The World's Number One Medical Hall

Chapter 637 Consort Lan's Suicide

Upon hearing this, Mo Bai thought for a moment and felt that what the Empress said made sense. After pondering for a while, he finally smiled bitterly and said, "Then you should just relax. The more relaxed you are, the more confident I will appear to outsiders. After this battle, the Ninth Prince will not dare to make any major moves in the short term. With this time, I will take the opportunity to prepare some resources for self-protection so that I will not be as embarrassed and adventurous as I was this time in the future." Mo Bai finally said slowly.

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager and the old palace maid's expressions immediately changed drastically.

This clearly tells them that Mo Bai doesn't actually have that much confidence today; he's just bluffing.

"How...how dare you be so bold?" The Empress Dowager lowered her voice to the lowest level, pointing her finger at Mo Bai, her face filled with shock.

"Just as Lao Jiu said, we've reached a point where we have no choice but to take this risk. I have no other option but to take a risky move to intimidate the court." Mo Bai said calmly.

The Empress Dowager and the old palace maid exchanged a glance. They were both terrified at the thought. If the Ninth Prince were to take another gamble, he could easily reduce the entire Empress Palace to nothingness with a single command.

The Empress Dowager took several deep breaths before finally calming down. Looking at Mo Bai, her expression changed several times before she said, "No, it's too risky. We can't gamble with Ninth Prince's courage."

At this point, the Empress Dowager looked at Mo Bai and said, "My son, since Hu Qingyan has asked me to rule from behind the curtain, I might as well truly take charge of the government. This way, I can also restrain the Ninth Prince..."

"Absolutely not!" Mo Bai shook his head without hesitation. "Mother, please don't think that Hu Qingyan truly wants you to rule. He invited you out only to suppress the new emperor. Before inviting you out, he never expected that I could suppress the Ninth Prince so easily. At this moment, he is no longer wary of the Ninth Prince, but of me. If you truly rule, the first to feel the pressure will not be the Ninth Prince, but Hu Qingyan. That old fellow is definitely not someone to be trifled with; he is very difficult to deal with. If we want to avoid chaos in the palace, it is not advisable to make an enemy of him."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager's eyes flickered a few times before she slumped back down.

Mo Bai smiled bitterly, "Mother, please don't worry too much. After this incident, which almost resulted in a complete disaster and a shocking situation, everyone will only be apprehensive and temporarily hold back. No one will dare to act recklessly again. As long as I have time to stabilize the situation, when things turn sour again next time, I will never have to take such a risk as I did today."

"You...sigh!" What could the Empress Dowager say? Things had come to this point, and she could only sigh and let it be.

The Imperial Study.

The ninth brother sat at the head of the table.

Hu Qingyan, Qu Guochang, Dewang, and Zhang Bangli knelt respectfully at the lower end, bowing their heads to the ground.

This is the scene that King Ming saw when he walked in.

He gave the ninth brother time to speak with the four men alone. Judging from the current scene, it seemed to convey a sense of loyalty and righteous indignation.

Mo Bai knew that they should already understand the current situation and the final expression of gratitude between the Ming King and His Majesty.

"Everyone, please get up!" Mo Bai walked around the four kneeling people with his hands behind his back and stood directly next to the ninth table.

The four men did not stand up upon hearing this, but instead lowered their heads and exchanged glances with the people around them. They then looked up at the Prince Ming standing beside His Majesty, and finally at the Ninth Prince, before bowing their heads again.

This attitude is quite interesting. Before Lao Jiu fought Ming Wang and was defeated, they had never been so respectful to Lao Jiu.

Now that the Ninth Prince has lost, they are showing such loyalty, as if they would rather die than submit to the Ming King.

Seeing their reaction, Mo Bai's expression remained unchanged; he merely glanced at Lao Jiu indifferently.

The ninth man's face flushed red and then turned pale. He met the man's gaze, clenched his fists, but finally relaxed, closed his eyes slightly, and said, "Gentlemen, please rise!"

With this sound, Hu Qingyan, Dewang, and Qu Guochang, the four who were kneeling, slowly got up, lowered their heads, and retreated to the side to stand still.

But Zhang Bangli remained kneeling and refused to rise, and everyone's eyes immediately fell on him, who was kneeling on the ground motionless.

This time, Mo Bai frowned, his gaze towards Zhang Bangli turning slightly cold. He had no intention of killing Zhang Bangli, as the man was loyal to the dynasty and worked diligently.

He killed the assassin before, and Mo Bai tolerated him. But now, it concerns the future situation. If Zhang Bangli continues to cause trouble, then whether Mo Bai wants to or not, he probably can't keep him alive any longer.

Seeing the slight change in Mo Bai's eyes, a gust of wind suddenly appeared out of thin air, and Zhang Bangli was lifted off the ground and landed next to Prince De.

Everyone turned their gaze to the person sitting in the corner, who had put away the whisk in his hand.

Zhang Bangli also came to his senses, thinking that it was the Ming King who had made a move, but when he found out it was the real person, he was slightly stunned. He turned to look at the Ming King and the new emperor, and finally smiled bitterly, slowly got up, and stopped insisting.

He realized that there was no point in persisting any longer. Even the real man had betrayed the new ruler. If he remained stubborn, he would probably die unjustly here.

At this moment, he was not afraid of death, but he couldn't help but think that if he died, the new emperor would be even more helpless.

The situation is complex, and so are people's hearts.

Once upon a time, Zhang Bangli had vehemently defended the Ming Emperor before the new ruler, but now he had become a key minister wholeheartedly devoted to protecting the new emperor.

Mo Bai stopped looking at Zhang Bangli, pondered for a moment, and then addressed the four men, "Today, my palace was attacked. Have any of you identified the perpetrator?"

Upon hearing this, the Ninth Prince abruptly stood up, glaring angrily at Mo Bai. "Your Highness, I have already been so tolerant..."

Mo Bai calmly turned his gaze to the Ninth Prince. "Your Majesty, do you have a different opinion?"

The atmosphere in the hall instantly became extremely tense. The Ninth Prince's gaze towards Mo Bai shifted from anger to ferocity, then to fear, and finally to pleading.

The four princes all witnessed this scene, including Qu...

In the end, no one, including Qu Guochang, stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, could this matter be..." In the end, the Ninth Prince did not dare to speak out, and his tone softened.

Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Bangli suddenly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

Zhang Bangli interrupted Lao Jiu's voice, causing everyone to look at him.

Zhang Bangli knelt respectfully, bowed his head, and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, to arbitrarily mobilize the Imperial Guards to cause chaos within the palace is a grave crime of treason. I believe that they should be severely punished to uphold the emperor's authority!"

"Zhang Bangli!" The Ninth Prince's pent-up rage erupted, and he pointed at Zhang Bangli, shouting, "What I do is none of your business!"

Zhang Bangli knelt down, his body trembling slightly, but he remained silent and offered no explanation.

In fact, everyone present could see that the Ming King was clearly not going to give up, and the new emperor was clearly not willing to stand up to him. Since that was the case, Zhang Bangli jumped out, seemingly to speak up for the Ming King, but in reality, he was trying to help the new emperor out of a predicament, not wanting him to be humiliated in public.

Hu Qingyan looked at the furious Ninth Prince, then at the Ming Prince standing beside him, frowning and staring at Zhang Bangli. He sighed inwardly and shook his head slightly, without making it obvious.

Seeing that the Ninth Prince was blinded by anger, Prince De hesitated for a moment before finally stepping forward: "Your Majesty, the Chief Minister's words are reasonable; this old minister seconds it!"

His reason for stepping forward was actually quite simple. As someone present, he was part of the royal family and naturally did not want these two members of the royal family to make a scene in front of the court officials.

In the end, it was the royal family that was humiliated, and it was the imperial power that was despised.

Seeing that Prince De had also jumped out, the Ninth Prince gave a bitter smile, looked at Hu Qingyan and Qu Guochang, and finally his gaze settled on Qu Guochang: "Duke, what is your opinion?"

Qu Guochang's old face was already ashen white. He slowly raised his head to look at the ninth prince's pale face, his heart aching. But in the end, he stepped forward and knelt down: "Your subject... seconds the motion!"

As if struck by a heavy blow, Lao Jiu pointed at Qu Guochang, his fingers trembling a few times, before finally slumping down on the dragon throne, closing his eyes, and uttering no more words.

However, at that moment, a glint suddenly flashed in the eyes of both Hu Qingyan and the Ming King.

Hu Qingyan lowered his head and remained silent, while Mo Bai glanced at Lao Jiu and immediately understood.

Just now, he really thought that Lao Jiu was blinded by anger, but now he realized that Lao Jiu was just putting on an act!

His display of anger was clearly meant for everyone to see, and most importantly, for Qu Guochang to see.

Consort Lan is Qu Guochang's daughter. If the Ninth Prince hadn't shown such anger and had simply abandoned Consort Lan, who raised him, he would have been seen by everyone as a heartless and cold-blooded ruler, not worth risking his life for.

Qu Guochang must be heartbroken by this. Qu Guochang is arguably the only person Lao Jiu can still rely on, after all, he is Lao Jiu's maternal grandfather and certainly doesn't want to see Lao Jiu end up in such a situation.

If Lao Jiu wants to make a comeback, he will inevitably need Qu Guochang's strong support, which is why he asked Qu Guochang to express his opinion.

Since Qu Guochang himself has made his position clear, it's impossible to blame Lao Jiu.

Mo Bai observed all of this without showing any emotion. He didn't care about Lao Jiu's little tricks, nor did he expect Lao Jiu to be truly obedient. He just wanted Lao Jiu to not dare to openly rebel.

Hu Qingyan stood to the side, trying to escape, but Mo Bai wouldn't let him go, looking directly at him and saying, "Elder, I heard you say before that the culprit has been identified, right?"

Hu Qingyan's beard trembled twice, and a bitter smile appeared on his lowered head. He knew that no matter how low-key he tried to be, the Ming King would not forget him.

By stepping forward, he was bound to offend the new emperor even more, but he had no choice but to step forward and say in a bitter voice, "Your Majesty, after investigation, it has been found that the Imperial Guards' rebellion and assassination of Prince Ming and the Daoist Grand Master was caused by Consort Lan who stole Your Majesty's token and falsely conveyed the imperial edict."

Lao Jiu and Qu Guochang both trembled at the same time, but ultimately remained silent.

Mo Bai asked, "The empress dowager's interference in politics, and even the theft of the emperor's token to forge imperial edicts—what a serious crime this is! Minister Hu, in your opinion, how should this case be handled?"

"Consort Lan is of noble status and involves the royal family. Although I am a Grand Secretary, I dare not speak recklessly." Hu Qingyan still shrank back.

"Your Highness, what do you think?" Mo Bai turned to look at His Highness.

Prince De raised his eyes but did not look at Mo Bai. Instead, he glared at Hu Qingyan, clearly dissatisfied that Hu Qingyan had shifted the blame onto him.

As he had said before, there was no other way but to reply, "Our ancestors had long ago established rules that the inner palace is strictly forbidden from interfering in politics. Moreover, by falsely conveying an imperial edict and plotting to harm a prince, Consort Lan's actions are extremely heinous and should be severely punished to uphold the imperial authority."

At this moment, Qu Guochang suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, Consort Lan is unwise and has committed such a grave crime. As her father, I am also implicated. I am willing to plead guilty and only beg Your Majesty to grant her a proper burial, considering that Consort Lan once raised you!"

"Bang!" Old Nine suddenly slammed his fist on the table, opened his eyes, slowly stood up, stared at Qu Guochang, and after a long while said, "As you wish!"

Having said that, he turned and walked out of the Imperial Study.

Mo Bai watched his retreating figure, paused for a moment, and then also stepped out of the Imperial Study.

The four ministers remained alone in the imperial study, silent and speechless.

Before long, a three-foot-long white silk ribbon was placed in front of Consort Lan.

She didn't shout or yell, she just silently stared at the white silk ribbon.

Finally, she summoned the last remaining maidservant to grind ink for her and write a letter. The envelope was addressed to "Gu Qianyun." She opened it gently.

After dressing and grooming herself, she said to her maid, "Go and see if His Majesty has arrived yet?"

The maid left with red eyes, but did not see the Ninth Prince. When she returned, she found that Consort Lan had already hung from the roof beam.

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