Chapter 294 - Empress Zhao Huiying Cornered

Upon hearing these words, all the officials and women in the hall panicked. Rebel? That was a capital crime. Moreover, every time the Emperor was dethroned, a group of officials would be beheaded and dismissed by the new Emperor. Those who could truly stand intact were all from great families that had been passed down for generations. What should they do?

At this moment, many people were wondering if they should take advantage of this opportunity to swear allegiance. However, if this was not a rebellion and they jumped onto the wrong band, the result was predictable.

Patriarch of the Zhao Family, Zhao Kun, stood up and walked to the Empress. Looking at the expressionless men of sacrifice at the door, he was extremely indignant as he thought about how to deal with them after the Crown Prince ascended the throne.

“Her Majesty is the Mother of the country, and the Crown Prince is the next Emperor. How dare you be so rude to them? You are clearly ordered by someone with evil intentions. Fellow colleagues, how can we just sit by and do nothing at this moment?”

The officials who had reached an agreement with the Zhao Family took the opportunity to stand out and aired their support, “That’s right. If something serious hadn’t happened, why would we be locked up? We must rush out and protect His Majesty as soon as possible.”

“Yes, His Majesty is blessed by the heavens. He will definitely be fine. It’s just that the situation is critical. Please give the order, Your Highness.”

“The two lords are right. His Highness the Crown Prince is both virtuous and talented. He is the most favored heir of the Emperor. We naturally have to obey His Highness’ orders.”

Zhao Huiying turned around and looked at the officials who stood out one after another. She said with a smile on her face. “Respectable lords, His Majesty’s safety is the most important issue right now. We should think of a way to find him first.”

She had already told Xiao Jingran that if the Emperor was willing to write an edict of abdication for the Crown Prince to ascend the throne, Xiao Jingran should drug him and let him survive. If he was not willing to cooperate, then he could only blame himself for being insensible.

Zhao Kun was excited. At this time, he could almost touch the upcoming success. Thinking of the scene of the Zhao Family’s prosperity after the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he could not control the expression on his face. The corners of his eyes and eyebrows were full of smiles.

“Your Majesty, we will definitely listen to your orders. However, I wonder if there are people here who work for the rebel?”

As he spoke, he swept his gaze over the officials who were sitting motionless like a mountain. These people were unwilling to swear allegiance to the Crown Prince, so it was inevitable that they would cause trouble. It was better to kill them once and for all as soon as possible.

Hearing his words, Zhao Huiying looked at the silent officials. “We are going out to save His Majesty, but you do not voice your support. Could it be as Patriarch Zhao said, you are secretly colluding with the traitors?”

“Your Majesty, although you are the Empress, you can’t turn black into white. You said that someone was rebelling just because there are people guarding the door and not letting you out. This is too ridiculous.”

“Yes, and the women in the harem are not allowed to interfere with affairs of the state. Even if something really happens, it is His Highness the Crown Prince’s business. Your Majesty, you stretch your hand too far.”

Zhao Huiying suddenly turned to look at the Minister of War who said these words. “Minister of War, I remember that you have a good relationship with Royal Prince Yi Mansion. Back then, your wife was able to deliver safely because of Princess Zhaohua…”

She did not finish her sentence, but the threat in her tone was evident.

Suddenly, it became quiet outside.

Zhao Huiying’s eyes suddenly trembled, and she did not have the patience to argue with these officials anymore. She said in a stern voice, “If you support the Crown Prince, then everything will be fine. If you have malicious intentions, then you are all traitors, and you, your family members, and all your relatives shall be killed!”

As she spoke, she raised her foot and was about to walk out. The sword in the man of sacrifice’s hand flashed, and with a swish sound, the tip of the sword brushed past Zhao Huiying’s cheek. The cold sword qi caused her cheek to suddenly hurt.

“You, you actually dare to attack me. I will kill you!”

“Who are you going to kill?” A deep voice filled with anger sounded out, speaking the words one by one.

When hearing this voice, the people in the hall suddenly fell silent, each having a different expression.

Zhao Kun was scared to the point that his legs went limp and he knelt on the ground. His entire body was covered in sweat like a pool of mud, and only the word “doomed” remained in his heart.

Zhao Huiying’s face was deathly pale, and the nine-tailed phoenix hairpin on her head swayed violently. She felt as if her tongue had been cut off and she was unable to speak.

The men of sacrifice who were guarding at the door bowed in unison. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

There was blood on Baili Qingcang’s body, and he stared at Zhao Huiying with cold eyes as if he wanted to see her heart through her beautiful skin. “Empress, who were you going to kill?”

There was a layer of cold sweat on Zhao Huiying’s back. She quickly reacted and wanted to step forward to help Baili Qingcang, but a man of sacrifice reached out and stopped her. She could only kneel on the spot. “Your Majesty, it’s great that you are fine.”

Baili Qingcang curled his lips in ridicule and asked meaningfully, “It seems that you are extremely worried about my safety?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. You are the lord of all people and also my husband. How can I not worry about you?” Zhao Huiying raised her head and looked eagerly at the cold and cheerless Emperor. She felt extremely difficult to say each word. Her heart was bleeding with hatred, but she had to say so to please him. When had she ever been humiliated like this?

Baili Qingcang seemed to have heard something extremely funny. Under the men of sacrifice’s protection, he walked to the seat of honor in the hall and sat down. Looking at Zhao Huiying who was on her knees, he couldn’t help wondering why he had never found that this was a poisonous scorpion wrapped in the skin of a beauty.

“Oh, so you insisted on rushing out because you were worried about me. I thought you were in a hurry to see if I’m dead.”

Zhao Huiying was extremely flustered. She could only bite the tip of her tongue and use the pain to calm down. “Your Majesty, your words are too harsh. I only hope that you can live a long and healthy life. How dare I have such disrespectful thoughts?”

Baili Qingcang sneered and suddenly threw the table in front of him to the ground. The cups and bowls on the table shattered on the ground, shocking the officials so much that they immediately knelt and bowed their heads, not daring to make a sound.

“Even now, you are still pretending? Zhao Huiying, you are the Empress I used the Phoenix Carriage to bring through Chengqian Gate into the imperial palace. Your status is lower only than mine, but you are still so greedy! I have made your son the Crown Prince, and sooner or later the throne will be his, but you are still not satisfied. You actually conspired with the Zhao Family to rebel. How bold!”

Zhao Kun, who was on his hands and knees, trembled uncontrollably. When he heard Baili Qingcang’s words, he immediately crawled to the front of him and cried with tears on his face.

“Your Majesty, I didn’t know about this matter. It was all the Empress’ idea. She said that if I wanted to survive, I should help the Crown Prince ascend to the throne. I strongly disagree, but although I am the Zhao Family’s patriarch on the surface, the whole family is actually under the control of the Empress. I am just a puppet. Your Majesty, please scrutinize!”

Zhao Huiying felt her blood boiling in her chest. “Eldest Brother, you…you…” She never thought that Zhao Kun was so useless. Before the Emperor said anything, he confessed everything.

Zhao Kun continued to kowtow, and his forehead soon began to bleed, but he did not dare to stop. He did not want to die. Not a bit!

Baili Qingcang was furious. “Zhao Huiying, your eldest brother has identified you. What else do you have to say?”

“Your Majesty, I don’t even have the intention to rebel. How can I do such a thing? Someone must be setting me up. Please scrutinize, Your Majesty.” Zhao Huiying knew that she was in a hopeless situation, but she did not want to die. At this time, she could only try her best to argue. Biyun Pavilion and Qingtian Pavilion’s people did things very neatly. As long as the Emperor could not find any evidence, he could convict her.

“You won’t shed tears until you see the coffin. Zhao Huiying, I didn’t expect you to be so stubborn. Someone, bring Princess Wenhe up.” At this time, she actually still wanted to take her chances.

Qing Que and Hong Ling carried Princess Wenhe in, and Shen Ninghua followed behind with Baili Junyi beside her. They slowly walked into the hall.

Zhao Huiying felt a dull pain in her chest. She thought, “It’s fine if Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi didn’t die, but why is that Bu Tinghe still alive? What exactly is going on? Why didn’t Biyun Pavilion and Qingtian Pavilion take action?”

When Bu Tinghe saw the Empress, she struggled and was about to pounce over. Her expression was like that of an evil ghost. “Empress, you actually sent someone to kill me. You have such vicious thoughts. What enmity do I have with you?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

Bu Tinghe anxiously looked at Baili Qingcang. “Your Majesty, it was the Empress who sent people to kill me. She has two forces under her control. One is Biyun Pavilion and the other is Qingtian Pavilion…If I weren’t lucky today, I would have been killed by the people Biyun Pavilion planted among my maids.”

Soon, the leader of the Dragon Scale Army also rushed over with a few tokens in his hand. “Your Majesty, when we were cleaning up the rebel army, a few people fought desperately, but we managed to kill all of them. These are the tokens found on their bodies.”

Looking at the tokens engraved with the words “Biyun” and “Qingtian”, Baili Qingcang threw them in front of Zhao Huiying. “Vicious woman, what else do you have to say?”

Zhao Huiying’s straight body finally couldn’t hold on any longer. She suddenly fell to the ground. Looking at the blood-stained tokens in front of her, she felt her vision turning blood-red. She could not help but spit out a mouthful of blood. “Puff!” She was doomed. This time she was really cornered.

Baili Qingcang turned his gaze to the Crown Prince, who had been silent all this time. His gaze was intertwined with resentment and sadness. It was indescribably complicated. Although he was disappointed with the Zhao Family and the Empress and secretly rooted out their forces, he had never thought of deposing the Crown Prince. He had even been secretly paving the way for the Crown Prince to the throne.

All along, the Crown Prince had always been respectful and filial to him. He also appreciated the Crown Prince’s talents and felt that he was the most suitable candidate for the throne. But this child had been led astray by his mother.

After a long silence, Baili Qingcang finally spoke, “I’m going to depose the Empress and the Crown Prince!”

The Empress suddenly raised her head. She finally shed tears. “Your Majesty, this is all my idea. It has nothing to do with the Crown Prince. He doesn’t know anything. Please scrutinize, Your Majesty!”

The Crown Prince Baili Jinyi had been kneeling on the ground. Hearing this, he directly stepped forward to support Zhao Huiying. “Mother Empress, you don’t have to say anymore. I am guilty and I also plead guilty. Father Emperor, please punish me!”

Shen Ninghua looked at the Crown Prince’s calm face. Her eyebrows moved slightly, and a deep thought flashed in her eyes. Baili Jinyi actually admitted his guilt so easily?