Yesterday, the emperor called both him and the seventh brother into the palace. It was obvious that he wanted to choose one of them to be the empress. So what did he do?

He went and came back, and told his father that he did not want to get married within three years, citing a dream as an excuse!

Thinking of this, the King of Xiang had the urge to kill himself.

Why did he commit suicide and ruin his own future at such a critical moment? If the prince registered under the Queen's name today was him, then he would be qualified to compete for the throne.

Prince Xiang also secretly fantasized about that position when the crown prince was deposed for the first time.

Of course, he knew very well that this was just a fantasy.

He was the youngest prince, born to a mother of humble origin, and his turn would come only after all his brothers died.

Can all those cunning guys die out? This is obviously impossible.

After the crown prince was reinstated and then lost his life, Prince Xiang no longer had any illusions and made up his mind to follow Prince Qi, hoping to gain some real benefits in the future.

But it turned out that there was an extremely precious opportunity right in front of him, but he missed it——

No!

The Prince of Xiang's brain, which had become sluggish due to shock and regret, began to work, and murderous intent was rising in his mind.

He missed the opportunity because of that damn Old Seven!

If the seventh brother hadn't mentioned Cui Mingyue, how could he have run back and said those words to his father?

Prince Xiang stared at Yu Jin with his eyes almost spitting fire.

The beast, the Seventh Brother, must have known about his father's plan a long time ago, so he plotted against him!

At this moment, Prince Xiang had the urge to cut Yu Jin into pieces.

Although everyone in the hall had strange expressions at this time, the Prince of Xiang's behavior was still too obvious.

King Lu thought to himself, "Why did Lao Ba look like he was struck by lightning? Tsk tsk, he really can't keep his cool. Look at him, he's enduring such a great injustice, what did he say?"

King Qi came to his senses and quietly pulled King Xiang.

There's something wrong with my eighth brother.

The King of Xiang finally came to his senses. Although he hated the situation to death, he could do nothing.

This was during the court session. If he rushed over to hit the seventh brother, he would probably be demoted to a prince like the fifth brother.

Yu Jin maintained a moderate surprise until Emperor Jingming's voice sounded: "Seventh Brother, when the court is over, go and pay your respects to the Empress."

Yu Jin bowed deeply: "Yes."

After he responded, the ministers seemed to have regained their voices and there was a commotion in the palace.

The Minister of Rites stepped out, sweating profusely: "Your Majesty, do we need to discuss this again——"

"Yes, Your Majesty, this is indeed a bit hasty--" several ministers echoed.

Emperor Jingming lowered his eyes and listened, sneering secretly.

What a joke! Once you start discussing with these old guys, it will take at least three or two months to get things settled.

Although several decades had passed, he still clearly remembered that when the empress dowager proposed to adopt a prince, the late emperor summoned important ministers to discuss the matter, which took nearly half a year to finalize.

He didn't want every time he went to court to be like he was in a vegetable market, with no peace of mind.

Emperor Jingming coughed, but the excited ministers did not hear it and continued to talk.

"My dear ministers, please listen to what I have to say." Emperor Jingming raised his voice, and silence returned to the palace.

Emperor Jingming cleared his throat and said slowly, "This is my family affair. Today I am telling you all. The clan leader has changed the family tree and recorded the Prince of Yan under the name of the Empress..."

Facing the murderous looks of his ministers, the old clan leader almost knelt down.

I'll just have to endure it this time. If the emperor does this kind of thing again in the future, this clan leader won't do it even if he has great benefits. Whoever wants to do it can do it!

The old clan leader could already imagine what kind of siege he would suffer after the court was dismissed.

Without giving his ministers time to cry, Emperor Jingming glanced at Pan Hai.

Pan Hai understood and shouted at the top of his voice: "Dismiss the court——"

Emperor Jingming, who had been prepared, ran away quickly as soon as these words were spoken, leaving his ministers stunned. It took them a while to recover.

The emperor just ran away like this after telling you such an important matter?

The old clan leader wanted to escape when he saw this, but his heavy body held him back, and he was surrounded by the ministers after taking only half a step.

"Zong Ling, how can such a big thing be decided like this?"

Listening to the accusations of the ministers, the old clan leader felt very sad.

Did these fools think that the emperor had consulted with him? He was the first one to be informed!

Some clever ministers also came forward and clasped their fists to Yu Jin and said, "Congratulations, Prince Yan."

Yu Jian thanked him calmly and went to pay his respects to the empress accompanied by the eunuchs.

Prince Lu waved his hand in front of Prince Xiang's eyes and said, "Don't look at them anymore. They have gone far away."

It's not that Lao Ba was hit so hard; after all, he is still young.

"Let's go." King Qi said in a hushed voice, trying not to show any abnormality.

Several princes followed the crowd out. Although they all wanted to go to their mothers to inquire about the news, they knew that now was not a good time, so they had to suppress their urgency and return home.

The palace was located on a street, so the few people naturally followed the path.

The atmosphere was a bit strange along the way. When they were almost there, Prince Xiang said softly, "Fourth brother, I want to go to your place and sit for a while."

The King of Qi was startled, nodded slightly, and then forced a smile and asked the King of Qin, the King of Lu, and the King of Shu: "Would you like to come and have a seat?"

"No need." The King of Shu was the first to reply, bowed and went to the King of Shu's Palace.

The King of Lu had never liked the King of Qi in the first place, so of course he would not join in the fun. The King of Qin was the most low-key, so he naturally declined as well. In the end, only the King of Xiang followed the King of Qi to the King of Qi's palace.

Sending the servants away, the King of Xiang slammed the table hard: "Fourth brother, that bastard Old Seven is plotting against me!"

King Qi's expression changed slightly: "Why do you say that, Eighth Brother?"

Without anyone else present, the King of Xiang was a little emotional. After a while, he wiped his face vigorously and said, "Yesterday... my father summoned me and the seventh son to the palace together. The queen was also there--"

King Qi raised his eyebrows, shocked.

The King of Xiang closed his eyes and gritted his teeth and said, "Now it seems that it is obviously because of what happened today."

"How did Lao Qi plot against you?"

The Prince of Xiang was somewhat embarrassed, but now that he had been tricked by Yu Jin, there was no possibility of rising to the top overnight. He could only hope that the Prince of Qi would vent his anger for him, so he told the Prince of Qi about Yu Jin's provocation.

"Fourth brother, we have underestimated Old Seven in the past. He is your biggest threat!"

Prince Qi saw Prince Xiang's extremely hateful expression and sighed, "Yes, Old Seven is not that simple. I will need Eighth Brother to help me in the future. Let's be united as brothers and don't let Old Seven be proud."

The King of Xiang immediately clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, Fourth Brother, I will definitely do my best to help you and will not let the Seventh Brother have an easy time!"

The King of Qi and the King of Xiang were more united than ever before in regarding Yu Jian as a thorn in their eyes, and for a while even the King of Shu had to take a back seat.

The Prince of Xiang drank four cups of tea before returning to his palace in a daze.

After Emperor Jingming retired from court, he was about to go to Kunning Palace to see the loving mother and filial son. Pan Hai cautiously reminded him, "Your Majesty, should you inform Consort Xian about the matter of Prince Yan?"

Emperor Jingming paused.

Oh, he forgot about that.