The Empress Lu's unease grew, and she reprimanded the Emperor Chongwen with feigned ferocity, "Did you not hear what I said? Get out of my palace immediately."
"Do not think that just because I rely on you for certain matters now, you can control me. If you displease me, I have plenty of ways to kill you."
"Guards, quickly, guards, throw him out!"
Not a single person stepped forward.
"What, are even you all going against me? Don't forget where your families are now," Empress Lu threatened.
"So, this is the Empress's trump card," Emperor Chongwen sneered. "Indeed, the Empress hails from the Lu family. This method of threatening relatives is always the Lu family's favorite tactic. How could the Empress not have learned its essence?"
"You threatened Song Meiren's brother to make her defile the imperial harem. Truly a brilliant plan," Emperor Chongwen mocked.
"You, you are..." Empress Lu's face showed terror. "No, it's impossible. It's clearly, clearly..."
"If you can find a substitute, why can't I? What, in the Empress's eyes, am I so foolish? Empress, don't forget who has been sitting on the throne for so many years! I have seen all the wrongdoings of the Lu family. The reason I have tolerated them for so long is for the Empress's sake, and for the Prince's sake. Likewise, I am not one to burn bridges. I have always remembered the kindness of my father-in-law and the Lu family," Emperor Chongwen said slowly. "I thought I had done enough for the Lu family."
"Kill him, kill him," Empress Lu shrieked.
The fact that Emperor Chongwen sat there and laid everything bare proved that everything was under his control.
Therefore, all their painstaking planning had turned to naught.
No one obeyed Empress Lu's command.
Only then did Empress Lu have to accept the fact that all her close associates had betrayed her.
"When did you find out?" Empress Lu asked.
"I have always been wary of the Lu family," Emperor Chongwen replied.
"Is this what you call treating the Lu family well?" Empress Lu's smile turned ferocious. "You never trusted the Lu family."
"If the Lu family had been law-abiding, I would naturally have trusted them. But ever since you gave birth to the Prince, the Lu family harbored improper ambitions," Emperor Chongwen said slowly. "In fact, if the Lu family had not interfered with the Prince's education, I would not have been so wary of him."
"I dote on my child with A'Le, but the second son is also my flesh and blood. In my heart, the two brothers are equal," Emperor Chongwen said.
"I personally tutored the eldest son. In the beginning, I personally tutored both brothers. Does the Empress remember?"
Empress Lu's long-sealed memories were reawakened. Indeed, the second son had studied alongside the eldest son back then.
Later, when her father said he had found a great scholar, she had gone to Emperor Chongwen and expressed her wish for the Prince to study with the scholar.
Empress Lu still remembered that at first, His Majesty had disagreed. But unable to resist her persistent pleas, His Majesty had finally relented.
From then on, the Prince was jointly tutored by her father and the great scholar.
"If my father-in-law had taught him diligently, I would have said nothing," Emperor Chongwen continued. "But gradually, the Prince became less capable. He was slow to learn and lacked insight. Yet, in the beginning, he was even more intelligent than the eldest son. My dear Empress, have you never suspected anything?"
Empress Lu bit her lip. "Impossible, it's impossible."
"The Lu family did not need a prince with exceptional talent; they needed a prince who was mediocre and dependent on them," Emperor Chongwen delivered a heavy blow to Empress Lu.