Chapter 271: More Suspicion
When the emperor saw this, he didn't understand why Xie Lingxiao, who was always steady and composed, was so startled.
"Royal brother, what happened?"
Xie Lingxiao immediately put away his expression and slowly sat back down.
"Your Majesty, nothing happened."
The emperor was suspicious by nature, and the less Xie Lingxiao said, the more suspicious he became.
"Royal brother, you can say whatever you want."
Xie Lingxiao hesitated for a moment: "I just suddenly realized that the Crown Prince and my brother don't look like father and son, but they look quite similar to Prime Minister Lu."
His words were like a thunder, exploding in the palace hall.
The hall was silent for a while, and you could hear a pin drop.
After a brief silence, all the officials and their families seemed to be in an uproar, completely forgetting that they were in the imperial palace and started talking to each other.
"Master Chen, what the Regent said is true. The Crown Prince is indeed more like the Prime Minister."
"The Queen and the Prime Minister are blood siblings, so it's normal for them to look a bit alike."
"Master Li, have you ever seen someone who looks so much like his biological father and son?"
There was a constant noise in the hall for a while. The queen was panicked and looked at Lu Zhong frequently.
Lu Zhong had been an official in the court for many years and was also a prime minister of the first rank. Now that something like this had happened, although he was a little nervous, he did not show any panic at all.
The emperor noticed that the queen kept looking at Lu Zhong, and his suspicion grew.
His eyes kept moving between Lu Zhong and Xie Zihan. The longer he looked, the more he felt that what Xie Lingxiao said was true.
Based on his understanding of Xie Lingxiao over the years, he would never say it publicly if he didn't have hard evidence.
Seeing the constant noise in the hall, Eunuch Deng hurriedly spoke out to stop it: "Be quiet, this is the palace hall, how can you be so noisy."
Upon hearing his words, all the civil and military officials and their families fell silent.
The emperor's face returned to normal: "Who do the Queen and Prime Minister think the Crown Prince resembles?"
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is your child, how could he look like me?"
"You are the true dragon emperor, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is also a dragon among men. How could you be similar to an ordinary person like me?"
Shen Jingxuan looked at everything in front of her with a smile and couldn't help but applaud the Prime Minister's words.
She didn't expect that when encountering such a thing, Lu Zhong was still clear-headed, and even the words he said were deeply liked by the emperor.
If Lu Zhong was not involved in this matter at this time, the emperor would definitely reward him, right?
The emperor said: "The Prime Minister is the prince's uncle, so it is normal that they look alike."
Having said that, the emperor had already become suspicious and was waiting for the palace banquet to be over so that he could send someone to investigate.
Looking at Xie Zihan in front of him, the emperor was not only suspicious but also frightened.
If Xie Zihan was really related to the Prime Minister's Mansion, he couldn't even imagine what kind of thoughts they had in mind to secretly pass their children off as royal descendants for more than 20 years.
The crown prince is the foundation of a country. He would just be given more instruction on trivial matters, and there would be no such thing as deposing the crown prince.
As the crown prince, if Xie Zihan behaves himself, he will inherit the throne in the future. At that time...
Thinking of this, the emperor didn't even dare to think any further.
Lu Zhong has been the prime minister for many years, so how could he not understand the emperor?
Seeing his calm face at this moment, he was a little confused for a moment, and couldn't guess whether the emperor believed it or not.
"Your Majesty..."
The emperor interrupted Lu Zhong and said, "Okay, there is no need to mention this matter anymore."
He has been in power for many years, so how could he not know what Lu Zhong was thinking? What he knew of himself was just the way he wanted him to see himself.
If an emperor could have his temper, character, and style of doing things understood by anyone, then he would have sat on the throne in vain for so many years.
By evening, after Eunuch Deng asked the emperor, the palace maids came one after another.
After they placed the New Year banquet meals on each person's low table, they left again.
The emperor acted as if nothing had happened. He picked up a dish and slowly put it into his mouth.
After he finished eating, civil and military officials and their families began to eat.
The queen looked pale and looked at the meal on the low table in a daze, not knowing what she was thinking.
Upon seeing this, the emperor picked up a dish at random and put it into her bowl.
A hand suddenly appeared in front of her. The queen waved forward violently, and the long chopsticks in the emperor's hand were waved away.
With a "bang", it fell right in front of the queen's low table.
The sound of the chopsticks falling to the ground startled the queen, and everyone in the hall looked at her in shock.
The queen was seen kneeling on the ground in panic, and the emperor had no time to withdraw his hand.
"What is the Queen thinking?"
He had already seen that the queen was sitting there in a daze, and giving her some food was just a test for her.
I didn't expect the queen to be thinking so seriously, and she was frightened by the hand I stretched out to her.
"Your Majesty, I didn't think anything."
They had slept in the same bed for many years, and the queen knew very well that the emperor had become suspicious of Xie Lingxiao's words, but she could not think of a solution for the time being.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she lost her composure in front of all the officials in the hall.
The emperor looked at the queen who was like a frightened bird, and the corners of his mouth gradually curled up: "Since that's the case, why don't you hurry up?"
After saying this, he personally helped the queen up, and after she sat down again, the emperor continued to drink and eat.
Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Xie Lingxiao said no more, but occasionally turned his head to glance at Shen Jingxuan.
Now the Emperor has become suspicious of the matter between the Prime Minister's Mansion and the Queen.
For the next period of time, the emperor will definitely send people to keep an eye on the queen's every move.
Although Xie Lingxiao didn't know what preparations Lu Zhong had made, he thought that the Prime Minister's Mansion would wait and see for a while.
Regardless of whether the emperor believes it or not, and whether he has found evidence or not, he will not miss the opportunity to suppress the Prime Minister's Mansion.
This way, he could buy a lot of time for his wedding with Shen Jingxuan.
Xie Lingxiao knew the emperor's temper too well.
From the moment he learned that he and Shen Jingxuan got along harmoniously, he would not let himself be satisfied.
The emperor is just waiting, and when the right opportunity comes, he will cancel the engagement.
If he just wanted to cancel the engagement, Xie Lingxiao could use other methods to sign an engagement with Shen Jingxuan.
But what he was afraid of was that the emperor would cancel their engagement and marry Shen Jingxuan to someone else in the next instant.
Thinking of the news Ling Feng brought back a few days ago, Xie Lingxiao's face darkened slightly.
Since the emperor is so free, as his younger brother, how could I not send him a gift?
Only when he is surrounded by bad things will his good brother, the emperor, have no time to do other evil things.
The palace banquet ended in a bad mood.
After the meal, the emperor asked everyone to leave the palace on the grounds that he was busy.
As soon as Shen Jingxuan stepped out of the palace, Ling Qiong and Ling Huan followed.
Ling Feng stood not far away: "Princess, the prince is waiting for you in the carriage."
Shen Jingxuan looked at him with interest: "Lingfeng, are you able to serve our Chuntao to your satisfaction?"
Chuntao grew up with him, and sometimes he was reluctant to order her around, but Lingfeng could order her around easily.