northernbook Chapter 187 Such bias? If I weren't the person involved, I would have believed it too!
Chapter 187 Such bias? If I weren't the person involved, I would have believed it too!
Emperor Longyun laughed, his face showing a knowing smile.
He ignored Lin Shiming and turned to look at Lin Shihe beside him.
"Minister Lin, what do you have to say?"
Lin Shihe remained calm, clearly used to such scenes. He stood up for his brother without changing his expression.
“Your Highness, the palace rules are strict. Even if Your Highness is very concerned about His Majesty’s health and is in a hurry to stop His Majesty from entering the imperial prison while he is ill, you cannot run rampant in the palace and disturb the guards.”
Such bias? If I weren't the person involved, I would have believed it too!
Emperor Longyun's pupils dilated in shock; he was speechless, utterly astonished by Lin Shihe's shameless distortion of the truth.
Lin Shiming, who was unconditionally protected by his brother, immediately beamed with joy and ran over to his brother with a grin.
"Don't worry, brother! This palace area is under my control! Nothing will happen!"
Emperor Longyun remained expressionless.
"Alright." Lin Shihe thought to himself, "You're all smiles when I give you a nice look," but his face remained calm as he continued to smooth things over. "Didn't Your Highness come to see His Majesty? Why aren't you going?"
"Oh, oh, oh!" Having received the hint, Lin Shiming happily went towards Emperor Longyun again, "Father! You are not well, how can you go to such a dark and damp place as the Heavenly Prison?"
"Laugh, laugh, laugh! This little brat isn't even willing to put on a worried expression!" Emperor Longyun sneered inwardly, turning his head away from him.
But this did not dampen Lin Shiming's enthusiasm. He did not mind Emperor Longyun's lack of cooperation at all, and quickly caught up to the other side, where he met Emperor Longyun's gaze again.
"Why are you still being so temperamental, Father? I'm only doing this for your own good!"
"Screw your little temper!" Emperor Longyun glared and puffed out his beard. "I have important business to attend to in the Imperial Prison. What's with the little temper?"
Lin Shihe on the other side curled up the corners of his mouth.
"Oh dear, you're getting all haughty." Lin Shiming muttered under his breath, then, under Emperor Longyun's warning glare, wisely changed the subject. "Alright, as a son, I should be considerate of my father. So, if you need anything, I'm willing to serve you!"
"It's not necessary!"
He came here to be there before Lin Shiming, so why would he give up the opportunity?
"Can…"
"Alright!" Emperor Longyun finally regained his imperial dignity, waved his sleeve, and stepped down from the sedan chair. "I know you are 'filial,' but my mind is made up, and you don't need to persuade me anymore. Lead the way."
Having said that, Lin Shiming stopped his antics. He could cause trouble in private, but in public, he was very mindful of the bigger picture. After all, Lin Shiming wasn't the type to cause trouble regardless of the situation.
"Father, please."
*
With two experts, Lin Shiming and Lin Shihe, present, and considering that it was only a prison, Emperor Longyun left the other guards outside and only took Li An with him. The four of them entered the prison one after the other.
The imperial prison in Changping was built inside the palace and was mainly used to detain criminals involved in major cases. It was located very close to the offices of the Six Ministries to facilitate interrogation.
Therefore, although this heavenly prison was a jail, it was much cleaner than the outer prison. The group descended the steps, and apart from feeling the cold and smelling some blood, they did not feel particularly uncomfortable.
"Father, watch your step."
Lin Shiming is reliable in crucial moments. He had already come once before, and today he was clearly going to say something that couldn't be spread, so he asked someone for the key and led the way to the prison himself.
The prison was a maze of winding paths and checkpoints, with the terrain gradually descending. It took them nearly fifteen minutes to walk and descend several steps before they finally reached the cell deep inside the prison where Qin was being held.
"Father, this is it." Lin Shiming stopped, took out his key, opened the cell door, and entered first.
Qin, dressed in prison clothes, lay facing the wall on a bed made of straw and wooden planks. When she heard Lin Shiming's voice, she only moved slightly but did not turn around.
Emperor Longyun refused Li An's help and went into the prison cell by himself, standing not far away.
"The Qin family."
Qin remained motionless.
"I suggest you put down what you're holding. I'm not so foolish as to risk danger by approaching a prisoner with whom I have a deep-seated grudge."
Qin was stunned for a moment, then suddenly sprang up, turned around, and raised the object in her hand to pounce on Emperor Longyun.
"Go to hell!"
"Bang—Ah—"
Emperor Longyun, who was being assassinated in front of him, did not even blink. He calmly watched as Lin Shiming casually kicked Qin Shi back onto the wooden bed.
Qin was instantly overcome by pain, letting out a cry before losing all strength, even the strength to groan. Lin Shiming slowly stepped forward and easily took the murder weapon from Qin's hand.
It's a sharpened rice stalk; if you thrust it in with all your might, you could probably tear the skin.
Lin Shiming curled his lip and casually tossed it aside.
"Sometimes I really don't understand why you would deliberately bring bad luck to others when you know it's impossible?"
Qin, who was lying on the bed, stirred and struggled to sit up, her eyes bloodshot as she glared at Emperor Longyun.
"I am the Empress Dowager of Changping! Your legal mother! How dare you speak like this!"
"You are no longer."
"The world will not tolerate such an outrageous act by you—"
"Qin Hanzhang!"
After Emperor Longyun shouted, Qin, who had been baring her teeth and brandishing her claws, suddenly stopped.
"Having been a member of the 'Qin family' for so long, and referring to yourself as a 'Qin woman' or 'Empress Dowager' every day, you've probably forgotten your own name, haven't you?"
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.
Even in a feudal dynasty, thanks to Lin You's efforts, the status of women in Changping Dynasty improved considerably. Women were no longer simply referred to as 'Song,' 'Qin,' or 'Zhang,' but were individuals with names and surnames, receiving a name shortly after birth. In daily interactions and even in historical records, they were addressed by their given names.
This was proposed by Lin You, to make all women realize that they are also independent individuals, not appendages of their family or society.
However, over time, some people will still spend their entire lives striving and taking risks, all for the benefit of others.
“I remember that you weren’t so vicious at the beginning.”
"I've never heard my mother mention this before!" Lin Shiming looked left and right in shock, adopting a gossipy, spectator-like posture.
The Crown Princess is the future Empress, and her fate is equally important to the nation. Each Crown Princess is personally selected by the Emperor, after years of careful observation and training. How could the founding Emperor possibly choose a Crown Princess who would disrupt the court and harm the imperial heirs for the late Emperor?
It's just that the people have changed.
"Back then, you had no children in the palace. Even though you were filled with jealousy, you simply ignored the imperial heirs and let them fend for themselves. You did not take any action against them. Otherwise, with your power in the palace and your harmonious relationship with the emperor, it would not be impossible for you to harm the imperial heirs and deceive the heavens."
During Emperor Longyun's generation, except for the first few years when the previous emperor had no sons, after the concubines stopped using contraceptives, children were born every year. Even with the infighting in the harem, not many died young.
These are all minor details that only those within the palace could understand and discover. To outsiders, they all thought that Qin Hanzhang was simply jealous and deliberately made trouble for the empress and crown princess who later had children.
"When did your jealousy and resentment grow into an abyss of hell?"
Qin Hanzhang seemed to be lost in a daze. She was still trembling as she supported herself. The redness in her eyes gradually gathered in her eyes, and then tears fell.
Yes, when did she begin to lose control of her malice and start targeting Empress Bai Qiongzhu and the then Crown Princess?