Leng Ming looked at Leng Xi who was standing aside with his hands hanging down, frowned, and bowed and replied:
"Your Majesty, I heard that you imprisoned my fourth brother in the Heavenly Prison. I feel this is unfair to him, so I have come to plead for him. I hope Your Majesty will be lenient with him, considering his devotion to the country."
When he mentioned this, the emperor's good mood was instantly broken. He used all his strength to slam the table, glared, and shouted:
"How outrageous! You're even questioning me! Don't you know that Leng Yu disobeyed my orders and released the people of Chu from the capital? If I don't punish him this time, how can I govern the court in the future?"
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Leng Xi glanced at the corner of his mouth and continued:
"Your Majesty is absolutely right. Although Fourth Brother's achievements surpass ours, he cannot act arbitrarily and let the Chu people go. This is tantamount to letting a tiger go back to the mountain. In the future, the Chu people will definitely continue to harm the people of Daning State."
The words "his achievements surpass those of his master" made the emperor's face change instantly. In the past few years, he was getting older and his health was getting worse. He became more and more afraid that his life would not last long!
Although he has determined that Leng Yu is the future heir to the throne, he is still afraid of death and wants to sit on the throne for a few more years. This is the real reason why he believes what Concubine Li said. If there really is an elixir of immortality, he is willing to try every means to find it.
To be more precise, the current emperor has become somewhat dissolute and stupid.
Leng Ming saw that Leng Xi's words were adding fuel to the fire, and immediately frowned at him with dissatisfaction, and replied coldly:
"What does Prince Xi mean by this? Fourth brother hasn't been home for five years, for the sake of the peace of the people of Daning State. Now he's just returned, and he hasn't even had time to enter the house, or even to see his own children, yet he went to Prince Xi's mansion to save your family from danger. From what you said, not only are you not grateful to him, but you also hope that our father will punish him severely?"
"Sixth brother, you misunderstood me. Of course I'm grateful to him, and I'm not targeting him. I'm talking about this matter. I feel that even if his contributions are great, he shouldn't disobey the emperor's will and let the people of Chu go back to the mountains. This has already buried all his achievements. The emperor only imprisoned him in the Sky Prison and did not punish him for the crime of Prince Yu's Mansion. This is already a mercy."
His words happened to be heard by Luo Lan who had just arrived at the door. This immediately aroused her dissatisfaction. She ignored the guards' dissuasion and resolutely walked in, questioning in a cold voice:
"Could it be that Prince Xi still wants to see everyone in Prince Yu's mansion exiled to be happy?"
When the voice sounded, Luo Lan walked in wearing a pink long dress with a gloomy expression.
Her beautiful eyes glanced at Leng Xi, then she bowed to the emperor.
"Father, I heard that you imprisoned Leng Yu in the Heavenly Prison. I have come to ask you what crime Leng Yu committed to cause you to be so angry."
The moment he saw Luo Lan, Leng Xi was stunned. When this woman spoke, she always gave people a feeling of being aggressive and keeping strangers away.
The Emperor looked at Luo Lan, who looked calm, and said in a deep voice with blazing eyes:
"Do all of you disrespect me today? Why didn't you announce your arrival? Are all the guards outside dead?"
Luo Lan lowered his head and replied slowly:
"I dare not. I heard what Prince Xi said and rushed in impulsively. The guards have nothing to do with it."
Leng Xi's eyes tightened, and he looked at her with a slight smile on his face.
"What does Princess Yu mean? I don't think there's anything wrong with what I said. It was Prince Yu who disobeyed the emperor's orders first, and it's not unreasonable for the emperor to punish him. What I said is entirely reasonable. Why does Princess Yu think I'm deliberately targeting Prince Yu's mansion?"
"Prince Yu did not act according to the Emperor's wishes, but there are reasons for this. The former King of Chu, Meng Xin, has passed away, and his son, Meng Letu, has succeeded him. Meng Letu is a kind and generous man, and he promised Leng Yu that from the moment he takes the throne, the people of Chu will no longer invade a single blade of grass or tree in Daning, and the two countries can live in peace. On the contrary, if Leng Yu follows the Emperor's wishes and confines all the people of Chu in Daning, it will inevitably lead to war between the two countries. Then, everything Leng Yu has worked hard for for many years will be shattered, and the people of Daning will continue to live in war. This is not the result that the Emperor and all the people of Daning want to see."
Luo Lan finished speaking passionately, then looked up at the emperor and continued, emphasizing each word and speaking seriously:
"Now, the people of the whole city are waiting to see you, Your Majesty, hold a parade to celebrate Leng Yu's victory. However, Your Majesty has imprisoned Leng Yu in the Heavenly Prison. I feel that this is inappropriate. Even if he made mistakes, his merits came first and his mistakes came later. Your Majesty, why don't you let his merits and mistakes offset each other to show your magnanimity?"
Her words made the emperor's face turn pale, but Leng Xi snorted and continued:
"What do you mean, Princess Yu? Are you trying to blame my father? Do you think my father was wrong to put Prince Yu in the Heavenly Prison? My father is the ruler of a country, and his decisions have never been wrong. If my father does what you say and easily releases Leng Yu, will anyone in the court still obey my father's will in the future? Will anyone still care about the emperor's imperial power?"
Leng Xi's words were clearly telling the emperor that even if Luo Lan's words made sense, Leng Yu could not be allowed to walk out of the prison easily, otherwise, no one would take the emperor's orders seriously in the future.
Listening to Leng Xi's words, the emperor's brows knitted into a knot. Leng Ming saw this and snorted lightly, replying with disdain:
"Prince Xi is trying to tell us that for the sake of the Emperor's authority, even if our father is wrong, he should not change, right?"
"presumptuous."
The emperor saw that Leng Ming's words were too much, and he immediately became furious and pointed at him, his face livid and he shouted angrily:
"You mean, my decision was wrong?"
"I dare not."
"There's nothing you're afraid of, Leng Ming. Ever since you left the palace, you've never taken me, your father, seriously. Now you dare to come to me and accuse me. You're truly too arrogant. Am I being too indulgent with you, or have you been led astray by someone outside the palace? How dare you ignore me?"
As he said this, his eyes kept looking at Luo Lan. The emperor knew that after Leng Ming left the palace, he was closest to Prince Yu's Mansion, so his words seemed to mean something else.
Leng Ming naturally understood the meaning of the emperor's words. He bowed, clasped his fists and said solemnly:
"Father, I am not a child. I don't need to learn or be taught by others what to say or do. I know what is right and what is wrong. If you insist that what you did to my fourth brother is right, I have nothing to say. However, I still believe that what you did to my fourth brother is unfair."
“Bold!”
The emperor was so angry at Leng Ming that he trembled all over, his face purple as he waved his hand and said:
"Go away, don't let me see you again, I don't have a son like you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
