Chapter 421 - Treating Her As A Monk? 2 (1/2)

Chapter 421 - Treating her as a monk? (2)

Displeased, Zhangjun Prince said, “Yuxuan, how can you say that? How could this prince possibly sacrifice your lives in return for this prince's reputation after you three helped me conquered this country? If other people hear of this, who would still be willing to follow this prince?”

After a pause, he continued speaking as if he was being put into a difficult position. ”But, the three of you were caught red-handed. If there isn't some sort of justification for the emperor's death, that wouldn't be acceptable either.”

Ji Man raised her eyebrow and asked, ”Your Highness, how exactly do you want us to justify ourselves?”

Zhao Zhe looked at her, and his gaze softened considerably. ”This prince was thinking, how about this prince announces to the public that the three of you were beheaded, then replace your bodies with condemned convicts? After that, this prince will secretly release all of you.”

Release them? Ning Yuxuan sneered. What a conveniently great idea for Zhao Zhe. This would effectively erase them from the world. They would have to conceal their ident.i.ties forever and become itinerants. Nie Qingyun would no longer have control of Jing Province's army. As for himself, he wouldn't be able to control the six ministries and the imperial court anymore. In one simple move, Zhao Zhe had eliminated two major threats to himself.

Even more terrifying, with Zhao Zhe's ruthlessness, how could they possibly safely leave the capital once they lost their status?

Ji Man slightly smiled and said, “Just as there's no such thing as an airtight wall, secrets will also always be leaked out. Your Highness, if you want to execute us, you might as well just do it directly. This will give everyone a satisfactory justification. Otherwise, if the secret of us being replaced by condemned convicts is exposed, everybody will curse you for trying to deceive them.”

Zhao Zhe's expression slightly changed.

On the side, Ning Yuxuan also nodded. ”Yes, let's just go straight to the execution. This one isn't afraid of death.”

Execute them? How could he execute them? How would he be able to justify his actions to Marquis Jingwen? And, what could he possibly say to appease the imperial court's civil and military officials? Even if he was going to execute them, he had to wait until he had won over the loyalty of all the court officials before he could have a falling out with Marquis Jingwen,

Moreover... he swept his gaze over Ji Man. How could he possibly be willing to execute such a clever, virtuous woman that would be able to control his harem and free him of worries for the future?

After hesitating for a long time, Zhao Zhe let out a long sigh and said, ”Let's reconsider this issue later. For now, please put up with this unfair treatment and rest here for a few days. This prince will have the servants deliver clean quilts and food.”

”Thank you, Your Highness.” Ning Yuxuan saluted.

Zhao Zhe truly seemed reluctant. He looked at them for a long time before finally leaving.

---

After three days, several important ministers jointly presented a pet.i.tion to request for Zhao Zhe to ascend the throne. After putting on an initial show of resistance, Zhao Zhe put on the emperor's robe and became the new emperor.

However, there were a lot of confidential governmental doc.u.ments in Marquis Moyu's possession. Even more importantly, he had many contacts and connections in every area. With him imprisoned and not available, it was exceptionally difficult to sort our governmental matters. Many things were indefinitely delayed because they couldn't be done.