Qin Feng hurriedly stepped forward, his lips trembling and turning pale.
"I've failed to educate my son well. My unworthy son has offended the imperial dignity. His crime is unpardonable. I'll surely punish him severely when I get home and then bring him before Your Majesty to plead for forgiveness!"
The Crown Prince had always maintained a gentle demeanor.
He stepped down from the platform and handed the memorial to Qin Feng.
"Then I'll have to trouble Lord Qin."
He said nothing else.
The memorial was a long one, with over a thousand words. Qin Feng couldn't bear to look at it.
It seemed that after twenty years of studying poetry and literature, his son had used all his talent on doing stupid things.
The Crown Prince didn't seem to want to make a big deal out of it.
After all, the Emperor's illness had come on suddenly. Whoever provoked the Emperor at this time might be punished by the extermination of nine generations of his family if anything happened to the Emperor!
Qin Feng stuffed the memorial into his sleeve and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.
As the Crown Prince passed by Lu Siming, he glanced at him seemingly casually before striding back onto the dais with composure.
That single glance made Lu Siming clench his teeth tightly, his eyes filled with a cold light.
His intuition told him that the Crown Prince was involved in this.
But where had the flaw occurred? What on earth had Qin Ziqi heard that made him risk going against his father and submit a memorial to dissolve the marriage?
After the court session, Lu Siming quickly walked past Qin Feng and left a warning in a hurry.
"Keep your son in check. Don't let him go crazy again! Don't tell him what happens in the court in the future!"
Qin Feng was furious.
When he got home, he scolded Qin Ziqi severely and tore the memorial to pieces in front of him.
Qin Ziqi, who was being scolded, kept a cold face throughout.
All those words about "the overall situation", "being patient", and "your little sacrifice doesn't matter" made him extremely angry.
He was now the heir of the Rongxiang Duke's Mansion. His interests were the interests of the entire Qin family.
But his father had been sacrificing his interests again and again for the sake of his own power!
Was he going to be doomed to marry that crazy woman for the rest of his life?
His father was old and should have supported him to take over, but he held onto power tightly. He was so selfish, only caring about himself!
If he couldn't dissolve the marriage with Princess Lingyang, he would only be able to hold a low - ranking official position below the third rank for the rest of his life!
Resentment built up, and hatred quietly took root.
...
Qin Ziqi's wounds had healed.
He lay alone in bed at night, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
One day, Qiluo served him lunch. Taking advantage of Lv Yi's absence, he grabbed Qiluo's wrist and asked impatiently, "You said you'd find a way to deal with Lv Yi. Do you have any ideas? I've been so pent - up these days!"
He had asked Qiluo several times to come to his room at night to serve him, but Qiluo always said that Lv Yi shared a room with her and watched her closely.
"Don't be impatient, My Lord. I already have an idea. I definitely won't let you wait in vain tonight."
Qiluo bit her lips shyly and smiled faintly, which made Qin Ziqi feel hot in his lower abdomen.
Just as he was about to pull the beauty into his arms for some intimacy, Lv Yi walked in with a pot of chicken soup.
"My Lord, you can't favor one over the other. If you only let Sister Qiluo serve you, I'll be jealous!"
She stepped forward and squeezed Qiluo away from Qin Ziqi.
She put a hand on Qin Ziqi's shoulder and kneaded it tenderly.
Qin Ziqi's face almost distorted in pain.
"Alright, alright. I appreciate your kindness. I'm going to eat. You can go first."
Qiluo and Lv Yi exchanged a sly look and smiled.
Lv Yi pretended to be angry and fluttered her sleeves, then swayed out of the room.
As soon as she got out of the door, she pretended to vomit.
It was so disgusting.
Qiluo served Qin Ziqi a bowl of chicken soup.
"My Lord, you should at least taste Sister Lv Yi's good intentions."
Smelling the sweet fragrance wafting from her sleeve, Qin Ziqi suddenly felt sleepy and lost his appetite for the sumptuous feast on the table.
"I'm tired. I want to take a nap."
Qiluo helped him to bed and carefully covered him with the quilt.
Qin Ziqi forced his tired eyes open and looked at the gentle side - face of the beauty.
"My Lord, I've heard recently that the Emperor is seriously ill and Concubine Lan is serving him closely. The Empress wanted to visit the Emperor several times, but the Emperor refused to see her."
"Why is that?" Qin Ziqi yawned, and his eyes were getting harder and harder to keep open.
"The Empress ordered the caning of the Yang family, which made the princess see blood on her wedding day, which annoyed the Emperor. Princess Lingyang refused to return to the princess mansion and has been living in the Yukun Palace, which also made the Emperor dissatisfied. He thought the Empress doted on her children too much.
Even the Crown Prince has fallen out of favor with the Emperor these days. Several of his decisions have been rejected by the Emperor, while the proposals of the Second Prince have all been readily approved.
Moreover, Concubine Lan has asked the Emperor for an imperial edict to betroth Gao Feifei, the legitimate daughter of the Gao family, to the Second Prince as his principal wife. The Gao family has a title and troops. Gao Feifei and the Second Prince are cousins. If they get married, the troops of the Gao family will be at the Second Prince's disposal."
The information was a mixture of truth and falsehood. Qiluo picked out the "key points" to tell him.
Hearing so many court secrets, Qin Ziqi was briefly sober.
A few days ago, Qin Feng had severely warned him not to inquire about court affairs anymore.
He had also told him to go and apologize to that crazy woman with a bundle of twigs on his back.
All the information he had heard about the court was told to him by Qiluo.
Qiluo really loved him.
He wanted to hold Qiluo's hand, but Qiluo grabbed his hand and stuffed it into the quilt.
"My Lord, the Second Prince is in power. If Lord Qin wavers any longer, he will lose the opportunity. When the Second Prince ascends the throne in the future, you must strive to be the number one meritorious official!"
Qin Ziqi fell asleep listening to Qiluo's chatter.
In his dream, he was assisting the Second Prince to ascend the throne and enjoying the glory of being a high - ranking official.
Qin Ziqi slept until sunset.
Naturally, he wasn't sleepy at night.
He set up a table of wine and dishes and enjoyed a leisurely drink, waiting for Qiluo to come into his arms tonight.
Sure enough, as soon as night fell, Qiluo came.
"Lv Yi didn't follow you, did she?"
These days, every time he wanted to get intimate with Qiluo, Lv Yi would appear out of nowhere like a ghost and spoil his good deed.
It had even given him a psychological shadow.
"No. I drugged her with a powerful sleeping drug. She won't wake up all night."
Qin Ziqi was overjoyed. "You're such a clever girl."
Qiluo tugged at his sleeve and pleaded coquettishly, "My Lord, I want to serve you forever and grow old with you. You must find a way to preserve the glory and wealth of the Rongxiang Duke's Mansion."
"Don't worry. I'll surely follow the Second Prince firmly!"
Just as he was about to pull Qiluo's soft waist into his arms, the door was kicked open with a "bang".
Qin Ziqi was so frightened that he lost his nerve.
"Who is so bold as to break into my room without permission?"
Lv Yi walked in menacingly with a sharp sword in her hand.
She pointed the sword at Qiluo. "You traitor! Haven't the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess been good to you? You've told all the confidential information you've overheard to Qin Ziqi. Do you want Qin Ziqi to help the Second Prince rebel?"