Outside the Zichen Palace, Jinzhong watched Su Yi stride quickly toward the palace and was overjoyed.
When Su Yi approached, he saw Su Yi's gloomy face and immediately realized something was wrong.
Jinzhong showed no sign of it and quickly sent a young eunuch in to announce the news.
Before the eunuch could even step into the Zichen Palace to announce their arrival, Su Yi bypassed them and entered the palace directly, without even giving them a glance.
At that moment, Su Mu was reviewing memorials at his desk when he suddenly heard someone hurrying into the hall. He looked up and was delighted to find that it was Su Yi.
But before he could be happy for long, when he noticed Su Yi's gloomy face, the corners of his lips that were about to curl up slowly disappeared.
Jinzhong jogged after Su Yi to catch up.
"Your Highness, I haven't announced your arrival yet. You cannot come in and disturb His Majesty."
Su Mu glanced at Jin Zhong and said, "You can go down now."
Jinzhong glanced worriedly at the father and son, then obediently withdrew from the Zichen Palace.
Su Mu closed the memorial he had only half-reviewed and tossed it onto the desk.
He glanced at Su Yi and said slowly, "What? Judging from your appearance, you seem to have come here to interrogate me."
Su Yi asked coldly, "Why are you so determined to kill Mu Jin? What has she done to you?"
Su Mu scoffed: "Why? With your clever nature, you should have guessed why long ago."
Su Yi replied, "Just because I like her, does that mean she deserves to be killed by you?"
Su Mu said coldly, "Yes, she shouldn't have seduced you, and you shouldn't have fallen for her. I know you were just temporarily blinded by her, so I'll have to help you get rid of Mu Jin for this mistake."
Su Yi angrily said, "She has no idea that I like her, and she doesn't like me. It's just wishful thinking on my part. Otherwise, she wouldn't have secretly left the capital behind my back."
Su Mu sneered, "I underestimated Mu Jin before. If I had known she was so capable, why would I have kept her alive when you two have been bothering me every few days because of such a fickle woman?"
Su Yi clenched his fist and said, "I won't allow you to slander her like that!"
"You don't need to look at me like that. I'm just stating the facts. First it was your third brother, then it was you, and now you're having an ambiguous relationship with that guard. Am I wrong?"
"I admit she has some skills, her medical skills are superb, and she is the legitimate daughter of a general's family, but that's all. Today I can make her father a great general, and tomorrow I can make her father a prisoner."
Su Yi glared at Su Mu angrily: "Are you threatening me?"
"What I said is true! Originally, if she were just an ordinary woman who had been married before, if you liked her, you could bring her back to the palace as a concubine, and I would not interfere."
"However, she was once married to your third brother, a fact known throughout the capital and even the entire country. If you insist on being with her, and if this becomes public knowledge, it will be a disgrace to you and to the entire Dongyue royal family."
"Yi'er, I'm trying to help you. How can you not understand my good intentions?"
Su Yi sneered, "Good intentions? Ha~ You just want to drive the people I care about most to their deaths one by one."
“Yi’er, Mu Jin is not a simple woman. She has been pretending to be stupid and hiding her true abilities in the capital. Do you know that? The people I sent out were all top-notch assassins. But not only did they fail to capture her, they were also killed or poisoned by her. Such a vicious woman usually just bewitches your mind and makes you work for her.”
"I have also learned that she ate and slept with her guard the whole way. I cannot let such a harlot go unpunished. You don't need to say anything more."
Su Yi said, "So there's no room for discussion?"
Su Mu replied, "There's no room for discussion on this matter. If you insist on this, even if I can't kill her for the time being, I'll kill her father and brothers. Do you think she'll still accept you, the son of her father's killer, if she knows I killed her father and brothers?"
"You!" Su Yi clenched his fists, trembling with anger.
Su Mu stood up and walked to his side.
"Yi'er, don't hate me. You are my most beloved son, but you must understand that I am the ruler and you are the subject. I can tolerate your willfulness and neglect of your duties in ordinary times, but this is the one thing I will never tolerate."
Su Yi suddenly burst into laughter: "What a fine combination of ruler and subject, father and son! Let me make things clear to you today. With me here, even if you are the ruler of Dongyue, I will never allow you to cause her or her family the slightest harm. If you insist on doing so, don't force me to destroy the country you care about most."
When Su Mu heard Su Yi say that, he was not angry at all. Instead, he burst into laughter and patted Su Yi on the shoulder.
"If you have the ability, I won't stop you."
Su Yi forcefully pushed Su Mu's hand away from his shoulder, said no more to Su Mu, and left in a huff.
Watching Su Yi leave, Jin Zhong hurriedly entered the Zi Chen Palace. He glanced at Su Mu with concern and said, "Your Majesty."
Su Mu raised his hand to interrupt Jin Zhong, and he sighed.
“I used to hope that he would come to me on his own initiative. Now he has finally come, but he has to argue with me over a woman who is not worth it. It seems that I will never see Yi’er and me have a deep father-son relationship in this lifetime.”
Jinzhong said, "Your Majesty, Prince Yi will one day know how good you are to him and understand your good intentions."
Su Mu shook his head: "It doesn't matter. This is all I can do to help him. As for the rest, if he has the ability, let him do it himself."
At this moment, a young eunuch entered the Zichen Palace.
"Your Majesty, this is an urgent report sent over 800 li."
Su Mu raised her hand and pinched her brow: "Read it!"
"On February 11th, Mu Yan spotted the enemy soldiers, engaged them in battle, fell into a trap, and was captured. Furthermore, the army's food supplies have run out, there are unusual movements in Beiqi, and there are concerns about potential trouble at Yanmen Pass. We humbly request Your Majesty's judgment!"
"What?"
Su Mu walked up to the young eunuch, grabbed the report, and read it carefully again.
Upon seeing the contents of the report, Su Mu was so shocked that he took several steps back.
"Your Majesty." Jinzhong helped Su Mu back onto the dragon throne.
"Didn't Beiqi just sign a friendship treaty with Dongyue last year? Wasn't it that good-for-nothing Mu Yan who started the trouble first?"
Jinzhong said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Such an important matter has occurred. Should we summon the Three Dukes to discuss it?"
Upon hearing Jinzhong's words, Su Mu finally realized what he meant: "Yes, yes, you're right! Someone! Immediately summon the Prime Minister, the Grand Commandant, the Imperial Censor, and Prince Yun to the Zichen Palace. I have important matters to discuss with them. Hurry!"
Knowing the urgency of the situation, the young eunuch immediately obeyed Su Mu's order and left.
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