Chapter 315: Forever and Always

　　“Your Majesty!” Once the Empress heard the words ‘remove the Crown Prince,’ her limbs and hands turned cold, and she instinctively yelled, “Your Majesty, please don’t be angry! The Crown Prince was just being impulsive! You mustn’t—”

　　“Impulsive? I think he clearly thinks that the whole world needs to listen to him just because he’s the Crown Prince!” Emperor Jiawen’s anger did not subside. “He’s not fit to be the Crown Prince!”

　　He long knew about Rong Jin’s desire for the throne. In the past, he secretly sent assassins to his third brother, and now he wants to snatch his seventh brother’s wife. He hasn’t even sat on the throne, yet he’s so arrogant! Once he is in charge, god knows what he’ll turn into!

　　The Empress’s legs went limp, and she almost collapsed on the floor.

　　Emperor Jiawen’s sentence was almost akin to giving Rong Jin a death sentence. Once he was truly removed, he could never make a comeback in the future.

　　“Your Majesty, it’s all my fault! I didn’t bring the Crown Prince up properly! Please, let him off this once!” The Empress knelt down and begged miserably.

　　“F-father?” Rong Jin was dazed. I just wanted to marry Chu Liuyue as my Crown Princess. I didn’t do anything to harm the whole world, so Why is Father so angry? Why does he want to remove me from my position as the Crown Prince?

　　Pak!

　　A deafening slap was heard.

　　The Empress had harshly slapped Rong Jin, and she angrily hollered, “Hurry up and apologize to your father.”

　　Rong Jin’s face was slapped to one side, and his cheeks immediately swelled up as blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth.

　　It could be seen how much force the Empress had used in this slap.

　　“Why are you still standing around?!” The Empress was very anxious and worried as her face flashed green and white. There were even tears in her eyes due to anxiety.

　　At this moment, she really wanted to go forward and slap Rong Jin awake. Does he know what kind of situation he’s in?! His Majesty has already opened his golden mouth. If we don’t stop this, he will definitely be removed from his position as the Crown Prince! By that time, it will be impossible to salvage the situation!

　　Rong Jin has always been smart. Why did he become so stupid today? No, I should say that he has gradually become like this ever since he started interacting with Chu Liuyue. All of this was caused by Chu Liuyue. If it weren’t for her…

　　Rong Jin was slapped until his eyes were giddy, and he finally woke up a little after the Empress’s scolding.

　　He inched forward while kneeling down. “Father, don’t be angry! I know that I’m wrong!”

　　Emperor Jiawen sneered. “Now you know that you’re wrong? Didn’t you have your Crown Prince aura previously?”

　　Actually, even though he was angry about Rong Jin sending someone to kill Rong Jiu previously, he didn’t have any intentions of removing Rong Jin from his position.

　　The people in the royal family didn’t have any familial ties, especially the emperor. It wasn’t totally a bad thing if Rong Jin was heartless enough. However, today’s incident disappointed him greatly.

　　Rong Jin actually did this in public for a woman! It is very hard to give this type of person great responsibility!

　　Rong Jin was panicking. He then realized that the situation was developing in an uncontrollable direction. “Father, I-I didn’t!”

　　Emperor Jiawen was too lazy to hear his explanation as he called out in a low voice, “Someone! Help me write my edict—”

　　“Your Majesty, hold on!” The Empress suddenly thought of something, and her eyes sparkled. She hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, did you forget Country Xing Luo’s previous invitation? Previously, you’ve already agreed to let Rong Jin go. Now, we only have less than 20 days left. If you remove Rong Jin from his Crown Prince position, what should we do about this?”

　　Emperor Jiawen paused for a while, and his brows tightly knitted together. I actually forgot about this.

　　Actually, this invitation wasn’t the most important thing. The key point was that Country Xing Luo wanted to arrange for a marriage alliance between Rong Jin and Situ Xingchen.

　　If Rong Jin was removed from his position now, then… it would indeed bring about a lot of trouble.

　　He currently couldn’t confirm if the other party had their eyes on Rong Jin’s status as Crown Prince or Rong Jin himself.

　　Emperor Jiawen was in a difficult position and instantly quietened down.

　　Situ Xingchen—who wasn’t far away—was dazed when she heard this. What does this mean? Since when did Father and Emperor Jiawen agree on this? Why don’t I know about it? Also, I didn’t know that Rong Jin was going! Country Xing Luo and Country Yao Chen have always minded their own business. Why did they suddenly have such close interactions? And I, the eldest princess, had no clue about this!

　　Just as Situ Xingchen was confused, a thought popped up in her mind. Hang on! Could it be like what Elder Lian Ning had said before… Father has the intention to let Rong Jin and I have a marriage alliance? I don’t even know why Father would have such a thought, and he seems rather persistent.

　　Situ Xingchen looked terrible. I don’t like Rong Jin at all. If this can make Father stop thinking about the marriage alliance, I would really want it to happen. However, Emperor Jiawen seems to be very hesitant.

　　The Empress saw that there seemed to be a turning point in the matter, so she hurriedly pushed it forward. “Your Majesty, Rong Jin made a huge mistake today, and you can punish him however you want. However, you must reconsider about him and his position as the Crown Prince!”

　　Emperor Jiawen seemed to be affected by her words. It wasn’t because he still harbored hopes for Rong Jin, but… he did have to consider Country Xing Luo.

　　The Empress hurriedly looked at the officials who rushed over. These few people were in the Crown Prince’s party, so they would naturally fight for Rong Jin with all they had.

　　“Your Majesty, Her Majesty is right! The Crown Prince was just foolish for a moment, but he doesn’t deserve to die. You’re magnanimous and kind; we hope that you’ll give him another chance.”

　　“The Crown Prince has been very outstanding all these years, and he has labored day and night just to share your burdens. Even if he didn’t accomplish much, you should still take his efforts into account!”

　　“Your Majesty, if you really remove him from his Crown Prince position, what should Prince Li and Ms. Chu do in the future?”

　　…

　　Chu Liuyue raised her eyebrows slightly; she didn’t like to hear this. What does Rong Jin courting death have to do with Rong Xiu and me? I didn’t even say how disgusted I was by Rong Jin’s series of actions today!

　　Rong Xiu looked as calm as usual. He smiled lightly and said, “The few officials are right. Father, I just want you to grant my marriage; I don’t want this to happen. If you really won’t forgive Brother today, then… it’s my fault.”

　　“Rong Xiu, you’re always the mature one.” Emperor Jiawen sighed. If it weren’t because Rong Xiu’s body was frail, this Crown Prince position would long be his; it would’ve never been Rong Jin’s. What a pity…

　　Emperor Jiawen’s look of regret stabbed another wound in the Empress and Rong Jin’s hearts. However, they didn’t dare to show any form of dissatisfaction at this moment.

　　After a tense moment, Emperor Jiawen finally looked at Chu Liuyue. “Liuyue, what do you think?”

　　Chu Liuyue bent her knees and bowed. “Your Majesty is wise. Ever since my marriage agreement with the Crown Prince was dissolved, we’ve never interacted anymore. Hence, I’m also unsure of his sudden actions today. On the other hand, Prince Li has helped me multiple times, and I’m very grateful to him. Thus, I’m willing to take care of Prince Li forever and always, and I’ll never leave his side.”