After the eldest sister-in-law of a fishing family became a widow, her disabled younger brother-in-l

The emperor asked, "Has the case of the river bandits in Jiangnan been investigated?"

"Your Majesty, I have not failed in your mission and have dealt with that gang of rebels."

Song Jinglan answered, then took out a stack of confessions from his sleeve and handed them to the emperor.

"When my brother was suppressing the river bandits, he discovered that these villains, in addition to openly robbing the government's tribute ships, were also colluding with the Nanzhao Kingdom, repeatedly offering treasures to them. These confessions came from several of the bandit leaders, who readily admitted to their actions, and..."

At this point, Song Jinglan paused slightly, "Moreover, they confessed that they were acting on the orders of the Second Prince, and I also collected a lot of evidence of their communications with the Second Prince from their stronghold. It seems that this is indeed true and not just empty slander."

Upon hearing this, the emperor's hands trembled as he examined the confession, his face turned ashen, his breathing became rapid, and he swayed as if he were about to collapse at any moment.

He truly never imagined that all of this was done by his good son, Song Yunming!

"In addition, the Second Prince also wiped out the entire Jiang family, the richest family in Jiangnan."

Although this matter seemed insignificant compared to the case of the river bandits, Song Jinglan still mentioned it when thinking of Jiang Yuyue, "It seems that the Second Prince took such action to seize something from the Jiang family, and even colluded with the government afterwards to judge the incident as an accident caused by an ordinary fire."

The old emperor sighed deeply upon hearing this. He had thought his son was just a little unruly, but he never imagined that he had done so many heinous things behind the scenes!

"You've had a tough time these past few days."

The emperor gave a wry smile, but seeing that Song Jinglan's complexion was much better than before, he asked, "I see that you are in much better spirits than before. How is your illness? Have you found a doctor who can treat this disease?"

"Thanks to Your Majesty, my illness has greatly improved. I am sorry to have troubled Your Majesty."

Song Jinglan said calmly, "As for you, Your Majesty, you should take good care of your health."

When talking about his health, the old emperor could only smile bitterly. He was now in his twilight years, and even if Hua Tuo were alive again, he could not make him well.

not to mention……

Thinking about Song Yunming's actions, the emperor was extremely heartbroken. He no longer had the energy to deal with this person, but the throne could never be passed on to such a person.

However, apart from Song Yunming, he was equally dissatisfied with both Song Chengyan and Song Shiyou. After this incident, he also had some guesses that Song Jinglan's "illness" was probably caused by one of his sons.

After all, Song Jinglan had always been healthy and never suffered from minor illnesses. This illness came on suddenly and almost took his life. None of the imperial physicians could figure out what the illness was. At the time, the emperor felt something was strange, but he did not think about it in that direction.

But now...

The emperor sighed deeply again, turned his gaze to Song Jinglan, and looked at his face, which was very similar to that of the late emperor. He slowly said, "Now I see that I am about to die, but my sons are all useless. Let's not talk about the second son, Song Yunming. The eldest prince and the third prince... who do you think I should make the emperor?"

Song Jinglan neither agreed nor disagreed, saying, "Your Majesty, I dare not presume to discuss the matter of establishing an heir; I leave it entirely to Your Majesty to decide."

Seeing that Song Jinglan refused to respond, the emperor was quite helpless and continued to speak to himself, "Even if you don't say it, I know in my heart that none of the princes are fit to be emperor. If I were to hand over the throne to any one of them, I'm afraid there would never be peace in the world."

After saying this, the emperor looked at Song Jinglan again, "But if it were you... you would surely be a better emperor than me."

These words made Song Jinglan's expression stiffen, but he still did not respond to the emperor's words, but subtly avoided the topic.

"Your Majesty has said enough today, and it is inconvenient for me to stay here and disturb your recovery. Please take good care of yourself and I will visit you again when I have time."

After saying this, Song Jinglan stood up, bowed, and slowly withdrew. The emperor shook his head helplessly at this scene, his expression extremely complicated.

When Eunuch Liu, who was waiting outside, saw Song Jinglan come out, he hurriedly went up to her and said, "Your Highness, why are you leaving after only a short while? His Majesty is always thinking about you. If Your Highness could stay and talk with His Majesty more, it would be good for His Majesty's health!"

"Your Majesty needs to rest and recuperate due to your illness."

Song Jinglan replied, "Since Baili Zixuan has asserted that the emperor is only a few days away, then any further efforts will be in vain. I will trouble Eunuch Liu to take good care of him."

After saying this, Song Jinglan took a step and left. Eunuch Liu could not stop him any longer, so he went into the bedchamber to check on the emperor's condition. But for some reason, the emperor's face became even more unpleasant after seeing Prince Jing.

After Zhang Ziqing and his entourage met with Song Jinglan in the palace, the news that Prince Jing was still alive immediately spread out of the palace. Although Prime Minister Li Daocong had not been involved in the struggle for the crown prince position these days, he still quickly received the news.

"What!?"

Li Dao was extremely shocked to hear this from a servant. "Is this true? His Highness Prince Jing is really still alive!?"

"Absolutely true!"

The servant nodded repeatedly, "Today, Minister Zhang led many ministers into the palace again, and they happened to run into His Highness Prince Jing entering the palace to meet the Emperor. All the ministers saw it clearly, and it must be His Highness Prince Jing! Now everyone outside is talking about it!"

Upon hearing this, Li Daocong immediately beamed with joy. "Good! Good! I told you long ago that Prince Jing was not someone who would die easily! His Highness is indeed still alive!"

These words reached Li Shiying's ears as she stepped into the study, startling her so much that she dropped the tea set she was holding.

"Prince Jing... His Highness Prince Jing is still alive!?"

Li Shiying disregarded the shattered teacup and hurried forward, asking anxiously, "Father, is Prince Jing really still alive!?"

Seeing his daughter like this, Li Daocong immediately smiled and said, "Of course! Although I haven't seen her yet, Your Highness is blessed with good fortune and has indeed returned safely!"

Hearing this, Li Shiying's eyes filled with tears, and she covered her mouth in disbelief. For the past two years, she had been trying to find out about Song Jinglan, but she had not found a single word about him. There were even rumors that he had died long ago, but she just didn't believe it. She never expected that today... he would actually come back!