LRAB Chapter 365 How dare you?
Chapter 365 How dare you?
Cui Xianhui glared at the emperor with resentment. "It was the Empress who ruined the Cui family! It was the Empress! I have no more relatives to exterminate! Hahaha, I'm not afraid of anything anymore!"
She's gone mad! "This wicked empress is ruling tyrannically! I beg for the sake of the people! If you don't depose the empress, I'll have no choice but to sacrifice the Eighth Prince to the heavens!"
As she spoke, the tip of the hairpin pierced the Eighth Prince's neck a crack, blood flowed out, and Consort Yuan screamed, unable to bear it any longer, and fainted.
"Waaah!" The Eighth Prince looked at his mother and cried like a cub struggling for its life, looking extremely pitiful.
He rarely saw his father, had no concept of his father, and only knew to ask his mother for help.
Li Yuanke looked at Cui Xianhui, seemingly hesitant.
Cui Xianhui was momentarily lost in thought, a hint of joy appearing on her face. She couldn't help but recall the amazement she felt when she first saw the Crown Prince as a child, the anticipation before entering the palace, the excitement of waiting to be summoned, and the countless schemes she later devised to secure his favor...
She saw the emperor raise his wrist, and a silver light shot towards her.
Cui Xianhui's eyes widened, and in the last instant, as she let go, she saw the deep disgust in the Emperor's eyes.
This was the last impression she left on the world.
"Waaah!" The Eighth Prince finally burst into tears.
Consort Yuan rushed towards the child, only to see the Emperor stride over, lift the Eighth Prince into his arms, and pat the child's tender back, saying, "It's alright, don't be afraid, she's dead..."
Upon hearing this, Consort Yuan nearly went mad. Forgetting all about offending him, she snatched the item away, saying, "Your Majesty, the Eighth Prince is still young. We don't know if he's alive or dead."
The child rushed into his mother's arms, and Li Yuanke lost all interest in being a loving father, so he lashed out at Consort Xian and Consort Shu.
"The Empress was busy with other matters and entrusted you with the management of the six palaces, which shows her trust in you. Is this how you handle things?" Li Yuanke said angrily.
"How did Lady Cui get out of here? Given that she was banished to the cold palace and is the daughter of a disgraced official, how is she still alive?"
Both Consort Xian and Consort Shu were stunned.
What is the Empress doing? Everyone knows she's busy with state affairs. Who is she helping?
How dare the Emperor say that?
Consort Shu, unable to bear it any longer, said, "Your Majesty, since she is the daughter of a disgraced official, she should have been sentenced to death. Yet you have only banished her to the Cold Palace. My sister Consort Xian and I were thinking that if you were to desire her again someday, and she were to die, it would be a small matter if you punished us, but it would be a great matter if it displeased Your Majesty!"
Li Yuanke looked her over and remembered Li Fude's words that Consort Shu and the Empress "had a very pleasant conversation." So, it was just with her words that she won the Empress's favor.
"With such a sharp tongue, it's a waste of your talent not to be a censor!" Li Yuanke said disdainfully. "Are you blaming me? Do you think it's my fault? That I didn't order Cui's execution in time, which led to this mess?"
Consort Shu dared not confront him directly, and knelt down to beg for forgiveness, "This concubine deserves to die, this concubine dares not!"
"You dare to do this!" Li Yuanke roared. "Consort Xian and Consort Shu have failed in their management of the harem; they shall be punished with a six-month salary deduction. All the guilty consorts in the Cold Palace shall be executed!"
Li Yuanke left, and Consort Shu was so angry that she vomited blood. Looking at the Emperor's back, she wished she could pounce on him and bite him to death.
She clutched her chest, "Mother, heavens and earth, just take me with you!"
Consort Xian could only appease her, "Alright, stop talking nonsense! This time it was our dereliction of duty. We never expected that she would actually manage to get out and cause such a big commotion. Fortunately, the Eighth Prince is unharmed, otherwise we would truly be guilty beyond redemption!"
Consort Shu was still furious. "Believe it or not, this is absolutely not Her Majesty the Empress's intention. Sigh, well, it was my fault for talking back. Otherwise, His Majesty might not have even thought of punishing us."
Half a year's salary was nothing to Consort Shu, as she was supported by her father and brothers on a daily basis.
Consort Xian was no exception; her family always provided support.
But if you work yourself to the bone, still working for someone else without getting paid a penny, and then get fined in the end, who would feel good about that?
Naturally, Shen Shixi did not let the two work for nothing. Every time he bestowed a reward, the Xianfei and Shufei palaces were always the first to receive it. But to the two of them, the Empress was the Empress and the Emperor was the Emperor.
Anyway, they didn't see any benefit from the emperor, and they lost half a year's salary.
Consort Yuan stepped forward and cried, "It's all my fault! I didn't keep a good eye on the Eighth Prince, and now both of you have been punished because of him. What should I do?"
Consort Xian hurriedly said, "How can this be your fault? Oh well, it's all in the past. Fortunately, it was just a salary penalty. Everyone should be more careful in the future."
The other concubines were also still shaken.
Just now, when the Emperor raised his wrist, a white light flashed and struck Cui Shi right between the eyebrows. Cui Shi's eyes rolled back, her face was covered in blood, and she fell to the ground dead. It was truly terrifying.
The Eighth Prince was quite frightened. Consort Yuan took him back to the palace and hurriedly ordered someone to summon the imperial physician. He was given a calming medicine and fell asleep after drinking it.
The child was too young to witness the dead body directly. Although she was being held hostage, she was still her biological mother. Although there were marks on her neck, they were very shallow, and the shock she suffered was limited.
Cui died, which led to the deaths of Liang Anlan and Pan Zhiheng. A white silk ribbon was used to send her to her death, which was not entirely unjust, since they were both noble ladies from high-ranking families. Their families either plotted rebellion or participated in it. For example, the Pan family was implicated by the Duke of Xin's mansion.
But Wang Yuehuai also lost his life, which was truly a miscarriage of justice.
Although her father was a scoundrel, at least he didn't rebel or plot a treason!
Where can I seek justice?
Yuan Zhaoyue was so frightened that she trembled. If it had been just a little bit worse, the two of them would have lost their lives as well.
Four people died in one go. Neither the Emperor nor the Empress said how they would be buried. Consort Xian and Consort Shu discussed it and decided that since they were the Emperor's concubines, they would be buried in a thin coffin in the suburbs.
The Emperor had just ordered that Consort Xian and Consort Shu be punished with half a year's salary reduction, and Shen Shixi immediately rewarded each of them with five hundred taels of silver and four bolts of palace satin.
Li Yuanke was furious. "You bastard, what are you doing winning them over? They're my concubines, not yours!"
Shen Shixi felt that Li Yuanke was becoming more and more irritable. Sure enough, taking care of a child can drive a person crazy.
For details, please refer to the parents of later generations who were so angered by their money-devouring beasts that they developed high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar.
"Managing the six palaces was originally my responsibility, but I was too lazy to manage it. If I let them manage it for me, trouble is bound to happen. Since you've become the bad guy, I can only play the good guy. I can't let people's hearts be broken."
Li Yuanke said, "They don't receive a monthly salary? They just take the money and don't do any work? What's wrong with letting them manage the six palaces? That's giving them face!"
[They're paid a salary, and they were supposed to be doing work related to carrying on the family line. Now they've been reassigned without even being consulted. Shouldn't they be given some kind of benefit?]
Li Yuanke was amused.
Consort Xian and Consort Shu felt much better after receiving the reward.
Don't they feel bad about what happened?
But Li Yuanke didn't care who was suffering or not; all he saw was dereliction of duty.
Shen Shixi is finally able to find the time to look into the affairs of the Institute of Physics. In the past two or three years, the Institute of Physics has achieved good results and developed a lot of technological products, such as rice pounding, which eliminates the need for pestles and mortars.
Mills were built along the river and the lake, using water flow to power the machines for pounding rice and grinding flour.
Its high efficiency goes without saying.
As for plows, textiles, and other similar devices, the ones that the emperor and empress personally demonstrated back then are now popular all over the country, with a high rate of adoption and greatly improved labor efficiency.
In the past, when Ruzhou and other places suffered from drought, Li Yuanyin and Shen Sanxiong opened "factories" there. Now, the workshop economy is also thriving.
There is also the development of special commercial zones.
In just a few years, commercial taxes almost caught up with agricultural taxes, and the national strength of the Great Zhou Dynasty increased by leaps and bounds.
Upon hearing that the Empress had summoned him, Liu Jingzhong hurried over.
He is now one of the three ministers, and he is very clear about what his main task as a minister is.