Kang Yueran pulled her hand out, hugged Chai Shijing, and gave him a loud kiss on the face. "Thank you for your concern, Prince, but I like Ah Jing."
Even though Chai Shirong had many concubines, he was shocked by Kang Yueran's boldness, "How could you..." How could you be so shameless!
"Don't worry about Yueran and me, Your Highness. Yueran is doing well and is my beloved!" After saying that, Chai Shijing looked at Kang Yueran lovingly.
Kang Yueran was ready to go all the way with her cheesy behavior. She put her arms around Chai Shijing's neck and kissed him on both cheeks. "Ah Jing, you're so nice!"
A blush appeared on Chai Shijing's face. He was a little shy to kiss Kang Yueran in front of others. "Be good, let's kiss each other when we get home!"
"Shameless!" Chai Shirong flicked his sleeves and left.
Chai Shijing gently kissed Kang Yueran's lips, "Yueran, you will never have the chance to regret it again."
Kang Yueran's move was to make his position clear to Chai Shirong. "Well, I am a staunch supporter of the Ping Wang Party!"
Chai Shijing hugged Kang Yueran tightly, his eyes slightly red. Kang Yueran was like a ray of light, shining into his originally gloomy life and warming his cold heart.
The Dali Temple was still trying the private soldier case. Two witnesses could not withstand the torture and admitted that the 800 private soldiers were all garrison troops in Huaizhou.
It was Duke Lu who sent them to Chai Shirong. Since it was inconvenient for Chai Shirong to contact them directly, he asked Xiao Qi, the son of the Earl of Guangping, to deliver the message on his behalf.
The letters left by Luan Da did not mention Chai Shirong and Duke Lu, but there were two letters written by Xiao Qi, both of which asked Jia Da to send people to Anzhou to assassinate Chai Shijing.
Xiao Qi had no direct relationship with Chai Shirong, but he married the niece of Duke Lu, and the Xiao family and Duke Lu's mansion were very close.
In this case, Xiao Qi is a foregone conclusion. The case remains unresolved because both parties hold different versions of the story.
Chai Shirong and his party claimed that the witnesses had been bribed and that the names of the 800 private soldiers were not found in the military register of Huaizhou.
Xiao Qi also took the initiative to take responsibility for everything and said that he killed Chai Shijing because he believed that Chai Shijing was against Chai Shirong everywhere and had rebellious intentions.
Chai Shijing, on the other hand, insisted that the eight hundred private soldiers were military personnel. Duke Lu's raising of private soldiers, killing the prince, and forging private weapons were truly treacherous.
The two sides engaged in verbal battles every day, but neither could convince the other.
Just as Kang Yueran was discussing with Chai Shijing that she wanted to leave first, things took a turn for the better. Emperor Jianning, who had always been a bystander, suddenly issued an edict to promote Chai Shijing's mother to a higher rank.
After coming out of the palace, Chai Shijing went straight to the inn to find Kang Yueran. As soon as they met, he hugged Kang Yueran and didn't say anything for a long time.
Kang Yueran put her arms around Chai Shijing's waist and asked him softly what was wrong.
Chai Shijing replied in a hoarse voice: "The emperor has just issued an edict, my mother, the Imperial Concubine Shu, has been promoted to Imperial Concubine Shu."
Emperor Jianning was trying to appease him and ask him not to keep pursuing the private soldier case.
"My mother was still a concubine when she gave birth to me. When I was thirteen, my teacher praised me for my intelligence. When the Crown Prince found out, he sent a young eunuch to abort me, and my mother became a concubine.
Over the years, many officials in the court, dissatisfied with the crown prince's domineering behavior, have joined my forces. Duke Lu then sent people to kill my four servants. I knelt in the hall and begged the emperor to seek justice. The emperor gave me an imperial edict, promoting me from a county prince to a prince.
People around me have tried to convince me that His Majesty is cultivating me, but I know that's not the case. There's no joy in His Majesty's eyes when he sees me. If he truly loved him, how could he have allowed him to suffer so much for so many years?
Emperor Jianning initially wanted to use Chai Shijing to restrain Chai Shirong and prevent Chai Shirong from becoming the only one in power.
However, Chai Shirong's cruelty led to more and more officials sincerely wanting to support Chai Shijing.
Chai Shijing's reputation was higher than Chai Shirong's, so Emperor Jianning used this method, which was apparently to appease but actually to slap him in the face, to tell the court officials that he actually favored Chai Shirong the most.
This trick was indeed effective. Many officials who were optimistic about Chai Shijing distanced themselves from him, and the balance in the court was restored.
Kang Yueran patted Chai Shijing on the back and comforted him, "Since the emperor has chosen you as a shield, at least he believes that you are capable of competing with the crown prince."
"Yueran, I'm really tired of living!"
The crown prince is the queen's legitimate son, and he is a concubine's son; the crown prince's maternal family is Duke Lu, and his maternal family has to rely on him for everything; the crown prince has the support of a group of ministers just because of his status as the eldest legitimate son, and he can get to where he is today thanks to his day and night thinking and maneuvering.
Kang Yueran felt her neck was a little wet, her heart ached, she hugged Chai Shijing's waist tightly and said, "Ajing, you have me to accompany you from now on!"
Chai Shijing's tears flowed even more fiercely. For years, he had been alone, silently licking his wounds. Now, someone hugged him and said to him, "You have me to accompany you." From now on, he was no longer alone.
He nodded vigorously, "Yueran, never leave me!"
Her man, she felt bad for herself! Kang Yueran replied in the most determined voice: "Okay!"
Emperor Jianning's meaning was very clear, he didn't want to continue the investigation, and Chai Shijing did not resist.
The next day, the streets of the capital were full of flyers, which stated that Xiao Qi was raising private soldiers and casting private weapons in Biyun Mountain and intended to rebel.
This made Emperor Jianning, who had originally planned to execute only Xiao Qi, change his imperial edict and order the extermination of the entire family of Xiao, the Earl of Guangping.
If treason can be easily covered up, where is the dignity of the royal family?
It was obvious that Chai Shijing had done this. Emperor Jianning knew that he was angry, so he tried to persuade him in private.
Chai Shijing quickly expressed his gratitude, his attitude respectful, but obviously a little more distant.
After all, he was his own son. Emperor Jianning issued an edict in front of Chai Shijing, deposing Mingqing and selecting a person who had an old grudge with Duke Lu to replace him as the Minister of Punishments.
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