The crown prince had reached his limits with Feng Ruchu.
“Don’t you believe I’m innocent, Your Highness?” Feng Ruchu blinked and asked curiously.
“Of course you are innocent,” Nangong Yan growled, not wanting to waste his breath on Feng Ruchu.
“Why did you ask for me to be dethroned then?” Feng Ruchu asked, even though she knew the answer.
Nangong Yan stared at Feng Ruchu, a sixteen-year-old girl who did not have the physique of someone her age. Instead, she was as thin as a rake and had an unsightly scar between her eyebrows. Nangong Yan always felt upset just by looking at her.
Nangong Yan liked it better when she was mentally retarded; she would chase him around just to cling to his leg and drool then. In his opinion, Feng Ruchu was just rude and cunning when her brain was functioning.
He would feel insulted if Feng Ruchu were to wash his feet, not to mention be his and the kingdom’s queen.
But of course, he could only express his dissatisfaction in his head.
“We are the leader of all four countries. We have lived up to the people’s expectations, and they respect us. People pay close attention to my every move as the crown prince of the kingdom, and I set an example for them. Whoever I marry shall be the queen of the kingdom one day, and she will manage the concubines and be a motherly model of the nation,” Nangong Yan said solemnly and bowed to the emperor again.
“Feng Ruchu might not be retarded anymore, but her spiritual roots are still depleted, and she has been weak and timid since young. How is she going to shoulder the responsibility of being the queen of a kingdom?
“Our people will laugh at us for choosing a good-for-nothing to be the queen of the kingdom, if I were to obey the empress dowager and marry Feng Ruchu. While I don’t mind being a laughing stock to them, I will not allow the dignity of Nanqiu Kingdom to be compromised.”
Nangong Yan’s speech was passionate and righteous, and Feng Ruchu would have applauded his loyalty to the kingdom if she hadn’t known his true colors.
“The crown prince is right.”
“How can a good-for-nothing become the queen of the kingdom?”
“That’s right. Wouldn’t the crown prince become a laughing stock then?”
The ministers went along with what Nangong Yan said, but the emperor remained silent. He turned to look at Feng Zheng who had not said a word. “What are your thoughts on this, Chancellor?”
“I am both embarrassed and guilty for raising a daughter who might bring shame to the royals. The royals have taken good care of the Feng family and we are grateful for that. We do not wish to see the dignity of the kingdom compromised. We seek Your Majesty’s imperial edict to dethrone Feng Ruchu as the crown princess,” Feng Zheng bowed as he said to the emperor.
To Feng Zheng, Feng Fei’er was the best candidate for the crown princess. Also, it was obvious that the crown prince and Fei’er liked each other. As such, there was no reason why he shouldn’t help get them together, be it for public or personal reasons.
Feng Ruchu looked at the ministers who kept agreeing with whatever the emperor or the crown prince said, and rolled her eyes. “So what if I do not have spiritual roots and cannot be trained in that way? How does that involve the dignity of the kingdom? Is Nanqiu Kingdom that weak to be affected so easily?”
“Outrageous! How dare you be that disrespectful?!” Feng Zheng roared as soon as he heard what Feng Ruchu said.
Feng Ruchu, however, was not bothered at all.
“You bestowed the title of crown princess on me when I was a baby, regardless of my will, and created an uproar in the Canglan Continent, Your Majesty. Now, you are disregarding my will again and want to dethrone me, making me the biggest laughing stock in the whole of the Canglan Continent.
“It is not good to only have your eyes on what you can gain, Your Majesty.”
A gentleman should always keep his promises, not to mention a royal one.