Chapter 85 Don't be angry, don't be angry, it's my own brother...
Let's go back to the moment when the emperor had just woken up.
The Empress knelt beside the Emperor's bed, weeping uncontrollably.
"Your Majesty, you've finally woken up..."
The emperor had been in a coma for nearly two years and was not yet used to being awake.
He reacted for a moment, then reached out and grasped the Empress's hand, "Zhen'er, don't cry."
The Empress helped him slowly sit up. "Your Majesty, you're finally awake. If you hadn't woken up..."
She knelt before the Emperor again, saying, "I will not live."
The Emperor frowned. "You are the Empress, how could you not survive? Tell me, who made things difficult for you?"
The Empress feigned restraint, refusing to speak openly.
The Emperor had just woken up and was exhausted, so he had no interest in paying much attention to the Empress's affairs.
Anyway, she's right beside me, so there's no danger for me right now.
"Where's Chuanxing? Call Chuanxing over here."
The Empress suddenly prostrated herself on the ground and wept bitterly, "Your Majesty, I beg you to save my family! The Second Prince has taken my entire family to the execution ground, intending to exterminate us all. Your Majesty, I beg you, for the sake of Chaoyang, please give the Wang family a way out."
The Emperor was shocked by this huge news as soon as he woke up: "What crime has the Wang family committed?"
"If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext. Your Majesty, my father has worked diligently for the court for so many years. Even if he has not made any great contributions, he has certainly worked hard. He is so old, please give him a peaceful end. I will repay you by serving you like a cow or a horse in my next life."
The emperor is still not quite lucid.
The line of thinking is also unclear: "Execute the entire family?"
The Empress tearfully recounted, "Father originally possessed a pardon from death, but the Second Prince refused to acknowledge it and insisted on sentencing my entire family to death, all because... all because..."
Refusing to accept the "get out of jail free" card is indeed something only the second-in-command would do.
The Emperor did not want to hear only one side of the story, and ordered, "Quickly, summon the second and third princes."
The Empress went out to assign tasks with tears in her eyes.
He returned after about half an hour and told the Emperor, "Your Majesty, the Second and Third Princes said they are too busy with state affairs to come over."
The Emperor frowned: "Didn't you tell him that I'm awake?"
The Empress waved to the eunuch behind her, and the young eunuch immediately rushed to the Emperor and reported: "Your Majesty, both Prince Qin and Prince Duan said they are too busy with state affairs to come to the palace."
Prince Duan also said…
The emperor believed that his two younger brothers were always obedient, but he had been awake for almost an hour and still hadn't seen them, so he couldn't help feeling uncomfortable.
"What did he say?"
The young eunuch stammered, "He said the Emperor has no chance of waking up, he might just..."
The Empress sternly ordered, "Tell the truth."
The young eunuch said, "Prince Duan said that the Emperor might pass away one day, and the throne would belong to Prince Qin. Prince Duan also suggested that Prince Qin move the Emperor out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation so that Prince Qin could ascend the throne sooner."
The emperor was furious and coughed for a long time, clutching his chest.
"How dare those two bastards!"
He pointed to the door and gritted his teeth, saying, "Go again and tell those two to get over here and see me right now."
The little eunuch ran off in a hurry.
The emperor was still not fully recovered when he got angry again and lay in bed for a long time without calming down.
The Empress tried her best to soothe him, "Your Majesty, please don't be angry. If you get angry over something so small, you'll have plenty of anger to deal with in the future."
After calming down for a while, the Emperor said, "Go and fetch the imperial edict. I will send men to the execution ground."
The Empress handed the Emperor a blank imperial edict that she had prepared beforehand.
The emperor was coughing badly and his hands were too weak to write.
Just then, Prince Rui arrived.
The Empress hurriedly said, "Quickly, let the fourth prince help write it."
The emperor disliked his half-brother, always feeling that he was overly scheming.
"Why is the fourth brother here?"
The Empress explained gently, "My fourth brother is a filial son; he comes to visit the Emperor at this time every day."
Prince Rui knelt on the ground, weeping with joy, "Your Majesty, you have finally woken up! Your Majesty, I have been praying at the ancestral hall every day for you to wake up. Thank goodness our ancestors have blessed you, Your Majesty has finally woken up."
The Emperor asked in surprise, "You pray for me every day?"
Prince Rui crawled to the Emperor's side and cried, "This is my daily routine. As long as Your Majesty is well, I would be willing to kneel to death in the ancestral hall."
The emperor felt a deep bond between the brothers and regretted his prejudice against his fourth brother.
"Get up quickly, Fourth Brother is indeed my good brother."
Prince Rui quickly wrote the imperial edict according to the emperor's wishes and ordered General Liu, the commander of the palace guards, to take the edict to the execution ground as soon as possible to stop the execution.
"Your Majesty, you can rest assured now. With General Liu gone, your father will surely be safe."
The Queen was indeed relieved.
"Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for your great kindness. My Wang family will repay Your Majesty with our lives."
The Emperor was still recovering from his illness and lacked energy. He was annoyed that his second and third brothers had not returned for a long time and was feeling drowsy.
"You may all leave now; I will rest a little longer."
After more than half an hour, the emperor regained consciousness and struggled to get up.
Because I had been bedridden for too long, my legs were not very responsive, and I couldn't take a single step even after trying for a long time.
She sat on the edge of the bed, somewhat resentful.
He pounded his legs hard, cursing angrily, "Serves you right for being so useless, serves you right for being so useless..."
The Empress, who had been waiting outside the palace, rushed in upon hearing the noise.
"Your Majesty, what do you wish to do? Your concubine will help you."
The Emperor stared anxiously at the doorway, "Have the second and third princes returned yet?"
The Empress shook her head cautiously.
The Emperor sighed: "Where is Chao Li? Why is Chao Li nowhere to be seen?"
The Emperor hesitated before replying, "Chao Li has been married."
The Emperor was startled: "Whose son is the Imperial Son-in-Law?"
Empress: "He is the eldest son of Li Ce, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review."
The emperor was displeased. Li Ce was certainly a good man, but the Li family was of low social standing, and his son was too young to be more than a vice minister.
He only has one younger sister, how could he possibly bear to part with her?
"You placed the order?"
The Empress feigned a look of great pity for Chao Li and said, "If I had any say in the matter, I would never have let Chao Li marry into the Li family. There are so many noble sons and noblemen out there, none of them are not better than the sons of the Li family."
The decision was made by the Second Master, and even the Third Master was unaware of it. Because of this, the Third Master even had a fight with the Second Master.
Unable to resist the Second Master's insistence, she eventually married Chao Li off to him.
The princess's residence wasn't even properly renovated, so they had Chao Li move into the Li family's house, supposedly to make it easier for him to serve his parents-in-law.
Is Li Ce someone who's easy to please?
The princess cried bitterly on her wedding day, holding my hand and begging me to make the decision for her; she didn't want to marry..."
"The second son is so muddle-headed!" The Emperor, heartbroken for his sister, trembled with anger. "What's wrong with him? He used to be quite capable..."
The Emperor instructed Prince Rui: "Fourth Prince, go and bring me all the important political affairs of this year. I want to see what he has done."
Half an hour later, Zhou Chuanxing, Prince Duan, and the Commander of the Palace returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
Zhou Chuanxing rushed to the door, took off his coat and threw it to the eunuch, then entered the hall in his ordinary clothes.
“Brother Emperor,” he saw the Emperor sitting on the bed, his eyes red with excitement, “you’ve finally woken up.”
After all, they were brothers born of the same mother. When the emperor saw him, his eyes reddened, and he reached out to him, saying, "Second brother, you're finally back."
Zhou Chuanxing was worried that his body would be cold and chill the Emperor, so he stopped when he was a step away from the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, I am late."
His voice choked with emotion, as if he had found something he had lost, and he stared at the emperor, not even daring to blink.
"Your Majesty..."
The Emperor choked up as well, pointing to the brazier beside him, "Come and warm up here," then looked at Prince Duan behind him, "Third Prince, you come and warm up here too."
"Imperial Physician," Zhou Chuanxing said, concerned about the Emperor's health, and ordered the eunuch to fetch the imperial physician.
The Emperor waved his hand, "I've already checked, there's nothing serious, don't worry."
Zhou Chuanxing's gaze swept over the Empress with an air of authority.
Physician Yang developed a medicine to save the emperor, which would allow him to live like a normal person, but he would only have three to five months to live.
Zhou Chuanxing, Prince Duan, and Chao Li had discussed it together and planned to give it to the emperor after the New Year, when spring was in full bloom.
If the weather is better, perhaps the Emperor can hold on for a little longer.
The fact that the Emperor was able to wake up today must be because the Empress took it upon herself to give him the medicine.
In such cold weather, he was genuinely worried that the Emperor would not survive.
The Empress took a step back nervously.
The Emperor naturally noticed their expressions and was displeased. His second brother was too presumptuous, showing the Empress such displeasure right in front of him.
"Has the Grand Tutor's family been released?"
Zhou Chuanxing remained silent.
Prince Duan lowered his head and dared not utter a sound.
General Liu suddenly rushed to the Emperor and knelt down with a thud.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me, the Grand Tutor... could not be saved."
"What did you say?" The Empress trembled. "You said my father..."
General Liu said remorsefully, "This humble subject is guilty. I failed to save the Grand Tutor. Your Majesty, please accept my condolences."
Upon hearing that her father had been killed, the Empress fainted.
Chaos ensued in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and the Empress regained consciousness with the help of the imperial physicians.
She prostrated herself on the ground, weeping and begging the emperor to make a decision.
"If Your Majesty does not stand up for me today, I will kill myself by crashing into the gate of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. In any case, my whole family has been killed by Prince Qin."
The Emperor was angry and stared at General Liu, asking, "Are you late? Did you miss it?"
General Liu was momentarily at a loss for words, and he cautiously looked at Zhou Chuanxing.
The Emperor grew increasingly angry: "Why are you looking at him like that? Tell me straight!"
What could General Liu do? He said bluntly, "Your humble servant arrived just in time. It was the King of Qin who killed the Grand Tutor and his two sons with a single sword stroke."
The Emperor is truly angry this time.
"Second brother, you..."
He suddenly became breathless, and Zhou Chuanxing rushed over to help him catch his breath. The Emperor, furious, pushed him away, saying, "It would have been better if I had remained unconscious. You really are..."
"It grieves me as well."
After all, they are brothers. Even now, the Emperor still held a glimmer of hope. "Tell your brother that General Liu didn't have time to read the imperial edict?"
Zhou Chuanxing had never lied to the Emperor. "I read it."
The emperor suddenly slapped him hard.
"You bastard, even my imperial decree is no longer valid, is that it?"
"You've grown too big for your britches and no longer need your elder brother, the Emperor. Why don't you just stab me and become Emperor yourself?"
This was the first time the Emperor had ever scolded Zhou Chuanxing so harshly.
How could Zhou Chuanxing bear such a responsibility? He hurriedly knelt down to beg for forgiveness.
"Your Majesty, it is all my fault. Please punish me."
Prince Duan hurriedly knelt down and pleaded, "Your Majesty, it is truly a case of the Grand Tutor's faction forming cliques for personal gain, embezzling and accepting bribes, selling official positions and titles... their crimes are numerous and unforgivable. Your second brother is also anxious and wants to give the people an explanation."
That was the worst thing I could have done—to kill him on the spot.
I beg Your Majesty to forgive him this time, considering his diligent work over the past two years.
The Emperor was well aware that the Grand Tutor was domineering, arrogant, and presumptuous, and had committed numerous crimes over the past decade.
If it weren't for his poor health, he would have punished the Grand Tutor's faction long ago.
He wasn't angry that his second brother was sentenced; what angered him was that his second brother still killed someone after hearing the imperial edict.
"Go outside and atone for your sins."
The seemingly severe punishment is actually just a slap from an adult when a child makes a mistake.
No harm done.
There was no other way; the second brother went to war at the age of thirteen and faced danger several times in order to protect his kingdom.
Consider this the price he paid for neglecting his children's upbringing over the years.
How could the Empress and Prince Rui not see it?
Of course, Prince Rui could not let Zhou Chuanxing off so easily.
"Second brother, you have openly defied the imperial edict! This shows you have no respect for the Emperor! Emperor..."
Prince Rui rushed to the Emperor's side, knelt down in anguish, and said, "Your Majesty, I cannot bear to see what my Second Brother has done. For his own selfish desires, he has slaughtered the entire family of the Left Chancellor."
Was the Left Chancellor and his entire family executed?
The emperor patted his chest vigorously, saying, "Don't be angry, don't be angry, it's my dear brother, my dear brother."
Prince Rui: "He also dismissed the Right Chancellor and forced him to donate all his family's wealth."
The Emperor continued to pound his chest, saying that dismissing the Right Chancellor was a trivial matter, insignificant compared to the Chancellor's blatant defiance of the imperial edict.
Prince Rui said, "He even locked Grand Tutor Yao in a private prison without any trial, and we don't even know what crime he committed. He has such contempt for the laws of the court."
Grand Tutor Yao was the emperor's teacher.
The emperor could barely hold on.
However, since the second brother left home at the age of thirteen and has had no one to guide him for so many years, it is understandable that he might occasionally do something rebellious.
Seeing that the Emperor's tolerance was increasing, Prince Rui was prepared and continued to complain, "In the past year or so, he has killed off more than half of the court, and now all those promoted are useless good-for-nothings who know nothing."
A beggar with no talent or learning was appointed a fourth-rank official simply because he was pleasing to the eye.
If this continues, the Great Zhou Dynasty will be doomed.
He accused Zhou Chuanxing of thirty-five crimes in one go.
"By the way, he also openly keeps male lovers, who are currently in his residence."
He's even learned how to keep male lovers; what a good younger brother he is.
Of the three brothers, he had one daughter, while his two younger brothers had no children and instead wasted their energy on male lovers.
Even with the emperor's favoritism, he had reached his limit.
"Someone, go to the Regent's Palace and bring his male favorite and Grand Tutor Yao here."
Zhou Chuanxing was worried about the young girl, so he quickly gave Prince Duan a meaningful look.
Prince Duan seemed to have something he didn't understand. "Brother, I'm going out for a bit."
How could the Emperor possibly let his two unfilial younger brothers leave? "Where are you going!"
Prince Duan: "The Princess Consort is home alone. With such heavy snow, I'm afraid she'll be scared. I'll go back and check on her."
The emperor finally felt a sense of relief.
The third brother even knew to marry a princess.
"Get out of here—"
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Author's Note: Prince Rui: My second brother has committed thirty-five major crimes!
Your Majesty: I can tolerate it.
Prince Rui: He also keeps male concubines!
The Emperor: Quickly confiscate his residence.
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