Crowned by the Treacherous Big Shot

Prince Jin asked, "Uncle, do you know the consequences of opening the Imperial Mausoleum?"

Hu Lie replied, "Your Majesty and the Miao King are irreconcilable; perhaps they have long been at each other's throats inside the mausoleum."

Prince Jin listened to his nonsensical words and snorted coldly, "Do you believe this yourself, Uncle? Haven't you forgotten that child?"

Hu Lie said perfunctorily, "How important can a child be? If a fight is meant to happen, it will happen."

Prince Jin frowned, "Uncle, I know you want to save Qi'er, and do you think I don't want to save him? He is my only son, and my desire to save him is even more urgent than yours! But once Father Emperor comes out of the mausoleum, both the Jin Prince Mansion and the General Mansion will be finished!"

Hu Lie paused, "I will act cautiously, not letting the Eldest Princess's people follow us."

Just as Prince Jin was about to say something, Hu Lie continued, "Even if we are followed, I have backup plans. I will ensure the plan is foolproof."

Prince Jin asked suspiciously, "What does uncle plan to do?"

Hu Lie gazed into the boundless night, "Remove the firewood from under the pot."

-

Meng Qianqian gave the Empress sleeping pills; the Empress woke briefly during the day, but soon lay down again.

She has been bedridden for days due to worry over Your Majesty, and the Palace Attendants have not suspected anything.

After dark, Meng Qianqian left the palace.

The identity of the Eldest Princess is indeed convenient; she can come and go in the court without reporting to anyone, not even Prince Jin, who is acting as Regent, can interfere with her.

Upon arriving at the Crown Prince Mansion, she went to Mr. Zi Wu's courtyard.

Mr. Zi Wu, looking like a kidnapped old man, hung his head hopelessly, sitting in his chair.

At a glance, all was black and crowded with human heads.

His heart grew even more despondent.

What kind of life has he been living since descending from the mountain?

"Master, we apologize for the inconvenience; we shall discuss matters in your room today."

Lu Zhaoyan said.

Mr. Zi Wu indicated he had no desire to get involved.

Does anyone remember that he is an old man close to entering the earth?

Whose old man is tormented like this every day?

Is an old man's life not a life?

He glanced left, seeing Lu Zhaoyan attending to Liu Qingyun's cloud sleeves.

He twitched his mouth, then glanced right, seeing Lu Yuan and Meng Qianqian holding hands.

This wretched mansion is unbearable even for a day!

A quarter of an hour later, Prince Fu arrived.

"Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law."

He cupped his hands in salute towards Lu Zhaoyan and Liu Qingyun.

This address of Second Sister-in-law was smooth, greatly pleasing Lu Zhaoyan.

Lu Zhaoyan laughed and said, "Sit."

He sat in the seat of honor above Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan and Meng Qianqian addressed him as Fifth Uncle.

Being now allies, there was nothing to hide; Lu Zhaoyan had already explained the current situation when sending Cui Hu to invite Prince Fu.

Prince Fu asked, "What will they do?"

Lu Zhaoyan replied, "Opening the underground palace is inevitable, and as for what happens before and after, there will likely be many actions."

Meng Qianqian nodded, "First, talking about Gongsun Liuying, if I were her, I would hope Lu Qi died inside the underground palace. Then, referring to Prince Jin and Great General Hu, I guess they have three plans: first, to kill Your Majesty but not the Miao King, as they need the Miao King to take the blame."

"Second, to kill Lu Fengyin; now Lu Fengyin's threat surpasses that of the Crown Prince Mansion and has become Prince Jin's number one threat."

"What about the third?"

Prince Fu asked.

Lu Yuan curled his lips into a slow smile, "To kill me."

Meng Qianqian nodded again, "Exactly, if there are no successors, Prince Jin's only disadvantage is gone."

Prince Fu gasped audibly.

Meng Qianqian asked, "Is Fifth Uncle finding it cruel?"

Prince Fu replied with a complicated expression, "I've always known that Big Brother is ambitious, but I never expected he would resort to patricide for personal gain."

He felt somewhat saddened, "Second Brother, we still reached this point."

Lu Zhaoyan said earnestly, "Even if Father Emperor did not claim the throne, we would still reach this point."

Prince Fu chuckled, "I was just struck by emotion for a moment and let Second Brother see it."

Lu Yuan lazily said, "The Imperial City is about to become lively."

Meng Qianqian said, "There is a brother in the secret passage, not knowing how many people they will send."

Lu Yuan snorted, "Better worry about yourself, the Imperial Palace is vast, and there are too many ways to harm someone. The Empress is not necessarily the good sister-in-law who truly cares for you."

Meng Qianqian said, "I will be careful."

"Take care, Meng Xiaojiu."

"You too, Lu Yuan."

Lu Yuan looked at her deeply, a vast ocean of emotions crossing his eyes.

At this moment, they would fight together.

And also set out on their own journeys.

Meng Qianqian felt his gaze and guessed his plan.

It is a risky approach, but also the simplest and most direct.

"Return alive."

She said.

Lu Yuan said jokingly, "Still owe Grandmother a great-grandchild, of course, I must return alive."

He looked at Lu Zhaoyan and the sleepy Liu Qingyun, "I'm leaving my mother in your care. If anything goes wrong, you can bid farewell to entering the Bai Family's doors for life."

Lu Zhaoyan: Evil child!

He then regarded Prince Fu with much more politeness, "Fifth Uncle."

Prince Fu cleared his throat, "Go at ease, remember to bring back your Imperial Grandfather and Maternal Grandfather, my mother said they owe her many gambling debts, I'm actually here to collect them today."

Lu Yuan: "…"

-

When Lu Yuan returned to his courtyard to pack his things, Lu Zhaoyan entered the room.

The father and son had reunited for a long time, apart from daily banter, being truly together was somewhat awkward.

Anyway, since everything was out in the open now, Lu Yuan didn't bother changing into night clothes.

He tucked the dagger into his waistband and took the poison and golden sore medicine.

Additionally, there were dry rations prepared by the servants.

The father and son remained silent.

Lu Zhaoyan took the initiative to break the silence between them.

He handed a bundle to Lu Yuan, "I don't know what you love to eat, so I just had the kitchen prepare a few things."

"Hmm."

Lu Yuan casually stuffed the poison into the bundle.

Lu Zhaoyan angrily pulled open the bundle, and the poison was tossed out, "If you want to die, don't drag Zhaozhao down with you!"

Lu Yuan looked at a whole table of snacks and clothes, there was even a rattle drum, and he laughed mockingly, "As for what I love to eat? Is there anything I love to eat?"

All items for little ones!

Lu Zhaoyan glared at the rebellious child, and from the pile of treats and toys for little ones, he found a palm-sized paper package.

"Donkey meat sandwiches."

Lu Yuan: "…"

-

Underground palace.

Emperor Liang and the Miao King had already reached the entrance of the Imperial Mausoleum.

However, no matter how much commotion they caused, no one opened the entrance for them.

Both of them could certainly guess what was happening.

The Miao King nearly wrote the word "scorn" on his forehead, "Tsk, blind eyes, paying for your karma now!"

Emperor Liang ignored him.

Treasure Piggy pouted pitifully, "Great-grandfather."

The little snacks in her pocket were long gone.

Although there were dry rations these days, they weren't to her liking.

She had grown thin from hunger.

She was no longer the adorable Treasure Piggy!