The delicate little cabbage was pushed by the old emperor

Emperor Yong'an turned to look at the Crown Prince, who had remained silent, and asked, "Did the Crown Prince have any hand in this matter?"

The prince knelt down quickly and said, "I didn't do that. Please understand, Father."

"This is all my fault. It has nothing to do with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and certainly nothing to do with the Empress. Please, Your Majesty, punish me alone!"

At this time, Lu Haiqing also knew that the matter had been exposed and there was no room for turning back. He could only try his best to protect the prince, so he took all the blame on himself.

Emperor Yong'an looked at Lu Haiqing sharply, "You did this alone? Then why did you do such a heinous thing?"

The Ye family was eager to pull the prince and the queen down, and they also tried their best to incite court officials to condemn the Lu family.

"Minister Lu is such a joke! You're selling official positions and placing so many people in the court, isn't it just to support His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

"Many of those corrupt officials were promoted by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. How dare His Royal Highness claim he knew nothing about it?"

"That's right. If it weren't for the Crown Prince's promotion and support, how could they dare to do such a thing?"

For a while, the ministers had different opinions, especially the Ye family was determined to make the prince and the queen fall along with the Lu family today, but there were still a few people who were still willing to speak for the prince.

Among them was Shangguan Rui. Although Shangguan Yueyin did not become the prince's concubine, in order to consolidate the relationship with the Shangguan family, the Lu family later allowed the prince to marry Shangguan Yuefei, a concubine of the Shangguan family, as his concubine.

He was already extremely disappointed with Shangguan Yuefei, but since the Lu family had extended an olive branch, he of course gladly accepted it. After all, compared to the cruel eldest prince, he was more willing to support the magnanimous Crown Prince.

After Shangguan Yuefei became the Crown Prince's Consort, the person she hated the most in the Eastern Palace was of course the Crown Princess.

According to the ideas instilled in her by Aunt Qing, as long as she could successfully squeeze out the Crown Princess, she would be able to become the mistress of the Eastern Palace. After the Crown Prince ascended the throne, she would be more likely to become the most honorable Empress.

So she often made trouble for the Crown Princess, determined not to let the relationship between the Crown Princess and the Prince become closer, so she told the Crown Princess what she had overheard from Shangguan Yueyin before.

He was even more proud in his heart. It turned out that the Crown Prince did not love the Crown Princess at all. He was just using his relationship with her. In order to marry Shen Leyan, he even wanted to depose her to make room for Shen Leyan.

When the Crown Princess heard the news, it was like a bolt from the blue. She simply couldn't believe that the Crown Prince would actually say such a thing...

However, Shen Leyan and Shangguan Yueyin had always had a very good relationship, so it was not surprising that Shangguan Yuefei overheard it. She hated the two of them so much that it was impossible for her to joke about such things and boost the morale of her enemies.

The Crown Princess thought about what had happened. It seemed that during the period of house arrest, the Crown Prince had been particularly attentive to her, and even his tone of voice had become much gentler...

This made her feel that perhaps true friendship is tested in times of adversity, and the Crown Princess became even more determined to fight alongside the Crown Prince, to help him and to accompany him.

But when she heard the news, she found it ridiculous. What was the point of everything she had done before?

Since the prince is unkind, don't blame her for being unjust.

The Crown Princess secretly told her father about this matter and asked the Mu family to make plans early.

Father Mu was also extremely angry when he found out. In addition, after the Queen was ordered to be under house arrest by the Emperor, all matters in the palace were handed over to the Imperial Concubine. He knew that the Lu family was doomed, so he wisely chose to join the Ye family.

When Shangguan Rui spoke up for the Lu family, he also stood up to testify against the Lu family and the prince, and exposed all the bad things that the Lu family had done before.

It also included some calculations of the Crown Prince and the Queen, which were discovered by the Crown Princess inadvertently and secretly found as evidence.

She took advantage of the prince's trust in her, preserved the evidence, and handed it all over to the Mu family.

Lu Haiqing never expected that the Mu family would turn against him. He trusted the Mu family even more than the Shangguan family, so he was very angry, but there was nothing he could do.

He had already been involved, and now he could no longer protect the prince and the queen. The Lu family had completely fallen this time, and a great family was destroyed.

After hearing this, Emperor Yong'an was stunned for a moment before coming to his senses and angrily scolded the Crown Prince, "What else do you have to say?"

The prince was now completely in a trance. He was frightened by Emperor Yong'an's angry rebuke and collapsed to the ground, with beads of sweat breaking out on his head.

His face turned pale and his voice trembled as he replied, "Your Highness... Your Highness has nothing to say. Please forgive me, Father..."

The emperor snorted coldly, "I made you the crown prince, and this is how you manage my country? I am truly disappointed!"

"The Crown Prince has no regard for orthodoxy at all. He doesn't care about the people living and working in peace and contentment. Instead, he trusts villains and appoints treacherous officials."

Emperor Yong'an was furious and looked at the prince with disappointment.

He turned to look at Shen Hongan and said in a deep voice: "Prime Minister, in your opinion, how should this matter be handled?"

Shen Hongan, who had remained neutral, was suddenly called out by Emperor Yong'an. He lowered his head in thought for a moment, then respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Crown Prince has made such a grave mistake that it is difficult for him to continue to serve as the heir apparent."

"However, considering that he has not committed any serious offense and that he shares a father-son relationship with the Emperor, you can depose him from his position as Crown Prince and demote him to a commoner as a warning to others."

Emperor Yong'an nodded slightly to show his agreement.

He glanced at the Crown Prince again, and said with deep sorrow, "What the Prime Minister said is extremely serious. Since I ascended the throne, I have been worrying about it day and night, trying to come up with a good plan. However, the position of Crown Prince is related to the foundation of the country and cannot be taken lightly."

"I hereby declare that Crown Prince Xiao Yu, following Emperor Qian's order and occupying the throne of the Crown Prince, should strictly adhere to the principles of filial piety and respect for his parents and love for his brothers. However, Xiao Yu has acted foolishly and lacks respect for his kindness and filial piety. He has favored villains, appointed treacherous officials, and manipulated power, a practice difficult to discipline. I have repeatedly admonished him, but he has turned a deaf ear. This rebellion against moral principles makes him unfit to succeed the throne."

"I have no choice but to issue this decree to depose him as a warning. I hope that after being demoted to a commoner, Xiao Yu will reform himself, cultivate his character, and strive for the future. I hope he will be able to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil, and repent. I will select another virtuous person to inherit the throne."

"Furthermore, the Empress was also involved in the Lu family incident, secretly forming a clique and attempting to interfere in government affairs. This is a major taboo in the harem!"

"The Crown Prince's behavior is due to the Empress's poor guidance. With such a lack of moral character, how can he honor the ancestral temple and serve as a model for the nation?"

"I have decided to depose you and the Crown Prince today, demote you to a commoner, and place you in the cold palace!"

"Come here, take the deposed crown prince away and imprison him in the Eastern Palace. He is not allowed to take a single step outside without permission."

The guards responded and dragged the distraught prince away.