Lord Gu kept his head bowed and did not look at Xiao Lan even once from beginning to end.
The Emperor’s gaze moved back and forth between them, his eyes narrowing slightly. “We’ll deal with your matter later.”
“Your Majesty.” Lord Gu’s kowtows rang out, dull yet distinctly clear, in the great hall. “I am guilty. These past two days, I have tossed and turned, unable to sleep through the night. I have failed Your Majesty, failed the common people, and failed the two young women who died.”
“I have been tormented by remorse. Only by speaking the truth can I ease the guilt in my heart.”
Lord Gu collapsed onto the floor and burst into loud sobs.
The Emperor’s expression darkened.
“Uncle, stop talking.” Xiao Lan’s voice trembled with desperation. “Imperial Brother, I admit my punishment. I admit my punishment.”
“Wait.” Prince An, who had been watching the spectacle in silence, finally spoke. “Why is Aunt in such a hurry? Could it be that the crime Lord Gu is confessing has something to do with you as well?”
Xiao Lan screamed, “I already said it was Cui Yunfeng who struck me first! Why are you mother and son refusing to let this go?”
“On the imperial court, private matters are irrelevant,” Prince An replied.
Private matters were irrelevant? He was making things difficult for her at every turn.
Xiao Lan was frantic. With a thud, she fell to her knees before the Emperor. “I beg Imperial Brother to punish me at once. I accept my sentence.”
“Your Majesty—” Lord Gu began.
Not a single person in the great hall was a fool. Everyone could see that there was some unspeakable secret between Lord Gu and the Second Princess.
At this moment, one of them clearly wanted to protect himself, while the other was afraid.
The Emperor very much wanted to turn a blind eye, but with all the civil and military officials watching, he had no choice but to keep his other eye open.
“Lord Gu, speak first.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Lord Gu struck his forehead against the floor once more. “As for the charges the Ministry of Justice brought against my son some time ago, I admit them!”
The moment he said this, voices condemning him erupted among the assembled officials.
But in truth, it was merely a case of a fallen family being trampled upon. When the Gu family had been in its glory, who among them had not known about the things Lord Gu’s son had done?
It was only that no one had dared to speak up then. They had all pretended to be deaf and blind.
The Emperor asked, “You sheltered him?”
“Yes.” Lord Gu slowly closed his eyes. “I admit it. I will accept whatever punishment Your Majesty deems fit. But my son was also led astray and deceived by others. I beg Your Majesty to spare the Gu clan.”
The Emperor flicked his sleeve and cast a sidelong glance at Xiao Lan. The look in his eyes was already that of someone staring at a dead woman.
“Tell us what happened.”
Lord Gu said, “The two women who died were the beloved women of the Second Princess’s two former fiancés. One had been betrothed, while the other was already married and carrying a child.”
The officials immediately erupted into whispers.
“What does this mean? Weren’t the Second Princess’s two former fiancés both dead?”
“Weren’t they supposedly cursed to death by her?”
“Is that really the important part? The important thing is, where did they get fiancées and wives who were pregnant?”
Everyone’s gaze turned back to Lord Gu. The Emperor rested his elbow on the armrest of the dragon throne and propped his head against his hand as he said indifferently, “Continue.”
Lord Gu said, “The deaths of the Second Princess’s two former fiancés were not accidents at all. They took their own lives.”
“Stop! Don’t say another word!” Xiao Lan screamed.
Lord Gu did not even look at her.
“In truth, both men already had wives, but unfortunately, the princess took a liking to them. When the first man refused her, the princess seized his fiancée and deceived my son into helping her. The two of them were cousins, and my son was reckless and unable to tell right from wrong. Under the princess’s instructions, he raped and murdered that woman.”
“The second man’s situation was much the same. However, he was clever. For the sake of his family’s safety, he agreed to the princess’s demands. Yet the princess was consumed by jealousy and still refused to spare his wife. She took her life in the same manner. It was only afterward, when this old subject went to collect the body, that I learned the woman had been three months pregnant.”
“Your Majesty, I sheltered the murderer, and I deserve to die ten thousand deaths. My son deserves the same. But it was the Second Princess who sent those women to my son’s bed.”
Throughout the entire great hall, only Lord Gu’s voice could be heard. His aged voice was choked with sobs, moving the listeners even as it filled them with fury.
The civil and military officials looked at Xiao Lan with disgust and contempt. Only now did they learn how the reputation of the Second Princess being a woman who brought death to her husbands had come about. It was no wonder the Empress Dowager had so readily agreed to send her away back then. There had been another reason after all.
The Emperor straightened in his seat, his gaze cold and detached.
“Someone, go to the households of the two former princes consort and investigate whether this is true.”
“Your Majesty, there is not even a chicken left alive in either household. There is no one left to question,” Lord Gu replied.
The officials drew in another collective breath.
A mere young woman, yet the Second Princess possessed such a vicious heart.
She was a princess of the imperial family. What kind of man could she not have had? And yet she had resorted to such extreme measures. It was a disgrace to the royal family.
“Your Majesty, if what Lord Gu says is true, the princess’s crimes are beyond description.”
One man stepped forward. Once one had done so, others followed. One after another, officials came forward and begged the Emperor to grant Xiao Lan death.
“What of the Ministry of Justice?” the Emperor asked. “Step forward and tell us whether Lord Gu’s account is true.”
The Vice Minister of Justice stepped out and bowed. “Your Majesty, the information Lord Gu has provided matches the findings of the Ministry of Justice.”
Then it was beyond doubt.
The Emperor waved his hand. “Bestow three feet of white silk.”
She was a princess, after all, so the Emperor had left her a shred of dignity. With all her crimes combined, her death was inevitable. Lord Gu’s final revelation had been the last straw—the fatal blow.
“No, Imperial Brother!” Xiao Lan’s eyes widened as she struggled desperately. “I already served the punishment for this crime several years ago!”
During her years at Anshan Temple, she had already paid the price.
Prince An growled, “But Prime Minister Cui is still lying in bed, hovering between life and death.”
“That was not my doing.” Xiao Lan wished she could bite Prince An’s throat out. Her eyes were bloodshot with rage.
Prince An sneered. “If Lord Gu’s testimony had not been ironclad, Aunt would never have admitted to the crime.”
Xiao Lan felt a surge of blood rush to her head. Her vision went black at the edges, and dizziness pounded through her skull as fury overwhelmed her.
With Prince An leading the charge, even more officials stepped forward. The Emperor waved his hand again, signaling the palace attendants to take Xiao Lan away.
“The Empress Dowager has arrived—”
A sharp voice suddenly rang out from beyond the hall. The civil and military officials all turned toward the entrance.
Supported by palace attendants, the Empress Dowager slowly walked in.
Displeasure flashed through the Emperor’s eyes, but he immediately hurried down the steps and bowed to her.
“Mother, why have you come?”
The Empress Dowager swept her gaze across the great hall, her voice aged and weary.
“Although I should not interfere in matters of the imperial court, Xiao Lan is, after all, my own daughter.”
She took a step back and withdrew her arm from the Emperor’s grasp. Then, supported by the palace attendants, she actually knelt down.
The officials were startled, and the Emperor’s expression darkened at once. He hurriedly crouched beside her.
“Mother, what are you doing?”
“I am apologizing on Xiao Lan’s behalf to all those she harmed.” She bowed her head deeply, and the Emperor quickly helped her to her feet.
“Mother is benevolent and keeps all the people in her heart. This matter has nothing to do with you.”
The Empress Dowager shook her head. “No. I failed in my duty to raise her. Xiao Lan was my youngest child. When the late emperor passed away, she was only a child. I had to support Your Majesty’s ascension and manage the inner palace, leaving me overwhelmed with responsibilities and no spare energy to properly raise her. That is how she came to have the vicious nature she possesses today. It was I who failed in my duty as her mother.”
The emperor loosened his grip on her hand, his gaze dimming considerably. “Those years were indeed difficult for you, Mother.”
The Empress Dowager looked at the emperor, her heart turning cold. “Since this is my fault, Your Majesty, then let me bear all the blame.”
The emperor said nothing, and the civil and military officials dared not speak either.
Everyone could tell that the Empress Dowager intended to invoke her contributions to Great Liang in exchange for the Second Princess’s life.
“Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has indeed rendered great service,” Shen Xiabai suddenly said, breaking his long silence.
“But among the officials standing here today, there are founding heroes, old ministers who have served two reigns, and military families whose sons have all died on the battlefield. Which of them has not rendered great service? If we set such a precedent today, and everyone follows suit in the future, using their accomplishments to offset their crimes, then how many golden death-exemption tallies would His Majesty need?”
“You—” the Empress Dowager began.
“Exactly,” said a censor, stepping forward. “As the saying goes, a nation has its laws, and a family has its rules. If everyone were to abuse their past achievements and act recklessly, how could Great Liang ever prosper?”
The Empress Dowager’s heavy gaze fell upon the censor.
He flinched for a moment, but soon straightened his back again.
Censors rarely had the chance to earn military or political merit. All they sought was a reputation in life and a name that would be remembered in the history books.
Few among the civil and military officials dared to step forward, but their silence itself was a wordless form of resistance.
The emperor said quietly, “Mother, please don’t make this difficult for me.”
The Empress Dowager’s face paled slightly. She covered the emperor’s arm with her hand, gripping it tightly. “Your Majesty, she is your own sister. I beg you—for my sake, spare her life.”
“If I had not considered your feelings, Mother, she would have died several years ago. Then she poisoned the prime minister, which should have cost her life again. I have already spared her twice.”
