Chapter 249 The Greatest Grace

Inside the palace, the emperor stood in the center of the hall, not sitting on the chair. Xiao Lingyu and the fourth prince knelt in front of him.

The woman knelt behind them, trembling slightly with fear.

"Tell me," the emperor glanced at them coldly, "I don't want to hear a lie or any omissions."

His voice was heavy and intimidating.

The fourth prince looked up at him timidly and bit his lip: "Father, your majesty forbids me to enter the harem again, but I am worried about my mother. I remember that when I was young, I played a lot and found a dog hole under the east wall, so I thought I would try my luck." The

fourth prince said as he observed the emperor's expression. Seeing that his expression was not as furious as before, he said carefully: "It was also because of your majesty's blessing that the hole was not blocked. It's just that there were a few more patrol guards next to it, so I bribed them and dug the hole bigger..."

Emperor: "..."

The hole was not blocked, or did he bless it?

Jiang Zhiyu was so anxious that he didn't laugh out loud.

It can be seen that the fourth prince wanted to flatter the emperor, but this flattery...

Jiang Zhiyu glanced at the emperor's face, which had darkened a degree.

The fourth prince was unaware of this. Seeing that the emperor did not speak, the guilt in his eyes dissipated a little, and he continued: "That day, I just came out of my mother's palace, and I saw a woman dancing, with flying phoenixes, flying swallows and swimming dragons. I was attracted by her and could not help but stand and watch for a long time."

The emperor narrowed his eyes and looked at the trembling woman beside him.

He did not need to say what happened afterwards, and everyone understood in their hearts. If this woman was just an ordinary palace maid, she would be favored, but she was not.

The emperor took a deep breath: "When did you know her identity?"

The fourth prince pursed his lips and said nothing.

The emperor hummed lightly, and with a warning, the fourth prince whispered: "When she finished dancing and told me her name."

Xiao Lingyu clenched his hands hanging on both sides into fists.

There was a hint of collapse in his eyes.

Wasn't he clever enough to play word games just now?

Why is he so frank now!

Isn't this telling the emperor that I know she was given to you by my second brother, but I am going to get together with her?

The fourth prince also begged for mercy in a hurry, "Father, I was thinking that since you didn't marry her, you must look down on her. Even if I had the guts to do it, I wouldn't dare to touch your person!"

He fell to the ground, not daring to raise his head.

The emperor was still furious, and veins on his forehead were throbbing.

Even if it was his own blood, so what? This matter was most likely a secret. If it got out, if he didn't punish her, wouldn't he become a laughing stock of the world?

The emperor's eyes were full of murderous intent, like an angry lion, with a cold light flashing in his deep eyes.

His thin lips moved slightly, and when he was about to speak, a familiar voice came into his ears.

[Counting it all, the Fourth Prince also indirectly helped the Emperor.]

The Emperor: "..."

What? What do you mean by helping him?

Xiao Lingyu's brows couldn't help but wrinkle slightly.

[This woman was specially cultivated by Xiao Chuji, who wanted to place her beside the Emperor to get information.]

[Given Xiao Chuji's personality, this spy must have been carefully cultivated and sized up according to the Emperor's aesthetics and preferences. Although I don't know what the Emperor's mentality was to confiscate her for the time being, it's too late.]

The Emperor coughed lightly.

Indeed, when he first saw the woman, he did feel a little palpitated, but because she was sent by the Second Prince, and he was busy dealing with the Wala matter at the time, he put it off.

If the fourth prince hadn't done this, it would have been only a matter of time for me to favor her.

Xiao Lingyu was not surprised by this.

The second prince today is no longer the second prince who worshipped Buddha with all his heart except hatred for Jiang Kang'an. Now, he covets the throne as much as anyone else.

[Besides, didn't they notice that this woman was too calm?]

[Even if she was of the lowest status among the people present, she should have begged for mercy and said a few words when she was about to die. However, not only did she not open her mouth, but there was not a single tear on her face, and her body was shaking. It was too regular.]

Xiao Lingyu restrained herself from turning her head to look, but the emperor raised his eyes and looked over.

Feeling the murderous gazes hovering over her, the woman's body instinctively tensed up for a moment, and then, as if realizing something, she relaxed a little, shaking even more.

Although she reacted quickly, the emperor still saw her tenseness for a moment.

The emperor snorted and retracted his gaze.

This time, his gaze fell on the Fourth Prince.

The Fourth Prince's head was firmly on the ground, not daring to lift it up.

He had just clearly felt his father's murderous intent, but for some reason, during this period of silence, his father's murderous intent had decreased a lot.

The Fourth Prince's heart, which had risen to his throat, dropped a little.

His father still cared about the father-son relationship.

However, the emperor, who was thinking about the father-son relationship in his heart, was thinking about Chen.

Speaking of which, it was almost time for the selection. If he kept him, he would surely be able to catch many people with ulterior motives. With the reputation of adultery, no matter how many people he dealt with, the people behind them would definitely not have any complaints.

But his reputation...

Thinking of his reputation that might be laughed at by the world in the future, the emperor couldn't help but look livid.

Otherwise, forget it and just kill Lao Yongyi. As for those people, they still have a long way to go, and it would just be some trouble.

The two thoughts in his heart were fighting, and the emperor closed his eyes slightly and gritted his teeth.

Forget it, it's better to have some trouble than to be laughed at in the future.

His eyes turned, and he happened to see half of the jade pendant that fell out from the messy lapel of the fourth prince.

Memories suddenly came flooding back.

The fourth prince's current mother is not his biological mother. His biological mother died in childbirth when she gave birth to the fourth prince. At that time, the two were deeply in love.

The jade pendant was a token of love given to her by the emperor. She split it into two before she died. She stuffed half of it into the swaddling clothes of her newborn child, and gave the other half to the emperor.

The person in front of him is the only bloodline she left.

Coming back to his senses from his memories, the emperor sighed quietly.

He called Lan Xi and asked him to take the woman away. Then he sat down, pinched his eyebrows and whispered: "The fourth prince is extremely licentious and disorderly. He has been repeatedly admonished and has never changed. From today on, he is confined to the fourth prince's mansion. He is not allowed to leave the mansion without my summons."

The fourth prince raised his head suddenly.

In name, it was house arrest, but in reality, he was to be imprisoned in the Fourth Prince's mansion until he died of old age!

The emperor also knew what he wanted to say, and snorted coldly: "I have spared your life, which is the greatest grace."