Chapter 112
Another two months passed.
The Second Prince's party rose to power in the court with great strength.
However, he did not argue with the eldest prince at all, making the eldest prince feel like he had punched cotton.
Some members of the Third Prince's party are still lingering in the court, waiting for the Third Prince's wife to give birth to the eldest grandson.
It is now October.
The Third Prince's wife was already eight months pregnant. The further she got into the stage of pregnancy, the more uncomfortable she felt. She would feel dizzy at the slightest movement.
The third prince would swing his empty sleeves every day, ordering servants to help the third prince's wife walk around the courtyard every day.
He said considerately, "I heard from the imperial physician that the further along the pregnancy is, the more you need to walk to facilitate delivery."
The Third Prince's wife said tiredly, "But I'm very tired and want to rest."
The Third Prince: "How can lying down all the time be good for the child? Childbirth is the most dangerous for women. If you are not careful, two lives could be lost."
The Third Prince's wife stopped in the courtyard, looked at the Third Prince's extremely thin face, and his eyes which still contained a trace of hope and pleading, and she insisted on taking two more steps.
Suddenly, I felt a pain in my lower abdomen.
The Third Prince's wife turned even paler, and she covered her stomach: "It hurts..."
The third prince's heart skipped a beat: "Call the midwife!"
-
The news that the Third Prince's wife had given birth spread.
The Third Prince's party that still exists in the court takes this very seriously. The Minister of Rites has been worried for a long time. He is not worried about whether his granddaughter is pregnant with a boy, but about her safety.
Emperor Chongzhao also sent imperial physicians to attend to the incident. In the Imperial Medical Bureau, Imperial Physician Yang rushed over carrying a medicine box and followed another imperial physician.
The Third Prince had made thorough preparations to welcome this child, and with the presence of an experienced imperial physician, an entire night was spent, and the Third Prince's wife gave birth safely after many dangerous efforts.
Her face was covered in sweat and she looked at the midwife weakly.
The baby was very weak and his cries were as small as those of a kitten.
The midwife said, "It's a girl."
The Third Prince's wife smiled, stretched out her hand, and said tiredly but gently: "Let me see the child."
She reached out and poked her daughter. Looking at the small red ball, she felt sad and distressed. She grabbed her daughter's little hand and rubbed it gently.
Fortunately, fortunately...
The third prince came in hurriedly, "How is it, how is the child?"
The midwife said, "Congratulations, Third Prince. The prince and his wife are both safe and sound."
The third prince’s smile remained on his face.
The delivery room fell silent. The other servants and maids who knew the Third Prince's thoughts all lowered their heads and dared not look. Only the Third Prince's wife patiently tucked the baby in.
Didn't even look at him.
The third prince looked around and said, "Impossible! The imperial physician clearly said it was the eldest grandson!" He grabbed the midwife by the collar and said, "Did you guys switch the baby?"
"you……"
The Third Prince let go of the horrified midwife and walked to the bedside. "Did you switch the baby? You kept telling me not to fight for it. You knew the baby was my only hope. You switched the baby to stop me from fighting, didn't you?"
The Third Prince's wife saw a hint of madness in his eyes.
She protected her daughter, and her gentle and silent character showed its sharpness for the first time. The Third Prince's wife sneered: "You have read too many storybooks, Your Highness. It's almost dawn now, stop dreaming."
The third prince took a step back, "...If you can't give birth, there are others."
He let out a deep breath, looked at the mother and daughter coldly, and left the room without a word of concern.
From then on, the third prince went to the concubine's room in the backyard from time to time, and did not even prepare a celebratory banquet.
The eldest prince's wife sent someone to deliver a lot of baby supplies, Qu Dubian also sent the gifts that an uncle should give, and the fourth prince still took a lot of exquisite paper from Concubine Yi and sent it over together with some ornaments.
Qu Duanbian also heard about the Third Prince's indifference to the Third Prince's wife, and shook his head and said, "If Third Brother continues like this, the situation will only get worse."
It would be good to completely withdraw from the fight for the throne after losing the arm, and live a peaceful life with your wife and children. Isn't it much better than intrigue and deception?
The Sixth Prince complained: "He looks horribly bad. The last time I went to give him a gift, he was as gloomy as a ghost."
Qu Dubian kicked him in the buttocks: "Just keep farming! Half of the soil is still not loose."
The Sixth Prince covered his butt and said viciously, "Why should I do your work, Xiaoqi? Why do you dislike me so much recently? You have been bullying me since I recovered from my injury."
During this period, he had almost contracted the vegetable fields in Pingguiyuan. He had to harvest the vegetables, plant the last batch of seeds before winter came, loosen the soil and eliminate pests. He was really exhausted.
Qu Dubian lay back in the rocking chair, "You don't know how much you've taken advantage of me." Half of his life is still owed, and the debt of the mother is shared by the son. He is just collecting interest on a daily basis. "Besides, farming is a very profound subject. If you learn more skills, you may be able to use them in the future, and you will never starve to death wherever you go."
The Sixth Prince was puzzled. "Me? I'm just working for you. If it was someone else, I would have beaten him up a long time ago, right?"
Qu Dubian threw a peanut over: "Work hard, or we'll close the door and let some white go."
Yidianbai barked twice at the right time.
Amid the Sixth Prince's cursing, Qu Dubian lay in the rocking chair, thinking about the current court situation that he and Master Fang had analyzed after school today.
It is probably time for my stepfather to completely cut off the support of my third brother in the court and clear the field for the newly rising second brother.
-
After the third prince's wife came out of confinement, she left with her child, leaving behind a divorce letter.
When she returned home, she poured out all her grievances and cried all night.
The light in the Minister of Rites' room was on all night. When he went to court the next day, he voluntarily resigned on the grounds of old age.
His only request was that the emperor cancel the marriage between his granddaughter and the third prince.
The emperor agreed after much hesitation, but the child was still included in the royal family tree. However, taking the third prince's current situation into consideration, he made a special concession and allowed the child to be raised by the princess before he reached adulthood.
The Minister of Rites was able to retire with the second rank and led his entire family to safely withdraw from the third prince's fight for the throne. He even received some extra care because he was raising the royal children.
He taught his children and grandchildren knowledge at home, looking forward to the prosperity of his clan.
After he abdicated, the position of Minister of Rites was taken over by the former Left Vice Minister of Rites.
In the court, the power of the third prince was completely eliminated and he could no longer make any waves.
-
The Third Prince’s Mansion.
The courtyard was filled with the smell of alcohol.
When the eldest prince came over, he wrinkled his nose because of the smoke.
He looked around and found that the third prince was lying on the floor tiles in the pavilion, drinking drunkenly.
The eldest prince walked over and kicked it with his foot: "Isn't it still breathing? Is it dead?"
The third prince opened his eyes slightly.
"What are you doing here?"
The eldest prince sat on a stool, "Just watching you make fun of you doesn't mean I care about you."
The third prince sneered, "After all these years, you are still clearly stupid." He turned over, supported himself on the ground with one hand and dragged his body back, leaning against the pillar, "If you have something to say, just say it. Do you and I still need to be secretive when talking now?"
The eldest prince looked at him for a moment and said, "On the day of my palace building banquet, Brother Wen Xin died unexpectedly. Was it you who did it?"
"Your palace banquet..." The Third Prince frowned. It had been several years since that incident. He had been drinking for the past few days and his mind was in a mess. After several seconds, he finally remembered, "That incident."
"Although I started to take charge of government affairs at that time... it seemed that I needed two years to build a government office. How could I take action against my eldest sister-in-law's brother when I hadn't established a firm foothold in the court?"
The eldest prince: "At that time, Brother Wen Xin's body appeared at the North Gate Inspection and Transportation Office, frozen into a statue. Chief Steward Ren committed suicide that night. Father glossed over this matter. He did not ask the East Factory to investigate further. He just thought that it was you or the second brother who did it."
The Third Prince was silent for a while, "Let my sister-in-law analyze it with you."
The eldest prince was embarrassed for a moment, and said angrily: "Can you speak properly?"
The Third Prince slowly stood up and sat on the edge of the pavilion, looking at the withered lotus in the pond. "It wasn't me who did it."
The eldest prince: "That's the second one."
The Third Prince: "Do you believe it? Don't ask any more questions."
"There is no need for you to lie to me now. To be honest, you speak much more directly after you became disabled. Before, I felt sick when I heard your fake talk." The eldest prince said frankly.
The third prince took off his shoes and threw them at him.
"roll!"
The eldest prince patted his clothes and said, "Let's go. Drink less. Otherwise, my daughter will dislike you... Oh, I forgot, you have divorced, and my daughter has followed her mother back to her parents' home. Sorry."
The third prince took off his other shoe and threw it at him.
When the eldest prince reached the archway, the third prince suddenly said, "Brother, you are not fit to sit in that seat. I can see that, but do you think our father can't see that?"
The eldest prince was stunned.
"My father has sent me on many errands, but he has rarely sent you on errands. Have you ever thought that you are just a pawn in his attempt to balance the factional struggles among the princes in the court?"
"After I fell, he immediately abandoned me and eliminated my power one by one. My second brother rose so quickly, and the support of my father was indispensable. You said, you have never been his choice for the crown prince, will you become a whetstone for my second brother? By then, can the people you care about be saved?"
"Brother, perhaps you were the target set up by father from the beginning."
Every word the Third Prince said pierced into the First Prince's heart. Even though the First Prince had saved him, the two of them had been fighting for so many years, and the idea of not wanting the other to feel good was already ingrained in their instincts.
The withered yellow leaves in the courtyard were blown away by the autumn wind.
The eldest prince clenched his fist in his sleeve, without turning around, he said calmly: "I really still hate you the most."
The third prince's laughter could be heard from the pavilion.
The eldest prince strode away.
The third prince laughed enough and coughed several times, then staggered in the pavilion. His whole body was soaked by the cold wind and the drunkenness had dissipated a lot.
My mind unconsciously recalled what I had just said to the eldest prince.
When the eldest prince's wife's brother died, he suspected his second brother.
After all, there is someone from my second brother's maternal family who serves in the imperial guards. Although the position is not high, it is still possible to transport someone to the inspection office without anyone noticing.
But now, he stepped out of the chess game and saw that neither he nor his second brother could escape suspicion in the death of his eldest sister-in-law's brother.
If it was him and his second brother who did this, they would all find a way to get out of it cleanly.
This incident seemed to have no other use except to widen the rift between the brothers, making the eldest brother and his wife determined to deal with them, and adding a sense of life-and-death struggle to the succession.
Was it really his second brother who was the murderer behind the killing of his eldest sister-in-law's brother? He always felt that there was a hand behind the scenes stirring up trouble.
The third prince thought about it for a while and began to have a headache.
He smiled self-deprecatingly and took another sip of wine.
Forget it. Now I am a useless person with no hope. Why do I still think so much?
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