She was not joking at all.
Although they were thousands of miles away, they were fully aware of everything happening in the imperial city.
This was also thanks to the emperor's foresight and understanding of the Prince of Dingbian.
Before setting off, he had anticipated that the Prince of Dingbian would not wait patiently for them to return to the capital and would definitely cause trouble during their absence.
After analyzing the various situations, he guessed that the King of Dingbian would eventually set his sights on Zhou Kun.
Sure enough, everything was developing as he had predicted.
Upon hearing this, the emperor smiled and said, "No rush, resolving the current conflict is the most important thing."
After investigation from various parties, they finally focused their attention on a man named Atu, who was once a close attendant of the former Crown Prince of Ucha.
This person disappeared after the death of Prince Wucha.
The Great Wu Kingdom was busy with funeral arrangements, and no one had the time to search for a missing servant. They assumed he was dead or had fled to avoid being held accountable.
He was not found until the emperor's men found him in the gambling den.
After being subjected to severe torture, Atu finally confessed that Zheng Yan had given him a large sum of money to kill Prince Wucha.
Tempted by enormous profits, he betrayed his master.
Now that things have come to this point, the whole truth is clear.
The emperor ordered that Zheng Yan and Atu, who had already been dismissed from their posts, be sent to the capital of the Great Wu Kingdom.
Upon learning the results of the investigation, Uqturpan wept bitterly and ordered the two men to be taken to the tomb of Prince Ucha and killed to appease his spirit in heaven.
He then wrote another letter to the emperor, informing him that the Great Wu Kingdom would no longer invade their borders, and that if the emperor could kill the Dingbian King again, the Great Wu Kingdom would be willing to submit to him.
The emperor stared at the letter in silence for a long time.
He also longed to kill the Prince of Dingbian, but given his current strength, he simply couldn't do so.
Therefore, in his reply to Uqturpan, the emperor did not specify a time, but only told him to wait for good news.
While the emperor monitored the activities in the palace, the Prince of Dingbian's spies were also constantly monitoring the movements of the emperor and his entourage.
The emperor and Jian Yang saw this but did not expose it, lest they alert the enemy.
Because the Prince of Dingbian kept several hawks to deliver messages, letters that would normally take seven days to reach the capital by fast horse could reach him in less than three days.
To deceive everyone, Jian Yang pretended to be sick that night.
Since the Empress is ill, the originally planned return date will naturally have to be postponed.
The informant faithfully reported the news to the King of Dingbian, who was overjoyed upon hearing it.
He had been worried that the emperor would return too early, leaving him no time to prepare for the enthronement of a new emperor. Now that they were going to postpone their return, it was truly as if heaven was helping him.
However, what he didn't know was that on the very night Jian Yang feigned illness, a small group of them had already left the border town and were galloping towards the capital.
Eight days later, the emperor and Jian Yang secretly returned to the capital.
"Your Majesty, with this evidence, you will surely be able to bring down the Prince of Dingbian." With the palace imminent, Jian Yang excitedly touched the brocade box in her hand.
The box contained Zheng Yan's confession to the King of Dingbian, as well as various pieces of evidence they had gathered during their investigation in the western border region.
Once this evidence is presented, it will be enough to give that old man a hard time.
The emperor smiled and said, "I hope so."
Jian Yang gave him a strange look.
Isn't this person a little too calm?
They rushed back against the clock so that they could take advantage of Dingbian King's unpreparedness and use this irrefutable evidence to convict him.
But the emperor didn't seem excited at all; in fact, he seemed rather unhappy, which puzzled her greatly.
As soon as the two returned to the palace, the emperor immediately ordered Zhao Ziyi to bring the Prince of Dingbian to the palace, while Jian Yang rushed to the inner palace to rescue the Empress Dowager.
The emperor originally thought that the Prince of Dingbian would not come, but to his surprise, less than half an hour later, he rushed into the palace, dragging someone along with him into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Before the emperor could speak, the Prince of Dingbian suddenly knelt down and cried out, "Your Majesty, this old minister has been waiting for you for so long!"
"What are you waiting for me, Prince Dingbian?" the emperor asked coldly.
The Prince of Dingbian pointed at the man beside him and said, "This old minister has failed in his duty to manage his subordinates, allowing them to wreak havoc on the border and disrupt the court for so many years. They even ordered the murder of Prince Wucha to launch a war. They are truly treacherous and ambitious!"
The man he dragged over kept kowtowing to the emperor, saying, "I have framed loyal officials, implicated the Prince of Dingbian in injustice, plunged Your Majesty into danger, and banished the common people to misery. I deserve to die, I deserve to die..."
In the blink of an eye, the situation changed drastically.
The emperor's breath hitched.
This person was actually Pang Hu.
On his way back, he had imagined many scenarios in which the Prince of Dingbian would be exonerated, but he never expected that the Prince of Dingbian would actually push out his own confidant to take the blame.
Moreover, they struck first, leaving him with no chance to defend himself.
After a long silence, the emperor coldly said, "Since that's the case, throw Pang Hu into the imperial prison and execute him on a chosen day!"
Upon hearing this, Pang Hu's eyes suddenly trembled. He subconsciously looked at the Prince of Dingbian beside him, who nodded slightly, indicating that he should calm down.
The emperor ignored the two men's flirtatious exchanges, rose and left the hall, giving the Prince of Dingbian no further chance to plead for him.
As soon as he left, Pang Hu grabbed the hem of Dingbian King's robe and pleaded, "Your Highness, I have done everything you asked. Please save me!"
The Prince of Dingbian patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, you are my most trusted confidant. How could I stand by and watch you die?"
Pang Hu was relieved, but he didn't notice the murderous intent that appeared in the eyes of the King of Dingbian.
Jian Yang only learned of this from the emperor when it was time for dinner, and was so angry that she couldn't eat.
No wonder the emperor didn't smile much the whole way; he had foreseen all of this.
Hearing her say this, the emperor could only say helplessly, "I did not foresee this situation. I only know the character of the Prince of Dingbian. He is a cunning and treacherous man and will not sit idly by and wait for his death."
Jian Yang sighed silently and said, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Dingbian will come to plead with you tomorrow. Will you spare Pang Hu's life?"
The emperor shook his head and said, "No, because Pang Hu won't live past tonight."
Jian Yang looked at him with wide surprise, "Is Your Majesty planning to kill him tonight, since he's the only one in the family to be blind to the truth?"
The emperor forced a smile and said, "It's not that I want to kill him, it's that I want to kill the Prince of Dingbian."
Jian Yang then suddenly realized what was going on.
Once Pang Hu dies, it will further solidify the claim that he committed suicide out of fear of punishment, allowing the King of Dingbian to completely absolve himself of any guilt.
For a moment, Jian Yang even felt a little sympathy for those who worked for the old man.
Sure enough, Pang Hu committed suicide in the prison that very night, and even his family members all hanged themselves that night.
Whether this family committed suicide or not remains unknown.
When Jian Yang learned of this news the next morning, he couldn't help but sigh. Dingbian Wang was indeed ruthless.
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