Seeing Emperor Jingming’s movement, the Crown Prince’s eyes narrowed, and he reflexively used both hands to protect his face.
Emperor Jingming’s hand caressed the cool white jade paperweight, but his heart was even colder.
This beast had been pretending all along!
All that talk about re-education, about becoming steady and sensible, was utter nonsense. It was just this beast’s way of fooling him to escape punishment.
Emperor Jingming coldly looked at the Crown Prince, his anger growing more intense. The newly replaced white jade paperweight left his hand.
Although the Crown Prince had rarely been clever enough to come up with the idea of feigning memory loss and had successfully maintained the act for several days, he immediately revealed his true nature when faced with danger.
Terrified, his legs went weak, and he fell to his knees, shouting in panic, “Father, your son was wrong—”
The white jade paperweight flew past the Crown Prince, far from his direction, hitting the wall near the door before bouncing to the ground with a loud crash, startling Prince Lu who had just arrived at the doorway.
This time, Emperor Jingming hadn’t intended to hit the Crown Prince with the paperweight. Extremely disappointed, he didn’t even have the energy to punish him.
Looking at the Crown Prince who had confessed without being beaten, Emperor Jingming felt utterly dejected.
If he wasn’t going to pretend, he shouldn’t have done it at all. Having pretended, he couldn’t keep his composure and exposed himself at the slightest fright. Would the Great Zhou dynasty fall if he entrusted it to this beast?
Expecting him to be a steady ruler who maintained the status quo was probably just his wishful thinking.
The Crown Prince, noticing Emperor Jingming’s silence, quickly glanced up.
That glance instantly made him feel as if he had fallen into an icy pit.
What kind of look was that in his father’s eyes?
Compared to anger, this kind of gaze made him even more uneasy…
Emperor Jingming glanced at Yu Jin and Prince Lu standing at the door, not bothering to ask them to come in, and continued to stare at the Crown Prince. “How did you come up with the idea of pretending to have amnesia?”
The Crown Prince knew he couldn’t hide it anymore and said reluctantly, “Your son just… had a sudden inspiration…”
Prince Lu couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
So “sudden inspiration” could be used like this? He had learned something new.
Emperor Jingming took a deep breath and pointed at the door. “Get out.”
“Father—”
“I said get out!”
The Crown Prince frightened, ducked his head and didn’t dare say more. He got up and ran out.
Outside the Imperial Study, on the stone steps, lay a large dog, looking innocently at the Crown Prince who rushed out.
Seeing Erniu, the Crown Prince’s face changed. His desire to claim the divine dog as his own faded, replaced by murderous thoughts.
It was all because of this beast. Otherwise, he could have continued pretending, and no one would have found out.
Seeing the Crown Prince’s change of expression, Erniu still maintained an obedient appearance, lazily wagging its tail.
People like this could bite one to death in a single bite, hmph!
The Crown Prince didn’t dare linger and hurried away.
Emperor Jingming expressionlessly swept his gaze over Yu Jin and Prince Lu, uttering two words: “Come in.”
The two walked in.
The atmosphere in the room was so heavy it was almost suffocating.
“Father, we—” Prince Lu began dryly.
Emperor Jingming glanced at him coldly and said, “Who told you to follow?”
Prince Lu: ??
He instinctively looked at Yu Jin, with only one thought in mind: He had been tricked by Seventh Brother!
Yu Jin made up an excuse on the spot: “Your son was afraid you might become ill with anger, so we came.”
Prince Lu: ??
What happened to “Father didn’t specify names, so we should come”?
At this moment, Prince Lu had the urge to take a large knife and chop Yu Jin to death.
Emperor Jingming’s deep gaze never left Yu Jin. After a while, he slowly asked, “So, you had already seen through the Crown Prince’s fake amnesia?”
This question was quite broad. Yu Jin, of course, wouldn’t implicate himself. He said solemnly, “When Erniu greeted Second Brother, seeing his reaction, your son vaguely guessed…”
“And before that?”
“Before?” Yu Jin’s innocent expression was flawless.
Emperor Jingming frowned. “Why did you bring Erniu to visit the Crown Prince today?”
Under normal circumstances, even if he had suspicions, he wouldn’t ask so directly, especially when questioning one son in front of another.
But now, at the peak of his anger, he couldn’t care about such niceties.
Hearing Emperor Jingming’s words, Prince Lu looked at Yu Jin in surprise.
No way, did Seventh Brother have such audacity to scheme against the Crown Prince?
Yu Jin’s expression remained unchanged as he said, “Father, you may not know, but on the day of Ahuan’s full moon celebration, Second Brother personally asked for Erniu. At the time, I was reluctant to part with him and didn’t agree. I never expected that just a few days later, Second Brother would lose his memory. Thinking about Second Brother’s situation, I regretted being so stingy that day, which is why I brought Erniu along to visit Second Brother in the palace. I thought if Second Brother still liked Erniu after seeing him, I would give Erniu to Second Brother. Although I would be very reluctant to part with him, brotherly affection is more important after all…”
Outside on the stone steps, Erniu changed from its lazy posture and perked up its ears alertly.
It felt a sense of danger!
Inside the room, Yu Jin calmly explained his reason for bringing Erniu into the palace, finally saying with shame, “I didn’t expect that good intentions would lead to bad results, causing Second Brother to be frightened—”
“What good intentions lead to bad results?” Emperor Jingming interrupted Yu Jin’s words, saying coldly, “If it weren’t for Erniu, would letting the Crown Prince continue his pretense be a good thing?”
Strictly speaking, the Crown Prince had committed the crime of deceiving the emperor.
However, Emperor Jingming hadn’t yet decided exactly what punishment to give the Crown Prince.
Some decisions could be made impulsively in a fit of rage, but others couldn’t.
For instance, deposing the Crown Prince—he had already been deposed and reinstated once. Could he be deposed a second time?
Emperor Jingming looked deeply at Yu Jin, seeing his clear gaze and composed demeanor. He believed seven or eight-tenths of Yu Jin’s explanation.
To be able to maintain such composure under his scrutiny, he probably wasn’t feeling guilty.
Moreover, if even he hadn’t noticed the Crown Prince was pretending, Seventh Son, who had hardly any contact with the Crown Prince, probably wouldn’t have noticed either. Today’s events were likely just a coincidence.
Even luck wasn’t on the Crown Prince’s side—thinking this way, Emperor Jingming felt increasingly desperate.
Having tested Yu Jin and found no issues, Emperor Jingming didn’t want to waste words with his two sons anymore. He waved his hand and said, “Alright, you may leave the palace.”
Walking out of the palace gates, Prince Lu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said with lingering fear, “I thought Father was going to crack open the Crown Prince’s skull.”
Although he despised the Crown Prince, the thought of watching their father beat the Crown Prince to death made his scalp tingle.
They were all sons; if Father could beat the Crown Prince to death, he could do the same to him.
Seeing Yu Jin’s calm expression, Prince Lu asked in a low voice, “Seventh Brother, you didn’t do this on purpose today?”
Yu Jin smiled, “Fifth Brother is joking. How could I have known in advance that the Crown Prince was pretending to have amnesia, or predicted his reaction to seeing Erniu? I don’t have such prophetic abilities. Today, I truly just wanted to give Erniu to the Crown Prince.”
Prince Lu scratched his head and believed him. “That’s true. Forget about being prophetic; if it was intentional, how could anyone remain so calm under Father’s questioning?”
If it were him, he’d probably be tongue-tied, unable to remain as composed as Seventh Brother.
Yu Jin laughed inwardly: Who says you have to feel guilty when lying? He wasn’t that kind of person.
Following behind, Erniu stared at its master’s swaying buttocks with a profound gaze: Give it away to someone else.