Chapter 4 Royal Family, All Spies!

Emperor Kang Shunzheng's stern voice rang out, interrupting the touching mother-son scene.

Consort Yang then released Qiao Yu, bowing with some trepidation as she asked, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I was simply overwhelmed by the sight of my son awake. May I ask what matter has angered Your Majesty?"

"Humph!" The Emperor's eyes narrowed as he rebuked harshly, "You have truly borne a fine son! First, he was found drunk in the Empress's bathing pool, and after waking up, he dared to call me senile in front of everyone! He has a good deal of nerve!"

"Perhaps I should let him take my place on the throne?" The Emperor's tone was full of chilling intent.

"Your Majesty, please forgive him! Your Majesty, please forgive him! My son surely did not mean it! Please, Your Majesty, forgive him!"

Consort Yang's face turned deathly pale upon hearing this, and she was about to kneel in fear.

At that moment, a pair of strong hands supported Consort Yang's arms, preventing her from kneeling.

Consort Yang looked back and saw that it was Qiao Yu, wearing a complicated expression.

Qiao Yu had originally planned to simply fight his way out, but Consort Yang's appearance made him change his mind. That pure maternal love, even knowing this was just a copy, even knowing Consort Yang was just an NPC, Qiao Yu wanted to protect it.

"Mother, a man should be responsible for his own actions. I made a mistake, there is no reason for you to apologize in my stead," Qiao Yu smiled warmly.

Qiao Yu saluted the Emperor, but did not kneel. Kang Shunzheng's brows furrowed instantly.

"Father, I do not know why I appeared in the Empress's bathing pool after getting drunk, but please grant me three days. I will definitely uncover the truth!"

"As for my disrespectful words to Father just now, I beg Father to punish me!"

Qiao Yu stood up straight, facing the Emperor directly with neither servility nor arrogance.

"Good, good, good! Very good!" The Emperor laughed in anger, "My son dares to speak to me like this! Truly, my good son!"

"Then I will grant you three days! If you cannot uncover the truth within three days, I will banish you to the frontier and disown you as my son!"

The Emperor left in a fit of anger, his stomach full of rage.

"My son!"

After the Emperor left, Consort Yang was frantic with worry.

"How could you speak to your father like that? A ruler's words are not a jest. If you cannot uncover the truth within three days, you will truly be banished to the frontier!"

"Don't worry, Mother. I have my own plans. You should go back and rest, the wind is strong outside."

Qiao Yu smiled, not explaining further.

"By the way, Mother, do you know where the other three princes reside?"

Although Consort Yang was somewhat puzzled, she still pointed Qiao Yu in the direction. Qiao Yu ran off in a puff of smoke.

Soon, he arrived in front of the palace Consort Yang had described. This was the residence of the First Prince, and the first stop on Qiao Yu's investigation.

He had already decided, either the First Prince was innocent, or he would wring the First Prince's head off.

However, before Qiao Yu could step through the gate, he heard the eunuchs inside whispering.

"Have you heard? The Fourth Prince offended His Majesty, and will be banished to the frontier in three days!"

"Ah! I heard. Truly, the world is impermanent. The Fourth Prince used to be such a refined and amiable person, how could he become like this? It is truly a pity!"

"Yes, the Fourth Prince is so pitiful, he was probably framed."

The conversation between the two eunuchs left Qiao Yu somewhat speechless.

As eunuchs, they did not feel sorry for themselves, but instead felt sorry for the pampered Fourth Prince?

Humans are indeed very strange creatures.

Qiao Yu stepped directly inside, the two eunuchs instantly paling in fright.

They did not know if the Fourth Prince had heard their whispers, and could only quickly shout at the top of their lungs.

"The Fourth Prince has arrived!"

Qiao Yu ignored the two eunuchs and walked straight inside.

He wanted to see just what kind of character this First Prince, who was rumored to be obsessed with women and food, truly was.

After walking through the palace gate, Qiao Yu saw a person, no… to be exact, a ball.

The ball was wearing a golden python robe, eating and drinking voraciously, stuffing all kinds of expensive ingredients into its mouth, its face glistening with oil.

Next to it, four beautiful maidens dressed in revealing attire were using palm-leaf fans to cool the ball down.

"Yang Xiangdi?!?" Qiao Yu exclaimed in surprise.

"Brother Yu?"

The ball, oh no, Yang Xiangdi, was also somewhat surprised to discover that the visitor was Qiao Yu.

"All of you, leave!"

He first dismissed the surrounding eunuchs and maids, then rose to greet Qiao Yu.

"Brother Yu! Damn, this time is much better than last time! I came in and I'm directly the First Prince! Whatever I want, I get!"

Yang Xiangdi's small eyes sparkled with excitement, and as he spoke, he continued to stuff food into his mouth, the python robe barely able to contain his trembling fat.

"Yeah… I can see that."

Qiao Yu could not help but feel a bit disgusted. If Yang Xiangdi burned all that fat, how terrifying would his intelligence and mental strength be?

A single Earth Burst Palm would probably blow up even the boss's ancestral grave, right?

"Hold on a second, stop just focusing on eating. Don't forget that we came into this copy to investigate why Zuo You is here," Qiao Yu said with a headache.

"O**k!"

Yang Xiangdi stopped what he was doing.

"Right, Brother Yu, this time the mission is different from last time. Last time it was just protecting the country from invasion, this time it also wants me to assist some damn Fourth Prince in regaining the position of Crown Prince."

Qiao Yu was silent for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.

"Do you think there's a possibility that the damn Fourth Prince you're talking about is me?"

Yang Xiangdi: "Σ(ﾟдﾟlll)!"

"Wait, we both randomly got the role of prince, then Ma Fei..." Qiao Yu's expression turned strange.

"Is there any need to say it? What damn Grand Eunuch, not even a dog would want to be that! If I'm going to be something, I'm going to be a prince!" Ma Fei walked in with an excited expression, wearing a python robe as well.

Qiao Yu's expression instantly became very colorful.

Good heavens, of the four princes, three were on their side, the entire royal family was full of spies!

What was there to investigate now? Yang Xiangdi was the First Prince, Ma Fei was the Second Prince, that meant the remaining Third Prince was practically confirmed as the culprit.

"Let's go! Let's go meet our dear Third Prince! I'll teach him how to use his brain!"

Qiao Yu eagerly took Ma Fei and Yang Xiangdi and hurried towards the Third Prince's palace.

"The First Prince, Second Prince, and Fourth Prince have arrived!"

The old eunuch at the Third Prince's door drawled, startling the Third Prince inside the palace.

The Third Prince, with his high cheekbones, gloomy eyes, and horse-like face, was currently pondering with his eyes lowered, muttering to himself.

"The First, Second, and Fourth all coming at the same time, what could be the reason…"

"Could it be that my scheme against the Fourth has been exposed? Impossible! I handled all the loose ends cleanly, there's no way they could have gotten evidence!"

Although he had doubts in his heart, the Third Prince immediately put on a fake smile and rose to greet them outside.

"I was unaware that my two older brothers and Fourth Brother would suddenly visit, I have failed to greet you properly!" The Third Prince cupped his fist in salute, looking like a humble gentleman.

But the next moment, a fist was constantly enlarging in his eyes.

"Come, Third Brother, Fourth Brother is here to let you feel what's called a collision of brotherhood!"