Chapter 340 Why Me?

“Unless it was the night the palace caught fire, when many people were entering and leaving the palace, and the child was taken out of the palace that night.”

Wang Youxiang was pale, his beard trembling as he murmured.

Shen Cong nodded.

"That's right. If the child was indeed taken out of the palace, it could only have happened that night."

But I can't understand why he would send the child out of the palace when the child is his own flesh and blood.

Wang Youxiang leaned weakly against the coffin, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Or perhaps there are other people involved, such as the Xue family? Does the Xue family not want any prince to threaten the eldest prince's position?"

Shen Cong did not know whether it was possible.

The Xue family might indeed do that.

The room fell into a deathly silence once again, broken only by the occasional popping of candle flames.

Gui Liu restored the coffin to its original state, picked up the medicine box, and ruffled his dusty hair.

He glanced sideways at Chen Cong.

"Are you sure you want to continue the discussion here? If I'm not mistaken, the patrol should be here in a bit."

Shen Cong snapped out of his daze and bent down slightly to help the Right Chancellor Wang.

"How is the Right Chancellor?"

Wang Youxiang staggered to his feet and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Thank you, Your Highness. Let's go outside and talk."

The three of them moved to the small courtyard where Shen Cong lived.

Upon entering, Wang Youxiang immediately knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"What is the Right Chancellor doing?"

Shen Cong bent down to help.

Wang Youxiang refused to get up, his forehead touching the ground deeply.

"Your Highness, I beg you to give my daughter justice."

Shen Cong scrutinized Wang Youxiang for a long time before asking softly, "Why me? The court officials all think that I am cold-blooded, cruel, and inhuman."

Besides, I am currently only studying and recuperating at Jingxing Academy, and I do not hold any official position.

"I am still a sickly man, and I am not even sure how long I will live, so I may not be able to help you with this matter of justice."

Wang Youxiang trembled slightly and slowly raised his head.

His deep-set eyes stared unblinkingly at Shen Cong for a long time, as if he had made up his mind, before he spoke in a low voice.

"After much thought, this old minister believes that the only person I can turn to is Your Highness."

"Oh? Why?"

Wang Youxiang took a deep breath, seemingly considering how to say it.

Shen Cong wasn't in a hurry. He sat down, took the handkerchief Er Feng handed him, washed his hands, and then slowly drank his tea.

After a long while, Wang Youxiang finally spoke.

"There is something I intended to keep to myself until my death, and then take with me to my coffin. But now, I would like to speak with Your Highness."

"What's up?"

Wang Youxiang opened his lips, but his voice was noticeably two octaves lower than before.

His gaze was fixed on Shen Cong. "Regarding the late emperor's edict!"

Shen Cong's hand trembled, and the tea in the cup spilled onto his hand.

He placed the teacup on the table, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, but his heart was filled with turbulent emotions.

This was the second time he had heard about the late emperor's will.

Did the Emperor really leave a will when he passed away?

Shen Cong clenched the handkerchief in his hand, his gaze sharply fixed on Prime Minister Wang.

"How do you know that Father Emperor left a will?"

Wang Youxiang sighed deeply.

"This matter dates back to the late emperor's later years, the year before the Rebellion of the Five Princes. At that time, I was still a scholar in the Hanlin Academy."

That year, the prince was five years old. He was intelligent, decisive, and upright. The late emperor had said more than once in court that among all the princes, only the prince was most like him in temperament.

"From some unknown time, rumors began to circulate in the court that His Majesty intended to depose the eldest son and install a younger one in his place."

Shen Cong frowned.

He had a vague memory of what happened when he was five years old. His father had indeed held him and asked him with a smile if he knew how to be a good emperor.

As a child, he didn't understand why his father asked such a question, but he still answered it anyway.

He couldn't quite remember the answer, but he remembered that his father was overjoyed after he answered and rewarded him with many things.

He took those things back to show off to his mother, but was scolded by her.

His mother also taught him that he must never tell anyone about the conversations between his father and him.

He didn't understand at the time, but soon afterward, rumors began to circulate in the court.

"Did you believe those rumors too?"

Wang Youxiang shook his head and smiled bitterly.

"Actually, those weren't just rumors. The late emperor really wanted to depose the crown prince, who is now His Majesty, and then make a prince the crown prince."

Shen Cong was dumbfounded.

Wang Youxiang continued, "At that time, my mentor was Lü Zuoxiang, who was highly regarded by the late emperor. The late emperor once summoned my mentor to the palace to discuss the matter of deposing the crown prince and establishing a prince instead."

The late emperor worried that the princes were too young and wouldn't truly submit, so he planned to first reduce their power, which led to the Rebellion of the Five Princes.

"The five princes successively attacked the capital, and the late emperor was forced to withdraw from the capital. At the same time, he urgently contacted the Duke of Zhenguo, who was at the border at the time, and asked him to return to the capital to defend the emperor."

Shen Cong sat up straight, his expression solemn.

“I remember this incident. My father fell ill and passed away when the Duke of Zhenguo was about to win the war to defend the capital.”

Wang Youxiang nodded.

"Since leaving the capital, we have endured a life of hardship and displacement. The late emperor has been ill, and with a great victory imminent, just as everyone was preparing to return to the capital, His Majesty..."

One night, late at night, the Emperor suddenly summoned Chancellor Lü. I had been discussing matters with him that day, and he mentioned that His Majesty's personal attendant was ill, so he had summoned me to fill in.

At this point, Prime Minister Wang's beard trembled even more violently.

That night, the late emperor and Chancellor Lü had a dispute. The late emperor insisted that Chancellor Lü draft an edict to depose the crown prince and establish a prince in his place.

Lu Xiang said that the country had just recovered from its turmoil and it was not advisable to start another war. He advised the late emperor to abandon his idea of ​​deposing the crown prince.

However, the late emperor insisted that the crown prince's character was unfit to be emperor. When Chancellor Lü asked for the specific reasons, the late emperor remained silent.

In the end, Prime Minister Lü could not dissuade the late emperor and had no choice but to let me draft this edict.

"Then what?"

Shen Cong's voice was somewhat hoarse.

Wang Youxiang said, "After the edict was drafted, before it could be announced to the world, the late emperor passed away that very night."

The Crown Prince and the Xue family stayed by the late Emperor's side, preparing to ascend the throne before his coffin.

Just as Prime Minister Lü was hesitating about whether to take out the imperial edict, the Empress Dowager arrived and took it away.

After that, Prime Minister Lü never saw that imperial edict again, and Prime Minister Lü... also suddenly died that very night!

Also killed were the eunuchs who served the late emperor!

At this point, Prime Minister Wang's pupils contracted sharply, and he became somewhat agitated.

Shen Cong gripped the handkerchief tightly in his hand.

It happened seven years ago. He only remembered that when he woke up in the morning, he was suddenly dressed in white by a palace maid from his mother's side.

The palace maid told him that his father, the emperor, had passed away.

He cried bitterly and ran to see his father, but was hugged by the nanny who served his mother.

The nanny said that the Empress Dowager told him to wait in the room first, and that she would take him to pay his respects to the Emperor when the time came.

He didn't know what he was waiting for, he only remembered waiting for a whole day until it got dark before his nanny took him to see his father.

At that time, my father was already lying in a dark coffin.

Standing beside the coffin was his elder brother, the emperor.

Unlike his white mourning clothes, his elder brother wore a bright yellow brocade robe with only a white belt around his waist.

He cried as he tried to climb onto the coffin to see his father, unable to believe that his father, who loved him so much, was dead!

His mother took his hand and told him to kowtow to his elder brother first.