...
As dawn broke, the palace turmoil subsided. Several burning palaces were saved, a total of one hundred assassins were eliminated, and Jing Lu was being interrogated.
Inside the main hall, Jing Huaixu slapped Jing Lu without saying a word.
Consort Zheng was heartbroken, but Empress Dowager Zheng was not in the palace. She rushed over and hugged Jing Lu, begging Jing Huaixu to show mercy.
"Your Majesty, Lu'er must have his own reasons. Please have mercy!"
“My predicament,” Jing Huaixu said as if he were listening to a joke, pacing wildly around the hall. He turned around and pointed at Jing Lu, demanding an explanation.
"What hardship made him abandon his brother who was far away on the frontier, return to rebel against his own sovereign and father, and kill his brother's wife and children?"
"Is it just killing the Crown Princess and Zhang'er? If he were more capable, would I have let him kill them too? Jing Lu, Jing Lu, I really underestimated you."
He suddenly squatted down in front of Jing Lu, grabbed his chin with his hand, and asked in a stern voice, "Where is the Crown Prince? Is the Crown Prince alright now?"
Jing Lu had been fighting all night, and his injuries had not yet been treated. His bloodstains had dried and stuck to his body. Jing Huaixu had grabbed his jaw, and he couldn't move.
Jing Lu stared at the look in Jing Huaixu's eyes for a long time, then laughed and said, "How would I know? He probably died at An Chenghuan's hands."
Snap!
Jing Huaixu couldn't help but slap Jing Lu again, feeling utterly disheartened: "Arrogant."
Yue Jiang, who was listening in, did not believe Jing Lu's words. She firmly believed that Jing Yan would be fine, otherwise An Guo would have attacked Jing Guo long ago. She stepped forward and said.
"Is King Le admitting to colluding with An Seong-hwan?"
Jing Lu glanced at Yue Jiang with a playful look in his eyes, as if he had something funny to hide in his heart.
"My sister-in-law said that I colluded with An Chenghuan. If it weren't for my good brother's machinations, my sister-in-law wouldn't know that she had just been about to collude with An Chenghuan."
Empress Ye, who was present, nervously clenched her fingers, fearing that Jing Lu would reveal the matter of Yue Jiang's marriage to the emperor.
Jing Huaixu warned, "Jing Lu, you dare?"
Yue Jiang instinctively felt that Jing Lu was referring to the marriage alliance, but considering the presence of everyone present, she pretended to ask, "What do you mean?"
Seeing the reactions of those present, Jing Lu didn't want to say anything more. The more anxious others were, the more interesting it was to see them.
He laughed: "If you want to know, Sister-in-law, guess for yourself. Don't make yourself sick by holding it in."
Yue Jiang: "..."
No rush, not at all.
"In short, you have committed a grave error, and I will not tolerate it. I will..."
"Father, you can't kill me," Jing Huaixu said. Before he could finish, Jing Lu turned around and gave Consort Zheng a meaningful look. Consort Zheng immediately understood and hurriedly reached into Jing Lu's robes.
A few moments later, Consort Zheng took out a package wrapped in kraft paper, inside which was a yellowed and old imperial edict.
"Your Majesty, this is the imperial edict of pardon, the late Emperor's edict of pardon. You cannot kill Lu'er."
Jing Huaixu snatched it away, unfolded it, and saw that it was indeed the handwriting of his deceased father, the emperor. He said unhappily.
"An imperial edict of immunity from death can only be used once. You have returned to the country on your own and caused a palace disturbance once. How can I let you off so easily?"
Jing Lu shook his head and sneered, "Father, the imperial family is truly heartless. You used to love me so much, but this is all you've done. Even if I have an imperial decree to be spared from death, you would still be eager to find more faults in me."
Jing Huaixu was furious: "Is this what I want to do to kill you? You are courting death. You disregarded my trust and affection for you and harbored such evil intentions. Even if I kill you a hundred times, it will not be enough to vent my hatred."
"Someone come here..."
“Wait a minute,” Jing Lu said calmly, chuckling casually. “If Father wants to kill me, Grandmother will be heartbroken and her health will be greatly affected. That’s one reason.”
"Secondly, my elder brother has not returned. Who knows how desperately he has been locked in a battle with An Chenghuan."
“There are 30,000 of my troops outside Pingkang City. 10,000 of them are easy to subdue, but the other 20,000 are homeless and the lowest of slaves.”
"If I die, they will be leaderless and will not easily submit to others to become slaves. They will inevitably scatter and harm people everywhere."
"It's too late for Father Emperor to mobilize troops to suppress the rebellion now. Once they see that things are not going well, they will definitely flee. You need to think this through carefully."
Jing Lu's words were utterly absurd. Fearing that Jing Huaixu might be hesitant, Jing Shuo stirred things up, saying, "Father, he's threatening you."
Jing Huaixu glanced at Jing Shuo, ignored him, and looked back at Jing Lu, nodding repeatedly with admiration: "How come I never realized you were such a thoughtful person before?"
“If Father Emperor sees this, then I won’t be able to give Father Emperor any surprises,” Jing Lu said without any modesty.
Jing Huaixu fell silent and remained silent for a long time, so Jing Lu took the opportunity to offer a suggestion.
"How about this? Father Emperor, let me leave Jing Kingdom. An Chenghuan has already agreed to return the remaining two cities of Jing Kingdom."
"Your son will not return, and will take the 30,000 troops with him. How about he stays there for the rest of his life?"
Although Jing Lu's rebellion failed, if he hadn't died and had escaped, An Chenghuan certainly wouldn't have minded giving him those two cities.
He was, after all, of royal blood from the Jing Kingdom. The more chaotic the Jing Kingdom became, the more advantageous it would be for An Chenghuan.
Jing Lu's words made Jing Huaixu's face even uglier. He tightly gripped the imperial edict of immunity from death in his hand and said unhappily.
"You dare to try to split the Jing Kingdom? I will never allow it."
Yue Jiang discovered that Jing Lu only wanted to settle for second best and become the next Feng family member, and that he would still need to eke out a living under An Guo's control in the future.
No, Jinglu also has an older sister, Jingning, who lives far away in Yu Kingdom. Yu Kingdom had previously allied with An Kingdom.
If Jing Lu leaves, Yu Guo will inevitably use this connection to conspire with Jing Lu against the entire Jing Guo.
The combined efforts of all three parties will undoubtedly pose a significant threat.
Yue Jiang came out and said, "Father, Prince Li returned suddenly. Grandmother Zheng is praying outside the palace, and the two have not yet met."
"Why not let King Li go to Qixia Temple to bring Queen Mother Zheng back to the palace? The people will then say that King Li is filial."
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