If the attempt to win over fails, then frame; at this moment, there are letters of accusation against him on the Emperor’s desk.
It seems that there are already quite a few of his people in the court.
"What if I, the General, refuse to drink?"
"If you don’t drink, then it means I, the Prince, did not entertain my distinguished guest well, and your entire family of three generations will have to stay here for some time."
The meaning was clear: if you don’t drink, you won’t be allowed to leave, and you will have to stay here as well.
Xia Guangcheng looked around; he could sense that there were ten or so martial experts in the room, whose skills were not inferior to his own.
Indeed, for someone as wary of death as the Third Prince, who has been operating among the people for so many years, how could he appear without full assurance?
In other words, he now no longer wants to conceal anything; he is going all out to confront the Emperor.
Wherever he appears, both explicitly and implicitly, there are experts.
Xia Guangcheng really had no confidence he could win.
Most importantly, the opponent had his elderly mother and daughter in their hands, and no accidents could be afforded.
So, fighting hard was truly not an option.
"If I drink, will you let us go?"
"Of course, I, the Prince, keep my word, as solid as gold."
Whether that one with a solid word keeps it is doubtful.
Enough; at this point, he might as well take a gamble, betting that the Third Prince is sowing discord and not intending to take his life now.
After all, he may yet find use for me.
Of course, I would never betray him; this is something absolutely impossible for the Xia family.
"General..." Ye Lin looked at him worriedly as he picked up the cup.
"Don’t worry." Xia Guangcheng said: "If anything happens to me, you only need to escort the old lady and Miss Xia back, don’t worry about me."
"General..."
Under Ye Lin’s worried gaze, Xia Guangcheng picked up the cup and drank it all in one go, emptying it completely.
"As I said, General Xia is a straightforward person, and would certainly drink the whole cup." The Third Prince clapped and laughed heartily. "See, my judgment is not bad; collaborating with General Xia will surely be enjoyable."
Although Xia Guangcheng knew it was a conspiracy, there was no choice. To save his mother and daughter, he had to fall into the trap set.
"I hope the Third Prince keeps his word."
"Of course, of course, that will be all for today. Someone, escort Mrs. Xia, General Xia, and Miss Xia out properly for me."
Until the entire group safely exited the courtyard gate, Ye Lin still couldn’t believe it.
"General. Can we really go back?"
Just having the General drink a cup of wine, without any fighting or loss of troops, and letting them go?
Ye Lin thought about how all the previous arrangements turned out to be useless, and the people were rescued, not following any common sense, not normal, really not normal!
"Papa, go back, Papa enter the palace, take Panpan to find Uncle Emperor." Panpan, holding Xia Guangcheng’s neck, said: "Papa will be scolded by Uncle Emperor, Panpan will plead for Papa."
Ye Lin was taken aback: The General truly dotes on the child, even daring to call the Emperor Uncle, this familial bond is closer than royal relatives!
The question is, will the Emperor acknowledge you as his little niece?
And plead for the General?
Truly a child’s speech, with no taboos.
"Ye Lin, escort the old lady back to the residence, I, the General, will take Panpan to the palace."
"General?" Ye Lin became even more puzzled.
"Follow orders."
"Yes."
The old lady’s mind was still a bit unclear, mainly because too much anesthetic had been used and she hadn’t recovered.
Whatever she was told to do, she did it, without a hint of a rebuttal.
But Panpan seemed to be unaffected.
"Panpan, do you remember what happened last night?"
"Last night, the third mistress of the villa said she would light some calming incense for Grandma, and Grandma agreed." Panpan tried hard to recall: "Panpan found the calming incense very pleasant, so pleasant it made it hard to sleep, and then sneaked into the side room and fell asleep, only to wake up and find that Grandma and I had been taken to that place."
So, Panpan and the old lady weren’t knocked out in the same room, and moreover, the anesthetic seemed to have no effect on Panpan.
"Panpan wanted to sleep, not because of the calming incense, but because she couldn’t keep her eyes open, really sleepy." Panpan let out a big yawn: "Mom said if Panpan doesn’t sleep more, she won’t grow tall. Panpan wants to grow tall, as tall as Daddy, and fight bad guys in the future."
Look what the child is striving for?
To grow as big and tall as me, over seven feet high, and such a daughter, how would she ever get married?
"Panpan doesn’t need to grow as tall as Daddy, being too tall makes it hard to find a husband."
"What’s a husband, is it edible?"
Xia Guangcheng... couldn’t find a way to answer his daughter’s words indeed.