After New Year's Eve, Emperor Cheng'an did not need to attend court. He only needed to use the excuse of being unwell to stay in the Empress's Ciyuan Palace, and everything could be covered up in a reasonable way.
These past few days, he has been pressuring his beloved father, the emperor, to write a decree of abdication.
Emperor Cheng'an initially refused, rebuking him as an unfaithful, unjust, and unfilial wretch. But Prince Chen had heard such lessons so many times that he was practically calloused. So he simply starved the man for a few meals, and Emperor Cheng'an finally obeyed and wrote the edict of succession.
The moment the imperial seal was placed on the edict of succession, Prince Chen revealed a look of wild joy. He snatched the seal and put it away, then picked up the edict with the seal on it and examined it repeatedly. He laughed nervously and said, "Father, you let the Crown Prince fight with me, and even helped the Third Prince to rise to power, but in the end, didn't you still have to pass the throne to me?"
Emperor Cheng'an was furious, but Prince Chen had gone mad and could not be understood by ordinary standards. He coughed and sat weakly on the ground: "I have already written the edict of succession. Are you satisfied now? You can release me and your mother now."
Empress Zhou couldn't believe that Prince Chen would even dare to tie her up. She tried to force her way out to ask for help, but Prince Chen hit her on the back of the head with a candlestick. She is still dizzy and can only lie in bed.
Otherwise, Emperor Cheng'an would not have believed that his son, whom he had doted on since childhood, had gone mad to this extent.
He could hardly even feel angry; he only felt tired and ridiculous.
Prince Chen put away the imperial edict and shook his head, saying, "Father, don't be in a hurry, this matter is not over yet."
"Once I kill the Crown Prince and Xue Gui and successfully ascend the throne, you and the Empress Dowager will become the Retired Emperor and Empress Dowager."
King Chen chuckled twice, ordered his trusted aides to keep a close watch on the man, and then turned to look for Xue Gui.
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