643 Changhua, the Ninth Prince's Borrowing Knife to Kill

In the prison of Zonghuifu, His Majesty the Emperor, dressed in bright yellow court robes, was sitting in the position where the Ninth Prince usually sat, reading the book that the Ninth Prince usually read and drinking the tea that the Ninth Prince usually drank, looking very leisurely.

The Ninth Prince walked in leisurely from outside. He was not surprised to see the Emperor and walked in on his own. Except for the fact that there was a different person sitting in the prison, the clan prison was no different. There was not even a guard around the Emperor. It was as quiet as usual when the Ninth Prince stayed here.

This kind of wonder can only be seen in the Zongrenfu Prison. The emperor does not look like an emperor, and the prisoners do not look like prisoners. The emperor sits in the prison, and the prisoners walk in from outside.

"Royal brother!" The Ninth Prince was neither arrogant nor impatient, nor did he seem uneasy at all. He stood quietly in front of the Emperor, without any embarrassment of escaping from prison or being caught.

Compared with the Ninth Prince's calmness and composure, Feng Qingchen's ideas are totally not good enough. Look how calm he is.

"I'm back." The emperor raised his teacup and took a sip. His eyes were gentle. His movements and tone made him look like a kind elder, without any anger. But...

They both understood that this was just the calm before the storm. If the emperor was really not angry, he would not have left the palace in the heavy snow and waited in the clan prison for an entire night.

The emperor was very angry and the consequences were serious.

"..." The Ninth Prince stood there calmly, neither answering nor lowering his head. He looked at the Emperor calmly, completely lacking the proper respect and regard for a senior when facing the Emperor.

The emperor was not angry. If the Ninth Prince really knelt in front of him in fear, he would doubt whether the person in front of him was fake. The emperor pointed to the seat opposite him and said, "Sit down!"

The Ninth Prince was not polite either. He lifted his robe and sat down. He picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup and started drinking without the Emperor saying anything.

He rushed around all night and didn't even have a sip of hot tea at Feng Qingchen's place. It was obvious that Feng Qingchen really didn't know how to entertain guests.

The Ninth Prince was indeed thirsty, but he drank his tea very gracefully, sipping it slowly and leisurely, not thinking there was anything wrong in making the Emperor wait for him.

The emperor was not in a hurry. He waited until the Ninth Prince finished his tea before saying, "Ninth brother, you still owe me an explanation."

Yes, an explanation, an explanation for escaping from the prison overnight, an explanation for letting him leave the palace, and an explanation that would allow him not to punish the Ninth Prince.

The emperor believed that if the Ninth Uncle dared to leave, he must have sufficient reasons, so he did not bring anyone with him, but waited for the Ninth Uncle here alone.

The two brothers have been fighting for so many years, and they still know this.

"Those few are still alive." The Ninth Prince put down his teacup and said politely.

What he meant was: I didn't kill the person you sent. If I had killed him, you wouldn't have come here tonight. Without me sending you a message, you wouldn't have been able to get here from the palace in one night.

What explanation do you want? I told you in advance that I wanted to leave the prison. Besides, this was not your intention. You sent someone to pass the message to me, describing Feng Qingchen in such a miserable way, just to get me out of the prison and go to the Feng Mansion.

The Ninth Prince's eyes were as clear as water, and he didn't care at all about the anger and majesty emanating from the Emperor.

He was used to it. His royal brother was rarely calm when he saw him.

"Is this your explanation to me?" The emperor was very dissatisfied.

Such a big fuss was made and he was asked to leave the palace in person. The emperor didn't believe that the Ninth Prince had no trump card. You know, jailbreaking is a serious crime. He could easily execute Dong Lingjiu and no one would dare to say a word against him.

"What does Your Majesty want to hear? I will tell you everything I know." The more you talk, the more mistakes you make. He never liked talking much with the Emperor, and the rare times he said something, it must be something useful.

He has always done this very well, so much so that every time the emperor sees him, he is so angry that he has no place to vent.

"Hmph... Ninth brother, don't beat around the bush for me. I came out of the palace overnight, not to come to the clan prison to see how you are doing. Ninth brother, don't make me angry." He is the emperor. If he is determined to kill his ninth uncle, even at the cost of shaking the foundation of the country, no one can stop him.

The reason why Dong Lingjiu was kept alive was, firstly, for Dong Ling, and secondly, to show it to the people of the world, so that those literati and moralists would not keep saying that he was cruel and killed all the royal bloodline.

Well, with Dong Lingjiu here, who would dare to say that he killed all his brothers? If he killed them all, there would be no noble and unparalleled Ninth Uncle left.

The Ninth Prince was not afraid of angering the Emperor, but he hated the Emperor for causing trouble for Feng Qingchen. He was in prison, and a lot of information could not be transmitted in time. Even if he received the news in time, it would be too late by the time he got out.

"Brother Emperor, do you still remember the death of General Feng?" The Ninth Prince went straight to the point.

The emperor's eyebrows moved slightly: "Feng Zhan? What happened to him?" Back then, he might have felt a little guilty, but so many years have passed, and his imperial power has grown, the emperor does not think he did anything wrong.

Feng Zhan was his subject, and dying for him was a worthy death.

If you want to blame someone, blame Feng Zhan for being incompetent. If he had the ability, he could have held on for another three days and reinforcements would have arrived.

"Royal brother, you know best how Feng Zhan died. I just want to say that there are many suspicious points about Feng Zhan's death." The Ninth Uncle poured another cup of tea, but this time he did not drink it. Instead, he held it in his palm. Although he was not very old, he looked like an old monk in meditation, as if nothing could make him angry.

"What? Ninth brother, are you going to exchange Feng Zhan's death with me to prevent you from escaping from prison?" If that was the case, he could only say that he, the ninth brother, had become vulgar and had been led vulgar by Feng Qingchen. As the emperor, he was not at fault for Feng Zhan's death.

Ever since Feng Qingchen showed up, his ninth brother had gained a bit more popularity, but he was no different from ordinary people, which made him feel bored. He still liked to watch the cold ninth brother who didn't take anyone seriously. It was very interesting to be able to make such a ninth brother change his attitude.

"Royal brother, you underestimate me too much. I just think that there are many suspicious points about Feng Zhan's death. Don't you find it strange?" The emperor felt guilty because he was obsessed with beauty and neglected state affairs. He did not investigate the matter further. Now after hearing what his ninth uncle said, he really felt that the incident was too coincidental.

Apart from anything else, the appearance of that Hu Ji was enough to arouse suspicion. The emperor tried hard to recall what happened that year and think about whether there were any details he had overlooked.

When the Ninth Prince saw that the Emperor was lost in thought, he knew that the Emperor had doubts, and as long as the Emperor had doubts, the matter would be easy to deal with.

“Royal brother, you are not a person obsessed with beauty. I don’t believe that Hu Ji could keep you away from the palace for three days. Since you ascended the throne, you have been diligent in government affairs for decades without slacking off. How could you stay away from the palace for a woman?” Even the Ninth Uncle could not deny that the current emperor was indeed a good emperor.

In the past, the previous emperor fought wars in the south and the north, which cost a lot and left the treasury empty. The emperor only spent a few decades to fill the treasury and let the people live and work in peace and contentment.

The emperor is not a good son, a good brother, or a good father, but he is indeed a good emperor. He has ambitions, but it is bad luck that he met him.

Hearing the praise from the Ninth Prince, a hint of pride emerged on the emperor's face. These words were said by his ministers every day, but he thought they were meaningless. Today, hearing them from the Ninth Prince's mouth, the emperor felt particularly accomplished.

"I am worthy of the people of the world." The emperor said proudly. As an emperor, his ninth uncle's evaluation of him was undoubtedly high.

The emperor said this in the hope that the Ninth Uncle would continue to praise him, but the Ninth Uncle was a certain kind of man. If he didn't want to be praised, he wouldn't praise you even if you beat him to death.

The Ninth Prince once again brought up the point that the Emperor had overlooked: "Brother, you are not someone who would indulge in beauty. I suspect that there was something wrong with that Hu Ji back then."

She was just a woman. Even if she was a fairy from heaven, the Ninth Prince did not believe that she could be so charming that his brother would not attend the morning court and ignore government affairs. You have to know that the Emperor was not a tyrant.

When the Ninth Prince said this, the Emperor also felt that there was something wrong. He didn't think there was anything wrong at the time, but after the Ninth Prince mentioned it again, he realized...

He couldn't remember what the Hu Ji looked like.

If he really liked someone so much that he didn't go to court for three days, how could he forget what she looked like?

"The Lu family of Shandong?" The emperor did not directly say that there was something wrong with Hu Ji, but rather mentioned the Lu family who offered Hu Ji.

Even if he understood it in his heart, the emperor would not admit that he was fooled by a woman. This was a matter of complete loss of face for him.

The emperor can favor a woman, pamper her to the point of lawlessness, and do absurd things to favor her, but he can never be manipulated by a woman.

To pamper a woman is at most to be obsessed with her beauty, but to be toyed with by a woman is to be incompetent. How can an incompetent emperor convince the people of the world?

A hint of murderous intent flashed in the emperor's eyes.

"As far as I know, the third brother has a concubine who is from the Shandong Lu family. However, that woman is just the illegitimate daughter of the head of the family, and few people know about it." The third brother mentioned by the Ninth Uncle is the third son of the late emperor.

"You mean, this matter is related to the third brother?" The emperor's eyes suddenly widened, full of disbelief.

Back then, he used iron-blooded means to purge a group of ministers, but he didn't expect that there were still some who slipped through the net. The emperor's eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"I was still young at that time, how could I know all this? I just accidentally saw the information about my third elder brother and remembered a few things. The illegitimate daughter of the Lu family came from Miaojiang, so it is normal for her to know some strange things." The Ninth Uncle said he didn't know, but he threw out a bigger point.

"Well, what a great Lu family! I just find it strange. How could I be so obsessed with a woman that I would ignore state affairs? It turns out that the Lu family used Miao witchcraft to harm me. The Lu family is so bold!" Bang... The emperor slammed the table angrily, and the white jade cup shook, fell to the ground, and shattered.

The Ninth Prince found such a perfect reason for the Emperor's mistake that year. Even if it was not true, the Emperor would believe it. Being murdered by witchcraft sounds better than being obsessed with beauty.

Besides, what the Ninth Prince said was at least seven-tenths true.

If it is seven parts true and three parts exaggerated, no one will doubt it. At least the emperor has believed it eight parts. As long as he goes back to check and finds that it is indeed as the Ninth Prince said, then the Lu family will be in trouble.

In fact, the Lu family was not wronged, because Hu Ji was offered by the Lu family.

The Ninth Prince did not think that there was anything wrong with his move of diverting trouble away. It was better to let the Emperor eliminate the Lu family than to let Feng Qingchen do it.

The prince is not the only one who can kill someone with a borrowed knife. He can also...