Darong ruled the country with filial piety. Although Renzong established the policy of "severing kinship", only the father could mention it, and the son was never allowed to mention it.

Moreover, in order to prevent someone from deliberately using the severance of relations to escape the unforgivable punishment of the Nine Sins, the requirements for severing relations were extremely strict, and the father had to report his son to the government and request the severance of relations.

Jiang Ting looked at the emperor nervously.

He has been frightened for four years. During these years, he has been thinking only of drawing a clear line between himself and the Zhenbei Palace. Even if he divorces Jingle now, Chu Yuanchen is still his son. Once Chu Yuanchen gets hot-headed and decides to rebel, he will also be implicated.

Whenever he thought of this, he tossed and turned and couldn't sleep all night.

He thought about it again and again before he came up with the idea of ​​breaking off the relationship.

However, he could not just break off the engagement whenever he wanted. If he went to the government office and said he wanted to break off the engagement with Chu Yuanchen for no reason, how would others look at him? How would he be able to gain a foothold in the court in the future?

And now, the time is right.

"I beg Your Majesty for your grace." Jiang Ting raised his sleeves to brush his face, kneeling and crying, "I have failed to teach my son well, and I am too ashamed to face Your Majesty again. I only ask that I sever my ties with my son."

The emperor said sympathetically, "My dear Jiang, I understand your intention."

He sighed deeply and said in great embarrassment, "Achen, what do you think?"

The emperor still called Chu Yuanchen's name with a kind of intimacy.

Chu Yuanchen put away his smile, and his temperament changed subtly. He looked directly at Jiang Ting and asked in confirmation, "Father, do you really want to sever ties with me?"

"Ah Chen, as a father..."

Chu Yuanchen didn't want to listen to his long-winded words, so he interrupted and said directly: "Yes or no."

Jiang Ting choked and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Chu Yuanchen chuckled and said, "It seems that father has no such intention, so forget it..."

"No." Jiang Ting stopped pretending, fearing that he would really disagree, and hurriedly said, "Your father wants to sever the relationship with you."

The urgency on his face was unmistakable, and anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was eager to cut ties with Chu Yuanchen.

Chu Yuanchen saluted the emperor and said calmly, "Your Majesty, I agree."

"You two, father and son, have come to this point. It's really... Alas." The emperor sighed and said, "Since both of you have this intention..."

"Your Majesty is wise. I have no such intention. It's just that as a son, I cannot disobey my father." Chu Yuanchen said lightly.

"Yes! Yes!" Jiang Ting was afraid of missing the opportunity, and hurriedly said, "This is all my intention. I want to break off the relationship with Chu Yuanchen."

emperor:"……"

The emperor did not want to ask any more questions and said directly: "In this case, I will allow you two to sever your relationship. From now on, you will no longer have any blood relationship, you will no longer be father and son, and you will be strangers to each other."

Everyone in the Golden Palace was stunned with shock, and some felt that it was inappropriate, but the emperor had already spoken, and the father and son had no objection, so what could they say?

The emperor gave a look, and Song Yuan quickly ordered the eunuch to prepare writing materials and pens, and drafted a personal letter in two copies.

Song Yuan walked down with the severance letter in his hand. "Lord Jiang, Prince Chu, please read this. If you have no objection, please sign and seal here."

Jiang Ting took it and took a quick look. When he saw the words "From now on, the relationship between father and son is severed..." written in black and white on the severance letter, his hands began to tremble with excitement. He originally planned to say a few more words to show that he had no choice but to put all the responsibility on Chu Yuanchen. However, facing Chu Yuanchen's eyes that had seen everything, he was really afraid that Chu Yuanchen would say something unpleasant if he was not careful, so he quickly signed and sealed.

Next came Chu Yuanchen.

Jiang Ting watched Chu Yuanchen sign the severance agreement with trepidation, and then he completely relaxed.

He could finally live his life without worrying about being tied down again, and the nightmares he had been suffering from for the past four years were finally coming to an end.

Judge Jiang breathed a sigh of relief. Now all he had to do was wait for Brother Yi to inherit the title.

The emperor has always been concerned about the northern border and military power. As long as Yi Ge'er voluntarily surrenders the military power and expresses his willingness to stay in Beijing, the emperor promised that the title will not be taken back and Yi Ge'er will be the King of Zhenbei. And by then, he can also reconcile with Jingle.

Thinking of Jingle's bright and stunning appearance, his heart was burning with joy.

His thoughts were so far away that he didn't notice that many of the looks cast at him were filled with contempt.

"Your Majesty." Chu Yuanchen handed the signed divorce agreement to the emperor through Song Yuan and said with a smile, "Since you are the one who presided over the divorce, please sign it."

The emperor looked at him coldly. He really couldn't understand his thoughts, and he couldn't see any chance of him turning the situation around.

The emperor thought he was just bluffing. Now that the matter had come to this point, no one could turn back.

The emperor looked sullen and ordered, "Song Yuan."

Song Yuan immediately took the letter of severance of marriage and the wolf-hair brush soaked in ink, and the emperor signed the letter of severance of marriage.

In the Golden Palace, almost all the court officials were dumbfounded.

The morning court was full of twists and turns. First, a memorial from four years ago popped up, and then it turned out that the Prince of Zhenbei wanted to sever his relationship with his father. What's more, the emperor presided over the severance of the relationship himself and even signed the letter of severance. This, this is simply unheard of. What is going on?

Everyone looked at each other.

"Lord Jiang, since you and your son have severed your relationship, you can now speak the truth." The emperor cleared his throat and said, "You just accused the Crown Prince of Chu of colluding with Northern Yan. Is this true?"

After Jiang Ting put away the letter of severance, he calmed down and said, "It is true. Otherwise, why would the prince pass over Achen and pass the title to Ayi?"

There is some truth in what he said.

"This matter is of great importance. Do you have any evidence?" asked Chief Assistant Lin.

Jiang Ting shook his head and sighed, "No."

Jiang Ting said, "At that time, the prince only sent his confidant to pass on the message, which came from his mouth and entered my ears, and no third person knew about it." He pretended to sigh and said, "The old prince loves his grandson and doesn't want him to be involved in such a heinous crime of treason, and he would not leave any evidence."

Lin Shoufu: “…”

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with that.

Jiang Ting bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, every word I said is true. I have not lied at all."

"I understand." The emperor raised his hand to signal him to excuse himself, and said, "There is no evidence for this matter, Mr. Jiang, there is no need to say more."

The emperor looked magnanimous and continued, "But I think we should still respect the will of the King of Zhenbei. What do you think?"

The emperor's words were really beautiful.

Even if the emperor said on the surface that he would not pursue the matter of collusion with Beiyan, he could be accused by his biological father and the old prince's memorial served as evidence. Even if the evidence was insufficient, in the eyes of others, it was clear that Chu Yuanchen had indeed committed such a serious crime. It was only because of the emperor's mercy that he would not pursue the matter.

There are still doubts about his body, and the old prince has sent a memorial requesting a title, so it is only natural that he cannot bear the title of King of Zhenbei.

However, most people were skeptical about the fact that Chu Yuanchen was colluding with Beiyan, but this memorial was indeed written by Old Master Wang.

Everyone was silent.

The emperor felt relieved and asked Chu Yuanchen, "Achen, do you have any objections?"

"Yes." Chu Yuanchen said leisurely, "Excuse me, but is this letter of request for a seal in your hand real or fake?"

emperor:"……"

The emperor's face turned serious, and he said, "Prince Zhenbei, are you trying to frame me?"

Chu Yuanchen smiled without saying anything, as if to say: Your Majesty, you know it clearly in your heart.

The emperor was a little angry and said, "Prime Minister Lin and his men have already read this memorial. They can clearly see whether it is written in Chu Shen's handwriting or not."

Lin Shoufu said quickly: "Prince Chu, this is indeed the handwriting of the old prince."

He had seen some of Old Master Wang's previous memorials and recognized his handwriting.

Chu Yuanchen added, "Whether it is true or not, no one has the final say. My grandfather sends several memorials to the capital every year. Why not bring them here so that everyone can judge for themselves? What do you think?"

This was not unreasonable, and the emperor thought about it and agreed.

What the emperor wanted was solid evidence. Any slightest doubt in this matter would lead to the fabrication of unofficial history.

He immediately passed the order down.

At this point, no one was in the mood to report anything anymore; they were all waiting.

Until Xiao Shuo walked into the hall, he was wearing a red Qilin robe, with a gentle smile on the corner of his mouth, and his steps were imposing.

As soon as he appeared, the throne room suddenly became quieter. Everyone subconsciously held their breath and lowered their heads, waiting for him to pass by them.

Xiao Shuo held several memorials in his hands. He walked slowly into the hall, performed his greetings, and said gently, "Your Majesty, I have brought the memorials from Zhenbei King Chu Shen." He always called himself a minister in front of the emperor, instead of calling himself a slave like other eunuchs.

Xiao Shuo received a total of five memorials, one for each of the five years before Chu Shen's death, all of which were memorials of greeting.

All memorials would be kept in the Imperial Household Department after being approved.

The emperor said, "Then let Achen and the inner cabinet identify it together."

Chu Yuanchen responded, and Song Yuan handed him all the memorials. Chu Yuanchen opened the memorial in which Chu Shen requested that Chu Yuanyi be conferred the title of King of Zhenbei. He took just one look and then laughed. Everyone didn't know what he was laughing at and looked at each other in confusion.

Chief Assistant Lin took several volumes of memorials and compared them one by one in the inner cabinet. They opened the volumes one by one, comparing the handwriting on them, especially the shape of the characters and the strength of each stroke, and nodded to each other from time to time.

The emperor would be on a high place, taking in everything and smiling.

Finally, the Prime Minister opened the last book and his pupils shrank slightly.

"This is..."

Lin Shoufu's hands were shaking a little.

He quickly took the letter requesting a seal, read it several times, and handed them both to someone else.

The emperor frowned slightly, not quite understanding what they were doing and having an uneasy feeling in his heart.

Chu Yuanchen waited calmly.

Lin Shoufu carefully compared them for a long time, reading them word by word. Finally, he raised his head from the memorial and reported, "Your Majesty, the handwriting on this memorial requesting a title is different from the one on the memorial from the King of Zhenbei."

"How is this possible!" the emperor blurted out in disbelief.

He seemed to realize that he was a little too hasty, and calmed his voice and said, "Just now you all said that the handwriting on this memorial was Chu Shen's. Why is it different now?"

The same thing happened to the others, all eyes were on Lin Shoufu.

Lin Shoufu calmed down and said, "Your Majesty, this is the greeting letter from Zhenbei King Chu Shen in the fourteenth year of Shao'an."

This year is the eighteenth year of Shaoan, which is four years ago.

Lin Shoufu held the memorial and said, "Prince Zhenbei wrote on this memorial. His right arm was broken, so he wrote with his left hand. His handwriting is poor. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

emperor:"……"

Lin Shoufu swallowed his saliva and added cautiously: "Judging from the date, it was exactly ten days before the letter requesting the seal was issued."

Having said this, Prime Minister Lin stopped talking.

Everyone can understand the meaning of this sentence.

Ten days before this petition for a title, Chu Shen's right arm was broken. But ten days later, he wrote this petition for a title to Chu Yuanyi in exactly the same handwriting as before.

One of these two memorials must be false.

Even so, no one is stupid. Why would a letter of greeting from four years ago need to be fake? In this way, it is obvious...

Four years ago, Chu Yuanyi was only eight years old, and faced with the invasion of Northern Yan, the force was overwhelming. The King of Zhenbei must be crazy to abandon his outstanding grandson and give the title to a child who knew nothing.

Chief Minister Lin raised his sleeves, wiped his forehead, and let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief.

He felt that there was something wrong with the petition, and it turned out to be true.

Lin Shoufu observed the emperor's expression and saw that his face had darkened significantly, so he knew what was going on.

Not only Prime Minister Lin, many people in the Golden Palace couldn't help but have thoughts. They all realized that today's situation should be set up by the emperor himself, and the purpose was very clear. It must be to reduce the power of the princes. No wonder the twelve-year-old Chu Yuanyi had to inherit the title. Apart from the surname Chu, Chu Yuanyi didn't have any prestige in the Northern Frontier Army. By then, the emperor could slowly place people in the Northern Frontier and take advantage of it step by step.

Looking at Chu Yuanchen again, he is obviously a sensible man.

Ever since the confrontation with the emperor after returning to Beijing, it has been clear that he will never give in.

Chu Yuanchen has military power and fiefdoms, but the emperor is the son of destiny and the ruler of Dayong. If the two of them really become incompatible, Dayong will probably be plunged into a bloody storm.

"Your Majesty," Chu Yuanchen said, "Do you think this memorial is true or false?"

He smiled faintly and continued, "Princes Xue Zhongzhi and Wei Jingyan have passed away. Now the only one left in the Darong Dynasty is the Zhenbei Palace. The succession of this title is a big deal. Your Majesty must think twice."

Lin Shoufu nodded secretly. Yes, the two princes of Xue and Wei were dead, and Darong really couldn't stand any more hardship.

etc!

Lin Shoufu's expression paused. Yes! The two princes were gone, and the fiefdoms and military power had naturally been taken back by the court... At this moment, he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart, as if a biting cold wind was surging in his heart, making him feel cold all over.

Chu Yuanchen escorted the coffin back to the capital...

The emperor vomited blood on the spot...

The two princes' families were destroyed one after another...

Lin Shoufu swallowed his saliva and didn't dare to think any further.

The emperor remained silent, his eyes fixed on the memorial in Lin Shoufu's hand, wishing he could take it and tear it to pieces.

He was desperately thinking about how to save the situation, and didn't notice that the court officials below him had different expressions, some were shocked, some didn't care, and some even looked at him with deep disgust.

Xiao Shuo was now standing next to the emperor, and with a glance, he could see all the changes in everyone's expressions.

The late emperor and the current emperor were both very good at saving face. Everyone in the world only knew that the emperor valued and trusted the princes. If there was any disturbance in the Zhenbei Palace, the princes would be considered ungrateful and rebellious in the eyes of the people of the world.

But now, they are determined to tear off this hypocritical veil and expose all the ugly mentalities!

It is the emperor who is sorry to the people of the world, not the princes!

The moment Xiao Shuo's eyes met Chu Yuanchen's, the two of them exchanged glances quickly.

All the memorials from the past years of the Great Rong Dynasty are in Xiao Shuo's hands. If Xiao Shuo wants it to be true, it is true. If he wants it to be false, it is false!

The emperor was silent for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said, "Minister Lin, the handwriting on this letter is the same as the previous ones."

“The handwriting is indeed similar.”

Lin Shoufu did not dare to use the word "same" and only used the word "similar".

He was almost at retirement age and did not want to be involved in court turmoil anymore. However, the Zhenbei Palace had made contributions to the country and been kind to the people, and it should not suffer a bad death because of the emperor's suspicion.

Lin Shoufu calmed down and continued, "Your Majesty, this is the handwriting. If someone wants to imitate it, it is not impossible."

All they could see was that the handwriting was similar.

The emperor said firmly: "Perhaps this memorial was written by the King of Zhenbei before his arm was broken."

This is possible, but it is too blunt. Everyone can see that the emperor is determined to rely on this memorial to depose the eldest son and enthrone the youngest son.

The emperor said directly to Chu Yuanchen: "Prince Zhenbei, what do you think?"

"If you still feel something is wrong, I can ask the Royal Guard to investigate thoroughly."

The emperor's attitude became much tougher. He was determined to end this matter today.

The emperor's meaning was very clear. If Chu Yuanchen insisted that the memorial was fake, he would ask the Jinyiwei to investigate. This investigation would not only check whether the memorial was "real" or not, but also whether Chu Yuanchen had "collaborated with the enemy and committed treason."

Chu Yuanchen did not answer, but smiled and said: "If the emperor wants to give the title to Chu Yuanyi, I have no objection."

The emperor was stunned. He originally thought that Chu Yuanchen would not give in easily, but he did not expect that Chu Yuanchen actually gave in? !

Could it be that his words had caused him to lose his composure?

No matter what, this was definitely a matter for the emperor. The emperor said without hesitation: "Since you said so, Achen. Chu Yuanyi will obey your orders."

Seeing that the emperor was really going to give the title of King of Zhenbei to Chu Yuanyi, everyone hurriedly said "no". Chu Yuanchen had been the crown prince for so many years, would he be willing to give it up?

Looking at Chu Yuanchen's calm appearance, one can imagine that if the emperor dared to issue such an order, Chu Yuanchen would definitely fight back.

The Prime Minister was no longer able to care about anything at this moment, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, abandoning the elder and enthroning the younger is the root cause of chaos in the family and the country."

The emperor looked like he had no other options. "Prime Minister, there is no need to say more. I have made up my mind."

"emperor!"

Lin Shoufu knelt down and wanted to ask the emperor to change his mind. At the same time, some ministers also knelt down. In the Golden Palace, nearly 40% of the people knelt down.

The emperor felt unhappy about being forced, and was just about to say something harsh when, at this moment, a guard from the imperial army reported in, "Your Majesty, this is an urgent military report from eight hundred miles away!"

Eight hundred miles, urgent!

The ministers were alarmed, and generally only when it was extremely urgent would they use the 800 li express.

And this is a military report!

Now that the four borders of Darong have been pacified, why is there a sudden urgency of 800 miles?

The emperor's face darkened, and he said, "Announce!"

A dusty young general hurried into the throne room. He knelt on one knee and clasped his fists in a hurry, saying, "Your Majesty, the Mi country has invaded our borders. Jiang Long is defending them and it is difficult to defeat them. The commander has sent a general to ask Your Majesty to dispatch troops for support."

He was wearing leather armor and panting. Even in this cold November, his body was still covered in sweat. His messy hair was stuck to his forehead and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked exhausted from traveling day and night.

Mikoku?!

The ministers could not hide their astonishment. Mi was a small country on the border of Darong. Unlike the Northern Yan, they were not greedy and would often invade the border and occasionally plunder.

Although it is a small country, the whole country is armed with troops and is much more ferocious than Northern Yan.

"Why did the Mi country suddenly invade our territory?"

The emperor asked in a deep voice. After the old king of Mi Kingdom passed away, the tribes fought fiercely for the new throne, and as a result, there was no expansion trend for several years. The emperor had almost completely forgotten that Darong still had such a big worry.

The young general knelt on one knee and clasped his fists, saying, "Your Majesty, the new king of Mi Country pacified Mi Country several months ago and subdued all the tribes."

The emperor asked, "Who is the new king?"

The young general shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Mi Kingdom borders Jiang Longwei. Commander Jiang Longwei has always been very concerned about Mi Kingdom's movements, but he has no idea who the new king of Mi Kingdom is. He is like a divine soldier who suddenly appears from heaven and conquers all the tribes of Mi Kingdom with lightning speed.

The emperor gripped the armrests of the throne tightly with both hands, his face turned ashen, and the people in the court were also shocked and frightened.

Northern Yan had just been pacified, and now another country, Mi, has arrived, and it looks like it's coming with great force. What should Darong do?

The emperor calmed down and asked as calmly as possible, "How is the war going now?"

The young general quickly reported: "After the Kingdom of Mi established a new queen, they began to gather troops and advance step by step. Now they are still outside the Great Wall. There are more than 30,000 troops. The commander is afraid that they can't resist them."

The permanent garrison strength of the guard station was 5,600 people. Because Jianglongwei bordered the Mi Kingdom, it was specially allowed to expand its strength to 10,000. Even so, the enemy was outnumbered.

The emperor breathed a sigh of relief, as this meant that the Mi Kingdom had not yet invaded.

However, Mi State has always been extremely poor and vicious, no less ferocious than Northern Yan, and it borders Northern Yan. If it weren't for its small population, it would have swallowed up Northern Yan long ago.

Jianglingwei is closest to the northern border, so it is most appropriate to transfer troops directly from the northern border.

Northern Xinjiang...

When he thought of the Northern Frontier and looked at Chu Yuanchen standing in the palace, an inexplicable chill surged from the emperor's heart.

Chu Yuanchen met the emperor's gaze and smiled without reservation: "Your Majesty, since you have already set your sights on Chu Yuanyi's title, as the King of Zhenbei, he naturally has to lead the troops. It's just right, let him go, otherwise your Majesty will say that I am jealous of my brother and unwilling to let go."

emperor:"……"

The emperor's face instantly became even uglier, as if someone was pinching his throat tightly, and his face turned red.

The moment before, he was still trying hard to make Chu Yuanyi inherit the title, but at this moment, he felt like he was slapped hard in the face.