Outside Yonggan Palace, Princess Ruian, who was blocked from leaving, did not leave but stood still.

Originally, when Shen Mianmian came to beg her to enter the palace to help the prince, she thought that Shen Mianmian was meddling. But now, she realized that there was indeed something fishy going on!

The question is, what's strange about this?

The Marquis of Anning's family is loyal and has not offended the Emperor. In fact, the Emperor has recently been absurdly favoring treacherous officials and secretly harbors resentment towards many loyal ministers, but he does not hold a grudge against the Marquis of Anning.

Not only did he have a very good impression of Marquis Anning, but he also wanted to expand the military camps in the suburbs of the capital and promote Marquis Anning to a higher official position.

As for the crown prince,

The Crown Prince had never met the Emperor before, and rarely even attended palace banquets, so it was impossible for him to have offended the Emperor. Even if he had, he could not be punished in his own palace.

If we absolutely have to talk about a relationship... then it's only...

Princess Rui'an was startled—could it be related to Prince Jin? After all, the Crown Prince's appearance was strikingly similar to Prince Jin's!

In addition, the Emperor summoned Prince Jin back to the capital this time, intending to keep Prince Jin there and send Prince Qin to the Northern Gorge.

In an instant, countless possibilities flooded Princess Ryan's mind. She had no time to think further and shoved the princess token into Ying Gu's hand beside her. "Ying Gu, you must leave the palace immediately and go find Prince Jin. No matter what he is doing, make him come here!"

"Yes, Princess." Ying Gu dared not delay and ran off with the princess's token.

Princess Ruian then shouted to the palace servants of Yonggan Palace, "Someone, go and announce that Prince Jin will be arriving soon, and that I and Prince Jin have important matters to discuss with the Emperor."

However, the palace servants guarding the door looked at each other, all with their heads down, not daring to utter a sound.

A eunuch mustered his courage and quickly approached the princess, whispering, "Your Highness, please calm down. It's not that we didn't want to inform her, it's just...we dared not! The Emperor just gave an order that no one is to be disturbed, otherwise...they will be killed without mercy!"

Princess Ryan gasped and asked again, "Is Eunuch Ji inside?"

"Your Highness, he is not in the palace."

"Go find Eunuch Ji right now and tell her to come see me! Tell her that if she doesn't come, I will wait at the entrance of Yonggan Palace. If we're going to die, we'll all die together!"

Seeing the princess's fury, the eunuch was so frightened that his legs went weak. He hurriedly responded a few times and ran off to find someone.

...

Inside Yonggan Palace.

The emperor's bedroom.

Everywhere is gilded and inlaid with jade, extravagant and luxurious.

Incense burned in the carved incense burner with auspicious beasts at the entrance, filling the room with smoke and making people dizzy and almost unable to open their eyes.

Bai Qingzhou was already weak due to poisoning, and now, after being exposed to this fumes, she felt even more dizzy and lightheaded.

He knelt on the ground, greeted the emperor, and shouted "Long live the emperor!"

He thought he would hear the Emperor say that he would not need to stand in line, but he waited for a long time and did not hear it. He did not dare to look up at the Emperor's face, so he could only kneel on the ground with his head down, feeling very uneasy and full of doubt.

After a while, I heard footsteps.

Immediately afterwards, he saw a pair of dragon boots appear on the gold brick, and he was secretly shocked—it was the Emperor?

Before he could figure it out, the person standing in front of him leaned down, and accompanied by a strong scent of ambergris, his chin was pinched and pulled up.

Because of a momentary lapse in attention, Bai Qingzhou looked up and, without permission, peeked at the emperor's face.

This person... is the Emperor!?

He had heard his father talk about the emperor before, and Mr. Ouyang had also told him about it.

It is said that the emperor was a man of both literary and military talent. When he was the crown prince, he was praised by people. After he ascended the throne, he created a prosperous era. However, he listened to treacherous ministers and became more and more confused.

The emperor was thirty-five years old this year. He was tall with deep features, sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, and a straight nose. He had the appearance of a handsome emperor, but his face was pale and grayish, his eye sockets were deep-set, and there was a dark blue under his eyes. Two deep wrinkles ran diagonally down from the inner corners of his eyes and down his cheeks. His eyes were also extremely cloudy.

This is a sign of excessive indulgence and a completely drained body. Is this... the Emperor?

At the same time, Emperor Ruide also saw the White Prince's face clearly. When he saw it, his cloudy eyes widened suddenly, "Lingyu! It's you, Lingyu!"

Bai Qingzhou was taken aback—Ling Yu? Ling Yu seems to be…the name of the Prince of Jin?

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, you have misread it. I am not His Highness Prince Jin, but Bai Qingzhou, son of Marquis Anning."

"Shut up! I said you are Ling Yu, so you are Ling Yu!"

Bai Qingzhou was still puzzled—could the Emperor be drunk? But there was no smell of alcohol on him. Could it be… that he had taken some hallucinogenic drug?

Even if it's hallucinogenic, you can't fantasize about King Jin, right?

Immediately afterward, Bai Qingzhou froze... Fantasy? The Emperor to Prince Jin? The Emperor summoned Prince Jin to the capital, disregarding the critical situation at the border, wanting to keep Prince Jin in the capital.

At the same time, even though the position of Prince Qin is crucial, it is still preferable to send Prince Qin to Beixia to replace him. This is not because Prince Jin has any practical experience, but because... the Emperor wants Prince Jin.

Bai Qingzhou mustered his courage again and looked into the Emperor's eyes. Then, he was struck dumb—the Emperor's eyes were full of lust and longing. The Emperor was looking at him, not at him as a person, but at his face!

Could it be...?

Putting aside the fact that the Emperor and Prince Jin are both men, let's just say... they are brothers!

As he pondered this, cold sweat began to drip from his forehead, for he suddenly realized that his life... was probably not going to survive.

If the Emperor cannot keep Prince Jin, will he imprison him in the palace as a substitute because of his resemblance to Prince Jin? How can the Marquis of Anning's mansion protect him?

Even though the Marquis of Anning's mansion and Princess Ruian did everything they could to protect him, he accidentally learned the Emperor's secret. How could the Emperor spare his life?

Not only will he not survive, but I'm afraid... it will also implicate the Marquis of Anning's mansion...

Bai Qingzhou's face grew paler and paler, and her heart filled with increasing despair.

Under heaven, all land belongs to the king; within the borders, all people are his subjects. If the emperor wants to do something to him, who can save him?

Unwilling to give up, Bai Qingzhou mustered his courage and raised his voice, "Your Majesty, you have mistaken me for someone else. I am Bai Qingzhou, son of the Marquis of Anning, not the person you are looking for."

He clearly felt the hand gripping his chin tighten suddenly, followed by a sharp pain in his chin.

Bai Qingzhou winced in pain—the Emperor was skilled in martial arts; was he going to crush his jaw? It would be best if he were crushed, disfigured, then he wouldn't need to end up like Prince Jin.

Before he could finish thinking, a cold wind blew in front of him, and he was slapped so hard that he flew away and crashed heavily to the ground.

Bai Qingzhou was already physically weak, and the strong incense had made him faint from the slap.

He tried to stay awake, knowing that he absolutely could not faint at this moment and had to find a way to save himself. His father had just been enjoying his newfound happiness, his mother had not yet given birth, and he was going to formally marry Mianmian. He could not be forced to stay in this inexplicable place.

or……

Did he disfigure himself?

The Emperor seems to be out of his mind right now. If he disfigures himself in time, will the Emperor think he's mistaken? But... it's already been spread that he looks like Prince Jin. Will the Emperor charge him with deceiving the Emperor?

Hearing footsteps approaching, Bai Qingzhou decided to disfigure himself without having time to think.