Chapter 0139 Uprooted

Chapter 0139 Uprooted

Upon returning to the Jade Canal Palace, He Jinli simply told Meng Chang four words: Investigate Zhang Xiuyi.

Meng Chang didn't ask a single question and went to handle it.

The Emperor's night was no different from usual, and Yunli's legs still trembled from fatigue.

The next day, when she went to pay her respects, she naturally received the usual mix of envy and jealousy.

Yunli expressed that she was almost accustomed to it.

After the morning court ended, He Jinli finished his urgent tasks and Meng Chang took the initiative to talk to him.

"Your Majesty, there's been no progress in uncovering anything about Zhang Xiuyi in the palace. I've sent someone to investigate in Zhunan."

He Jinli's gaze darkened. "Don't startle the snake."

Meng Chang acknowledged.

Zhunan.

The case of slandering the former crown prince at the imperial examination years ago was related to Zhunan.

Wei's faction belonged to Prince Li, but what about the Zhang family?

He Jinli couldn't help but admire Yunli's insight. Just from the place name, he could sense something amiss.

However, Zhang was willing to sacrifice herself. Even if Zhang hadn't been there, He Jinli wouldn't have been injured.

Perhaps, without Zhang, he could have avoided it altogether.

But, before today, even if Zhang's efforts were in vain, she still risked her life to save him.

He was still grateful.

But... if all of this was just an act, it would be disgusting.

Since they're investigating down south, results won't come too quickly.

The harem remained as it always was.

After handling the matter of the Empress, they began selecting palace maids.

Although scheduled for August, preparations needed to begin in advance.

She got busy with this, and her own diet was naturally no longer a problem.

She even found a nanny specifically to oversee her and the children's diets.

Due to this incident this year, both the Empress and the Noble Consort's birthdays were skipped, and later the Emperor gave some rewards, considering it compensation.

By the end of April, Zhang Xiuyi's matter was clarified.

In the Zhengyang Palace, He Jinli looked at the thin dossier and sneered, "Very good, indeed. Impersonating identity to enter the palace, falsifying age, and having close ties with traitors."

Claiming close ties was just a pretext; in reality, Zhang Xiuyi could enter the palace because of Prince Li's arrangement.

It was the Zhang family's intention.

Because Zhang's sister was much less attractive than her, their family waited several years until the girl reached nineteen before sending her to the capital.

The Zhang family was indeed Prince Li's staunch supporters.

After Prince Li's death, the Zhang family lay low, naturally not daring to rebel again, but they still used Prince Li's old subordinates to cause trouble.

This time, the Zhang family collaborated with Zhang Xiuyi to carry out this matter.

In the Great Jin harem, it wasn't so strict as to forbid interactions between relatives and concubines. However, this matter wasn't just a sudden impulse.

Indeed, starting from the assassination attempt by Wei's faction, the Zhang family had been planning.

The saving of the Emperor was, of course, also orchestrated by her.

"What a clever and extraordinary woman," He Jinli sneered coldly.

In the hall, Meng Chang had already knelt down, with no one else present.

"Come, convey my decree," He Jinli's gaze was icy, his voice low.

"Your servant is here," Meng Chang said.

"The Zhang family harbors wild ambitions, colludes with traitors, deceives the sovereign, plots against the Empress and the prince, and frames the Empress Dowager and Consort Jinde, committing unforgivable treason. Zhang Xiuyi is to be demoted to a commoner and executed by strangulation immediately. The entire Zhang family is to be imprisoned, handed over to the Three Departments for trial, with the men beheaded and the women strangled after their crimes are confirmed. Exterminate nine clans."

"Yes," Meng Chang acknowledged, thinking that the remnants of the Tyrant and Rebel Kings were finally eradicated.

The imperial edict shocked the entire palace.

The details were to be further explained by Meng Chang, such as Zhang Xiuyi altering her age to enter the palace, taking her sister's place.

It turned out she was a spy planted in the palace by the Tyrant King, in league with the likes of Wei Niang.

This revelation made everyone recall her quick reaction during the assassination attempt.

This woman truly went all out.

Standing pale in the corridor of Tingzhu Xuan, Liu Baolin watched as the eunuchs from Zhengyang Palace took Zhang Xiuyi away, with the Third Prince crying hysterically.

Zhang Xiuyi never anticipated her exposure.

She was at a loss for words.

Upon seeing Liu Baolin, she shouted, "Sister, please look after my child, don't let him be frightened."

Then she was gagged and dragged away.

Liu Baolin clutched at her chest, unable to move for a while, feeling weak in the legs.

She had been living with such a venomous woman for more than two years.

"Don't be afraid, Baolin, this matter has nothing to do with us," the palace maid comforted her.

It took Liu Baolin a while before she managed to say, "Go check on the Third Prince."

"Baolin... please don't go..."

"I have to go. After all, he's His Majesty's prince..." Liu Baolin insisted.

Zhang Xiuyi was directly taken to the small square in front of the Zhengyang Palace and the Linzhi Palace.

The empress and the women of the palace hurried over.

He Jinli had chairs brought over, took a seat himself, gestured for the empress to sit down, and when Zhang Xiuyi was brought in, she was just thrown onto the ground.

She knelt there, at a loss for words.

Yunli stood in the background, thinking she was right all along— the Zhang family was indeed the true remnants of Prince Li's faction, while Wei Niang, at most, was just a pawn.

"I never expected it would be you," Lady Jinde's words echoed the sentiments of everyone present.

"We should thank her for her audacity. If she had remained hidden, that would have been truly sickening," Concubine Lan frowned and sneered.

Indeed, if Zhang Xiuyi had led a low-key life after the rescue, with such a deed, her future prospects wouldn't have been bleak.

"Her ambitions grew too large," the Noble Consort remarked.

The empress sighed deeply, "What did Prince Li offer you all?"

Zhang Xiuyi trembled all over: "Please... please... plead with Your Majesty... Your servant didn't know they were going to assassinate... Your servant was indeed... indeed arranged to enter the palace by Prince Li, but Your servant is also innocent. Your servant serves Your Majesty sincerely, and there's also... also the Third Prince. Please spare the lives of Your servant and her child, Your Majesty."

As Zhang Xiuyi spoke, she gradually found the words to plead for mercy.

He Jinli's face remained expressionless: "Carry out the execution."

Meng Chang nodded, gesturing for the eunuchs from the Internal Bureau to step forward.

The eunuchs held a white silk in their hands.

Zhang Xiuyi shrank back in fear: "No, no, no... Your Majesty, have mercy, Your Majesty... Ah..."

Her hands were held by two people, and the white silk was already being placed around her neck.

The empress tightly gripped the back of her chair. It was these traitors who caused her premature delivery and made the Fourth Prince weak.

Zhang Xiuyi struggled desperately, but as one person, she couldn't resist three strong eunuchs.

Soon, she couldn't breathe, her face turning red, eyes bulging, life slipping away.

He Jinli just watched, without anger or any other expression.

He just thought, this twelfth brother of his, really knew how to disgust him.

Back then, relying on the favor of his mother consort, he himself was favored, and he often disgusted him, the crown prince.

Now, even though she had been dead for over two years, she could still disgust him like this.

But fortunately, from now on, she couldn't disgust him anymore.

Zhang Xiuyi was dead.

Many unwillingness, ambitions, and schemes were all in vain.