After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

Grand Eunuch Gao flicked his whisk, stepped down the stairs, took the folding book from Gu Ce, and handed it to Emperor Taikang.

In fact, Emperor Taikang had already read Zhong Sheng's record, which Gu Ce had compiled into a book and written down.

Emperor Taikang was not as upset as he had been the first time he saw it. He merely glanced at it a few times, but the anger in his eyes seemed to be gradually deepening to everyone else.

"Lord Gu, what kind of experiment is this?" The Vice Minister of Revenue next to Gu Ce asked in a low voice, seemingly unafraid of death.

"You'll find out soon enough," Gu Ce said, avoiding the question with a solemn expression.

Seeing Gu Ce's attitude, no one dared to ask any more questions.

Everyone held their breath and waited for the emperor to finish reading the memorial.

Suddenly, Emperor Taikang threw the folded document to the ground: "Useless! Immediately summon Du Zhong, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy."

Eunuch Gao immediately sent a young eunuch to fetch someone.

"Gao Mingde, read it aloud," Emperor Taikang commanded again.

Eunuch Gao picked up the folded paper, went down two steps, and began to read the folded paper written by Gu Ce word by word.

"...After taking poppy seed soup for ten days, one becomes addicted. If the medicine is not taken immediately, the person becomes like a mad dog, disowning all family members, all for a single dose of the medicine..."

Eunuch Gao read out the two condemned prisoners' reactions very slowly.

When the emperor went to the estate, Eunuch Gao followed him. He also witnessed the reactions of the two condemned prisoners and had a nightmare that night.

The courtiers were all horrified.

Before the last word was even read, several courtiers had already collapsed to the ground.

They were all regulars at Mingyue Tower.

"Oh no, am I going to die?"

"The Crown Prince has ruined me!"

"I don't want to be estranged from my family. My mother raised me with great difficulty and helped me pass the imperial examination. I still want to be filial to my mother."

......

The officials who frequently dined at Mingyue Tower were all as if they had lost their parents.

At this moment, Du Zhong, the chief of the Imperial Academy, entered tremblingly and knelt down, saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."

"Du Zhong, tell me what the effects of poppy are?" Emperor Taikang had calmed down, but he addressed the chief physician by his name.

Du Zhong only knew that the emperor was furious, but he did not know what had happened. When asked this question, he was a little confused for a moment, but he still answered based on his years of pharmacological knowledge: "This medicine uses its shell, which can relieve pain, astringe the lungs and stop coughing, and astringe the intestines and stop diarrhea."

"Do you know that it has other uses?" Emperor Taikang asked.

"Your humble servant... Your humble servant does not know," Du Zhong replied truthfully, but his forehead was already covered in cold sweat.

After glancing at Emperor Taikang's expression and receiving instructions, Eunuch Gao handed the folded document to Imperial Physician Du.

Du Zhong became increasingly alarmed as he looked at it.

"This..." He read it hastily in astonishment, then collapsed heavily to the ground. "Your Majesty, I am guilty."

The main responsibilities of the Imperial Medical Academy were to treat members of the royal family, train and educate medical personnel, and manage national pharmaceutical affairs. However, the fact that poppy had such serious side effects was not recorded in the pharmacopoeia, and he was the head of the Imperial Medical Academy, which was a serious dereliction of duty.

He only heard a little about the sealing of Mingyue Tower yesterday. Because the old Prince An was seriously ill, he stayed at the Prince An's residence all day and did not think much about the fact that this matter also involved the duties of the Imperial Medical Academy.

"You are guilty! How could you not know such an important medicinal property? Guards, drag him out and give him ten strokes of the cane." Emperor Taikang was indeed angry at his dereliction of duty. If the side effects of poppy were written into the pharmacopoeia, how could it have been exploited by those with ulterior motives?

"The Crown Prince has failed to govern his subordinates strictly, disregarded the people, and pursued personal gain. He is hereby confined to his residence for one month to reflect on his mistakes and is to be punished by copying the 'Taizu Instructions' one hundred times." Emperor Taikang's gaze turned cold as he directly punished the Crown Prince.

Both of them were taken away.

The prince dared not struggle.

But just as they were being led out of the Golden Palace, Consort Cao arrived in a hurry with her maids and barged into the palace without regard for anything else.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't! The Crown Prince has been blinded by his subordinates. Why punish him so severely?"

"The New Year is approaching, and the end of the year is the most eventful time. If you punish him by confining him to his quarters at this time, chaos will surely ensue in the Eastern Palace. Your Majesty, please forgive him this time. Your Majesty, I am willing to take the blame for the Crown Prince." Consort Cao, who was in her forties, wept bitterly, her body trembling slightly, a pitiful sight.

The Spring Festival is a crucial time for local officials to return to the capital to report on their duties. If the Crown Prince is confined to his residence at this time, he will miss many opportunities to win over local officials.

Consort Cao saw it very clearly: the Emperor was wary of the Crown Prince becoming too powerful and wanted to sideline him. He spared no effort in suppressing the Crown Prince, making him feel restricted in everything he did. The Crown Prince had long been fed up with this kind of life.

"Who let you in? Get back to the palace right now!" Emperor Taikang was even angrier.

A woman dares to venture forward like this? Whose power does she rely on? He's been far too lenient with her.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is our only child. He has never been punished so severely. Don't you feel sorry for him?" Consort Cao tried to move Emperor Taikang with the bond between father and son.

"Cao Xinyue, who gave you the audacity to storm the imperial court? Do you want to be a hen crowing at dawn?" In front of the entire court, Emperor Taikang's authority was repeatedly challenged, and he could no longer tolerate it. "Guards, drag her out! Consort Cao has failed in her duty to raise her son, and is guilty of the same crime as the Crown Prince. She is to be confined to her quarters for one month."

When Gu Ce heard the Emperor make such a decision, the corners of his eyes and mouth both curled up.

This is good. With no crown prince in court and no Consort Cao in the harem, it's even more advantageous for him.

Two eunuchs stepped forward and took Consort Cao away, and the entire Golden Palace fell silent.

Emperor Taikang's gaze swept over the court officials one by one, and the invisible pressure made them dare not breathe.

But Gu Ce defied the odds and said, "I have a memorial to present."

"What is it?" Emperor Taikang rubbed his temples.

"Your Majesty, I have discovered that Gao Shiming, the Prefect of Qizhou, has been corrupt and has accepted bribes exceeding 100,000 taels of silver." Gu Ce then took out a folded booklet from his wide sleeve and presented it along with several letters.

"Gu Ce, what do you mean?" Upon hearing that his son had been impeached by Gu Ce, Minister Gao's anger flared instantly.

"Lord Gao, please don't be anxious. The Emperor will make his decision after reviewing the documents." Gu Ce smiled faintly and handed the folded paper and several letters to Eunuch Gao.

Emperor Taikang knew that Gu Ce had made his move. He took the folded book and read it carefully, and then opened a few letters to read.

Gao Shangshu nervously shifted his feet repeatedly to ease his tension.

Now that the Crown Prince is punished and absent, no one can speak up for him.

When did Gu Ce start investigating Shi Ming? He hadn't received a single word from him.

No official is completely clean-cut; if you put your mind to it, you can always find problems. He had been an official for many years and knew this all too well.

"Gao Qiliang, you have raised a good son." Emperor Taikang finally finished reading and once again threw the folded paper and letter down the steps.

Gao Qiliang disregarded everything and went to pick it up to examine it.

The folded document meticulously recorded every bribe his youngest son had received over the past three years. It listed the time, the place, who had given the bribe, and what had been requested.

Upon closer inspection, the letters revealed that the youngest son was having an affair with several businessmen.

"This is fake. Your Majesty, my son would never do something so foolish. It must be that Lord Gu fabricated this to slander my son," Minister Gao argued.

"Lord Gao, don't rush to defend yourself. Do you know that your youngest son has been the prefect of Qizhou for three consecutive terms and has kept several mistresses there?" Gu Ce asked with a sneer.