Emperor Mingxi nodded to himself. Wasn't that the truth? If his old man hadn't died early, his succession wouldn't have been so smooth.
Therefore, he had been quite lenient when dealing with Beauty Hua. He only had her buried with the late emperor in the imperial mausoleum and did not implicate her maiden family.
Even regarding the eunuchs and maids responsible for the late emperor's bedchamber affairs, he only executed the chief culprit, Wu Shouxian.
"Actually, the emperor's death can't be entirely blamed on Beauty Hua, but since he died in her bed, she and the Zheng family shouldn't have been able to get off easily, right?"
[Exactly. The old emperor didn't know how to restrain himself, and even dragged a few people down to the grave with him as scapegoats on his way out!]
The monarch and officials of Great Yan: Lord Artifact, is that how the term scapegoats is used? If the late emperor knew, wouldn't he crawl out of the imperial mausoleum to speak up for himself!
Some people's eyes flickered. They had long heard rumors about the cause of the late emperor's death. Now that it was confirmed today, the historian Ma Yuanqian's eyes, in particular, lit up by two degrees.
He showed absolutely no panic at hearing a royal scandal. If Yue Fuguang saw his current expression, she would definitely find it very familiar, as it gave off the exact same vibe as a paparazzi digging up a massive celebrity scoop.
Of course, Lord Ma's work was far more respectable. Anyone who dared to record true history, especially royal scandals like this, was an admirable badass!
Looking again at Yue Fuguang's escort guards, every single one of them had a wooden expression, giving off the aura of the living waiting for death.
They couldn't help but look up at the azure sky. This might just be the last time they ever saw the sun in their lives!
Naturally, Yue Fuguang had no idea her escort guards were all waiting to die. She continued talking to the system, "Isn't the Zheng family still doing fine even now? Although they have declined a bit, I haven't heard of the royal family punishing them. If I remember correctly, doesn't Lord Zheng Ziling come from a branch of the Zheng family?"
Zheng Ziling's eyelids twitched. He and the Yuzhou Zheng family were already past five generations of separation; they couldn't be considered the same family anymore.
[Yes, but the two families don't seem to interact much. After Emperor Mingxi ascended the throne, he only dealt with Wu Shouxian and a few other main culprits. He merely reprimanded the Zheng family. However, the old family head at the time was afraid of subsequent royal retaliation, so he expelled Qu Zheng's branch from the clan and drove them out of the Zheng family lands.
The reason Qu Zheng changed his name and surname was that within two years, first his father, and then his two older brothers and one older sister successively died, either from illness or in accidents.
Qu Zheng's mother, Lady Wu, seemed to know something. After finishing her second son's funeral, she took Qu Zheng and left Yuzhou overnight, traveling all the way to Yizhou.
Zheng Qu also changed his name to Qu Zheng. The mother and son didn't enjoy many years of peace before his mother contracted an illness and passed away.
Qu Zheng moved again, and a few years later, he encountered that assassination attempt.
Qu Zheng died. Now, Emperor Mingxi has secretly executed Gao Ming because Gao Ming knew the cause of the late emperor's death. But what the emperor doesn't know is that Gao Ming knew another secret he hadn't told.]
Emperor Mingxi: Did I kill him too early again?
The crowd was also speechless upon hearing this. Their Majesty's hands were truly too fast. Prince Rong had died too quickly, making them miss out on knowing about the Great Yan treasure and the late emperor's treasury.
Now that they encountered Gao Ming, they already had the man in their grasp. Couldn't he have waited? Why was he in such a rush to kill him?
His Majesty could keep that Chonghua and Zhou Yunxin alive, but he didn't let Gao Ming live for even a single extra day!
"What secret? Is this a case of one melon tied to another on the same vine?"
[Master, take a guess. Who do you think hunted down Qu Zheng, or rather, at whose hands did his entire family die?]
This actually stumped Yue Fuguang. Although Qu Zheng was the last to die, the first to pass away was his old man, so this grudge must have started from the previous generation.
However, the main branch of the Zheng family seemed fine. This was targeting their specific family branch alone.
"Does it have to do with the palace? Didn't Wu Shouxian and Beauty Hua both get dragged down to the grave with the old emperor? It couldn't be His Majesty who did the dirty work, right?"
Emperor Mingxi: He was perfectly fine enjoying the gossip about his own father, when bam! A massive pot of blame flew out of nowhere and smashed right onto his crown!
Emperor Mingxi was utterly speechless. When would these two ancestors ever change their habit of constantly pinning the blame on him!
The officials following closely behind hid in their carriages, their mouths twitching uncontrollably. They had to try their hardest to hold back from laughing out loud.
Yu Huaixian was guarding his female cousin's carriage closely. Upon hearing this, his body swayed, and he nearly tumbled off his horse!
He couldn't help but feel like his head was wobbling on his neck, ready to run away from home at any moment.
Looking back at the carriages of his granduncle and two uncles, how were they acting like nothing was wrong! Were the elders really this thick-nerved?
[Master, this matter is indeed inextricably linked to the palace, but this time it really wasn't the emperor's doing. He is still completely in the dark!]
Emperor Mingxi: Hehe? Not hehe! Hearing the first half, before he could even be happy, he was hammered into a pit by the second half.
Emperor Mingxi simply gave up. He was lying flat; whatever happens, happens!
[The person who made a move against Qu Zheng's family is named Wu Chengye. This person is Wu Shouxian's son. Not the kind of godson you can grab by the handful in the palace, but his actual biological son. Wu Shouxian was castrated and entered the palace at sixteen. At that time, his lover was already pregnant with Wu Chengye.
Before Gao Ming killed Qu Zheng, the jade pendant he took from him originally belonged to Wu Shouxian. It was accidentally obtained by Beauty Hua, who secretly sent it out of the palace.
This was also a piece of blackmail material she left for her family. She didn't expect the old emperor to die of a sudden stroke during intercourse in his own palace, resulting in Wu Shouxian and herself following closely behind as burial sacrifices.
The jade pendant that was originally kept for blackmail now became a death warrant for the entire family.]
"What is that jade pendant?"
[The jade pendant is a keepsake and also a token of authority. Once, Beauty Hua stumbled upon Wu Shouxian's secret and stole the jade pendant.
If the late emperor hadn't died so suddenly, Wu Shouxian wouldn't have lacked the time to make a move against Beauty Hua. Because of this matter, Beauty Hua wouldn't have lived long anyway.
It was also because Emperor Mingxi acted fast. Wu Shouxian only had time to notify his son before he was arrested by Emperor Mingxi, who killed him without even letting him survive the night.]
Yue Fuguang sighed in admiration, "I would like to call the emperor Great Yan's number one quick shoot... quick executioner!"
Emperor Mingxi: He couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't a compliment, but he couldn't even voice his proof! Aggrieved.JPG
[Master, do you still remember the time Cai Bing and Huo Shui were schemed against?]
Cai Xian and Huo Ying: We remember, we remember! What's going on, it's connected to this too?
"Little Zhu, is the mastermind behind the scenes about to surface?"
The system immediately fired off a flattering remark, [Master has definitely guessed it. The person who plotted this was Wu Chengye. He essentially inherited Wu Shouxian's mantle after his death. It can be considered a son inheriting his father's business. This Wu father and son duo are in the same gang as Drunken Rakshasa. Their organization is even more mysterious than Youtan.]
"So this Wu father and son are just minor pawns as well?"
[Correct. The jade pendant in Qu Zheng's hands was their proof of identity. With it, one could even mobilize a hidden hundred-man squad in the capital city of Shangjing.
After Qu Zheng died, Wu Chengye traced it to Gao Ming. By this time, Gao Ming had already passed the imperial examination as a Jinshi and become a capital official, so Wu Chengye changed his plan from silencing him with death to roping him in.
If it weren't for Gao Ming's murder of his wife being exposed, he would have joined them this year, becoming yet another protective umbrella for Wu Chengye.]
Emperor Mingxi recalled the items Ping Yi had submitted after searching that residence; there did indeed seem to be a uniquely shaped jade pendant among them.
