It seems that the villain is targeting me.

When the guard heard the steward's explanation, his scalp suddenly went numb.

He really didn't want to offend the eldest prince at this time. If possible, the guard would just turn around and leave without saying a word.

But it was obvious that a small assistant guard had no choice.

The guard thought woodenly: This is just His Majesty's mission.

.

------

.

Charles didn't dare to play dumb when his own father summoned him.

He quickly tidied himself up, checked himself again and again in front of the mirror, and felt a little relieved: after applying the ice, the redness and swelling on his face were no longer obvious.

When Prince Charles had sorted everything out and hurried to the conference room with his guards, what he saw was his father sitting on the throne with an expressionless face.

Charles was startled and quickly bowed his head respectfully.

Lawrence did not express any special reaction to the arrival of his eldest son. He just nodded slightly, meaning that he should wait by the side.

After that, she didn't look at him again, but cast her gaze into the distance.

Charles raised his head cautiously, saw the feather letter in Lawrence's hand, and quickly understood what the emperor was waiting for.

He was extremely unhappy and thought hatefully: What's the big deal? Will this country stop moving without that shrike?

Lawrence was not yet so old as to be dim-sighted.

He was sitting in a high seat and saw his son's expression clearly, and he was not very happy: This jerk of a kid made such a big mess without saying a word. If he were not my biological son, I would not even bother to care about him.

The father and son waited in a dull atmosphere, and after a while they received a message from the royal guard saying that Prime Minister Butcher was waiting outside the door.

Lawrence ordered a messenger to come in.

Xiao Niao looked a little tired. She hadn't

I only slept for a few hours and felt completely listless when I woke up. I almost fell into my breakfast bowl.

Her physique is considered weak among half-humans, and is far inferior to that of ordinary people. Looking at her now, there is a faint blue-black tint in the bottom of her eyes.

Lawrence noticed the tiredness on Xiao Niao's face and realized that he had gone to clean up the mess last night. He immediately felt much more at ease.

Lao Yezhu: Sir Butcher is still as reliable as ever.

Then he coughed and dismissed the servants waiting in the hall, leaving only the eldest prince and Xiao Niao present.

These two people, one is the minister he relies on most, and the other is the heir to the empire he personally chose.

For Lawrence to deal with what happened next, both of them needed to be present.

The emperor knew that the Feathered Guards would never dare to report false information, but he still decided to give Charles a chance to admit his mistake.

After the attendants around him left, the emperor looked at his eldest son.

Charles' heart grew heavy.

He was not a complete fool. After returning to the palace yesterday, Charles's heated brain cooled down and he began to feel a wave of fear: when the emperor knew the whole story, he would definitely attack him severely.

He knew his own father's temper well and understood that he would not have the patience to listen to his excuses.

Charles immediately stepped forward, put on a remorseful expression, and respectfully apologized to the emperor.

First, he said that he had acted rashly and treated the guests poorly, bringing shame to the royal family.

Then he scolded himself for not knowing the seriousness of the matter and almost arresting the Prime Minister of the Empire as a criminal under impulse. This really chilled the hearts of loyal subjects and asked the emperor to punish him.

After saying that, Charles was still a little addicted to acting. He bowed to Xiao Niao with a shameful expression. He first thanked her for persuading him to correct his mistakes last night, and then earnestly asked Xiao Niao to forgive his offense.

Xiao Niao was even more dramatic than him, his face filled with fear and trepidation: "Your Highness, your words are too kind! This is what I, as a subject, should do!"

Charles remembered that the bird hit his face last night and forced him to bow his head to a woman in front of so many people.

Prince Charles gritted his teeth and gave the bird a sweet smile.

The two of them were competing in acting. Lawrence didn't know the truth, but he just felt that his son's words were quite pleasant to the ear, and the depression on his face also eased a little.

He called out to his eldest son, "Come, Charlie, come closer and be with your father."

This time, the eldest prince was really frightened.

Lawrence is a person with a strong sense of family. He is nostalgic and values his family and old friends very much.

Calling someone over in such a friendly way really means that they value and care about you very much.

Even Charles, the heir to the empire, rarely enjoyed such warm treatment.

Prince Charles felt relieved, thinking that he had passed the current hurdle, and walked to the throne with anticipation on his face.

Lawrence was quite satisfied with his attitude just now. He felt that his eldest son was still clear-headed. He probably just acted confused for a moment last night and it was not a serious matter.

Besides, the situation is not so hopeless, and he, the father, is here to back it up.

Lawrence thought about this and asked gently, "Charlie, I heard you said at the dinner party last night that you wanted to break off your engagement with the Tudors. Is that true?"

The eldest prince's face froze. He didn't dare to lie, so he lowered his head very respectfully and replied, "Yes, my son did say so."

Lawrence frowned, but didn't get angry immediately: "Who instigated you to do this?"

Prince Charles' face turned pale, but he still insisted: "No one instigated me, it was my son who didn't want to do it."

A hint of anger appeared on Lawrence's face.

Without saying a word, he raised his arm and slapped Charles hard in the face: "Asshole!"

Lawrence had been fighting abroad for many years. Even though he had not practiced martial arts for a long time, the foundation he had accumulated from fighting in his youth had not been completely exhausted.

This brutal slap was delivered with the force of a pig, nearly crooking Charles' face. It also knocked his teeth out of his mouth, leaving a fishy smell in his mouth.

Xiao Niao watched the entire process from the side. Her expression was tense as she frantically yelled at the system in her mind, "Quick! Tongzi, film it! Film it... No, record it! Record it!"

The system was very impatient: [Recording, recording, so annoying.]

Then he protested indignantly: "Don't bother with me about this kind of thing anymore! I'm a legitimate system with a formal system, not your smartphone manager!"

Chapter 16: Raw Barbecued Pork is Better Than You

Charles' head was buzzing after being slapped by his own father. His whole body was twisted and he felt like his brains were about to be slapped out, but he didn't dare to show any hatred.

He swallowed the blood foam in his mouth with a gulp. He didn't dare to hide or retreat. He could only look at the emperor with a terrified expression: "Father?"

Lawrence rolled up his sleeves angrily, as if preparing to slap her again. "Don't call me father! You took the initiative to cancel the engagement arranged by our elders. How can you still regard me as your father?!"

Prince Charles was obviously panicked.

He hesitated for a few moments, but still gritted his teeth and insisted: "Please understand, Father, I don't want to marry the daughter of the Tudor family.

There’s a reason!”

Lawrence's eyebrows knitted tightly together: "What's the reason?"

Lao Yezhu was slightly startled: Could it be that the Tudors were plotting a rebellion? But why hadn't I heard a single word?

Prince Charles' expression revealed a determination to resist power.

He declared: "I am breaking off my engagement because Gwyneth Tudor is unworthy of being my wife."

"She relies on her status as a duke's daughter to wantonly oppress innocent people and even instigate others to bully the baron's daughter. Such a woman without moral integrity is unworthy of marrying into the royal family!"

Lawrence opened his mouth in surprise. He was stunned and stared at his son with his eyes wide open.

Prince Charles, seeing his father's surprise, added with a sad expression, "Father, you were deceived by that woman's superficial appearance!"

His Majesty Lawrence did not hear what the eldest prince said next.

He only felt that a blood vessel in his chest was throbbing, and his ears seemed to echo with the cruel mockery of fate and the hideous laughter of his mortal enemy.

These voices struck Lao Yezhu's fragile heart one after another, causing him to panic and deny it in his mind:

"No! No! This barbecued pork is not mine! No!!!!!"

In reality, Lawrence leaned on the throne, his mouth straightened, and he held the handles of the throne tightly with both hands, feeling that he would pout at any time.

Charles was the closest and vaguely sensed that something was wrong with his father. He spoke cautiously, "Father?"

But after being extremely angry, Lawrence calmed down.

He closed his eyes tightly and leaned back against the throne. When he spoke again, his voice was no longer filled with emotion. "Poor moral character is a serious accusation. What evidence do you have?"

Charles calmed down a bit, and his tone returned to its stern tone: "Of course I saw her embarrass the Baron's daughter at the banquet."

The emperor didn't even raise his eyelids: "What about those who oppress the innocent?"

"It's all spread by word of mouth," Charles paused briefly before continuing, "As for the person involved, Milan... those who were oppressed were not as well-off as Tudor. Even if they were bullied and humiliated, how could they dare to speak up and defend themselves? They could only endure it silently."

The more the emperor listened, the angrier he became. He slammed the table and shouted, "Ridiculous!"

Lawrence looked at Charles angrily. "How can a noble title be higher than the royal family?! With you standing guard and upholding justice, if that person truly has been wronged, why wouldn't he dare speak out?"

The emperor's words were filled with a sense of disappointment. "Alright! Even if that person has hidden reasons and can't speak out directly about his grievances, won't you investigate privately?"

"Why not bring the person who delivered the information to you and confront the Tudor daughter? Why not find out the truth before making a judgment?!"

"You are the heir to the empire! How could you be so foolish? You believe everything others say!"

The disappointment in Lawrence's tone was so obvious that Charles broke out in a cold sweat.

He didn't dare to argue anymore, but lowered his head and maintained the posture of saluting.

The emperor looked at his trembling eldest son in front of him with annoyance. He wanted to smash the wine jug on the table on the head of this idiot, but he was concerned about the consequences and held back.

Perhaps the people under him were not doing their job well, the emperor had to comfort himself in this way, and Charles was probably deceived.

Afterwards, maybe it's time to clean out the bad friends around my son.

After a while of self-hypnosis, the anger boiling in Lawrence's chest finally subsided a little: "...Well, the reason is not important now."

He pondered for a moment, then called out to the bird that had been watching with great interest, "Sir Butcher."

The bird was happily recording and was stunned when Lawrence called him.

But she quickly reacted, nodded slightly to the emperor, and shouted loudly outside the hall: "Bring the witness up."

As soon as Xiao Niao finished speaking, the three guards who had been waiting outside the door pushed the door open and walked in. They came in escorting someone as Xiao Niao had instructed them to do.

The moment Charles saw the so-called 'witness', his expression changed. It was obvious that he knew the other person.

That man was his close friend, born into an upper class family and the legitimate son of a marquis. The most rare thing about him was that his temperament was very much to the eldest prince's liking, and they often got along very well during banquets and hunting trips.

But at this time, the Marquis's son arrived in the conference room, but he didn't even dare to look up at Charles. If it weren't for the two guards holding his arms, he would not even be able to walk.

When the two guards forced him to kneel down, the Marquis's son could not wait to knock his head to the ground and begged His Majesty for mercy.

Prince Charles was completely bewildered. Seeing his former friend in such a pitiful state, he almost instinctively felt sorry for him and subconsciously wanted to plead for him.

But at this moment, Xiao Niao's voice reached Charles' ears: "The matter has been investigated. The rumor was spread by this person."

The eldest prince trembled violently, as if he had been cast into petrification by a spell.

Xiao Niao continued, "He bribed a few lesser nobles and had the Crown Prince hear bad things about Miss Tudor from them. He then hired someone to stage a play about 'no way to redress her injustice' in order to convince His Highness of the truth."

Prince Charles turned pale.

He looked at his best friend in disbelief.

Lawrence ignored his son. He turned his head and asked Xiaoniao, "Where are the actors?"

Xiao Niao shook his head: "They were all free citizens who had just entered the city and were killed to silence them."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "At first, I was investigating a murder case, but later I discovered this connection."

Xiao Niao stretched out the tip of her feather and spun around as she spoke. The people below quickly understood what she meant and handed over the large stack of files they had prepared.

The little bird flapped the thick stack of paper in its hand and turned calmly to the emperor.

"This is the evidence of nobles involved in this matter, the profit transactions, and the confessions given by some people."

Xiao Niao flipped open a page. "The conversation between Gwyneth Tudor and the Baron's daughter at last night's banquet is also recorded here in detail."

She began to explain the incident in an orderly manner. Her attitude was objective and fair, and the detailed evidence was quite complete, even including when, where, and from whom the eldest prince heard the so-called rumors.

From the conclusion, Gwyneth did not do anything bad, and most of the rumors were deliberately spread by people with ulterior motives.

This story is very old-fashioned: a group of generals who originally followed Lawrence to fight were proud of their hard work and great achievements, and were very afraid of the Tudor family who were favored by the emperor, so they spread the news intentionally to weaken the other side's power.

Those people probably didn't expect that the eldest prince would be so cooperative. Not only did he express his dissatisfaction with Gwyneth as they had expected, but he also went straight to the point and brought the matter to the Butcher Bird's desk.