The funeral bells rang throughout the city. Before dawn, all the ministers and royal descendants were unable to sleep.
And the next night, Prince Jin was invited into the palace by Liu Wenji.
Liu Wenji sent someone to invite Prince Jin to seize the opportunity, while at the same time strangling the emperor to death.
He did it himself, without anyone noticing.
After leaving the emperor's bedroom, Liu Wenji set a fire and blamed the arsonist on the former crown prince who committed suicide. A dead man naturally had no way to defend himself, and no one believed him when he said he wanted to fight back.
The blame lies with the late crown prince himself.
Why did Liu Wenji choose to commit suicide the moment he was told about the fate of the people around the King of Qin? Although the emperor hated the crown prince and the King of Qin for their rebellion, they were both his sons, and he obviously did not want to kill his own sons.
What's more, the emperor left room for the prince.
So that night, the prince must die, and the emperor must die too.
But there are still some people who need to be dealt with - Liu Wenji questioned the leader of the palace guards: "You said my master, the chief eunuch, is missing?! Such an important matter, and you are only reporting it now?"
The commander naturally knew that the affairs of the palace were now controlled by Liu Wenji. He did not want to offend this eunuch, so he smiled and said, "When the accident happened, everything was in chaos and I couldn't find Eunuch Cheng for a while. I will go and look for him..."
Liu Wenji suppressed his uneasiness and said in a gloomy tone, "We must find it!"
He suspected that Cheng An saw what he did and that Cheng An escaped... Where could an old eunuch in his forties or fifties, who had lived a happy life, escape to?
Who can I turn to for justice if I escape?
Liu Wenji said gloomily: "We must search not only the palace, but also the outside of the palace. Cheng An colluded with the guilty prince to murder Your Majesty, and he must not be forgiven!"
The commander of the Royal Guards looked solemn.
Liu Wenji wanted to give a few more instructions to let this person know the seriousness of the matter, but the eunuch whispered in his ear that the Prince of Jin had arrived, so Liu Wenji turned around to meet a more important person.
Standing under the hazy gray sky, the commander of the Imperial Guards looked at Eunuch Liu respectfully as he walked away. When Liu Wenji's back was out of sight, the commander spat at him disdainfully and cursed, "You damn eunuch, you dare to show off your power over me!"
The deputy commander was standing by: "Then Eunuch Liu asked us to find someone..."
The commander said perfunctorily: "Just look for someone casually. Is it important to find someone? The new emperor is about to ascend the throne, and the more important thing for us, the Imperial Guard, is to please the new emperor. Liu Wenji is nothing."
Everyone agreed with this.
—
When Liu Wenji rushed to the side hall of the emperor's bedroom, he saw Prince Jin staring at the half-burned emperor's bedroom in a daze.
Prince Jin's eyes were filled with excitement, yet also revealed a lot of dreamy uneasiness.
Liu Wenji raised the whisk in his hand and said respectfully with a smile: "I have been waiting for your majesty for a long time."
The Prince of Jin turned around in confusion, staring blankly at Liu Wenji leading the eunuchs to kneel down to him. However, he was in a daze and still thought that Liu Wenji's "Your Majesty" referred to his own father.
When Liu Wenji smiled at him, the King of Jin was startled and quickly helped Liu Wenji up: "Don't dare, don't dare! Eunuch Liu, was my father really murdered by the guilty prince? But my father didn't pass the throne to me."
He looked around uneasily, dragged Liu Wenji to a corner and whispered, "Didn't you say that Father never considered me?"
Liu Wenzhi despised trash in his heart.
He asked in all seriousness, "So what if there is no will? Your Majesty has only three princes. The Crown Prince was executed for his crimes, and the King of Qin was demoted for his treason. Your Highness is the only one left. Does anyone have a choice?"
"Even if you announce your accession to the throne at dawn tomorrow, none of the ministers will embarrass you."
King Jin still hesitated.
Liu Wenji raised his head and said loudly: "Besides, I will support you!
"I asked you to come to the palace early at night to discuss the matter of ascending the throne and to help Your Highness deal with those difficult ministers. You can rest assured that I will help you."
Liu Wenji added in a heavier voice, "Have you never wanted the throne?"
King Jin was stunned.
Then he said slowly: "I want it."
He dreams of becoming an emperor.
But his two elder brothers were too powerful, which made him lower his spine. In order to be a prince under the pressure of his two elder brothers, he forced himself to become a person who ignored everything and avoided everything.
In his early years, he had secretly expressed his ambitions to his mother, but in recent years, he gradually stopped talking because he was becoming more and more desperate and felt that the throne could not be his.
Can he match the power of the King of Qin, or the scheming of the Crown Prince?
He could only endure and endure... But one day, the throne actually fell from the sky onto his head!
Lucky as pie in the sky!
The King of Jin came back to his senses from his unreal trance, grabbed Liu Wenji's hand, and showed an excited expression between his eyebrows: "Eunuch Liu, help me! I can't sit firmly on this throne without your help. I will never forget your kindness, and I will definitely live up to your high expectations."
He called himself "I" so quickly, and began to achieve his goal.
Liu Wenji sneered in his heart, and on the surface he only said nice words to appease this man - compared to the emperor, the prince, and even the King of Qin, the King of Jin was the easiest to fool.
A waste being the emperor, this is what Liu Wenji wanted.
—
Although he had obtained Liu Wenji's guarantee, the King of Jin was still not confident because he had been suppressed by the former Crown Prince and the King of Qin for many years.
The next day, when Liu Wenji went to court, he pushed the Prince of Jin to the throne. The Prince of Jin was placed on the throne by Liu Wenji. He looked down with gritted teeth and felt dizzy.
It turns out that the emperor's seat is so hard, and it turns out that the emperor's sight is so high. The King of Jin tensed his body and forced himself to look down. His back was soaked with sweat, and he felt that all the ministers were looking at him coldly and scrutinizing him.
Everyone is judging whether he is qualified or not.
The King of Jin was extremely angry, but he did not dare to show it. He had experienced the era of his father and knew best how powerful these ministers were.
All the civil and military officials in the court were judging him, perhaps even judging whether any heir of the royal family from a side branch was better than him... Liu Wenji pushed Prince Jin from the side, and Prince Jin came to his senses.
The King of Jin forced a stiff smile, as if to please the ministers: "I, I will rule the world with you, and I will never let my father down. I am still young and not familiar with some government affairs, so I will trouble you to guide me.
"But please rest assured! I will make Wei even more powerful in my hands."
The Prince of Jin was wary of these ministers not recognizing his throne, but to his surprise, these ministers did not make things difficult for him and instead discussed how the late emperor died, why the guilty prince took such a risk, and how the late emperor's funeral should be held.
King Jin was in a trance.
The prime ministers, led by Liu Xianggong, reminded him: "Your Majesty, the court is not a place to be in a daze."
King Jin quickly said yes, and his attitude was very neat.
The prime ministers saw that he really looked like a good prince, so they didn't say much - what else could they do? There was only one legitimate prince left. Should they kick the legitimate prince out and replace him with an adopted one?
Wouldn’t the world be in chaos then?
—
The King of Jin has not yet officially ascended the throne. He will have to wait until the beginning of next spring to officially ascend the throne and announce it to the world. But now that there is no leader, the King of Jin has been placed on the throne and has begun to manage affairs.
The rebellion of the former crown prince and the King of Qin had not been dealt with yet, and this was the first thing the King of Jin had to do after taking office.
On the first day of his reign as emperor, the sky was gray and it was drizzling.
Yan Shang came back from court, and although he was holding an umbrella, half of his wide robe was soaked by the rain when he entered the mansion. He returned to his bedroom and sat down to drink a cup of hot tea, and Mu Wanyao pushed the door open and walked in.
Mu Wan shook: "How?"
On a July day, Yan Shang was sitting by the window, wringing the water out of his robe. Hearing this, he looked up and asked, "What do you mean by so and so?"
Mu Wanyao sat down next to him and glared at his unhurried attitude. She frowned in dissatisfaction and said, "Of course you are talking about the new emperor."
How the new emperor is will affect her and Yan Shang's future. She was so anxious that she couldn't sleep, but Yan Shang was not anxious at all.
Yan Shang raised his eyebrows slightly, and he considered what to say: "A new emperor appoints new ministers. The new emperor is naturally different from your father, and the ministers need to adapt again. This process will take at least half a year. It is impossible to say how the emperor will perform at the moment."
Mu Wan shook his head and said, "You must be unable to see how capable he is, so you have nothing to say, right? I told you long ago that my fifth brother is a waste, and it is hard for him to have any real skills. You have been trying to find out for a long time, but you still can't find it."
She was lost in thought: "I heard that the night my father left, the Prince of Jin entered the palace. It must have been Liu Wenji's idea... Liu Wenji couldn't wait to show his loyalty. From now on, we will no longer be the most favored people in front of the emperor."
Yan Shang covered his mouth and tilted his head, coughed lightly, and said, "It wasn't like that in the first place. We just need to do what we should do, and don't worry about the rest."
Seeing him cough, Mu Wanyao immediately came to shake his hand. After shaking his hand, he felt that his hand was cold, and Mu Wanyao was anxious: "Why are your hands so cold again? You haven't recovered yet, why are you going to court? You really don't take your health seriously!"
Yan Shang comforted her softly, "New Emperor Chu Director, I have to take a look. Don't you want to take a look too? Um... cough cough."
He tried to hold back the urge to cough, but he couldn't hold it back. After he coughed a few times, Mu Wanyao's face changed.
Mu Wan looked at him in shock and suddenly said, "Please ask for leave."
Yan Shang was helpless: "Yaoyao! The previous emperor is about to pass away, and the new emperor has just ascended the throne. The Ministry of Personnel is at its busiest time. As a subject, we naturally have to sort out these things for the emperor. How can you think of asking for leave just because you have a minor illness or pain?"
Mu Wanyao said coldly: "Do you plan to ask for leave yourself, or should I go to the palace and ask the emperor for leave for you? Anyway, I am a princess who controls the government, and if I ask for leave for you, our new emperor will definitely be happy for it."
There is no word for the moment.
After a while he said, "Then I'll take two days off."
Mu Wan raised her eyebrows: "One month."
Yan Shang: “…”
Yan Shang laughed. He hugged Mu Wanyao and explained to her in a gentle voice: "Yaoyao, I can't rest like that. The court is in chaos now. There is no leader and the new emperor has no prestige. At this time, all the evil spirits will appear.
"I cannot leave the court at this time."
Mu Wanyao muttered, "You are not the prime minister anymore, so let them die."
Yan Shang still spoke softly: "I am the emperor's employee and I should be loyal to him."
Mu Wanyao was anxious and angry, but she also knew that he was not the kind of person who could spare time to read, write, play the piano or visit friends, so she could only accept it.
Apart from Yan Shang, Mu Wanyao herself was also busy. After the defeat of the King of Qin, Mu Wanyao gained the power of the Ministry of War, and she took advantage of the chaos to quickly arrange for her people to take the position.
Only if you have power can you resist the new emperor.
—
When the new dynasty was replaced by the old one, when no one was paying attention to this matter, Yan Xiaozhou went to the prison to see Yang Si.
Originally, the late crown prince committed suicide, and Liu Wenji wanted to accuse the crown prince of murdering the late emperor. He thought that no one in the court would object, but he did not expect Yan Shang to be the first to question the matter.
In the court of the Wei Dynasty, officials of the first and second ranks were honorary positions, with only fame but no real effect. Officials of the third rank were the prime minister, and officials of the fourth and fifth ranks could attend court every day and occupy a seat in the court.
What's more, Yan Shang is not only a Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel, he is also the leader of the poor families today.
His doubts were naturally quite weighty: "The late crown prince has already pleaded guilty. When the late emperor was alive, he questioned the late crown prince and the late crown prince confessed his crime. The late crown prince has been imprisoned in the East Palace. How could he have the military strength to rebel again and murder the late emperor?
"The Crown Princess who came out of the East Palace said that the Crown Prince committed suicide because he pleaded for her and Sanlang's relatives and friends. How could a person who wanted to protect his relatives and friends go to the trouble of continuing to rebel? Who would listen to him? Is he so well-connected?"
The new emperor sat on the throne, listening to Yan Erlang's questioning nervously. His scalp tingled and he glanced at Liu Wenzhi out of the corner of his eye.
Liu Wenji was also in the court. He looked at Yan Shang with a fake smile: "The crown prince rebelled once, and he dared to rebel again. Why does Doctor Yan think he won't? Are you secretly colluding with him? Do you know that he doesn't have any connections?"
Yan Shang said gently: "If he is really that powerful, why would he burn down the East Palace and beg for mercy? If he is really that powerful, what can we do?"
He always speaks euphemistically.
Wei Shu, who usually kept silent in the court, suddenly said, "If the former crown prince was really that capable, he would be the one sitting on the throne now. Your Majesty and we don't need to discuss how to deal with his descendants."
Liu Wenji gritted his teeth, but couldn't speak for a long time: "..."
The new emperor's face turned pale because of Wei Shu's frankness.
The new emperor still didn't see it, but Liu Wenji began to be alert. He felt that Yan Shang represented the poor family, and Wei Shu represented the new growing power of the aristocratic family... If these two parties joined forces, wouldn't he lose his voice in the court?
Yan Shang is no longer the Yan Shang of the past.
He wanted to stop Yan Shang from becoming too powerful.
As for the fight between the three parties in the court, the new emperor had no idea what was going on, so he just kept joking around and did not dare to intervene easily.
—
In order to prevent the noble families from joining forces with the poor, Liu Wenji privately pressured Censor Zhao to let Wei Shu marry Censor Zhao's daughter, Concubine Zhao Ling. The noble families should join forces with the eunuchs to squeeze out the poor first.
But Liu Wenji could only use this method because he could not explain the relationship between the death of the late emperor and the late crown prince.
The details are fuzzy here.
The ministers headed by Yan Shang could not find out anything, and Liu Wenji could not provide detailed evidence. Fortunately, Yan Shang had a gentle temperament and did not have such deep feelings for the previous emperor. When the new emperor privately persuaded Yan Erlang to let this go, Yan Shang stared at the new emperor for a moment, which made the new emperor feel uncomfortable, but Yan Erlang agreed to let it go.
Yan Shang just fought for the former crown prince——
The crime shall not extend to the wife and daughters.
The Yang family should be demoted, not killed.
Although Yang Sanlang plotted treason, he was deceived by the former crown prince and his crime did not deserve the death penalty.
The new emperor approved Yan Shang's plan to deal with the matter of the late crown prince and exiled the Yang family to Liaodong. As for Yang Sanlang, he was sent to the Jiannan border to do hard labor and serve as a militia.
In short, Yang Si's life was saved.
—
On the day Yang Si was exiled, Mu Wanyao and Yan Shang and his wife came to see him off.
Following behind Yan Shang was his younger sister, Yan Xiaozhou.
Mu Wan shook her head and followed Concubine Zhao Ling. Censor Zhao wanted to sever ties with the Yang family and refused to see Yang Si off. Concubine Zhao Ling ran away secretly.
Wearing prison clothes, handcuffed and shackled, with dishevelled hair, Yang Si was silent and quiet. He did not even look at Yan Shang and his wife, and Mu Wan looked at him, feeling uncomfortable.
Yan Shang stepped forward, gave the officers some silver, and asked them to go away so that they could talk.
After the officials left, Yan Shang stared at Yang Si, whose eyes were unfocused and who didn't look at them, and whispered, "Don't worry, your father was exiled to Liaodong, but he's still here. He's old, and I'll do my best to help the Yang family. They were just implicated, and they weren't involved in too many treasonous things. Their punishments aren't as severe as yours. Just do some hard labor for a few years and settle down. We'll have a chance to see each other again."
Yang Si said nothing.
Yan Shang said again: "The Crown Princess has been taken away by her family. Before she left, she asked me to bring you a message. She said it was left for you by the Crown Prince."
Yang Si's expressionless eyes fluctuated. He looked at Yan Shang and his lips trembled.
After a long while, Yang Si said in a hoarse voice: "Brother Lang, what did you leave for me?"
Mu Wan stepped forward, looked at Yang Si, and said softly: "No matter what the court says, no one can provide evidence. I don't know who is telling the truth, but the Crown Princess said that the Crown Prince committed suicide with the dagger you gave him when you were young.
"He left a message for you - Chengzhi, go and become whoever you want to be, be an eagle in the sky, fly out of Chang'an. Don't be influenced by me, don't let me constrain you."
Accept it, accept it.
Yang Si's courtesy name was "Chengzhi". The prince gave him this courtesy name out of love for him before he even reached twenty.
The prince asked him to marry the daughter of the governor of Youzhou, but now he has become a criminal, so he doesn't have to marry her anymore.
Finally, the prince told him to "accept it" and gave him back what he had paid for - the eagle was in the sky, so let it go to the sky. Don't stay in the mortal world, don't be bound by worldly feelings.
Yang Si listened blankly, his eyes flickering like sparks. He murmured a few words and chuckled.
He said to Yan Shang and Mu Wanyao, "Thank you."
Yan Xiaozhou looked at him quietly, thinking that he might have something to say to her. As long as he said something, she would take a step forward.
But Yang Si didn't.
In front of Yan Shang, Yang Si did not take an extra step.
Yang Si turned around and walked towards the officials. Concubine Zhao Ling choked up and called her cousin, lowered her head and wiped her tears. She felt sad, thinking of her cousin who had played with her since she was a child, and said that he wanted to be an eagle... Why did this happen?
Mu Wan shook behind him and called out, "Third Brother Yang!"
Yang Si's back stiffened, but he did not turn around.
Mu Wanyao's voice was choked with sobs: "I'll have someone go to the dungeon to bring your father out. Don't you want to see him?"
Yang Si straightened his back, he didn't look back, and strode forward: "I am an unfilial son who has implicated my family. I have no face to face him. There is no need to see him——"
The officials waited for Yang Si to arrive, bowed to the nobles here, and then led Yang Si on the road with an iron chain.
But at the gate of Chang'an, a carriage came at a high speed. Father Yang, dressed in rough clothes, was driven out of the carriage by officials. Mu Wanyao immediately came over to nod to Father Yang and pointed the way: "He left——"
Father Yang looked out and saw his son being dragged by officials, looking extremely bleak in the sunset. He was anxious and helpless, so Mu Wanyao lent him a horse. The officials nearby tried to stop him, but Yan Shang waved his hand to signal them to retreat.
However, how could a criminal leave Chang'an and implicate the princess and her husband?
Yang's father rode his horse and chased him for less than a few feet before he stopped. Standing on the outskirts of the city, looking at his son's desolate back from afar, Yang's father was filled with sorrow and shouted loudly -
"Sanlang! Sanlang——
"This world is difficult, and I don't know what to say. I don't blame you. You didn't do anything wrong, and the Yang family doesn't blame you. You are loyal and righteous, what's wrong with that?
"It's just that we taught you too well!"
Father Yang cried bitterly, "Sanlang, Sanlang! If I want you to do evil, then you can't do evil; if I want you to do good, then I won't do evil. Sanlang, it's just that the world is difficult. You are still a good son of my Yang family, and you are still my good son!
"When there's a chance, your father and mother will come to see you! We will definitely be reunited as a family, we will definitely be reunited—"
From afar, Yang Si turned his head, with tears in his eyes, looking at the people who were seeing him off. The setting sun was fading, and everything was sad. He had been in Chang'an for so many years, and he turned away again and again, but these were the only people who saw him off.
Han Shuxing followed Yan Shang and felt the sadness of everyone. But he couldn't understand what Yang's father meant, so he asked Yan Erlang.
Yan Shang stared at Yang Si, who was looking back with tears in his eyes at the distant mountain ridge, and explained in a low voice:
"If I want you to do evil, then you cannot do evil; if I want you to do good, then I will not do evil.
"What this sentence means is: I want you to be a bad person, but doing bad things is wrong; I want you to be a good person, but I haven't done anything bad, but I ended up like this."
Han Shuxing was stunned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Yan Shang couldn't continue, Mu Wan shook his head and answered him: "It means that the world has forced us to this point, and Brother Yang San is not wrong.
"Han Shuxing, none of us... are wrong. None of us are bad people.
"It's just that nothing in this world is black and white. We spend our entire lives searching for our own place..."
Yan Shang finished with her: "Just have a clear conscience."
Everyone was sad, only Yan Xiaozhou was calm.
The girl looked into the distance, listening to her brother and sister-in-law, listening to Yang's father crying, and looking at Yang Si's tearful eyes. She thought again of Chang'an under the heavy rain that day.
At that time, Yang Si could have killed her and Concubine Ling of Zhao, but he still did it. He did not kill innocent people, he had principles, he just took that path.
Yan Xiaozhou suddenly felt a pain in his heart - a place to stay.
Have you found Yang Si’s shelter?
As...a friend, an old acquaintance, should she help him?
This is not the end.
Yang Sanlang's ending should not have been so sloppy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
