Ye Ranyi

Chapter 241 - 225: Voluntarily Requesting Clan Exile (2nd Update)

Chapter 241: Chapter 225: Voluntarily Requesting Clan Exile (2nd Update)


"Fanghua..."


"Mother, your daughter knows her mistakes."


The last plea was heart-wrenching; she looked at the Empress Dowager, unable to stop her tears.


The cry felt like it choked the Empress Dowager, making her throat tight and painful.


"Yanqing is my biological child. A child’s misconduct reflects the mother’s fault. If he faces misfortune, it’s all due to my selfishness. If he faces disaster, it’s as if I’m driven to death."


The Empress Dowager closed her eyes, her heart aching, "Fanghua, why do you suffer?"


"As long as he can be spared, I’m willing to voluntarily abandon my title, be demoted to a commoner, never again be a favored child of heaven, never step foot in the Imperial City, never oppose mother at every turn."


The Empress Dowager’s eyes reddened; after a long silence, she spoke, "What you’re doing is tearing at my heart."


The Eldest Princess sobbed, "As a wife, I failed to hold on to my trust in Lu Xingzhou, returning pregnant with someone else’s child to marry him—it’s betrayal; as a daughter, I’ve repeatedly defied my biological mother’s intentions—it’s unfilial; as a mother, I’ve neglected my son’s education, pushing the blame onto others—it’s merciless; as a Da Chu Princess, I’ve been selfish and self-serving, never fulfilling a day’s duty as a princess—it’s unjust.


Such Zhao Xunyin, who is disloyal, unfilial, unmerciful, and unjust, is not worthy of holding the princess title, nor of being part of the Royal Family. I am not fit to live either. But if I seek death, my mother raised me in vain, my husband waited in vain, my son loses his mother in vain. Betraying everyone would be another grave sin."


At the end, she was already sobbing, bowing with her blood-stained forehead on the ground, "I beg mother to permit the removal of my title, to erase my name from the Royal Jade Scroll; from now on, I’ll follow my mother’s surname Mei. In the Zhao Imperial Court, Zhao Xunyin shall exist no more."


The Empress Dowager tightly pressed her lips, saying nothing for a while.


She has just this one daughter, who should have been cherished with utmost care, but the daughter fell for the Lu Family boy.


At that time, blinded by hatred, she sought only vengeance, venting all her anger on that old scoundrel’s sons and grandsons. Gradually, she became estranged from her daughter, shifting her focus to her son.


To help her son consolidate power, she even forced her already-married daughter to come back and remarry.


Originally, it seemed the mother and daughter would only be trapped in mutual resentment for life, yet she never anticipated her daughter would one day voluntarily renounce her title and request expulsion from the Imperial Family for that child’s sake.


But once this burdensome identity is put aside, Fanghua is a part of her flesh, a daughter she personally raised; now seeing her daughter in such a state, how could as a biological mother she remain unaffected?


"Mother, I beg you, please."


The Eldest Princess continued kowtowing, the unhealed wound on her forehead bleeding again.


The Empress Dowager clenched the fingers hidden in her wide sleeves, her fingernails digging into her palm’s flesh, yet it was a mere fraction of her heartache.


Ultimately, she could not bear to let her daughter go, "I no longer control affairs, cannot make decisions."


The Eldest Princess’s kneeling body trembled slightly.


——


Cheng Fei and Su Yaojun had already been brought to the Golden Hall.


At the sight of Lu Yanqing bound and kneeling, both of them shivered.


Knowing this was no ordinary occasion, they hurriedly knelt to give ceremonial respects to the Emperor.


Emperor Guangxi did not give Lu Yanqing a chance to speak, instead directly looked at the Jinyiwei Commander, "Was there any prior interrogation?"


The Commander nodded, reported, "This minister has already thoroughly questioned them. Four years ago, in the month of Lixia, Cheng Fei went out hunting, Su Yaojun went south to visit kin and did not accompany Young Marquis to play."


Lu Yanqing heard this and sharply looked at Cheng Fei and Su Yaojun, his eyes circling over them, gradually turning cold, "Good, very good! You were the ones who gave advice back then, now, as disaster looms, abandoning me to flee for yourselves—this too lies with you. If possible, it’s best not to let me walk out of the Jinluan Palace alive, otherwise I’ll skin you two alive!"


Su Yaojun looked blankly at Lu Yanqing, "Young Marquis, what are you talking about, I don’t understand any of it."


"Playing dumb, are you?" If not bound by rope, Lu Yanqing truly wished to charge over and kick him.


Su Yaojun slightly turned his head, no longer daring to directly meet Lu Yanqing’s gaze, while at the same time, the sinister glare from his uncle, Prime Minister Su, made him involuntarily shiver.


Cheng Fei, facing such a grand scene for the first time, was already bloodless, lips trembling and unable to speak, his body shaking fiercely.


Emperor Guangxi looked towards Lu Yanqing, "Do you have anything else to say?"


Lu Yanqing angrily gritted his teeth, "If you cannot prove Cheng Fei and Su Yaojun were with me during Lixia four years ago, then the evidence is insufficient, the case doesn’t hold!"


Su Xiang angrily retorted, "Young Marquis, refrain from your baseless slandering, Yaojun is the Young Master of the Su Family, how could he mingle with you like that?"


Lu Yanqing sneered, "What about the Su Family’s Young Master, isn’t he human?"


"You!"


"Emperor, this minister still insists, if I’m the only accused in this case, then it’s a deliberate framing by the one who struck the Petition Drum, this minister refuses to accept this crime!"


Lu Yanqing’s tone was determined, refusing to rest until he dragged the Su Family into the water.


Emperor Guangxi ordered the person who struck the Petition Drum to be brought in.


The person was a plainly dressed commoner, facing the Emperor for the first time, he was terrified, even struggling to walk steadily.


After completing the ceremony, the person was already faint.


Emperor Guangxi asked him, "Since you struck the Petition Drum personally, you must surely have absolute evidence?"


The man nodded continuously, speaking haltingly, "Reply, reply to the Emperor, this humble citizen’s ancestral home is Ningzhou. Due to the mining disaster four years ago, losing my father and elder brother, I was forced to move north for survival. I know clearly what occurred back then at the mine."


"So, how did you obtain this evidence? And how are you certain that Lu Yanqing was the sole owner behind the coal mine?"


"This humble citizen..."


When speaking, the man couldn’t stop glancing at Su Xiang.


Su Xiang’s forehead throbbed, his expression ugly.