Feng Yong Rui was speechless ah~! 'Illicit relations.h.i.+p?!' He thought to himself. What kind of dirty thoughts that his son had?! He felt like throttling him ah~! He had always been loyal to his wife, so there was no way he would start a relations.h.i.+p with another woman --- most importantly, that woman was an Empress ah~!

Did he just say that he loved these two unconditionally before? He really wanted to take those words back and beat up these two unfilial children! How could they talk about him that way ah~?! Feng Yong Rui scowled at them in annoyance.

He scolded Qi Hao, "What kind of nonsense that you are talking about? Are you crazy?! What illicit relations.h.i.+p?!"

Qi Hao merely laughed awkwardly. What? He was just saying the truth ah~! Any sane person would be thinking that way too... How could an Empress become submissive under his father's demand all of a sudden? Fortunately, it was just his imagination or else, he would be angry and hate his father!

He didn't want the love between his parents to become a lie.

Qi Hao opened his mouth and closed it once again, wanting to say something just to defend himself. However, he didn't dare to refute his father's words in front of so many people. Thus, he could only continue smiling awkwardly.

Not only that, but he felt guilty as well for thinking of the worse...

Rong Qiu saw all this and couldn't help but laugh out loud. "So funny ah~!" He gasped in between his laughter while wiping the tears that threatened to come out from his eyes. He laughed until his stomach felt really hurt --- Yao Ying, Yao Ling, and Lin Jian followed him by laughing as well!

The misunderstanding was too funny for them to stay quiet at the side. Stupid? Illicit relations.h.i.+p? They were speechless when they saw how creative those two were ah~!

How could Qi Hao even think about an illicit relations.h.i.+p between his father and the Empress ah~?! If that really happened, that would be too scary...

"Stop laughing!" Feng Yong Rui said in annoyance. He really wanted to throttle Rong Qiu... After all, the latter didn't hesitate to make him feel embarra.s.sed in front of those youngsters and he still had the gut to laugh at his predicament!

"I was actually thinking of finding a reason to make people lose their trust towards the Emperor and coincidentally, all of you gave me very good reasons. I didn't hinder your plan because it went along with mine," Feng Yong Rui explained with a sly smile.

The others couldn't refute that because if they were Feng Yong Rui, they would certainly do the same thing.

"The Empress made a deal with me and that was the reason why everything went smoother last night. Don't you remember, Xiao Fang? She helped you to direct the conversation because I already told her about your plan beforehand. We are all on the same boat and with the same kind of hatred, I know that she won't betray me," Feng Yong Rui said confidently.

Xiao Fang gasped in surprise, "No wonder..."

Lin Jian couldn't stop his curiosity and asked, "Uncle... what kind of deal that you made? How come you believe that she won't betray you?"

Feng Yong Rui answered leisurely, "It won't be a secret any longer so I might as well tell you now. The crown prince hasn't been decided until this very moment --- when I act as a regent, I will help her to secure the crown prince's position so that she could also strengthen her position inside the harem. Her son was still young --- only six years old and they need my protection. She took a dead concubine's child as her own but they had a really great loving relations.h.i.+p. If she could, she also wanted to force the Emperor to abdicate --- however, I prevent her from doing so..."

"It's good that you prevent her! It would only do damage for her son's reputation ah~!" Yao Ying said, nodding his head in agreement.

Feng Yong Rui asked, feeling interested to know Yao Ying's reasons to say that, "Oh... Why do you think it is?" He wanted to see what was inside the youngster's mind --- whether he had the same idea as him or not. He could see that Yao Ying had a sharp mind --- even sharper than Qi Hao if he really admitted it.

"It's not a good plan to seize the throne right away. It would only make people think that all of those rumors were created by someone to change the Emperor. The rumor itself would lose credibility and the opposite party would use this opportunity to create another new rumor. If the Han Emperor is already under your control... it wouldn't be late to take the throne later. Besides, this is also the best way to torture a person that is crazy about power just like the Emperor. He would be stressed out for sure when he finally sees that he couldn't do anything!" Yao Ying explained.

Feng Yong Rui nodded his head in satisfaction.

"When you were chosen as a regent, did the old Empress Dowager know about it?" Rong Qiu asked.

"No... the old woman is still unconscious... It seems like she's really afraid of the ghost..." Feng Yong Rui shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"I believe that she would create a ruckus once she woke up..." Rong Qiu said in a low voice.

"I know but I will deal with it later! She's just an old woman, what could she do anyway?" Feng Yong Rui said with disdain. The old woman might look amiable, but she had a hand in destroying his wife's family, after all, the plan came from that old woman.

Seeing that Feng Yong Rui was so confident, Rong Qiu didn't say anything anymore. The latter merely nodded his head in agreement. In the end, he finally added, "You still need to be careful. That old woman is very sly as well..."

Feng Yong Rui answered with a smile, "I know. Don't worry! I already have a preparation." He wouldn't let go of that old woman as well. Did she think by dedicating her life to the Buddha would make his hatred towards her lessened? No, it wasn't as simple as that. He wasn't a forgiving person ah~!

"What about the Han Emperor's condition?" Yao Ling asked.

"He's in critical condition and he wouldn't wake up anytime soon..." Feng Yong Rui answered.

"Was this a.s.sa.s.sination under your order, Uncle?" Lin Jian asked curiously.

Feng Yong Rui nodded his head. "I found out that the eunuch was actually working for the Emperor..." He said 'was' because the eunuch had been killed by his subordinate the previous night as well.

Yao Ying was taken aback. "Why did he use the third prince's name?!"

"Last night, under the torture, the eunuch admitted that the Emperor wanted to s.h.i.+ft the blame to someone else and he had chosen the third prince as a sacrifice, after all, the latter didn't have the skill to become an Emperor. Whether I was killed or not, it didn't really matter to the Emperor. In the end, everyone would think that it was personal vendetta by the third prince..." Feng Yong Rui answered Yao Ying's question clearly.

Even a tiger wouldn't eat its own cub... but the Han Emperor was really ruthless and that saying didn't apply to him. He didn't even remember that the third prince was also his real son! Really... there was no kins.h.i.+p in the royal family --- everyone would only think for their own benefits!

"That was the reason why I didn't hesitate to give the order!" Feng Yong Rui admitted.