Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Generally speaking, Chu Mingkong should address the Imperial Concubine as "Your Majesty" to be more respectful, but now that his son has come to cause trouble, Chu Mingkong has no mood to be polite to her.

"Consort Wan, I just heard from Rong'er that you came to plead for the Fifth Prince?"

As a noble consort, she had never begged anyone so humbly before, yet now she had no choice but to do so...

“Yes,” Consort Wan replied softly, then lowered her head.

"Oh, then please."

Consort Wan: "......"

Shangguan Rong: "......"

Chu Mingkong stood up, walked to the window, and stretched.

"Just kidding, don't be so serious~ If there are no surprises, the fact that Jin Yu was forced to undergo a physical examination in the imperial court, and that Cui Rong of the Cui family suddenly became so audacious, should all be the work of the Fifth Prince."

Now that things have come to this, Consort Wan has no intention of hiding the truth for her son.

She nodded: "Mm."

"Let me state my position first, lest you, Consort Wan, feel that I am taking advantage of the situation. Ever since my master was nearly killed, I have decided to become a magnanimous, forgiving, and forgiving person. The saying 'a gentleman takes revenge after ten years' is utter nonsense. How can one live in hatred forever? I might not have many days left!"

"So I've decided to kill the Fifth Prince later, that way I won't have to keep holding onto this grudge, otherwise I'll go crazy!"

Consort Wan trembled slightly as she rose and pleaded, "No! For the sake of our thin kinship, Mingkong, could you please let him go this time? I promise he will never bother you again."

"Consort Wan, your son is not disturbing us!"

Chu Mingkong corrected her mistake and brushed her slender hand away:

"He's trying to kill me!"

Did he have a grudge against Jinyu? Of course not. So why did he go to the court to cause trouble for Jinyu for no reason? He wanted to use Jinyu to concentrate the world's hatred on me, so that he could have a legitimate reason to use the power of the royal family to completely eliminate me.

"But I only have one son..."

"Then I suggest you have another child."

Chu Mingkong shrugged innocently.

"The Princess Consort of Chu, who is also my nominal mother and Yunhan's biological mother, should have some connection with you, right?"

Consort Wan nodded, as if grasping at a lifeline: "That's right. Before I was adopted into the Wan family at the age of six, I was her half-sister. She used to be very close to your mother. My son is your cousin, Mingkong. Please just consider him ignorant and forgive him this once!"

So, by that logic, she should be my aunt... Chu Mingkong sighed.

“My mother’s attitude towards me is rather indifferent. She actually prefers her own son to be made the legitimate heir, so she has always regarded me as a thorn in her side. Yunhan’s younger brother has even been picking on me for no reason.”

Consort Wan's face turned deathly pale, and she said in despair, "How could this happen..."

"So don't try to appeal to my family ties. My greatest mercy is to be swift and decisive, and send your son to be reincarnated sooner. It won't take up too much of his time. I reckon it'll be a matter of one sword strike, right?"

Consort Wan calmed down; she knew there was still room for negotiation.

"Mingkong, what do you want in order to let my son go? I'll grant you any request, I'll do anything for you, I'll be your slave for life!"

Chu Mingkong looked at Shangguan Rong and asked for her opinion, as this was a situation where interests were at stake.

He certainly wanted to kill the Fifth Prince with one sword, but using Consort Wan as a bargaining chip to exchange for his life didn't seem like an impossible option.

Consort Wan is backed by the power of the Minister's family. If we could use the Minister's family's influence to find out which scoundrel bombed her before, that would be perfect.

However, how to ensure that Consort Wan will not rebel and renege on her promise later is another problem.

Shangguan Rong nodded, indicating that he should agree, and mouthed, "Okay."

Could it be that Rong'er has a way to ensure she won't betray them?

Chu Mingkong trusted Shangguan Rong's decision, but he still needed to test Consort Wan again.

He shook his head:

"No, I'm still angry! My dear aunt, you should know how volatile a wound from the Abyss can be."

Now that you've told me you're my mother's older sister, every time I see you I think of my mother giving me the cold shoulder, and every time I think of the Fifth Prince I think of my nominal younger brother.

"If you hadn't mentioned you were my relative, I would have been fine, but the moment you did, I'd be furious!"

"..."

Consort Wan wanted to exchange herself for her son's life. After a moment of stunned silence, she grabbed Chu Mingkong's arm.

"I bear a resemblance to your mother. I'll change my makeup and dress up as her to avenge you, okay? I'll even give you my body! Just let my son go!"

Chu Mingkong: "..."

Shangguan Rong glanced at him sideways, looking at him with the same disdainful gaze one would give someone trash.

Rong'er, what are you looking at! Do you think I'm that kind of person?!

Chu Mingkong said sympathetically, "Then I'll just injure the Fifth Prince and spare his life. He has three legs, and I plan to break his middle one. Do you think that's appropriate?"

"The one in the middle...?" It took Consort Wan a while to realize what she meant, and she almost burst into tears. "Aunt, please, Mingkong, don't do this! Wouldn't your cousin be childless? How is he any different from a eunuch!"

"So, what does Consort Wan intend to do?"

"Can I get a different leg?"

Chapter 47 Your horse is mine now! (20/40)

Consort Wan and the Fifth Prince were not actually that close; in fact, the Fifth Prince preferred to be closer to Empress Pei.

In the relationship between wives and concubines, the status of the principal wife was superior to that of the concubines. Children born to concubines were required to call the principal wife "mother." In more lenient family environments, the concubines' own children were not even allowed to call their own mothers "mother," but had to call them "elder sister" or "aunt."

Because a concubine is merely a tool to bear the offspring of the male master, she has no motherhood.

In the royal family, the concubines were essentially the same as the empress, who was the principal wife. The children born to the concubines had to call the empress "Mother Empress".

However, this rule was relaxed a lot during the last two emperors of the Tianji Empire. If the princes and princesses were born to concubines, they could privately call them "Mother Concubine" instead of only honoring the Empress as their mother.

However, most of the concubines' children born to concubines would prefer that their biological mother was the empress, because the empress's children had a much higher status. Therefore, they would complain that their biological mother was just a concubine. The status of their birth mother made it much more difficult for them to compete for the throne than for the legitimate sons.

Princes who are obsessed with the throne, such as the Fifth Prince, will even complain about their birth mother, Consort Wan, to Empress Pei in order to get Empress Pei to be closer to them.

After discussing the matter with Consort Wan, Chu Mingkong left the study and prepared to wait for the Fifth Prince at the palace gate.

But the mare that belonged to "someone else" left, and returned to her owner. Even though she was ridden badly twice by someone other than her owner, she was still eager to return to the person who truly loved her.

Fortunately, Chu Mingkong discovered that there was another elegant and beautiful mare in the stable.

"Whose horse is this? I've never seen it before," Chu Mingkong asked. If it belonged to Rong'er, he would just ride it.

Consort Wan followed Chu Mingkong down, putting on a cloak and a veil.

As a concubine, she was not allowed to leave the palace at will. The use of a concubine's carriage had to be registered. Concubine Wan dared not let others know that she was coming to see Chu Mingkong, so she had to be very careful when she appeared at the academy.

“This is my son’s beloved horse. I can only borrow his horse to find you… Mingkong, please don’t go too far and hurt your cousin.”

Consort Wan looked on with tears welling up in her eyes, gazing at Chu Mingkong with a deep, resentful expression.

But Chu Mingkong ignored her; they had already discussed what needed to be discussed.

He stroked the fifth prince's horse's upturned rump. It was docile and obedient, and the hair in the right places was exceptionally beautiful, neatly trimmed.

After mounting the horse, he spurred it on, his eyes fixed on the beautiful and charming Consort Wan, and said:

“The Fifth Prince’s horse is much more comfortable to ride than that other person’s mare. I’ll help you ride it back to the Fifth Prince, Aunt.”

Consort Wan was puzzled. Chu Mingkong's words sounded strange, and she didn't know how to respond.

"Then, Mingkong, take care?"

Chu Mingkong tugged at the reins, took out a large Guan Dao from his storage ring, and flashed Consort Wan a bright, sunny, and warm smile:

"This sword is called 'Pin Xi Xi'. I'll only cut your son once in a moment!"

Consort Wan cried out in despair, "No! My son will be in so much pain! I'd rather be in pain myself than see him suffer!"

-----------

In the imperial court.

The Fifth Prince had a bad feeling, but he maintained his composure, otherwise he would be seen as lacking confidence and bluffing, and would be driven away immediately.

"There are still two or three more crimes that Prince Chu Mingkong of Xiling has committed!"

The second charge is the murder of the Cui family patriarch. Witnesses in the vicinity witnessed the killing that night, and the method used was the Extreme Yang Arrow. Only one other person has recently used a similar method: Chu Mingkong. When he rescued Princess Jinyu on Qing'an Street, he used this method to shoot down the Extreme Abyss Wolf!

The third accusation, however, was utterly repulsive. He had committed adultery with his sister-in-law, Feng Keqing, the daughter-in-law of the Cui family's East Mansion. How could a married woman not be living in the Chu Prince's residence? Everyone knew how volatile and easily angered Chu Mingkong was; he could easily lose his temper and reason. How could she, a respectable woman with no power, dare to live with Chu Mingkong so brazenly?

There was actually no evidence for either of these charges; they were just brought up together to accuse Chu Mingkong based on what seemed suspicious.

While logically one shouldn't bring something up if they can't produce conclusive evidence, that doesn't apply to Chu Mingkong.

He is now infamous and people think he's capable of any outrageous thing.

Furthermore, in the plan, it was certain that he had ruined Jin Yu's body. With this undeniable crime of defiling a member of the royal family, did the other two charges even matter? Subconsciously, others would assume that he was the one who did it.

People with a criminal record will instinctively suspect someone who has been involved in any bad things that have happened around them.

Jin Yu looked at the Fifth Prince with annoyance: "Do you have any evidence? If you don't have evidence, then it's a false accusation? What happens if someone falsely accuses a prince's son?"

The Fifth Prince said in a resounding voice:

"Yes! I have a witness, and the witness is Cui Rong, the eldest son of the Cui clan chief! He personally saw Chu Mingkong appearing at the Cui residence at night, and he had also discovered Chu Mingkong groping his sister-in-law's private parts before! He just didn't dare to do anything because he was afraid of Chu Mingkong's fierce reputation."

"Sister Jinyu, you wouldn't actually believe that any man would use such a shameful family matter as cuckoldry to spread rumors about Chu Mingkong, would you? An ordinary woman wouldn't risk her reputation by speaking recklessly."

Empress Pei asked:

Where is the witness, Cui Rong?

A moment later, a eunuch came to report the intelligence sent by the scouts:

"Your Majesty, Cui Rong is dead. He was killed by the patriarch of the Cui family."

The Fifth Prince was stunned and roared, "Impossible! How could the Cui family patriarch kill the eldest son of the clan leader's lineage!"

The eunuch said:

"It was said by Old Master Cui himself. He claimed that Cui Rong colluded with unknown people to falsely accuse his relative, Prince Chu, of having an affair with Feng Keqing. He said that he personally killed the rebellious son in his family."

Just now, the old man summoned almost all the ladies from the neighborhood to examine Feng Keqing's body, and Feng Keqing is still a virgin.