After Xiao Fubao's life was stolen, he became the favorite of everyone in the capital

Chapter 431

The emperor thought of the Prince of Qi's Mansion. This lineage was originally ordinary, but the Prince of Qi and his wife were famous for their fertility. The couple gave birth to six sons and one daughter. The emperor was envious and even had other thoughts, but he held back in the end.

He did not plot to seize my wife, but took the Crown Prince's wife's sister into the palace, that is, Concubine Lin. Concubine Lin was not as fertile as her sister.

Thinking of what happened in the paddock, the emperor easily pieced together a clue. However, since Concubine Lin was related to the Prince of Qi's Mansion, did that really prove that the Prince of Qi's Mansion was the mastermind behind this?

The emperor always felt that things were not that simple, or perhaps it was because he was sensitive about imperial power and felt that he had more than one enemy, the King of Qi.

But as a monarch, just realizing that the other party has motives is enough to take action against them.

Not long after the emperor returned to Beijing, he found his young confidant who had just been promoted and had a secret talk with him for less than half an hour. On the next day, the court launched a vigorous impeachment campaign, and the target of impeachment was the Prince of Qi's Mansion.

The late emperor had only one younger brother, the King of Li who died for treason. Although the King of Qi was only the late emperor's cousin, he was the one with the closest blood relationship to the emperor. The old King of Qi was also one of the only two elders with the highest generation in the royal family and had a high status within the clan.

Over the years, out of filial piety, the emperor turned a blind eye to many things in the Prince of Qi's Palace, and the power of the Prince of Qi's Palace grew stronger and stronger.

However, no matter how great the power is, if you have no soldiers, you are nothing but fish on the emperor's chopping board.

The Qi Palace, which was extremely powerful in the eyes of outsiders, was followed by countless curry-favoring officials who were eager to step on it after someone impeached it and the emperor approved it.

From the young men of the Prince of Qi's mansion occupying fertile farmland, to seizing women and monopolizing lawsuits, in the end even the old Prince of Qi himself was exposed for his scandals dating back decades. The Prince of Qi's mansion itself was not clean, and as the mansion was about to collapse, all the enemies in the corners emerged.

For several days in a row, victims from the Prince of Qi's mansion went to beat the drum to report their crimes, and none of them were even slightly unfair.

The emperor had intended to punish the Prince of Qi's Mansion. In less than half a month, the Prince of Qi's Mansion was stripped of his throne and his entire family, young and old, men and women, were exiled to Lingnan.

The Qi Palace, which was once prosperous and on the verge of becoming the king, now fell apart. The Qi Palace's properties throughout the capital also made the powerful people in the capital rich and powerful.

"Kick him out quickly. We don't have such a relative in the Xian Guo Mansion!" It was rare for the Xian Guo Duke's wife to lose her composure in front of servants. At this moment, she wished she could eat alive the person who came to report that Princess Rongjia had come.

But before the servant could act, a slender figure walked in.

"Mother, my second brother's marriage with Princess Rongjia has been clearly approved by His Majesty. Although the Prince of Qi's Mansion has been defeated now, a gentleman is trustworthy. How can he vent his anger on his future daughter-in-law because of family affairs?" Qin Jing said in a gentle voice.

Lady Xian Guogong and Qin Er, who was hiding behind her, were all looking at him in disbelief.

"My son, do you still want your second brother to marry the descendant of a criminal?"

Qin Jing nodded and said, "It was the men in the Prince of Qi's mansion who were convicted, not the women. They did nothing wrong, so why blame them so harshly?" Qin Er jumped up anxiously and said, "Brother, you wanted to marry the girl that the elder married, but you watched me, your younger brother, fall into the fire pit. You have a cruel heart to marry a criminal!"

Qin Er completely forgot that after he got married, he often showed off in front of Qin Jing that he was the future prince consort, but Qin Jing never cared about it at that time.

Qin Jing frowned and said, "Didn't you ask for this marriage yourself? When Princess Rongjia fell into the water, you rushed to save her. Wasn't it because you loved her?"

When Qin Er heard this, he didn't know for a moment whether Qin Jing was being sarcastic or he really thought so.

Lady Xian Guogong said: "Even if your brother loves her, I will not allow the descendant of a guilty minister to enter the house!"

Qin Er looked at his mother gratefully and said, "The past is the past, today is today, I have long disliked her."

Qin Jing frowned and said, "To be loyal to Qin and Chu is not what a gentleman does."

Qin Er muttered: "I am not a gentleman!"

Qin Jing turned to the wife of Duke Xian and said, "Mother, the journey to Lingnan is long and full of miasma. Princess Rongjia is already weak. You might as well let her marry my second brother in advance. This will also be a fulfillment of the friendship of our Duke Xian's Mansion. Even if you don't pity her as a weak woman who is alone and helpless, you should also consider the reputation of the Duke Xian's Mansion."

Since Lady Xian Guogong had decided to break the engagement, she obviously had her own logic behind it: "Now everyone in the capital knows that Prince Qi's Mansion has lost the emperor's favor. If we were to fulfill the engagement at this time, it would really displease the emperor. You probably don't want our Xian Guogong Mansion to end up like Prince Qi's Mansion. Don't worry, I'll send someone to give us some money to help us, which will also maintain our Xian Guogong Mansion's reputation for kindness and righteousness."

Lady Xian of Duke Xian certainly had no intention of giving money. She had always been short-sighted and at this moment she only wanted to quickly coax this old-fashioned eldest son over.

Qin Jing knew that this was just his mother's perfunctory words, so he said, "Your Majesty is kind and benevolent. He has already dealt with the Qi Palace and will not be angry because of the younger generation. Mother, even if my second brother does not get married now, can he not get married for the rest of his life? This marriage will always happen."

Qin Er listened to his elder brother's nagging for a long time, but he became annoyed and said, "Brother, you are so worried about Princess Rongjia, worried that she will have no one to rely on, why don't you just marry her? If you want to keep the reputation of the Duke of Xian's Mansion for keeping its promise, you can just cancel the marriage with the elder brother and marry someone else..."

Before Qin Er could finish his words, the wife of Duke Xian covered his mouth.

"What nonsense! How dare you involve your elder brother for the sake of the descendant of a traitor!" Even though Lady Xian Guogong was short-sighted, she knew that this marriage in the cabinet was extremely important.

Qin Er felt hurt when he was accused by his own mother.

Qin Jing was angry when he heard this, but then he seemed to have thought of something. He looked at his mother and said, "If you really want to cancel the engagement, I can cancel it with my second brother. A man cannot stand without trust. I will report to my father and grandmother and cancel my engagement first, then cancel my second brother's engagement."

When Lady Xianguogong heard this, she was shocked. She knew Qin Jing and knew that since her eldest son said so, even if he really thought so, he could really do such a thing.

"Ajing! Nothing is more important than you. Isn't it just fulfilling the engagement? Mother will send someone to invite your future sister-in-law in! Don't be impulsive!" said Lady Xian Guogong.