My Lord, the princess doesn't want you anymore.

At night, in Prince Jing's mansion, there was a gentle breeze and the sound of insects chirping one after another.

"The emperor just wants to see what the prince will do. Maybe he doesn't necessarily want to take the old general's life." Zhuang Xiang walked over and said softly.

Cui Hongjing stood in front of the osmanthus tree with his hands behind his back.

Midsummer has passed, but the tree stumps in front of us still show no signs of sprouting.

"Is it dead and will never come back to life?" He seemed not to hear what Zhuang Xiang said.

Didn’t Xue’er say that the osmanthus tree has an extremely strong vitality and will never give up easily?

Zhuang Xiang sighed secretly and reminded: "Prince?"

"Xiang, you are wrong. Father really wants General Xiang to die. It doesn't matter what crime he is charged with. He can just accuse me of anything. Because during the trip to Changguo, he discovered that General Xiang is very protective of me. With General Xiang's prestige in the army, how could Father allow me to have such help?"

"Then the emperor will dismiss the old general. Why bother... Doesn't he know that this will shake the morale of the army?"

"My father has never been a kind person. Besides, he is already crazy." Cui Hongjing turned around suddenly, with a gleam in his eyes, "Don't worry, I won't let him die in vain because of me."

"Your Highness, are you planning to use force?" Zhuang Xiang shuddered.

"What else?" Cui Hongjing said coldly: "There are things you can do and things you can't do. No matter how much it costs, you have to save them!"

"Or, just do as I said before and find a replacement like Eunuch Fu did?"

Cui Hongjing shook his head: "I can't pass the stage of identity verification."

"What if the person doing the body check is one of ours?" Zhuang Xiang said.

"How could Father not consider this? As an emperor, he will not do it himself, but he will definitely find someone he trusts absolutely."

Zhuang Xiang: "The emperor is very suspicious. If we were to say who he trusts the most, it would have to be Eunuch Li."

Yes, Eunuch Li is the emperor's confidant, how could he disobey the emperor's order and help others?

At this moment, the secret guard came running over and whispered back, "Your Majesty, Prince Xiao is here, and he didn't bring any entourage with him."

Cui Hongjing was startled: Could it be...

"Bring him here." Cui Hongjing gave a wink, and Zhuang Xiang tactfully retreated.

"What brings you here, sixth brother?" Cui Hongjing asked only after Cui Hongxiao took off the big hood on his head.

"When Prime Minister Mei left, he told me to do my best to help my third brother." Cui Hongxiao's well-defined facial features became more three-dimensional in the night, making him look resolute and courageous.

Cui Hongjing looked at him and didn't say anything for a while.

He was trying to determine how much truth and falsehood the other party's words were.

After all, although the two had never been enemies before, they did not have a deep friendship either.

"Qianyue has been detained in the palace." Cui Hongxiao continued, "I think my third brother has already properly arranged for the rest of the Mei family."

"That's right!" Cui Hongjing did not hide it from him: "They are safe... except for the Prime Minister who is missing."

"This is why I stand with you." Cui Hongxiao said: "If you want to rob the execution ground tomorrow, count me in."

Seeing that the other party still didn't speak, he continued: "I am a military general. I will never stand by and watch the loyal soldiers who fight in the battlefield and protect our Great Zhen territory with their lives and blood. Moreover, he is the highly respected General Xiang."

"Even if it would implicate Princess Xiaoqin, are you willing to do so?" Cui Hongjing finally spoke.

"..." Prince Xiao was silent for a moment, "It won't implicate her."

But I don't have the confidence.

Cui Hongjing sneered: Father, are you already so unpopular?

Suddenly, there was a noise not far away, "There is an assassin, catch the assassin..."

Prince Xiao quickly put on his hood again.

Zhuang Xiang came over breathlessly and handed over a note. "Someone just broke in and left this note behind with a hidden weapon."

"His martial arts skills are so high, how can you not stop him?" Cui Hongjing was a little surprised.

Zhuang Xiang lowered his head in shame, "I couldn't even tell if it was a boy or a girl."

There is such a skilled martial artist in the capital? Cui Hongjing was shocked.

Apart from Li Mo, he really couldn't think of anyone else whose skills were so superb that he could not even make out his figure clearly under the attack of the secret guards in the mansion.

He took the note without thinking any more. There were only four words on it - Li Dai Tao Jiang!

His pupils contracted and he handed the note to Cui Hongxiao.

"Who could it be?" Cui Hongxiao frowned.

Cui Hongjing pondered and said, "If this is not a trap, the person who sent the letter must be the one who will be executed with me tomorrow. Let's make preparations for both situations... Sixth brother, thank you!"

After a pause, he said, "There are two things I want to tell you, Sixth Brother. First, be careful of Prince Qi. Second, I am determined to find out the truth about the death of my grandfather and mother. I am not interested in anything else. So, if Sixth Brother has that in mind, I am willing to help you."

Cui Hongxiao was shocked, his heart was agitated, and he said slowly: "I know that I have the blood of the royal family of Changguo flowing in my body, so I have never thought about it. Fighting on the battlefield and dying on horseback is my lifelong wish."

"Who said that Aunt Wan is the Princess of Changguo, so you can't inherit the throne of Zhenguo?!" Cui Hongjing said: "Besides, aren't you already registered under the name of Concubine Xian? You are now Concubine Xian's son, and the brother of Pingjin from the same mother! In addition, do you know whose blood is flowing in Cui Hongqi's body..."

Cui Hongxiao's heart was even more turbulent.

As a prince, how could he not have thought about competing for that position? However, he knew from a young age that he was not qualified.

How could he have imagined that Cui Hongqi was a descendant of the Nanyue royal family!

Cui Hongjing's simple words rekindled his fighting spirit.

Until he returned to the palace, he was still thinking about what Cui Hongjing said to him when he left - "You will be a good emperor! Much better than your father. You have to keep this life, the future of Dazhen depends on you. If you really don't care, don't get involved in tomorrow's affairs, just think of it as for the woman you love."

He believed in Prime Minister Mei. Since Prime Minister Mei asked him to help Cui Hongjing, he must have his reasons.

The words that Prime Minister Mei said to him before he left Beijing also echoed in his ears again -

Although the emperor has governed the country in a seemingly peaceful and prosperous manner for so many years, he is too suspicious and power-hungry. He always feels that someone is trying to seize his throne, so he is gentle to the outside world but cruel and cold-blooded to the inside, in order to eliminate what he thinks is "danger" in the bud.

Prince Jing had the talent of an emperor, but because the late emperor doted on him too much and wanted to make him the crown prince, he ignored and targeted Cui Hongjing for many years, even sent people to assassinate him countless times, and also killed Concubine Jing and massacred the entire residence of Grand Secretary Dong, the family of Concubine Jing's mother;

The King of Dian had only spoken up for Grand Secretary Dong, but he thought he would join the King of Jing in a rebellion, so he banished him to his fiefdom and prohibited him from entering the capital without an imperial edict.

He was resentful because Prince Xiao was known as the God of War among the people, and because his biological mother was the Princess of Chang, he would not allow him to lead the army to fight against Chang.

Mei Xueer had saved his life, and also the Queen Mother's life, but after learning that she was the daughter of Princess Anping of South Vietnam, she only wanted her death and even sent assassins to kill her;

The Eighth Prince's biological mother, Lady Lin, was also favored in the past, but because she accidentally learned of an extremely secret matter in the palace, which concerned an old friend of hers, Lady Lin refused to tell anyone, so he could banish her directly to the cold palace and ignore his own son, the Eighth Prince, for many years;

……

Everything that happened these days also proved what Prime Minister Mei said -

The Mei family has been prime ministers for three generations and they are loyal to the court. However, because of Mei Xueer's life experience, he wants to kill her and holds Qianyue hostage in the palace.

Xiang Zhong had made great contributions to the expansion of the territory of the Zheng State, but because they were afraid that he would become an ally of Prince Jing, they wanted to behead him on a trumped-up charge, and let Prince Jing supervise the execution;

……

The more Cui Hongxiao thought about it, the colder his back felt.

Prime Minister Mei was right. His father's actions had already caused the people around him to become disunited and have their own agendas. If the court is unstable, the collapse of the edifice is a matter of time. How long can the appearance of peace and prosperity last?

Taking advantage of the night, Concubine Shu came to Anyu Garden.

She was carrying a food box filled with the Eighth Prince's favorite crispy snacks.

"I heard you were looking for me?" She sat down, took out a piece of dessert and put it in the eighth prince's little hand.

The eighth prince said nothing, but just nodded.

He ate his snack quietly, and after finishing one piece, he spoke: "That person has been coming here more often recently."

Concubine Shu looked up at him and asked, "And then?"

"It can be seen that he is beginning to care about me." There was no joy in the Eighth Prince's tone, only cold sarcasm.

"When he came last month, I gave him a windmill I made. He repeatedly said he liked it and seemed very happy."

"So, yesterday I gave him another slingshot I made myself. I made it very crudely on purpose, and then told him naively that if the emperor met a bad guy, he should use this slingshot to hit him to protect himself, otherwise he would lose the emperor again. I said, I just realized that the feeling of being loved by the emperor is so happy, and I don't want to lose it again. Aunt Shu, I forced myself to call him father for the first time. I saw that tears suddenly appeared in his eyes. But I was not moved at all."

Concubine Shu listened silently, and finally sighed: "...Perhaps he himself has realized that there is no son around him who is close to him. Old people, no matter how cold they are, always need the warmth of family love."

"So, I think it may be about time. Do you think he will release my mother for my sake?" The Eighth Prince looked at Concubine Shu eagerly.

Concubine Shu didn't know how to answer this question, so she asked, "Are you sure you've thought it through? What does your mother say?"

"...Mother said before that she didn't care whether she could leave the cold palace or not, she only cared about whether I was okay..."

"Do you know what your mother would rather suffer in the cold palace than tell you?"

The Eighth Prince shook his head, "I don't know. Mother said that if I knew too much, I would die."

"That's right." Concubine Shu sighed, "Now that things have come to this, do whatever you want to do. As long as Aunt Shu can do it for you, I will definitely do my best to do it."

"Thank you Aunt Shu for always playing with me all these years."

"Silly child." Concubine Shu's eyes were filled with tears. She rubbed his little head, took out a small paper bag and placed it in front of him. "It's better to end it early. I really don't want you to take this poison again."

She stood up and walked to the door. After thinking for a moment, she turned back and asked, "What do you think of Prince Jing?"

The Eighth Prince looked up at Concubine Shu, seemingly puzzled as to why she suddenly mentioned Prince Jing.

He pondered for a moment, "I don't have much contact with him. If Aunt Shu thinks he is bad, then he is bad; if Aunt Shu thinks he is good, then he is good."

After a moment's silence, he added, "However, Princess Jing is kind-hearted, because she searched everywhere for the antidote for me, and she really wanted to save me."

Concubine Shu smiled and said meaningfully, "Your father has ordered General Xiang to be beheaded tomorrow afternoon on trumped-up charges, and Prince Jing will be in charge of the execution. He will also be there in person, but he just wants to see with his own eyes whether Prince Jing will disobey him." After a pause, she added, "Aunt Shu's mother's family is also a military general."

The Eighth Prince looked into Concubine Shu's eyes, was silent for a long time, and uttered four words: "I understand."

……