I, the villainous eldest prince, will suppress everything!

An hour later, Han Zhen returned to the palace.

"Your Majesty, Consort Hui, your subject…"

Han Zhen hesitated to continue after he had just opened his mouth.

Because he knew that once this news was revealed, it would provoke the Emperor Xuan's furious wrath.

But if he didn't speak up, it would be another crime of deceiving the emperor. Left with no other choice, Han Zhen could only grit his teeth and say, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I failed in my duties. The Third Prince... he was murdered by the First Prince and is dead, his body severed from his body..."

"Now, the corpse lies outside the hall!"

After saying that, Han Zhen quickly buried his head deep in the ground, not daring to raise it.

Upon hearing this, Consort Hui's eyes rolled back, and she fainted instantly.

Emperor Xuan was no better off; he slumped on his dragon throne, heartbroken and aged several years in an instant.

The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment, then quickly waved to the palace servants to carefully carry Consort Hui away and summon the imperial physician.

"Your Majesty, please accept my deepest condolences!"

After Consort Hui was carried away by the palace servants, the ministers unanimously advised her against it.

Emperor Xuan snapped out of his daze, slammed his fist on the dragon throne before him with a deafening roar, and roared, "Consider yourselves! How can I possibly accept your grief! You have no sons to mourn!"

With red eyes, Emperor Xuan looked at Han Zhen and demanded through gritted teeth, "Why haven't you brought that rebellious son back to me?!"

"I am incompetent!"

Han Zhen lowered his head even further and closed his eyes, fearing the Emperor's punishment.

It's not that he didn't try to catch them, it's that he simply couldn't.

Qin Li somehow acquired two skilled and burly men.

Although none of them were as skilled as him, when they joined forces, they were able to overpower him, the number one expert in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

He was fine when he left, but when he came back, he had a bruised and swollen face, several broken ribs, and was still in pain, gasping for breath.

If I hadn't run fast, I would have lost my life outside Tianxiang Tower.

"Summon the Imperial Guards! Arrest the rebellious son and bring him to the palace immediately!"

"I want to ask him myself why he killed his own brother!"

Upon hearing this, the commander of the Imperial Guards outside the palace was secretly pleased and was about to clasp his hands in greeting to receive the order to lead his men out of the palace to arrest Qin Li.

Originally, their Imperial Guards were not as prestigious as Han Zhen's Imperial Guards. When they ate together, the Imperial Guards would get their food first, and the rest of them would eat the leftovers.

This is great, the opportunity has finally come.

As long as Qin Li is captured and brought to the palace, the Imperial Guards will be able to turn the tide, and he will be able to surpass Han Zhen. Just thinking about it makes him happy.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't!"

An elderly minister with a square face and a short, gray beard stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Your Majesty, please rescind your decree!"

Emperor Xuan glared angrily, repeatedly pounding his fist on the dragon table before him, the blows resounding loudly.

"Huangfu Song, you too are defying me!"

Huangfu Song is currently the Minister of War. He is a military general, but he completely relinquished his military power a few years ago, thus gaining the complete trust of Emperor Xuan.

Along with the other two, the two heroes of the Ministry of Rites, the brothers Zhao Guanwen and Zhao Guanli, were the three people most trusted by Emperor Xuan.

"Your subject dares not!"

Huangfu Song bowed and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Then why did you ask me to retract my order? Are you just going to stand by and watch that murderer go unpunished!"

Emperor Xuan must capture Qin Li, interrogate him severely, and then punish him.

Huangfu Song gave the Zhao brothers a wink, and they immediately understood.

They coughed twice, then secretly waved to Han Zhen and the palace servants serving in the hall, telling them to leave quickly, one by one.

What followed was not something they could listen to.

Han Zhen and the palace servants were already used to this situation, and they all bowed and began to leave the main hall.

After Han Zhen was the last to leave, he closed the door of the main hall with a creak as he went out.

Huangfu Song then answered Emperor Xuan's question, saying, "Your Majesty, at this critical moment, you absolutely must not send anyone to arrest the First Prince!"

"If His Majesty makes a hasty arrest before understanding the whole story, he will surely suffer the consequences."

"Hasn't Your Majesty suffered such losses enough before?"

Emperor Xuan couldn't help but recall past events, and the three of them began to reminisce together.

The most recent event was the snowstorm in Beijing a year ago!

At that time, the capital city was hit by a once-in-a-century snow disaster.

Houses collapsed, countless people were displaced.

The eldest prince, Qin Li, volunteered to go to the disaster relief effort!

Halfway through the relief efforts, someone impeached Qin Li, accusing him of embezzling disaster relief funds.

The story is presented in a very detailed and convincing manner, and most importantly, it is supported by evidence.

Emperor Xuan was overjoyed and immediately dispatched the imperial guards to arrest Qin Li.

The three judicial departments will conduct a joint trial to prepare for the punishment of Qin Li.

But, to everyone's surprise, they did manage to bring the person back.

However, in the imperial court, the witnesses turned against him on the spot, leaving Emperor Xuan in an awkward position.

Finally, Qin Li got what he wanted, and the matter was considered closed.

Many things like this have happened over the years.

Each time, it gave people a chance to bring down Qin Li.

But often in the end, the situation takes a complete 180-degree turn.

Qin Li did it on purpose; he deliberately set a trap to lure Emperor Xuan into it.

Therefore, Huangfu Song believes that this time, it was also a trap set by Qin Li.

Sending men out of the palace to rashly arrest Qin Li would surely fall into Qin Li's trap.

The brothers Zhao Guanwen and Zhao Guanli nodded in agreement, requesting Emperor Xuan to rescind his order.

Emperor Xuan thought about it carefully. Although he gave up the idea of ​​sending people to arrest Qin Li, he really couldn't swallow this anger.

That's his own brother, how could he dare to do that? How could he be so heartless?

"Then tell me, what should we do now?" Emperor Xuan asked in a booming voice.

Doing nothing is not the way Emperor Xuan operates.

Qin Li cruelly murdered the third son. If he does nothing, how will he, the emperor, put his face? Officials and common people will all talk about him, saying that he is afraid of Qin Li.

Huangfu Song had a plan in mind. He said, "First of all, we must find out the whole story of how the First Prince killed the Third Prince. Based on my understanding of the First Prince, he would not have killed the Third Prince without a reason, thus handing over a handle to Your Majesty."

"Secondly, find out why the Crown Prince suddenly returned to the capital, and what the current situation is at the border."

"Third, send someone out of the palace, not to arrest him, but to invite him—invite the Crown Prince into the palace!"

"Excellent, excellent!" The Zhao brothers nodded repeatedly.

Huangfu Song's words were reasonable and well-founded, so Emperor Xuan had no choice but to accept them and ordered them to quickly carry out these three tasks.

He was going to see his third son's body. He was perfectly fine last night, even coming to pay his respects, so well-behaved and sensible. How could the father and son be separated by death this morning?

"My son..."

……

At this moment.

Qin Li was in his own mansion, soaking in a bathtub, washing away the dust and fatigue of his journey.

During these past few months at the border, I've rarely had the chance to take a bath, let alone enjoy a hot bath like this.

So comfortable~

With a sigh, Qin Li called out without even opening his eyes:

"Someone, add some more hot water!"

A moment later, the door to the room creaked open.

The person carrying the bucket of hot water was struggling to lift it with both hands, shaking it back and forth.

After passing the four-fold screen depicting flowers and birds, we arrived at the bathtub.

She put the bucket down, rolled up her sleeves, picked up a ladle, scooped up a ladleful of hot water, and added it to the bathtub.

"hiss--"

"Are you trying to scald this prince to death?!"

"How long has it been since I last returned? Have you all forgotten how to serve me?"

"One day, I'll sell all of you clumsy maids off..."

The scalding hot water splashed onto Qin Li, burning him so much that he quickly moved to the side.

He opened his eyes and began to berate the maid, but before he could finish, Qin Li changed his words, "Why is it you?"

The clumsy maid was none other than Song Qian.

Song Qian changed into clean clothes, but her hair was still wet, clearly indicating that she had changed before coming.

"Couldn't it be me?"

This time, Song Qian added hot water to the bathtub more carefully, and said with lowered eyes, "This humble woman has long since acknowledged Your Highness as her master, and can be considered Your Highness's maid. Serving Your Highness a bath is what this humble woman should do."

Upon hearing this, Qin Li smiled slightly, took the towel out of the water and draped it over the edge of the bathtub, "Alright, since you're going to serve me, then add more hot water and give this prince a back rub."

After saying that, Qin Li closed his eyes again and enjoyed his hot bath.

After carefully adding the hot water, Song Qian reached out and picked up the towel.

But she dared not touch Qin Li's skin, as if Qin Li's skin had thorns on it.

She'll prick him if she touches him!

"Hurry up, what are you dawdling for? The water's getting cold."

Qin Li urged him on, a smile still playing on his lips.

With a determined look, Song Qian picked up a towel and began wiping Qin Li's shoulder.

To be honest, she had never served anyone else a bath in her entire life, let alone a man; she was always the one being served.

This was the first time she had served a man a bath, and she felt strange, a feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on.

I can't say I hate it, nor can I say I like it; it's just strange.

As Song Qian clumsily wiped his back, Qin Li asked, "Are your two loyal servants alright? I don't think I'm too late."