Chapter 38: When the wall falls, everyone pushes it, and the prince is deposed

The impeachment voices of the court officials came like a violent storm.

The prince's face was as pale as paper.

Although he had anticipated that today's events would be of great importance, he had never imagined that the storm would be so intense.

Seeing those familiar smiling faces below, now stood up like strangers, filled with righteous indignation and sharp words, as if they wanted to push him into a place of no return.

All those faces that had once fawned upon him now turned into cold swords, pointing straight at his heart.

The prince's eyes became blurry and he could no longer see the chaos in the court.

There was only one thought echoing in his mind:

It's over, it's over!

Even if his mother threatened to commit suicide in front of everyone, there was nothing she could do to save him.

Unless... unless the emperor can consider the relationship between father and son and suppress the endless criticisms from all the civil and military officials in the court.

This became his only lifeline.

The prince rubbed his eyes gently, a glimmer of hope flashed through his eyes, and he looked at Emperor Qing who was sitting high on the dragon throne.

Father, I am your flesh and blood.

Don't you really care about the father-son relationship between us?

Li Chengze watched coldly from the side, sneering in his heart.

This third prince brother is too naive after all.

In this palace, family affection and gratitude are like floating clouds. Only imperial power and interests are the eternal truths.

The prince still harbored extravagant hopes, hoping that his father would personally come out to rescue him.

However, how can a person who has lost his value expect Emperor Qing, who sits high on the throne, to even glance at him?
In the past, the prince was the crown prince and held great power. Emperor Qing indulged him in many ways and allowed him to do some out-of-line things.

But now, the court officials were outraged. Although some of them were deliberately fanning the flames, there were also many officials who sincerely believed that the prince was no longer worthy of being the crown prince.

Just because of that rash act, three thousand guards were killed, which was undoubtedly a devastating blow to the Qing Kingdom.

Although Li Chengyun killed these three thousand guards, he was just defending passively. If the prince had not insisted on provoking him, how could such a disaster have occurred?

Therefore, all the blame was placed on the prince alone.

What's more, Li Chengyun has a grandmaster by his side, who is a powerful man who is almost able to defeat an entire country alone.

The prince took the initiative to take action against Li Chengyun, so the court naturally had to give Li Chengyun a satisfactory explanation.

Li Chengze knew this very well, so he secretly colluded with others and tried to turn today's morning court into a dead end that the prince could not escape.

The censor who stood up first was his chess piece.

Afterwards, many people were moved by his words and stood up.

However, Li Chengze never expected that things would go so smoothly.

He originally thought that he could depose the prince with the impeachment of a small group of court officials.

Unexpectedly, the situation became so exaggerated that most of the court officials stood up to denounce the prince.

He had no private collusion with these court officials.

He had never expected that those officials who were close to the prince in the past would be so resolute today, and their behavior was even more abnormally cruel.

As the saying goes, traitors are often more vicious than enemies.

Li Chengze originally just wanted to get rid of the prince, his strong rival.

In order to prevent the prince from taking revenge in the future, these officials wanted to kill him.

I'm afraid even my father didn't expect so many people to shout in unison.

Li Chengze was curious about how this cold-blooded power animal would deal with this situation.
The court officials' impeachment was coming to an end, and everyone shouted in unison:
"The Crown Prince is immoral, which is a misfortune for the country. Your Majesty, please make a holy judgment!"

There was a hint of forcing the emperor to abdicate in this call.

However, these court officials did not dare to actually force the emperor to abdicate. They just wanted to express their demands in this way, hoping that Emperor Qing would give a reasonable decision.

Emperor Qing sat on the dragon throne, listening to the shouting, and actually felt a little pressure in his heart.

Although he demanded absolute obedience from officials, he also allowed them some dissatisfaction.

As long as he is the final decision maker.

Emperor Qing looked down at the pale-faced prince, and a sneer appeared inadvertently at the corner of his mouth.

Behind the curtain, his true emotions were concealed so that no one could see. His majestic voice echoed in the court like thunder:

"Cheng Qian, what's your excuse for this?"

When he heard the word Cheng Qian, a trace of despair flashed in the prince's eyes.

The last glimmer of hope in my heart also dissipated like smoke.

He gave a wry smile.

In his heart, he secretly blamed himself for his naivety. After living with his father for so many years, he still had unrealistic fantasies.

He took a deep breath, knelt straight down, touched the ground with his head, and replied respectfully:

"My son, I have nothing to say."

At this moment, many court officials showed smug smiles on their faces.

They knew that Emperor Qing addressed him as "Cheng Qian" instead of "Crown Prince", which meant that he had decided to depose the Crown Prince.

Their demands have been met.

A deposed prince is no longer a threat to any force.

Even if the prince were still alive, he would no longer pose a threat to them.

Li Chengze also couldn't hide his excitement.

The position of crown prince is left vacant.

He became the most powerful force in the court.

I have been a grindstone for many years.

Now that the blade is broken, is it his turn to be the knife this time?

Li Chengyun still looked calm and composed.

He seems to care nothing about the change of the crown prince's position.

As long as no one provokes him, he will not take action easily.

But he had a more serious goal hidden in his heart - to find out what happened, find out the murderer behind it, and grind them to ashes one by one!

Emperor Qing glanced at the prince kneeling on the ground, pondered for a moment, and finally spoke:
"Since you have nothing to say, then so be it."

"From this moment on, Li Chengqian will be deposed from his position as Crown Prince, demoted to King, and sent to his fiefdom. He will never be allowed to return to the capital!"

Although the prince was mentally prepared, when this cruel judgment actually came down, his body still shook involuntarily.

Deposing the crown prince was still bearable, after all, he was still a prince.

But heading to the fiefdom means embarking on a journey of no return.

There are thousands of mountains and rivers between Kyoto and the fiefdom, and the journey is long.

His two brothers will definitely not miss this great opportunity.

The moment he set out on the journey to his fiefdom was the moment of his unexpected death.

Perhaps, as soon as he steps out of Kyoto, he will be assassinated by an assassin, who will send him to the underworld when he is off guard.

Moreover, it wasn't just his two brothers who had ulterior motives.

Those forces that once supported him have now turned against him and are eager to get rid of him as soon as possible.

The power they mobilized was several times more sinister than that of his brothers.

As long as he steps out of Kyoto, he will have nowhere to escape.

Death was approaching, and the prince knelt on the ground, his body trembling.

An indescribable hatred surged in my heart.

He hated Li Chengyun, why he had such a powerful grandmaster as his subordinate, but also brutally killed his three thousand guards.

He hated why Li Chengyun's strength was not revealed earlier so that he could be prepared.

He also hated Li Chengze, as Li Chengze had played an indispensable role in fueling today's tragedy.

Li Chengyun was the direct culprit who caused him to fall into this situation, while Li Chengze was an indirect accomplice.

He hated Emperor Qing even more, as they were father and son whose blood was thicker than water.

However, Emperor Qing was merciless to him, how could he not hate him!

(End of this chapter)