The Aloof Lord's Mysterious Wife
Chapter 653: I Rely on My Intelligence and Talents to Secure My Position as the Royal Heir

Chapter 653: I Rely on My Intelligence and Talents to Secure My Position as the Royal Heir

"I ordered the Imperial Guard to search, how could they possibly frame you?" Chu Yan raised an eyebrow.

"I only bought five, and I used them all. There were no leftovers, how could they have found any!" The Prince of Changshan spoke again, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized something was wrong.

At that moment, his face changed dramatically. Seeing Chu Yan’s sharp expression, his legs buckled, and he collapsed to his knees.

"I... I..." He stammered, unable to speak.

The others were still confused.

"What’s going on?" Elder Xu asked, puzzled.

Chu Yan explained, "The eunuchs and palace maids all have the same story, saying that the Prince of Changchun bought them off. When I saw the Prince of Changshan’s figure, I knew the reason behind it. The two of them are similar in appearance. The Prince of Changshan must have used a Face-Changing Talisman, causing them to mistake him for someone else."

Prime Minister Lu understood immediately, laughing, "Third Prince, this trick of yours has never failed. Brilliant, brilliant!"

Elder Xu sighed, his tone full of pity, "Prince of Changshan, you are quite clever, so why would you do this? You are ruining your future. You are all brothers from the same family, classmates who studied together."

The Prince of Changshan began crying, "Your Majesty, I was foolish for a moment, please have mercy and take my youth into account and let me go."

He knew he had been exposed, and that harsh words were useless at this point, so he quickly admitted guilt, hoping to reduce his punishment.

He also turned to Ye Yanli with a look of guilt, "I’m sorry, Yanli, I was just jealous that you are better than me at everything, which is why I schemed against you."

Ye Yanli, being kind-hearted, thought that perhaps he had been too outstanding and had failed to consider the feelings of others, and he felt a bit guilty.

He was about to speak up to intercede on the Prince’s behalf when Ye Siheng, resting his chin on one hand and leaning back in his chair, sneered coldly, "As for intelligence, Yanli could never compare to you. You just admitted that it was jealousy that drove you to poison and frame someone. Such an admission clears you of any blame and shifts the guilt to the royal prince."

The fragrance from the incense curled through the air, and the elegant scene of a person sitting in a chair looked as though it were a picture.

The Prince of Changshan’s face stiffened.

Ye Siheng continued, "You wanted to kill two birds with one stone, preventing Chu Yan from entering the imperial family’s records and eliminating Ye Yanli and the other candidates. It was a risky move, but if you succeeded, you would have become the Royal Heir of Mu Nation, a risk worth taking."

In fact, Emperor Muwu and others had already guessed the Prince of Changshan’s intentions, but today, Ye Siheng had explained it in a way that was different from usual.

Emperor Muwu glanced at him and saw that he was looking at Nanli, understanding everything.

It turned out that Ye Siheng felt that Chu Yan had stolen the spotlight and was worried that his wife would be too enamored with someone else.

However, Nanli didn’t even glance at Ye Siheng.

Ye Siheng’s heart sank.

The Prince of Changshan’s thoughts were exposed, and his face grew even uglier.

He had no choice but to speak again, "Your Majesty, I was young..."

Emperor Muwu’s expression darkened, "You acted so ruthlessly, and yet you still say you’re young?"

"But I’ve been without parents since I was a child..." The Prince of Changshan tried to play the orphan card.

"Yanli was also without parents. Why didn’t he become as malicious as you? You harmed your own kin and still only think of clearing your name instead of feeling guilty and remorseful!" Emperor Muwu’s anger was palpable.

The Prince of Changshan saw that the Emperor had no intention of showing him any mercy, and he was further enraged.

He retorted, "Your Majesty gathered us here in the palace, didn’t you want us to compete with each other? They are less skilled than me, why should I feel guilty?! Wasn’t it the same when you climbed to the throne, stepping over the bodies of your brothers?!"

Those were Emperor Muwu’s own brothers!

Yet, the Prince of Changshan had only harmed his own kin.

Emperor Muwu slammed the table, "How dare you!"

The Prince of Changshan, having already done these things, was fearless now.

He turned and glared at Chu Yan, gritting his teeth. "Chu Yan, you’re not as smart as I am. If you become a prince, I won’t accept it!"

Elder Xu interjected, "You’ve already been caught by the Third Prince, what else is there not to accept?"

"He only tricked me!" The Prince of Changshan clenched his fists. "If I had been more careful, I wouldn’t have exposed myself!"

Chu Yan looked down at him, "I may have tricked you with a fake talisman, but it was only to expose the truth quickly. Even if you deceived the eunuchs and maids, making them point the finger at Prince of Changchun, you still had to personally buy the Face-Changing Talisman, or send someone to do it. If we investigated carefully, we would have found the person behind it. So no matter how calm you were, you couldn’t escape."

The Prince of Changshan was stunned.

His fists tightened even more.

Chu Yan continued, "You do have some intelligence, but your power is too weak. You couldn’t silence anyone, could you?"

The Prince of Changshan froze.

How did Chu Yan guess all of this?

Indeed, the Prince of Changshan had no real power in Teng State; he had only brought a single attendant with him to the capital.

It was that attendant who had purchased the talisman.

He had wanted to kill the attendant to silence him, but he was no match for the servant and had to swallow his anger.

"You’re nothing but a slave-born bastard. Just because the Emperor has no sons now, you get this opportunity!" The Prince of Changshan suddenly cursed, "You’re of low status, what right do you have to become a prince? What right do you have to become the Royal Heir?!"

But he, the legitimate heir of the Taizu, had no chance to compete just because he didn’t have a good father?

Nanli furrowed her brows. Seeing that he was still unsatisfied, she gave him one last chance, "Say it again."

Her gaze was filled with murderous intent.

The Prince of Changshan gritted his teeth, "He’s a bastard, what virtues and abilities does he have! You’re all kneeling to him, worshipping him, it’s just blindness!"

Nanli didn’t even need to make a move.

Ye Yanli had already moved. He walked over and punched the Prince of Changshan down to the ground.

"You may be of legitimate birth, but your heart is poisonous. If the officials kneel to you and worship you, that would truly be blindness!"

"Ye Yanli, you dare hit me?!" The Prince of Changshan tried to fight back.

But Ye Yanli was fierce, and he directly mounted the Prince of Changshan, punching him several times without mercy. "You schemed to harm me, why can’t I hit you!?"

He showed no mercy.

The Prince of Changshan’s face was covered in blood, his front teeth knocked out, and he screamed in agony.

But no one intervened.

After all, it was the Prince of Changshan who had spoken so arrogantly.

Chu Yan stepped forward and pulled Ye Yanli’s hand. "Enough, your hand is injured."

Ye Yanli said, "It’s fine, I can still hit him."

Just now, Chu Yan had spoken up for him and uncovered the truth. Ye Yanli felt he needed to repay the favor.

Chu Yan smiled, "I’m worried you’ll be caught up in a murder charge. Father will deal with him."

It wasn’t worth delaying his own future over such a vicious person.

Ye Yanli hesitated for a moment before finally getting off the Prince of Changshan.

His hand was swollen, and Chu Yan had the royal physician treat it.

The Prince of Changshan had been beaten unconscious.

Emperor Muwu looked at him and felt it was unlucky. "Strip him of his noble title, exiled three thousand miles, take him away!"

The Imperial Guard dragged the Prince away.

Emperor Muwu still felt dissatisfied, "Ninth brother, I didn’t expect to be misunderstood like this. Back then, I relied on my intelligence and talents to secure my position as Royal Heir. I never resorted to such despicable actions like poisoning."

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