Never divorce, never stop getting rich

Chapter 177 Forced into the Palace

In the imperial study, the eldest prince, Fu Lilu, rested his hands on the empress's desk and said smugly, "Mother probably didn't expect that no matter how hard you try, you're still a woman... This Tang Kingdom has never wanted a female emperor, but a man to reach the top!"

"Really?" The empress sat on the chair, looking like she was looking up at her son, but in Fu Lilu's eyes, his mother seemed to be looking down on him, just like the way she looked at him when he was a child.

It was as if he was looking at a fool, a smart-aleck idiot. No matter what he did, he could not get her sincere praise. Fu Lilu deeply felt that in his mother's heart, he and his father were both useless and unworthy of sitting on the throne.

"Mother, do you think I'm joking?" Fu Lilu turned and pushed open the door of the imperial study, pointing in the direction of the palace gate. "Right now, outside, countless officials are kneeling and begging you to give up your throne, while countless members of the royal family are rushing in to ask you to return the Fu family's kingdom."

"Is this the purpose of your coming today?" The empress was neither anxious nor impatient, and did not even stand up. She continued to review the memorials in an orderly manner.

"What's wrong..." Fu Lilu always felt that something was wrong. He turned his head to look at Prime Minister Pei and said with a forced smile: "Why did mother think I was scaring you? Did you think the guards would rush in to protect you? Or did you expect this man to save you?"

The empress used the cinnabar pen in her hand to draw a big cross on the memorial.

"Go back first, and we'll talk later if there's anything."

"I'm not a child anymore! Can you please stop treating me like this!" Fu Lilu couldn't bear it any longer. He swept all the memorials on the table to the ground with his hands and accused with his whole body trembling.

Prime Minister Pei was afraid that he would hurt the empress, so he went to stop him, but the empress waved her hand to stop him.

"Then what do you want me to do?" The empress put down the pen in her hand and looked into her son's eyes seriously, with a flash of heartache in her eyes.

"I...you should abdicate, mother..."

"If you abdicate to Li Lu, this matter can be settled today." The eldest princess, wearing the palace dress of an eldest princess, stepped into the imperial study without even notifying the eunuchs outside, nor was she stopped outside.

"Did she teach you this, or did you think of it yourself?" The empress didn't look at the eldest princess, but stared at her son for an answer.

Fu Lilu has been full of ambition for a long time, but he has been afraid of his mother since he was a child. When his mother asked this, the words came to his lips but no sound came out.

"Enough! You should have abdicated long ago, and you took my brother's throne without any legitimate reason."

The Grand Princess turned around, and several royal family members walked in slowly behind her. They were timid, but they also knew that the arrow had been shot and there was no turning back, so they didn't dare to look at the Empress, but still stood firmly behind the Grand Princess.

"Are you going to convict me?" The empress glanced at these people and sneered.

"You think I don't dare?"

The eldest princess stepped forward, pointed at the empress's nose and said, "First, women are not allowed to be emperors, but not only did you become emperor, you also suppressed the children of my Fu family and took over the country that the emperors of the Fu family worked hard to build.

Secondly, let our Fu family's kingdom and society be destroyed right now. The eldest prince should have been married long ago, but you have been delaying it, fearing that he would marry some famous lady who would block your way!

Third, you prioritize the children of the Duke's family, granting them high positions, generous salaries, and authority. With their immense power within the court, who would dare disrespect them? But what about the children of the imperial clan? How many have you promoted?

Fourthly, in order to ascend the throne, you launched a brutal purge of the Fu family's descendants. Anyone who opposed you would eventually die or be exiled. If I were not a woman, you would definitely not let me go!

Fifth, during your reign, you appointed cruel officials, promoted the practice of informing on others, and deceived children and teenagers into falsely accusing their own parents, becoming your political tools. You know better than anyone whether the child in the academy was coerced and bribed by you.

Sixth, you kept male favorites. You and the Prime Minister had an affair in your harem, and you allowed such an incompetent and unethical person to become Prime Minister. This exacerbated the corruption in the court, and you kept only useless people."

"I won't be the Empress?" The Empress laughed after hearing what she said. "If I don't become the Empress, how can I let you do it? Without me, your brother, who only cares about women, would have given the Fu family's kingdom to the former Crown Prince long ago!"

Almost everyone present knew about the affair between the late emperor and Fu Zichan's mother, and the eldest princess was embarrassed.

"I don't use my own people in the court, so why would I use those garbage in your hands who only know how to ask for money? Ha, I should be grateful to these garbage. If it weren't for these garbage, you wouldn't have spent so much effort and still failed to bring me down."

"Mother...don't talk about Auntie, you..."

Fu Lilu was about to interrupt, but the empress shouted, "Shut up! Don't think I don't know. You've been played around a long time ago. She supported you because she saw you were an idiot. She made her daughter your queen, and then you learned to follow my path. You're no match for your father, the emperor, and a stepping stone for a woman!"

The relationship was torn apart, and the empress exposed all of Fu Lilu's fantasies. All his confidence was shattered, and everything became real and cruel.

"No, no..."

The empress looked at the royal family members, especially the clan leader, and gave them one last chance. "If you go back now, I won't pursue the matter. Otherwise... don't regret it."

The legs of these members of the royal family were trembling, but wealth and honor are achieved through risk, and this was already a sure thing, and none of them wanted to lose the pie that the Grand Princess had promised them.

"Alright! You're still scolding everyone one by one. This is just a delaying tactic. Give up. No one will come to rescue you. The commander of the imperial guards is my man. No one will come to rescue you now. My aunt and I have sent people to the Panshi Academy. I'm afraid the academy has been breached by now. Yongle will be back to see you soon."

He calmed down and suppressed the strong discomfort in his heart. Even if Fu Lilu had a score to settle, he could only endure it and stand firm against the outside world.

"You actually attacked the academy, which is mostly populated by children? Do you have any humanity at all?" The empress was completely furious. She sent her daughter there because she was afraid that Yongle would be accidentally injured, but she didn't expect that these people would completely disregard the safety of the children inside for the sake of power. They were simply insane.

"As long as you surrender and give up the throne to me, I will release Yongle and will never let them embarrass you. You can live in the palace and spend your old age in peace. Isn't that good?"

The Grand Princess didn't want Fu Lilu to show weakness at this critical moment, so she shouted to the outside of the door, "Come in! Take everyone in and capture them. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy."

As soon as he finished speaking, the commander of the Royal Guards rushed in with his men, surrounding the people in the study. The Royal Guards who came in were wearing armor and carrying long swords, and they were full of murderous aura.

"The imperial edict or Prime Minister Pei's life, you choose one!" The eldest princess laughed arrogantly.