When Zhen Shicheng met Emperor Jingming, he found that the emperor looked a little dull.

Zhen Shicheng sighed silently.

The Emperor is really strong. If he had a son like the Crown Prince, he would not only be depressed, but even his beard would fall off due to worry.

"What's the matter, Lord Zhen?"

"I reviewed a case a few days ago and need to report it to the emperor."

He considered it for most of the night and finally decided to report it to the emperor.

The crown prince is rotten to the core. Deposing and reinstating him will not be a blessing for the country, but a disaster for the Great Zhou!

So what if he is deposed for the second time? So what if there is a temporary turmoil? As long as we choose a crown prince who is not out of place but at least normal, the Zhou Dynasty can at least be passed on.

He is a minister and has always been a pure minister. He should not have been involved in these things.

But he had to eat the emperor's food and bear the emperor's worries. He could not watch the Great Zhou fall into the hands of such a prince and then perish.

Of course, this was a very risky move on his part. If the prince succeeded to the throne, he would certainly not have a good ending.

Then he admitted it!

Emperor Jingming stared at Zhen Shicheng, and suddenly raised his hand to press his eyelids.

It’s over, it’s over, my eyelids are twitching again!

Zhen Shicheng's ruthless determination hung in mid-air.

He was still waiting for the emperor to speak, but the emperor just stared at him without saying a word and kept pressing his eyelids. What was he doing?

"Cough cough." Zhen Shicheng put his fist to his lips and coughed softly.

Emperor Jingming finally prepared himself mentally and asked, "What case?"

Zhen Shicheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

It's good that you are willing to respond, so that he can continue talking.

"This case is related to the prince——"

Emperor Jingming stood up suddenly, and sat down again under Zhen Shicheng's surprised gaze. His voice didn't sound like his own anymore: "Tell me, what happened to the crown prince?"

The word "again" made Zhen Shicheng more sympathetic towards Emperor Jingming.

"A few days ago, a young woman came to the Shuntian government office and beat a drum, looking for the father of her unborn child. The man she was looking for was the prince—"

"Wait!" Emperor Jingming interrupted Zhen Shicheng, "My dear Zhen, are you saying that the crown prince has an affair with a woman outside the palace?"

In the days before the prince had his head smashed by him, he could leave the palace every day, but the time was so short, there wouldn't be enough time for him to have a child, right?

At this moment, Emperor Jingming admired his own rationality very much, as he could actually analyze so much.

Maybe I was too disappointed with that bastard, so no matter what he did, it was no surprise to me.

Emperor Jingming thought to himself with self-mockery.

"Who is that woman?"

"Reporting to the emperor, the woman is from Jinli Town, Qianhe County. Her husband is called Du Er. Everyone in the town calls her Du Jia."

Emperor Jingming had a dark face and asked word by word: "Is that woman married?"

Zhen Shicheng lowered his eyes and said, "According to what the woman said, it was the eunuch beside the prince who made a deal with Du Er and sent her to the prince for a few days. Later, Du Er squandered all the money he got and even owed gambling debts. After discovering that she was pregnant, he forced her to go to the capital to ask the prince for the money. After arriving in the capital, the woman did not know how to find the prince, so she came to the Shuntian government office for help..."

Emperor Jingming admired himself for being able to listen quietly, but he kept picking up the white jade paper on the table and putting it down again and again, which made Zhen Shicheng's heart beat fast.

If the emperor gets really angry, won't he throw a paper towel at him?

Ahem, I hope the Emperor can hold on a little longer and wait for the Crown Prince to come.

After a while, Emperor Jingming slowly exhaled: "What the woman said is only one-sided——"

Zhen Shicheng presented the jade pendant with dragon pattern neatly.

Emperor Jingming tightly grasped the jade pendant, his face ashen.

Of course he had seen this jade pendant before.

Zhen Shicheng did not forget to explain: "The woman said that it was given to her by the prince."

Then another case file was presented.

"I ordered people to go to Qianhe County to investigate, and this is the testimony we obtained..."

Zhen Shicheng didn't know whether he should sympathize with the fact that the prince was so easily found to have cheated. He could only blame the prince for not understanding the principle of "a rabbit does not eat grass near its nest" and for attacking the woman of Jinli Town. He even went to Jinli Town to make an impassioned speech, making everyone in the town remember him...

Emperor Jingming read the case file and closed his eyes.

Zhen Shicheng waited quietly.

After a long while, Emperor Jingming opened his eyes and said, "My dear Zhen, please leave first. I will settle the woman for now."

Zhen Shicheng responded with a yes and walked out of Yu's study.

When he looked up, the sky was clear and the clouds were light, but his heart was shrouded in a gloom.

The Emperor did not summon the Crown Prince for a face-to-face confrontation. Was it to cover up the Crown Prince's scandal, or to... protect the minister who impeached the Crown Prince?

Regardless of the situation, doesn't it mean that the crown prince's position as heir apparent is unshakable?

Zhen Shicheng, who was a very clear-minded person, was rarely confused.

Emperor Jingming summoned the crown prince shortly after Zhen Shicheng left.

“Father, you are finally willing to see your son. I have never had the chance to say to you that I really know I was wrong and I will never do such a stupid thing again…” The prince was a little excited when he saw Emperor Jingming for the first time in many days.

The Crown Princess said that she would sincerely repent, so he did as she said and took the initiative to come to his father to admit his mistakes, but his father refused his requests again and again.

Now it must be the sincerity that can move mountains and break rocks!

Looking at the prince with an excited face, Pan Hai secretly cast a sympathetic look at him.

The Emperor had never been able to bear seeing the Crown Prince being so timid, and he always acted like this every time he came. Now that he finally broke his usual habit, the result was...

"Do you really know you are wrong?" Emperor Jingming murmured this sentence.

The prince nodded vigorously: "I really know I was wrong. I will never do anything wrong again and will not deceive you in any way."

Emperor Jingming pushed the jade pendant with dragon pattern over.

When the prince saw it, his face turned pale.

"Is this yours?"

The prince shook his head vigorously, then nodded halfway through, saying in a mosquito-like voice, "It's my son's..."

"Then tell me what's going on with this jade pendant." Emperor Jingming said this with a little less interest.

For some reason, he couldn't even muster the energy to get angry this time. Perhaps this was because he was feeling hopeless.

Thinking of this, Emperor Jingming felt extremely sad.

"I..." The prince opened his mouth, completely at a loss as to how to begin.

God is playing tricks on him!

He also wanted to know what was going on with this jade pendant. Why did it end up in his father's hands?

"Will you never lie to me again?" Emperor Jingming smiled coolly.

The prince was suddenly terrified, and he made up his mind to tell everyone what had happened, thinking bitterly: If I can let him get through this difficult time, I will definitely grind those villains to dust in the future.

Emperor Jingming kept staring at the crown prince, and when he caught a glimpse of cruelty in his eyes, his heart grew colder.

At this moment, he had only one thought: this son really could not be helped.

But deposing the second prince is not that easy.

"You should go back to the East Palace."

"Father——"

Emperor Jingming glanced at the crown prince with an extremely deep gaze.

The prince almost instinctively sensed the crisis and his face turned pale.

"Go." Emperor Jingming waved his hand.

The prince left Yu's study, thinking in a daze: I pretended to have amnesia before, and after what happened today, my father didn't even mention any punishment. What happened to my father?