The protagonist of this crossover film and television series is disrupting the plot again.

Chapter 100 Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace 27

As dusk settled, the West Warm Pavilion of the Hall of Mental Cultivation was brightly lit.

Hongli sat upright on his throne, his face serious, filled with barely suppressed anger. His hands rested on the desk in front of him, and an immense pressure was transmitted to every minister in the West Warm Pavilion.

This was the first time anyone had ever directly witnessed the emperor's wrath. Everyone knelt upright on the ground, heads slightly bowed, eyes fixed on the square brick in front of them, not daring to overstep their bounds in the slightest.

This situation had been going on for a long time, and unsurprisingly, when Hongli proposed to take military action against the Yu clan, it was rejected by the court officials.

In their view, the Yu clan is now a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty, so why should they wage war again and waste resources and manpower?

However, Yu Shi's behavior of outwardly submitting while secretly stirring up trouble had already pushed Hongli to his limit. This was an opportunity he had deliberately created. If he couldn't succeed this time, he would never have such a good excuse to attack Yu Shi again.

The two sides disagreed, and the standoff between the emperor and his ministers lasted for a long time. Finally, someone couldn't help but speak up: "Your Majesty, the Jin family's harm to the imperial heir was solely her doing. To implicate the Yu family in this is truly..."

'boom! '

Hongli slammed his fist on the dragon desk, silencing the rest of his words, and angrily said, "The Yu clan presented such a wicked woman as tribute, intending to disrupt the harem and shake the foundations of our dynasty. Their sinister intentions are obvious. Otherwise, how could a mere woman like Jin have such vicious thoughts! And now you actually tell me that this was the work of Jin alone and that the Yu clan should not be implicated?"

"But the Yu clan is already a vassal state of our dynasty, so why should we waste our people and resources attacking them again?"

That's absolutely true! And attacking the Yu clan isn't just a matter of fighting once and for all.

To repel external threats, we must first secure internal stability!

The court may appear stable now, but it is actually fraught with crises. To attack the Yu clan, we must first resolve a series of internal conflicts, including the Miao rebellion in Guzhou, the turmoil in Tibet, the Jinchuan region, the southern route of Tianshan, Taiwan, and the Dzungar Khanate.

Myanmar, Vietnam, and other places are also eyeing us covetously; we must be on guard.

Otherwise, if the army attacks the Yu clan at the front lines while internal strife and uprisings occur in the rear, the situation for the court will be extremely unfavorable.

Therefore, attacking the Yu clan was not a single battle, but a series of battles.

Although these internal strife will eventually be quelled, this "sooner or later" could be one or two years, or it could be decades.

Now, Hongli is forcing them to attack the Yu clan, which is to force them to quell the internal strife as soon as possible so that he can devote all his efforts to defeating the Yu clan and then send troops westward.

Of course, Hongli couldn't tell these ministers about his idea of ​​a western expedition, because they would definitely not agree.

To avoid trouble, he could only seize on the mistakes of the Yu family and have the court punish the Yu family first, and then bring up the matter of the western expedition after the Yu family was punished.

By then, there will be no room for these people to object.

"So you mean my child was killed in vain by the Yu clan?" Hongli said sinisterly.

"The death of the imperial heir is indeed heartbreaking. Your Majesty can issue an edict to reprimand Lady Yu and make her admit her mistake and apologize."

Hongli scoffed upon hearing this, and was about to speak when Wu Shulai's voice, trembling with tears, rang out: "Your Majesty, this servant has something important to report!"

"Come in!"

Wu Shulai knelt down with a thud, his face already streaked with tears: "Your Majesty, news has come from Cining Palace that the Empress Dowager has passed away!"

"What did you say!"

Hongli suddenly stood up, his sharp gaze fixed on Wu Shulai: "Although the Empress Dowager was frail and sickly, the imperial physicians in the palace had taken meticulous care of her, and her health had improved. How could she have suddenly passed away?"

Wu Shulai wept uncontrollably: "When the Empress Dowager heard that the imperial heir had been harmed by the Jin family, she was so angry that she suffered a stroke. Although Imperial Physician Qi was there to treat her, the Empress Dowager was already seriously ill. Upon hearing this terrible news, she passed away immediately."

"How could this happen?" Hongli seemed unable to withstand the blow. He felt dizzy and swayed, finally collapsing weakly onto the throne.

Wu Shulai quickly stepped forward to support him and prevent him from falling.

"Your Majesty, please take care of your health! If anything were to happen to you, the Empress Dowager's spirit in heaven would not be at peace."

The ministers were also taken aback by the Empress Dowager's sudden passing and immediately bowed and kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please accept our condolences!"

The loud voices of several people echoed in the warm pavilion. Hongli, startled by the sound, shoved Wu Shulai aside, leaned on the dragon desk to stand up, veins bulging on his forehead, eyes bloodshot, and gritted his teeth as he said:

"The Yu family presented me with a poisonous woman. First, she killed my precious son, and then she angered my birth mother to death. This hatred is irreconcilable. If I cannot avenge this great grudge, I will be unworthy to be a son and a loving father!"

"..."

Everyone opened their mouths, but there was really no way to persuade them. Before, when an unborn child was lost, they could still try to persuade them with the righteousness of the country, but now that even the Empress Dowager was dead, the matter had suddenly become much more serious.

They were stunned by the Emperor's decision to attack the Yu clan as soon as they entered the palace. Then the Emperor attacked the Yu clan on the grounds that the Jin clan had harmed the concubines and imperial offspring. Before they could object, news of the Empress Dowager's death arrived.

Harming imperial heirs and causing the Empress Dowager's death are not even in the same league. Now, the emperor can grant them any request.

It seems that the attack on the Yu clan is a done deal.

It seems Heaven is truly determined to destroy the Yu clan!

Everyone sighed in their hearts, and at the same time they wondered how the Empress Dowager could have passed away so coincidentally.

Hongli was still going crazy: "You all go and make a plan for me. How should we fight the Yu clan? How should we fight them? Make a plan for me. I want to destroy the Yu clan as quickly as possible to comfort the spirit of my late mother!"

They haven't forgotten to beat up the Yu family yet!

"...This servant obeys the decree!"

"...Your subject obeys the decree!"

The officials received the decree and withdrew, but the emperor's sobbing voice could still be faintly heard: "Is the Empress Dowager truly gone?"

"Your Majesty, please accept my condolences!" Wu Shulai said, his voice also trembling with tears.

"I am going to Cining Palace to see my mother one last time."

······

The Empress Dowager's death was a national mourning event. Within half an hour, the entire Forbidden City was transformed back into winter, with everything covered in white and filled with weeping.

The Empress Dowager's coffin was placed in the Qianqing Palace. All the concubines, princes, princesses, relatives, and civil and military officials were dressed in white mourning clothes and mourned the deceased. Hongli, dressed in white mourning clothes, wept bitterly before the coffin, neither eating nor drinking, fainted several times, and even vomited blood in public.

Qi Ru, the head of the Imperial Medical Academy who treated the Empress Dowager, was executed by Emperor Hongli on the grounds that his medical skills were inadequate and that he had delayed the Empress Dowager's treatment. Bai Ruiji, the Empress Dowager's personal maid, was also executed on the grounds of negligence in serving her.

Others associated with the Empress Dowager were either sentenced to prison or given death sentences. One minister was even reprimanded and dismissed for not shedding a tear in front of her coffin.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Tingyu and the others sighed, and the doubts in their hearts about the Empress Dowager's death gradually dissipated.

The Empress was briefly released again. There was no other way; since she hadn't been deposed, how could she not appear on such an occasion?