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

Mei Xueer sat on the beach on a sunny day, scrolling through the news while sighing: [Is General Xiang really gone? ]

[Who knows?] Goudan replied lazily: [I think there is something fishy.]

[You mean, those people who are causing trouble?] Mei Xueer said: [You may be right. Cui Qimo's move on Zhong has angered the public. It is normal for the public to be outraged, but according to what is said in the news, it is too much. It seems that someone is inciting public resentment.]

Goudan: [If it was someone Cui Hongjing arranged, what good would that do him? If he oversees the execution, the greater the public resentment, the more disadvantageous it will be for him.]

Mei Xueer: [Didn't you see him repeatedly saying "This king is supervising the execution by order"... The key is, the more chaotic the scene is, the easier it will be for him to take the blame. Otherwise, why would he create so much trouble? ]

Goudan: […Here it comes, the latest news is here: Xiang Zhong’s beheaded body is missing? Some people are shouting that they want to take the old general’s body back for a proper burial, and some are saying that they want to take it back to worship…]

Mei Xueer let out a long sigh of relief: […So that’s how it is…The body is gone, there is no evidence, who can say that the dead person is not General Xiang…]

The capital of Zhenguo, Prince Qi’s Palace.

Cui Hong stood in the middle of the study, motionless. The ink from the tip of the pen in his hand dripped onto the rice paper and spread out, but he seemed unaware of it.

He originally wanted to paint a scene of his mother lying on the snow, covered with red petals. But when he started to paint, his emotions surged, and he could not even remember what his mother looked like. The image of another girl became clearer and clearer.

There was a flash of fear in his eyes.

His hands were shaking.

He stretched out his left hand and grabbed his right wrist tightly, which was still shaking.

These days, Prime Minister Mei's words have always lingered in his mind.

Mother, is it really because of you that my legs are broken?

Prime Minister Mei, if I really do as you say and do nothing, will the outcome really be better than it is now?

Xueer, where are you?

No, that's not the case! My leg is still not healed, and I still have the blood of the South Vietnamese royal family flowing in my veins. How could my father hand over the throne to me?

Yes, if I had done nothing, if I hadn’t pretended to have a serious leg disease since childhood, I would have died in this cold palace long ago.

With a "snap" sound, the pen broke and a strange black color appeared on the rice paper.

"Your Highness." Meng Nan's voice came from the door.

He took a long deep breath to calm himself down, spread out a new piece of paper, picked up the pen again, and then gently responded, "Come in."

Meng Nan's eyes stayed on the rice paper for a moment, and he took out a letter from his arms and gently placed it in front of him. "Helian Lanfeng gave it to me and asked me to be his spy."

Cui Hongqi's expression did not change at all, and he simply sketched the outline of a red plum tree.

While casually asking: "How does he think he can convince you?"

Meng Nan glanced at the moving pen tip and said, "Maybe he thought I was resentful of the prince's punishment... or maybe he just wanted to use this letter to sow discord."

Cui Hongqi raised his head slightly, gently placed the pen on the pen holder, and looked at the young man in front of him. "He thought that even if you rejected him, or even gave the letter to me, I would still have a grudge against you. So, no matter what, he has no loss."

"Yes!" Meng Nan's dead grey eyes were calm, "It's just that he doesn't know the prince well enough, and he guessed me wrongly."

Cui Hongqi raised a barely perceptible arc at the corner of his lips, "I am the only one who knows my people best. If I don't even have this little confidence, what kind of Lord Ye am I?"

Meng Nan: "People like Helian Lanfeng are not worthy of cooperating with the prince!"

Cui Hongqi picked up his pen again and said quietly, "I just want to use the soldiers in his hands. His father is a traitor, but I am the descendant of a loyal and honest man. I am more qualified to lead these old Nanyue soldiers."

Meng Nan lowered his head: "Then, I will reply him with four words - as you wish..."

"Yes. Go and call Zixuan in!"

After a moment, Cui Hongqi slowly scanned the faces of the two people in front of him and suddenly asked, "Have you found out who poisoned the Eighth Prince?"

Zixuan said quickly, "Your Highness, the Emperor was furious and had all the servants of Anyu Garden imprisoned, but he didn't get anything out of them."

Cui Hongqi: "Who else has been to Anyuyuan before?"

Zixuan: "Only Concubine Shu went there, the night before the Eighth Prince was poisoned. That afternoon, Prince Jing went to Prince Yan's mansion to congratulate Princess Yan on her pregnancy. Afterwards, Prince Yan went to the palace to pay his respects to Concubine Shu."

Cui Hongqi's brows suddenly tightened, "Eighth Prince, Concubine Shu, Prince Yan, Prince Jing?"

Cui Hongqi grabbed the rice paper on the table, held it in his palm, and with a little force, the rice paper turned into powder and he almost lost his balance.

"There's something fishy about this! The Eighth Prince was poisoned again, and the timing was too coincidental." Meng Nan suddenly thought of something: "It's been nearly a year since the Eighth Prince was poisoned for the first time, but the Emperor didn't let anyone know, and only asked Mei Xueer to find an antidote. We only found out recently, why did the Emperor keep it a secret?"

"Because the poison that the Eighth Prince was poisoned by was from the Nanyue Witch Doctor Bureau!" When Zixuan said this, he was so scared that his face turned pale, and his eyes slowly shifted to Cui Hongqi, "Could it be that the emperor has long suspected that the prince is..."

"That's probably the case." Cui Hongqi gritted his teeth and said, "He just doesn't have evidence at the moment. This prince is his son after all, and he doesn't want to kill his son by mistake, so he has been secretly testing and observing. He wants to use the Eighth Prince to reveal this prince's true identity."

He suddenly understood, and laughed up to the sky, a sad laugh: "Father, I once thought that my eighth brother had reawakened your family affection and fatherly love, but I never thought that everything was fake, fake! There is no family affection to speak of, you are just using my eighth brother. You are such a cold person, even your blood is cold, how can you give birth to such a luxury as family affection. Hahaha..."

He suddenly stopped laughing: "I guess my father can't find out who poisoned him. Even if he finds out, he can just pretend he doesn't know and execute him secretly."

Zixuan's voice trembled a little: "Your Highness means that no matter who it is, the Emperor's target is Your Highness? But, but he can't be sure..."

"There is no impenetrable wall in the world!" Meng Nan's emotionless voice sounded.

"Father, you forced me to do this!" Cui Hongqi gritted his teeth and said, "Shufei, Eighth Brother, what role did you play in this? I have never touched you in the slightest, but why..."

He stared at Meng Nan with his scarlet eyes, "Go, send a message to Helian Lanfeng and give him what he wants... Also inform him to act according to the plan in advance..."

That night, an uninvited guest came to Prince Jing's mansion.

Cui Hongjing looked coldly at the immortal-like man in front of him, without the slightest surprise: "Second brother, do you remember how many years it has been since you came to my Prince Jing's mansion?"

Cui Hongqi no longer hid his feelings, and even his walking posture became almost normal.

A gentle smile appeared in the corner of his eyes. He smiled without saying a word and took out a jade pendant from his sleeve.

When Cui Hongjing saw the jade pendant, his expression suddenly changed.

This jade pendant is something that Prime Minister Mei always carries with him.

After returning to Beijing, he had been secretly searching for Prime Minister Mei, but found no clues.

"Is he alive or dead?" Cui Hongjing's eyes flashed coldly as he stared at Cui Hongqi.

"My father wanted to kill him, but I saved him." Cui Hongqi lazily leaned on the armrest of the chair, admiring Cui Hongjing's expression, and asked with a playful smile: "I wonder if my third brother cares about Prime Minister Mei because of me, or because he is Xue'er's father?"

When he said the word "Xue'er", the smile on his face disappeared, and his beautiful eyes turned cold.

Cui Hongjing didn't respond to him, but asked: "What do you want me to do?"

"Third brother, you are too impatient. Let me talk to you slowly." Cui Hongqi slowly poured himself a cup of tea and drank it all.

Then he spoke slowly again, "From the beginning, I knew that it was impossible for my third brother to really kill General Xiang. But I couldn't guess what method he would use. Later..."

Cui Hongjing interrupted him: "In fact, you hope that General Xiang will live. So, even if Second Brother knew my plan that day, he would not stop it."

"It's easier to talk to smart people!" Cui Hongqi said, "Later, my eighth brother was poisoned again at that critical moment, and the people were angry. I figured everything out. Since I figured it out, I would pay special attention to my third brother's every move. This attention made me accidentally discover a perfect place to hide people."

Cui Hongjing's pupils shrank, and the muscles on his face stiffened, then instantly returned to normal. "You want to take advantage of General Xiang's prestige in the army? ... Could it be that my second brother wants to rebel?"