Lord Wang and other ministers loyal to Emperor Rui were all staring intently at the imperial seat above.
What was Emperor Rui trying to pull? How had they never noticed before that he was so useless?
With Huo Qiyuan's affairs still unresolved, he now allowed a woman to sit beside the dragon throne in front of all the civil and military officials. After just two days of clarity, had he returned to his dissolute ways?
This time, it was even more outrageous. Judging by his demeanor, it was as if he wanted to cede the dragon throne to that woman!
No! Once Huo Qiyuan's matters were settled, they truly needed to plan a way out for themselves!
The older generation of officials, mindful of the woman's status, dared not speculate or speak out. The new faction of officials, cautious of Emperor Rui, did not concern themselves with such matters of imperial concubines, nor would they bring them up publicly, lest they embarrass the Emperor.
However, factions secretly colluding with other princes, especially those including members of the Censorate, would certainly not let this golden opportunity pass.
The more mistakes Emperor Rui made, the easier it would be to depose him later. Especially with such licentious behavior occurring in the solemn and sacred Golden Hall, in front of all the civil and military officials.
Censor Chen Wen stepped forward, knelt, and said righteously, "Your Majesty, who is this woman? Regardless of who she is, how dare she boldly sit by your side? I implore Your Majesty to execute this woman on the spot and uphold the dignity of the Great Yu imperial family."
Su Muqing had long anticipated that someone would step forward to target her. She idly twirled her hair, turned her head towards Emperor Rui with a smile, as if genuinely awaiting his punishment.
Stared at by Su Muqing, Emperor Rui's already flustered heart became even more terrified. He looked up at Censor Chen Wen with a gaze filled with malevolence.
"Presumptuous! Guards, drag Chen Wen down and behead him!" It was natural for censors to offer advice. Emperor Rui could not accuse Chen Wen of disrespecting the sovereign, so he could only quickly drag him away for execution.
Chen Wen had intended to earn a merit and show off before his true master. But he hadn't expected Emperor Rui to resort to this tactic, dragging him away without question or trial. In doing so, not only would he die, but his entire family would likely not survive!
"Your Majesty! As a Censor, my duty is to offer advice. You would execute a remonstrating official for a woman of unknown origin? By doing so, where do you place the civil and military officials? Where do you place the fundamental laws and ethics of the Great Yu Dynasty? Do you truly not care about how the world views you, Your Majesty…?"
Chen Wen struggled fiercely. Emperor Rui said nothing. Before his secret master could speak up for him, he was dragged away by the Imperial Guards.
"Your Majesty, I am the Vice Censor-in-Chief! Your Majesty, by doing this, you will surely be criticized by the world! You…"
Emperor Rui shot up from the dragon throne, emotionally shouting at the Imperial Guards, "You useless fools, quickly cover his mouth! You useless fools…"
He dared not vent his anger at Huo Qiyuan, nor could he lose his temper with Su Muqing. He could only unleash all the pent-up fury of the past two days onto the innocent Imperial Guards.
The guards dragging Chen Wen, seeing the Emperor's outburst, frantically covered Chen Wen's mouth and hastened their steps to drag him out, fearing that if they were even a moment too late, they too would suffer.
"Mmm… Let go… Mmm… Your… Mmm… Mmm…" Chen Wen was dragged away, and Emperor Rui was covered in cold sweat.
This proved that killing one to warn a hundred was indeed effective. Emperor Rui regained control of his emotions and sat back down on the dragon throne.
Consequently, no one else in the hall, regardless of their faction or any doubts and speculations they held about Su Muqing's identity, dared to utter another word.
"Please, Your Majesty, execute Huo Qiyuan!" Lord Wang, seeing that the matter had veered off track again, quickly shifted the focus from Su Muqing to Huo Qiyuan.
"What does Your Majesty think?" Huo Qiyuan did not answer these people but stared intently at Emperor Rui on the throne.
Everyone in the hall felt a jumble of emotions, sensing that the situation was strange, as if something was developing in an unknown and terrifying direction.
A woman of unknown identity, and the sudden appearance of Huo Qiyuan. Since he dared to appear in the hall today, it must be regarding the case of Prince Regent's Estate.
If that was the case, why did he dare to appear so openly? Even more bewildering, how could he address the Emperor with such an attitude?
Thinking this, everyone's gaze automatically shifted away from the woman beside them and fell entirely on Emperor Rui on the dragon throne.
The hall was in an uproar. Emperor Rui had not yet recovered from his sudden outburst of rage. He glanced at the head eunuch and said, "Read it!" He said nothing more.
The hall immediately fell silent! Read what? Why was the Emperor so peculiar today? Since Huo Qiyuan had delivered himself, as long as he was apprehended and executed, the matter of Prince Regent's Estate could be completely buried.
But why did he seem oblivious to it all? Could it be that his statement yesterday about overturning the verdict for Huo Sizhun was serious?
The head eunuch held a thick stack of papers and stood in a side position. These were brought by Huo Qiyuan for Emperor Rui. Unlike the imperial memorials the Emperor usually used, the material of these papers was something they had never seen before.
After placing the tray into the hands of another young eunuch, the head eunuch cleared his throat, picked up the topmost document, and began to read it aloud.
"Confession letter: Huo Qixiao, eldest son of the second branch of the Huo family, greedy for power, deliberately framed Prince Regent Huo Sizhun. In the thirteenth year of Jinghong, he bribed servants of the Prince Regent's Estate and secretly transported all evidence to the estate. He then threatened Huo Siming of the fourth branch of the Huo family, compelling him to falsely accuse Prince Regent's Estate of colluding with the enemy and betraying the nation in the Golden Hall…"
This was a confession letter from Huo Qixiao. Upon hearing the first two sentences, all the civil and military officials fell silent.
Huo Siming, standing below, began to tremble all over. When he heard his name, his legs started to shake. What was bound to come would eventually come, no matter how long it took to hide from it.
After reading the first confession letter from Huo Qixiao, the head eunuch's lips were already foaming slightly.
As the attendees below were pondering the contents of the confession letter, the head eunuch's voice rang out again.
"In the thirteenth year of Jinghong, Wang Lingfu's son, Wang Hongyuan, colluded with Huo Qixiao to poison Huo Qiyuan. After the main general disappeared, he revealed most of our army's deployment information to the enemy generals. Privately, he exchanged numerous letters and carried on clandestine dealings. Later, while leading troops in support, he deliberately delayed, causing our army to be isolated and helpless, resulting in the innocent deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. After the defeat, several cities were ceded…"
As the contents read by the head eunuch reached the ears of the assembled officials, over a dozen more eunuchs stepped forward. Each holding a piece of evidence, they displayed them one by one to the civil and military officials.