began to be cautious in their words and actions. They did not dare to speculate on the emperor's mind, let alone take sides easily.
The prince's concubine Qi Jiaqing had long known that the prince was planning to usurp the throne. She was the one behind all these things. Qi Jiaqing had prepared to flee back to the Canglang Kingdom with her personal maid in advance, but she was caught by the prince's men.
His Majesty felt that Qi Jiaqing had a special identity, so he temporarily kept him under custody and did not execute him immediately.
Only the Ninth Princess, who was completely unaware of the incident, escaped. Although the Emperor spared the death penalty, without the support of the Queen and the Crown Prince, her life in the palace became difficult.
In addition, the Ninth Princess lost her two most important relatives at once, and the blow she suffered was too great. Finally, the Ninth Princess asked His Majesty for permission. She decided to become a nun and go to the royal Jing'an Temple to practice to atone for the sins of the late Queen and Prince. His Majesty considered it for a moment and agreed.
Those who should be punished have been punished, and Your Majesty has not been stingy in rewarding those who should be rewarded.
Qian Bolin was reinstated and continued to serve as the commander of the Imperial Guards, and the rebellious Lieutenant General Sun was naturally dragged out and beheaded.
General Qian was rewarded for his meritorious service in rescuing the emperor and was conferred the title of Duke. From then on, the Qian Mansion rose in status and became the Duke's Mansion.
After this incident, His Majesty finally saw who the loyal ministers and generals were who were worthy of trust, so this time, His Majesty no longer opposed the marriage between Prince An's Mansion and the Qian family, and finally fulfilled the wish of the Crown Prince and granted him and Qianhuan a marriage.
The prince finally got his wish and married the beauty. He was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. The people of the Qian family were also very satisfied with this marriage.
As for Bai Lingxuan, the meritorious official who helped His Majesty detoxify, he did not want to serve in the court, but he also had plenty of gold, silver, and jewelry. The emperor did not know what reward to give him, so he asked him in person, "What reward would Doctor Bai want?"
Bai Lingxuan thought of the Seventh Princess and said, "Your Majesty, I haven't thought of what I want yet. Why don't you wait until I have thought it through and then reward me, Your Majesty?"
His Majesty readily agreed, "Okay, I will reserve this reward for you first."
As for the Fifteenth Prince, after His Majesty was rescued this time, he really kept his word and decided to make up for his debt to the Fifteenth Prince.
He first ordered the fifteenth prince to be moved from the remote and dilapidated palace to the palace closest to his own bedroom, and then arranged many palace maids and eunuchs to serve the fifteenth prince.
The emperor also summoned the fifteenth prince from time to time to test his schoolwork. The fifteenth prince was smart and studious. His Majesty was very satisfied with him and often praised him.
The fifteenth prince suddenly went from being ignored to being the emperor's most favored prince. Now everyone began to speculate whether His Majesty favored the fifteenth prince.
When the crown prince fell, the happiest people were the Fourth Prince, Concubine Li and others. Originally, the Fourth Prince was planning to give up his previous plan, as he felt that without the crown prince, His Majesty would start to pay attention to him.
Who would have thought that an unknown Fifteenth Prince would suddenly appear. Seeing that His Majesty valued the Fifteenth Prince so much, the Fourth Prince completely gave up on His Majesty and became more determined to start a rebellion.
In the past few years, Canglang Kingdom and Dayuan have been coexisting peacefully. After the seventh princess married into the Canglang Kingdom, the emperor still hoped that the two countries could continue to coexist peacefully and friendly.
After the Crown Prince presented the letter from the Seventh Princess to His Majesty and informed him of the true purpose of the marriage with the Canglang Kingdom, he also showed His Majesty the weapons brought back from Mangfeng Mountain. The Emperor now understood the wolfish ambitions of the Canglang Kingdom.
He said angrily, "What a Qi Beiming, he had evil intentions long ago and deceived me like this. Not only did he kidnap my daughter, he also took away the weapons made from our Dayuan iron ore. This is really unreasonable."
After saying this, the emperor began to cough violently.
Li Dequan quickly comforted him, "Your Majesty, you must not get angry. Divine Doctor Bai has already told you that your body has been seriously damaged by the poison. If you get angry again and injure yourself, even Divine Doctor Bai will be unable to save you."
The emperor knew that his health was deteriorating, but there were still so many messes to deal with and the Canglang Kingdom was eyeing him covetously. He couldn't bear to see him die.
So the emperor tried his best to suppress his anger, slowly calmed down, and finally he recovered.
The prince said, "Your Majesty, the Canglang Nation has not made any major moves yet, but I believe they are already waiting for an opportunity to act. I suggest sending more people to the border to strengthen the defense."
His Majesty also felt that what the Crown Prince said made sense, and finally His Majesty sent Duke Qian to lead his men to guard the border.
Just a few days after Duke Qian set out, Liang Laoer and his wife suddenly disappeared. Just when Qianhuan was extremely anxious, a sharp arrow with an envelope suddenly shot into Jingyuan.
Banxia pulled out the sharp arrow and handed the envelope to Qianhuan. On it was written, "Come immediately to the locust tree forest ten miles outside the capital. Only Princess Jingrou is allowed to come alone. If anyone else comes, you will never see your parents again."
After reading the note, Qianhuan was completely puzzled.
Previously, the Crown Princess and Princess Ningjia liked to target her and were always thinking of harming her, but now that the Crown Prince and Prince Duan's party had all been beheaded, she really couldn't figure out who else wanted to harm her.
Qianhuan didn't dare to take risks with Liang Laoer and his wife, so she put away the note and told the secret guards who were protecting her not to follow her. Then she immediately asked Ji Feng to drive out.
When they reached the outside of the locust tree forest, Qianhuan handed the note to Ji Feng, "Ji Feng, go back quickly and give the note to the prince. If anything happens to me, ask him to find a way to save me."
After saying that, Qianhuan went into the woods alone. In fact, she also valued her life very much and didn't want to risk it.
But after she came to this world, she took over the body of the original owner and inherited the original owner's feelings for Liang Laoer and his wife. In addition, she had been with them for so long that she had long regarded them as her own relatives, so she didn't want anything to happen to them.
Ji Feng knew the seriousness of the matter, so he quickly turned the carriage around and headed straight for Prince An's Mansion.
Not long after Qianhuan entered the locust tree forest, she saw Liang Laoer and his wife with cloth strips stuffed in their mouths and tied to a big tree.
Qianhuan shouted in surprise, "Dad and Mom, your daughter will come to save you right away."
However, Liang Laoer and his wife kept shaking their heads at her. Qianhuan didn't care about all that. She rushed over and prepared to untie the two men from the tree.
Liang Laoer and his wife looked behind her with eyes wide open in horror. However, Qianhuan, who had no idea what was going on, just came over to untie the two men when she was knocked unconscious from behind.