Family members become enemies

Jing Yao lowered his head and did not dare to answer easily.

The emperor had walked through countless bloody storms throughout his life, and even after two years of coma, he hadn't lost his ability to judge people. This woman had dared to risk her life to come to him for help, which was completely different from the young lady he had imagined, who had no merits other than being unruly and willful.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I hope Your Majesty will send someone to capture Si Jue. I also beg Your Majesty to spare my life."

The sweat on Jing Yao's forehead had not yet disappeared, and the uneasiness in her heart became inexplicably stronger, and her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

"As long as you stay with me in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, nothing should happen." The emperor looked very confident. Jing Yao was worried at first whether he still had any remaining power in the palace that he could use, but seeing his expression, he felt relieved for a moment.

The emperor frowned and asked, "Since you said the palace security is lax, why worry about someone coming to kill you? Besides, my personal guards are not something anyone can touch."

Jing Yao couldn't explain where the anxiety in her heart came from. She only knew that with Yue Ningning's ability, it would not be difficult for her to find her.

The emperor had a private army, but no one in the palace knew about it. Si Jue had just taken over and had run the palace in such a mess, so he probably hadn't noticed it either.

"With this elite force, capturing King Lin won't be a problem."

The emperor also specially left some guards to guard the Qianqing Palace. He could hear the worry in Jing Yao's words, and out of caution he still planned to trust the girl in front of him.

In Jingtai Palace, "Si Jue" and Wenren Cuo stood in front of the map of Dajing and listened to the intelligence from the front line from the Ministry of War.

Si Pei's momentum was unstoppable, and with a general like Zuo Yuanwu, he was likely to reach the outer perimeter of Shanghua City soon. Fortunately, Shanghua City currently had a vast army at its disposal, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack. Furthermore, Yue Ningning had been furiously preparing special weapons in anticipation of Si Pei's arrival.

Wen Rencuo came to the palace today to recommend himself for the position of commander-in-chief of the city defense. Although Yue Ningning was surprised at Wenren's sudden change of attitude, she felt that one more ally was better than one more enemy.

System 3022 had previously said that Wen Rencuo would still come to help her at the last moment. Yue Ningning was secretly delighted that this artificial idiot was finally right for once.

Just as she was preparing to draft an edict appointing Wen Rencuo as the commander-in-chief and chief commander, a sharp alarm suddenly sounded in her mind again.

[Warning! Warning! The world storyline has undergone another major change! Glitch... Glitch...]

Yue Ningning subconsciously pressed her solar plexus, and the stamp slipped out of her hand and fell to the ground with a dull thud as she swayed.

Wen Rencuo was startled. Before he could react, the "Si Jue" in front of him raised his head with bloodshot eyes and said in a resentful tone that made people surround him: "Catch him!"

"Your Highness, what do you mean by this?!" Wen Rencuo calmed himself down and glanced calmly at the sword-wielding guards who surrounded him with his eagle eyes. The majesty of a great general in his bones was fully displayed, and for a moment, the guards did not dare to act rashly.

[Host, are you okay? ]

3022 asked anxiously, which gave Yue Ningning a headache.

The world system could issue such a high-level warning, which must be related to those two bastards. The plot changed right after Wen Rencuo surrendered, which must be related to him.

[Host, the heroine's presence seems to have appeared in the palace! ]

Yue Ningning raised her eyes and stared at Wen Rencuo who was standing in the palace: "Who did you bring into the palace?"

Wen Rencuo had imagined being discovered by Si Jue, but the current situation was completely different. How could Si Jue suddenly change his attitude and guess that he had brought people with him without any intelligence?

Although countless questions flashed through his mind, Wen Rencuo still answered according to the prepared words: "The one who came into the palace with me is my fiancée. I came to the palace this time in the hope that Your Highness would grant us a marriage."

"Take me to her."

Wenren looked up in surprise. Si Jue looked half-believing and half-doubting, but his attitude was not as angry as before.

Yue Ningning didn't care about that and told her directly that this must be related to Wen Rencuo. If there was really someone in the car, it would be fine. If there was no one, she would chop Wen Rencuo on the spot.

As Yue Ningning walked, she asked Yu to go in and check whether the patrolling guards outside Jingtai Palace and the palace maids passing by had seen any suspicious people in the general's carriage.

Unexpectedly, a palace maid really said that she had seen that girl, and the girl also asked how to get to the Imperial Garden.

"Your Highness, please believe me. My fiancée must have just gotten off the carriage to relax. This is her first time at the palace and she's curious. She's definitely in the carriage right now."

Yue Ningning didn't want to hear anyone's nonsense, so he asked the guards to hold him down and walked straight to the carriage.

When she finally reached the carriage, Yue Ningning's heart was beating very fast, and she couldn't even suppress her joy. The system alarm didn't sound; Jing Yao wasn't there.

Yue Ningning reached out and suddenly pulled open the curtain, and the happy smile on her face froze in an instant.

"ah!"

The woman sitting upright in the carriage was startled when she saw the strange-looking stranger suddenly appear in front of her. Wen Rencuo was particularly worried and called out, "Qing'er, are you okay? Don't be afraid, this is His Royal Highness Prince Lin."

Upon hearing this, Qing'er's expression turned from shock to fear, and she quickly knelt down to greet him: "Your Highness, Prince Lin! I, a lowly person, have been unable to recognize a great man. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

"Your Highness, now you should believe it."

Wen Rencuo breathed a sigh of relief. The guards that Yu Jin had called over also said that they had seen the girl walking back from the Imperial Garden. They had stopped her for questioning and registration.

“How could it be…”

Yue Ningning took two steps back unconsciously. Was there really something wrong with her intuition?

No, there's definitely something wrong.

Yue Ningning's eyes turned and she immediately reached out to touch Qing'er's neck.

"Your Majesty has an order!"

Eunuch Ming's shrill and loud voice appeared again in a familiar voice, but what he shouted was a sentence that no one had heard for a long time.

Your Majesty? Didn't the old emperor have a stroke? In the original storyline, he never woke up until his death!

Is this the point where the plot takes a turn?

Wen Rencuo was secretly delighted, but he didn't show it on his face. He only asked anxiously, "Your Majesty, are you awake?"

Eunuch Ming nodded, then looked at Prince Lin with a compassionate and playful look: "Your Highness Prince Lin, His Majesty has issued an imperial decree inviting you to the Palace of Heavenly Purity."

Yue Ningning began to sweat all over. She was not the real Si Jue, and she definitely could not pretend in front of the old emperor, who was such a cunning person.

Besides, Si Pei is still alive, so the old emperor will never give up the prince he has trained for many years and replace him with Si Jue, who has not gained the throne legitimately.

unless……

Yue Ningning just couldn't believe that this old emperor, who had been in a coma for more than two years, could still have the ability to change the world in the palace.

"Prince Lin, are you going to disobey my order?" Eunuch Ming waved his whisk, "Someone come!"

Yue Ningning's eyes flashed, and Yu Jin and Yu Gui almost immediately understood what their master meant, and directly brought people to protect her.

"It seems that the King intends to refuse the toast and drink the wine for punishment."

The emperor's private soldiers had not seen blood for a long time and were eager to fight. Seeing the man in front of them so arrogant, they became even more interested.

Almost at the moment of the fight, Yue Ningning realized that she had underestimated the strength of this group of secret guards and that her people were definitely no match for them.

"Stop." Before the situation got out of hand, Yue Ningning took a deep breath and said, "I'll go with you."

She walked forward with a dejected look on her face, but at the end she looked at Yu Jin meaningfully.

Wen Rencuo watched Yu Jin being taken away with a smile on his face, and suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Si Jue definitely has a backup plan.

"Get in the carriage, let's go."

"Where are you going?"

Qing'er looked confused. Wasn't His Majesty rescued? Si Pei had already arrived outside Shanghua City with the advance team. Shouldn't they have already secured victory?

"They should have prepared a response plan long ago. If we don't hurry up and inform Si Pei, I'm afraid something will happen to him."

The girl also started to panic: "What about Ling Yi?"

"She is with the emperor, and the emperor's people can protect her." Wen Rencuo sighed. This was also the instruction left by Jing Yao, telling him that he must send the news to Si Pei as soon as he got it, and never worry about her, she would be fine.

No matter how worried Wen Rencuo was at this moment, he could only choose to trust Jing Yao.

Jing Yao had never liked interacting with the emperor since he was a child, and his memory of him was still that of a cold and indifferent person. Now that he had to stay with him all the time because of his life and property, he felt inexplicably restrained.

The old emperor, who had returned to life, looked much more approachable than before, and even took the initiative to ask why Jing Yao had not yet married Si Pei.

"I have high hopes for him, and he does have the talent to become a wise ruler. But Li Hong is a stubborn child. Once he sets his mind on something, he will never give up." The old emperor smiled. "He was raised to be conservative and silent. I really didn't expect him to like you so much."

"Your Majesty, have you ever thought that perhaps the Crown Prince is not such a quiet and indifferent person after all? He should be lively and outgoing. If it weren't for you..."

Jing Yao hesitated to speak, perhaps because he felt it was rude to curse the emperor and his deceased Queen Yue in front of him, so he had to shut up in disappointment.

"Hahahaha..." The emperor laughed, uncharacteristically. "I understand your dissatisfaction. The Crown Prince's mother was indeed harsh on him, and I did indulge her. The Queen nearly died giving birth to the Crown Prince, and I neglected her care at the time, which led to this huge mistake."

"Your Majesty, don't you find this contradictory? When the Crown Prince was first born, you were too busy with government affairs to attend to him, which is understandable. But for more than a decade afterwards, you also turned a blind eye. Wasn't Si Pei your chosen and most preferred candidate for Crown Prince?"

"It is precisely because he is the Crown Prince that I have to subject him to this." The Emperor sighed, looking up to the heavens. "I appointed him Crown Prince long ago and personally selected his closest ministers in the Eastern Palace. All this was to secure his position as Crown Prince. But I also worry about being exploited by those with ulterior motives. Do you know what the Young Emperor is most vulnerable to, and what he fears most?"

Jing Yao suddenly met the emperor's questioning gaze and thought for a while: "Is the emperor's relatives interfering in politics?"

"Not too stupid."

Only then did Jing Yao realize why Si Pei was always reluctant to mention the Queen's affairs, and didn't seem to have much hatred in him. Maybe he had realized long ago that this was the Emperor's chess game, and everyone was just a whetstone.

"You're causing them to turn against each other, and even become enemies, just because of a little worry?"

The emperor was unaware of his presence: "I was just doing a favor. The queen really doesn't like the prince because she knows I would give her up for him."

“Your Majesty…”

How can you be so cold-blooded and heartless?

"Li Hong is a sentimental person, but too much emotion can be a hindrance. I'm doing this to help him. He might even hate me, right?"

Jing Yao suddenly found it ridiculous that for such a shabby position he almost pushed someone into an abyss of no return. It was a miracle that Si Pei could survive such abuse and indifference.

"Besides, don't we still have you? The Crown Prince likes you, which seems to be a good thing now." The emperor shook his head, "It's a pity that your father is not content."

"Your Majesty, rest assured. There is no Jing family left in this world."

Jing Yao retorted coldly, and the emperor was stunned: "The prince confiscated the Jing family's property?"

"I don't know." Jing Yao spoke of his family's complicated and confusing past. "He was originally confiscated from the Duke's Mansion on charges of aiding in treason, and later on, on his way home from his demotion, he was ambushed by bandits."

The emperor mused, "The Jing family was not involved in the case of Prince Jin."