The Virtuous Concubine

Inside the Qianqing Palace, the Fourth Prince was listening to the Imperial Instructions and learning about the duties of a regent. Liang Jiugong came outside to report, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is here."

The Fourth Prince tactfully took his leave and just as he walked out of the palace gate, he saw the Crown Prince coming.

The Fourth Prince politely bowed to the Crown Prince and said, "Greetings, Your Highness."

The prince nodded slightly with an indifferent expression as a response, and then walked straight into the hall.

But unexpectedly, when the prince came out, the Fourth Prince was still outside, obviously waiting for him.

"Fourth brother, do you want to see me for something?"

The Fourth Prince nodded expressionlessly: "Yes, I wonder if Your Highness has time?"

The prince frowned slightly, feeling a little unhappy. Just as he was about to refuse directly, he heard the fourth prince say calmly, "I think I found something of your Highness the Crown Prince."

The prince's expression instantly became alert, and he stared at the Fourth Prince closely: "What do you mean by this, Fourth Brother?"

Seeing that the Crown Prince was so stubborn, the Fourth Prince laughed in anger: "Then it seems that it is not yours. Sorry for bothering you."

After saying that, he turned around and left.

He was not afraid that the prince would not catch up.

As expected, the prince looked at his back, his heart tightened, and he immediately lost his composure.

If I don't follow up and understand clearly, what if...

The prince didn't care about much and quickly quickened his pace to catch up. The two of them walked one in front and one behind, and soon disappeared into the depths of Yongxiang. The prince's status was equivalent to that of a half-king. The palace maids and eunuchs who met the prince on the road had to face the wall and make way, silently witnessing this strange chase.

The Fourth Prince stopped only when he reached a secluded and quiet corner of the palace.

He turned around slowly, his eyes calm, looking at the prince who came panting as if he was looking at a dead person, waiting for the prince to ask questions.

The prince finally managed to steady himself, and before he could even recover, he could not wait to ask again, "Fourth brother, what did you pick up? Now that there is no one around, you should tell me the truth!"

The Fourth Prince shook his head slowly, his expression like a cunning and cruel jackal playing with his frightened prey, deliberately making the other struggle in anxiety and fear.

"I thought that since His Highness followed me, he already knew."

The prince's face turned pale instantly, and he unconsciously clenched his hands into fists. The uneasiness in his heart became stronger and stronger. He stared at the Fourth Prince and angrily scolded him: "Fourth brother, why are you beating around the bush here! Just tell me what it is!"

The Fourth Prince smiled coldly and spread out his palm. In his palm lay a delicate sachet quietly. It was the sachet that the prince once wore on his body and could not be found even after digging three feet underground.

The moment the prince saw the sachet, a trace of panic and fear that was hard to conceal flashed across his eyes. He rushed forward, snatched the sachet and opened it, only to find that there was nothing inside.

He suddenly raised his head, stared at the Fourth Prince, and said with gritted teeth: "Fourth brother, where did you get this thing? What is your intention?!"

The Fourth Prince looked at the Crown Prince calmly, as if he did not notice the Crown Prince's nervousness. "Your Highness, I found this sachet by chance beside the palace road. As for why it appeared there and what was inside, I have no idea."

The prince held the sachet tightly in his hand. He didn't believe it. He didn't believe what the Fourth Prince said! The Fourth Prince was usually very calculating. How could he let go of such a perfect handle so easily this time?

The fourth brother must have taken the things away, and he even knows who gave them to him.

He looked at the Fourth Prince and wanted to explain, but he didn't know where to start.

Seeing the Crown Prince acquiesce so calmly, the Fourth Prince's originally calm face instantly twisted, and his eyes became bloodshot: "Why, you don't have anything to tell me?"

The prince's fist clenched and unclenched, loosened and clenched again, and finally fell limply like a deflated balloon.

"It's... it's me. It's my problem. It's my wishful thinking. I took the opportunity to coerce-"

Snapped--

When the Fourth Prince heard these words, he felt a surge of blood rushing to his head, and his reason was instantly swallowed by anger. He suddenly raised his hand and slapped the prince with all his strength, but the prince did not dodge.

The Fourth Prince's voice became hoarse and broken due to extreme excitement. He roared like a wounded beast: "Adulterer and adulteress! Adulterer and adulteress! Are you worthy of the Emperor? Are you worthy of——"

His body was shaking violently. He had originally thought that just discovering these unbearable things would be enough to make him sad, but he never expected that the pain during the confrontation would exceed his limit.

The prince should kneel down and beg him with tears!

The prince should slap himself repeatedly and say that he was bewitched and seduced because of his youth and ignorance.

Only in this way can he turn around and tell his mother, you love the wrong person! You trust the wrong person!

But the prince did not do that. He even stood here with great grace, frankly admitting everything and taking all the blame.

Although he was the one who hit the man, Yinzhen felt that it was his own heart that was actually bruised by the slap.

These days, he wandered alone in the darkness, with countless reasons and excuses constantly turning over in his mind, trying to find an explanation for all this that he could accept.

Is it because my mother has lost the favor of the emperor and feels desperate at the cold treatment in the palace that she has to resort to this desperate measure?

Maybe she was just blinded by greed and lost her way, naively thinking that she could rely on the prince to protect Yonghe Palace, and made this foolish choice for the future of all of them.

Or even if he just regarded it as a pastime when he was empty and lonely, he tried his best to convince himself to accept it and forgive it.

However, reality ruthlessly shattered all his fantasies. At this critical moment, the prince took all the blame on himself without hesitation. This protection was like a sharp blade that pierced deeply into his heart.

The prince's words not only highlighted his meanness, but also blatantly revealed a fact that he was unwilling to admit.

The two of them actually love each other.

What he never got, the prince got in his previous life and in this life.

The strength that the Fourth Prince had been holding on to finally collapsed at this moment. He could no longer hold back and knelt on the ground in front of his lifelong enemy, covering his face and crying.

In the crying, there is disappointment, resentment, jealousy and helplessness.

From this moment on, he had to admit that the contest between him and the prince was never just a struggle for power, but also a war of emotions and dignity.

And he, Yinzhen, was a complete loser.

"Fourth brother, what do you want? Just tell me."

The Fourth Prince wiped away his tears, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked up at the setting sun in the sky.

The setting sun is blood-red, which is frightening. Such blood-red sunlight, when shining on people, only makes people feel cold.