Suddenly being slapped, Shangguan Ze covered his face in disbelief and looked at him in confusion.

"What does Father mean?"

Seeing that he was still pretending to be stupid, the King of Xiyue became even more angry and threw the letter directly in his face.

"It's not enough to do anything, but it's more likely to cause trouble!"

Shangguan Ze read through the book quickly and kept shaking his head, feeling confused for a moment.

"Father, no, this matter has nothing to do with me!"

The King of Xiyue looked at him coldly, his tone as if chilled by ice.

"Last month, at your wedding banquet, Wei Wei publicly admitted that he had joined your army and would follow your lead. But now you say that what he did has nothing to do with you?!"

Shangguan Ze was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, the color on his face gradually faded, and his lips trembled uncontrollably.

"I really don't know. Wei Wei is just a fence-sitter. He was the fifth brother before..."

“That’s enough!”

The King of Xiyue waved his sleeves and shouted angrily.

"Now Xiyue is in the wrong, Daqi is determined to tear a piece of flesh from me, and the Xiyue royal family has lost all its reputation. Can you let it go just by saying you didn't know?!"

Shangguan Ze was pale and trembling at this moment.

Suddenly, he thought of something, and like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw, he spoke anxiously: "Doesn't Daqi just want an explanation? It's just Wei Wei. Can't we just arrest him and hand him over to the Emperor of Daqi and let him do whatever he wants?"

"Oh, second brother is really naive!"

A figure strode into the palace gate. It was the Sixth Prince Shangguan Chang.

Looking at Shangguan Ze who looked panicked, his eyes were full of disdain and ridicule.

"Emperor Qixuan is not a fool. If there is no one behind the scenes, how could Wei Wei cause such a big storm?!"

Then he looked at the King of Xiyue with a serious expression and earnest words.

"Father, Daqi's army of 100,000 is lurking at the border. We have already lost three cities. If we cannot give Daqi a satisfactory answer this time, I am afraid the people on the border will suffer from war again."

The King of Xiyue frowned and issued an order immediately.

"The Second Prince Shangguan Ze is ambitious and has colluded with important officials from other countries, causing a war between the two countries. The people have suffered greatly. From now on, he will be stripped of his title and demoted back to his fiefdom. He is not allowed to return to the capital without an imperial decree!"

"Father!"

Shangguan Ze fell to his knees on the ground with a plop, crawled to the legs of the King of Xiyue, and begged bitterly.

"Father, I really didn't do this. Someone must have framed me!"

Suddenly, he pointed at Shangguan Chang and shouted, "It's him! It must be him and Lao Wu who are framing me!"

Then he thought of something and grasped the bright yellow hem of his clothes tightly, his eyes filled with unwillingness and ruthlessness.

You don't want me to have an easy time, right?

Then you can't even think about living! "Father, Lao Wu, as the envoy to escort the bride, actually left the delegation without permission and lost Sister Mingyue."

"Second brother, you can't blame me and fifth brother just because I told the truth. Sister Mingyue sent me a letter yesterday, saying that she missed the sweet cakes made by the imperial chef."

Shangguan Ze yelled at him, using so much force that veins popped out of his neck, "You're talking nonsense. Mingyue has been missing for eight days. How could she possibly write to you?"

Shangguan Chang looked at him with a faint smile, but his eyes were full of coldness.

"Fifth brother did say in the letter that the delegation encountered robbers and Mingyue was slightly injured, but the matter has been resolved. Mingyue is recovering at the post station. Fifth brother was afraid that the emperor would worry, so he did not report it."

"But how did Second Brother know about this?"

"I……"

Shangguan Ze didn't expect that he would lie so blatantly in front of the king.

I didn't know what to say for a moment and was sweating profusely.

But Shangguan Chang didn't intend to stop there. He sighed and said meaningfully: "Second brother is really well-informed."

"Father, don't listen to his nonsense!"

However, the King of Xiyue was upset and angry at this time, and did not want to listen to them continue arguing.

Whether Mingyue’s disappearance is true or not is no longer important. What matters now is to calm Daqi’s anger as soon as possible.

Looking at the person kneeling beside him with snot and tears all over his face, he couldn't help feeling disgusted.

"Someone come!"

"Send the Second Prince back!"

The King of Xiyue glanced at him with cold eyes.

"Go back to your fiefdom. I don't want to see you in the court tomorrow morning!"

"Father!"

Being dragged away by the guards, Shangguan Ze kept struggling and shouting.

Shangguan Chang retracted his disdainful gaze and shook his head in his heart. What a fool who couldn't see the situation clearly! The King of Xiyue sat back on the dragon throne, "Sixth Brother, how do you think this matter should be resolved?"

Shangguan Chang's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, but he quickly reacted, lowered his head slightly, and replied cautiously:

"I think you should offer gold, silver and treasures, but my Xiyue has just finished the war, and the most important thing is to recuperate, so I can't give too much. Since you have already sent a princess, you might as well send a hostage to show your sincerity."

The old and turbid eyes of the King of Xiyue narrowed slightly as he examined this son whom he had never paid attention to.

"Proton?"

Hearing this ambiguous tone, Shangguan Chang slowly clenched his hands in his sleeves.

Then he bent his knees and half-knelt on the ground, raised his head, and looked admiringly at the person sitting high on the dragon throne.

"Your son is willing to share your father's worries!"

Seeing his gaze, the King of Xiyue felt a little moved and raised his hand, motioning him to get up.

"There are many descendants of the Xiyue royal family, so why would they need my own son to go there?"

not to mention……

When he thought of what had just happened, a dark light flashed in the eyes of the King of Xiyue. Let them collude with Daqi?

We must not let them threaten Xu'er's position!

Hearing this, Shangguan Chang lowered his head pretending to be moved, with sarcasm in his eyes.

It seems that the bet was right! Fifth brother was right. Father was suspicious to begin with. Now that there was the precedent of Shangguan Ze colluding with important officials of other countries, it was impossible for him to let his healthy sons serve as hostages.

He pretended to be in a dilemma, "But, if we let the royal family members be hostages, what if Daqi thinks we are not sincere?"

Then he lowered his head in shame, looking remorseful.

"It's all because of us useless sons that Father has to worry so much."

son?

The old eyes of the King of Xiyue Kingdom sparkled with a gleam of light.

How could I forget him?

"Come here, go to the Fourth Prince's residence immediately and pass on the order, ordering him to go to Daqi early tomorrow morning with 100,000 taels of gold!"

The eunuch took the order and left in a hurry.

After solving a troublesome matter, the King of Xiyue felt a little relieved. He poured a glass of wine and sipped it carefully.

Seeing his relaxed attitude, Shangguan Chang couldn't help sneering in his heart.

Three years ago, my fourth brother was ambushed on the battlefield, his meridians were damaged and both of his legs were crippled. Since then, he has been bedridden and taking medicine constantly.

The journey to Daqi is long. One can imagine the consequences for a seriously ill and weak person traveling such a long distance.

And does their good father care?

The only thing he cares about is the dragon throne beneath him!

No, there is also a son born to his favorite woman! (End of this chapter)