The prime minister did not refuse, and drank cup after cup.
Marquis Ningyuan first treated Prime Minister Zhao as a brother, and when he was completely drunk, Marquis Ningyuan suddenly came over and pulled him aside to whisper something.
"The grand plan has been accomplished, and the real crown prince will never return."
Marquis Ningyuan held the Prime Minister's hand to prevent him from acting strangely, and whispered in his ear.
Prime Minister Zhao naturally understood the meaning behind his words, and for a moment his hands trembled uncontrollably.
Although he hoped to outmaneuver Qi Guze, he also didn't want to get involved in the power struggles between the parties and the government. After all, self-preservation was the most important thing.
Upon seeing his appearance, Marquis Ningyuan immediately sneered: "Prime Minister, don't panic. The news is true. Please give me, Marquis Zhao, a chance to cooperate with me."
"Together, we will force the current emperor to abdicate."
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Zhao's drunken mind instantly sobered up, and his hair stood on end in fright. He quickly pushed away Marquis Ningyuan's hand.
"No, no, no!" he said, and then tried to leave this troublesome place.
Seeing that the Prime Minister was so timid and showed no signs of being capable of great things, Marquis Ningyuan was tempted to abandon this ally. However, the Prime Minister had been involved from the very beginning and was an insider from start to finish.
Even if they wanted to get away, it would be impossible.
He grabbed Prime Minister Zhao's arm and gripped it tightly, even trying to squeeze him until he bled: "Brother Zhao, now that you know about the Crown Prince's affairs, you have no choice but to do it, even if you don't want to."
"Do you intend to force me to do something against my will?" Prime Minister Zhao was also unwilling to be dragged into this.
Although he was slow to react, he wasn't stupid.
He forcefully pulled his arm away, realizing the gravity of the situation; no matter what he said now, Marquis Ningyuan would not let him off the hook.
He instinctively started to flee.
When Marquis Ningyuan saw this scene, he thought that the Prime Minister was so cowardly that he might very well reveal his treasonous intentions for the sake of his family's wealth and life.
“He’s a man who will never amount to anything.” He finished speaking and downed the rest of his drink. “Kill him.”
Now that the cooperation has failed, Marquis Ningyuan has no need to keep him around.
Prime Minister Zhao rushed out, breathless, feeling that his assassins would soon catch up with him.
He didn't care about anything else and ran for several miles. By then, he was panting heavily, thinking to himself, "I know such a big secret, what am I going to do?"
I don't have a good relationship with Qi Guze, so who can help me in this situation?
After much deliberation, Prime Minister Zhao set his sights on the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
However, his daughter Zhao Min and the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo have a feud, and he doesn't know if the Duke of Zhenguo will help him.
But the person who has the best chance of helping me now is the Duke of Zhenguo.
He gritted his teeth and headed towards the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
...
Upon arriving at the gate of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, the servants couldn't help but frown when they saw Prime Minister Zhao's appearance.
"Quickly...quickly go and inform your Duke that I have important business to discuss with him," Prime Minister Zhao said breathlessly.
He no longer cares about what others think; as long as he can survive and continue to enjoy his current wealth and status, that's enough for him.
The servant looked him up and down again, and seeing that it was indeed the Prime Minister, he immediately went inside to report.
Upon hearing this, the Duke of Zhenguo's face showed displeasure.
He sneered, "His good daughter ruined my birthday banquet today, does she think she can come here to humiliate me now?"
Although he didn't care too much about what happened today, he knew that his daughter had been bullied by Zhao Min a lot in the palace, and now Prime Minister Zhao actually dared to come to their door.
That's ridiculous.
Do they really think their Duke Zhenguo's mansion is a pushover?
"Master, let him in first. We originally planned to go and listen to what the couple had to say about the two girls. Now that he's here, it saves us the trouble," the Duchess said, trying to smooth things over.
The Duke of Zhenguo nodded: "Alright."
After he finished speaking, he immediately instructed the servant to bring the person up.
...
Before long, Prime Minister Zhao was led to the main hall.
The Duke of Zhenguo was initially furious, but upon seeing his drunken and terrified appearance, he immediately became puzzled.
He looked him up and down again, then looked at the Prime Minister with some doubt: "Prime Minister, what brings you to my residence so late at night?"
"Your good daughter is always going against my daughter, and today she even ruined my birthday banquet. Do you think you're planning to come here and humiliate me?" Although he was full of curiosity, he was still dissatisfied.
He knew he could suffer injustice himself, but he couldn't let Xu Yuehuai suffer injustice.
Prime Minister Zhao already felt guilty about his life, and hearing these words made him feel even worse. He looked at the Duke of Zhenguo with a pained expression, somewhat embarrassed to speak.
He was heartbroken, but in order to save his life, he still spoke his mind: "Lord Duke, please find a place where no one is around to talk. I have something I would like to ask you for help with."
Upon hearing this, the Duke of Zhenguo understood immediately and quickly invited the man to a secluded room.
If it were about one's own daughter, there would be no need to hide it from others, especially since it involves one's children and requires the wife to be present. The current situation must be related to the court.
After the two entered the deserted hut, the Duke of Zhenguo's expression turned serious.
"Alright, now that no one's around, Your Excellency may speak frankly," he said seriously.
The Prime Minister said with great concern, "I wonder if Lord Zhenguo is aware that the current Crown Prince..."
He looked around and, seeing that no one was around, dared to speak: "It's a fake."
The Duke of Zhenguo's eyelids twitched, but his eyes remained calm and composed, as if he had known about this all along.
However, he still feigned surprise: "Oh? Where did you hear that, Your Excellency?"
"This...this is what Marquis Ningyuan told me." Although Prime Minister Zhao had the help of some people, he still concealed part of the truth.
The Duke of Zhenguo, seeing the Prime Minister's look of surrender, also spoke the truth: "Prime Minister, you are unaware of this matter. In fact, I have known about it for a long time—even the Regent already knows about it."
Upon hearing this, the Prime Minister was astonished. "Is that so!"
"Lord Zhenguo, you must help me! Marquis Ningyuan wants to kill me!" The Prime Minister suddenly cried and even knelt down before the Duke Zhenguo.
The Duke of Zhenguo was immediately frightened. It turned out that it was related to the Marquis of Ningyuan. No wonder the Prime Minister had come to him for help. So it was the Marquis of Ningyuan who knew about the origin of the fake crown prince.
"Your Excellency, please explain this to me in detail." Although the Duke of Zhenguo did not want to get involved in these matters, they were related to the very foundation of the country, so he had no choice but to intervene.
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