"Sanlang? What have you done to my Sanlang?"
Consort Xiao, who had been standing behind the emperor, could no longer remain silent.
Prince Yan, Helian Chen, was none other than her own son, the Third Prince.
She glared at the Second Prince with hatred and asked urgently, "Tell me quickly! What happened to my Third Prince?"
Even a sage looked somewhat flustered.
This is different from his plan.
This trip to Tangquan Palace was a setup from the start.
The emperor was fishing, and to avoid accidentally hitting a secondary carriage, he specially arranged for the third prince to quietly leave the hot spring palace.
According to the sage's plan, his third son should have already returned to the heavily guarded capital.
But now, according to the second brother, things are not like that at all.
"Haha! Father, you are such a good father to Sanlang, always thinking of him in every way."
Seeing that the Emperor, though not as distraught as Consort Xiao, still looked worried, the Second Prince couldn't help but burst into laughter.
As he laughed, tears began to roll down his cheeks.
Haha, how ridiculous! They're both his own flesh and blood, yet he treats them differently just because one was born to the woman he loves and the other to the woman he despises.
On what grounds?
The emperor, this sage, is truly willful and genuine.
The second prince thought he had long been used to his father's favoritism, but seeing the emperor's concern for the third prince still made his heart ache as if it were being cut by a dull knife.
The second prince was not a good-natured person; if he was in pain, he wouldn't let others feel at ease either.
He then raised his hand to secretly wipe away the tears on his cheek, shaking his head with a smile, "What a pity, your eldest son doesn't appreciate it!"
"Compared to you, my royal father, I trust myself more!"
"...Such a good opportunity, if successful, would allow him to ascend to the throne. How could Helian Chen let it go so easily?"
Therefore, the Third Prince did not heed the Emperor's instructions. Instead of returning to the capital, he led his secretly raised troops into the Tangquan Palace.
Of course, the Third Prince was very cautious and did not rush to make a move.
He planned to wait until the second prince and the fifth prince fought to the death, and then reap the benefits.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a single fool in this palace.
The third prince wanted to be the fisherman, but little did he know that he had become the mantis stalking the cicada, with a sparrow lurking behind him, waiting to pounce.
Fifth Prince!
With the help of Princess Yongchang, the Fifth Prince's strength increased significantly.
Therefore, this time, he split his forces into two groups.
One group of people took advantage of the chaos to storm the palace, attempting to force the emperor to abdicate.
One group of people went to assassinate the Third Prince.
The second prince, on the other hand, was left behind.
Whether it's a tragedy or a stroke of luck, neither the Emperor nor the Fifth Prince took the Second Prince seriously!
"In your eyes, I am just a tyrannical brute! I only know how to rely on the power of the eight noble families to act recklessly!"
The second prince laughed self-deprecatingly.
But his eyes held a burning ambition.
yes!
He was indeed not as good at pleasing the Emperor as the third son, nor as good as the fifth son at hypocritically winning people's hearts. He was not good at studying and only knew how to fight and kill.
However, not all the heads of the eight noble families were fools.
If the second prince were truly useless, they wouldn't have given him their full support.
The fourth prince portrayed himself as an incompetent prince, but wasn't the second prince also pretending to be easily angered and warlike?
In this world, especially in the palace, who doesn't rely entirely on acting skills?
The second prince successfully deceived his father, the emperor, and the other princes.
If others don't respect him and regard him as a brainless brute, then he will play along.
The defection of the General of the Thousand Bull Guard was too easy; the Second Prince was not blinded by the "victory".
Instead of exposing him, he took advantage of the situation.
The Thousand Bull Guards feigned betrayal, but the Golden Guards truly betrayed them.
At this very moment, the two armies are engaged in a fierce and chaotic battle at the palace.
The Second Prince's men could instead force him to abdicate.
In addition, he also diverted a portion of his troops to secretly "support" the Fifth Prince.
He feared that the Fifth Prince was too incompetent to kill the Third Prince, Helian Chen!
"You! You unfilial son!"
This time, the sage was genuinely enraged and there was no element of pretense involved.
His face was ashen, and his hands were trembling.
A gurgling sound came from my throat.
Immediately afterwards, the sage coughed up a huge mouthful of blood.
"Help! Help! Quickly, come to the rescue!"
Consort Xiao panicked completely, abandoning her usual gentle and soft voice, and screamed at the top of her lungs.
Consort Xiao knew that the Emperor had underestimated the Second Prince this time, and that there was a loophole in the plan.
Her third son may already be—
However, Consort Xiao was no ordinary woman.
Once abducted, she went from a noble lady to a lowly concubine.
With her beauty and intelligence, she rose from a lowly concubine to become one of the four consorts, Zhaoyi.
Over the past two decades, she has weathered power struggles within her own household and within the palace, yet she has remained steadfast.
Her heart, while not necessarily hardened to the point of being cold as iron, was certainly very strong and calm!
Saburo is dead, that's it!
This is a given fact, and no matter how much she cries or worries, she cannot change it.
But she also has a young son.
The sixth prince is twelve years old this year and is Consort Xiao's youngest son.
Because of his young age, he was not able to get involved in the succession struggle like his older brothers.
With two prominent older brothers ahead of him—Helian Jue and Helian Chen—the sixth prince was particularly inconspicuous.
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