The Crown Prince told the Emperor and Empress everything he could about the matter concerning Kang Le and the Grand Princess.
The empress was in tears, while the emperor's face showed anger, as well as a hint of heartache and regret.
"May I show my mother your injuries?"
The queen pleaded pitifully.
Having learned the whole truth about the autumn hunt, the emperor wanted to leave the mother and son alone, so he left the house.
Unexpectedly, Prince Ning and Prince Yun were still waiting in the courtyard.
Upon seeing the emperor emerge, Prince Ning said discontentedly, "Father, he kicked you out too? He's getting more and more arrogant. No, Father, you need to use your authority to put him in check."
Otherwise, what if the Crown Prince takes a dislike to him and beats him up?
Then he asked, "Father, could this be a fake?"
The former crown prince was very disciplined and exceptionally tactful. He would never speak ill of them in front of his father and mother, and would even bypass his father to summon them.
The emperor naturally noticed the changes in the crown prince, but after experiencing so much, how could a person not change?
He slapped Prince Ning on the forehead, "Can't you use your brain? Who would dare to impersonate the Crown Prince? If you don't use your brain, are your eyes just for decoration? You don't even recognize your own brother."
"Father!"
Prince Ning, with a mix of coquettishness and disbelief, said, "I am your own son."
How could you hit me for the sake of the Crown Prince?
He received another slap on the head. "You are all born of your mother, so you are brothers. You are not allowed to say such things in the future, lest you hurt your mother's feelings."
It is also called "The Crown Prince's Sorrow".
Prince Ning shrank behind Prince Yun, saying, "The Empress Dowager isn't here, so even if you're pretending so well, she won't see you."
His words made the emperor realize a problem.
Even Prince Ning felt that his concern for the Crown Prince was just for show for the Empress. What about the Crown Prince?
The emperor suddenly felt a surge of impulse to tell the crown prince about his true parentage, but this impulse lasted only a moment before he dismissed it.
Regardless of whether the Crown Prince would believe it, given his rigid nature, if he knew he was an illegitimate child, he would definitely look down on the Empress and his own background.
He couldn't allow the Empress to lose her dignity in front of her son.
But the Crown Prince had changed somewhat upon his return, so the Emperor thought, let's wait a little longer.
When he meets someone he likes and has his own children, he can tell him the truth, and perhaps then he will understand.
"Father, will the Crown Prince seek revenge on us when he returns?"
The King of Clouds' words brought the Emperor back to his senses.
The emperor shook his head. "No."
If the prince wanted to harm them, he would have done so long ago.
"Is Father so certain?"
The emperor said, "Your brother is not that kind of person."
The King of Clouds did not ask any further questions, but a hint of gloom appeared in his eyes as he lowered them.
The emperor looked at his two sons and said, "The crown prince is right. I have been too lenient with you in the past. From now on, you should also take responsibility for yourselves."
The position of crown prince was his compensation to his eldest son, who indeed had the ability to hold that position.
Fearing that his two sons might develop ambitions and fight each other for the throne, he did not deliberately demand that they be ambitious.
However, it seems that the second and third sons also need to be trained so that they can assist the crown prince in the future, or at least not hold him back.
Just like this time when Prince Ning entered the Ministry of Rites, Prince Liang used him and Ye Zhengqing to transport gunpowder to the imperial estate, and Prince Ning was completely unaware.
If Xie Tingzhou hadn't reminded him to be wary of Liang Wang and Kang Le, his entire family might have been wiped out this time.
Thinking of Xie Tingzhou, the emperor recalled the test he had just given him in the water. After sending his two sons away, he sent Chen Banjun to summon Xie Tingzhou.
After asking some questions that only the emperor and his ministers knew, Xie Tingzhou acted as usual. The emperor said, "You and the crown prince have always been close, go and see him."
Xie Tingzhou cupped his hands in greeting, "Your humble servant obeys the decree."
The emperor then told him to go to the empress's place to wait for the crown prince.
After the Empress saw the Crown Prince's wounds, she hugged her son and cried. The Crown Prince did not blame her, but his feelings for his mother were no longer as intense as before.
Thinking that there was plenty of time in the future, the Empress did not hold the Crown Prince back and let him catch up with Xie Tingzhou.
She personally led the preparations for the courtyard where the Crown Prince would stay, and the Empress forbade herself from thinking about anything else.
But King Liang had to think more about it.
The Crown Prince has returned.
He unexpectedly returned at this time. Fearing that something might have changed, the King of Liang immediately sent someone back to the capital to inform Kang Le of the matter.
Upon learning this, Kang Le was momentarily flustered, but ultimately decided to proceed as planned.
"The sacrificial ceremony is a major event. When the Crown Prince returns, he will definitely participate in the ceremony. It would be best if we could blow him up together."
If he manages to escape, he will expose the Crown Prince's regicide, making our actions even more legitimate.
Their rebellion was carried out under the banner of exposing the emperor's plot to murder the late emperor and seeking revenge for him.
The Crown Prince's return at this critical juncture may not necessarily be a bad thing.
These words were relayed to King Liang without any alteration. King Liang thought about it and agreed that it made sense, but still blew the secret whistle late at night.
A man dressed in black, shrouded in a cloak, appeared. King Liang asked, "Things have changed. Should the plan still proceed as scheduled?"
The man in black remained silent for a moment, then nodded.
Before we knew it, the day of the sacrifice arrived.
The emperor and empress, along with a group of officials and their families, arrived at the sacrificial altar in their finest attire.
Ye Zhengqing was the main person in charge of the sacrificial ceremony, but he fell off a cliff and was seriously injured, so the emperor wanted to assign the task to another official.
Ye Zhengqing, who had worked so hard to obtain his official position, was afraid of losing it because of his injury, so he wrote a letter in blood to the emperor after waking up.
First, he blamed himself for accidentally injuring his body, and then he expressed his loyalty, saying that he was fine and wanted to continue serving the emperor.
At first, the emperor disagreed and asked him to treat the wound properly first. However, he knelt on the ground, covered in blood and weeping bitterly, and the emperor seemed to be moved by him. He continued to put him in charge of the matter, but assigned two capable assistants to him.
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