coobybook Chapter 118 Confiscation and Settlement
Chapter 118 Confiscation and Settlement
On the same day, Empress Dowager Lu also issued an order in the name of the new emperor, ordering the two princesses to marry immediately.
Although Princess Yonghe was reluctant to marry in such a hurry, she was still very happy to marry Lu Fengyun: "Anyway, I still have my fiefdom, so it doesn't matter if I don't have a dowry."
Princess Yongping burst into tears and said, "I don't want to marry Zuo Dai, I want to marry... Qi Yuan!"
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Pei hurriedly said, "Qi Yuan already has an engagement."
This is because Zuo Dai already has a wife, and even if Zuo Dai divorces his wife and remarries Princess Yongping, she will only be his second wife.
Princess Yongping had met Qi Yuan once and had always wanted to marry him.
It was only because the Zuo Mansion and the Qi Mansion had a grudge that Concubine Dowager Zuo was unwilling to form such a marriage, so she never mentioned this matter.
Yongping's marriage is not discussed for the time being.
Princess Yongping cried and made a scene, "Father, brother, look how the Lu family is bullying me!"
The two princesses cried and made a fuss, thinking that Queen Mother Lu was as timid as she was in the past and would be cautious and let them go.
However, this time, Empress Dowager Lu showed an unprecedented tough attitude.
She waved her hand indifferently and ordered the guards around her: "Drag them away."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lü Linmo led a group of guards forward, mercilessly grabbed the arms of the two princesses, and forcibly dragged them away. This scene was exactly the same as the previous action of the two princesses forcibly dragging the prince away.
Princess Yongping was filled with despair and resentment when she was dragged away. In desperation, she screamed again: "I want a dowry!" Her voice revealed endless resentment.
However, Empress Dowager Lu responded coldly: "I'll give it to you later!" as if telling Princess Yongping that everything she was doing now was in vain.
The two princesses were escorted by the Royal Guards to be married off, which was the first time in history.
A team of imperial guards brought Princess Yonghe to the Lu residence and surrounded the gate. They only turned around and left after seeing her enter the Lu residence.
On the other side, Lu Linmo forcibly brought Princess Yongping, who was born to Concubine Zuo, to the Zuo Mansion and brought a team of soldiers to guard outside. His eyes were cold, without any mercy.
The farce of the palace struggle finally came to an end, but the tense atmosphere in the capital was still pervasive. Everyone knew that there might be more storms to come.
At night, Empress Dowager Lu issued an edict: "Zuo Xing is plotting rebellion and trying to harm the new emperor. His crime is extremely serious. His family property will be confiscated and his entire clan will be exterminated!"
This was indeed true, as everyone saw that the Zuo family, in their haste to help the Second Prince ascend to the throne, wanted to kill the two princes in public.
After Princess Yongping entered the Zuo Mansion, she was still crying and making a fuss, "I don't want to marry into the Zuo Mansion."
The people in the Zuo Mansion had worried faces. What they were most worried about now was not whether they could get married or not, but whether they could survive.
Deputy Commander Lu rushed in with his men, read the imperial edict, and waved his hand, "Team one will confiscate the property, teams two and three will kill!"
After Yongping was frightened, he roared, "Who dares!"
Deputy Commander Lu stepped forward, drew his sword, and sneered, "I asked you to marry into the Zuo family, what do you think you're going to do?"
He stretched out his hand and fiercely stabbed Princess Yongping, "Go to the underground to accompany your mother!"
The bloodbath in Zuo Mansion started with the killing of the princess.
Some of the Imperial Guards, in order to redeem themselves for their crimes, killed the people from the Zuo Palace, cut off their heads and held them in their hands.
Zuo Xing's most capable captains were the ones who killed the most people in Zuo's mansion.
All the people in Zuo Mansion were killed, leaving no one alive.
Another team searched the house and found that the treasures in Zuo Mansion were much more than they had imagined! They actually found thousands of boxes of gold and silver, hundreds of boxes of jewelry, and a large stack of store and farm deeds. Many of them were obtained by robbing others. This is really shocking!
Deputy Commander Lu knew that the palace was extremely short of silver, so he said to his men: "Send all these treasures to the palace. As for the homes of other members of the Zuo Mansion, you can search them and distribute them among yourselves."
"Yes, sir." The men answered in unison.
In this way, the Zuo family was wiped out and three entire clans were killed. This house-raiding operation made people see the darkness and cruelty behind power and wealth.
When Empress Dowager Lu was the queen, she was kind-hearted and weak in character, but she was strong as a mother.
In order to clear away the obstacles in front of her son, she acted ruthlessly and viciously.
When a person is saved from a desperate situation, his temperament will change drastically.
Wu Yi came back from time to time to report to Qi Wan what happened outside.
After hearing about the series of things that Empress Dowager Lu did, Qi Wan could only sigh, "People can only grow up when they are forced."
Qi Wan had experienced something like this in her previous life. Because she was kind and weak in character, she was taken advantage of and eventually died, and her entire family was murdered as well.
Such a great hatred must be avenged, and Qi Wan understood Empress Lu very well on this point.
However, Qi Wan never expected that the future Empress Lu would go to another extreme.
On the day before New Year's Eve, the entire capital city was filled with the smell of blood.
Empress Dowager Lu originally wanted to get rid of the Lu Mansion just like she got rid of the Zuo Mansion.
She said to her brother: "I will wipe out the three clans of the Lu family on the first day of the new year!"
When Empress Dowager Lu's father found out, he hurried out to persuade her, "Your Highness, the Lu family is a large clan with members all over the world. If you want to kill the three members of the Lu family, how many people will you have to kill?"
"The Lu family has been entangled with Zuo Xing and tried to harm the three of us, mother and son. How can we possibly forgive them!" Empress Dowager Lu said hatefully.
"Your Majesty, wait until the new emperor comes of age before avenging him." Old Master Lu advised.
Empress Dowager Lu refused, "I cannot swallow this anger."
Commander Cheng boldly came to persuade the Queen Mother, "Your Majesty, there is a good way to deal with the Lu family."
Empress Dowager Lu asked, "What does the commander-in-chief say?"
"First, we must find an opportunity to split up the Lu family. Only the eldest branch is allowed to stay in the capital, and the other branches must return to the countryside." Commander Cheng used the tactics of war, dispersing and killing.
"Then we will slowly deprive them of their businesses. They will have no power, no wealth, and finally they will all return home. If they still don't behave, we will kill them all!"
"This is a very good idea." Queen Mother Lu nodded.
She praised: "Commander Cheng is very loyal. Keep up the good work. I will confer you a title when the emperor gets married."
"I will do my utmost to protect the new emperor's safety."
From then on, she relied more on Commander Cheng to protect the little emperor's safety.
Commander Cheng is indeed very loyal to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.
However, no one knew that in his heart, he already regarded the Qi family as his benefactors.
Commander Cheng was grateful: "Without the Qi family, I wouldn't be where I am today."
After the Lu family learned that Empress Dowager Lu had ordered the extermination of the three clans of the Zuo Mansion, everyone was so scared that their faces turned pale and they trembled all over.
They realized that this was a serious warning and that the Lu family might face the same fate.
Soon, a eunuch came to the palace and conveyed the new emperor's decree to the Lu family. It announced that Lu Fengyun's official position and title would be removed, and all the Lu family members would be removed from their official positions. This news plunged the Lu family into wailing, and they felt desperate and helpless.
“Can we only be merchants?”
"Without an official, it's hard for merchants to do business!"
"What will our Lu family do in the future?"
Some families that had made engagements with the Lu family sent official matchmakers to cancel the engagements.
"The two families are no longer suitable, cancel the engagement."
"I'm afraid of being implicated by the Lu family, so I cancel the engagement."
"Cancel the engagement!"
……
This sudden change plunged several families in the Lu family into an unprecedented predicament. They were extremely shocked and confused, and the Lu family's reputation was greatly damaged.
On this day, the Lu family experienced a heavy blow that they had never experienced before. They felt as if the sky had suddenly collapsed, and everything was dark before their eyes. They had no idea how to deal with this situation.
They were filled with helplessness and frustration. Faced with such a huge impact, they could not think of any effective solution for a while.
The whole family was immersed in depression and despair, with a look of confusion and helplessness on everyone's face.
At this moment, the Lu family is no longer the prosperous and respected family, but an object despised and abandoned by everyone.