In the Dragon Palace, the Dragon King flicked his dragon tail nervously. The fruit could indeed make people have nightmares. Its real name was the Demon Fruit.
It was the masterpiece of a former Dragon King who, after failing to win the heart of a fairy, flew into a rage.
That Dragon King had been infatuated with many fairies.
The first one was a female immortal in the Immortal Realm. She was extremely beautiful, good at farming, and was won over by the former emperor who was willing to abdicate.
The second was a human cultivator who, single - handedly, resisted demons and was recognized by the Heavenly Dao. However, she had no interest in romantic love and only had an obedient servant by her side. That Dragon King lost miserably because he wasn't obedient enough.
When pursuing the third fairy...
Repeated setbacks in love hit that Dragon King hard. He poured all his dissatisfaction into the Demon Fruit.
The Demon Fruit had no special use. It could only affect a creature's mind, making the creature irritable and even unable to think. As for causing nightmares, it was just a side - effect.
The Dragon King didn't know that this was exactly the poison the Princess Jingning wanted.
As a dragon who preferred straightforwardness, the Dragon King had wanted to get rid of the Shen family a long time ago. He had even contemplated using his clone to crush all the Shen family members to death. But because Shen Baozhu was so cute, and considering the comparison between Lin Yu and the True Immortal Qingyun, the Dragon King was afraid that such an act would make him seem cruel.
So he secretly concealed the most powerful effect of the Demon Fruit, intending to give Shen Qingshan a small punishment.
Of course, it wasn't really a concealment. The Dragon King just forgot. A dragon that had lived for over ten thousand years was at an awkward age, and it was normal to have a bad memory.
After finding an excuse for himself, the Dragon King happily transformed back into a human form. He was going to pick the Demon Fruit and check if the Kinship Fruit had ripened.
Just as the Dragon King was about to teleport there to pick the fruit, he suddenly thought of the herbal medicine the little cutie had given him today. After much thought, he decided not to keep the herbal medicine by his side for appreciation but to plant it in the garden.
...
The Minister of the Ministry of Justice looked at the two children hugging each other. There was an inexplicable sense of guilt in his heart, as if he had bullied them.
He hesitated for a long time and then said, "Well, maybe I can help you beat up Cui Zhengping, the brother of the Imperial Concubine Li."
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice regretted it. How did it seem like he had become a thug?
Shen Baozhu said in surprise, "Really? That's great!"
In Shen Baozhu's mind, there was nothing that a good beating couldn't solve. If one beating wasn't enough, then a few more would do.
The Fourth Prince raised his head, seemingly thinking about the Minister of the Ministry of Justice's idea. After a while, he said firmly, "Beat the bad guy first. The bad guy kicked Baozhu."
The Minister of the Ministry of Justice nodded with a smile.
Soon, Du Yunqian and Jian Ruoshui were arrested and thrown into prison. As promised, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice gave them a good beating. After successfully sending the two little ones away, he started thinking about how to beat up Cui Zhengping.
He and Cui Zhengping were both ministers, with equal status. But Cui Zhengping had a nephew who was the Fourth Prince. But it didn't matter. The Fourth Prince was a fool... A fool!
Suddenly, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice felt a tingling sensation all over his body, and a chill ran up from his feet. He remembered that Shen Baozhu had initially introduced the Fourth Prince as the son of the Emperor and the Empress. So whose son was the Third Prince?
The Imperial Concubine Li!
Putting all the clues together, while the Minister of the Ministry of Justice guessed the truth, he was also shocked by the audacity of the Cui family.
The Empress wasn't a stupid woman. If she found out that her child had been switched, she would surely fight to the death to get rid of the Imperial Concubine Li and the Cui family.
The Minister of the Ministry of Justice was about to inform the Emperor of this matter but then thought he was being stupid. Given the close relationship between the little immortal boy and the Emperor, the Emperor should have known about it long ago.
After much consideration, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice still decided to go to the palace. Even if the Emperor knew, a minister should fulfill his duty.
At this moment, in the Qianqing Palace, the Emperor was waiting for news.
Ping Hai was standing at the door on duty. When he saw the chief eunuch rushing back, he went into the hall in advance to report, "Your Majesty, Father - in - law is back."
The Emperor looked up from the memorials and happened to see the chief eunuch enter the hall.
As soon as the chief eunuch entered the hall, he knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, this slave pretended to be a member of the Cui family and sent a letter to the Cui family."
"Do you think the Cui family is aware of the matter of the switched sons?" The Emperor stroked his teacup. His expression was dark, making it impossible to tell his mood.
The chief eunuch didn't dare to look up. He just lowered his head and said cautiously, "This slave is stupid and can't tell."
Cui Zhengping was a Jinshi in the year when the Emperor ascended the throne. His younger sister entered the palace as a concubine and was deeply trusted by the Emperor.
Moreover, because of the Third Prince, the Emperor had been hesitant to deal with the Cui family.
But since the Empress Dowager came yesterday, the chief eunuch had noticed that the Emperor's mind had changed. Today, the Emperor even asked him to impersonate a member of the Cui family and send a message to the Cui family to test them.
Just as the Empress had thought, she only had the Crown Prince as her child, while the Emperor had many.
Back then, when the Cui family member led the Third Prince astray, the Emperor would show mercy out of consideration for the Fourth Prince. Now that the Cui family member was dead and only the Third Prince was left, the Emperor couldn't bear to take action.
The Emperor hadn't decided what to do with the Third Prince, so he also hadn't dealt with the Cui family.
Just as the Emperor was hesitating, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice arrived.
As soon as he entered the hall, he knelt directly on the ground and said, "Long live the Emperor! Your servant has something to report."
The Emperor told the Minister of the Ministry of Justice to stand up and speak.
As soon as the Minister of the Ministry of Justice stood up, he was startled by the chief eunuch kneeling beside him. He composed himself and told the Emperor everything about Shen Baozhu's visit, emphasizing, "Your Majesty, please help this servant come up with a way. I can't just rush into Minister Cui's house and beat him up, can I?"
"You saw the Fourth Prince? How is he?" Because of the Empress's obstruction, the Emperor couldn't see the Fourth Prince, so he missed him even more. Hearing that the Minister of the Ministry of Justice had seen the Fourth Prince, he couldn't wait to ask.
The Minister of the Ministry of Justice was a bit hesitant to speak. He carefully described the Fourth Prince's reactions, including being afraid of people, having incoherent speech, and being bullied without evidence.
Hearing that Shen Qingshan had a handle in the hands of the Cui family, the Emperor sighed deeply. Combining the clues from Zhang Yun, even if he was a fool, he could guess that the handle was related to the corruption case.
Shen Qingshan's corruption had led to the assassination attempt by the refugees, resulting in the death of the Eldest Princess. Now, the Eldest Princess's younger brother was also in trouble because of the Cui family.
Thinking of this, the Emperor also remembered the Third Prince's remarks about the Eldest Princess. The last bit of affection in his heart completely disappeared.
The Emperor threw a token on the ground and said coldly, "There was an accidental fire in the Cui Mansion. Minister Cui Zhengping of the Ministry of Personnel and his family were all buried in the fire, and not a single bone was left."
In the corner, an ordinary - looking little eunuch picked up the token and quietly retreated.
Seeing this, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice asked softly, "Your Majesty, Baozhu asked me to beat up Cui Zhengping. Should I still do it?"
"Isn't there still Cui Zhengping's master? You take Shen Haiyan and beat up the Shen family members twice. That's equivalent to beating up Cui Zhengping." The Emperor gave the Minister of the Ministry of Justice a good idea. "Also, execute those two who bullied Baozhu immediately."
The Emperor was in a bad mood. Coincidentally, he learned that someone had bullied Shen Baozhu and the Fourth Prince, so he directly gave the order.
After the Minister of the Ministry of Justice left, the chief eunuch brought a cup of tea to the Emperor and asked, "Your Majesty, why not deal with the Shen family together?"
The Emperor picked up a memorial and said, "It's easy to deal with them, but it's difficult to find the money they embezzled. Moreover, next year is the imperial examination. The Princess Mansion has been waiting for Shen Heqing and Shen Danqing to take the exam."
The chief eunuch was still puzzled. "The Princess Jingning could change the surnames of Shen Heqing and Shen Danqing and completely cut off ties with the Shen family. Why does she have to tolerate them?"
The Emperor paused for a moment and didn't answer.
Change their surname? To Mu? The former emperor had arranged for Mu Lanyue to get married just to let the Mu family die out. He must be out of his mind to let Mu Lanyue change the children's surname.