Ji Fengming, on the other hand, was very happy:

A brother in adversity is a brother in adversity; Xiao Chen always stands by him!

At this time, the Eastern Palace was in dire straits.

When Crown Prince Shang Dongyang heard that the little bandit had joined up with the Ninth Prince, he was so angry that he smashed a room full of things. He also remembered the day he was humiliated by the two old nannies, which made him even more furious.

He casually dragged a palace maid to the ground and tried to do whatever he wanted to her.

The palace maid was overjoyed. If he became the Crown Prince's man, her status and position would be much better than that of a palace maid.

To everyone's surprise, despite his efforts, the prince still couldn't muster any virility.

The crown prince assumed the palace maid was too ugly and ordered her to be dragged out. The maid's beautiful dream was cut short before she even began to dream.

Several more palace maids were replaced, but Shang Dongyang still couldn't find a suitable replacement.

He was both angry and shocked. He summoned his favorite and most beautiful concubine, but she still did not react.

Shang Dongyang then belatedly realized what the bandit meant when he said to him that day, "Let him enjoy the taste of his last display of power."

The bandit actually crippled him!

"Get out! All of you, get out of here!" Enraged, Shang Dongyang personally threw his favorite concubine off the bed, his eyes blazing with hatred: "Ji Fengyao, if I don't kill you, I swear I'm not a human being!"

When the Empress learned that the Crown Prince had been deposed by that bandit, she was so shocked that she swayed and almost fell to the ground.

The emperor was already deeply wary of the crown prince and her, and was thinking of ways to depose the crown prince. If the news of the crown prince's deposition were to spread, even if she and the crown prince started a rebellion to seize the throne now, it would be too late.

"Not a single person who knows about this can be spared. This news must not be leaked even a whisper." The Empress forced herself to calm down, her eyes filled with an unprecedented ruthlessness and coldness: "Since this drug was administered by that bandit, he must have the antidote. No matter what, we must bring that bandit back!"

Yes, how could he not have thought of that?!

Shang Dongyang's eyes immediately lit up:

He'll be saved if he catches that bandit!

For the sake of the Crown Prince's health, the Empress and the Crown Prince made a firm decision to send all their people out to deal with the Ninth Prince.

To move people, you need to spend money.

The Empress then ordered the Crown Prince to lead men to a cave on the outskirts of the capital to retrieve the treasures that Di Lijun and his sister had brought from the Di Kingdom.

However, when the prince arrived at the cave, he only saw dozens of empty carts, proving that there had once been a large amount of treasure there.

On one of the carts, a line of large, crooked characters on a piece of snow-white brocade stood out:

On behalf of all the poor and suffering people in the world, I thank the Empress and the Crown Prince for their generous gifts.

The signature reads: Ji Fengyao. A large smiley face emoji follows.

Shang Dongyang: "..."

He felt a churning in his chest, and a mouthful of blood gushed from his throat, spraying far away.

This bandit is so reckless with his jokes! He'll never think she's cute again, waaaaaah...

"Your Highness, what do we do now?" More than a hundred soldiers dressed as laborers looked at the Crown Prince with pleading eyes.

The crown prince was on the verge of tears, and angrily said, "Go back and tell them to go after the people in the northwest. In the future, the entire Great Zhao will belong to me. Do they think I would renege on their salary for a few months?"

Soldiers: "..."

They're afraid!

Many people are now spreading rumors that the Crown Prince and Empress were robbed of everything by a band of bandits, and that they are struggling to make ends meet this New Year, having no money left.