Prince Yu once said that although the Crown Prince was young, he was very mature.
Upon seeing this today, Gu Jiangli knew that Prince Yu's judgment was correct.
If a hot-tempered young child had heard her words, they probably would have already exploded.
But the crown prince only asked in a slightly trembling voice:
"Your Highness, what do you mean by that? Your child inherited the throne from Prince Yu, so how can you talk about the imperial throne?"
His composure did surprise Gu Jiangli, but his voice trembled, indicating that he was actually quite scared.
After all, his desire to usurp the throne was so obvious that it wasn't hard to guess.
Prince Yu looked at her in shock, but did not stop her from speaking.
Gu Jiangli moved slightly closer to the Crown Prince and asked:
"Your Highness, as long as Prince Yu usurps the throne, he will be the emperor, and his son will naturally inherit the throne. What, is that so hard to guess?"
The crown prince visibly swallowed. "You...you have such audacity, you...you actually plotted a rebellion."
Gu Jiangli extended an index finger and gently waved it in front of her. "No, it wasn't me who wanted to rebel; it was your father who forced us to rebel."
"Nonsense! My father loved his people like his own children. Everyone praised him as a wise and good emperor. His greatest wish was for peace and tranquility in the world. How could he force you to rebel? It's clearly an excuse you're using because you're greedy for power."
Gu Jiangli gave a cold laugh.
It seems that the young prince is completely kept in the dark and has no idea what kind of person his father is.
That's good. It'll be good to see his attitude after he learns the truth.
Gu Jiangli slowly said, "Alright, since that's the case, I have two questions I'd like to ask Your Highness the Crown Prince. I wonder if Your Highness could answer them for me?"
"Go ahead and ask."
A glint flashed in Gu Jiangli's eyes; she was determined to gradually overturn the image of his father in his heart.
"Your Highness, do you know why a mine that had never had an accident in decades suddenly collapsed?"
This question immediately pricked up everyone's ears, eager to know the reason.
The prince frowned. "It collapsed precisely because it had been mined for too long. What's so strange about that?"
He didn't think anything was wrong; he just assumed they were unlucky and that the mountain had collapsed.
Gu Jiangli did not answer, but asked again: "Then why would the Crown Prince and Prince Yu, with such noble status, come to the mine in person? I heard that the Emperor arranged for you to come here to supervise the work with Prince Yu."
The Crown Prince stated frankly, "Father Emperor did send me here to supervise the construction. I entered the mine with Prince Yu because a craftsman said that a jade vein had been found and asked me and Prince Yu to go and check it out. This is perfectly reasonable."
The emperor attaches great importance to the jade vein. If there is indeed a discovery, it would be perfectly reasonable for the crown prince and Prince Yu to personally enter the mine to inspect it.
"Then may I ask, Your Highness, after you entered the mine, did you see the so-called jade vein?"
The crown prince was stunned, as if Gu Jiangli's words had cut off all his ability to think.
Guided by Gu Jiangli, he seemed to have realized something as well.
He had only been supervising the project with Prince Yu for about a month, and had not made any significant discoveries.
Suddenly, good news arrived: on his first trip into the mine, he saw nothing before the mountain collapsed.
If it's a coincidence, it's far too coincidental.
At this moment, Prince Yu answered on his behalf: "No, not long after the Crown Prince and I entered the mine, we heard a loud noise, and the mine tunnel ahead began to collapse rapidly."
"I led the Crown Prince to retreat quickly, and only by getting here did we barely escape. There are still some people left, but I'm afraid they didn't make it out."
Gu Jiangli was not surprised at all by this answer.
"Your Highness, do you know why?"
Her icy voice seemed to have a seductive quality, filling the prince with fear.
"First, they used information about the jade vein to lure you and Prince Yu into the mine tunnel, and then they used flint to blow it up. If nothing unexpected happened, you and Prince Yu would have already met with an accident."
"Your Highness, guess who did all this?"
The prince jumped up, his face covered in dust and filled with anger.
"You mean to say this was done by my father? How could that be? I am his son, the crown prince he personally appointed. How could he possibly want to harm me? What good would my death do him? Stop trying to sow discord between me and my father!"
play off?
Gu Jiangli smiled, raising his lips.
Her real instigation hasn't even begun yet!
"Your Highness, you don't know your father very well."
“In your father’s eyes, there are only three possible outcomes after you and Prince Yu entered the mine.”
"First, Prince Yu is dead, and you are lucky to be alive. This is just right. With Prince Yu dead, the Prince Yu Mansion has lost its backbone, and my child is still in my womb. It would be easy for him to seize the property under Prince Yu's name."
"Secondly, you and Prince Yu are both dead. That's not so bad. Prince Yu's wealth will still fall into his hands. At worst, the whole country will mourn for a few more days, and then a new crown prince will be appointed. Besides you, he has four other sons, doesn't he?"
"The third outcome is that you die, but Prince Yu lives. This is probably the ending he dislikes the most, because it would be more troublesome."
"But that's alright. When the time comes, he can spread the word everywhere that Prince Yu harbors ulterior motives towards the Crown Prince and failed to come to his aid in the event of a sudden danger. Or, he can directly frame Prince Yu for plotting to harm the Crown Prince, saying that he has ulterior motives and intends to rebel."
"At that time, Prince Yu would have no way to defend himself, and he might be executed by the emperor in a just and open manner. In the meantime, the emperor could also confiscate the property of Prince Yu's entire family."
As for the current outcome where both Prince Yu and the Crown Prince survive, the Emperor probably never even considered it.
The crown prince's face grew paler and paler as he listened. "Impossible...impossible...why would Father do this?"
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