I Became the Devil Queen's Heart Demon novel Chapter 1404

Chapter 1404: Chapter 543: Wu Lie Takes the Stage! Is Chen Mo Dead?! (Part 2)

But she quickly pulled herself together. Since they still hadn’t found a corpse, they couldn’t be sure whether Chen Mo had perished; perhaps he was only trapped somewhere and couldn’t get away for the moment.

As long as Yu Youhan was there, they would definitely turn danger into safety!

"As for the matter everyone is most concerned about..."

Facing the probing gazes of the crowd, the Empress drew in a deep breath and said, "His Majesty’s sacred body is unwell, his long illness difficult to recover from. Yesterday, in Qianji Palace, he..."

The word "collapsed" had yet to leave her mouth when a shrill voice suddenly rang out from outside the hall: "His Majesty has arrived!"

?!

The Golden Throne Hall fell deathly silent in an instant!

The Empress’s pupils violently contracted as she shot to her feet!

Eunuch Jin, Lv Huaiyu, Zhuang Jingming and the others also saw their faces change drastically. Everyone turned their heads in unison toward the hall doors—

Tap—tap—tap—

As the footsteps drew nearer, two figures, one tall and one short, walked slowly into the Golden Throne Hall.

Wu Lie was dressed in a black long robe embroidered with a Five-clawed Golden Dragon, a beaded crown with hanging tassels on his head. Though his frame was still thin and wiry, his back was straight, his eyes bright; overall he looked a bit more vigorous than before.

The Crown Prince followed half a step behind him, eyes hollow and vacant, like a puppet on strings.

"How dare you, seeing His Majesty and yet not kneeling?" the old eunuch said in a sinister tone.

"Pa... paying respects to Your Majesty!"

"Long live my emperor, long, long live!"

Only then did the ministers snap back to themselves, hastily dropping to their knees and kowtowing.

After a brief moment of shock, Yin Zhao’s breathing grew rapid, his voice high-pitched with excitement. "This humble minister knew it—His Majesty is favored by Heaven, blessed with deep fortune, and would surely come through unscathed!"

"Heaven bless my Great Yuan, Heaven bless my Great Yuan!"

Yet as Wu Lie passed by him, he didn’t spare him so much as a glance.

Step by step he ascended the golden steps and seated himself on the dragon throne. The Crown Prince stood woodenly at his side.

"What are you doing here?" From behind the bamboo curtain, the Empress stared at Wu Lie, her gaze dark and gloomy.

Wu Lie smiled and said, "The capital has been rather unsettled of late. Although I have not meddled in state affairs for quite some time, I am still the ruler of a nation. I must at least show my face, or else my beloved ministers might really think I’ve already kicked the bucket... Don’t you agree, Empress?"

The Empress clenched her jaw, golden light flickering in her eyes.

The fact that Wu Lie dared to swagger in here openly meant the situation was already decided. Yu Youhan and Chen Mo could no longer pose any threat to him!

Could it be the two of them had already...

"Your Highness, stay calm!" Eunuch Jin murmured in a low voice.

The Empress knew that on her own she could not possibly contend with Wu Lie. The most pressing matter right now was to get a message to Chu Yanli.

Just as she prepared to activate the Heavenly Shining Seal, Wu Lie’s next words sent her plummeting into an ice-cold abyss:

"Just now outside the hall, I heard you all discussing the case of the noble clans’ attempted rebellion. I have already gotten to the bottom of this matter."

"Jiang Wangye colluded with Qi Kaihai and Wanqi Shuofeng, attempting to shake the very foundations of the state. They do indeed harbor treasonous intent, and their clan should be implicated along with them."

"As for the mastermind behind the scenes, it is Princess Xuanhuang, Chu Yanli. I have already dispatched the Heavenly Shadow Guards to arrest her. In consideration of her merits in resisting the Barbarian Tribe, her death sentence can be spared, but punishment she will not escape!"

"From this day on, her Long Princess title is stripped, she is demoted to commoner status and thrown into the Imperial Clan Court for confinement, never again to leave the palace for all eternity!"

"As for her accomplice, the Imperial Concubine Yu Youhan, who intended to regicide, she was executed on the spot yesterday!"

"What?!"

These words at once stirred up a tempestuous uproar!

"The Princess is a Protector-General of the Realm, she pacified the Southern Barbarians and rendered immense service to the court. How could she possibly rebel?!"

"And since when did the Princess start running with Consort Yu?"

"But then again, Her Highness the Princess has indeed forced her way into Qianji Palace with a blade in hand more than once, even declaring she meant His Majesty harm. I never thought she truly harbored such malicious intent?"

"From the sound of His Majesty’s words, Consort Yu has already fallen?!"

The crowd was shaken and suspicious, the tumultuous noise boiling over.

"Impossible..."

Chen Zhuo’s face had gone as pale as paper, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Wu Lie raised his hand in a gesture. The old eunuch drew a thick stack of documents from his sleeve and began to read them aloud in a booming voice.

The contents detailed all that Yu Youhan had done over the years, both overt and covert—forming factions, purging dissidents, spreading implicating nets far and wide—her many crimes shocking to hear! As well as the evidence of Chu Yanli’s controlling troops in her own hands, defying imperial orders, and monopolizing military power!

It could truly be called ironclad evidence!

Everyone had always tacitly understood these things; left unweighed they might not even be four taels, but once put on the scales they’d crash through at a thousand catties!

Seeing His Majesty like this now, he clearly meant to pursue the matter to the very end. It was foreseeable that the entire court was about to undergo a massive purge!

"It’s... it’s over..."

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify