He had thought about this problem a long time ago, but he just didn't mention this possibility to the emperor.

He understood the emperor. The emperor was in high spirits, so he could only go along with him and not go against him. If anyone poured cold water on him, the fate of the prince would be a lesson for him.

What he didn't expect was to hear these words from the mouth of the new Princess Chen in front of him.

She is willing to risk her life for the Prince?! Kang Hongda's eyes flickered, but he remained silent.

Chu Qianchen didn't look at Kang Hongda, her eyes were fixed on the emperor's face. She naturally noticed the subtle changes in the emperor's expression, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly again.

The emperor has always been suspicious, especially when it comes to matters concerning the prince.

Anyway, no matter what is said, the emperor has already determined that the Prince Chen's Mansion has the intention of rebellion, so it would be better to take advantage of the situation and increase the threat of the Prince Chen's Mansion to the court.

In this world, the only thing that can face power is power.

Instead of being passive, it is better to be proactive.

Chu Qianchen stood there calmly, feeling extremely happy.

She could feel that the prince had taken a different path from his previous life.

In his previous life, the prince only wanted to provide them with a way out.

A way out where she and the others could remain safe even if he wasn't there.

But the prince in this life is different.

The prince became more radical. This was no longer a retreat, but a counter-current! So, the prince believed that she could cure him, right? !

Chu Qianchen's phoenix eyes glowed brightly.

The imperial study fell into silence.

The eunuch Xiao Wen, who came to deliver the message, knew that the current situation was not appropriate, but he could only bite the bullet and report: "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister wants to see you."

What greeted him was the emperor's unhappy roar: "No!"

Eunuch Xiao Wen's legs went weak and he didn't dare to say anything more, so he quickly retreated.

Everyone could feel the emperor's wrath; Chu Lingxiao and Eunuch Ni's faces both turned slightly pale.

The emperor's heart tightened, his eyes became darker and darker, and he felt that he seemed to have made a wrong move in this game of chess.

The only people left in Beijing by Gu Jue were the Empress Dowager and Princess Chen.

Princess Chen Chu Qianchen is just a concubine's daughter, and it was arranged by Gu Jue himself. How could Gu Jue care about it? Gu Jue went to the Marquis' Mansion to welcome the bride in person during the wedding. He seemed to be treating the princess well these days, but he probably did it for himself! As for the Queen Mother, if he attacked her openly, the people of the world would think that he, the great emperor of the Great Qi, was disrespectful to his stepmother, which would be like giving Gu Jue another handle.

The emperor's heart sank little by little.

Chu Qianchen, who was only separated from the emperor by an imperial desk, remained as still as a mountain under the emperor's gloomy gaze. Neither his expression nor his posture showed the slightest sign of wavering.

There was a faint sneer on the corner of her lips, as if she was not afraid of the emperor's anger at all.

The emperor looked at her and became more and more unsure.

This seemed like a silent duel.

No one spoke for a long time. The air became heavy as the silence spread, and there seemed to be faint sparks flashing.

Chu Qianchen was not at all nervous.

However, she was not afraid, but Chu Lingxiao was afraid, and was angry and hateful.

Seeing that such a huge achievement was just around the corner, once the emperor decided to send troops to attack Gu Jue and Qin Yao, he, as the informant, would most likely get this task. He did not expect that Chu Qianchen would dare to speak like this in front of the emperor.

Is this bitch trying to kill me? Is she trying to make the entire Chu family die without a burial place? ! He almost used up all his strength to stabilize his body. He didn't kneel down, and angrily shouted at Chu Qianchen: "Chu Qianchen, if you dare to act presumptuous in front of the emperor again, I will pretend that the Chu family has never raised a daughter like you!"

Chu Lingxiao's chest heaved violently, his breathing became heavy, and the veins on his neck throbbed.

Chu Qianchen raised his head and met Chu Lingxiao's eyes. Looking into his eyes filled with anger, he said, "Father, it was you who told the Emperor, the Prince, and Prince Qin that they were planning a rebellion, right?"

Without waiting for Chu Lingxiao to answer, Chu Qianchen's eyes turned to the emperor, and the next sentence he said to the emperor was, "Your Majesty, my father has such a great 'harvest' after a trip to the northwest. He did a really good job, don't you think?"

"Today, many ministers have come to the Yangxin Palace. Why don't you tell them about it, Your Majesty?"

"Tell them how the Emperor asked my father to teach me to 'be obedient'!"

She smiled faintly, her smile was cold, and every word she said pierced the emperor's heart like a poisonous thorn.

In just a few words, she pointed the finger of blame at the emperor for the whole incident, implying that the emperor had ordered Chu Lingxiao to frame Gu Jue and Qin Yao, and that Chu Lingxiao had forced her to accuse Gu Jue of treason because of the emperor's wishes.

Chu Lingxiao of course understood what she meant, and his eyes widened. This rebellious girl is talking nonsense! The emperor was furious at first, then his eyebrows jumped suddenly, thinking that something was wrong.

If Chu Qianchen told these words to the civil and military ministers outside, everyone would think that it was a trap set by him as the emperor. He wanted to take advantage of Gu Jue's absence to fabricate a crime of treason against Prince Chen in order to suppress Prince Chen's Mansion. After all, since ancient times, there have been many emperors who have used this method.

But in all honesty, he never thought about it that way.

The emperor held his breath and casually picked up the letter that Chu Lingxiao had presented to him. He threw the letter directly at Chu Qianchen and said sternly, "This is the letter Chu Lingxiao got from Prince Chen's Mansion. There are witnesses and evidence. Do you still want to say that Gu Jue is innocent?!"

Chu Qianchen leaned over slightly, picked up the piece of letter paper, and read it slowly.

After reading the letter, she tilted her head and asked in confusion, "What is this?"

She actually wanted to play dumb! Chu Lingxiao said loudly: "This is a letter from Gao Cunzhi, the general of Bingzhou Guard, to Gu Jue!"

Eunuch Ni had just checked the handwriting and it was indeed from Gao Cunzhi. The seal at the end of the letter was his private seal.

"Oh?" A smile appeared on Chu Qianchen's little face. She was so soft and beautiful, but it made people feel cold for no reason.

Chu Qianchen said inexplicably: "Is General Gao left-handed?"

"What left-handed man? What nonsense are you talking about?!" Chu Lingxiao blurted out.

"So, it's not the case." Chu Qianchen seemed to be talking to himself. He turned the front of the letter to the emperor and pointed at the words on it, saying, "This is clearly written by the left hand. Even if the emperor wants to frame me, the evidence should be more beautiful."

Previously, the emperor only paid attention to every word and the content of the letter, and had never looked at the letter paper from this angle. Now, looking at it from a distance, he immediately found that the font of the letter was higher on the left and lower on the right, and the strokes gradually became thinner from left to right, which are all characteristics of left-handed writing.

Chu Qianchen glanced meaningfully at Eunuch Ni who was standing beside the emperor.

As everyone knows, Eunuch Ni was favored by the emperor because he could write with both hands.

Eunuch Ni's face also changed, and he felt that he was more wronged than Dou E. This matter had inexplicably been blamed on him.

“……”Chu Lingxiao’s expression was even uglier than Eunuch Ni’s.

This letter was written with the left hand, which means that this letter was not written by Gao Cunzhi himself, but was forged by someone else.

How is this possible? !

Chu Lingxiao's mind was in a mess, he was dumbfounded and completely unable to think calmly.

Chu Qianchen quickly took back the letter in his hand and said as he turned around, "I am young and my eyesight is not good. I heard that the Prime Minister and several Shangshu are good at calligraphy, so I might as well ask them to help me with some advice."

Chu Qianchen walked towards the door, looking like he wanted to have a chat with the Prime Minister.

"Stop!" Beads of sweat appeared on the emperor's forehead, his face turned pale, and his heart felt cold.

Once this matter gets out of hand, Gu Jue can just go back to the North and establish himself as king.

And he would also be accused of framing others, and the world would only think that he was the one who "forced" Gu Jue to "rebel"! At this moment, the emperor felt like a mouse being played by a cat, being played around by Gu Jue.

Just then, hurried footsteps were heard outside the imperial study.

Eunuch Wen came in again with an official document in his hand. He happened to meet Chu Qianchen face to face, so Chu Qianchen could only slow down.

Gu Nanjin walked over quickly with sweat all over his forehead, stopped Chu Qianchen, and advised in a gentle voice: "Aunt Jiuhuang, please stay. There may be some misunderstanding. Father will definitely get to the bottom of it and will not wrongly accuse Uncle Jiuhuang."

Gu Nanjin couldn't help but think of the last time he negotiated terms with Gu Jue, and felt that this imperial aunt was just as scary as the ninth imperial uncle.

He finally understood what it meant for the husband to sing and the wife to follow.

"Your Majesty," Eunuch Xiao Wen handed over the document with both hands, "The Prince of Nanyang sent someone to deliver a victory report."

Good news?! The emperor and others were all shocked and confused.

Chu Qianchen curled his lips, his eyes shining. It's finally here! The emperor was angry and frowned, "Speak!"

Eunuch Xiao Wen maintained his bowing posture and said, "The Bingzhou Guard secretly spread rumors about Tongmi State. The Prince of Nanyang has sent troops to capture Gao Cunzhi, the general of the Bingzhou Guard."

Eunuch Xiao Wen swallowed his saliva, thinking that the following words might not be what the emperor wanted to hear, but he could only bite the bullet and report: "In order to ensure that Bingzhou Guard will not fall into the hands of Feng Miguo, the Northwest Army has occupied Bingzhou Guard. Prince Qin begs the emperor to transfer Bingzhou Guard to the jurisdiction of Nanyang Palace."

At the same time, Eunuch Ni took the good news and presented it to the emperor.

Such shameless words made the emperor so angry that his face gradually turned blue.

Even though the emperor had been a little unsure before, he was now certain that he had fallen into Gu Jue's trap.

Kang Hongda suddenly put away his folding fan and said with certainty: "Qin Yao wants Bingzhou Wei."

When things developed to this point, he suddenly understood everything: the emperor was too impatient, so he fell into the trap.

Bingzhou Wei was located in Bingzhou. On the surface, the goal was to occupy Bingzhou Wei, but in fact, the goal was to incorporate the entire Bingzhou into the territory of Nanyang Palace.

Gu Jue and Qin Yao went through a lot of trouble and set up this trap just to target Bingzhou.

It can be said that what Chu Lingxiao said was not wrong, but he was also completely wrong.

The emperor also understood, his expression became even uglier, and his thin lips were pursed into a straight line.

The emperor suddenly jumped up and swept his arm, sweeping everything on the table to the ground, making a mess.

Gu Nanjin and Eunuch Ni were already used to it, but Chu Lingxiao was so frightened that his whole body trembled violently.

A fist-sized orange rolled right to the side of Chu Qianchen's skirt. Chu Qianchen lowered her eyes to look at the orange, then slightly turned sideways to avoid it.

She had heard from Nanny Yan a long time ago that the emperor's temper had been getting worse and worse recently.

Just like in his previous life, the poison in the emperor's body became more and more serious.

Some people will never change in two lifetimes.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Kang Hongda touched the handle of the fan in his hand and looked at Chu Lingxiao solemnly: "Chu Lingxiao, what did you see in the Northwest Camp? Tell me in detail."

Chu Lingxiao had already compiled all of this in great detail. He had said it once before, and he immediately repeated it again, almost word for word.

Kang Hongda closed his eyes and listened while tapping his palms lightly with his folding fan in a leisurely rhythm, as if he was thinking.

After Chu Lingxiao finished speaking, Kang Hongda opened his eyes and asked, "You said that you saw Gu Jue and Qin Yao coming out of the central tent together, but they didn't see you?"

Chu Lingxiao's eyes wandered for a moment, and he said, "I hid."

The emperor frowned, looking doubtful.

Military camps are usually empty. Apart from the tents, there are no trees or tall buildings. Where can Chu Lingxiao hide to avoid the sight of Gu Jue and Qin Yao?

Kang Hongda saw through Chu Lingxiao's guilty conscience at a glance: "Did you not see Gu Jue at all?!"

Chu Lingxiao naturally couldn't recognize it, and insisted: "I am sure that was Gu Jue's voice. Moreover, I saw his back..."

The story stops here.

Chu Lingxiao also realized that he had let the cat out of the bag.

Kang Hongda raised the corner of his mouth in a half-smile.

“Seeing the back” means that Chu Lingxiao actually didn’t see Gu Jue at all, or rather, didn’t see Gu Jue’s face. He was just basing his judgment on his own subjective assumptions, or…

The emperor's expression grew even gloomier.

Kang Hongda asked again: "You said that after you arrived at the post station in Nanyang City, you found that the post station was surrounded by the Northwest Army. Then how did you escape from Nanyang back to the capital?"

Because the lie he told before was exposed, Chu Lingxiao panicked a little, with some cold sweat on his forehead, and he felt that the emperor's eyes had become even colder.

He panicked even more, and didn't want to say that he escaped by hiding in a manure cart, so he hurriedly said, "I heard that they were going to seal the city gates, and I thought that the East Gate must be heavily guarded, so I quickly left from the South Gate."

"You are lucky." Kang Hongda seemed to be sighing, but in the current situation, this sentence seemed extremely sarcastic.

Treason is a serious crime that can lead to the execution of the entire family and bring disaster to the entire clan. Would Qin Yao really be so careless as to let Chu Lingxiao slip away from the South City Gate so easily? !

If Qin Yao was really that stupid, would he have a way to clear himself of the injustice of patricide and kill his own brother Qin Xuan? !

Kang Hongda could think of this, and of course the emperor could think of it as well.

The emperor's anger was surging in his heart, and his breathing was becoming more and more rapid.

What Chu Lingxiao said was clearly all false, and he was actually deceived... It was actually Qin Yao who deliberately let him come back from the northwest.

According to Chu Lingxiao, he only brought a servant with him. How did the two of them get rid of the Northwest Army and return to the capital smoothly and unscathed? The emperor's anger burned even more fiercely, and he shot a fierce look at Chu Lingxiao, "Chu Lingxiao, you are so brave! Did you forge this letter?!"

Chu Lingxiao's eyes were almost wide open, and he quickly defended himself: "Your Majesty, please believe me, this letter is really not forged by me."

"This letter was given to me by this unfilial daughter. I was simply fooled by her!"

Chu Lingxiao became more and more excited, his face turned red, and veins popped out on his forehead.

Chu Qianchen held the letter and shook his head, "Father, even now, you still want to put the blame on me."

"Rebellious girl!" Chu Lingxiao's teeth were clenched.

If this wasn't the imperial study, he would have already swung his palm towards Chu Qianchen.

The emperor behind the imperial desk looked back and forth at the father and daughter with a frown on his face.

Very few of Chu Lingxiao's words were true. This letter was obviously not given by Chu Qianchen, and it was even more impossible that he had stolen it from Prince Chen's Mansion. Given the strict security of Prince Chen's Mansion, not to mention Chu Lingxiao, even the Embroidered Uniform Guards did not have the ability to do so.

Could it be that Chu Lingxiao was rejected by Chu Qianchen when he went to Prince Chen's Mansion, so in order to get credit, he simply went all out and forged a letter? ! Facing the emperor's questioning eyes, Chu Lingxiao almost jumped up. He had never encountered such a situation in his life where he had no reason to explain.

"Your Majesty, I am truly not your humble servant!"

"Your Majesty, please believe me, I swear..."

Chu Lingxiao didn't know what to say to prove himself and his speech was incoherent.

The emperor didn't want to listen anymore, so he picked up the last remaining inkstone on the imperial desk and threw it hard at Chu Lingxiao.

Chu Lingxiao didn't dare to dodge at all and let the inkstone hit his shoulder. He groaned in pain and the ink left a black spot on his shoulder, making him look even more embarrassed.

Chu Lingxiao was frightened and quickly knelt down.

The inkstone fell to the ground almost at the same time, and the ink spilled all over the floor, staining the hem of Chu Lingxiao's robe.

Chu Lingxiao didn't care about anything else and wanted to kowtow to the emperor to prove his innocence and loyalty.

He never imagined that he had reached the point where he could not defend himself even though he clearly did not lie and only concealed a few things.

Chu Qianchen glanced at Chu Lingxiao indifferently.

Chu Lingxiao is just like this, despicable and shameless, cold-hearted, without any self-awareness, and dares to speak nonsense.

Kang Hongda asserted: "Your Majesty, you have fallen into a trap."

Looking at Chu Lingxiao's stupidity, you can tell that he must have been used by Qin Yao.

The emperor finally figured out the matter. He clenched his fists tightly, and his fists were shaking slightly with anger.

Yes, Qin Yao took advantage of the idiot Chu Lingxiao and made him think that he and Gu Jue were planning a rebellion, so that he made a wrong move at the very beginning, and that’s why he ended up in his current situation, with no way out.

In order to convict Gu Jue and Qin Yao, a joint trial by the three judges is necessary.

But the letter written by the idiot Chu Lingxiao could not even escape Chu Qianchen's eyes. With so many eyes in the court, and those generals who were partial to Gu Jue watching them, the letter would definitely be discovered.

By then, all the civil and military officials in the court will think that it was me who ordered Chu Lingxiao to frame Gu Jue!

Even if Gu Jue led the Northern Army to the south to force the emperor to abdicate in the future, he could use the excuse that he was forced to do so.

Therefore, Gu Jue must be innocent.

Since Gu Jue is innocent, Qin Yao, who was "falsely accused" together with Gu Jue, must also be innocent.

The emperor felt a heavy weight on his shoulders when he received the victory report.

Qin Yao was so bold that he sent troops to Bingzhou Guards without authorization. He deserved death. If it weren't for Chu Lingxiao's incident, he could now punish Qin Yao for two major crimes: one was using troops without an imperial edict, and the other was leading troops to leave the vassal state and enter Bingzhou without authorization.

Both of these are serious crimes that are enough to remove one's title.

But that’s not the case now.

Qin Yao must be "innocent".

The emperor felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if something was violently colliding in his chest.

All of this must have been planned in advance by Gu Jue and Qin Yao, otherwise, how could this memorial be delivered at this time!

Just then, another eunuch came in quietly.

The mess on the ground made the young eunuch's pupils shrink slightly.

He pretended not to see it and walked forward as if nothing had happened, until he came to the side of Eunuch Xiao Wen, and trembling with fear, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the gentlemen are kneeling outside to make a complaint."

The young eunuch lowered his head and did not dare to look at the emperor's expression.

The air suddenly became cold, as if we had instantly entered a cold winter from early autumn, and the air seemed to be freezing.

Chu Qianchen, who was enjoying the fun, added: "That's great. Then I'll go out and tell all the adults how the emperor framed our prince."

Chu Qianchen walked over quickly and opened the door of the imperial study with quick movements.

(End of this chapter)