Xie Jingyan gave a mocking laugh, "What high hopes? Do you want to make me the crown prince?"

Eunuch Yuan, "..."

The Emperor's face turned ashen, and he slammed his fist on the table, shouting, "I think you don't want the position of Crown Prince, you just want me to give you a beating!!"

Xie Jingyan's lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. "There are plenty of people who want to investigate the Xizhou Dam case. Why does Your Majesty need to worry about me?"

Before he could finish speaking, Eunuch Xiao Xizi entered and said, "Your Majesty, the First Prince and Prince Jin have arrived."

"Let them in."

Xiao Xizi left, and soon the eldest prince and Prince Jin entered.

They had all heard Xie Jingyan's disrespectful words to the Emperor outside the Imperial Study.

They even thought Prince Ling wanted to compete for the crown prince position, which made the emperor so angry he wanted to chop off his head.

Xie Jingyin said, "Father, please calm down. My sixth brother did not disobey you on purpose. He just couldn't bear to leave his pregnant wife to go to Xizhou. I will investigate this case instead."

Xie Jingyan's face darkened.

His doting affection for Shen Wan, to the point that everyone knew he had suffered from pregnancy complications because of her, was now being blamed by the Emperor for his reluctance to go to Xizhou to investigate the case, clearly intended to provoke the Emperor's dissatisfaction with Shen Wan.

Xie Jingyan would never let Xie Jingyin's crooked thoughts succeed. He sneered, "Who told Prince Jin that investigating the Xizhou dam case meant abandoning the princess to go to Xizhou?"

Xie Jingyin said, "All the blueprints and ledgers related to the construction of the Xizhou Dam have been destroyed. How can we investigate this case without going to Xizhou ourselves?"

Xie Jingyan said casually, "Only the original manuscript and the copy I gave to the Crown Prince were destroyed. It doesn't mean I don't have a backup."

Xie Jingyin's expression changed drastically.

However, it quickly returned to normal.

The eldest prince was stunned, his voice rising, "You have a backup?!"

Yes, and more than one.