He admitted that he had been a bit harsh on the Crown Prince recently, and also admitted that he was tired of him, but he did not want him dead.
He walked down the steps, trembling, and a eunuch immediately came to his side to support him. The Emperor seemed to find support and held his hand tightly, constantly asking, "The person lying inside is not the Crown Prince, is it? They say bad people live for a thousand years, how could he die so easily?"
The eunuch opened his mouth but could not utter any words of comfort. He had watched the Crown Prince grow up and felt a connection, and tears welled up in his eyes.
Not receiving comfort from him, the Emperor quickened his pace and walked to the stretcher. He extended a trembling hand, hesitated for a long time, and then pulled off the white cloth. What met his eyes was the knife plunged into his heart. The white clothes had long been stained crimson. This time, his wishful thinking was shattered, and he felt lightheaded, almost collapsing to the ground.
After a while, he regained his senses and choked out, "Who? Who is it? To make me, an elder, send off a younger generation."
At this moment, everyone's gaze turned collectively to the fake Third Prince kneeling in the center. The Emperor also looked at him with fierce eyes.
Having long expected such a turn of events, Li Shengxu raised his head and looked at the Emperor with determination. "If I say that I have been drugged for a long time, and as long as the other party has a medicinal lead, I would act according to the brainwashing I received before I left, with no choice, I don't know if Your Majesty will believe me.
Perhaps you understand that what I say is true, but you will not blame the culprit. Instead, you will execute me first, because only then can you vent your anger. But have you ever considered that from beginning to end, I am also a victim? My parents lost their son and had no idea where I was the whole time, thinking I had already passed away."
The Emperor knew he had a point and knew that the mastermind was the Second Prince. However, the Second Prince was someone he intended to entrust with great responsibility in the future. Although his image in the Emperor's mind had plummeted because he had killed the Crown Prince, he could not bear to see his own son beheaded. And this person, who had plunged a knife into his son's heart, the pain of which he had to avenge.
Wu Caiwei, kneeling by the side, unconsciously looked up at Li Shengxu, feeling sorrow for his plight. But the way he was now made Wu Caiwei feel both familiar and estranged.
In the past, whenever she appeared, his gaze would be fixed on her. But today, he was too unusual. Not only had he not looked at her from beginning to end, but he had also deliberately avoided her. She could even sense the indignation and hatred radiating from him. If Wu Caiwei was not mistaken, his original identity should have been Li Shengxu.
It was just that in the past, he had lost his memory and traveled through various worlds. He met her, entrusted his heart to her, and thus followed her through each life. Perhaps he, like her, was completing a mission. At this moment, Wu Caiwei suddenly felt a sense of loneliness. Was he also going to leave her? At this time, she remembered the nearly full golden water. No wonder she had a bad premonition when she saw that scene. It turned out that although she had met him in this life, she felt even more distant from him.
Her despondency went unnoticed. Even when the Third Prince noticed, he looked at her with a confused expression, as if she were particularly fond of the fake Third Prince beside her. The two of them clearly had a close relationship. If he had investigated correctly, his old flame should have been Sun Guotang. Why was he now indifferent upon seeing Sun Guotang?
The Emperor found it inconvenient to punish his son in front of the ministers, nor could he directly drag him out and behead him. As he had said, the culprits were within their own royal family. He ordered him to be thrown into the celestial prison. Everyone knew that for someone like him, who had committed such a grave mistake, he would never leave the celestial prison in his lifetime. Although they felt he was rather pitiful, no one dared to intercede for him.
With such a major incident, the Emperor had no mood for hunting. Dejected, he returned to the palace with his sons. Before the procession had fully entered the palace gates, the Empress, who had already received the news, was weeping. Seeing the Crown Prince lying there alone, she could not help but embrace him and cry her heart out.
At this moment, the Emperor's mind was filled with thoughts of the Empress's goodness. In the past, he was merely a poor boy, and the Empress had supported him financially and with all her might from behind the scenes. He thought they would grow old together, but unexpectedly, as they aged, a rift had developed. He couldn't help but sigh. This was the first time in so many years of their life together that he had seen despair and sorrow in her.
The Emperor slowly alighted from the carriage and walked to her side, patting her hand, and choked out, "Empress, please bear with your grief. The dead cannot be brought back to life."
"Your Majesty has many sons, but I only have this one treasure. How can I live without him? We were young lovers and have known each other for so many years. This time, you must promise me to bring the culprit to justice. I don't want my son to lie alone underground while the other person can continue to be a prince in freedom."
Yes, the Empress knew who the culprit was before she arrived. The Crown Prince's confidant had secretly returned to the palace, reported the matter to the Empress, and cried, begging her to seek justice for the Crown Prince.
Before this, the Empress had already wept profusely, but upon seeing her son's body, she could not hold back and cried inconsolably. She knew that the Emperor's favored candidate for the throne was the Second Prince, and she knew that in the Emperor's heart, the Crown Prince was already dead. No matter how the Second Prince was punished, the Crown Prince would not return, and he would certainly be dealt with lightly. This was something she was unwilling to see.
The Emperor, who was grieving, was momentarily speechless and did not know how to respond. Regardless, the Second Prince was his son. When this incident occurred, he had considered how to punish him, but in any case, he could not let him lose his life. Clearly, the Empress did not think so.
So, he cleared his throat awkwardly and said uncomfortably, "The truth of the matter has not yet been fully investigated. Once it is, I will definitely ensure that the murderer is punished."
She had expected this, but when it actually happened, the Empress still felt a chill. The Emperor's words left too much room for maneuver. He said he would punish the murderer, but did not specify how. Banishing him to his fiefdom was also a punishment. While it seemed he had lost his chance at the highest position, his own son had died, and the other lived freely as a prince in his fiefdom, far from the emperor's reach. No matter how she thought about it, she felt uncomfortable. The Empress wanted to say more, but the Emperor directly interrupted, "We can discuss anything later. Let's bring our son back to the palace first."