The peerless and dark princess

"Father, you take a rest first. My second brother and I are here."

Chu Lianyao looked at his silent old father Chu Tianxiong and knew that he was feeling guilty. Their Chu family had been loyal to the royal family for generations, but now they were committing treason.

Chu Tianxiong waved his hand and said nothing. After all, he still cared about Chen Yan. He had watched him grow up. If it weren't for those things that happened back then, how could he not be disappointed? So many years have passed, how could he not know what happened back then? It was just that things were too chaotic at the time and he didn't have time to verify them.

-

"Prince?! You're not, you're not…"

Chen Yunfeng and Chen Yunbin were a little surprised when they saw the Crown Prince Chen Yunjie appear. Shouldn't this person be on the battlefield in southern Xinjiang? Then who is the person in southern Xinjiang?

"Shouldn't I be supervising the battle in Southern Xinjiang, right, my good brothers?" The Crown Prince was quite high-spirited at the moment. Everyone thought he was in Southern Xinjiang, but unexpectedly, he quietly returned to the capital with some of his troops from Southern Xinjiang without being discovered. "If I hadn't left the capital, how could you have revealed your true colors?"

"Royal brother, even if you return to the capital, what does it matter? And Royal brother, have you forgotten..."

"As your elder brother, I naturally haven't forgotten. I also thank you, Third Imperial Brother, for 'seeing me off' all the way. Second Imperial Brother, you and Meng Yujiao gave me quite a few 'gifts' as well..." Although Chen Yunjie was furious at Chen Yunbin's assassination attempt, he hated Chen Yunfeng and Meng Yujiao even more. These two people were the cause of his childlessness after many years of marriage, putting his position as crown prince in jeopardy. "Tsk... Third Imperial Brother, Meng Yujiao's 'gifts' weren't just for me, they were for you as well..."

Third Prince Chen Yunbin's mind went boom, like a bolt of lightning. He hadn't even married yet, but he already had several concubines. He had always adhered to the principle of not allowing concubines to bear illegitimate children before he had a consort. But this matter concerned future generations. Seeing this expression, the Crown Prince wouldn't lie to him. But he didn't show any sign of it. He was in the middle of a standoff, so he could think about other matters later.

When the three parties were confronting each other, Zuo Ci had already gathered with Yue King Chen Yu. To be honest, Chen Yu did not want to appear in such an occasion, but if he did not show up, the matter concerning Zuo Gang would never be revealed to the world. In the final analysis, all of this was because of him.

"Now, the Queen, along with the Meng and Emperor families, have surrounded the ministers in the court. King Yue, please take the trouble to rescue these important officials."

……

Chen Yu took a glance at them, and then said a few words and ordered him to come. He couldn't refuse, as he really owed them a favor. He had no choice but to work hard and take Yan Li and others to rescue the officials.

When Chen Yu and important officials of the court arrived at the palace, the palace was already in chaos. Except for the queen's bedroom and the emperor's bedroom, the three princes Chen Yunjie, Chen Yunbin and Chen Yunfeng were still confronting each other, as if waiting to see who would come out on top. The seriously ill Emperor Chen Yan was still lying weakly on the dragon bed, watching his three sons confront each other, but no one was taking care of him.

The Grand Tutor looked at the situation and didn't know what to do. The Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the two princes were facing off. What could the ministers do? Legally, the Emperor was the sovereign, the Crown Prince was the heir apparent, and the others were illegitimate. But who could say for sure at this moment? Who could guarantee that one of them would ascend the throne?

Chen Yu sneered at the farce in front of him, "Royal brother, I haven't seen you for more than ten years. I didn't expect your place to be so lively."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem, you're back."

Chen Yan did not feel angry or embarrassed. After all, this man was still his younger brother, and he was the one who called him back to the capital from thousands of miles away. Besides, everything had already become like this and he was powerless to do anything. The Chu family had long since alienated him, and the others were in cahoots with the princes, and he had long lost face.

"Yes, my Royal Highness, I'm back. I never thought I'd see you like this again. It's been over a decade, and things and people have changed." Chen Yu said calmly, "Your princes are much worse than they were back then. I never thought you'd manage the country like this in the past decade..."

Crown Prince Chen Yunjie, Second Prince Chen Yunfeng and Third Prince Chen Yunbin all blushed when they heard this. Everyone knew that if Chen Yu, the King of Yue, had not wanted to sit on the throne, the throne would not have belonged to their father. They claimed that they were better than their father, but they did not expect to receive such an evaluation.

In fact, at this moment, Chen Yunfeng, Crown Prince Chen Yunjie and Chen Yunbin all knew in their hearts that the situation was hopeless. All the important officials in the court had arrived, which meant that the people attacked by Meng Yujiao had been dealt with. However, after waiting for so long but no one came to help, it meant that the King of Yue, who arrived late, had dealt with those people first.

"Yes, even if we give this kingdom to them, I'm afraid they won't be able to protect it..."

"Oh, more than that, he couldn't protect me," Chen Yu sneered. He asked Yan Li behind him to hand the evidence given by Zuo Ci to Chen Yan, then pointed at Chen Yunjie and the other two. "It's not enough that the Crown Prince secretly manufactured weapons, but he also poisoned you, the Emperor. The Second Prince is better. He's just a little weak, allowing Meng to control him, and he's a little affectionate. But our Third Prince is even worse. He collaborated with the enemy, betrayed his country, and hired assassins to kill people..."

Emperor Chen Yan had just been helped up by Chen Yushun. Looking at the evidence, his chest heaved, "He's truly my good son. Hahaha~~ This is retribution~~~"

"You also know that retribution is inevitable?!"

A sudden voice sounded, and everyone looked up, only to see the man appear in front of them with a dashing appearance. However, only Chen Yu and Yan Li did not find it strange.

"Zuo Ci?!" Chen Yan looked up and immediately understood, "So you've been pretending all along!!"

"Yes, I was pretending. If I didn't pretend to be a playboy, how could you let me live? For six years, you never gave up monitoring me..."

Chen Yu looked at Zuo Ci in disbelief. It turned out that he was pretending to be a dandy at that time in front of Chen Yan. So when he sent people back to Beijing that year, they saw him pretending to be a dandy. He thought that he had turned over a new leaf later and was just playing along with Chen Yan.

"Yes, I am worried about you, but you are still better."

Chen Yan didn't pretend anymore. He had lost all his face now, so what else could he do?

"Royal brother, just because Brother Zuogang is on good terms with me, you can't tolerate him?"

"Yes, this is my world, but the Zuogang and Chu families all have you in mind, and they want to be loyal to you..."

Chen Yan felt that he relied on Chen Yu's relationship with the Chu family and Zuo Xiang to seize the throne. Even though they were loyal to him, he was still worried. So he made one wrong step after another.