In the court hall, Shangshu Ling stared worriedly at the chamberlain who came to reply, "Eunuch, your Majesty, won't you attend the morning court today?"
All the civil and military officials had been waiting for half an hour in the main hall, but Li Jingxing didn't appear.
The emperor's personal chamberlain bent down and saluted the ministers, "The emperor suddenly felt sick when he got up in the morning. He called the imperial doctor and just woke up. His energy was a little low. He will not go to the morning court today. If you have any information, please bring it to me. ”
"What? The emperor is sick."
"What can we do?"
……
Prime Minister Mu looked at the chamberlain, "I wonder what the imperial doctor said?"
Chamberlain: "The imperial doctor said that the emperor is overworked and needs to rest."
The officials were whispering to each other when they left the hall.
The emperor is old and his body is getting weaker. The war with King Che on the eastern border is not going well, and the Snow Kingdom in the north is eyeing him. What should he do?
If he had known earlier, he should not have sent troops to Linyue Kingdom. He should have decided on the crown prince's position first, and left the matter of pacifying the mainland to the next emperor.
It's a pity that the current emperor has only too many ambitions but insufficient abilities. If it weren't for a man as brave and good at fighting as King Che, Beidi's military force would not be stronger than that of Linyue's.
"Ahem." On the dragon couch, the maid covered the emperor's mouth with a handkerchief and took it off when he stopped coughing.
Seeing the bright red blood stains on the white handkerchief, the palace maid knelt on the ground in fear, not daring to look up again.
Li Jingxing stared at the blood on the handkerchief with a faint smile on his lips. He didn't know whether he thought it was funny or sad, "How is my health? How long can I last?"
The imperial doctor lay on the ground and said, "Your Majesty is just low on energy. Don't get angry or overwork yourself. You will recover after some rest."
Li Jingxing stared at the imperial doctor with dark eyes, "I want to listen to the truth."
The imperial doctor's eyes were trembling, his breathing was rapid, and his palms were sticky with sweat. "The emperor has been working hard for many years and has accumulated old diseases. If he takes good care of himself, he can still survive for another year."
"Pfft." Li Jingxing's face turned pale as the bloody phlegm was vomited out, "What can you do in one year?"
"Your Majesty, please take care of the dragon body and don't get angry!" the imperial doctor shouted sadly.
The eunuch outside the palace hurriedly ran in and knelt heavily on the ground, "Your Majesty, something happened to the Western Prince. The maid Bi'er from the Queen's Palace sneaked into Concubine Wei's palace and pinched the little prince until he almost died. Now Not awake yet."
Li Jingxing's eyelids twitched and he fainted.
"Imperial physician, imperial physician." the chamberlain shouted.
The imperial physician who was kneeling below quickly climbed to the bedside to administer the acupuncture.
An hour later, the emperor slowly opened his eyes, glanced over his head and looked at the eunuchs and maids kneeling on the ground, "How is the Western Prince doing now?"
The imperial doctor standing by quickly replied: "Prince Xi has woken up, but his body is still a little weak, and his life is not in danger."
The two adult princes are not in the capital, so nothing can happen to the emperor at this time.
"Go, get me paper, pen, and jade seal. I want to put that cruel and poisonous woman to death."
After hearing the news, the Minister of Hubu, Shangshu Ling and others came over and knelt in front of the hall to ask for a face.
Beside the dragon bed, Shangshu Ling knelt and said: "Your Majesty, the Queen is the mother of the country and the biological mother of King Heng. Once he is executed, how should King Heng deal with himself?"
You Zhicheng quickly agreed.
Once the queen is deposed, Li Yuheng's identity will be stained.
Li Jingxing looked at the two of them, "The queen has no virtue. She has attacked the prince several times since Concubine Wei became pregnant, and now she is the first to send people to almost strangle Prince Xi to death. How can such a poisonous woman be the queen of our Beidi Kingdom?"
Shangshu Ling frowned and retorted: "But Your Majesty, Weichen heard that the Queen said that the maid who wanted to strangle Bi'er was not appointed by her. There may be another hidden reason for this matter."
"That palace maid has already confessed her crime. I first knew that the queen was cruel and jealous. For the sake of King Heng, I forgave her many times. In fact, it only gave her courage. I must punish her severely."
Li Jingxing was already deeply saddened by the fact that he still had one year to live, but the queen happened to bump into him at this moment, aggravating his anger and causing him to faint from anger, which may have shortened his lifespan.
You Zhicheng held his breath and suggested: "Your Majesty, since the Queen claims to be wronged, she should let the Ministry of Punishments investigate. It may be inappropriate to rely solely on the words of a palace maid."
Li Jingxing raised his eyes and stared at the two of them, "Then let the Criminal Department investigate."
By then, I'm afraid this will no longer be evidence of the crime. It would be better if it were disclosed, so that people in the world would not say that he does not miss the old relationship between husband and wife.
The Minister of Punishment was very embarrassed when he received the order. The case was very difficult as it related to the current Queen and the Western Prince.
The queen kept insisting that she was wronged in Changle Palace.
The palace servants of Changle Palace were called out one by one for interrogation and were tortured so hard that they vomited a lot in one night.
Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment came to Li Jingxing with the accusations trembling in his heart.
"Your Majesty, this is what the palace servants of Changle Palace vomited out. Every piece of it has been recorded in the record. However, regarding the murder of the Western Prince, only the palace maid Bi'er gave a confession. However, the empress's personal eunuch said that Wei The food in the concubine’s palace was tampered with, and was mixed with chronic poisons, and has been consumed for more than two months.”
Li Jingxing's eyes widened.
The Minister of Punishment continued: "I have asked the imperial doctor to check. Concubine Wei and Prince Xi both have mild poison in their bodies. If they continue to take it for half a year, they will die from the poison."
Li Jingxing closed his eyes and said, "Preach my decree. After you are deposed, you will be put to death and will not enter the imperial mausoleum."
After finishing speaking, the emperor seemed to have no strength anymore and collapsed on his back on the bed.
After the evidence of the Queen's crime was announced, the imperial edict was issued to depose the Queen and punish her with death, causing shock to both the government and the public.
The Minister of Hubu stopped the Minister of Punishment and said, "There are no other witnesses to the matter of assigning the palace maid Bi'er to strangle Prince Xi to death. The queen may have been unjustly accused."
The Minister of Punishment sighed solemnly, "You have also seen those crimes. The poison in the bodies of Concubine Wei and Prince Xi has not yet been cleared. Although there is no other person to testify, the empress is so cruel, she must have done this."
The Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue made a bitter face: "Since the poison has been poisoned, why do you need to send people to strangle Prince Xi to death again? Isn't this unnecessary?"
The Minister of Punishment had a hard time saying that it could not be said that the Queen knew that the Emperor was terminally ill and that King Heng was not in the court, so she was eager to kill the Western Prince.
Such secret things cannot be revealed at all, otherwise your head will fall to the ground.
"I have decreed that there is no room for change in this matter. Moreover, the Queen's crime is so heinous that she should have been beheaded in public in accordance with the laws of the court. The Emperor gave Bai Ling the poisonous wine as a favor."
You Zhicheng clenched his fists, wondering what to do now.
The capital city is turbulent, and war is raging on both sides of the northeastern border.
Li Junche led his army to repeatedly attack the city of Linyue Kingdom, and the loss of troops was extremely sparse.
Wei Ming looked at the approaching Snow Nation army and took a deep breath.
