The Emperor yawned. It was very late, and he was tired too. "We’ll talk about this tomorrow. I’m worn out."

"Yes, imperial father, your son will take his leave." The Fourth Prince finished speaking, turned around, and was about to go.

"Stand there."

Just as the Fourth Prince was about to leave, the Emperor sobered up completely and shouted in a harsh voice.

The Fourth Prince jumped in fright, hurriedly stopped, turned back to look at the Emperor, and asked, "Imperial father, is there something else?"

The Emperor ignored him and only said to the leader of the Imperial Guards, "Lock the Fourth Prince in the Clan Authority Mansion. I will personally interrogate him tomorrow."

The leader of the Imperial Guards: "Yes."

The Fourth Prince could hardly believe his ears. "Imperial father, you... you really want to lock your son up?"

The Emperor said coldly, "This time the trouble you’ve caused is too great, even I can’t protect you."

When all was said and done, in the Emperor’s heart, his power and status were more important than anyone, even his own son.

Of course, as the Emperor, he naturally had to be more ruthless than ordinary people, otherwise he wouldn’t sit on the throne for long.

What the Fourth Prince had been dreading finally happened. His imperial father still chose to abandon him. At once, panic surged in his heart—now that his imperial father had given up on him, he wouldn’t live for many more days. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Imperial father, spare my life! I really didn’t know anything about the Evil Cultivation. It was Lin Kong who deceived me. I practiced it without knowing the truth. Imperial father, if anyone is to blame for this matter, it should be Lin Kong. It truly has nothing to do with your son." Terrified out of his wits, the Fourth Prince no longer cared about anything else and prostrated himself, kowtowing with all his might.

Nobody knew better than he did what kind of place the Clan Authority Mansion was. It specialized in imprisoning Imperial Kinsmen and death row prisoners. For those sent there, if they could come out again after shedding a layer of skin, it was already considered great fortune. Many never even had the chance to get out and just died inside.

Among the common folk there was even a saying that the Clan Authority Mansion was the second Yama Hall. Of those who went in and managed to come out again, in several decades, you could count them on one hand.

The Fourth Prince knew that if he went in, he would undoubtedly die. So he hurriedly dropped to his knees and begged for mercy, hoping his imperial father would spare him.

The Emperor cast him a sidelong glance and said, "The War Prince has already left. You can stop putting on a show in front of me."

The Fourth Prince: "Imperial father, your son truly isn’t acting."

The Emperor grew angry the moment he heard this. "Xuanxuan, things have come to this point, and you still refuse to honestly confess to me, is that it?"

The Fourth Prince: "Imperial father, for things your son hasn’t done, how is your son supposed to confess?"

The Emperor was furious. He had once thought the Fourth Prince was so honest, that in everything he listened to and followed his imperial father’s counsel. But from what had happened today, it was clear the Fourth Prince was not honest at all—he was very cunning.

The Emperor: "I’ve heard that when you practice martial arts, you use living people. If you didn’t know it was Evil Cultivation, then what exactly were you practicing?"

The Fourth Prince was utterly shocked and blurted out, "Imperial father, how did you know?"

The Emperor bellowed, "Didn’t you hear the War Prince say it? This kind of thing happened decades ago. How could I not know? You still want to deceive me?"

"Spare me, imperial father. Your son did this for your sake as well." When the Fourth Prince heard this, he was scared to death and hurriedly tried to explain.

"You almost destroyed my empire, and you still have the nerve to say it was to help me?" The more the Emperor spoke, the angrier he became.

This usually meek Imperial Son had actually landed him in such a colossal mess.

"Imperial father, listen to your son’s explanation. The War Prince has been suppressing you all this time. Your son couldn’t stand it and wanted to master a very, very powerful martial arts technique to help imperial father crush him. But I didn’t expect to fall for Lin Kong’s tricks and mistakenly practice Evil Cultivation." As the Fourth Prince spoke, he actually broke down in tears.

The Emperor looked at him, his face full of disbelief. "Don’t make it sound so nice. Would you really do it for me? You did it for your eyes, didn’t you!"