Chapter 148: Twice the catch, but three times the trick...
System: [The first crisis encountered by the Third Prince's residence was the internal strife between the two princes of Daxia.]
The emperor had a subtle expression.
The Third Prince covered his face with his hands, looking as if he couldn't bear to look back.
The court officials who originally had a good relationship with the Third Prince suddenly became alert. No way, the Third Prince, who had no ambition, actually participated in the rebellion of the two princes? !
Yuan Ruan: [The Third Prince was involved in the civil unrest? ]
System: [Pfft, he didn’t want to get involved in the civil strife. But the late emperor wanted to drag the old concubine into the water, so he went out of the palace for a tour and ordered the third prince to supervise the country in the palace.]
Yuan Ruan: [Hiss. What a ruthless move. The Third Prince is in charge of the country, and the Queen Mother has no choice but to get involved. The late Emperor must have gone crazy with pride when he went on tour.]
System: [Pfft. That's not the case. The previous emperor was out of the palace for a tour for less than seven days when he was almost driven crazy by the news brought by the secret guards. He rushed back overnight to get the third prince, this prodigal son, to step down.]
Yuan Ruan was so shocked that he even forgot to eat the snack that the prince passed to him: [What? What did the Third Prince do? Tell me quickly! ]
The emperor raised his forehead.
The Third Prince's face turned even redder.
System: [Hahaha. Ever since the Third Prince became the regent, other court officials have been trying to pull him and test him every day. The Third Prince is a coward and timid person. At that time, several princes in the court had their own factions, and the First Prince's faction and the Fourth Prince's faction were fighting each other. The Third Prince was still the Third Prince at the time, and was afraid of offending people, so he just said "yes, yes, yes." As a result, the officials were dumbfounded when they saw the completely opposite policies on the same political affairs, and they dared not act rashly, and the political affairs were in chaos.]
Yuanruan: [Hahahaha… That’s it. What happens next?]
System: [The Third Prince has been scolded by the court officials for three days. He is a rebel. All the memorials submitted to him are "No, No, No"! The court officials considered that instead of repeatedly giving contradictory answers, it would be better to postpone everything except the border military situation and deal with it after the emperor returns on the 14th.]
Yuanruan: [This is OK. ]
System: [Hahaha, what else can you say? The Third Prince has betrayed his father.]
Yuanruan: [Ah? What?]
When the Third Prince heard this, he felt so uncomfortable that he wanted to run away.
He looked up and happened to meet the emperor's eyes, who was half-smiling. The Third Prince closed his eyes.
System: [When the late emperor was on a low-profile tour, he encountered a major case and needed troops to eliminate a group of mountain bandits. As a result, the request for troops was also rejected. If it weren't for your brother who had been sitting on the fishing platform and sent a group of people to rescue after learning the intelligence, the late emperor almost lost face. Then the late emperor was furious and thought that the third prince was trying to murder him and usurp the throne. Lei rushed back and asked the third prince to be imprisoned. ]
Yuan Ruan: [Pfft. The Third Prince must be frightened to tears.]
System: [Hey, Ah Ruan, you guessed it right. The Third Prince was frightened and cried loudly.]
"Clang" a copper cup fell.
Yuan Ruan couldn't help but lean over to look.
The maidservant below rushed up to wipe the clothes of the seated Third Prince. The Third Prince's face seemed to be full of worries, but when he noticed her gaze, he forced a smile.
Yuan Ruan: [How did the Concubine Dowager win over the Third Prince? After all, he almost betrayed the late Emperor.]
The courtiers quickly pricked up their ears: !!!
Here comes the critical point.
Get your little notebook ready to write it down.
System: [The concubine first took out the golden medal of immunity from death. ]
The court officials' hands trembled as they took notes: They don't have this thing.
The system continued: [Afterwards, the concubine claimed that her old father had been demobilized and returned to the countryside. The emperor pardoned the third prince, and not only pardoned him, but also specially gave him a large house in the capital.]
The civil officials put down their hands and stopped taking notes: there was no point in even thinking about exchanging military power for something.
The general wrote down with a pained look on his face: This sacrifice is too great!
Yuan Ruan: [Wow. The Concubine made a huge sacrifice, but this move was also very smart. Anyway, the Concubine didn't want the Third Prince to seize the throne. Military power has always been a hot potato. If she takes the initiative to hand over military power, the Emperor will be happy. He may even use the Concubine's other brothers.]
System: [No. The Concubine actually still has ambitions. She has thought about leading the army to fight, gain military merits for the Third Prince, and protect her foolish son.]
The Third Prince's pupils trembled and he was deeply moved.
All the other court officials were jealous.
Even the way the emperor looked at the Third Prince revealed a hint of "What on earth do you rely on?"
Yuan Ruan: [My old swan, what kind of fairy mother is this? If she has such a thought, she must be very sad.]
System: [Yes. The concubine took the Third Prince and beat him for three days and three nights. While beating him, she cursed him, "You destroyed your mother's last hope!" "You rebellious son!" "You prodigal son!"... The Third Prince was beaten so hard that he couldn't even wear clothes. Once he put them on, he screamed in pain and almost ran naked for more than ten days. In contrast to him, your brother was in a situation. Because of his meritorious service in saving the emperor, he was named the crown prince.]
Yuan Ruan: [Pfft, Third Prince has suffered, but thank you Third Prince for helping my brother ascend to the throne! ]
System: [Hahaha, that’s right! Help your brother get promoted! ]
The court officials had strange expressions on their faces, and they all looked at the Third Prince.
I thought I would see an embarrassed or nervous Third Prince, but he actually nodded repeatedly with a look of approval, and even mouthed to the emperor sitting above, "Emperor brother, I deserve a reward!"
The court officials were embarrassed: I don’t know whether to say you are thick-skinned or too filial.
System: [As for the second time, it was the time when your brother killed me in the Golden Palace.]
Yuan Ruan: [What? Brother killed me in the Golden Palace?]
System: [Yes. It's funny to say that the late emperor and your brother were both usurpers who killed their way to the throne. The late emperor's prestige was too high after years of fighting on the battlefield, and the prince couldn't tolerate the late emperor. The civil and military officials who followed the late emperor to fight wanted the late emperor to take the throne, and in the end he launched a coup.]
The system paused, and continued: [As for your brother, he was made the crown prince for a few years, but the late emperor thought that your brother had too bad a temper and wanted to change another son to be the crown prince. After your brother was deposed as the crown prince, he became angrier and angrier. With other brothers provoking him, your brother killed everyone and finally forced the emperor to abdicate.]
The emperor tightened his fingers, recalling the past event he least wanted to be mentioned.
The court officials, who were full of excitement just now, were choked up in an instant.
They all lowered their heads, either munching on snacks and dried fruits, or closing their eyes, almost snoring and pretending to be asleep.
Yuan Ruan also thought that this was a usurpation of the throne, but just like people would have double standards towards the behavior of their best friends, Yuan Ruan also had some double standards in his words.
Yuan Ruan: [That's different. After all, my brother was once the crown prince, so his succession to the throne can be considered legitimate. The late emperor was the one who usurped the throne.]
Courtiers: ...
Suddenly I am not familiar with the words "legitimate and justifiable".
The system was also choked by Yuanruan's double standards.
After a while, the system said: [Okay. I will continue. The Third Prince had also gone there, but the Concubine Dowager found something wrong and took him out in advance. She changed him into a eunuch's clothes and hid him in the Concubine Dowager's palace. It was not until your brother killed all the others that the Concubine Dowager secretly sent the Third Prince out of the palace.]
The court officials looked at the Third Prince in astonishment: You also went to the Golden Palace? You actually thought about participating in the division of the throne? !
The Third Prince panicked and waved his hands to his brother, the Emperor: I didn't! I have my reasons!
The emperor was too lazy to look at him.
Yuan Ruan: [A Ruan, didn’t you say that he was a saint who was born rotten? Would he participate in the fight for the throne?]
System: [He was not involved, he was tricked into entering. It was for this reason that your brother let him go and turned a blind eye to letting him live in the palace of the Concubine Dowager. In fact, the Concubine Dowager also found out later, but she didn't tell anyone because she wanted to teach the Third Prince a lesson so that he wouldn't be sold out and help count money.]
The third prince's pupils trembled: It turns out that my brother and mother already knew that I was innocent!
Thinking of this, the Third Prince felt aggrieved: How sinister! Is there no blood relationship at all? I have been trembling with fear for almost thirty days!
Yuanruan: [Pfft. I understand.]
System: [Right. But even such a wise and powerful concubine cannot capture the Third Prince for the third time. This time, the mansion is about to collapse.]
“Bang!”
Yuan Ruan's attention was diverted once again. He looked down and saw that the desks of several court officials had been overturned.
The servants and maids rushed to clean it.
Someone wanted to take the Third Prince away, but he shook his head desperately and just signaled the maid to bring the clothes over.