After giving her contraceptives, she went mad, criticizing the prince for turning white-haired overn

"When was the edict issued? How come I didn't know?" King Li was somewhat incredulous.

Su Linfeng snorted coldly: "If His Highness Prince Li does not believe me, he can ask the civil and military officials himself."

"This edict was written by His Majesty himself in front of all the civil and military officials at the behest of the Minister of Rites, and the imperial seal was personally affixed to it."

As Su Linfeng spoke, a smile played on his lips as he looked at Prince Li with ill intent.

"Your Highness Prince Li, you can't deny it."

"His Majesty is allowing you to be buried with him because he sees your filial piety and wants you to go with him so that you can properly fulfill your filial duties."

Prince Li froze on the spot, glancing back at the civil and military officials, his gaze finally settling on the Minister of Rites.

The Minister of Rites cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness Prince Li, all the officials can bear witness."

"Your Highness is benevolent and filial, attending to your illness day and night. His Majesty could not bear to see Your Highness suffer the pain of losing your father, so he decided to let Your Highness be buried with him."

"I will not be buried with you!" King Li almost roared.

Duke Liu looked terrified, completely unaware that His Majesty had written the edict for his burial.

Su Linfeng raised an eyebrow: "This is not up to His Highness Prince Li; it is His Majesty's order."

Although Prince Li was related to him by blood and was considered his elder brother, he was still related to him by blood.

But when he returned from Longxi, if it weren't for the soft armor given to him by the Ninth Prince, he would have died on the way.

The assassins who tried to kill him were all sent by the Liu family.

Today is a good day to settle everything at once.

The atmosphere inside the Golden Palace became somewhat eerie.

Xie Linyuan, expressionless, took the imperial edict from Su Linfeng's hand and slowly walked to Prince Li's side.

"Give me that forged imperial edict in your hand."

Prince Li stared intently at Xie Linyuan, instinctively trying to break free.

With a sharp "smack!", Xie Linyuan raised his hand and slapped the man hard across the face.

Everyone immediately held their breath and lowered their heads, not daring to look any longer.

Then Xie Linyuan said coldly:

"Having studied the classics for so many years, he's bold enough to forge an imperial edict and poison His Majesty."

"You've forgotten everything I taught you a year ago?"

Prince Li covered his burning cheek and looked up to meet Xie Linyuan's murderous eyes.

His knees buckled, and he immediately knelt down.

"Ninth Imperial Uncle, your nephew refuses to be buried with you!"

Xie Linyuan snorted coldly and bent down to take the imperial edict from his hand.

"You are so kind and filial. If we don't let you be buried with us, wouldn't that leave you with a regret?"

"This is your father's dying wish, and you have no choice in the matter."

"I will not be buried with him!" King Li's eyes were red. Just as he was about to get up, two Qilin soldiers came out and pushed him back down.

Duke Liu's face was ashen. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and looked up to meet Xie Linyuan's gaze.

Xie Linyuan said, "What, does Duke Liu intend to take advantage of the chaos to kill me?"

Liu Guogong's face turned pale. He turned around and was about to run away when Su Linfeng pierced his knee with a sword.

He screamed and knelt down.

Xie Linyuan said, "The Liu and Ruan families have been raising private armies with the intention of rebelling. Starting today, all private armies of both families will be confiscated, the ringleaders will be executed, and the followers will be exiled three thousand miles away."

"Do any of you ministers have any objections?"

The hall fell silent; no one dared to respond.

Xie Linyuan continued, "Since there are no objections, proceed as planned. Men, drag Duke Liu away."

As soon as he finished speaking, two Qilin soldiers came over and escorted Duke Liu directly out of the Golden Palace.

Liu Guogong was filled with resentment, his eyes fixed on Xie Linyuan.

"The regent who slaughtered the princes deserves a terrible death!"

"You'll die a horrible death!"

Xie Linyuan's voice was as cold as ice and frost:

"I didn't kill Prince Chen; it was an assassin from the Empress Dowager Ruan's family."

As he spoke, he looked at the Empress Dowager on the high throne.

"What do you say, Your Majesty?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than several Qilin soldiers brought in the leaders of the Ruan family's assassins and made them kneel before the hall.

Seeing the assassin leaders being brought in, the Empress Dowager's heart clenched.

After the assassin leaders entered, they confessed everything about the Ruan family and the Empress Dowager.

How to send assassins to kill the regent, how to plot to kill Shen Li, not a single word was left out.

Upon hearing this, the court officials sighed in dismay.

Xie Linyuan looked at the Empress Dowager and then had someone bring out Eunuch Gao Yi's confession, which was read aloud to the public.

"These confessions were examined by the Court of Judicial Review and witnessed by Prince Li; there is not a single falsehood in them."

"When the Empress Dowager smothered the late Emperor to death, the late Emperor, in his dying moments, tore the Empress Dowager's robe, leaving behind a thread as evidence."

"Eunuch Gao Yi has handed everything over to the Court of Judicial Review, which, together with the Bureau of Imperial Wardrobe, personally inspected it."

"Now that the evidence and witnesses are all there, does the Empress Dowager have anything to say?"

The Empress Dowager's face turned pale, and she was speechless for a long time.

Despite all the calculations, in the end, we still lost.

"I do not acknowledge this!" she said sharply.

Xie Linyuan sneered, "You have no choice but to admit it!"

"The Empress Dowager plotted against the late Emperor, which is intolerable under the law. Now she is condoning the Ruan family to raise a private army, which led to the death of Prince Chen."

"Multiple offenses shall be punished concurrently."

"Effectually, he is stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner, imprisoned in the imperial mausoleum, and forbidden from leaving for life!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the entire hall erupted in whispers.

The Empress Dowager rushed forward, her voice shrill: "Regent, how dare you depose me?"

"I am your mother!"

"I have guarded this Great Yan kingdom for over ten years, why should it fall into your hands!"

"On what grounds?" Xie Linyuan raised an eyebrow.

"Since this Great Yan kingdom was conquered by me and defended by me, it naturally belongs to me."

"Before my father died, he left behind an abdication edict."

"Now, it's simply a matter of returning it to its rightful owner!"

"My father once said that not a single inch of the territory of our Great Yan should fall into the hands of other countries."

"But in recent years, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor have ceded three counties in Yunzhou to the Qin Kingdom and even tried to kill General Shen Li, who was guarding Longxi."

"Having chilled the hearts of 200,000 soldiers in Longxi, they still dare to try and control the government? It's utterly laughable!"

He turned away, no longer looking at her.

"Guards, take the Empress Dowager away and imprison her in the imperial mausoleum!"

Two Qilin soldiers stepped forward, tightly restrained the Empress Dowager, and walked out of the Golden Palace.

The Empress Dowager struggled, shouting something, but was dragged further and further away.

Xie Linyuan stood below, hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall.

The court officials knelt on the ground, holding their breath.

After an unknown amount of time, the Grand Secretary was the first to raise his head.

He looked at the man in the black robe with cold, stern eyes, and cupped his hands in greeting:

"The Regent's merits are immeasurable. He quelled rebellions, executed treacherous officials, avenged the late emperor, and brought peace to the world for the Great Yan."

"Now that there is no leader, I dare to request that the Regent assume the throne!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the court officials began to whisper among themselves.

Immediately afterwards, the Minister of Revenue kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I second that proposal!"

The Minister of War kowtowed: "Your subject seconds the motion!"

"We second that proposal!"

One after another, civil and military officials kowtowed, their voices rising like a tidal wave.

-

Inside the Regent's Palace, Shen Ning was sitting in the flower hall drinking tea when Linglong rushed in.

"princess!"

"News has come from the palace."

Seeing Linglong's hurried appearance, Shen Ning quickly asked:

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Linglong shook her head: "No."

"It was the officials who knelt and begged the prince to succeed to the throne."

"Your Highness has now ascended the throne as Emperor."

As soon as Linglong finished speaking, the teacup in Shen Ning's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".