FID – Chapter 545

  Chapter 545: Concubine Dowager You Flatter Me

  ”The whole incident has been clarified. This was initially a family matter, but since it has come to the court, then it has to be dealt with according to the law of the land!” Feng Mohan sat back on the throne, restrained the coldness in his eyes and returned to his indifference.

  ”Headed by Liu Huai, the Liu clan and its members tampered with their genealogy in an attempt to deceive Zhen in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The crime of deceiving Zhen is unforgivable! He also bribed court officials and tampered with records of the court, an odious deed! These two crimes are to be punished at the same time. Liu Huai is sentenced to be beheaded and immediately taken into custody in the Imperial Prison! All members of the family present are also accomplices. They are guilty of the same crime and are sentenced to prison together! The rest of the Liu clan, who knowingly failed to report the crime and willingly tried to hoodwink others, are convicted as well! Search and seize the Liu residence, and the family is sentenced to exile!”

  ”The magistrate of the capital has judged the case unfairly and has been intentionally partial. In view of your many years as an official and managing the capital well, you are fined six months of salary! Any mistakes hereafter, you will be demoted!”

  ”Yunzhou Yamen dossier has been tampered with. Officials such as the magistrate of Yunzhou as well as high to low ranking officials are to blame. The magistrate of Yunzhou is sentenced to be demoted to the third grade, and relegated to Guinan to serve as a guard, and the rest will be removed from their official posts and never be hired again! The newly appointed magistrate will be assigned after consideration!”

  One after another punishment was handed down on the spot, but the four corners of the Hall of Supreme Harmony remained dead silent.

  The Emperor has uttered his gold decree. There was no room for maneuver.

  The Liu clan in the capital has been prosperous for a century, but at this point, they were utterly defeated.

  When Consort Liu heard the verdict, her face couldn’t be any paler.

  Liu Huai was still kneeling on the ground, and after forcing himself to listen to the verdict, he tasted something sweet that rose to his throat. He spurted out a mouthful of blood and fell backward.

  A muffled thud echoed, but nobody stepped forward to help or paid any attention to it.

  The descendants of the Liu clan who were kneeling behind him all were ashen-faced. The indifferent and cold voice of the young emperor was still echoing in their ears. All their future vanished, and the rest of their lives had to be spent in prison. At this point, who would care about the patriarch? They all wished they could tear Liu Huai to pieces!

  If it wasn’t for him, if it wasn’t for his refusal to bow down and his repeated calculations against the Xinliu Manor, how would they have ended up in this situation?

  A starved camel was still bigger than a horse. Though the family had fallen and lost its former glory, at least they could still live well, and even better than ordinary people.

  But what now?

  Beheaded, imprisoned, searched and seized and exiled!

  From today onwards, the Liu clan in the capital will truly become history in Nanling!

  Liu Yusheng and Liu Zhixia supported Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu respectively, watching the scene in front of them without saying a word.

  The fate of the Liu clan was self-inflicted.

  If it wasn’t for their opponent’s step-by-step calculations, they would never have landed in the minefields like today.

  It was just that although they won this battle, the faces of the elders did not look all pleasant.

  Having stayed in Xinghua Village for most of their lives, they heard with their own ears how His Majesty uttered decrees and chopped people’s heads on their first time in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The impact was really too great.

  What was more, the person who hammered down the sentences was the child who used to be coquettish in front of them. The two elders only felt their foreheads throb.

  Even when the order “Retreat!” came from above, the elders were still stunned.

  Now that the big show was over, the officials withdrew one after another.

  Consort Liu looked at the cold and indifferent man in front of her, gritted her teeth and sneered. Her eyes flashed scarlet, and the hatred in them was terrifying.

  ”Your Highness, wonderful move!”

  Feng Qingbai nodded slightly towards her. “Concubine Dowager, you flatter me.”

  After the retort, he turned around and followed Liu Yusheng and the others, leaving the Throne Room without any haste.

  In the blink of an eye, the large hall with glorious dragons and tigers seemed unusually empty.

  The guards captured all the members of the Liu clan. On another day, the patriarch would be beheaded, and the rest of them would be imprisoned for life.

  The others in the Liu manor who had not personally participated in this plan would also be exiled to distant lands while all the remaining property of the family would be confiscated.

  Now only the three women in the palace were spared from the once-prominent and renowned family.

  But what was the use?

  Consort Liu scanned the entire hall and burst out laughing.

  Without the support of the family and the financial resources to support her, even she would be unable to move an inch in the palace, and it would be difficult to regain her former glory!

  The instant the Liu family fell, Zuo Xiang, who used to be known as the iron triangle with her clan, immediately shunned her.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t ask him for mercy, but he didn’t even respond to her from the periphery of his vision!

  The other officials who had received countless gifts and benefits from the Liu clan in the past turned a blind eye to her, as if they had never interacted with her.

  Climb high and everyone will hold you, but fall downhill and everyone will give you a push!

  ”Hahahaha—” The grotesque laughter, shrill and ear-piercing, rang in the hall for a long time.

  The imperial guards, palace attendants, and others guarding the entrance of the Throne Room turned a deaf ear, and no one went in to consult her.

  Meanwhile, far away from the Throne Room, the two elders of the Liu family along with Liu Dalin and Chen Xiulan were still reeling and unable to recover. With each step they took, they felt like stepping on cotton, one step shallow and one step deep.

  From the beginning to the end of the matter, the elders didn’t say a word.

  Then, everything was over.

  They won, the Liu clan fell, and they became a branch of their family.

  Even this kind of inexplicable plot twist would never be staged in theaters.

  How did Axiu do it?

  ”Have you gotten married to the little girl? If not, why are you holding hands? Isn’t this taking advantage of her? Let go, let go!”

  When everyone in the Liu family turned around, what they saw was the face of the same person floating in their minds just now, which was dark and ugly.

  Meanwhile, Elder Jiu stepped in between Feng Qingbai and Nannan, staring up at him with his beard up, his small stature imposing.

  As for Nannan, she blushed and snickered while covering her mouth.

  It went without saying that Axiu took advantage of the elders’ inattention and covertly held Nannan’s hand. As a result, Elder Jiu sprang up out of the blue and ended it prematurely. 

  The few people couldn’t help laughing and turning around, pretending that they haven’t seen anything. Even Liu Dalin didn’t step forward to finish him off. He only muttered something under his breath, but there was a trace of a smile in his eyes.

  Chen Xiulan stared at her man and whispered, “Do you recognize this son-in-law?”

  ”Should I not recognize him? They are already engaged. You bastard, you don’t restrain yourself at all under the eyes of your elders.” As if torn between laughter and rebuking, Liu Dalin looked up at the buildings in front of him, with gratification and relief in his eyes.

  Today, he saw what this kid was truly capable of.

  The capital was complicated, especially when the water in the courtroom was deep. He has been reluctant to let go. What worried him the most was that once Nannan married into the capital and became a royal, she would face numerous crises.

  However, as long as Axiu could protect her, then he has nothing to worry about.

  As a father, he was lacking in ability, so he could only let someone more capable to protect the treasure in his palm.

  Besides, the two children have had a good relationship since childhood. Now that they were grown ups, there was no way he could break them up.

  Even if he were to block him, it would only be for show. How could he really tear them apart?

  The group followed the eunuch who led the way in the palace, and walked for a while on the white marble palace road with seven bends and eight turns. When a magnificent palace with carved beams and painted buildings appeared in front of them, the elders of the family realized they were not on the way out of the palace.

  In the main hall, a young man frequently stretched his neck out, anxious and impatient. As soon as he saw the crowd at the door of the hall, he immediately sat upright and waited for the eunuch at the door to bring them in.