Death of the Crown Prince
Inside the Zichen Hall.
Ning Lingyi held her head high and faced the approaching blade. The ministers in the hall were in shock and confusion. The prince sat slumped in the mud, and everyone's eyes were looking towards the hall door.
A team of elite armored soldiers filed in and surrounded everyone in the hall in an instant. Their sharp blades separated the inside and outside. The armor they wore was neither that of the palace guards nor the troops brought by the prince.
Ning Lingyi was surprised. Tuoba Hong? Did he sneak back to the capital?
No, not him.
The candlelight in the hall flickered violently. Amidst the interweaving of light and shadow, a figure walked in slowly, stepping on the mess on the ground.
He was wearing a black python robe, a jade belt around his waist, and had an upright figure. His face looked particularly stern in the swaying light and shadow. He was none other than the Prince of Yong, who was banished from the capital and was supposed to be in his fiefdom.
"Prince Yong?" A low voice of surprise sounded from the court officials in the corner.
Ning Lingyi's pupils shrank slightly. Why was it him?
Prince Yong's gaze first swept over the dying emperor and the dazed crown prince, and then he slowly turned to the crown prince.
"Royal brother," he paused, his eyes sweeping over the dazzling bright yellow dragon robe on the crown prince, "this dress looks really awkward on you."
Then, he seemed surprised and asked, "Brother Huang, what have you done?"
The prince's whole body was shaken, and his scattered eyes focused because of the call. He saw the person coming, and blood and tears were spread on his dragon robe, and he looked as miserable as a stray dog.
Prince Yong's eyes were filled with deep pain. He closed his eyes, as if he was suffering from great sorrow. When he opened them again, only heavy understanding and sorrow remained in his eyes.
"My father... he misjudged you after all."
"He spoke to me about the weight of the crown prince's position, expressing his concern for the nation's foundations. He once said he wasn't sure if the prince's character was up to the task of shouldering this responsibility. However, he held the father-son bond in mind and couldn't bear to test him. He simply said that a close relative wouldn't commit such a beastly act..."
Prince Yong's voice seemed filled with endless sorrow. "Today's situation is the very thing he least wanted to see, and it has actually come true! My royal brother, you have indeed committed the unforgivable crime of patricide and usurping the throne!"
As soon as these words were spoken, there was a buzzing sound in the hall, as if a hornet's nest had exploded.
"What?"
"Your Majesty has instructed us to test the Crown Prince's resolve?"
"Is this the arrangement of Your Majesty and Prince Yong?"
"Your Majesty has already made arrangements?" An old minister with white hair and beard asked in a trembling voice, his eyes full of disbelief and pain.
"Test your will? The price is too high..." Someone murmured beside him, his voice filled with fear.
Ning Lingyi sneered inwardly: What a high-sounding lie! If the Emperor truly favored you, why would he have banished you from the capital even on his deathbed? This is clearly an attempt to seize the throne while the Emperor commands you, and yet he's trying to cover himself up with the excuse of obeying the Emperor's orders and fulfilling his father's concerns!
Prince Yong no longer looked at the astonished courtiers. He took a few steps forward and knelt down at the foot of the imperial steps with a thud. Facing the unresponsive emperor on the throne, he spoke in a sorrowful voice, "Father! I arrived a step too late! I allowed you to suffer this great hardship! You were too soft-hearted and trusted this ambitious man too much! That's why you ended up like this!"
Tears seemed to glisten in his eyes. "Father! Just wait and see. If I don't redress this great injustice for you today, I would be unworthy of being your son!"
"Shut up!" Chen Zhanshi, one of the crown prince's allies, could no longer contain himself and shouted, "Prince Yong, His Majesty has never issued an order to pass the throne to you! The crown prince is the heir apparent, and the crown prince was personally appointed by His Majesty! Who do you think you are? How dare you falsely convey His Majesty's will and mislead the people with lies!"
Liu Chong also stepped forward, knife drawn, his eyes fierce. "When His Majesty was conscious, did he ever even look at your Prince Yong's Mansion? Now that His Majesty is in trouble, the Crown Prince's ascension to the throne is legitimate! You, leading your troops to trespass into the Purple Palace, are truly committing treason!"
"Legitimate? Rebellion?" King Yong slowly stood up, the sadness on his face instantly faded away, replaced by a calmness that seemed to be in control of the overall situation.
He looked around at the prince's party and suddenly let out a low and sarcastic laugh. The laughter echoed in the silent hall, making people feel cold.
"Royal brother, you are so innocent and cute."
He paced forward and said, "Why are the palace gates so empty tonight? My Royal Brother, do you really believe that they planned everything? Do you really believe that these people are so loyal and capable?"
The Crown Prince looked up, staring intently at Prince Yong. He then turned sharply to Chen Zhanshi, Liu Chong, and the others. His lips moved, but he couldn't utter a complete word: "You...?"
Chen Zhanshi's face turned pale, and he said anxiously: "Your Highness! Don't listen to his instigation! We..."
Liu Chong subconsciously took half a step back, his hand holding the knife trembling slightly, and his eyes flickering.
Prince Yong interrupted Chen Zhanshi: "No, my royal brother, don't doubt them. You think too highly of them and too lowly of me.
"I, Prince Yong," said Prince Yong in a low voice, but every word struck like a hammer, hammering down on everyone's heart. "Years ago, I knew that to ascend to the throne, I had to resort to extraordinary means."
"I've been planning for years, and everything is ready. If it weren't for my father," a sinister glint flashed in his eyes, "if he hadn't suddenly attacked, demoted me back to my fiefdom, and disrupted my plans..."
He changed the subject, his gaze sweeping across the pale-faced princelings, "Who could have imagined that my loyal, filial, and righteous brother would be even more anxious than I am! How dare he do something worse than an animal?"
"Alright! You're in the open, I'm in the dark. All I need is a little guidance and a little help... You've cleared the biggest obstacle for me, not only my father, but also that annoying Crown Prince. You've committed this heinous crime to the utmost, and I, in the name of pacifying the rebellion and serving the king, will clean up the mess!"
"You are merely stepping stones on my way to the throne!"
Chen Zhanshi could barely stand, his lips trembling and unable to speak. Liu Chong's face drained of all color, his grip on the knife completely loosened, and his eyes were unfocused.
So that's how it is, so that's how it is. He was wondering why it went so smoothly, thinking it was destined by heaven, but who would have thought...
At this moment, Prince Yong's voice, filled with bitter sarcasm, was directed at the Prince's party: "However, when it comes to ruthless tactics, I am truly ashamed of myself!"
"In order to breach the palace tonight, you deceived several loyal and brave generals guarding the palace gates! Pity their sincerity, but they mistakenly believed your traitorous lies and lost their lives in vain!"
He turned to the Crown Prince and said, "Even more outrageous is that even General Pan Wei, who dedicated his entire life to the country, has now been beheaded, tragically killed by your loyal ministers, Ning Yanqing! Tsk tsk..."
Prince Yong shook his head and sighed heavily, "Poor old General Pan, he spent his whole life in the military, but he didn't die at the hands of the enemy, but fell at the hands of the crown prince he was loyal to. No, he fell at the hands of you, the traitor and patricide traitor! How tragic, how unjust!"
"No! No! I didn't! I didn't order the killing of Pan Wei!" The prince jumped up from his limp body as if stung by a poisonous scorpion, his face full of panic, eager to distance himself from the blame.
He subconsciously looked at Chen Zhanshi and Liu Chong, "It's you! You did this behind my back?"
Chen Zhanshi and Liu Chong's faces turned pale. Who could have expected that Pan Wei trusted the crown prince so much and was so tough? If they let him go, tonight would be their death. For their own sake, it would be better for Pan Wei to die!
Prince Yong scoffed harshly, interrupting the Crown Prince's defense. He stepped forward and said, "You didn't? My dear brother, at this point, you still want to shirk responsibility? Pan Wei died on the way to stop you from forcing the emperor to abdicate. It was your people who did it! He died because of your ambition to forcibly abdicate and usurp the throne!"
He suddenly raised his hand and pointed outside the blood-stained palace gate: "Open your eyes and look outside the Purple Palace, look at the entire imperial palace! For this dragon robe of yours, thousands of soldiers and palace maids have shed their blood like a river! Ning Yanqing, listen, have the wails of those dead souls outside ever stopped for a moment?"
Prince Yong's accusations struck the prince straight in the heart.
A cry of disbelief rang out among the ministers: "General Pan... is he dead?"
“Oh my god…”
“What a sin…”
"You...you guys..." The prince pointed at King Yong and then at the prince's followers who were forcing him to serve him, his fingers trembling violently.
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood foam and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Liar, all of you! I...I've been harmed by you! By all of you!"
Prince Yong's previously icy face now showed a look of almost bitter sarcasm. He looked down at the Crown Prince, "Who harmed him? Ning Yanqing?"
He repeated it softly, as if savoring a huge joke.
"Are you harmed by your status as the eldest son, which you had no choice about? Are you harmed by your father appointing you as the crown prince so early?" Prince Yong shook his head slowly, and every word was as sharp as a knife.
"You were born the crown prince, enjoying all the honors in the world. Even though you are foolish and incompetent, even though you poisoned the emperor, after the incident, the emperor simply imprisoned you. How soft-hearted he was towards you, how much he cared about the father-son relationship?"
"But what about you?" Prince Yong took a step forward.
"Even though you were imprisoned within those high walls, so many loyal ministers and generals bravely risked their lives to rescue you! They pushed you onto this throne, they shed blood for you, killed for you, and bore the eternal infamy for you! What about you?"
Prince Yong's voice was filled with contempt: "What else can you do except wear this crown of the crown on your head like a coward, use it to demand, use it to shirk responsibility, use it to cover up your incompetence, your stupidity, and your meanness?
"Are you worthy of this status?! Are you worthy of the road these people risked their lives to pave for you?"
He took a deep breath, his voice heavy and sorrowful, like a final verdict, echoing through the hall: "Ning Yanqing, ask yourself, it's never anyone else who has harmed you, it's you who has been ambitious but irresponsible, who only knows how to take and not cherish, and who only shirks responsibility when faced with problems! Perhaps the greatest mistake my father made in his life wasn't disgracing me, but giving birth to you, his eldest son!"
Prince Yong walked up to the Crown Prince, looking down at his brother, who was clad in dragon robes but looked more miserable than a stray dog. He said, "Ning Yanqing, look at you. You were an unfilial son, killing your father first; you were an unkind father, poisoning your own son later; you were disloyal as a minister, usurping power and plotting rebellion! How can you still live in this world with the dignity you deserve?"
He leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice so that only the nearby Crown Prince could hear: "Think about your Queen Mother, think about your Crown Princess, think about your son. If you still have a trace of thought about being a son, a husband, and a father, if you still want them to have a sense of dignity within these palace walls in the future, you should understand."
"To live, for you and them, is the torture of eternal damnation."
The last sentence, like a curse, completely crushed the prince's will.
He raised his head blankly, his eyes sweeping over his lifeless father on the dragon throne, his son drooling at his feet, and the gazes in the hall that were either horrified, disdainful, or indifferent...
Tears mixed with stains rolled down his face, and he was determined to die.
Prince, Prince…” The prince murmured, with a nearly insane smile on his face, “This crown, this robe, it’s what ruined me… It’s…”
"I no longer want to be the crown prince... I no longer want to..."
Sensing that the prince had collapsed, his party reacted immediately.
"Your Highness, you can't do that!" Zhang Duo cried out urgently. His mind raced, trying to grasp at the last straw. "Your Highness, as long as you are here, you are the legitimate descendant of the Emperor's bloodline! Perhaps..."
"Legitimate?" Prince Yong seemed to have heard a huge joke. "Zhang Duo, killing his father and the emperor, and poisoning his own son is legitimate? Ask all the nobles in this hall, ask the people of the world, do they agree?!"
He asked sternly, his eyes sweeping over the ministers. Many people subconsciously avoided his gaze, and no one spoke up for the prince.
The prince was wearing a dragon robe, but he looked like a lonely soul and he no longer shed tears.
He used up all his remaining strength and slammed hard into the golden pillar with a coiled dragon next to the throne!
"Bang!"
A dull, heart-pounding noise echoed throughout the hall.
Blood splattered on the cold golden dragon pillar, creating a glaring scarlet color.
The prince's body slid softly to the ground, his forehead deeply sunken, blood gushing out, dyeing the bright yellow dragon robe that symbolized supremacy red. His empty eyes finally looked at the dazed and confused little face of the crown prince.
The entire hall fell into a dead silence. Even the sound of breathing was barely audible. Only the smell of blood was so strong that it was nauseating.
At the same moment when the prince crashed into the golden pillar, an uncontrollable cry of surprise and commotion came from outside the palace gate. At this moment, the queen and the princess, guarded by armored soldiers, stepped into this bloody purgatory.
"Yan Qing?"
The Crown Princess's body swayed, like a reed suddenly broken by a strong wind.
The Queen stood frozen at the door. Beneath the phoenix crown, a crack appeared on her always graceful and calm face for the first time.
Her gaze first looked at the glaring bloody hole on her son's forehead, then slowly moved to her husband lying motionless on the dragon throne, and then fell on her foolish grandson...
The thick smell of blood, mixed with the silence of death, weighed heavily on everyone's heart. The candlelight in the Purple Palace was still flickering, illuminating the mess and blood on the ground like a painting of hell.
Prince Yong slowly turned around, his eyes calmly sweeping across the room, finally landing on the Queen's face.
He nodded slightly: "My condolences, mother."
"The traitor Ning Yanqing murdered the emperor and his father, and poisoned the heir apparent. His crimes are clear and obvious."
"He has been punished for his crime."
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