Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

Xiao Dingbang listened to the chief eunuch's words and was stunned for a moment, his face turning ugly.

"What? He said who it was? Who injured Lao Ba?"

He asked with an incredulous look on his face.

The head eunuch bowed and said, "Your Majesty, this old servant inquired. Consort De said it was the eldest prince, Xiao Ce, who did it!"

"That good-for-nothing beat up Lao Ba? And seriously injured him?" Xiao Dingbang asked with a suspicious look.

Consort Hui spoke up: "Eunuch Lu, did you hear me right? Who hit whom? Was it that good-for-nothing who was hit by the Eighth Prince, or the Eighth Prince who was hit by that good-for-nothing?"

The head eunuch bowed and continued, "Reporting to Consort Hui, this old servant has confirmed it several times. It is indeed the Eighth Prince who was severely injured by the First Prince!"

Hearing this, Xiao Yang, who was lying to one side, immediately retorted, "Bullshit! He's spouting nonsense!"

Xiao Yang shakily sat up from his lying position and spoke with trembling hands.

Xiao Dingbang asked with a dark face, "Yang'er, what exactly is going on?"

Xiao Yang wanted to get up to report, but Consort Hui said with concern, "Yang'er, just lie down and talk."

Xiao Yang glanced at Xiao Dingbang questioningly.

Siu Ting-pong nodded: "You can talk while lying down."

Xiao Yang then pitifully began to speak: "Father, the thing is..."

"At the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) today, the Eighth Prince and one of his stewards came to our mansion. He was shouting that he was here to see me."

"I could tell he'd been drinking from the strong smell of alcohol on him... I wanted to ask him what he was doing, but he insisted that I had lied to Father Emperor. He even forced me to write a letter of self-reproach, admitting that everything I'd said to Father Emperor was false!"

"Of course I didn't want to, but who knew he would suddenly attack me. Father, you know, the Eighth Prince is skilled in martial arts, and his attack was so sudden that I wasn't prepared. I completely overwhelmed him and he gained the upper hand. He pinned me down and kept forcing me..."

“When I refused, he slammed my head against the ground countless times until I passed out… Later, I don’t know what happened! I only know that when I woke up, not only was I beaten, but Xiao Ce was also beaten even worse. He kept saying that he was acting on the orders of Father Emperor, so naturally no one in the mansion dared to stop him.”

"When I woke up, I wanted to confront him. However, I heard from the people in the mansion that he was acting on my father's orders. That's why I went to the palace late at night to ask my father for an explanation."

"However, after I entered the palace and saw my father's appearance, I knew that the Eighth Prince was forging an imperial edict."

"That's why I didn't want to talk about it earlier. After all, if this matter gets out of hand, it will put Father Emperor in a difficult position. Your son was thinking of resolving this privately!"

"But, to my utter surprise, that guy Lao Ba actually turned the tables and bit back! It's absolutely outrageous! This is intolerable!"

Consort Hui rose to her feet: "Your Majesty, yesterday when I saw you praising Yang'er, I could tell that the Eighth Prince was displeased. However, I didn't say anything because of my status! I never expected that he would rely on your favor to do such a rebellious thing. It's utterly despicable!"

Xiao Dingbang nodded with a dark face, then nodded to Consort Hui: "Consort Hui, Yang'er, rest assured, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer."

Xiao Yang stood up and said, "Father, I think it's not appropriate for you to get involved in this matter! Father, you can let the Ministry of Punishments handle this. You certainly trust Master Xing Shoulu... Let him investigate secretly, and Father won't have to put you in a difficult position! I don't want to punish him, I just want justice."

Xiao Dingbang nodded to Xiao Yang: "Alright, Yang'er. You get some rest. I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly. If he dares to act so recklessly, I will certainly not let him off..."

Xiao Yang cupped his hands and said, "Father, given my current health, I will not attend court. Just tell him that I am unwell."

With that, Xiao Yang got up to go back.

Looking at Xiao Yang, Xiao Dingbang was deeply moved: "Yang'er, after your trip to the northern desert, you've matured a lot and become much more sensible."

With reddened eyes, Consort Hui said to Xiao Dingbang, "Your Majesty, you can't just..."

Xiao Dingbang's gaze was firm: "Consort Hui, don't worry."

With that, Siu Ting-pong hurriedly left.

...

After returning, Xiao Yang went directly to report to Xiao Ce.

When he saw Xiao Ce's face covered in injuries, he realized that Xiao Ce's injuries were far more severe than his own.

He was dumbfounded: "Your Majesty...Brother...who did this...I will never let him get away with this."

Xiao Ce, seeing Xiao Yang's loud and boisterous manner, said, "Alright, stop yelling. It's fake..."

"Fake?" Xiao Yang was stunned for a moment, and involuntarily stepped forward.

Upon closer inspection, it's difficult to tell whether it's real or fake.

"This...is it fake?"

Xiao Ce nodded and said, "Not bad. So, what's the dog emperor's reaction?"

Xiao Yang said with some resentment, "Following what you said, my brother, he didn't believe it at first, even though he said nice things. However, he seemed to have some concerns. So, as you suggested, I had Xing Shoulu conduct a secret investigation, and I wouldn't pursue the matter. That's why he agreed. However, he still doesn't seem to believe it! It feels like he wants to ask Xiao Xiangqing before making a decision!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yang looked worried: "Brother, will we be found out if we say that just now?"

Xiao Ce said to Xiao Yang, "Don't worry! Just go back and rest. This morning at court, the emperor will inform all the officials of your great victory over the Turks in the four northern prefectures. Once the officials know, they will come to congratulate you as soon as possible. At that time, you can tell them the truth and ask them to keep it a secret!"

Xiao Yang's eyes widened in confusion: "Didn't I tell Father to keep this a secret?"

Xiao Ce smiled faintly: "You told them to keep it a secret. Even if they spread it, they won't say it was you who told them. You've been in the capital for so long, don't you understand such a simple principle? Are there secrets in the capital?"

Xiao Yang nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite: "Brother, what is my purpose in doing this? To get them to denounce Xiao Xiangqing?"

Xiao Ce shook his head and said, "You're stupid... Yesterday, I impersonated Xiao Xiangqing and came in. There were quite a few spies outside the door... If you don't talk about it, they can't hand over these spies. But if you complain about not having any evidence, they will hand these people over to Xing Shoulu in order to do you a favor."

"So many ministers from different camps, and people from various factions, handed over this person to Xing Shoulu as evidence. This completely proves that Xiao Xiangqing brazenly entered your territory. And Xiao Xiangqing cannot produce any valid evidence to say that I was there..."

"In this way, Xiao Xiangqing is destined to suffer in silence!"

Upon hearing Xiao Ce's words, Xiao Yang's eyes lit up, and he excitedly exclaimed, "Brother, you are truly a genius!"

Xiao Ce didn't want to listen to Xiao Yang's flattery, so he waved his hand and said, "Alright, go back and prepare. Someone should be here soon after the morning court session."

Xiao Yang nodded and left respectfully.

Watching Xiao Yang leave, Da Lei stepped forward and asked, "Your Highness, should we inform the Prime Minister?"

Xiao Ce naturally knew what Da Lei meant.

After all, although we didn't get any information from Xiao Xiangqing last night, we did get some useful information from Gou An.

For example, Xiao Xiangqing's plan to assassinate Yin Weiyong.

Now, Yin Pan'er is helping him guard his old home in the four prefectures of Mobei and taking care of her father, which is what Xiao Ce should do.

However, Xiao Ce was not in a hurry.

"It's alright. Logically speaking, my father-in-law will definitely come here. We'll talk about it then. Besides, Xiao Xiangqing is in such a bad state after I beat him up, he probably won't be able to get up for a few days."

Da Lei added, "They probably won't be able to get up for at least half a month!"

Xiao Ce was somewhat surprised by Da Lei's words: "It seems that the blows you took when you went in were quite powerful."

Da Lei scratched his head: "The King of Zhen is our first master and our savior! Without his guidance, we wouldn't be where we are today."

Da Lei said somewhat awkwardly, "Your Highness, I hope this won't cause you any trouble."

After listening, Xiao Ce smiled at Da Lei repeatedly. Usually, Da Lei looked indifferent and seemed to care about nothing and no one.

In retrospect, he was still someone he cared about and cherished.

"Of course not, you could kill him and it wouldn't matter."

Da Lei nodded and continued, "Your Highness, it's not that I'm worried about Xiao Xiangqing dealing with Prime Minister Yin. It's that I'm worried Prime Minister Yin is being targeted by the Hidden Dragon Society!"

Xiao Ce was much calmer than Da Lei: "There's no need to worry too much! After all, if they really wanted to take action against Yin Weiyong, they wouldn't have followed a fool like Xiao Xiangqing."

"They just want Xiao Xiangqing to give them a pledge of loyalty, no rush!"

Looking at Xiao Ce's calm expression, Da Lei gave an unusually bitter smile, and then said to Xiao Ce, "Your Highness, I was overthinking it. You must have already planned everything."

Seeing this, Xiao Ce waved his hand: "No, not at all. I haven't even had time to consider that yet. I just don't think there will be too much danger. Besides, Yin Weiyong has been a powerful figure in the court for so long. He's a cunning old fox. Killing him won't be so easy!"

Thinking of this, Xiao Ce said to Da Lei, "Go tell Xiao Yang to speak to Yin Weiyong..."

Da Lei nodded and went out.

...

In the imperial court, Xiao Dingbang told the civil and military officials about Xiao Yang's achievements in the northern desert.

The entire court was shocked.

Xiao Dingbang also showed them several thumb rings used by the Khans to identify themselves.

Some officials who were originally looking for trouble found themselves speechless when they saw these thumb rings.

Because they could see that these thumb rings were indeed the symbolic thumb rings of the Turkic Khan.

Although they had doubts, they were even happier.

After all, the threat posed by the Turks had always been a huge problem for the entire Xiao Kingdom.

Seeing that Xiao Dingbang kept praising Xiao Yang, some officials asked him why Xiao Yang didn't attend court.

Xiao Dingbang said that Xiao Yang was unwell and was recuperating at home.

After the morning court session ended, everything went as Xiao Ce had predicted.

The civil and military officials all went to the Second Prince's residence to visit Xiao Yang.

After Xiao Dingbang finished his morning court session, the eunuchs and imperial physicians he had sent out to visit Xiao Xiangqing had already returned.

The chief eunuch said to Xiao Dingbang, "Your Majesty, we have gone to visit the Eighth Prince on your behalf!"

Xiao Xiangqing asked, "How is it?"

The head eunuch looked at the imperial physician beside him: "Your Majesty, this old servant is not knowledgeable in medical matters, but the Eighth Prince does appear to be injured. Let the imperial physician report the specific details to you."

Xiao Xiangqing nodded and waved to the imperial physician, signaling him to speak.

The imperial physician bowed respectfully and replied, "Your Majesty, after examining the Eighth Prince, I can confirm that he has indeed suffered serious injuries. The most serious injury is a broken nose, as well as an impact wound to the forehead. However, fortunately, although the Eighth Prince has many injuries, none of them are fatal!"

Xiao Xiangqing narrowed her eyes slightly as she listened: "So you're saying most of them are just superficial injuries? They'll heal with some rest?"

The imperial physician nodded: "Your Majesty, that's a fair assessment."

Xiao Xiangqing then asked, "How does it compare to Xiao Yang's injuries?"

The imperial physician said, "The Second Prince's injuries are much more serious and his condition is much more dangerous."

"Although the Second Prince only suffered a head injury, it was very severe, as the head is one of the most vulnerable parts of the body. He was lucky to survive; even his skull bones were fractured. Clearly, the assailant was aiming to kill him!"

"Although the Eighth Prince also had a head injury, it was just a minor cut, and none of the other injuries on his body were dangerous. In short, although the Second Prince had few injuries, his position was extremely dangerous, and he could be killed if he was not careful. It is clear that the perpetrators were after his life."

"While the Eighth Prince appears to have many injuries, judging from the nature of the injuries, the perpetrators were primarily acting out of anger and did not intend to kill him."

After finishing his sentence, the imperial physician cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, of course, these are all judgments made by your own observations!"

Xiao Dingbang nodded: "Alright, you may leave. I understand this matter."

The imperial physician bowed and said, "Your subject takes his leave."

Xiao Dingbang pondered for a moment, then said to the imperial physician, "By the way, keep this matter a secret! Don't mention it to anyone."

The imperial physician bowed in agreement and withdrew.

Xiao Dingbang said to the chief eunuch beside him, "Eighth Prince, what did he say to you?"

The head eunuch then repeated Xiao Dingbang's words verbatim: "The Eighth Prince said that the First Prince Xiao Ce, along with a thug, intercepted him on the way, knocked him unconscious, secretly brought him into his residence, beat him severely, and threatened him to release the Prince of Zhen, and asked him why he wanted to harm the Prince of Zhen?"

After listening, Xiao Dingbang sneered: "Do you think he's lying?"