"What did you say?!" The Prime Minister's expression turned ferocious.

"I'm too lazy to repeat myself." Dongfang Wuye glanced at the Prime Minister with disdain, then turned to look down at his elder brother, his eyes filled with worry. "Prime Minister, you may kill or punish me as you see fit."

"I won't kill you, nor will I torture you. I'll keep you alive and present you to the new emperor tomorrow, so he can deal with you as he sees fit," the prime minister said leisurely, clearly in a very good mood.

"A new emperor?" Dongfang Wuye narrowed his eyes.

"Yes, the new emperor. Oh, you probably don't know, do you? Tonight, the Fourth Prince led an army of 100,000 into the palace to overthrow the current emperor and declare himself emperor," the prime minister said smugly.

"You beast! That's Father Emperor!" Dongfang Wuye trembled with rage.

“Your fourth brother has probably never regarded that high and mighty man as ‘Father Emperor’.” The Prime Minister walked over and sat opposite him. “Dongfang Wuye, don’t you know that the person who poisoned your father Emperor was the Fourth Prince?”

Dongfang Wuye pursed his lips, his chest heaving with anger. How could he not know about this? Although the imperial edict ordering his fourth brother's arrest only stated that he had rebelled against the court, how could he not guess that it was related to his father's poisoning?

"It seems you know. But do you know that your fourth brother slept with your father's woman?" the Prime Minister said with a smile.

"What did you say?!" Dongfang Wuye exclaimed in astonishment.

"Your fourth brother slept with your father's woman," the Prime Minister repeated.

Dongfang Wuye was stunned; only this one line remained in his mind: "Your fourth brother slept with your father's woman..."

"Impossible, impossible! How could my fourth brother do such a thing? It's impossible!" Dongfang Wuye couldn't accept this. How could such a sordid thing happen in the royal family?

No, why not?

Dongfang Wuye remembered seeing men sneaking out of the palace at night when he was a child.

At the time, he didn't know what was going on, but now that he thinks about it...

A string in Dongfang Wuye's mind snapped.

He believed that the darkness in the palace was merely a struggle for the throne.

"Third Prince, you are still too young. If you ask who has worn the most cuckold's hats in this world, without a doubt it's the Emperor," the Prime Minister sneered. Even the Emperor himself probably doesn't know how many of his sons are actually his own.

The Prime Minister looked outside, now waiting for the good news to arrive.

"Why didn't you poison me?" Dongfang Wuye's tone was calm. The situation was hopeless, and no matter how much he hated it, he had no power to change anything.

His best relative in this life was his elder brother, the emperor. If his elder brother died, there would be no meaning in his life.

"Because you're not as smart as your elder brother, and you don't know martial arts, whether I drug you or not makes little difference." The Prime Minister glanced at him contemptuously.

Dongfang Wuye chuckled self-deprecatingly. Indeed, the meaning of his existence was given by his elder brother. Once his elder brother fell, he would have nothing left.

"Who said there's not much difference?" Qiao Qiu slowly sat up, her eyes clear, showing no sign of being drugged.

"Brother!" Dongfang Wuye was overjoyed. It was so good that his brother was alright!

The Prime Minister stared at Qiao Qiu in astonishment, "You weren't... drugged by me?"

Qiao Qiu stretched, crossed her arms, and raised an eyebrow. "Who told you I was drugged? My men know how to use poison, and my wife is a master of poison. With your little tricks, where do you get the confidence to poison me, the Crown Prince?"

"You, you, you..." The Prime Minister's finger was trembling as he pointed at Qiao Qiu.

"What do you mean, 'you'? You just said that there's not much difference between drugging Third Brother and not drugging him. Tell me, if he were drugged, would you be talking so much like a lunatic?" Qiao Qiu said with a look of disdain.

Prime Minister...

He's not mentally ill, so why would he talk to himself like that?

"Idiot." Qiao Qiu rolled her eyes.

The Prime Minister's confidence was shaken.

Although Dongfang Wuye was still a little worried, he inexplicably wanted to laugh, and felt at least half relieved.

Qiao Qiu reached for the wine pot, lifted the lid, glanced inside, and said disdainfully, "A mandarin duck pot, what an old-fashioned method."

The prime minister stood up and tried to run away.

Qiao Qiu flicked her finger, and a powerful burst of internal energy shot straight at the Prime Minister, who had just stood up, striking his pressure point.

"Prime Minister, where are you headed?"

Qiao Qiu's leisurely voice rang out from behind, and large drops of sweat began to drip from the Prime Minister's forehead. "No, I didn't plan to go anywhere."

He was already wary of the crown prince, and now everything has been revealed without him even asking. It would be a lie for the prime minister not to feel hopeless.

"Oh, since you have nothing more to say, then I'll take this gift to see Father Emperor." Qiao Qiu stood up leisurely. "Someone come here."

Two men in black landed not far away and knelt down on one knee.

"Tie up the Prime Minister."

"yes."

The men in black quickly found several ropes and tied the prime minister up tightly.

Qiao Qiu sat down again, her expression calm. She picked up a wine glass and poured herself a drink. "Take control of everyone in the Prime Minister's residence. Don't let anyone outside know."

"yes!"

Dongfang Wuye was dumbfounded. This was the first time he had seen his elder brother make a move. He had no idea that his brother was so powerful.

The previously arrogant and powerful prime minister was completely powerless to resist after the emperor made his move.

For the first time, Dongfang Wuye truly and directly experienced Qiao Qiu's power.

"Brother, what should we do now?"

Dongfang Wuye was a little worried. The fourth prince had already led his men into the palace, so why was his elder brother still so calm?

"wait."

"Wait?" Dongfang Wuye wondered if he had misheard.

"Wait." Qiao Qiu nodded, making sure he hadn't misheard.

"But Your Majesty, Fourth Brother has already stormed into the palace!" Dongfang Wuye said anxiously.

"What use do you think you'd be?" Qiao Qiu looked at him calmly, her expression still composed.

"I..." Dongfang Wuye's words of rebuttal were stuck in his throat. Yes, what use would he be if he went? He didn't know martial arts, and he would only be a hindrance.

"Brother, your martial arts are so high, surely you can rescue Father! Please go and save Father, he is our father!"

Dongfang Wuye looked at Qiao Qiu as if she had seen a lifeline, her eyes filled with hope.

"Sit down and wait." Qiao Qiu didn't say anything more, slowly sipping her wine.

Dongfang Wuye wanted to say something more, but no matter how angry he was, he didn't want to disobey his elder brother. He sighed heavily and sat down.

He glanced at the wine on the table, picked it up, and drank it all in one gulp.

At that moment, he longed to get drunk.

But for some reason, the more I drank tonight, the more sober I became.

Dongfang Wuye gazed in the direction of the imperial city and made a decision in his heart.

My elder brother cannot disobey the emperor in this lifetime, but he can choose to die with our father.