Chapter 59 Chapter 59 T Disease
The little prince was put aside and almost stumbled. Seeing that his father was really going to take action, he took a step forward with his short legs and ran forward, trying to grab the Qinglong sword with his hands.
Li Cheng was worried that the sharp blade would hurt him, so he loosened his grip a little. Li Huaizhou looked up at him eagerly, but his little mouth did not stop, and his childish voice rang out:
"Father, you once read to me the Mencius, in which you said, 'There is a way to win the world: if you win the people, you win the world; if you win the people, you win their hearts, and you win the world.'"
"As the ruler of a country, if you want to win the hearts of your subjects, you must make them truly love you. But now your father's behavior is to beat and kill loyal officials at will. If this gets out, he will really lose the support of the people."
He was a little tired after speaking so long, and then he got straight to the root of the problem: "Besides, I also feel that what your father did is extremely inappropriate. Your mother is from an ordinary family. Even if she passes away, she will feel guilty seeing your father squandering the national treasury like this.
"Your Majesty, Minister Kong is right in his advice. For the annual sacrifice, we need to invite tens of thousands of monks and Taoists to chant the Sutra of Rebirth, and offer thousands of peace lamps in the Huangjue Temple. Carts of incense will burn like firewood, and the monks and Taoists will hold a ceremony in the East Palace for half a month. Your Majesty, you must know that if the superiors like something, the subordinates will follow suit. You are so biased in trusting those monks and Taoists. If this continues, the outlook is really not optimistic."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and began to play the emotional card: "I believe that if mother were still alive, she would never want to see father do this."
The court officials were amazed to learn that a five-year-old child had such a keen understanding of public sentiment and political affairs. Minister Kong had not expected that this young prince would actually share his political views and dare to directly point out the shortcomings of the policy without fear of angering the emperor.
Looking at the still frail and short Crown Prince, Minister Kong was incredibly moved. With the Crown Prince pleading for him, even if he ended up losing his head for angering Long Wei today, he would be content.
While the court officials marveled at the prince's intelligence, they secretly thought: What a great prince! At such a young age, he speaks for the people and for these eunuchs.
Unknowingly, the prince gained the recognition of all the ministers just by doing this small thing.
After hearing what the Crown Prince said, Li Cheng seemed a little unconvinced. He couldn't believe that the child who had always relied on him and respected him so much could have such a big disagreement with him over the sacrifice to the late Queen.
Looking at this innocent and naive child, Emperor Jianping felt for the first time that his way of educating his children was wrong.
He sneered, his face gloomy, his eyes dim and unclear, and his words to the prince were no longer as affectionate as before, with a completely biting tone:
"Prince, that's your biological mother. How could you say such a thing? Have you heard all the lectures you've heard over the years?"
"Father, precisely because she is my mother, I want to advise you that the dead cannot be resurrected, and you should look forward."
"Shut up!" Emperor Jianping was furious. A raging fire surged in his eyes, and his eyes were so fierce that he almost wanted to eat the crown prince alive.
"She will definitely come back. As long as I am sincere and have paid for my sins in this life, she will return to me!"
The whole world belongs to him. He is the father and ruler of all people. No matter what he wants to do, no one can interfere! He is the Son of Heaven. Everything he does is right!
Anyone who dares to stop me will die!
Emperor Jianping was breathing heavily, veins popped out on his forehead, and drops of cold sweat dripped down. His still handsome eyes were now filled with pain.
The prince had never seen his father like this, and he was shocked.
"She will come back..." Li Cheng covered his chest, his eyes unfocused, and muttered to himself.
After saying the last sentence, I was in so much pain that I lost consciousness.
"Father!"
"His Majesty!"
…
Li Cheng finally dreamed of Liang Hanzhang. Strangely, the Zhang Niang in his dream was obviously not the same as he remembered later. Instead, she was a little kid with a sparse bun, jumping around.
Li Cheng had seen that child before. He was his only comfort during the days when he was trembling with fear and felt as if he was on the edge of a huge abyss in the Changsun Mansion.
But, the little girl from the past had unexpectedly transformed into Zhang Niang's appearance, or Zhang Niang's childhood. Although Emperor Jianping had never seen Liang Hanzhang's childhood, his intuition told him that this was Zhang Niang, the one and only little girl in the world, the little girl he cherished in his heart.
He looked at the chubby little girl, her eyes glancing upwards when she frowned, her lips pressed into a line, exactly like Li Huaizhou. Li Cheng couldn't help but laugh. It was only natural that they were the same. They were mother and son, connected by blood. It was normal for them to have similarities.
He liked the similarity.
Emperor Jianping wanted to have a good talk with the little girl in his dream, to hold her soft little hand, to look into her eyes, and to ask her: He knew he was wrong, and he did not ask for her forgiveness, but only asked her to slow down, even slower, so that he could catch up.
Five years ago, Liang Yuan was drugged by the Emperor and Empress, and then she caused herself to fall off a cliff due to a frightened horse. Li Cheng took the Qinglong Guard to search for her overnight, leaving no corner unsearched.
Recalling that night, Emperor Jianping felt that his breathing was painful, his voice was trembling, and even his usually steady figure was slightly staggering.
He hoped that his Liang Yuan was safe and sound, waiting for him somewhere on the cliff. He had to move quickly, very quickly, otherwise Liang Yuan might not see him and would not be able to hold on any longer.
But what Emperor Jianping didn't expect was that after searching the cliff for a whole night, he saw a group of ferocious black wolves enjoying their spoils.
Even though the trophy was torn into pieces, only a pool of blood and a few pieces of blood-stained cloth remained.
Then he looked at the pearls and jade on the ground. He saw Liang Yuan put them on when she went out.
So, it was obvious who the wolves had killed. Another possibility was that she had not been killed by the wolves, but had died from the poison when she fell off the cliff.
That night, everyone saw that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, with his eyes red from staying up all night, seemed like a madman. He held up a big knife like a lonely soul, and with a single move, he killed all the black wolves on the mountain.
His eyes were stained red with blood, and wolf fangs had torn his noble clothes. His crown had fallen off, his hair was disheveled, and he stood there, holding the big knife dripping with wolf blood in his hand, his eyes full of gloom and pain.
Since that day, the prince was seriously ill for three days. He lay in bed unconscious, his red face turning around, and he kept muttering: "Zhang Niang".
Li Fu was heartbroken. The young prince's fever had finally subsided, and now he, as his father, was in such a state. And then there was Liang Yuan, such a young life, vanished like a puff of smoke on the cliffs of the eastern suburbs.
During this period, the emperor and empress came out of the palace to see the prince several times. Seeing that the prince had tortured himself into such a state, Queen Wang was very disappointed and pointed at his nose and scolded him:
"She's just a woman, is it that serious? You've made yourself look like a ghost, not a human. You've wasted all my decades of teachings!"
The prince lazily leaned on the bed, his eyes dull as he looked at the cloth tiger that the little grandson had played with and left lying aside. He felt sad and said coldly:
"I don't even know what the Queen has taught me over the past few decades."
Now that the mask covering them had been removed, he stopped even calling her "Mother Queen." It turned out that mother and son, connected by blood, whose blood was thicker than water, could harbor such hatred and resentment.
Queen Wang was somewhat annoyed and angrily said, "Mother, you are doing this for your own good. That vixen is truly not a good person. She has betrayed you time and time again. Who knows if she will cause trouble again in the future? I only allowed her to die with dignity for Zhou'er's sake. Otherwise, given her crimes, I would have ruined her reputation!"
Li Cheng closed his eyes and stopped talking, using silence to express his protest.
Princess Changping had been staying by her brother's side since he fell ill. Seeing him wake up, she was both excited and ashamed, and she didn't even dare to look him in the eye.
But thinking about Zhang Niang's tragic death, of which she was one of the perpetrators, Li Luohua simply could not forgive herself. She loved Zhang Niang so much, and finally found a good friend, and she had been looking forward to her brother's marriage, and finally had a child.
But all of this was unexpectedly interrupted by the intervention of my father, the emperor, and my mother, the queen!
Princess Changping was puzzled, but that didn't stop her from distinguishing right from wrong. She knew Zhang Niang was innocent, and the fact that the Emperor and Empress were taking their anger out on her was nothing but an undeserved disaster for her.
Hearing these high-sounding words from his once beloved mother, Li Luohua felt his heart pounding for some reason.
The Emperor and Empress were always like this. Back then, they just said no to the Emperor's brother, but now they keep him by their side and even gave him the title of Crown Prince. Does this mean that they deserve the Emperor's brother's gratitude?
My brother is the eldest son of the Emperor and Empress, the legitimate heir to the Jin Dynasty. He is also a man of great stature, noble character, and has mastered the art of imperial maneuvering. He earned the position of Crown Prince through his own hard work, not by stealing it from the virtuous king.
But the emperor and empress never thought so.
After the Emperor and Empress left, Princess Changping finally dared to confront her brother and confess her regrets in person. The Crown Prince looked cold and indifferent, saying only softly that he did not blame her. He then said he was tired and asked Li Fu to ask her to leave.
Li Luohua looked at the door that opened and closed, and suddenly an idea flashed through his mind.
Even though what happened that day was not her original intention, it happened and Liang Yuan died. Although the emperor said that he did not blame her, there was always a thorn in his heart.
The thorn hurt every time it touched my lungs, and it penetrated deep into my lungs.
What happened later was just as recorded in history books. In the eighth year of Jingtai, Emperor Hui'an retired as the Supreme Emperor, and Emperor Jianping, the former Crown Prince Li Zhen, successfully ascended the throne.
Perhaps this incident was only mentioned in a few history books, but for the eunuchs in the inner court who faced the palace coup, it was something they would never have thought of or experienced in their entire lives.
Their Crown Prince, who was known for his virtue and universal praise, actually resorted to the act of forcing Emperor Hui'an to abdicate and become the Supreme Emperor. He then carried out drastic reforms to the administration of officials and replaced all the people in the palace with his own people.
When the coup was launched, Emperor Hui'an was not at all surprised. He was getting weaker and weaker, his gaunt face hidden in the darkness, and he whispered in a low voice: "I expected you to do this."
Emperor Jianping looked at his father coldly, "So?"
Emperor Hui'an coughed softly, his voice drowned out in the darkness, seeming vague and unreal: "If it happens again, I will do the same thing."
"Jing'er, you are an emperor, one who can conquer the world and ascend to the highest position. You should be free from worries, be cold-hearted and not be affected by worldly affairs."
Li Yan: "I am just a mortal."
"Jing'er, I am very pleased that you have such an iron-blooded hand. Now that I don't have much time left, I have personally removed a worry for you. You should live up to your father's trust and be a diligent and good emperor."
After hearing this, Li Cheng just sneered.
So, to ascend to the highest position, he must kill his loved ones? Does that mean he also has to stab Li Huaizhou?
That child was the product of the bloodline between him and his beloved.
They spoke in high-sounding terms, but in reality they meant the same thing: they couldn't even tolerate a weak woman.
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