webnovelfull Chapter 657 Sending propositions
Chapter 657 Sending propositions
Hearing this, Shen Shuyi looked at Lu Qing coldly, without any panic.
"Your Majesty, there is no need to instigate. I pay what I should pay, enjoy what I should enjoy, and refuse what I should refuse. I am not greedy or robbed. It is all based on my ability. What's more, the biggest difference between you and me is that although I dare not call myself a good person, my mind is pure and upright!"
Lu Qing didn't expect that Shen Shuyi would have the courage to say these words openly.
"Lv Qing, what else do you have to say?" Emperor Qianwu spoke in a cold voice. At this moment, under the extreme disappointment and anger, he became calm instead.
With red eyes, Lü Qing looked at Emperor Qianwu, smiled, and asked, "Your Majesty, how do you plan to deal with my brother and the Lü family?"
Emperor Qianwu looked at her in silence, obviously not intending to answer.
Lu Qing laughed at herself and said, "Look, Your Majesty, you have never believed me."
Just then, Xiao Heyu got the news and hurried over.
Wang Xi whispered, "Your Majesty, the Third Prince requests an audience."
Hearing her son's name, Concubine Rou slowly stood up, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and tried to look dignified and gorgeous.
However, no matter how well she concealed it, the bloodstain on her face could not be wiped off.
Lu Qing raised her eyes and looked outside the door. She didn't want to be honored and favored all her life only to end up in a miserable state. Even if she died, she wanted to die with dignity.
"Your Majesty, no matter what, He Yu is our son. I know I am to blame for this, but this has nothing to do with He Yu."
As if she was afraid of implicating her son, Lu Qing readily admitted all the crimes.
Emperor Qianwu looked sullen and looked directly at Lu Qing with red eyes.
After a while, he said in a deep voice: "Let him in."
Not long after, Xiao Heyu hurriedly walked into the side hall of Lanxin Palace. Xiao Heyu looked up and saw his mother with bloodstains on her face.
Even though Lu Qing tried her best to pretend nothing happened, Xiao Heyu still saw through the clues at a glance.
Lu Qing looked at her son with sad eyes.
He came too early. Coming at this time would only make His Majesty suspicious, and...what's the point of coming at this time?
At the very least, he should wait until His Majesty issues an order to execute her before he can plead with his father.
But this is her son... the son she raised, the son she wanted to protect at all costs.
"Greetings to the Emperor, the Grandmother, and the Mother." Xiao Heyu forced himself to lower his head, not daring to look at Lu Qing again.
Emperor Qianwu looked normal: "Why is Yu'er here?"
Xiao Heyu said, "My eldest uncle went to war today, and I was worried that my mother would miss me, so I wanted to pay her a visit in Rouxi Palace. But later I heard that my mother was not in the palace. I was just about to go and pay my visit to my father, but I heard that he had led people to this Lanxin Palace..."
The explanation given by Xiao Heyu is quite reasonable.
But whether Emperor Qianwu believed it or not is another matter.
"You are very filial." Emperor Qianwu sneered, with great sarcasm in his eyes.
Seeing this scene, Lu Qing's heart ached, and she said, "Your Majesty, when the incident happened, He Yu was not yet born. All of this was done by me alone, and has nothing to do with him!"
"Mother!" Xiao Heyu's eyes turned red.
Emperor Qianwu looked at Xiao Heyu and said in a deep voice, "Yu'er, your father has always valued you, but I didn't expect that your mother was so vicious. Not only did she collude with Concubine Gong to murder your second uncle Xiao Huaijin, she also poisoned the queen and set fire to and killed the palace maids. How do you think your father should deal with her?"
Shen Shuyi looked at the cold-faced Emperor Qianwu and the stunned Xiao Heyu, and felt that this was a life-threatening question.
From a public perspective, Concubine Rou plotted to murder the royal family and the current queen, and she deserves death!
But privately, she is Xiao Heyu's biological mother, and her kindness to him is heavier than Mount Tai.
Therefore, no matter what choice Xiao Heyu makes, it will be wrong. If he asks Emperor Qianwu to forgive Concubine Rou, he will be bending the law for personal gain, and he will be unworthy of being a prince and unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility.
If he punished Concubine Rou severely according to her crime, he would be considered cruel and heartless, disregarding her loved ones, unworthy of being a child, and cold-blooded.
Sure enough, when Xiao Heyu heard what Emperor Qianwu asked, his Adam's apple moved and the corners of his eyes turned red. He obviously understood that Emperor Qianwu had taken his anger out on him.
Lu Qing smiled, not wanting to embarrass him, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, I know that I have committed a grave sin and I wish to die, but Yu'er is innocent, please consider the relationship between father and son and take care of him."
Emperor Qianwu sneered and said, "I am asking him."
Lu Qing's face turned pale and her eyes were filled with tears.
Facing the gaze of Emperor Qianwu, Xiao Heyu slowly knelt on the ground and kowtowed heavily to Emperor Qianwu.
"Father, if Mother really did what you said and murdered my uncle and mother, she should be executed. However, Mother has been so kind to me, so I am willing to take the blame for you and die!"
Xiao Heyu's words were powerful and at this moment, his charming peach blossom eyes were bloodshot and full of determination.
Shen Shuyi looked at this scene and had to admit that Xiao Heyu was indeed mentally capable to have come this far.
These words actually gave a satisfactory answer.
It seems that although Emperor Qianwu hated Concubine Rou, he did not want his son to be a cold-blooded person who could be so cruel as to kill his own mother!
Sure enough, seeing Xiao Heyu like this, Emperor Qianwu's expression eased a little.
"Come here, Concubine Lu poisoned my brother Xiao Huaijin and Empress Chen, tortured and killed palace maids, and deceived her superiors and subordinates. Such evil deeds are unforgivable, but I am concerned about our youth and friendship, so I will strip her of her title, demote her to a concubine, and imprison her in the Frost Palace, and she is not allowed to leave for life."
Emperor Qianwu looked coldly at the woman in front of him with whom he had walked hand in hand for half his life. His eyes were cold and disappointed. He was reluctant to let her go, but more of it was anger and disappointment.
But by this time, those emotions seemed to have calmed down.
Perhaps for the emperor, all emotions can only be digested silently alone in the middle of the night.
Lu Qing smiled, tears in her eyes, and remained calm.
She kowtowed to Emperor Qianwu and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
The Queen Mother looked at Concubine Rou coldly, her eyes full of hatred. She just felt that her son's treatment of Lu Qing was too lenient.
But she knew better that he was still the Son of Heaven, the emperor.
Now that Lu Xiao is leading troops outside, he cannot kill Lu Qing at this time, lest Lu Xiao be forced to rebel. What's more, the Lu family has been in power for many years, and even though he is the emperor, he always has to have his considerations.
However, when she thought of Xiao Huaijin's death, the Queen Mother still felt a burning hatred...
In the end, not only did her daughter die at the hands of that bitch, but even her son was killed by her!
Xiao Heyu's eyes turned red as he looked at Concubine Rou with reluctance, but he knew that this was the best outcome at the moment.
At least, my father has saved my mother's life.
Lu Qing was even calmer. As long as she was not implicated with He Yu, and as long as He Yu was still the son in his heart, it was fine.
Now that the incident has happened, it is actually a good thing. In this way, the floods in the south of the Yangtze River and the problems of ghost employees can be blamed on her.
In this way, perhaps his brother and some members of the Lu family could be saved, and He Yu's future would still be hopeful.
But at this moment, Li Yun hurried in from outside and whispered, "Your Majesty, thank you for your audience."
Emperor Qianwu frowned: "Why did he come here?"
Li Yun paused, glanced at Emperor Qianwu's expression, and said cautiously, "Thank you... Thank you for saying you want to impeach... His Royal Highness the Third Prince!"