Favoring the concubine and ignoring the wife? The mistress is reborn and marries the villain in the

Chapter 111

In the court, the emperor looked very unhappy.

Many ministers began to criticize the Liu family, the eldest prince's in-laws.

Demand a thorough investigation into whether the Liu family has engaged in corruption or bribery.

The head of the Liu family fell to his knees and kowtowed, crying out for justice: "Your Majesty, please understand! It was clearly Master Shen who framed the Liu family. The courtyard that the Liu family lives in now only has three entrances. If they had two hundred thousand taels of silver, why would they do this?"

"I was not even able to help His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei at all. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei had to allocate part of his salary to help me. I hope Your Majesty can clear my name!"

The emperor looked at Zhou Yuchen and said, "Prince Qi, what do you think about this?"

Zhou Yuchen stepped out and replied, "Father, I only heard what Master Shen said at the beginning, but words alone are not enough to prove it."

The emperor said in a deep voice: "Prince Qi, so you believe that Liu Aiqing is innocent?"

Zhou Yuchen cupped his hands and said, "Father, I never believe anything without real evidence."

The emperor snorted coldly at the others: "My dear ministers, what do you say? Do you all want to report things based on hearsay?"

The ministers in the court knelt down one after another and said: "We know we are wrong."

Censor Zhang and several other censors continued to kneel on the ground after the emperor ordered all the ministers to stand still.

"Your Majesty, we are the Imperial Censors, and we have the authority to report any rumors. We beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"

Even the emperor could not punish them for this.

The emperor was helpless. He glared at the head of the Liu family fiercely, then with a gloomy face called the King of Wei to reply.

"King Wei, the Liu family is your maternal family, what do you say?"

Prince Wei stepped out and said in a loud voice, "Father, my son's family is only a fifth-rank family. How can we lend 200,000 taels of silver to the Zhenbei Marquisate? Moreover, the Liu family has never had any dealings with the Zhenbei Marquisate. Why did they have to get involved with the Liu family? I don't understand."

The King of Wei did not say that someone wanted to harm him, he just said that he didn't understand, and left the rest to the emperor to guess for himself.

I have to say that what the King of Wei said was very wise.

The emperor was a very suspicious person. With just a few words, he had already started to suspect everyone present.

Gu Nianping didn't say anything the whole time, and he didn't even ask for an investigation into the Liu family. But the emperor insisted on asking him what he thought. Gu Nianping said that it had nothing to do with him.

"Your Majesty, I have nothing to say. I am not familiar with Lord Liu and I don't know much about his family background."

The emperor couldn't help but frown as he listened to Gu Nianping practicing Tai Chi: "Shen Ling is your brother-in-law."

Gu Nianping said expressionlessly, "The marriage between my sister and Master Shen was granted by His Majesty."

If there is a problem, it's your fault.

Gu Nianping's words almost made the emperor jump up and down, but thinking of General Gu who was on the road, he could only wave his hand and let Gu Nianping leave.

"Father, I, your son, would like to investigate this case thoroughly."

As soon as the Prince of Wu stepped out, Censor Zhang expressed his opposition: "Everyone in the court knows that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei have a deep brotherly love. If His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu investigates the case, it will easily lead to criticism. I hope Your Majesty will think twice." Other ministers also expressed their disapproval. Today is not the day when the emperor can call the shots.

The emperor was very angry, but even if he was angry, he couldn't do it on his own. He finally called Zhou Yuchen and said, "Prince Qi, you are in charge of the Dali Temple now, so you should investigate this matter thoroughly."

The King of Qi said that he did not want to take on this hot potato: "Father, I have been through life and death at the border for many years. I have an old illness and I can't bear it. Please allow me some time to recuperate."

The emperor couldn't say no to this matter.

In the end, the emperor could only appoint an idle prince, Prince Heng, to investigate. Prince Heng had no real power but was of a high generation, and even the current emperor had to call him the Imperial Uncle.

After the court was dismissed, the emperor kept Zhou Yuchen.

"My dear, are you angry with me?"

The emperor questioned Zhou Yuchen with a cold face, and Zhou Yuchen immediately knelt down: "Father, I dare not! If you don't believe me, you can check for yourself the injuries on my body."

Zhou Yuchen lifted up his robe to let the emperor see it for himself. He didn't like people knowing how much he had suffered before, but in the past few days, he had revealed his scars many times. He just wanted them to know what he wanted.

"Your mother said that you insisted on being with the girl from the Gu family. Your father has already told you that this is impossible. I personally married her to Shen Ling. Even if she wants to divorce, she cannot do so without my order!"

The emperor's voice was cold, and Zhou Yuchen's heart was frozen.

No wonder Nian Chu insisted on waiting for General Gu to come back before discussing the divorce. She saw things very clearly and knew that the emperor would never let her divorce easily.

Zhou Yuchen did not argue too much with the emperor. He kowtowed to show that he understood.

Seeing him like this, the emperor softened his attitude and said, "My son, your father has always had high hopes for you. You must not let him down."

Zhou Yuchen thanked him: "Thank you very much, father. I will take my leave now."

After leaving the palace, Zhou Yuchen went straight back to Prince Qi's Mansion, closed the door tightly, and claimed to be sick and refused to go out.

The emperor sent an imperial physician to diagnose Zhou Yuchen. The physician reported back that it was due to overwork and the recurrence of an old illness. The King of Qi's health would not recover in a short period of time and would require several months of good recuperation before there would be any effect.

These imperial doctors are the emperor's confidants, and the emperor trusts them very much.

After hearing what the imperial physician said, the emperor asked Eunuch Desheng to send a lot of supplements and bring the emperor's oral instructions, asking the King of Qi to take good care of his health.

The words of the imperial physician soon spread throughout Kyoto City, and later there was even news that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi was seriously ill. Some people also said that the reason why His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi had never married was because he was seriously injured, so no lady was willing to marry him.

When Concubine Rong heard the news, she wiped her tears and went to see the emperor. The emperor expressed his deep apologies and rewarded Concubine Rong with many things. After Concubine Rong returned to the palace, she asked Eunuch Desheng to go out of the palace to visit Zhou Yuchen and bring Concubine Rong's oral instructions that she wanted to arrange a marriage for Zhou Yuchen.

Eunuch Desheng did not see Zhou Yuchen. Zhou Yuchen's guards stopped him outside the house and said that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi had not been seen recently. They would convey his words to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi and ask Eunuch Desheng to return to the palace.

Concubine Rong was not surprised when she heard this. If Zhou Yuchen really listened to her and married a noble lady, he would not be Zhou Yuchen anymore.

"Desheng, I want to organize a flower-viewing banquet to entertain the ladies of various prefectures in Kyoto. You will go and help me arrange it in person and ask the ladies of each prefecture to bring the most outstanding girls in their families to the banquet."

Desheng bowed and said yes, then went to take care of the matter.

When Zhou Yuchen returned, he heard the guard convey the instructions of Concubine Rong. Zhou Yuchen's face turned cold: "It seems that Concubine Rong has been too idle recently. We need to find something for her to do."