Chapter 416 You're gone, what will I do?

So he ordered all the palace servants who had touched his tea that day to be arrested and interrogated one by one in front of the regent.

"Your Majesty, Mengruo, the maid who is in charge of your daily life, has confessed under torture!"

The sound of clubs cracking and some cruel tortures, such as finger-pinching, had barely begun outside the palace when a eunuch rushed in to report.

"Oh? Did she say who ordered her to poison me?"

The Emperor sighed softly, then looked at Gao Changhong with a meaningful gaze and asked.

“She…she said it was Consort Lan.”

"What?"

The emperor's faint smile vanished abruptly, replaced by a look of surprise and disbelief as he stared at the eunuch.

"What nonsense is she spouting?"

How could it be Consort Lan!

Consort Lan was usually timid and gentle, and was the only woman among his consorts whom he found agreeable.

She had no reason to harm herself; it was clearly the Regent who poisoned her!

Why did this palace maid say that?

The emperor couldn't understand it at all. He thought that as long as he followed the clues and tortured the poisoners, they would be unable to bear it and reveal the truth behind it, but he didn't expect it to be like this.

Only Su Liluo and Xiao Ye were not surprised by the result and secretly sighed in their hearts.

The emperor was too hasty. Since the regent dared to poison him so blatantly, he must have prepared all possible escape routes. Why would he leave any evidence for the regent to find out?

"Your Majesty, now that it has been discovered that Consort Lan was responsible, she must be severely punished. Daring to poison Your Majesty is a grave crime, and her entire family must be implicated, her property confiscated, and she exiled!"

At this moment, Gao Changhong cupped his hands in a righteous manner and said.

The punishment would extend to nine generations of the family. Consort Lan was the niece of the Minister of Revenue. By this calculation, it would be just right to cut off one of the Emperor's henchmen.

A smug glint flashed in his eyes.

The Emperor was naturally aware of this as well. The Minister of Revenue was currently highly valued by him and was quite capable. He was one of the few people under his command who could shoulder great responsibilities, so he naturally could not exile him.

The Emperor's expression changed slightly. "I'm perfectly fine, aren't I? This execution of nine generations of relatives is far too much. Besides, what this palace maid said may not be true. Perhaps she's deliberately trying to frame Consort Lan."

Consort Lan has always been dutiful and has no grudge against me; therefore, she has no reason to plot against me.

But not long after he finished speaking, a servant rushed in from outside the hall in a panic.

"Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! Consort Lan has just committed suicide by poisoning herself in her palace!"

What!

The emperor was startled and almost fell off his stool.

Why did Consort Lan commit suicide when she was perfectly healthy?

"People in Consort Lan's palace said that Consort Lan committed suicide because she was terrified after learning that you were unharmed after being poisoned and that they were now investigating who was behind the poisoning."

The eunuch continued his explanation with a pained expression.

The emperor felt his head buzzing, and before he could even grieve, Gao Changhong spoke again.

"Your Majesty, Consort Lan committed suicide out of fear of punishment. The matter is now very clear. Although Consort Lan took her own life out of fear of punishment, it cannot change her crime."

"One person's mistake can implicate the entire family. As a warning, I implore Your Majesty to order the exile of Consort Lan's entire clan! Otherwise, I fear it will be difficult to quell the anger of the officials!"

Gao Changhong's righteous and loyal demeanor, seemingly concerned for the emperor's well-being, almost made the emperor vomit.

Only then did the emperor finally realize that he had indeed been too naive.

All of this was part of the Regent's plan, and he had simply fallen into his trap.

Now he's using the court officials to pressure me. If I don't agree to punish Consort Lan's entire family today, he'll definitely join forces with those officials to put pressure on me in court tomorrow.

But if the Minister of Revenue is dealt with, it will be a great loss for me. If Gao Changhong's people take the position of Minister, wouldn't that just boost his power?

For a moment, he felt caught in a dilemma.

So, he couldn't help but glance at Su Liluo and Xiao Ye beside him, his eyes pleading for help.

Xiao Ye's gaze darkened for a moment.

But after a moment, he still stood in front of the emperor and spoke up as a lowly eunuch: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten that you promised Consort Lan that no matter what mistakes she makes in the future, you will only punish her and not her entire family?"

The Emperor's eyes lit up. "Yes, it's all my fault for favoring Consort Lan too much back then, which allowed her to act so lawlessly. I was out of my mind to agree to her request."

However, a gentleman's word is as good as his bond, especially mine. Since Consort Lan is dead, let her entire clan be spared!

"Your Majesty, that was just a momentary impulse on your part. Now that the Imperial Concubine has committed such a wrong act, how can you forgive her?"

Gao Changhong said with a stern face.

His gaze swept over Xiao Ye, and then he secretly made a mental note of the man.

"I am the Son of Heaven. How can I go back on my word? Does the Regent expect me to be a man of broken promises? If so, which of the ministers will dare to trust me in the future?"

The Emperor spoke forcefully.

"Alright, that's settled then. Now that Consort Lan is dead, it's over. Regent, if you're alright, you can go back now."

The emperor, growing impatient, began to send people away again.

Today he suffered a greater loss than others, and he didn't want to see the Regent again, fearing that if they continued talking, he would suffer further losses.

He's still too inexperienced and needs to learn more from Xiao Ye and the others.

Gao Changhong did not continue to persuade him, and respectfully bid farewell before leaving.

For him, although he didn't get the Minister of Revenue removed from office today, he did learn who was behind the Emperor.

Not long after leaving the palace, he prepared to send someone to investigate Xiao Ye and his associates who were close to the emperor.

Xiao Ye naturally knew that they had been exposed and that they could no longer stay in the palace.

So, after Gao Changhong left, he and Su Liluo told the Emperor that they were leaving.

"You haven't rescued Gao Yuanbin yet, have you? Why are you leaving now? I haven't completely removed the Regent from power yet. Who will help me if you leave?"

The Emperor was clearly unwilling to let them leave.

After experiencing this today, he finally realized how naive his methods were and that he needed their help.

"Your Majesty, the Regent already suspects us. If we stay, we'll just be waiting to die with you. If you don't want to die, you must let us leave today."

Su Liluo sighed helplessly.

The emperor of the Northern Desert was too young after all, and had grown up under the oppression of the regent, so he had little exposure to political intrigue and was completely incapable of any schemes or plots.

If he hadn't acted so impulsively today, they wouldn't have had to resort to such a risky move.

"What do you mean? What will I do then?"

The emperor narrowed his eyes slightly, gradually feeling a sense of fear.