"However, don't worry, I've already come up with a plan. On the day of the execution, I will send people to storm the execution ground and rescue my uncle and aunt." Fearing that Xu Xingzhou might hurt himself in his excitement, the Crown Prince quickly spoke up.
"Really? Then I truly thank you on behalf of the Xu family."
"What are you saying? There's no need for such talk between us. Xingzhou, put the sword away first. It's so sharp, what if it hurts someone? Don't worry, I will never tell anyone that you're here. I'll immediately send someone to take you outside the city and settle you in. I will make sure that my father's people don't find out about this."
"Cousin Crown Prince, can I still trust you now?"
"certainly."
Xu Xingzhou took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve, poured a pill onto the table, and then fed it to the Crown Prince. "But I am now afraid. I trust no one. Please, my cousin Crown Prince, take this medicine. After this is done, I will give you the antidote."
"But don't worry, I'm the only one who knows the antidote for this poison. Those quacks at the Imperial Hospital are absolutely incapable of curing it."
The prince swallowed hard, wanting to say something, but when he felt the sword at his neck move, he shut his mouth and could only obediently swallow the pill.
"Now you can trust me, right?"
Xu Xingzhou, however, did not believe the Crown Prince. He directly pried open the Crown Prince's mouth and found that the Crown Prince had not swallowed the medicine, but had simply hidden the pill under his tongue.
"Hmph." Xu Xingzhou snorted coldly, took another pill and forcefully fed it to the Crown Prince. Only after confirming that the Crown Prince had swallowed the pill did Xu Xingzhou feel relieved.
However, he did not remove the sword from his hand, but instead gestured for the Crown Prince to call the people outside in. The reason why there was only the Crown Prince earlier was because the Crown Prince thought that the person in the room was Ren Nuanyun, so he did not bring many people with him.
When the prince's guards saw that someone dared to kidnap him, they immediately raised their swords at Xu Xingzhou and shouted, "What are you doing? Put down your sword and surrender!"
Xu Xingzhou didn't even glance at the guards outside; his eyes remained fixed on the Crown Prince. "Go into the palace and tell the Emperor that I'm waiting for him at the Crown Prince's residence. If the Emperor doesn't arrive by noon, then he can expect to collect the Crown Prince's corpse."
"How dare you threaten the Emperor!" a guard shouted, then quickly gestured to the person next to him to take his token and enter the palace. The kidnapping of the Crown Prince was no small matter, and he could not bear the responsibility.
"Let's go, Cousin Crown Prince."
Xu Xingzhou held the sword to the Crown Prince's neck the whole time, surrounded by a circle of guards who watched him warily. Xu Xingzhou was fearless, and the group continued on to the Crown Prince's residence.
When the Emperor received the news, he was so angry that he slammed the paperweight on the desk in the Imperial Study onto the ground. "A bunch of useless people! What are you all good for? You actually let Xu Xingzhou kidnap the Crown Prince!"
Lai Fu quickly knelt down beside him and advised, "Your Majesty, you mustn't! Xu Xingzhou has prepared some kind of trap. Your Majesty absolutely must not go!"
The Emperor kicked Laifu hard in the shoulder. "Not going? Are you going to wait to collect the Crown Prince's corpse? Go and call the Imperial Guards over. I want to see what this Xu Xingzhou is up to."
The Emperor initially thought that Xu Xingzhou had laid a trap in the Crown Prince's residence, but after the Imperial Guards searched the entire residence, they found nothing unusual; there really was only Xu Xingzhou there.
Xu Xingzhou originally just wanted to give it a try, but he didn't expect that Ren Nuanyun was right. The emperor was really so concerned about the safety of the crown prince that he disregarded his own safety and came to the crown prince's residence in person.
Does that mean the Xu family was deceived from the very beginning? Xu Xingzhou couldn't help but think that the Crown Prince and the Emperor had conspired from the start to eliminate the Xu family, which was why all the subsequent events occurred.
It has to be said that Xu Xingzhou was being conspiratorial; the Crown Prince really didn't know that the Emperor cared about him so much.
The Crown Prince was shocked when he saw the Emperor appear. His father had disregarded his own safety and come here. Didn't the Emperor not care about him?
"Xu Xingzhou, what exactly do you want? The evidence against the Xu family is irrefutable, and my imperial decree has already been issued and cannot be changed." The Emperor glanced at the Crown Prince with concern, and only when he saw that the Crown Prince was alright did he feel relieved.
"Your Majesty, I didn't expect you to actually come." Xu Xingzhou curled his lips into a sarcastic smile. "It seems you really care about the Crown Prince's safety."
"The Crown Prince is my son, of course I care." The Emperor resumed his previous dignified and indifferent demeanor.
"What a bunch of liars, all of them are liars, haha, we've all been fooled by you." Xu Xingzhou brought the sword in his hand even closer to the prince's neck.
"So, from the very beginning, your choice for the throne was the Crown Prince, wasn't it? But you deliberately showed that you didn't care about the Crown Prince, and made him stand with the Xu family, so that we would believe in the Crown Prince. Only then could the Crown Prince have the opportunity to learn the Xu family's secrets and thus eliminate the Xu family. You are indeed worthy of being an emperor, and you are truly far-sighted."
Xu Xingzhou sneered twice, "Isn't the Crown Prince your preferred candidate? You ruined my Xu family, so today I'll make you watch your son die in front of you, and you'll be powerless to do anything about it."
After Xu Xingzhou finished speaking, before anyone could react, he actually killed the Crown Prince.
The crown prince, in disbelief, reached out and covered the wound on his neck, slowly turning to look at Xu Xingzhou.
The moment Xu Xingzhou made his move, the Imperial Guards surrounding him unleashed their arrows, riddling him with arrows until he collapsed to the ground.
The Emperor was shocked that Xu Xingzhou would actually take action and refuse to discuss any conditions with him. He rushed to the Crown Prince and tightly embraced the blood-covered prince, crying out, "Quickly, imperial physician! Imperial physician!"
"Father, Emperor, what he said just now, was it true? You, you really care about your son, is that right?" The Crown Prince stared at the Emperor, his pupils already somewhat unfocused.
"Yes, what he said is true. You are the one I care about, and you are the one I have in mind for the throne." The Emperor spoke firmly, suppressing the pain in his heart.
"Well, that's good. I thought, I thought, that Father Emperor never cared about me. It turns out, it turns out I was wrong." The Crown Prince wanted to reach out and touch the Emperor's face, just like when he was a child. But before the Crown Prince could reach out, he was already dead, and his hand, which was out in mid-air, fell to the ground.
"Crown Prince, Crown Prince! An'er, An'er!" The Emperor could hardly believe that the Crown Prince had died in his arms. Blood stained his dragon robe, and his eyes were filled with tears. The Crown Prince's figure became more and more blurred, and the surrounding sounds grew fainter and fainter.
The emperor fainted.
After a period of chaos and turmoil, the emperor was escorted back to the palace, with a group of imperial physicians by his side.
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