Chapter 676: Chapter 261: Zhao Mengyu is Killed in Battle, Xiao Jinxing Installs Crown Prince (Second Update)

Xiao Zhanping’s eyes flashed with a hint of ruthless light.

He said in a cold voice, "Bring Zhao Mengyu to Us."

"Summon and bring the Imperial Concubine here!" Xiao Jinxing instructed.

Soon after.

Zhao Mengyu, her mouth stuffed with cotton cloth, was rudely shoved to kneel before Xiao Zhanping’s dragon bed.

Zhao Mengyu was nearly insane at this moment.

She was recklessly resisting, as if that was all she could do.

"Unbind her mouth." Xiao Zhanping ordered.

The guard quickly removed the cotton cloth from Zhao Mengyu’s mouth.

The moment she could speak, Zhao Mengyu shouted uncontrollably, without any inhibition, "My son will come back to save me, you traitors; when my son returns, he will slaughter you all, not leaving a single one of you!"

Xiao Zhanping’s expression turned exceedingly ugly.

Xiao Jinxing explained, "The Imperial Concubine is overcome with shock due to my sudden appearance, damaging her mind, and now seems to have lost her sanity, barely lucid anymore."

"As if she could still pretend to be crazy and stupid!" There wasn’t a trace of emotion in Xiao Zhanping’s eyes.

The old affection he once had for Zhao Mengyu also vanished completely after she fed him that bowl of poison.

All he wanted now was to kill Zhao Mengyu, to flay her a thousand, a ten thousand times over!

"Guards, the Imperial Concubine has attempted to assassinate me, her crimes are heinous, drag her out and execute her by beating!" Xiao Zhanping, without any hesitation, ordered coldly.

He would never again have a shred of pity for Zhao Mengyu.

Upon hearing Xiao Zhanping’s decree, Zhao Mengyu was momentarily stunned.

She didn’t scream or make a fuss.

She just stared straight at Xiao Zhanping.

As though she wanted to kill him with her gaze.

"Zhao Mengyu, this is your retribution!" Xiao Zhanping mocked, "Didn’t you say that your son is your support? Now, he has abandoned you and left, such a fine son you have raised! Truly, you reap what you sow!"

"And how much better could you be?" Zhao Mengyu suddenly calmed down, her senses seemingly coming back, in the moment before one’s death, maybe there comes a sudden tranquility, "Xiao Jinsen is also your son; he turned into such a person, one who would murder his father and patricide his mother. What right do you have to mock me? What qualifications do you have to ridicule me?"

"Shut your mouth!" Xiao Zhanping was clearly enraged by Zhao Mengyu.

"I know I’m about to die." Zhao Mengyu was no longer afraid of Xiao Zhanping, in that moment when one truly does not fear death, everything becomes clear, "Xiao Zhanping, you will not have a good ending in this life either. I curse you to die without descendants, to die with no one to tend to you in your final moments!"

"Drag her away, drag her away!" Xiao Zhanping was shaking with anger, completely unable to control his furious emotions and shouted.

Because of his weakness, he nearly fainted from this outburst.

"Xiao Jinxing, do you see it? Do you see your father’s true face?!" Zhao Mengyu completely unleashed herself, as she was being dragged away, she screamed aloud, "Your mother Princess was killed just like this by your father. Your father knew that your mother was innocent, yet he still cruelly killed her. Are you still willing to save the man who murdered your mother?! If I were your mother, I would climb out of my coffin! Xiao Jinxing, I advise you to take advantage of your current position and kill Xiao Zhanping immediately; otherwise, given his ruthlessness, you will eventually die by his hands... Ah..."

The entire hall resonated with Zhao Mengyu’s piercing screams.

Outside the hall, the sounds of corporal punishment quickly began.

Along with Zhao Mengyu’s continuous insane shrieking, "Xiao Zhanping, you will not die a good death, you cruel person, you will definitely not die a good death..."

Gradually.

The sounds became fainter and fainter.

Until.

A guard came in from outside the hall, "Reporting to the Emperor, the Imperial Concubine has been executed."

"Throw her corpse out, feed it to the dogs!"

"As Your Majesty commands." The guard hurriedly responded with respect.

And then left.

After leaving.

Xiao Zhanping seemed to still be in a rage, not having snapped out of it for a long time.

The curses and insults Zhao Mengyu had hurled at him were still lingering in his ears.

It took a long time to calm down.

But in that instant.

Zhao Mengyu’s words had also served as a reminder to him.

He had killed Xiao Jinxing’s mother, the Princess; would Xiao Jinxing...?

He hurriedly turned his head to look at Xiao Jinxing.

At this moment, everyone outside was Xiao Jinxing’s man.

"Xing’er," Xiao Zhanping maintained his usual demeanor.

"Father Emperor."

"How come you suddenly rushed back? The Father Emperor heard that you were fighting at the border, and you just set out troops yesterday?" Xiao Zhanping asked.

It seemed like a casual inquiry.

Xiao Jinxing answered, "Returning to Father Emperor, the battle was merely a smokescreen, not a real intent to start a war. The Bai Family’s army has just achieved its first victory, and although the troops’ morale is boosted, the number of casualties is still substantial. To take to the battlefield rashly could lead to an irreversible defeat if we fail. Therefore, the son’s ruse was to spread false information about launching an attack on Beimu Country, when in fact it was to intimidate Beimu Country. At the same time, there is a spy in the army, and the son intended to use this method to investigate and root out the spy, thus a play was enacted."

"Why did you rush back?" Xiao Zhanping continued.

"Bai Mowan was severely wounded in the abdomen during the last battle. The son was merely secretly accompanying Wan’er back for recuperation in Xun. Suddenly, I received news that danger had struck the Imperial Palace, and so I led troops to storm into it. When the son arrived, the Father Emperor had already passed out on the ground; it was my late arrival that startled the Father Emperor." Xiao Jinxing explained with an unchanging expression.

This made everything seem reasonable.

Preventing the Emperor from suspecting that this had been his long-contemplated plan.

Of course, Xiao Zhanping was no fool either.

His questioning was to gauge if all this had been deliberately orchestrated by Xiao Jinxing.

Xiao Jinxing had known about Xiao Jinsen’s rebellion in advance and had accordingly made preparations.

Yet knowing of the rebellion and failing to report it in advance nearly cost him his life.

Xiao Zhanping’s thoughts were complicated.

But at this moment, he showed nothing.

He said, "It’s fortunate that you rushed back while escorting Bai Mowan, otherwise, the Father Emperor would hardly have escaped calamity."

"The Father Emperor has a heaven-sent fortune."

"Today, you have rendered a great service in rescuing the Emperor, and the Father Emperor will certainly reward you generously, as well as Princess Chen," Xiao Zhanping stated decisively.

"Rescuing the Father Emperor is the son’s duty; I do not need any reward from the Father Emperor," Xiao Jinxing said respectfully.

"No need to be modest; I already have plans," Xiao Zhanping declared resolutely. "Summon someone to bring me ink and brush, I want to decree and bestow upon Chen King Xiao Jinxing the title of my Crown Prince!"

The sudden decree caused Xiao Jinxing to stiffen slightly.

Ye Qichi was also somewhat surprised that Xiao Zhanping would make such a swift decision.

Naturally.

The Crown Prince was dead, the Chu King had become a rebel plotting treason, and Xiao Jinxing had rendered great service in the rescue; making him the Crown Prince was only appropriate.

But Xiao Zhanping’s decisiveness was ultimately shocking.

On second thought.

Xiao Zhanping had faced rebellion from the Empress and treachery from the Chu King, all because of the power struggle!

Once Xiao Jinxing was given enough power, such events would not happen again.