At this time, a woman, wearing a gold-patterned brocade robe paired with a flared light pink skirt, was walking gracefully into the main hall. She still looked well-preserved even though she was almost fifty years old.

  Behind her followed a twenty-eight to twenty-nine-year-old man dressed in a long azure robe. His long hair was tied high, and his skin was considered quite fair and clear.

  “This concubine greets the king! Greetings to the queen.”


  “You’ve raised a good son!” The king grabbed an inkstone and smashed it at Noble Consort Lin’s forehead without a second word.

  Noble Consort Lin immediately paled in shock, and she abruptly groveled on the floor, trembling as she inquired, “This concubine is unaware, for what reason is my king this furious?”


  “Bang!” The inkstone smashed at Noble Consort Lin’s feet, scaring the noble consort into turning ashen.

  “You still have the gall to ask Us!!” The king paced back and forth on the steps and shouted in fury, “Why aren’t you asking the good son that you raised?”


  His third son, Mo Teng, immediately knelt down and repeatedly cried out his grievance, “Royal Father, Royal Father! What wrong exactly did this son commit? Why are you treating Mother Consort like this?”


  “Is this yours?” The king grabbed the jade pendant in a half-moon shape from the table and threw it at Mo Teng’s face with a slap. “We remember that this is the present your mother consort gave to you in front of everyone for your tenth birthday. Is it this one? There’s even your character ‘Teng’ engraved on the back!”


  Mo Teng was struck with panic and cried out hastily, “Royal Father, why is this jade pendant here? I had already lost this jade pendant more than two days ago! Royal Father, will Royal Father exercise your penetrating judgment!”


  How could the king believe his nonsense? Instead, he went forward and kicked his son into toppling over. “You shameful scoundrel! You just happened to lose it right on the bodies of the assassins that attempted to assassinate your Sixth Brother?? You think We are so easy to deceive, right!”


  Mo Teng’s eyes bulged in alarm. He had naturally also received the news that the crown prince had been ambushed at Huabei Gate. At that time, he had even been rejoicing in the crown prince’s misfortune.

  He didn’t expect for this unfathomable fire to suddenly burn onto his own body.

  What was going on? He didn’t do anything at all! This jade pendant had indeed already gone missing three days ago. How should he know how this jade pendant appeared at the scene of the crown prince’s assassination?

  He was being framed, someone was definitely framing him!

  “Royal Father!!” The unfortunate third prince, Mo Teng, shuffled forward on his knees and tearfully hugged the old king’s thigh while crying out miserably, “It really isn’t this son! This son can swear to the heavens that if he really did send people to assassinate Sixth Brother, then this son will be struck by lightning and die miserably!! Royal Father, think about it! If this son had truly sent people to assassinate Sixth Brother, how would this son leave this kind of leverage at the crime scene! Ahhh, Royal Father! You have to believe this son! This son most definitely didn’t do this!”


  The crown prince gazed at the unlucky third prince and sighed before saying, “Royal Father, I also believe that Third Royal Brother wasn’t the one who did this.”


  The third prince Mo Teng simply didn’t dare believe his ears. The legendary crown prince younger brother that was akin to a cleansing spring breeze on the outside, but was in fact extremely cold-hearted and merciless on the inside, was actually pleading on his behalf today?

  The old king pulled a long face, with distaste hanging coldly on the corner of his lips. He budged his leg a bit before directly yanking it out of Mo Teng’s embrace.

  “Verbal speech is not enough as proof. I will dispatch people to investigate this incident thoroughly! Starting today, until the truth of this matter comes to light, obediently stay inside the Third Prince’s Estate and don’t come out.”


  Immediately, Noble Consort Lin lay limp on the floor and called out continuously, “Your Majesty, the third prince is innocent, Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”


  As the king didn’t want to hear any more, he instead rebuked Noble Consort Lin angrily. “You’re also grounded for three days, and carefully reflect on what kind of son you’ve taught.”


  ——