"What? The pills that Qiu Daoji refined for the emperor are poisonous?!"
The court officials in the Fengtian Hall were in an uproar. Today, Qi Rong had brought them too much information, and each piece was more shocking than the last!
The Li family was really audacious. They not only colluded with Qiu Daoji to damage the dragon vein and persecute the crown prince. Their intentions were truly despicable!
If what Qi Rong said was true, then the emperor's current situation would be extremely dire!
Everyone's gazes turned in unison to Emperor Qi Hong. At this moment, his face was gloomy and terrifying. He tightly grasped the armrests of the dragon throne, and one could even see the slightly pale knuckles due to his excessive force!
Because he knew that the situation Qi Rong described exactly matched his current symptoms!
At first, when he took the pills refined by Qiu Daoji, he felt energetic and full of strength. But after half a year, he noticed that his emotions gradually became more irritable and impatient. He frequently suffered from headaches, and even experienced memory decline.
Even the empress had privately expressed her grievances, saying that he was becoming increasingly difficult to get along with.
He had suspected that the pills might be the cause of these negative effects, but Qiu Daoji had told him that it was a normal phenomenon. As long as his body adapted for a while, the efficacy of the pills would be better absorbed by his body and exert greater effects!
He was not at ease, so he secretly divided the pills into several parts and sent them to the Imperial Hospital for appraisal.
The results from the imperial physicians were very consistent: except for cinnabar, the other ingredients in the pills were all high - quality tonics that were not harmful to the body.
He had hesitated whether to stop taking the pills, but was greedy for their effects, so he had continued to take them until now!
He had never told anyone about his current physical condition, but when Qi Rong mentioned it, he was suddenly shocked!
If what Qi Rong said was completely true, then wasn't he being poisoned by Qiu Daoji for a long time, and the damage to his body was already irreversible?
"When did you know about the pills? Did the Luosha Sect tell you this?"
The emperor stared at Qi Rong suspiciously, as if he wanted to see through the other's true thoughts.
If Qi Rong had known about this for a long time but had concealed it, he would definitely hold him accountable!
Qi Rong knew what Qi Hong was thinking and of course would not tell him that it was actually his own idea for Qiu Daoji to refine the pills for Qi Hong.
He understood that Qi Hong was cautious and suspicious, and it was impossible for him to put poison in the pills without the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital detecting it. So his purpose was not to take Qi Hong's life, but to slowly undermine his sanity, make him more irritable and impatient, and then become even more suspicious!
If he hadn't learned that Qiu Daoji had recently been in frequent contact with the Li family and was even secretly colluding with them to use the situation he had set up in advance to turn against him, he would have let Qi Hong continue taking the pills for another half - year.
Now, after he discovered Qiu Daoji's betrayal, he immediately killed him in the bud, so the man had not caused him any losses.
And for Qi Hong, the time was right. In order to fulfill his promise to Yun Xi, he chose to close the net in time!
"Brother Emperor, if I had known that there was something wrong with the pills earlier, why would I have waited until now to report it? What you should ask is why Lord Li bribed your imperial bodyguards?"
"Yun Sheng was threatened by the Li family after refusing their recruitment because he had discovered the truth about the Longchang incident. He was also under their surveillance in the imperial prison. Yun Sheng finally managed to persuade an imperial bodyguard to pass the truth to you, but before the message reached your ears, that bodyguard was found dead on the street."
At this point, Qi Rong took out a letter from his bosom and said to the emperor:
"Fortunately, he left a backup before he died and wrote a letter to me about this matter."
Since Qi Rong had once been appointed by the emperor to lead the imperial bodyguards for a period of time, it was not strange for him to be on good terms with some of them and receive their letter.
Looking at the content of the presented letter, Qi Hong frowned deeply.
In the letter, the imperial bodyguard relayed Yun Sheng's words, accusing the Li family of being ambitious. They had colluded with Qiu Daoji to deliberately damage the dragon vein in the Longchang area, privately spread the theory of the country's downfall, and incited the people to spread rumors. After failing to recruit Yun Sheng, they had persecuted him!
To convince the emperor, several pieces of evidence were listed, including the names of several imperial bodyguards bribed by the Li family. As long as the emperor investigated carefully, he would know the truth!
The imperial bodyguard had tried to report this to the emperor but was killed by the Li family, so Qi Rong had brought this letter to the emperor.
"Li Haichang, did you send someone to kill the imperial bodyguard Yao Ping?"
Qi Hong's eyes were as sharp as blades, sweeping across Li Haichang. Li Haichang couldn't help but shiver and hurriedly defended himself:
"Your Majesty, this is all a slander against me! I have no feud with that man. How could I send someone to kill him?"
Moreover, that man was actually bribed by him in advance. He didn't know why he died recently!
He hadn't taken it seriously before, but now that Qi Rong was using it against him, he couldn't tell the truth.
Because once he did, he would directly admit that he had bribed the imperial bodyguards, and the emperor would surely develop a murderous intention towards the Li family!
Li Haichang stopped himself just in time. His hand in his sleeve clenched into a fist uneasily.
From the very beginning, he had felt that Qi Rong was setting traps for him step by step, leading him into a dangerous situation woven by the other. Qi Rong had clearly come prepared!
If it were just one or two accusations, he could still find a way to excuse the Li family.
However, when all the events were intertwined and presented seamlessly by Qi Rong in front of the emperor and all the court officials, with all kinds of so - called evidence, as well as Liang Sheng, the crown prince, and even the young master of the Luosha Sect!
This battle was doomed to be a losing one for the Li family from the very start. Even though he tried his best to defend himself, it seemed so weak, because the emperor had already lost trust in the Li family!
Just as Li Haichang was desperately defending himself but couldn't help feeling disheartened, a shrill voice suddenly came from outside the Fengtian Hall:
"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager is coming!"
As soon as the palace servant announced this, the empress dowager appeared in front of Li Haichang like a timely rain.
"Aunt."
Li Haichang's lips moved, and a look of joy couldn't help showing on his face!
In contrast, the emperor narrowed his eyes. His sharp gaze swept across Eunuch Qin, who was standing with his head bowed beside him. His expression was obscure.
"Mother, why did you come here?"
Qi Hong immediately put on a smile, quickly stood up from the dragon throne, and strode towards the empress dowager!
Seeing the empress dowager, who usually lived in seclusion and devoted herself to Buddhism all year round, suddenly appear in the Fengtian Hall, the officials present had different expressions and couldn't help looking at each other in surprise.
This was the Fengtian Hall, where the emperor and the civil and military officials held the morning court to discuss national affairs.
The harem was not allowed to interfere in politics. Even if she was the empress dowager, it was really inappropriate for her to appear in the Fengtian Hall!
Moreover, the emperor was already in his forties. He was not at an age when the empress dowager needed to rule behind a curtain!