My husband faked his death so I could remarry, but I got involved with my crazy brother and can'

Prince Rui looked at him coldly, "But it was precisely this half-dead state of yours that lured her to your Crown Prince's residence. You did it on purpose, you deliberately wanted to ruin the relationship between me and the Princess, didn't you?"

Zhao Zeyu: ? ? ?

"Look carefully, it's her who came to find me, not the other way around!"

Zhao Zeyu is being utterly wronged.

Why would he get entangled with a woman when he's perfectly fine?

Is Prince Rui even brainless, acting so blatantly?!

wrong.

Prince Rui was completely brainless; he was only able to stand up to himself because of Xie Huaiyun.

In the end, he's just a good-for-nothing.

Without Xie Huaiyun, it would have been impossible to fight him until now.

They should have given up long ago.

"You should tell those things to the King of Hell!"

Upon hearing this, Prince Rui drew his longsword, and then the flying sword plunged fiercely into Zhao Zeyu's chest.

Zhao Zeyu's guards were shocked and rushed over, but it was too late.

Zhan Qinghe never expected that Prince Rui Jing could do such a heinous thing.

Her face turned deathly pale instantly.

Zhao Zeyu stared wide-eyed, pointing at Prince Rui in disbelief, his hands trembling.

Prince Rui's lips curled into a bloodthirsty smile: "Serves you right for trying to steal my woman!"

Zhao Zeyu suddenly convulsed a few times and lost his life.

The Imperial Study.

The emperor was finally comforted by Empress Qi, and the two were playing chess in a pleasant atmosphere.

The smoke from the incense wafted out, but for some reason, Empress Qi suddenly felt a sharp panic in her chest, as if something was about to happen.

"It's terrible, Your Majesty!"

The chief eunuch rushed in, knelt on the ground, and his face turned ashen.

The emperor, displeased, said, "What's all this panic? Didn't you see me playing chess with the empress?"

The emperor was displeased that his pleasant mood had been interrupted, and Empress Qi also looked rather displeased when she saw that the chief eunuch looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"What's wrong?"

"Take your time."

Empress Qi remained as magnanimous as ever.

The head eunuch's voice trembled: "His Highness Prince Rui killed His Highness the Crown Prince... the Crown Prince... is dead..."

"Bang!"

As if something had exploded in his mind, the emperor's face instantly turned extremely ugly: "What nonsense are you spouting? How could the crown prince be dead? If you dare to talk nonsense again, I will chop off your head!"

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Everything I have said is true! His Highness the Crown Prince's body is being carried over now."

Seeing the eunuchs kowtowing repeatedly, the emperor suddenly realized something, staggered, and almost fell.

Fortunately, Empress Qi, who was standing nearby, quickly helped him up.

"Your Majesty, are you alright?"

As if realizing something, the Emperor immediately pulled his hand away from Empress Qi's.

Empress Qi had never been treated so coldly by the emperor before, and her face turned pale for a moment.

Xie Huaiyun was quickly informed of the matter, and when she arrived, Prince Ping, Prince Rui, the Crown Prince, and the Emperor were all present.

Ping Wangchao gave Xie Huaiyun a wink.

It seems the scheme has succeeded.

Unexpectedly, Prince Rui is still so easily provoked.

With such character, he is indeed unsuitable to be the ruler of a country.

Fortunately, Prince Ping was gentle and kind, yet also shrewd and calculating, making him the most suitable of the three brothers to become emperor.

After all, ascending to that position is just the beginning; one must also have the ability to maintain that position.

"I never imagined you could be so ruthless, capable of even harming your own brother for the sake of a woman!"

The emperor's eyes reddened, he was heartbroken, and his hand trembled slightly as he pointed at Prince Rui.

Prince Rui lowered his head, his voice lacking its former arrogance, even sounding as if it had lost its strength:

"The Crown Prince repeatedly seduced my wife, and I could no longer tolerate it, which is why I accidentally killed him. In the end, it wasn't intentional..."

These words carried a strong sense of dissatisfaction.

After all, if the emperor hadn't forbidden him from doing anything out of line and hadn't punished the crown prince, the crown prince would never be in this situation, losing his life.

This is simply not possible.

So strictly speaking, the emperor still bears half the responsibility.

The emperor was unaware of what Prince Rui was thinking; otherwise, he would have been even more furious.

"So, it was unintentional? That's all it takes to kill your brother? It was unintentional?"

Enraged, the emperor stepped forward and kicked Prince Rui hard in the chest.

Prince Rui was kicked to the ground, a metallic taste rising in his throat, and traces of blood appeared on the corners of his lips.

He wiped his mouth, his voice tinged with displeasure: "Your subject is dissatisfied, and even more so, has no regrets!"

"What kind of man is he if he can't even protect the woman he loves?!"

These words further enraged the emperor.

The emperor said "good" three times in a row, then a murderous glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at Prince Rui: "In that case, a life for a life. Go down and join your brother. Your brother must be very lonely all alone."

"Your Majesty, please don't treat Duan'er like this. This is our flesh and blood, our only child. Can you bear to lose this child?"

"Duan'er was just confused for a moment. You only have three sons left. Are you going to execute Duan'er yourself as well?"

Empress Qi rushed into the palace, knelt on the ground, her face full of pleading.

"Mother..."

Seeing that Empress Qi had disregarded her dignity for his sake, Prince Rui felt a mix of emotions.

"You brat, what's going on? It's just a woman, why would you kill someone for a woman?"

Empress Qi spoke up: "In my opinion, this woman is a troublemaker. Since everything started because of her, let's execute her. What do you think, Your Majesty?"

The flames of war reached Zhan Qinghe directly.

Zhan Qinghe's face was pale: "Father, I only went to visit my elder brother, the Crown Prince, after hearing that he was ill. I did not do anything improper. Please investigate, Father!"

"Clear-eyed? Because of you, Duan'er and the Crown Prince have gotten to this point. Everyone knows about it. Do I need to find witnesses?"

"Your act of inducing Duan'er to murder the Crown Prince is a crime punishable by the extermination of your entire family. From this day forward, you are no longer the Princess Consort of Rui!"

Empress Qi had no good feelings towards this daughter-in-law at all; in the first place, she hadn't even chosen Zhan Qinghe.

After all, Zhan Qinghe's status was somewhat above her own for her child, not to mention that Zhan Qinghe had someone else in her heart.

Although it is unknown who that person is, the woman who is actually carrying another man is definitely not reliable.

But she couldn't resist her son's fondness for it.

That would have been fine, but who would have thought that Zhan Qinghe would commit such a serious crime?

If she had known this would happen, she should have tried her best to stop it.

If that were the case, things wouldn't be like they are today.

"Mother, please don't interfere in our affairs. Your son finally managed to marry Qinghe."

"you!"

Empress Qi was disappointed in her son's lack of ambition.

Xie Huaiyun spoke up at the right moment: "Yes, Your Majesty, perhaps all of this is just a misunderstanding. In any case, you have few children. If you really kill Prince Rui, you will probably be labeled as heartless and cold-blooded."

"Then what should I do? He killed the Crown Prince, he killed my son! The law says 'a life for a life,' why can't I kill him?!"

The emperor looked at Prince Rui, but now he no longer regarded him as a son; rather, he looked at him as an enemy.

Empress Qi's face darkened, and she glared at Zhan Qinghe.

Zhan Qinghe lowered her head, seemingly lost in thought.