Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 716: Chapter 351 Crown Prince’s Anger_2

As they were speaking, someone walked in, took out a secret letter from their chest, and handed it to Lv Cong.

Lv Cong took it and hurriedly handed it over to the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince quickly opened it to have a look, then his face turned livid.

Seeing the Crown Prince’s face change, Lv Cong felt a twinge in his heart and cautiously asked, "Your Highness, what happened?"

The Crown Prince, in anger, crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it fiercely to the ground.

"Old Seven!!!"

Lv Cong quickly picked up the letter, smoothed it out, and placed it aside without daring to look at it.

"Old Seven is quite something!" The Crown Prince wished he could kill Prince Jing on the spot. "Go and invite Uncle."

"Yes, Your Highness."

An hour later, Duke Zhen arrived at the Eastern Palace, and the Crown Prince handed him the letter sent from Jinling.

Duke Zhen saw the Crown Prince’s expression and knew it wasn’t good news. He quickly looked down at the letter, and upon finishing, his face mirrored the Crown Prince’s dark look.

"Uncle, we can’t allow Aunt and Seventh Brother to continue any longer," the Crown Prince said coldly. "If we let them continue their antics, everything we’ve done in Jinling will be for nothing."

Duke Zhen was well aware of this, and with a solemn face said, "I’ll go to see the Empress now."

"Uncle, Aunt won’t listen to you. If you try to ask her to stop her actions in Jinling, it’s impossible," the Crown Prince sneered. "I never expected Aunt and Seventh Brother to get help from the Song family. Uncle, both you and I underestimated them. Now with the Song family’s help, they’re busy dealing with Jinling’s elite families."

He continued, "Even if Jinling’s elite families joined forces, they’re no match for the Song family. The Song family has been cooperating with us before, so they know quite a bit about what we’ve been doing. If Seventh Brother manages to obtain evidence of our activities through the Song family’s help and hands it to the Emperor, we’ll both be done for, Uncle."

Duke Zhen understood, "This time, I will no longer indulge their mother and son." He stood up, his face stern, and said, "If the Empress doesn’t listen to me, then don’t blame me for not considering family ties."

"Uncle, if Seventh Brother returns from Jinling, all our efforts over the years in Jinling will be wasted." The Crown Prince didn’t need to say more, but his meaning was clear.

Duke Zhen understood what the Crown Prince meant. He furrowed his brows slightly and said in a deep voice, "If the Empress doesn’t listen to me, Prince Jing will not return from Jinling alive."

With Duke Zhen’s words, the Crown Prince felt reassured.

"I hope Aunt will listen to Uncle."

"I will go see the Empress." Duke Zhen did not bow to the Crown Prince but left the Eastern Palace directly.

After Duke Zhen left, Lv Cong asked, "Your Highness, do you think the Empress will listen to Duke Zhen?"

The Crown Prince sneered, "If Aunt was willing to obediently listen to Uncle, there wouldn’t be so many issues now."

"If the Empress and Prince Jing don’t comply, will Duke Zhen really kill Prince Jing?"

"Old Seven aims to harm us this time. Even if Uncle does consider family ties, he won’t spare Seventh Brother." The Crown Prince spoke with absolute certainty, "In Uncle’s heart, no one is more important than the Duke Mansion, not even Aunt and Seventh Brother."

Meanwhile, Empress Xie learned that Duke Zhen was seeking an audience; she knew why her elder brother had come to see her and had Jiang Chuan send Duke Zhen away.

"Duke Zhen, the Empress is not feeling well and isn’t receiving guests. Please go back."

Duke Zhen naturally realized it was an excuse. He replied icily, "Tell the Empress that if she refuses to see me, she must bear the consequences."

Jiang Chuan hurried back and relayed Duke Zhen’s message verbatim to Empress Xie.

Seeing Duke Zhen’s threat, Empress Xie was very angry. She wanted to insist on not seeing Duke Zhen but was uneasy in her heart, so she had Jiang Chuan bring Duke Zhen in.

When Duke Zhen arrived and saw Empress Xie, he did not bow but instead looked at her mockingly and said, "Little sister, I’ve really underestimated you."

Empress Xie understood Duke Zhen’s implication. She smiled smugly and said, "Big brother, I told you not to underestimate me, or the consequences wouldn’t be something you could handle."

"I never imagined that Mother would leave the Song family to you." Duke Zhen knew of the connection between the Old Duchess and the Song family, but he never realized it was so strong, strong enough for the Song family to fully support his little sister and them.

"Because Mother foresaw that you wouldn’t help me." Mentioning this matter made Empress Xie seethe with anger, "Only Mother loved me the most, so she left the Song family to assist me and Jing Er."

"Mother helped you but endangered the entire Xie family!" Duke Zhen never expected that, in his mother’s heart, his little sister was more important than the entire Xie family. "You oppose me and the Crown Prince to ensure Prince Jing receives the Emperor’s favor!"

"You refused to help us, what could I do but rely on myself?" Empress Xie glared at Duke Zhen with her fury-filled eyes, "What’s wrong with wanting my son to be the Crown Prince!"

"You want your son to be the Crown Prince, but you’re dragging the entire Xie family to ruin. Don’t forget you are a daughter of the Xie family!"

"I always thought of myself as a daughter of the Xie family, but how have you treated me? You never helped me. I told you I didn’t want the son of that slut Xie Wan to be Crown Prince, but you wouldn’t listen, you insisted on assisting that slut’s son to secure his position as Crown Prince." Empress Xie stepped in front of Duke Zhen, her eyes burning with venom as she glared at him, "Not only did you not help me, but you also threatened me. Now that I have a way for Jing Er to become Crown Prince, you come to stop me. Who do you think you are?"

"Xie Yi, do you think the Emperor will really make Prince Jing the Crown Prince?"

"Even if the Emperor ultimately doesn’t make Jing Er the Crown Prince, I won’t let that slut Xie Wan’s son remain Crown Prince, nor will I allow her son to ascend the throne in the future!"

Upon hearing this, Duke Zhen shouted in disbelief, "Xie Yi, are you insane?!"

Empress Xie lifted her lips, her face showing a twisted and frenzied smile: "As long as I’m around, I will never let that slut Xie Wan’s son take the throne! Never!"