Chapter 420 Mutual Killing

If you dare to say anything out of line, I'll tear your mouth apart.

With the Crown Prince thinking this to himself, Lu Yuanbin wasn't afraid of him at all. He smiled and winked at him before resuming his speech.

“This child actually belongs to one of the emperor’s former guards, and everyone here knows that guard.”

As Lu Yuanbin spoke, he stretched out his palm, scanning the baby from top to bottom, finally landing on the child being held by the wet nurse. A murmur of surprise and discussion erupted around them; naturally, the topic of conversation was who this guard was.

The Crown Prince stared at Lu Yuanbin with a grim expression. Although the Crown Prince had dealt with Li Yingxue's matter, he had no doubt that Lu Yuanbin knew that Madam Xue was Li Yingxue.

Moreover, the Crown Prince believed that even the Emperor should know who Lady Xue was. Since she didn't say, didn't that prove that the Emperor didn't care about this at all?

But now Lu Yuanbin has actually brought this up, which is very disgraceful for the Crown Prince, especially since Lu Yuanbin even said that he was cuckolded by his own guard.

What exactly are you trying to say?

The crown prince had a gloomy face, but because he lacked any real authority, he didn't look scary at all.

"Your Majesty is far beyond my reach; I was just about to say it."

Lu Yuanbin calmly reassured the Crown Prince and continued, "The matter of the real and fake Miss Gu is known to everyone in the capital. And everyone also knows that the fake young lady married a guard by the Emperor's side after leaving the Marquis's mansion. What I want to say today is that the baby in the swaddling clothes is none other than the child of the guard who married the fake young lady of the Marquis's mansion, Your Highness."

When Lu Yuanbin mentioned it, some people had already guessed it, and they breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving confirmation.

As expected of that fake heiress, she's capable of doing this: being the wife of a guard while having an affair with the crown prince, and now she's even passing off the guard's child as the crown prince's. Even they wouldn't dare to do something like that.

"Impossible. Although Xue'er married that servant, she never slept with that guard. How could she have given birth to that lowly child?"

The Crown Prince was filled with rage. If it weren't for Li Yingxue's promise to only be with him, how could he possibly accept a woman who had been used by someone else?

"Brother, have you forgotten how that guard died?"

Upon hearing Lu Yuanbin's words, the Crown Prince's mind seemed to explode, and he instantly lost all ability to think.

He glanced back at the tiny child, who was just born, so it was impossible to tell who the child was looking at. But the suspicion in his heart was like a thorn stuck in his throat, something the prince couldn't spit out or swallow.

"It seems that Your Majesty has already remembered." Lu Yuanbin smiled. This was exactly what he wanted the Crown Prince to remember, otherwise, how would he continue the play?

Looking back at the emperor, who had almost finished reading the memorial, Lu Yuanbin clasped his hands and said, "Father, my elder brother killed someone to cover up his crime in order to take another man's wife, and then used the child of a commoner to impersonate a member of the royal family. I beg you to punish him severely."

As Lu Yuanbin spoke, he even recounted how the Crown Prince had killed someone and disposed of the body, leaving everyone present astonished.

Although the Crown Prince was indeed a womanizer, the impression they had of him over the years was that he wouldn't go to such lengths for a woman. Ultimately, they believed that Li Yingxue was the culprit behind all of this.

If it weren't for that woman's seduction, how could their crown prince have done such an absurd thing?

“Father, I did not. Although Lady Xue did marry me, it was only because my subordinate died in the line of duty that I brought her to my residence. I beg you, Father, to understand.”

The crown prince could not possibly admit to killing someone. Although he was a prince, he had dealt with servants who had killed a few people before. But doing it was one thing, admitting it was another.

If His Highness the Crown Prince himself does not abide by the laws of the court, then who will submit to them and become their subjects?

Moreover, the Zhou dynasty has always maintained that the emperor is subject to the same laws as commoners, and the more so this is the case, the less likely he is to admit wrongdoing at this time.

"You really didn't kill him?"

The emperor looked at the crown prince, his eyes revealing neither joy nor anger. Lu Youming watched this scene quietly from the side, without saying a word.

In the past, he might have stood up to plead for the Crown Prince, but now, what he naturally wanted was for the Crown Prince to be completely removed from his post. So, from a certain perspective, Lu Yuanbin's approach was consistent with his own. In that case, why not let them kill each other?

"No, Father, your son wouldn't even step on an ant, how could he kill someone! Your son swears, your son has never done such a thing."

Now that Li Yingxue is dead, his own bodyguards are naturally on his side. As for those who knew about it back then, they have all been dealt with. So no matter how well Lu Yuanbin explains himself, no one can prove that he did it.

The emperor originally wanted to say that if the crown prince admitted it himself, he would at least give him a chance.

But now the emperor is truly disappointed in this son. Does he think that just because he killed a guard, the fifth son will come running to him and cause trouble?

Looking at the pile of evidence in front of him, the emperor flung it directly at the crown prince's face.

"Take it and take a good look at it yourself!"

It was clear that the emperor was truly angry about this matter. Although his actions were not obvious, those who knew him well had already become alert.

The crown prince initially thought that the item was merely evidence of the murder he had committed, but when he picked it up and glanced at it, he immediately knelt down.

“Father, please listen to my explanation. That’s not how it happened. These are all fabrications made by others to frame me.”

At this point, the crown prince no longer cared about such a trivial matter as murder. He hurriedly crawled forward to the emperor's side and pleaded in a low voice.

The Crown Prince's change naturally reached everyone's ears, but apart from a few people who knew the truth, no one knew what had suddenly happened to their Crown Prince. After all, just before today, the Crown Prince was still the high and mighty heir apparent.

"Slandering you? Do you think everyone is so bored that they can't stand you? If you really didn't do it, why are you reacting like this?"

The emperor was utterly disappointed in the crown prince. He had been diligently nurturing this son all along, hoping that he would at least not become an extremely incompetent and foolish ruler, even if he didn't expect him to lead the Great Zhou to better times.

But now it seems that this son is not even fit to be a tyrant.

"Where are the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the Minister of Justice?"

The emperor closed his eyes briefly, glanced at the crown prince's face, and then called out to the ministers below.

Everyone was clearly taken aback by the emperor's sudden change, and no one knew what he meant.