Chapter 20

Three days later, during the morning court session.

　　The newly appointed Jinwu Chen Ying and several other ministers jointly impeached the governance of Nei Li Sun Xizhi and the memorial was held in the trembling hands of Emperor Li Su. The whole audience was silent, only Li Que was excited.

　　He had been planning for this moment for a long time. The road to the throne was full of thorns at every step. He walked with fear, but also with great enthusiasm. And now was the critical moment for him to get out of the tortuous, gloomy forest path and run towards the broad road!

　　"Sun Xizhi, ah Sun Xizhi, you are very good, you are very good."

　　Emperor Li Su's hands were about to twist the memorial into a ball. He did not roar, but just shook his head and sighed. However, all the ministers knew that such an emperor was the most terrifying.

　　"Just drag him out and kill him."

　　Li Su said lightly.

　　His words were like a stone that caused a thousand waves, and all the officials changed color, including Li Que. At this moment, if Sun Xizhi died directly, it would be the lightest blow to the prince, which would mean that all Li Que's plans would be in vain.

　　So Li Que didn't care about hiding himself and pursed his lips at Chen Ying. Chen Ying understood and stepped out, saying, "Your Majesty, please think twice. This is absolutely not allowed! Even if Sun Xizhi deserves to die, he should wait until we have investigated him thoroughly. If he dies like this, I'm afraid the person behind him will go unpunished!"

　　Chen Ying's attitude of being willing to die for his advice even if it meant offending the emperor made several ministers who were watching look at him with new eyes. They thought that this young man had more determination and courage than they had imagined.

　　Li Su knew who the "man behind the scenes" Chen Ying was referring to, after all, he had mentioned this point in his memorial without any hesitation. And did his direct order to execute Sun Xizhi also imply a kind of shielding for the prince? Li Su himself had not thought this through clearly. He stared at Chen Ying for a long time with a cloudy, scrutinizing gaze. The young man bent over, and his back was almost completely wet. Li Que was also sweating as he watched from the side. He always felt that his father was glancing at him, but he also felt that he was overthinking.

　　"Then please tell me what you think, Master Chen!"

　　The emperor sighed and leaned back in his chair a little exhausted.

　　"Your Majesty is wise!"

　　Chen Ying bowed deeply to Li Su, then glanced at Crown Prince Li Qiang and said loudly, "I suspect that His Royal Highness is involved in five serious crimes of the state. I implore Your Majesty to order a thorough investigation of this matter!"

　　"The first crime is forming a faction with the criminal Sun Xizhi, disrupting the national law and seeking personal gain! The second crime... the fifth crime is forming a private army and plotting evil!"

　　"thump!"

　　The prince was horrified and fell to his knees. "Father, this is absolutely not the case. This is absolutely not the case! Chen Ying is talking nonsense and insulting my reputation. He deserves death!"

　　Li Su was not too surprised by the crime that Chen Ying had charged the crown prince with. Instead, he looked around and asked, "My dear ministers, how do you think this matter should be handled?"

　　Silence, still silence. The ministers who used to be eager to jump out and show off in front of the emperor when encountering a little thing seemed to be given a mute drug at this moment. They were all smart, and today's incident was too sudden. They couldn't see the wind direction clearly. At this time, silence was the safest.

　　"I, your humble servant, support Lord Chen Ying's opinion. I implore the Emperor to thoroughly investigate the Crown Prince's collusion with the Sun family and their corruption and abuse of power!"

　　The prime minister of the current dynasty, Dong Xiuzhu, stepped out of the line. His old face, which had experienced countless ups and downs and storms, was calm, but his words were powerful.

　　When he saw the secret letter a few days ago, his first reaction was to hide it. Such an old man knows that the better he hides in politics, the longer he can live. But the gentle voice of his beloved wife Dong Lihua kept lingering in his ears, persuading him to stand on the right side and make up his mind. He firmly believed that his wife, who had been with him for more than 20 years, was wholeheartedly doing good for him. She was wise, and he should believe in her, so Dong Xiuzhu made today's decision.

　　He was right, Dong Lihua was indeed very intelligent. But his mistake was that he did not realize that Dong Lihua's intelligence was for the sake of her lust and vanity. He did not understand this until some time later, but by then it was too late to regret.

　　The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. They obviously did not expect that Prime Minister Dong, who was always shrewd and calculating, would stand up at this time, so they began to make their own plans in their minds.

　　"Lu Guangchou, the Minister of Justice, supports Prime Minister Dong's opinion."

　　Li Que had expected Lu Guangchou's opinion. He was an almost purely upright bureaucrat whose code of conduct was easy to judge and he would do things based on right and wrong. The evidence presented by Chen Ying was irrefutable, and he could not help but be convinced.

　　But the ministers didn't think so. A prime minister and a minister of justice both came forward. Is there any connection? Some people began to make moves. The officials of the crown prince's faction all had very ugly expressions on their faces.

　　There is still one more thing missing, Li Que thought. Although he was worried that Li Su would misunderstand him if he showed up at this time, he had to do this last straw himself.

　　"Father, I believe in my brother's innocence, so I support you in thoroughly investigating this matter so that justice can be done to my brother!"

　　Li Que stepped out of the group and said, his words were high-sounding, but his actual opinions were no different from those of the previous two. Li Qiang looked at him viciously, and only regretted that the assassin he sent that night did not kill this scourge.

　　"I second the motion."

　　"I second the motion."

　　After Li Que, the officials finally couldn't hold back any longer. After the first one, there was the second, the third, and finally everyone knelt down in the hall. Only a few of the prince's diehards were still standing there with awkward expressions. It wasn't that they didn't want to be like everyone else, but they had no choice. They were too deeply involved, so they could only hold on and see if things would turn around.

　　Emperor Li Su looked at the large area of ​​grass in the hall that had slumped down like mowed grass, and knew that the only way out of this matter was to get to the bottom of it. He looked at the prince with a complicated expression, and said slowly to everyone, "Since all the ministers have such a unified opinion, then let's follow everyone's opinion. I will never tolerate offenders! Prime Minister Dong, I order you to handle this case and work with the Dali Temple to thoroughly investigate this matter. Hold my handwritten order, and all those involved in the case, regardless of their status, will not be tolerated. If anyone dares to obstruct the investigation, I will never let them off easily! As for the prince, since you are closely related to this case and have a special status, I order you to stay at home and reflect on your mistakes. I will make a decision after the result of this case comes out!"

　　Emperor Li Su's words were majestic and righteous. All the officials in the hall were silent, they knew that the Daliang Kingdom was about to change. The clever officials secretly looked at the princes' seats. The prince was already pale and shaky. Li Que stood there, trying his best not to show any expression, but everyone could see his full and enthusiastic spirit.

　　When Li Que was removed from the position of the Praetorian Guards some time ago, it was the Crown Prince who was proud. This time the tide has turned. But the question is, does the Crown Prince have a chance to rise again this time? ...

　　There was a lot of panic in the imperial court, and there seemed to be an undercurrent in the harem.

　　Princess Li Yanglong had been feeling uneasy lately. After Li Que gave her medicine to save her life, her heart, which had been sealed for many years, suddenly seemed to be crawling with green vines, becoming lively and full of vitality.

　　That restless feeling can't even be called sexual desire. Mature women in their forties, like Su Yuexin and Dong Lihua, are certainly as wolves and tigers, but they have experienced that kind of wonderful taste, and the desire that they can't get in middle age is at work. In Li Yanglong's life, she has always been so pure and flawless, and has always been so flawless. Even if the prince and Yuanjian used the "Black Tooth Pill" to do something bad to her, they only took advantage of her and never really broke through the last line of defense. In this case, her restlessness is more like a pure emotion, longing for spiritual comfort.

　　Struggling with this, she somehow ended up at the Weiyang Palace. This was the palace of that man's mother, Li Yanglong thought, feeling a little shy. She was about the same age as his mother, yet she felt ashamed for him.

　　But she didn't know that Su Yuexin was much more open-minded than her and had already thrown herself completely into Li Que's arms.

　　"elder sister."

　　In Weiyang Palace, Li Yanlong took Su Yuexin's hand affectionately. She was wearing an ivory-white silk dress today, which formed a sharp contrast with Su Yuexin's dark-red rose palace dress. One was strong and the other was light, one was bright and the other was plain, they really complemented each other and were extremely beautiful.

　　Su Yuexin was somewhat amazed when she looked at Li Yanglong's picturesque face, and thought that few women could impress her with their looks.

　　The two began to talk in a friendly manner. Li Yanlong was not Min Rou, and even if Su Yuexin had some thoughts in her mind, she would never say them out loud. She just followed Li Yanlong's lead and listened to what she meant first.

　　As expected, the princess's words always intentionally or unintentionally directed to Li Que. For example, "Has my nephew come to visit you recently?" "You are so lucky to have such an excellent son." "Last time, Que talked to me about..."

　　Such words kept coming out. Su Yuexin thought to herself that this princess was very innocent. If she was like her dissolute best friend, the Marshal, she would have already made her sexual interest in her son clear. Could the princess still be a virgin? An idea popped into Su Yuexin's mind.

　　Su Yuexin felt that she shouldn't speak too clearly to such a pure-hearted princess, so she just kept describing Li Que's outstanding deeds throughout the conversation, which made his aunt's eyes sparkle.

　　When they were about to say goodbye, Su Yuexin took the opportunity to say, "Sister, regarding the haunted palace of Concubine Hui, I have made a major discovery, but I don't know how to tell His Majesty. You are close to His Majesty, so please ask His Majesty to take some time out to go to Zihuan Palace in person one night and you will understand!"

　　Su Yuexin's words were cryptic but also straightforward. She was saying that it was a shameful thing, and I was embarrassed to tell the emperor, so you should go and tell him. Li Yanlong also understood what Su Yuexin meant. According to her personality, she would try to avoid such things. But after chatting with Su Yuexin for an afternoon today, she actually felt that she had a very good relationship with the queen. Coupled with the little thoughts in her mind, she agreed to this matter.

　　Su Yuexin was delighted to see that she agreed. She had given her son's lover a big boost with just a little trick, but she didn't know how Li Que would reward her. The beautiful mature woman looked at Li Yanglong's figure going away, and twisted her fat buttocks a little itchy. ...

　　A few days later, at the Prince's Mansion.

　　The prince has been under house arrest by the emperor for the past two days, and he feels like a chicken or duck locked in a cage waiting to be slaughtered.

　　"Your Highness, please don't be so depressed!"

　　The man who gave the advice was dressed in the same black clothes that never changed. He was the man the prince had sent to assassinate Li Que last time.

　　Yuan Jian sat aside, concentrating and silent. He really didn't expect Li Que to be so capable. He thought that if he and the prince joined forces, it would be easy to kill this guy, but now it seems that he underestimated him.

　　"Yes, Your Highness. The situation is not yet irreversible."

　　Taiwei Xu Chengdong and several of the prince's diehard followers also echoed.

　　The prince waved his hands and smiled bitterly: "Don't worry, I, Li Qiang, am not ready to surrender. But judging from the situation in the past few days, that old man Dong Xiuzhu is determined to deal with me. He has searched the prince's mansion several times and took away a lot of important evidence. If this continues, my crime will be proven and I will definitely be deposed by my father. This secret meeting with you is to see if there is any way to fight back!"

　　"Your Highness, at this point..."

　　Xu Chengdong's eyes flashed with ferocity and he lowered his voice. Everyone present immediately realized what he was going to say next and their hearts began to beat anxiously.

　　"You should know that the defense force of the capital city now is nothing more than the city defense camp and the imperial guards. It will take some time for other defense forces, including Marshal Min Rou's army, to reach the capital city. And the commander of the imperial guards, He Fengjia, is your highness's die-hard fan, which means that if something goes wrong, your highness can rely on the imperial guards to quickly control the situation in the capital city. If that time really comes, we might as well do it once and for all..."

　　Xu Chengdong's words were very blunt, but they were not without reason. Since ancient times, military power has been of great importance. If the prince could really cut the Gordian knot and stage a coup, and control the situation before the army arrived, then the prince would be the legitimate heir, and everyone would have to obey him even if they did not want to.

　　"That's a very good point."

　　The prince said, "General Xu, please pass on my order to dispatch 100,000 elite soldiers from Nanzhou to the capital as soon as possible. This way, we will have support inside and outside the capital, and we will have a place to fight to the bitter end!"

　　"What Commander Xu said makes sense, but this should be our worst-case scenario."

　　At this time, the man in black patted his clothes and said, "Before we go this far, I think we still have to work hard in other areas, such as the Queen Mother... You know, the Queen Mother herself has a very high prestige and connections in the court, and His Majesty trusts her very much. At the same time, the Su family is a famous and prestigious family, and many people hold important positions in the court. If we can ask the Queen Mother to say something good for His Highness, this matter may be able to turn around."

　　After saying this, he signaled Li Qiang with his eyes.

　　Everyone present only knew that the Crown Prince and the Queen had always had a good relationship, but at this critical moment, if the Queen did not support her own son and instead supported Li Qiang, no one would believe it. How could they know that the Crown Prince had an affair with the Queen?

　　However, Li Qiang nodded: "Mr. Song is right. I will definitely try to win the Empress's favor!"

　　I was thinking, this slut made such a solemn promise to me in bed, but I don't know if she will still help me at the critical moment. No, I have to sneak into the palace to see her.

　　So that evening, Su Yuexin was taking a break from her busy schedule to do some needlework for her son, when the eunuch Changshan came over stealthily and said that the Crown Prince Li Qiang wanted to see her. Su Yuexin was also shocked: Li Qiang dared to violate the emperor's ban and come to see him at this critical moment. It seemed that he really regarded her as a life-saving straw.

　　Su Yuexin adjusted her makeup in front of the mirror and smiled charmingly at the beauty in the mirror. She was ready to give the prince a dose of paralysis powder.

　　"Mother!"

　　"Qiang'er!"

　　In Weiyang Palace, Su Yuexin and Li Qiang hugged each other, and Li Qiang couldn't help but kiss this beautiful mature woman. Su Yuexin didn't avoid it this time, and this kiss might be her last farewell to Li Qiang.

　　The prince's hand brushed across the thin palace dress, across the peak of the beautiful woman's chest and the valley between her hips. Su Yuexin closed her eyes and felt it, as if she was back to that day on the rockery, making love. After a long time, she gently pushed Li Qiang away and comforted him softly, "Qiang'er, don't worry, I have been yours for a long time, and I will support you wholeheartedly."

　　Li Qiang was overjoyed and took the opportunity to discuss a series of ways to reverse the situation with Su Yuexin. Su Yuexin agreed to all of them and just treated them as perfunctory. Li Qiang didn't know and thought she was sincere. After talking for a while, his mood actually improved a lot.

　　Su Yuexin took the opportunity to suggest her true purpose: "Qiang'er, you have been in great trouble this time, and Concubine Hui is the most anxious. I think you should take this opportunity to meet with her secretly."

　　Li Qiang did not doubt him and repeatedly said yes. Even if Su Yuexin did not say it, he would go to visit his mother. Although he often used his biological mother, Concubine Hui, as a tool for sexual gratification, the mother-son relationship was always inseparable.

　　So under the cover of night, Su Yuexin saw Li Qiang off through the back door, unable to hide the smug look on her face.

　　At the same time, Emperor Li Su was thinking about his sister Li Yanlong's advice. After dinner, he specially dismissed everyone and decided to go to Concubine Hui's Zihuan Palace to take a look.