Chapter 428: Admiring the Righteousness of Your Majesty
The Sixth Prince saw the old witch staring at her and he swallowed.
The Empress Dowager, no, the Grand Empress Dowager, she is of such a high generation, does she still want to rule the country from behind the curtain?
The Empress Dowager was supported by someone and walked step by step into the hall.
She looked at the Sixth Prince, who became the Prince of Jin after the death of the previous emperor.
"I indulged Your Majesty, but I will never indulge you. I heard that Prince Jin has made the city a mess. He doesn't act like a regent at all!"
Old witch, do you understand?
Lao Liu looked at the Empress Dowager indifferently and said, “You old witch, just say it. It won’t cost you a single cent anyway.”
The Empress Dowager listed several more faults of the Prince of Jin. Lao Liu was tired of listening and yawned.
The more the Sixth Prince did not respond, the angrier the Empress Dowager became.
The Third Prince, who became the King of Qi, seconded the idea, "That's right, Sixth Brother doesn't look like a regent at all."
Lao Liu looked at King Qi with disdain and said, "Just shut up."
Forget about the Empress Dowager, she is the elder after all. Now the good-for-nothing Third Prince dares to confront him. The tiger doesn't give a cat a chance. The Third Prince must think he is critically ill, right?
He immediately started to attack people.
"Prince Qi, you have a kidney-deficient face, so please stop talking about me. At least I am not addicted to women. Sooner or later you will get syphilis and die naked on the street!"
"How dare you curse me!" The King of Qi was so angry that he was shaking all over.
After hearing what King Jin said, the ministers around him all distanced themselves from King Qi.
The Regent is right. With the King of Qi frequenting brothels every day, he would have probably contracted a dirty disease long ago, let alone governing the country.
"That's enough." The Empress Dowager said angrily, "Prince Jin, watch your words."
"What should we pay attention to? The Regent is absolutely right." Chu Li's voice spread throughout the hall.
"Your Majesty is back in court!" Eunuch Li's voice was filled with joy.
Lao Liu was as excited as a chicken and almost turned around in circles. Hahaha, Brother Li, my Brother Li is back!
Mu Feng's heart was pounding and he looked at Chu Li with a smile. She was finally back!
The ministers kowtowed, "Long live His Majesty!"
"Everyone, please stand up!" Chu Li raised his hand and walked towards the dragon throne.
The King of Qi was so nervous that his back was covered in sweat. How come Chu Li came back so soon?
Chu Li paused and looked back at him.
"The Prince of Qi supervises the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, but he spends all day in brothels. He is guilty of dereliction of duty. He shall be punished with thirty strokes of the cane, fined one year's salary, and no longer required to attend court."
"Your Majesty, why?" The King of Qi gritted his teeth.
With a snap, Chu Li took out a stack of IOUs from his sleeve and threw them in the King of Qi's face.
The King of Qi felt pain on his cheeks, and his pupils shrank sharply when he saw the IOU dropped on the ground.
Chu Li said in a clear voice: "The King of Qi visited the Music Bureau several times. These are the IOUs he personally wrote, totaling 30,000 taels of silver."
She asked Hao Ren to help with the sting operation, and the evidence was irrefutable. The King of Qi was committing adultery during the day and reveling every night.
"Prince Qi, are these the IOUs you wrote?" The Empress Dowager looked at the third brother angrily.
The Prince of Qi knelt on the ground with his head bowed. "Grandmother, I have only been to the Jiaofangsi once or twice. As a man, who doesn't like lust?"
He looked at the other officers.
The male officials immediately distanced themselves from the King of Qi.
"King Qi, please don't take us with you. I am not a lecher!"
"Yes, I have never been to a place with fireworks either!"
Chu Li said coldly: "Drag the King of Qi out and beat him!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The King of Qi was dragged out by the imperial guards, and there were sounds of beatings and screams.
"Ah, Your Majesty, please spare me, please spare me..."
Chu Li looked at the ministers and said, "During the time I was away, I heard that you all performed your duties conscientiously, which is very good."
The ministers all had sweat on their foreheads. Although His Majesty was not in Da Chu, as soon as he came back, he produced the evidence that the Prince of Qi had visited the Music Bureau during this period of time. He knew everything about the court. Fortunately, they did not neglect their duties.
Chu Li's eyes fell on Mu Feng. "When the flood hit Jiangnan, General Mu led the troops to provide disaster relief right after recovering from a serious illness. He is worthy of being a pillar of the country. I will reward him with 10,000 taels of silver, record his military merit once, and reward the soldiers who participated in the disaster relief work step by step."
Mu Feng's ears turned red when Chu Li looked at him. He stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, this is my duty. Fortunately, I have fulfilled your mission. I will donate all the reward money to the people affected by the disaster."
Chu Li nodded with satisfaction, "I admire your righteousness!"
Mu Feng felt so sweet in his heart, my dear.
Chu Li called him Aiqing.
Pei Ye frowned outside the hall. Chu Li probably had no interest in Mu Feng.
Humph, this word of my dear will make him so happy.
Forget it, why be jealous of him? He doesn’t even know that Chu Li and Ye Hanting are together. It’s quite pitiful.
Chu Li spoke again, "My dear ministers, I have something to announce."
Pei Ye was happy, well, it's all my love.
"I am actually a woman."
The ministers stood respectfully, and when they heard Chu Li's words, it was like a thunderbolt hitting their heads.
The whole hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. The ministers looked at each other in confusion. Their Majesty must be tired from the journey, as he was talking in his sleep.
Chu Li continued calmly, "My father and mother were a loving couple. They made a bet that a woman could become a crown prince who was loved by the people and had outstanding abilities. So I swapped my status with my brother and I became the crown prince. Later, my brother fell into the water and drowned. My father and mother decided to make the best of a bad situation. Before my father died, he told me that he had lost the bet and my mother had won. A woman could also become an emperor and do a great job."
The ministers were shocked, but they could only be shocked. Who could have thought that their emperor was a woman dressed as a man!
And all of this was just a boudoir game between the late emperor and the late queen, a bet.
They knew that the late emperor loved the late queen deeply and doted on her to such an extent that it was simply jaw-dropping.
The Empress Dowager’s eyes widened. How could it be possible!
Chu Li is Chu Chu!
It was her brother who drowned that year.
She was shocked and angry, but also surprised that she had finally caught Chu Li's handle. How could a woman become an emperor?
Chu Li's plan was finally exposed.
"Chu Li, you are Princess Chu Chu, you are deceiving everyone!" the Empress Dowager instigated.
Chu Li looked at Eunuch Li calmly, "Eunuch Li, please take out the imperial edict from the previous emperor."
Eunuch Li went to do it immediately.
Everyone held their breath in anticipation. The Empress Dowager frowned. What was the late emperor's edict?
Eunuch Li took out the imperial edict and explained what happened that year clearly.
The Empress Dowager listened and shook her head, "No, the edict is fake."
She remembered that there was no such edict when the previous emperor was assassinated. Later, her son was stabbed in the chest with a dagger and couldn't get up, so how could he write this edict?
However, when Emperor Qingyuan died, she fainted and was not by his side, so she could not confirm it.
Eunuch Li nodded and said, "Grand Empress Dowager, this edict was left by the late emperor a long time ago. I saw it written by the late emperor with my own eyes. How could it be fake? You also know how much the late emperor doted on the late queen. When the late queen was alive, she was loved by everyone."
The Empress Dowager looked very unhappy. The late Empress had indeed bewitched Emperor Qingyuan to the point of being dizzy.
Could it be that Emperor Qingyuan was really so incompetent that he agreed to the late queen's request?
That's not right. Emperor Qingyuan has several sons. There is no reason to choose a woman to be the emperor.