Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 406 Deliberately

By the next day, news of Jiu Que's identity had spread throughout the entire Great Jing. People in the Great Jing had different attitudes toward this matter, but the vast majority were happy.

Especially for the common people, royalty was far too distant and unfamiliar to them, yet this Prince Chen was someone who genuinely worked for their benefit. At the very least, this Prince Chen had utterly defeated the grasslands that constantly raided the borders, even capturing the entire grassland royal family. Such a royal relative, and the Emperor's beloved son at that, perfectly matched the expectations of ordinary people in their reading material. Such a legendary life would only increase public interest.

Therefore, the news spread throughout the streets and alleys early the next morning.

At the same time, he didn't forget to criticize the main villain in the story, Lin Wei.

Before this, ordinary people only knew that Lin Wei had once separated from Prince Chen and left the clan, and thought that the father and daughter just had a bad relationship. But now it is clear that Lin Wei got the benefits but was unwilling to fulfill his original promise. No one would like such a faithless person.

Moreover, the people had such a good impression of General Ying that even after the illegitimate daughter incident, no one dared to say a bad word about him. Anyone who hesitated to bring it up was met with attacks from their friends and family.

"General Ying didn't do anything heinous. She just got pregnant with her lover's child before they were married. What's the big deal? She made things clear to Lin Wei when they got married. It was Lin Wei who broke the contract. If he had raised our Prince Chen properly, would all of this have happened? So it's all his fault."

"This one……"

"What? Am I right?"

"Yes, yes! That's what I think too."

Thus, the matter spread at an astonishing speed. The only one likely to be injured in this affair was Lin Wei. However, after the palace banquet last night, he didn't return to the Lin residence; instead, he was secretly detained and is currently imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice jail.

The Ministry of Justice prison was Chunyu Shuang's stronghold, and Lin Wei was truly helpless there. While in jail, Lin Wei kept reviewing the events of the previous night. He couldn't understand why the usually obedient Xu Minghui had suddenly acted like a madwoman, falsely accusing him. Husband and wife were supposed to be one; even if Xu Minghui wasn't his legal wife, she was a concubine who had been with him for many years. Did she think she would be better off if he were to fall?

But then I thought, Xu Minghui gained her freedom by denouncing me, so maybe she's actually better off than me. And what about His Majesty's reaction? He acknowledged Ying Jiuque as his daughter way too quickly! According to procedure, it should take at least a month or two of investigation before announcing Ying Jiuque's true identity to the world. But His Majesty seems oblivious to all of this, as if he already knew about it and it was just a formality.

What angered Lin Wei the most was that after this ordeal, Ying Jiuque had completely broken free from him, and it would no longer be legitimate for him to use his biological father's identity to seek benefits in the future.

Why did this happen? His life had been going smoothly until now; even his daughter, whom he had abandoned years ago, had become a prince. But overnight, everything he had vanished…

Just as he was feeling miserable, an unexpected guest arrived at the prison. When they saw who it was, Lin Wei and Lin Moran, who was next to him, were so angry that they almost gritted their teeth until they bled.

"Xu Minghui, how dare you come here! You've ruined everything for me!" Xu Minghui, who had come here early in the morning, was most eager to see Lin Wei's angry yet helpless face. Now that she had her wish, the bright smile on her face was impossible to hide.

She smiled warmly at the father and son before her. Xu Minghui usually preferred to wear muted colors, but today she was unusually dressed in a light pink gown. To be honest, Xu Minghui didn't actually look old; in fact, she looked radiant and beautiful, her nails even painted with delicate nail polish. After relinquishing her status as Lin Shilang's most favored concubine, she didn't seem to be worse off; on the contrary, she seemed more energetic. But only one night had passed—could the impact on a person really be that significant?

Facing Lin Wei's angry yet suspicious expression, Xu Minghui leisurely blew the prison dust off her fingernails.

"You guessed right, I'm here today to show off. Lin Wei, how does it feel to be in jail? You've been living the high life for almost twenty years, and today you've finally fallen. If it weren't for the timing, I would have bought a string of firecrackers last night to shake off the bad luck of the past twenty years."

"What exactly do you want? I am the Vice Minister of Rites. Be careful, once I leave, your good days will be over."

"Oh dear, I'm really scared."

Xu Minghui feigned a frightened expression, her manner affected and artificial, but it was all on purpose. Lin Wei's discomfort made her feel better.

"May I ask why a dignified Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites would be imprisoned? Have all the officials in the Ministry of Justice gotten it wrong? Don't forget where you are. If you haven't committed any crimes, why would you be locked up in the Ministry of Justice's prison? Lin Wei, you may have forgotten the mistakes you've made over the years, but I remember them clearly. Tell me, what would I do to prevent you from getting out of the Ministry of Justice's prison and taking revenge on me?"

Lin Wei looked at Xu Minghui in disbelief. At this moment, he was finally afraid. He never expected that there was such a venomous snake hiding by his side. She was usually silent, but she had been harboring evil intentions all along, just waiting to bite him at the critical moment.

He tried his best to calm himself down, even resorting to appealing to family ties.

“Minghui, we’ve been husband and wife for eighteen years. As the saying goes, even a day as husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness. We’ve been together for far more than just a day. Besides, we have two children. Even if you don’t think about me, you should think about Moran. He was implicated and imprisoned at such a young age. Even if I did something wrong, what did he do wrong? He’s still young and has a long life ahead of him. You are his mother. We have to think about the children, don’t we?”

Lin Moran then revealed a bitter face and scrambled to the prison door, his voice filled with sorrow.

"Mother, please save me! They'll torture me, I'm scared! I've always been afraid of pain, Mother, have you forgotten?"

"..."

Looking at her son, Xu Minghui was momentarily lost in thought, but she quickly recovered, revealing an extremely complicated expression. She had almost forgotten that Lin Moran and Lin Wei were practically identical in their selfishness and hypocrisy. Fortunately, she had come here today to tell Lin Wei that momentous event that was enough to drive him mad.

"You're right, I really have to show leniency because of our years of friendship, so I'm here today to tell you something important."