The whole family is obsessed with love? The princess woke them up one after another.

Everyone: "..."

The clue came too quickly.

Everyone who has been in office for so many years understands this.

Emperor Kangwu summoned the people in. Besides the guards from Prince Rui's residence, there were also government soldiers and some other...witnesses?

After the guards from Prince Rui's residence finished bowing, they reported back, "Your Majesty, the identity of that burly man has been thoroughly investigated."

"He is indeed a kitchen helper at the tavern."

Qi Zhiyu laughed: "It really is fake."

"A kitchen helper dared to defame the princess in front of the Prince's mansion... It seems that the person who ordered him must be of considerable status."

After Qi Zhiyu finished speaking, everyone sighed inwardly. Wouldn't it have been better for the princess to just state the name of the Prince of Wu?

"Didn't the man who came later say that he saw someone give that strong man silver to bribe him? Did that person investigate?" Qi Zhiyu asked.

The guard reported back, "Your Highness, based on the clues, I suspect it was a servant from the Prince of Wu's residence."

"However, we can't just rush to investigate."

Qi Zhiyu turned to Emperor Kangwu: "Grandfather, how is this related to the Prince of Wu again?"

"Does he hate us that much?"

Why does he hate us?

"Just because he lost his position as crown prince, and my father is powerful and might become crown prince in the future, he's resentful and is targeting us at every turn?"

"But when my father was deposed as crown prince and became a prince, he didn't target him!"

Grand Secretary Zhang nodded slightly. Very well, the King of Wu is destined to bear the reputation of being narrow-minded.

The key point is that there's no way to refute it yet.

Indeed, when Prince Rui was deposed as crown prince and Prince Wu ascended to the throne as crown prince, Prince Rui never once targeted Prince Wu in all these years.

Moreover, everyone in Prince Rui's mansion was exceptionally humble and unassuming.

The difference between the two is immediately apparent.

"Father," Prince Rui suddenly stepped forward and spoke.

All eyes turned to Prince Rui. What was he going to do?

Added insult to injury?

"Your Majesty, I believe this was not done by the King of Wu." The King of Rui's words shocked everyone.

Did Prince Rui speak up for the King of Wu?

Just as everyone was astonished, Grand Secretary Zhang quickly looked at Qi Zhiyu.

His gaze had barely swept over when Qi Zhiyu noticed it immediately. She curled the corners of her lips and calmly looked away.

Grand Secretary Zhang's heart skipped a beat.

As expected of a princess, she is both perceptive and composed.

The princess noticed his gaze and knew what he was thinking, but she didn't care at all.

It seems that everything is under the princess's control.

"Oh?" Emperor Kangwu's interest was piqued. "What do you mean?"

"Originally, I intended to report to Your Majesty after the court session," Prince Rui sighed, then took out a thick letter and presented it with both hands.

The eunuch immediately went over, took it, and presented it to Emperor Kangwu.

"This is something someone threw into my residence last night," Prince Rui said in a deep voice. "It records Zhou Lizhen's actions during his tenure as prefect."

"The various crimes of embezzlement and abuse of power are listed in detail above."

Emperor Kangwu opened the letter and flipped through it: "It's quite detailed."

Zhou Lizhen's forehead instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

What's going on?

How could such a thing exist?

"Your Majesty, I believe that even if the King of Wu has some ulterior motives, he would not truly disregard the fate of the nation and target me," Prince Rui said loudly.

"There must be someone with ulterior motives deliberately stirring up trouble and smearing King Wu."

"I wonder what they're trying to gain from this?"

Emperor Kangwu nodded slightly: "This matter certainly needs to be thoroughly investigated."

Emperor Kangwu immediately ordered a special team to investigate.

An investigation can't yield immediate results.

Those who should be detained should be detained, and those who should be interrogated should be interrogated.

Because of Emperor Kangwu's orders, when the Prefect of Jingzhao went to the Prince of Wu's residence to bring people back to the yamen for investigation, the people from the Prince of Wu's residence did not dare to stop him.

After the civil and military officials left, Prince Rui was kept behind by Emperor Kangwu.

Only the father and son were in the imperial study. Emperor Kangwu stared at Prince Rui without saying a word.

Prince Rui scratched his cheek with his index finger: "Father, why are you staring at me like that?"

"Which part of the scheme was orchestrated by you?" Emperor Kangwu asked bluntly.

Prince Rui looked innocently at Emperor Kangwu: "Father, why do you think of us like that?"

Emperor Kangwu raised his hand.

Prince Rui quickly said, "The evidence against Zhou Lizhen was discovered through our investigation."

Emperor Kangwu withdrew his hand from the feather duster he was reaching for, and sneered, "You've been carrying it around all this time, waiting for them to make a move so you can present it to them at any time?"

Prince Rui smiled smugly: "How could that be?"

"Yu'er reminded me last night to bring it to court today."

"Wearing something this thick every day must be tiring, right?"

"Yu'er really cares about me."

Emperor Kangwu spoke earnestly, "My lord..."

"Father?" Prince Rui asked, puzzled.

"Sitting in this position, one certainly can't be too concerned about saving face," Emperor Kangwu said, looking at him. "But one also can't be too shameless."

Prince Rui said nonchalantly, "Father, I know what I'm doing."

"Besides, I just can't help but show off because my daughter is so outstanding."

"As parents, having a good child makes it hard to contain our pride!"

Emperor Kangwu was so angry he laughed: "Indeed, who told me I didn't have a good child to brag about?"

Prince Rui: "..."

His father went too far.

They've started being intersex.

"Besides this, what about the others?" Emperor Kangwu asked.

"Oh, that's the person who bribed the kitchen staff. We hired someone to impersonate him. He pretended to be Qi Jinghong's servant." Prince Rui didn't hide anything and told him everything.

Emperor Kangwu frowned slightly, already knowing the answer: "What? Has the Marquis of Guangping made a move?"

Marquis of Guangping was the maternal grandfather of a son of the King of Wu.

"Father, it has to be you again." Prince Rui laughed happily.

Emperor Kangwu looked at his wayward son, a sharp pain shooting through his forehead: "You treat the struggle for the crown prince position like a game?"

Prince Rui scoffed, "Anyway, I'll definitely be the final winner."

Having a good daughter makes life so easy.

His father could only envy this.

Even if his father made sarcastic remarks, he didn't care; he just couldn't compare to his daughter.

What's wrong?

He's not jealous!

He's proud!

"The Marquis of Guangping wants to step in and support his grandson." Emperor Kangwu was naturally aware of the Marquis of Guangping's plan.

"If a son born out of wedlock is to rise to prominence, then Qi Jinghong, the legitimate son, must step down."

"Were the outsiders who appeared later arranged by the Marquis of Guangping?"

Prince Rui nodded: "Isn't the Marquis of Guangping just trying to create a crisis so that he can resolve it while simultaneously throwing mud at our Prince Rui's mansion?"

"He just wanted to show the fourth brother what he was capable of."

"Then let's make the fourth brother think that it was Marquis Guangping who framed Qi Jinghong."

Prince Rui feigned innocence: "We did nothing. This evidence of Zhou Lizhen's crimes was given to us by some righteous people who couldn't stand by and watch."

Emperor Kangwu nodded slightly: "You've perfectly retreated into the background, letting them fight like dogs?"