"Normal?"
Guang Ling countered, "At a time like this? How is that normal? I certainly don't think it is."
"The Heaven Dou Imperial Palace isn't your territory. What's so strange about having a traitor inside? Maybe they're only keeping quiet to save their own skin. You can't exactly slaughter the entire imperial family, can you?"
Qian Renyue laid out her reasoning. "Right now, Xiao Xue needs to take the throne with full legitimacy, not force an abdication. Forcing an abdication is too risky, and it would leave trouble behind. If we truly run out of options, we can resort to that, but we haven't reached that point yet. There's no need."
"Practically all the princes eligible to inherit are dead. Xue Beng's whereabouts are unknown. If Xue Ye passes on the throne, he can only give it to the Young Master."
Guang Ling paused, then suddenly thought of something. "Why don't we pin the princes' deaths on Xue Beng? Doesn't he have some connection to Shrek? Relations are already this strained anyway. There's no harm in throwing more fuel on the fire."
"Grandpa Guang Ling, that could certainly work. Xue Ye once issued an order to hunt down Tang San and the others because of Yue'er, though it didn't last very long. That happened after Xue Beng met with Xue Ye. Coincidentally, what he did lines up with when we administered the poison."
Xue Qinghe smiled faintly.
Without Dugu Bo by his side, Xue Beng could not withstand even a single blow. He was nothing but a worthless prince. So what if he had escaped?
Trying to rise again from the ashes?
Utterly impossible.
The timing lined up perfectly?
Qian Renyue said, "Then let's do as A Ling suggested and pin it all on Xue Beng. Things have already come