Even the crown prince is getting a marriage of convenience? Why are you in such a hurry to stop bein

Xiao Lie's eyes lit up, and he immediately led his men onto the boat. He then poured several large bags of smuggled salt onto the stern of the boat.

Several shop assistants felt sorry for him and hurriedly tried to stop him, but the shopkeeper, with a cold face, slapped him hard on the head.

"Don't you guys even care about your lives? You have a knife to your throats, and you're still thinking about a few coins. If that's the case, why don't you just jump into the river and go see the King of Hell? That way you can avoid all this trouble."

Upon hearing this, the men dared not utter another word, and they all shut up and sped up their work.

Xiao Lie looked at a conspicuous cargo ship not far away and felt frustrated. He beckoned a few of his crew members and whispered a few words to them.

The men were horrified and took a step back. They were about to dissuade him when Xiao Lie's cold gaze fell on them. They dared not say anything more and could only cup their hands and whisper their agreement.

Xiao Lie also gave Sixteen a few instructions, telling him to quickly take care of the other matters.

Hmph, since Jiang Heng dares to treat him like this, why can't he retaliate in kind?

Meanwhile, Jiang Heng was reflecting on his mistakes behind closed doors in his residence.

As he picked up his pen to write, he calmly asked the housekeeper a question.

"Uncle Jiang, there's still no news from the docks?"

Uncle Jiang opened his mouth, then shook his head. This made Jiang Heng frown slightly.

What's wrong with Wang Mingyuan? He can't even handle such a small matter.

He suppressed his growing unease and coldly ordered, "Go and send another message, telling him to catch them red-handed and make the matter as big as possible. We must not give that brat Xiao Lie any room to defend himself."

Jiang Bo clasped his hands slightly and bowed to accept the order.

"Yes……"

Wang Mingyuan was in the government office, waiting for good news, but as he waited and waited, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Li Zhiyi wasn't one of their people, so he was inefficient and couldn't even handle such a small task. Little did he know, Li Zhiyi was also deeply worried, as if a thousand-pound stone was weighing on his heart.

He came from a humble background and drifted through officialdom for several years, like a duckweed in the rain, easily destroyed. Now, he has been scheming and finally managed to climb onto the powerful tree of Prince Kang, only to find that he has not climbed a great tree, but rather boarded a pirate ship.

How could someone of his humble status possibly participate in this matter? It's unlikely that a few words from those in the imperial court would be enough to turn him into dust and bones.

After much deliberation, Li Zhiyi made his decision. He only sent a minor official to investigate, without personally intervening, thus giving the young prince Xiao room to maneuver. He hoped that the young prince would be clever enough to seize the opportunity.

Upon learning that the steward of the Prince Kang's residence had come to the government office again to request an audience, Li Zhiyi felt a mix of emotions. He couldn't help but dust off his robes to straighten his attire.

"Don't worry, Uncle Jiang, I know what I'm doing."

The Prince Kang's mansion has already sent people to put pressure on them; any further delay will be futile.

Li Zhiyi took a deep breath and resolutely went there. However, the results of the search at the dock soon afterward shocked everyone.

The emperor was furious and summoned Prince Kang, Jiang Heng, to the palace. He then slapped him hard across the face with several folded paper scrolls, leaving him utterly humiliated.

"What? You actually dare to dabble in smuggled salt? Is the vast Kang Prince's Mansion no longer able to support you?"

Jiang Heng was still stunned, unable to understand how the fire, which was burning so well, had ended up burning him. He immediately knelt down and shouted loudly.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, there must be some misunderstanding. Please give me a convenient opportunity."

The emperor gave De Shun a wink, and the old man obeyed, bringing several cargo ship crew members and a bag of evidence from a side hall.

He bowed and said, "King Kang, these are the people and goods on your cargo ship. You should take a good look at what's on board, King Kang."

Jiang Heng opened the bag and felt a chill run down his spine.

"Your Majesty, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with me. Someone must be framing me behind the scenes. It must be... it must be Xiao Lie."

But when did Xiao Lie do this? Didn't he have someone frame Xiao Lie? How did things turn out the other way around? He gave him a good slap in the face.

His body trembled, and he hurriedly cried out that he was innocent.

"Father, my son's Kangwang Mansion is already incredibly wealthy and doted on by you. How could he be so ungrateful as to get involved with such things? This... this really has nothing to do with me."

But when faced with no evidence, King Kang could only offer excuses, which was hardly convincing. In the emperor's eyes, this only showed his opportunism, shirking responsibility, and lack of accountability.

Looking into his father's icy gaze, Jiang Heng shivered, his heart sinking.

Is Father Emperor disappointed in him?

Just as he was at a loss for what to do, a palace servant announced that Consort Xian had arrived. The emperor's expression softened slightly, but he quickly looked away and coldly rebuked her.

"Don't see her. Let her go back to where she came from."

But Consort Xian would never agree. This was her own flesh and blood, her hope for the rest of her life, and she could not afford to let anything go wrong. But the Emperor refused, and Consort Xian dared not venture outside. She remained silent and knelt down directly outside the palace.

For a moment, tension and silence reigned both inside and outside the hall.

Jiang Heng's eyes reddened, and he banged his head against the ground, pleading.

"Father, the blame for this matter rests entirely on the Emperor. Please, I beg you, do not take your anger out on Mother. She was just confused because she was worried."

"Father, please consider this as my doing. I will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate. I only ask that you allow Mother to return home first. You know, she injured her knee and cannot kneel."

At the founding of the dynasty, the current emperor was tricked by the enemy and was chased by them. Countless arrows flew at him, but Consort Xian protected him and took an arrow for him, so he escaped the encirclement unharmed. However, Consort Xian was exhausted and fell off her horse, injuring her knee, which still has a lingering problem to this day.

Recalling the past, the emperor's expression was complex, and a hint of emotion flashed across his face.

The emperor remained silent for a long time, his past affections intertwined with his current power, before finally letting out a long sigh.

"Let Consort Xian go back."

"As for you, you unfilial son, if it weren't for Consort Xian's intercession, I would have skinned you alive today."

Jiang Heng knelt on the ground, trembling, not daring to utter a single word that was known only to him.

Others thought the emperor was just saying things in anger, but they didn't know how ruthless the emperor was. Although his father's words were meant to threaten and intimidate, he was also truly determined to be ruthless.

Thanks to Consort Xian's intervention, the matter was quickly resolved. The Emperor had no interest in investigating the details and could only wave them away.

Otherwise, if he keeps agonizing over it, his head will start to hurt again.

They learned that the Third Prince had walked out of the palace gates unharmed.

Xiao Lie exclaimed in surprise and suddenly sat up abruptly.

This dog emperor is mean-spirited, ungrateful, capricious, and suspicious. I never expected him to actually tolerate it in front of his own son.

It seems that King Kang's ability to maintain his current position is by no means without reason.

But is such a brilliant move going to be wasted because the emperor is neglecting it?