Chapter 100 Rebellion 3

Upon entering the hall, they saw many people inside.

The Emperor showed no signs of illness, contrary to the drowsiness and dark complexion mentioned in the messages exchanged with Shu Yan. However, Shu Yan was present, her complexion as pale as Prince Cheng.

Also present were the Crown Prince, the Prime Minister, the heir to the Prince Shinzi, and others.

Upon seeing the Third Prince and the gravely injured General Wei, Shu Yan’s heart clenched, and she hurried over, “Brother, what happened to you?”

General Wei was unable to speak.

Shu Yan then turned to the Third Prince, “Son?”

The Third Prince glanced at the Emperor, who was staring at him intently. Feeling as if he had been caught, he quickly averted his gaze and stammered to Shu Yan, “Uncle’s deputy commander betrayed him at the Chengtian Gate and… stabbed Uncle.”

Upon hearing this, tears welled up in Shu Yan’s eyes.

She was wrong!

She shouldn’t have gambled. Now, Cheng, her brother, herself, and the entire Li family were facing death because of her mistake!

Turning towards the Emperor, Shu Yan pleaded, “Your Majesty, I know I was wrong. Please, for the sake of the Li family’s support during your ascension, allow the physician to treat my brother’s wounds. If the physician doesn’t come soon, my brother will die. Your Majesty, have you forgotten how my brother risked everything to support you, disregarding his own safety and using all our family’s resources to help you ascend the throne? Your Majesty, I beg of you!”

The guards at the hall blocked Shu Yan as she cried out, “It’s all my fault. I instigated my son and forced him and cheng to turn against you. My son and my brother didn’t want this. It was all my fault. If you will punish them, punish me. Please spare my son and my brother.”

Shu Yan sobbed, but the Emperor remained unmoved, and the others present merely watched her.

The Emperor turned to the Third Prince and asked, “Is it true Cheng did your mother force you?”

After hesitating for a moment, the Crown Prince looked at Shu Yan and admitted, “Yes.”

The Emperor let out a cold snort.

“You truly are your mother’s son.”

Clapping his hands, the Emperor had several guards bring three individuals into the hall.

The Third Prince, surprised, saw that these individuals were the three itinerant doctors he had ordered to be silenced.

As soon as they entered, they detailed how the Third Prince had found them, what he had asked them to do, what promises he had made to them, all clearly explained.

If it weren’t for the current situation, the Crown Prince would have wanted to bring Lou Yi in to question him about his actions! How did the people he silenced end up here?

But now, he could only bow his head and admit his guilt, “Your Majesty, I am at fault!”

The Emperor then presented the letters from General Wei and Shu Yan to the Third Prince, detailing their involvement in the rebellion.

Shu Yan forgot to cry, astonished at her son. She had immediately burned everything after reading it!

The Prince was filled with regret. He thought he was safe from the Emperor’s reach in his residence in the distant Long County, even keeping the letters in a secret chamber! He believed he was about to enter the capital and become Emperor soon! How did he end up in the palace so quickly?

The Prince broke out in a cold sweat, “Father, I have been foolish and confused! I realize my mistake please forgive me!”

Two guards pulled the Third Prince away, preventing him from approaching the Emperor.

The Emperor coldly remarked, “You weren’t foolish; you were ambitious. Unfortunately, your ambition exceeded your abilities and character.”

Shu Yan, realizing the Emperor would not spare them, gave up all pretense, “Even if Cheng had the ability, would you have given him a chance? Your heart only belongs to that woman.”

Then she turned and pointed at the Crown Prince, “And her son!”

“He’s only

“Cheng didn’t even have a chance to prove himself before you sent him to Long County. Have you ever given him an opportunity?”

The heir to the Ning Prince couldn’t help but look at the Crown Prince.

He saw the Crown Prince’s expression remain calm and unchanged.

On this side, the Emperor replied, “Jin Er is the eldest son by blood, so it’s only natural to appoint him as the Crown Prince.”

Shu Yan, no longer afraid, sneered, “Hmph, what eldest son? If you hadn’t made that woman the Empress, what would he be as the eldest son?”

“Back then, you were just an unfavored prince. I devoted myself to you wholeheartedly. My brother and father supported you so much. Without my family’s help, could you have ascended the throne smoothly? What did the Duke of Wei do? Yet, you were bewitched by Xiaoxian seductive charms. If you had made me the Empress back then, Cheng would have been the rightful heir!”

The Emperor’s expression grew colder.

“So, by your logic, all those ministers who supported me, whose daughters or sisters expressed admiration for me in the palace, should I have made them Empresses? Otherwise, should they have rebelled?”

The women in the harem who had daughters or sisters as consorts immediately knelt down, exclaiming, “We dare not!”

The Emperor paid them no heed.

“Your Li family supported me from the beginning, and I have never mistreated your family. While you were in the harem, I always protected you.”

Shu Yan said, “If Your Majesty truly has no any affection for me, then kill me and spare my son and my brother!”

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince spoke up, “Mother Concubine, when you poisoned Father Emperor, you didn’t plan to spare him either! If the Third Brother leads the soldiers from the camp outside the capital to attack, I’m afraid he didn’t plan to spare me and the other princes either.”

Shu Yan glared at the Crown Prince with hatred.

The Emperor, seeing the cold look in her eyes, declared, “General Wei, who attempted rebellion, shall be executed along with his entire family.”

“Shu Yan, who conspired against the Emperor and poisoned him, shall be given poisoned wine!”

“The Crown Prince, who conspired against the Emperor and poisoned him, shall be given poisoned wine!”

Upon hearing this, Shu Yan’s face turned ashen.

Hatred flashed in the Crown Prince’s eyes, resenting the Emperor’s ruthlessness and his uncle’s instigation of the rebellion. Otherwise, he would have at least remained the King of Long County…

General Wei had already lost consciousness, feeling nothing.

After the Emperor finished speaking, he waved his hand.

The guards dragged the Crown Prince and General Wei away, while Shu Yan was ordered by Hong Gong Gong to be taken away by the palace attendants. When Shu Yan reached the gate of the Chengqian Hall, she suddenly shouted, “Your Majesty, spare Cheng He is also your son!”

But soon, her voice was silenced.

“You may leave as well.”

The Crown Prince, the heir to the Ning Prince, and the Prime Minister, along with other court officials, all left.

The Crown Prince had expected at least a bloody confrontation tonight, but he never made it past the Chengtian Gate~

Turning to the heir to the Ning Prince behind him, he smiled, “Shinzi, I didn’t expect at this moment, all the relatives are keeping their distance, and only you risked entering the palace to protect Father Emperor.”

Prince Ning Shinzi bowed, “As a guard in front of the hall, protecting the Emperor is my duty.”