Chapter 113: Establishing an heir and assisting in governance.
The emperor was only unconscious for half a day. When he opened his eyes, the palace was brightly lit with candlelight, and only a few eunuchs were guarding his sickbed.
The emperor suddenly remembered that for a long time before the Empress Dowager's death, besides the Empress, only the imperial physicians and the ladies-in-waiting of Renshou Palace were by her side. Her children and grandchildren only gathered before her death.
Am I destined to end up like the Empress Dowager? The Emperor couldn't quite define the thoughts swirling in his mind—was it fear, sorrow, or perhaps… this was the fate ordained by the imperial family?
The emperor sighed sadly. Hearing this, the eunuch on duty mustered his courage, glanced over, and quickly stood up and bowed, saying, "His Majesty has awakened!" He then turned and called out, "Summon the imperial physician!"
The emperor moved his lips: "Water..."
Unable to get up, the serving eunuch could only feed the emperor water little by little with a silver spoon. He greedily drank the water to quench his thirst.
Three imperial physicians quickly arrived. The leader took the emperor's pulse, examined his eyes, and then knelt down to report, "Your Majesty's stroke symptoms have worsened. At this time, you should rest quietly and absolutely avoid getting angry or overexerting yourself."
“If…” the emperor said hoarsely, “then…so what?”
The imperial physician lowered his head even further: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. In my experience, if the condition worsens further, I fear... it could endanger his life."
The emperor raised his hand, and none of the eunuchs and imperial physicians in the room dared to look up at him.
No moment was more relatable to the Empress Dowager than this one.
So this is what it feels like for the emperor to look at the curtains and feel powerless.
"Summon..." The emperor only uttered one word before immediately closing his mouth again. He wanted to entrust the affairs of state to someone, but to whom should he entrust them?
The fourth brother is an idiot, and the fifth brother is stupid and dull. If we send him, I'm afraid that in just a few days, the world will only belong to the Chu family in name only.
Of course, it was even more impossible for the court officials to seize power. The emperor did not want to be a ruler who would bring about the downfall of his country, and he would not give his ministers the opportunity to take control of the government and usurp the throne.
So... who else is there?
The name the emperor least wanted to think about was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't!
Is Chu Heng someone who can be trusted? Given the current situation, doesn't he covet the throne?
The emperor didn't believe him!
However, Chu Heng's surname was Chu after all.
The emperor struggled incessantly. Even if Chu Heng had rebelled, the empire still belonged to the Chu family, and he could still face his ancestors with a clear conscience…
No! The emperor gripped the brocade quilt tightly. His throne should, of course, be inherited by his son. He wanted the sacrifices to continue for generations to come. Did he really want to rely on Chu Heng's descendants?
The emperor coughed heavily, gasping for breath, as if he were coughing up his internal organs. The imperial physicians rushed over, taking his pulse and inserting acupuncture needles. Someone else brought medicine, but for some reason the emperor clenched his teeth. Despite the efforts of several people, they only managed to feed him half a bowl of the two bowls of medicine.
Fortunately, the commotion was effective; the emperor regained consciousness, and the imperial physician, kneeling on the ground, was almost in tears: "Your Majesty, please do not overthink things; you must rest and recuperate!"
The emperor's tongue seemed to be somewhat out of his control; he opened his mouth, his teeth chattering, and after a long pause, he finally said, "Summon the Hanlin Academicians, the Ministers of the Six Ministries, and the Left Censor-in-Chief..."
After reciting a list of important ministers and officials, the emperor finally said, "Summon... Prince Duan."
Having faced a life-or-death situation, the emperor came up with the best solution so far.
He didn't trust Prince Duan, and he didn't trust the court officials, so he let them check and balance each other.
This throne must be inherited by his descendants; no one else should even think about taking it!
...
The following day, the emperor issued an edict to the whole country, establishing the fifth prince as the crown prince and entrusting him with the administration of the country.
Since the fifth prince was still young, the emperor appointed five regents: his younger brother, Prince Duan Chuheng, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and the three ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of War.
Regardless of the emperor's intentions, his imperial edict did indeed stabilize the court.
Regardless of what the officials discussed in private, they felt reassured by this imperial edict.
Despite the undercurrents, everything in the capital and the imperial court remained orderly on the surface.
However, of course, some people were dissatisfied with this imperial edict.
When the emperor issued the decree to establish the crown prince, he also placed the fourth prince under house arrest. However, when the emperor fell ill, the palace was in chaos, and the prince easily escaped.
After the death of the eldest prince, the empress secluded herself in the palace. Consort Wu was implicated by her son and died. Among the high-ranking concubines, Consort De was appointed by the emperor to temporarily manage the inner palace because she had given birth to the sixth prince. At this time, her son had been poisoned and was struggling to survive, so Consort De could no longer care about the affairs of the inner palace.
In retrospect, this was due to the emperor's lack of foresight. He only considered the affairs of the court and forgot that the inner palace was also in need of a leader.
Li Zhong was trying his best to maintain order, but he was ultimately just a chief eunuch. With the emperor on the verge of death, his prestige was inevitably diminished.
The emperor bypassed him to establish an heir, which made the fourth prince resentful. However, no matter how angry he was, he dared not vent his anger on the emperor, because the fifth prince was always weak. Even if he was made crown prince by the emperor, the fourth prince was not afraid. Therefore, the first thing he did when he ran out unnoticed was to curse the fifth prince.
The Eastern Palace has been vacant for many years, and the Fifth Prince has not yet moved in. He is also not surrounded by the Crown Prince's guards and officials. The only change he has made so far is that he has been given more schoolwork.
The fifth prince did not want to be the crown prince or the emperor. He simply could not learn what his teacher was teaching him. He was holding his pen with a pained expression when he suddenly heard a commotion outside.
The Fifth Prince jumped up as if he had been saved: "What's wrong? I'll go see!"
The young eunuch serving the writing brush and ink hurriedly followed: "Your Highness, what are your tasks for today..."
The Fifth Prince had already rushed out, but before he could even see what was happening in the courtyard, someone pointed a finger at him and berated him: "You good-for-nothing Fifth Prince! I always thought you were a good person, but I never imagined you were secretly harboring ambitions. You always pretended to be honest, kind, and unassuming, but somehow you tricked Father Emperor into deposing the eldest son and establishing a younger one in favor of the younger! Aren't you very proud of yourself now?"
The Fifth Prince looked bewildered, staring at the Fourth Prince below him: "Fourth Brother, what are you talking about?"
The fourth prince sneered, "Still pretending? Fifth Prince, you've already secured the throne, who are you trying to fool with this act? Father isn't even here, so you don't need to put on this pretense!"
The fifth prince understood the situation and said with a wry smile, "Fourth brother, I don't know why Father suddenly made me the crown prince..."
"You're getting a good deal and you're still acting innocent!" The Fourth Prince, his evil intentions growing, tried to shove the Fifth Prince as he spoke. Fortunately, although the Fifth Prince had no guards, he had palace servants and eunuchs, who naturally protected their master.
The fourth prince was all alone and lacked the ability to fight against a hundred men, so he naturally couldn't get past the people blocking his way. He flicked his sleeve and said, "How dare you! I am the emperor's own son, how dare you disrespect me?"
The palace servants and eunuchs all stared at the Fifth Prince. Now that he was the Crown Prince, he could easily overpower the Fourth Prince with a single word, but he remained silent and dared not speak.
A palace maid, emboldened, shouted, "Our Highness is the Crown Prince! How dare the Fourth Prince disrespect the Crown Prince?"
The Fourth Prince couldn't stand anyone mentioning that the Fifth Prince was the Crown Prince. He immediately turned red with anger and slapped the little palace maid across the face. She hit the stone steps and her forehead was scraped and blood appeared.
The others were even more panicked, and no one dared to help her. The Fifth Prince was also trembling: "Fourth...Fourth Brother, this is...this is in the palace, you must...you must not act rashly!"
Looking at him like this, the Fourth Prince suddenly had a wicked thought: if the Fifth Prince died here and the Sixth Prince was poisoned, who else but himself could become the Crown Prince?
Thinking this, the Fourth Prince stepped past the crowd and glared fiercely at the Fifth Prince: "Fifth Prince..."
"The Fifth Prince is now the Crown Prince. The Fourth Prince should be treated with the proper respect between ruler and subject. How can you be so disrespectful to His Highness the Crown Prince?" A voice slowly rang out from the courtyard gate.
The fourth prince turned and glared angrily: "Who is spouting such nonsense..."
He stopped before he could finish speaking. Standing at the gate were five people: Prince Duan and four other regents. They bowed to the Fifth Prince and said, "Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."
The fourth prince's eyes were practically blazing with rage as he turned his attention to Chu Heng: "Prince Duan, you and your son plotted to murder a prince, deceived the Emperor, and yet you dare to brazenly appear in the palace! You audacious and rebellious scoundrel, you should have been beaten to death long ago!"
Upon hearing this, the four regents could no longer stand still: "What? To murder a prince? To deceive His Majesty? Your Highness, what is going on?"
Chu Heng smiled and said, "Ask me? Everyone, is the Emperor's decree also a forgery? If I were to plot against a prince, would the Emperor still order me to assist the Crown Prince?"
Left Censor-in-Chief Guo said, "Your Highness, please don't misunderstand. We are just surprised and puzzled as to why the Fourth Prince would say such a thing."
Chu Heng looked at him and said, "Lord Guo is right. The words were spoken by the Fourth Prince. He is here, so why don't you ask him? His Highness the Crown Prince was also present that day, so you can ask him as well."
The Fifth Prince took a step back; he really... really didn't want to get involved in these matters!
Everyone looked at the Fourth Prince, but he remained silent.
The Fourth Prince was indeed foolish, but he also knew that no matter why the Emperor had chosen Prince Duan and his son to leave that day, the matter of the Sixth Prince's poisoning had already been settled. Even if he brought it up again, he couldn't really do anything to Prince Duan. His earlier statement that he had just said in a fit of anger had unexpectedly given others a handle to use against him.
The fourth prince rolled his eyes, realizing he wouldn't gain anything, and hurriedly tried to slip away: "Why are you asking me what Prince Duan did?"
The fourth prince was, after all, the emperor's own son, and the people present couldn't forcefully stop him; they could only watch him flee in disarray.
Chu Heng said slowly, "I have been accused by the Fourth Prince of plotting against a prince, so I can no longer serve as regent. I can only apologize to His Majesty and resign."
The four regents looked at each other in bewilderment. They had only come to invite the crown prince to the front court to listen to the emperor's pronouncements, but how did they end up in such a troublesome situation?
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