"Ye Lingyue, don't get too smug, this matter is far from over." Hong Fang's tiger eyes narrowed, a blood-red glow flickered, and an aura of ferocity emanated from him.

For the first time in his life, Hong Fang had suffered such a great loss, and to a young girl the same age as his own daughter no less. How could Hong Fang be willing to let it go?

But ultimately, as an elder who had long made a name for himself, Hong Fang would certainly not resort to violence in public. Just then, Lan Yingwu also appeared. Hong Fang flicked his sleeve and left with a belly full of fire.

"Ling Yue, what exactly is going on? How did you discover the Crown Prince's other residence, and where did that phoenix go?" Lan Yingwu's face was full of confusion.

"General Lan, we have to start from the beginning." The Sixth Prince spoke up with a cheerful laugh as he stepped forward.

With him was Yan Che, with Little Wuya in his arms.

It turned out that Yan Che and the Ghost Sect had been gathering evidence of the Crown Prince's lewd acts with young boys. Sadly, the Crown Prince was too cunning, and his other residence's exact location had not been found.

Just at this time, Lai Gu discovered Yao Concubine and Liu Qing plotting together.

Ye Lingyue immediately guessed that Hong Fang and others were likely to join forces with Yao Concubine to frame her.

So, she decided to turn their plan against them. On one hand, she disguised a boy to look like the Sixth Prince in his youth, and on the other hand, she let Little Wuya make a grand appearance before Yao Concubine could falsely accuse her of being a demon.

As the last of its kind in the mainland, the Illusion Phoenix, Little Wuya might not have much talent elsewhere, but its ability to shape-shift and imitate was unparalleled.

Transformed into the Divine Bird Phoenix, it indeed caused great disarray for Hong Fang and Yao Concubine. By chance, Yao Concubine took the Flying Elixir she had sold to Hong Fang and, in one carelessly moment, fell to her death.

"The rest of what happened, General Lan, you've seen for yourself. This time, Crown Prince Hong can't escape his fate. All thanks to the Sect Leader's ingenious planning," Yan Che expressed his genuine admiration for Ye Lingyue.

Ye Lingyue hugged the boy tighter and stroked his head, knowing only by completely rooting out the evil Crown Prince Hong could she seek vengeance for the boy, his mother, and the countless other victimized children.

"Yan Che, you bring back the children from the Crown Prince's secret residence to their homes. If their parents can't be found, then adopt them all in the name of the Ghost Sect," said Ye Lingyue. "I still have matters to attend to. I must make a trip to the palace."

Noble Princess Consort Luo woke up early feeling much more comfortable.

"Your Highness, you look particularly radiant today," the palace maid flattered her.

"Of course, I feel delighted just thinking about that little wretch from the Lan Residence being burned alive as a demon," Noble Princess Consort Luo could barely hide her joy. An eye for an eye; Ye Lingyue, you have poisoned my child, and I will make sure you and the Lan Residence are buried with my grief.

"Your Highness," Chou Alchemist came tumbling in from outside the palace, and as he reached Noble Princess Consort Luo, he stumbled and fell flat on his face.

"How is it, has that demoness Ye Lingyue been burned to death?" all eager, Noble Princess Consort Luo immediately inquired upon seeing Chou Alchemist.

She had Chou Alchemist watch outside the Lan Residence from early in the morning; as soon as anything happened to Ye Lingyue, he was to inform her.

She would get dressed up and go see Ye Lingyue being burnt as a demon.

"Your Highness, Ye Lingyue is fine. The one in trouble is the Crown Prince, Crown Prince Hong has been deposed by Emperor Xia, and the Emperor has ordered him to be thrown into the Heavenly Prison," Chou Alchemist was eager to see Ye Lingyue's execution, but to his surprise, as soon as he arrived, he saw a heavy object falling from the sky.

Upon closer inspection, Chou Alchemist was nearly scared to death.

It turned out to be Yao Concubine plummeting from the sky.

Then, Chou Alchemist saw Ye Lingyue and Emperor Xia, along with a squadron of the Imperial Army, storm into Crown Prince's other residence.

""""

Later on, it was heard that the Crown Prince was thrown into the Heavenly Prison, and there was also news of Emperor Xia publicly deposing the Crown Prince.

Chou Alchemist had pinned all his hopes on the Crown Prince; if the Crown Prince fell, he would never have a chance to turn things around.

After much thought, Chou Alchemist concluded that only Noble Princess Consort Luo could save the Crown Prince now. With panic burning inside him, he rushed to inform Noble Princess Consort Luo.

"The Crown Prince has been deposed; where is the Lord Grand Protector?" Noble Princess Consort Luo still clung to a glimmer of hope.

"Lord Grand Protector... he... he was also stripped of his official position by Emperor and penalized six months of his salary," Chou Alchemist's voice dwindled.

"Noble Princess Consort, you must think of a way quickly, to save the Crown Prince... Noble Princess Consort, Noble Princess Consort, someone come—Noble Princess Consort has fainted." Before Chou Alchemist could finish speaking, Noble Princess Consort Luo, overwhelmed with anxiety, swayed and collapsed to the ground, plunging the palace into chaos.

Hong Fang, filled with seething anger, returned to the Marquis Mansion.

"Father, has that Ye Lingyue been caught?" Hong Yuying had heard from her mother early in the morning that her father had been summoned by Emperor Xia to take care of the demoness from the Lan Residence.

"Go call Yulang over," Hong Fang said, waving his hand to dismiss Hong Yuying without paying any attention to her, signaling her to call Hong Yulang.

At this hour, Hong Yulang was still not awake. Pulled out by Hong Yuying, he was bleary-eyed and groggy.

"Father, you called for me..." Hong Yulang mumbled a question, but before he could finish, Hong Fang slapped him across the face.

The sound of the slap echoed through the entire hall.

"Master, have you gone mad? Why are you hitting Yulang?" Zhuge Rou was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she quickly shielded Hong Yulang, glaring at Hong Fang.

"Father, you hit me?" Even Hong Yulang was dazed by the blow; he had grown so big yet had never been hit by Hong Fang.

Hong Yuying, standing aside, turned pale with fear; all three of them, mother, son, and daughter, were struck dumb.

"I ask you, are you aware of the Crown Prince setting up a private prison in his other residence, where he held boys captive and violated them at will?" Hong Fang always held himself in high esteem. After colluding with Liu Qing, he imagined that he controlled all the secrets within Xia Capital.

Little did he know until the outbreak of the scandal that the Crown Prince whom he had meticulously groomed for many years turned out to be a beast in human clothing.

The Crown Prince, violator of boys?

Zhuge Rou and her daughter looked at each other in utter dismay.

"Yulang, speak up quickly, does the Crown Prince truly have such a vulgar inclination?" Zhuge Rou was shaken and scared; she couldn't tell that the Crown Prince was that kind of person, and she had almost married her daughter Hong Yuying to him.

Hong Yuying felt nauseated as well, she glared hard at Hong Yulang. Such an important matter, and Hong Yulang, her own kin, had not even informed her.

With the situation at this stage, Hong Yulang knew it could not be concealed any longer.

He confessed all about how, in order to please the Crown Prince over the years, he had secretly abducted boys for him.

"Foolish, Yulang, you are truly too foolish. I ask you, have you ever engaged with the Crown Prince in..." Hong Fang pressed on, his greatest fear being that Hong Yulang might have also engaged in unspeakable acts with the Crown Prince.

"Father, no, I only helped the Crown Prince capture them; I haven't touched anything else," Hong Yulang staunchly denied.

Hong Fang breathed a sigh of relief; as long as his son hadn't waded into the mire with the Crown Prince, things hadn't reached the worst possible scenario.

"Master, what should we do now? With the Crown Prince deposed and you stripped of your office, wouldn't our many years of hard work be in vain?" Zhuge Rou also didn't anticipate that in just one night, the promising situation for Hong Fang had completely turned on its head.