After being demoted, my 300,000-strong army trampled the imperial city!

"How cruel the Crown Prince is! Does he really want to force his brothers to their deaths?"

Under the protection of several powerful men, Prince Xin loudly cursed the Crown Prince for being heartless and ungrateful.

The government troops didn't waste any more words with him; a dark mass of soldiers gathered together to arrest him.

Qi Wen whispered to Chen Futu, "I'm afraid we'll be implicated by Prince Xin next. This is probably a scheme."

"You mean there's something wrong with that cellar?" Chen Futu raised an eyebrow.

“With me and Ake here, it’s impossible for Prince Xin to sneak in unnoticed under our noses. Besides, this residence was arranged by the Crown Prince in advance. There’s probably a secret passage under the cellar. If the Crown Prince wants to deal with you in the future, he can just send someone to attack you through the secret passage, which would be a surprise attack.”

Qi Wen's speculation is astonishing.

Liu Longyue agreed, "The Crown Prince deliberately released Prince Xin and forced him to come here through a secret passage. This is to have a legitimate reason to monitor us."

“I have the Imperial Seal of the State, so the Crown Prince will most likely not take direct action. He will probably try to negotiate with me and force me to hand over the seal, otherwise he won’t be able to rest easy for even a day,” Chen Futu said.

The imperial seal is of great importance to the nation. With the crown prince about to ascend the throne, he will surely want to control the seal himself. He fears that the delegation might escape the capital and he will have gained nothing.

"What do we do now? Should we fight our way out?" Consort Ge gripped her sword tightly, itching to act.

More and more soldiers gathered around, and in the blink of an eye, at least three thousand people had surrounded the mansion. Among them were many crossbowmen, and a large number of elite soldiers were on the outer perimeter, all of whom were the best of the Imperial Guards.

With these lines of defense in place, Qiwen and Ake could easily break through, but Chen Futu and the others would not be able to leave unscathed, let alone Yan Qing, a woman who was powerless and a group of ordinary workers from the Yan family caravan.

After careful consideration, Chen Futu stopped the group of people whose murderous intent was rising, saying, "Wait a little longer, the Crown Prince will be here soon."

Qi Wen carefully sensed the surrounding movements and reminded, "There's the aura of a Grandmaster. It's that old eunuch in red; he's here too."

"Can you beat him?"

"It's hard to say. The old eunuch has mastered the Vajra Boy Kung Fu, and his external martial arts skills are superb. Moreover, his primordial yang has not been depleted. I don't know if my sword can break through his defense."

Qi Wen is a prodigy in the field of swordsmanship, and the old eunuch is also a prodigy in the art of external martial arts.

Whether the spear or the shield is stronger or weaker, only time will tell.

As they were speaking, the eunuch announced, "The Crown Prince has arrived!"

The fierce battle in the backyard finally came to an end. Several powerful men around Prince Xin suffered minor injuries. They all possessed innate strength and were likely skilled martial artists recruited within his fiefdom.

The prince arrived at the residence on a tall horse. He held the riding whip and looked at Chen Futu with a smile: "Mr. Zhu, your place is quite lively."

Chen Futu sarcastically said, "What does Your Highness mean? You don't think I'm harboring a serious criminal, do you?"

“Mr. Zhu is my friend. I came here specifically because I was afraid that this impetuous younger brother would hurt you.”

The Crown Prince wore a forced smile. If Chen Futu hadn't been holding the Imperial Seal, would he have been so polite? He would have ordered them all to be surrounded and killed long ago!

Next, the Crown Prince rode up to Prince Xin and frowned, saying, "Why don't you surrender now? If you resist again, don't blame me for being impolite."

Prince Xin was so angry that he bared his teeth and said, "The Crown Prince is perfectly capable of being the emperor, so why won't he give his younger brother a way out!"

"Stop talking nonsense. If you hadn't acted recklessly, why would I be targeting you?"

"The Crown Prince speaks so eloquently, he has every point. I am a prince, what's wrong with enjoying myself! Father rules the world precisely so that we princes can enjoy ourselves!"

"Shut up."

The crown prince gripped his riding whip and glared angrily.

These good-for-nothing brothers, if they had stayed put, it would have been fine, but each of them dared to covet the supreme treasures. This was a slap in his face. At the very least, after going this far, Prince Xin should no longer think about acting arrogantly as a prince. Only by eliminating the internal strife within the royal family can he one day fight Chen Futu to the death!

"Your Highness, what exactly do you want?"

Prince Xin still refused to yield, believing that with a few powerful bodyguards, he could escape with him.

The Crown Prince said coldly, "My father wants to see you. You will come with me. If you can persuade my father, I will naturally have no objection."

Upon hearing this, a glint of madness flashed in Prince Xin's eyes. "Fine, let's go!"

He ordered the powerful men around him to put away their weapons, and then walked out the door.

Chen Futu's brows furrowed unconsciously.

Ding!

[National mourning is imminent. Please make a choice promptly.]

"System, is that damned emperor about to die?"

The Crown Prince intends to use Prince Xin to eliminate the old emperor and immediately ascend the throne.

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Futu broke out in a cold sweat.

The Crown Prince is a wolf in sheep's clothing!

Can't wait?

[1. Choosing to obstruct the Crown Prince's actions will reward you with a cultivation level increase to the peak of the Innate Realm]

"It's impossible to stop it. That dog emperor should have died long ago. It would be fun to let him die at the hands of his own son."

[2. Choose to ignore it and let things develop as they may; reward 300 Shadow Guards]

[The Shadow Guards are all at the initial ninth rank, wielding the Blood Droplet; they are predators who walk in the shadows, killing without a trace.]

"I choose two."

[Selection successful. The Shadow Guard has entered the capital. The host can relay orders through Ake.]

"With these three hundred Shadow Guards, we can even put up a fight against a Grandmaster."

After all, it's a system reward of 3900 rank points; even if you risk your life to stack them, you could probably kill a Grandmaster.

"Mr. Zhu, please stay at home for the time being. I will come to visit you again after I have finished dealing with those matters."

The crown prince left five hundred personal guards to surround the entire mansion, then chuckled at Chen Futu and left with his men.

Chen Futu remained silent, leaving Dian Wei to guard the courtyard, and then summoned everyone to the room.

Qi Wen said, "It seems that the Crown Prince is forcing you to hand over the Imperial Seal. Otherwise, not only will we not leave the city, but he will probably make a big deal out of your hiding of Prince Xin."

Liu Longyue said hesitantly, "We are trapped in a tight encirclement. What can we do? We can't possibly fight our way out of the capital."

“Killing isn’t out of the question; at least it hasn’t reached the worst point yet.”

Chen Futu now commands three hundred shadow guards. If he wants to make a move, five hundred personal guards won't be able to stop him. At worst, he can have Ake set up a defense at the city gate beforehand, and the shadow guards opening the gate will be no problem at all.

Now Chen Futu wants to see if the dog emperor is dead or alive.

Seeing Chen Futu's composure, the others were all puzzled. With their eyebrows in the air, the king could still act as if nothing was wrong. He was truly a great ruler.

In the afternoon, the spy arrived and produced a letter.

"Your Majesty, Liang Huan has arrived in the capital region, and we are planning to secretly send him to the capital."

Chen Futu received the letter with great interest; it was a secret letter from Liang Huan to the Crown Princess.

The spy then explained the situation: they were impersonating the Crown Prince and attempted to assassinate him. Liang Huan was injured in the process. In any case, he narrowly escaped death along the way and developed a deep-seated hatred for the Crown Prince.

"Alright, I'll go see the Crown Princess tonight and make her utterly despair."

Chen Futu made up his mind.