Chapter 571 The Implicated Noble Concubine

Eight ninth-rank masters joined forces to charge forward. At this moment, they would kill anyone who stood in their way, and even if someone stood in their way, they would kill anyone who stood in their way.

Almost instantly, the eight people broke through the tiger guards' interception and arrived at the Duanmen city wall.

Su Mingzhe watched the eight men charging forward. Many of the Tiger Guards were injured while trying to stop them. He frowned and shouted to the black-armored warrior beside him:
"Eunuch Hong!"

"The old slave is here!"

Hong Sixiang, it is said in the outside world that he is one of the two great masters of Nanqing. In fact, his strength is only at the ninth level.

Of course, even if Hong Sixiang is only at the ninth rank, he is still much stronger than Li Chengze's Eight Generals.

Su Mingzhe pointed at Li Chengze, who was being protected by everyone under the city wall, and said coldly:

"Catch the leader first, let the second brother stop!"

"Old slave, take your orders!"

In full view of everyone, Hong Sixiang tore off his black armor, drew his sword, jumped down from the city wall, and rushed towards Li Chengze under the wall.

"Hong Sixiang? Why is he here?"

The moment Li Chengze saw Hong Sixiang appear, he no longer had any hope in his heart.

Over the years, Hong Sixiang has been staying in Yanshou Palace to protect the Empress Dowager. Why did he come out today?

When the Eight Generals saw Hong Sixiang appear, they were also a little at a loss.

This is the legendary grandmaster.

The eight men looked at each other, then looked at Su Mingzhe who was surrounded by guards above his head. They turned around and rushed towards Hong Sixiang, wanting to take Li Chengze away.

Unfortunately, these eight people had wishful thinking.

Hong Sixiang's body movements were so agile that he caught Li Chengze in his hand in almost the blink of an eye.

"Will you still not surrender?"

Hong Sixiang looked at the Eight Generals who were tightly surrounded by the Tiger Guards and were still fighting hard. He couldn't help but smile coldly. He threw Li Chengze to the black cavalry of the Inspection Institute who were surrounding them and rushed in with a sword in hand.

At this time, with Li Chengze being captured, the 5,000 rebels gradually lost their fighting spirit and began to flee in all directions.

The Black Cavalry and Tiger Guards of the Inspection Institute cooperated and began to shrink the encirclement.

Only the eight generals knew that even if they surrendered, they would have no chance of survival, so they decided to fight to the death.

The trapped beasts fought hard, and the eight men fought with the help of dozens of black knights before they died on the spot.

A rebellion, from start to finish, took no more than half an hour.

Su Mingzhe looked coldly at his 'Second Brother' being escorted to the Procuratorate by the cavalry, then turned around and went back to the Weiyang Palace.

Soon, the important officials of the court gathered in the imperial study.

Chen Pingping reported the situation first.

Fan Jian then reported the results of tonight's battle.

Lin Ruofu requested a thorough investigation of the "Pingnan Prince Rebellion Case".

Su Mingzhe handed the matter over to Chen Pingping.

Just as Su Mingzhe waved his hand and asked everyone to go about their business, someone suddenly knelt down in front of the imperial desk.

When everyone looked carefully, they found that it was Prince Jing, one of the four princes of Nanqing.

Prince Jing said with sadness on his wrinkled face:

"Your Majesty, I failed to discipline my subjects strictly. I have had close contact with the rebellious King Pingnan. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

Prince Jing and his princess consort had a deep relationship and had only one son and one daughter in their lifetime.

And his son Li Hongcheng and Li Chengze had a close relationship, which was a common knowledge in Kyoto.

"What Uncle Prince Jing said happened before I ascended the throne."

Su Mingzhe waved his hand, signaling Eunuch Hou to help Prince Jing up, and said in a leisurely tone:
"Since I ascended the throne, my uncle has locked the prince in the palace and never let him go out again. I think he has nothing to do with this rebellion, so my uncle should not blame himself."

Su Mingzhe implied that Li Hongcheng had nothing to do with this rebellion, but his previous relationship with Li Hongcheng must have been related to it.

So, we still have to settle the accounts later.

Upon hearing this, Prince Jing sighed inwardly and had no choice but to kneel down again, saying in a mournful voice:

"Your Majesty, you don't know. I am a despicable person, carrying a lot of sins. I secretly managed more than a hundred pleasure boats on Liujing River, which really betrayed the reputation of the royal family. I request that he be removed from the clan register, demoted to a commoner, and driven out of the capital."

(Your Majesty, I have demoted my son to a commoner. Please spare his life.)
Seeing this, Su Mingzhe's eyelids drooped slightly, and he looked at Chen Pingping who was sitting in a wheelchair, and asked in a low voice:
"Dean Chen, is what Prince Jing said true?"

Chen Pingping naturally knew about this a long time ago. Facing Su Mingzhe's question, he nodded directly:

"Your Majesty, it is true that most of the pleasure boats on the Liujing River are business for Prince Jing's Mansion."

"It is really outrageous that the prince of Jing has monopolized the business of the fireworks place."

Su Mingzhe nodded silently: "However, Uncle Jing Wang has only this one son. If I expel him from the clan and demote him to a commoner, I will not be able to bear it. How about this, the lineage of Prince Jing will be demoted three ranks to serve as a warning to others. My dear ministers, do you think this punishment is okay?"

For hereditary titles, if the eldest son inherits the title, the rank will not be downgraded.

If the eldest son is guilty, the second son will inherit the title, and the title will be demoted by one rank.

If the legitimate son is guilty, the title will be demoted to three ranks if the illegitimate son inherits it.

Su Mingzhe's punishment actually meant that Prince Jing was demoted from a legitimate son to a bastard's son.

"Your Majesty is fair in his conduct, and we admire him!"

After hearing this, several ministers nodded in agreement.

You know, in the past, the serious crime of treason would result in rivers of blood.

If Su Mingzhe is willing to spare Li Hongcheng's life, it means that this rebellion case will not be escalated.

No one will be involved.

Prince Jing also knelt down to express his gratitude. As for the pleasure boat business on Liujing River...

Su Mingzhe turned to look at Eunuch Hou beside him and said:

"Eunuch Hou, send someone to the Zuixianfang in Liujing River to ask a girl named Yuan Meng there to come to the Tieyiwei."

When the ministers present heard this, some of them were confused.

How could the current emperor know a girl on a pleasure boat on the Liujing River?

There were also a few understanding people, or smart people, who immediately guessed that this Miss Yuan Meng was probably closely related to Prince Jing.

Otherwise, why would Prince Jing's face suddenly turn pale?
When Su Mingzhe said the word "Yuan Meng", Prince Jing felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet directly to the top of his head.

Sure enough, this emperor knew everything.

It seems that after returning home, his only son's legs must be broken, otherwise he will definitely not be able to save his life.

Afterwards, Su Mingzhe defined the nature of this rebellion, asked Chen Pingping to investigate the case thoroughly, and then let them leave.

"Your Majesty, would you like to return to the palace to rest?"

Eunuch Hou bravely blocked the arrow for Su Mingzhe today, which can be regarded as a demonstration of his loyalty.

Su Mingzhe was moved when he thought of the novel in which Eunuch Hou died while shielding the Queen Mother from an arrow.

"Let's go to Yanshou Palace first and visit the Imperial Grandmother."

Su Mingzhe killed Li Chengqian for no reason and now he is going to kill Li Chengze. He feels a little guilty about it, so he thinks about taking care of the old lady more to ease his guilt.

Not long after, Su Mingzhe arrived at Yanshou Palace, and the Empress Dowager had not yet rested.

The old lady was not surprised at all by Li Chengze's rebellion, and even did not care that Li Hongcheng was involved:

"Qian'er, you are the emperor now, you can handle this matter by yourself, there is no need to be timid because of me. Even if you can't do it with the noble concubine and Prince Jing, I can help you."

"Grandma, you are too serious. I don't know if this matter will involve both of them."

Su Mingzhe didn't expect that the old lady was so cruel and ruthless. In her eyes, everyone's life was probably no different from a feather.

The grandparents chatted for a while, and then Su Mingzhe said goodbye and left.

Afterwards, Su Mingzhe went to Yeonbok Palace again and chatted with the Queen Mother for a while.

After leaving Yeonbok Palace, Su Mingzhe walked a few steps along the moonlight and saw a brightly lit palace not far away. Various screams came from inside, which made him frown.

Eunuch Hou followed Su Mingzhe's gaze, his eyes moved slightly, and he reported:

"Your Majesty, that is Guangxin Palace."

"Go and ask what's going on inside. It's so late and there's still so much noise. Don't disturb the rest of the Grand Empress Dowager and the Queen Mother."

"Well, I'll go right away."

After receiving the order, Eunuch Hou ran to Guangxin Palace in person.

Not long after, he trotted back and reported anxiously:
"Your Majesty, when the Prince of Pingnan rebelled just now, the Queen Mother of Pingnan took her people and hid in Guangxin Palace. The Princess is dealing with them now."

"Deal with them?"

Su Mingzhe was a little surprised:
"What is Aunt going to do with them?"

"The princess was just executing the death penalty of lingchi on the maid of the Queen Mother."

Eunuch Hou said with a look of pity:

"Two have been executed, and the third is being executed now..."

When Su Mingzhe heard this, he let out a long sigh.

Li Yunrui had been imprisoned in the palace for thirty years and had long since become a mentally ill person.

"Guangxin Palace also belongs to the harem, and the harem is not allowed to interfere in government affairs. Send those prisoners to the Iron Guard for processing."

"Here."

After receiving the imperial edict, Eunuch Hou hurried back to Guangxin Palace.

At this moment, the sky above Guangxin Palace was filled with the smell of blood.

As soon as Eunuch Hou came in, he saw the Imperial Father's Noble Consort, formerly the Noble Consort Shu and now the Queen Mother of Pingnan, lying in the middle of the courtyard, trembling all over. She did not look like the most talented woman in the capital at all.

Well, thank God, this noble concubine seems to be intact.

As long as this noble concubine is fine, Eunuch Hou can completely pretend not to see the several palace maids being punished by Li Yunrui.

"Eunuch Hou, why are you back again?"

When Li Yunrui saw Eunuch Hou coming back, he was a little unhappy.

She just wanted to have some fun, why did someone always come to disturb her fun?
Eunuch Hou also knew that the eldest princess had an ambiguous relationship with the emperor, so he didn't dare to say anything and just told the truth:

"In reply to the Princess, the Emperor has ordered me to take these prisoners to the Iron Guard for detention."

"Disappointment!"

Li Yunrui's delicate and beautiful face was suddenly filled with annoyance.

Eunuch Hou quickly put on a smile and said:

"Your Highness, I will take this man away."

"Since it is His Majesty's order, you may take it away."

Although Li Yunrui was unwilling, he could not disobey the order. Helplessly, he waved his hand and signaled Eunuch Hou to leave quickly.

Seeing that the toy he had worked so hard to get was gone, Li Yunrui yawned, asked his trusted palace maid to support him, and went back to the bedroom to rest.

That night, the palace was silent.

However, outside the palace, the tide was surging!

(End of this chapter)