Jiang Bai, his face ashen, said, "Cang Ling, what do you mean by this?"

Cang Ling laughed even harder as he watched Jiang Bai's helplessness and anger. He was in so much pain, so it was only fair that others should suffer the same pain as him. Why should he have to stay by his master's side and suffer, while Jiang Bai, who entered the same batch as him, was living a wealthy life and enjoying freedom? This was unfair, so unfair!

"It means you and I are destined to be controlled by others for life, don't you understand?" Cang Ling said with a sneer.

"Didn't he promise me? He said he'd set me free after I did this last thing." Jiang Bai cried out in despair. Why? Why were they doing this to him? He was about to marry Jing Xi, so why were these people haunting him like ghosts?

"Ha, naive. Your master has ordered you to stir up trouble in the Northwest. This is your mission; you can choose not to complete it, but you know your master's methods," Cang Ling kindly reminded him. After saying this, he put on the human skin mask and left.

Jiang Bai stared helplessly at his hands. If Jing Xi knew his hands were covered in blood, would she...? No, she wouldn't, she wouldn't...

——

“Your Highness, the head of the Li family came to Yunzhou City yesterday and went directly to see His Highness the Crown Prince. The two had a private conversation in the study for an hour,” Song Jue said, frowning.

"The head of the Li family?" Ji Mohan glanced at Li Shang, who hurriedly jumped up from his chair and said, "I don't know. He's just my father in name only. He won't tell me what he does. Don't look at me like that."

Ji Mohan said in a deep voice, "Yes, I understand."

"Song Jue, go and check if Uncle An has left home," Ji Mohan continued.

"Your Highness, are you referring to Prince An, who shares the same mother as His Majesty?" Song Jue asked again, uncertainly.

“Isn’t he dead? I heard from that old man Jiang Yan that the Li family killed him, so how could he be hiding in the Li family?” Li Shang retorted, “This doesn’t make any sense!”

“I saw it with my own eyes. Uncle An is still alive. I suspect that the assassination attempt we encountered earlier was related to him,” Ji Mohan said with certainty.

"What? Could it be that the assassination attempt he committed against Li Jia back then was just a staged act? He faked his death and hid in Li Jia's house? Then Aunt, Aunt..." Li Shang said, his eyes bloodshot.

Didn't my aunt die in vain? She died of depression because of him, and he, though alive, didn't even visit her once, and he even left home... How could he...

"Calm down, this is just my guess," Ji Mohan said, trying to comfort Li Shang, who was clearly upset.

But Li Shang knew that since he had said it, it meant that the matter was almost certainly true.

“It’s true.” Crown Prince Ji Mosheng’s voice came from outside the door. Song Jue Lishang and Wei Ting exchanged a glance, then looked at Ji Mohan. They hadn’t even noticed that His Highness the Crown Prince was outside the door.

Ji Mohan glanced at Wei Ting, gesturing for him to open the door.

Wei Ting nodded slightly, walked over, opened the door, and stood respectfully to the side.

Ji Mosheng walked in from outside with a late-night snack. He looked at his expressionless elder brother and the obviously nervous Li Shang and the others, and said gently, "I originally wanted to discuss something with my elder brother, but I didn't expect to overhear your words. Your guess was right, Uncle An is hiding in the Li family."

Li Shang clenched his fists tightly, his body trembling. Could it be that back then, the Li family had been hiding something from his aunt and putting on an act? His aunt, who was completely unaware of the truth, had actually believed it.

Seeing that Ji Mohan still had the same expressionless face, Ji Mosheng smiled silently. His elder brother was as indifferent as ever. He continued, "Yesterday, the head of the Li family came to see me to talk about this matter."

"What do you plan to do?" Ji Mo asked coldly.

“This matter is somewhat complicated. The head of the Li family came to me yesterday, hoping that we could plead for him. If the Emperor blames him, he hopes that he can take full responsibility and spare the rest of the Li family from death,” Ji Mosheng said, looking at Li Shang who was standing there in a daze.

"Heh, do you think Father Emperor would let the others who left home go? The crime of deceiving the emperor is a capital offense." Ji Mohan said sarcastically.

He knew his good father all too well; he was ruthless and devoid of emotion.

"Brother, perhaps Father will spare the rest of the Li family because the head of the Li family informed us of this," Ji Mosheng said, unconsciously defending the emperor.

"Your Highness, it seems you've also been misled by this so-called father-son display of affection. Out of consideration for our brotherhood, I must remind you: members of the royal family are ruthless. Don't be naive," Ji Mohan said in a deep voice.

"Royal brother." Ji Mosheng called out and then fell silent. He had previously thought that his royal brother blamed their father and everyone in the royal family, but he never expected that his royal brother would have such great hostility towards their father and the royal family.

Ji Mohan said sarcastically, "You've spent more time in the palace than I have, and you've also spent more time with the Emperor. You, Crown Prince, certainly know the Emperor's character better than I do. Or are you unwilling to admit what you've discovered?"

"Brother, Father, Father is very good to me." Ji Mosheng didn't know how to refute, so he could only say in a low voice.

In fact, he had also realized that his father might not be the person he thought he was. But no matter what, he was still their father. He kept deceiving himself and refused to admit that his father might not be suitable for the position.

"Yes, who doesn't know that the Emperor's most beloved prince is His Highness the Crown Prince?" Ji Mohan said sarcastically.

“Brother, let’s discuss Uncle An’s matter first,” Ji Mosheng changed the subject. Yes, everyone knew that he was the emperor’s most beloved prince, but only he knew that his father only needed a qualified successor to protect the country. He didn’t love anyone else; he only loved himself and power.

What a fine Crown Prince! A dignified Crown Prince, merely a tool used by the Emperor to consolidate his power. How laughable! Hahaha!

Ji Mohan glanced at Ji Mosheng and stopped provoking him. After all, the Crown Prince held a much higher place in the Emperor's heart than he did.

"Hmm." Ji Mohan replied in a deep voice. Let's deal with Uncle An's matter first. Yin Kingdom is currently on the verge of collapse, beset by internal disasters and threatened by the Meng Kingdom from the outside. Now, with the emergence of Uncle An, things are getting more and more complicated.

Ji Mohan suggested, "Uncle An should be kept under control, at least to prevent him from causing trouble in Yin Kingdom. Yin Kingdom cannot withstand any more turmoil. His appearance is definitely not accidental."

It's either for revenge or for that position; the intention is quite obvious, isn't it?

After thinking for a moment, Ji Mosheng decided to speak up. He knew he couldn't solve the problem on his own. His cold voice rang out, "The head of the Li family told me that Uncle An is going to start a rebellion."