The prince loves me like his life, but I force him to rebel

After listening quietly, Shu Huaiyuan finally spoke.

"You've said so much, but what exactly do you want me to do? Why not just say it directly?"

"The Third Prince has always been at odds with the Second Prince. In order to ensure the stability of his position as Crown Prince, he took it upon himself to blow up the Second Prince, but by some strange coincidence, the Crown Prince died instead."

“That is not true.”

"The facts? The fact is that no one cares about the facts. Only the pros and cons."

Bai Mo continued.

"This is the best outcome so far. You can't explain why you only focused on investigating Suzaku Street that day. Now you just need to put the blame on the Third Prince, and you can get away with it."

Shu Huaiyuan said nothing.

Bai Mo's arrival gave him two choices.

One choice is to die unjustly, the other choice is to call a deer a horse.

"I'll give you time to think about it."

Bai Mo knew that there would be no results today. Seeing that it was getting late and it would soon be time for the guards to change shifts, he left after saying something.

Worried that Bai Mo would come back, Lin Heng stood guard at the door, leaving Sima Yao and Shu Huaiyuan alone in the room having a secret conversation.

"You heard everything, didn't you?"

"As expected." Sima Yao said.

"We clearly know that the Bai family is crying thief, but we don't have any evidence."

"The most urgent task now is to find the mysterious man that Mr. Gu mentioned. Since Bai Mo gave you time to consider, it means that at least during this period of time, they will not rush to take action. I will take this opportunity to investigate thoroughly."

The two did not dare to talk much, and hurriedly exchanged opinions. Sima Yao and Lin Heng took off their clothes and left quickly.

It's already dawn.

Adult princes are not allowed to stay overnight in the palace without special reasons, so it is not appropriate for them to return home at this time.

Sima Yao and Lin Heng hid behind the rockery in the imperial garden before it got fully light.

Sima Yao pulled Lin Heng along, and after many twists and turns, they actually found a small cave.

The ground in the cave was very flat, enough for two people to curl up and lie down for a rest.

"Third Prince, how did you know there was such a cave here?"

“I discovered it by accident.”

Sima Yao closed his eyes. He was extremely tired after not sleeping all night.

In the haze, I seemed to be back in my childhood.

Sima Yao was playing hide-and-seek with the palace maids and eunuchs. He was small and nimble, so he climbed up the rockery in a few steps. Following the rugged path between the rockery, he discovered the cave.

The palace maids couldn't find him, and he waited for so long that he actually fell asleep here.

He didn't know how long it had been before he was awakened by the voices of two women.

One of them was Concubine De.

"Let's go and explain it to the Emperor." This is Concubine De.

"The emperor doesn't believe you at all. You should worry about your two personal maids who are about to be beheaded." The voice sounded like that of Imperial Concubine Xian.

"I will tell the emperor that everything is a frame-up by you."

"Oh? Let me see what evidence you can produce."

"As long as the emperor sends someone to investigate carefully, he will naturally find out the truth."

Imperial Noble Consort Xian sneered.

"Investigation? De Fei, do you really think there is any so-called justice in this palace? Today, I will tell you that the emperor belongs to me alone, and the throne in the future can only belong to the second prince. If you really want to compete with me, I can't guarantee that your Yao'er can grow up safely."

"You! Yao'er is the prince, the dragon vein, you can't have any evil thoughts."

"Today I am only asking you to kill two of my servants. If you still want to compete with me for my favor, don't blame me for being rude to your Yao'er."

Imperial Noble Consort Xian's last words were spoken softly, but they were extremely oppressive.

"If you disappear, I promise not to touch your useless son. If you insist on fighting me, what happened to those two slaves today will be what happened to you and your son tomorrow."

Sima Yao remembered it very clearly.

After Imperial Noble Consort Xian left, my mother started crying beside the rockery.

Sima Yao watched his mother crying through the crack in the cave, but did not dare to make a sound.

After a long time, a man came to Concubine De.

"De Fei, I told you that he is not someone you can trust. Do you believe me now?"

De Fei murmured, "He was just forced to do it. He should know that I was wronged."

"To this day, you still protect him."

The gap was very small, and no matter how Sima Yao adjusted the angle, he could not see the man's face.

The atmosphere was depressing, with the only sound outside being Defei's uncontrollable sobbing.

After a moment, the man spoke.

"Leave the palace. The intrigues and deceptions in this palace are not something you can adapt to."

"But, but if I leave, Yao'er is still so young..."

"You asked to leave the palace to practice cultivation, not to die. The Third Prince will not be adopted by other concubines. He will most likely be taken care of by the Queen Mother. You dare not act rashly in front of the Queen Mother because of the forces you cannot contend with. This will help keep Yao'er safe."

"In other words, if I leave, Yao'er will be safer?"

"You are in the palace. With the emperor's love for you, Imperial Concubine Xian must be worried that the third prince will fight for the position of crown prince with your support in the future. Even the emperor is a little wary of the Bai family's power. You and your son will definitely not have a peaceful life."

Concubine De was silent.

After dozens of seconds, he finally replied.

"You are right. I am willing to leave the palace."

That night, Sima Yao was brought to Concubine De's palace by the nanny beside the Empress Dowager.

After being beaten with a stick, Concubine De was unable to sit or lie down. She lay on the couch with wet hair. When she saw Sima Yao coming, her eyes suddenly lit up.

She told him a lot that day, as if she would never come back.

"Mother, if my son wasn't a loser, would... would mother not have to endure all this suffering?"

Sima Yao's question surprised Concubine De.

"Yao'er, did you hear anything? Did you see anything?"

Although Sima Yao was young, he knew that a concubine's private meeting with a man could be a big or small matter. He didn't know the man's identity, nor did he know what the relationship between him and Concubine De was, so he subconsciously bit his lip and shook his head vigorously.

A wise child is better than his mother.

Although Sima Yao denied it, Defei immediately understood it.

"Yao'er, no matter what you see or hear, don't tell anyone what you saw or heard today. Otherwise, both of us will be in danger."

Sima Yao nodded.

"Mother is going to a very far place, and I don't know when she will be back."

Concubine De touched Sima Yao's head, tears falling down, "You must listen to your father and the queen mother in the palace. In the future, don't mention your mother, don't be too clever, and don't fight with the second prince..."

Sima Yao listened quietly to what his mother said, and he kept every word in his heart.

"You must study hard and learn calligraphy. Mother will write to you. When you can write, you can write back to me. Although we are far away from each other, I will always think of you..."

Even now when Sima Yao recalls these old events, he still feels depressed.