Chapter 85: Chaos. He was deposed from his position as Crown Prince and imprisoned. ...
The court is so turbulent and unpredictable.
The crown prince, who had enjoyed immense glory the day before, was stripped of his title and placed under house arrest again in the blink of an eye. Even the officials who supported him were afraid to plead for mercy.
The Jin and Meng families were even more cautious in protecting themselves. Not only did they not even plead for mercy, they even claimed to be sick and did not attend court for several days, for fear that Emperor An's anger would spread to them again.
This was the first time such a thing happened in the court. All the officials fell silent and acted cautiously and diligently, fearing that they would accidentally anger Emperor An and be demoted.
The Queen had already been neglected by Emperor An because of her previous incident of framing Concubine Rong. Later, things got a little better because the Third Prince became the Crown Prince. Before she could be proud for too long, the Crown Prince was no longer the Crown Prince.
She was neglected again, while Rong Fei was honored and favored because of her safe birth of a child. The other concubines in the harem had to stay away from her, and she had become the number one person in the harem.
After Pei Yueting gave birth successfully, Qin Yurong returned home.
She knew that giving birth for a woman was like walking through the gates of hell, and that the concubines in the palace had to fight against evil spirits when giving birth. The slightest mistake could result in the loss of both mother and child. She only returned home after Concubine Rong was completely safe and sound.
As soon as he returned home, he learned that Pei Su had a lover and urged him to propose marriage as soon as possible.
"Ancestors, I have raised three sons and one daughter for the Pei family. Today, my meritorious service is finally complete!" Even though Qin Yurong was always dignified, she couldn't help but bow to the Buddha upon hearing such good news. "Propose marriage, propose marriage immediately! Which girl? It's a girl, right?"
She was really scared by the third brother.
Pei Xiao smiled and said, "Yes, you should have seen the girl from the Gongsun family."
After hearing what he said, the surname and appearance in Qin Yurong's mind matched completely.
She had indeed seen Miss Gongsun. She was good-looking, well-educated, and rarely heard of any faults in her. If she became her daughter-in-law, she would naturally be satisfied.
"That's really good. I'll arrange to propose marriage tomorrow." Qin Yurong said, but then she felt something was wrong. "No, I have to inform the Gongsun family first. If they agree, then we can get married quickly."
She had been in the palace during this period of time to accompany the childbirth, and had heard a lot of rumors. She also knew that the court was unstable at this time.
Now that my sons have each started their own families and my daughter has avoided disaster and given birth to a child, the more we cannot be careless at times like this. We must be vigilant in everything to avoid any unnecessary trouble.
Pei Xiao said, "This is a small matter. Let's arrange a time tomorrow to meet and inquire. If both families are satisfied, we can directly propose marriage and then choose an auspicious day to get the matter done as soon as possible."
Qin Yurong nodded repeatedly, "Well said."
The Gongsun family's willingness to let an unmarried girl visit and deliver gifts showed that they had intentions. In addition, Gongsun Yan often took the opportunity to send gifts to Pei Su, so he had no complaints.
There are many people in Songhexuan and there are many eyes and ears. In order to avoid the matter being publicized before it is successful, the Qi Family Restaurant was specially chosen.
The Gongsun family was particularly satisfied with the Pei family. Although Pei Ji had a domineering temperament, he was good to his closest relatives. In addition, Gongsun Yushi was his superior and had a high opinion of him. Naturally, they were not dissatisfied with having such a relative.
The most important thing is that the Pei family has a simple population and the brothers are extremely harmonious with each other. They will never cause any messy trouble and naturally will not be bullied.
Both families were very satisfied, and the matter was settled.
Pei Su was the one who proposed the marriage personally. He brought the proposal gifts that had been prepared by the mansion long ago and went to Gongsun Mansion without any disguise.
After that, the engagement will be arranged and the wedding date will be set. Once all arrangements are made for both families, the marriage will take place immediately.
"It's so fast?" He Zhiliao was a little shocked when he heard that everything was decided in just two days.
Pei Ji nodded, "After all, both families are interested, so it doesn't matter if it's done quickly. Everything should be done according to the rules, and Miss Gongsun won't be wronged. Otherwise, there will be many troubles and who knows what will happen."
He Zhiliao keenly noticed that the He family seemed very nervous and wanted the wedding to be completed tomorrow so that Miss Gongsun could be brought home as soon as possible.
He didn't feel that it was unbalanced. Instead, he guessed that the court would become even more turbulent in the future, so he had to get this matter done as soon as possible to avoid being interfered with by others.
If this is true, the situation will probably become even more chaotic.
The Pei family and the Gongsun family are about to get married, and this matter naturally cannot be concealed. The Gongsun family is already highly valued by His Majesty, otherwise he would not be able to sit firmly in the position of Censor in the Censorate, which is his confidant.
Emperor An originally wanted the future crown prince to marry a girl from the Gongsun family, but he didn't expect that the Pei family would get there first.
If Emperor An rashly intervenes in the love between the man and the woman, it will cause dissatisfaction.
Many old ministers in the court were already dissatisfied with his punishment of the third prince. They wanted to submit memorials every day demanding severe punishment, but they were all suppressed by him. He had to give some face to the civil and military officials.
What's more, the crown prince he favored was not of the same age as Miss Gongsun.
The two families handled the matter very quickly. One morning, festive sounds of music and drums were heard in the capital. When the people heard the sound and went to the street, they saw that red cloth had been spread on the ground at some point, and the direction of the cloth was exactly Gongsun Mansion.
There were servants scattering copper coins in front of Pei's house, distributing boxes of copper coins so that the people could pick up as many as they wanted and have fun.
Everyone remembers the day when the second son of the Pei family got married. Copper coins were scattered all over the ground for the people to play with. Songhexuan and Qijia Restaurant even held a special banquet. As long as you said a festive word, you could get a bowl full of wedding rice.
The wedding was only a lively one-day affair, but it was enough for others to savor and talk about for a long time.
Everyone in the Pei Mansion took the opportunity to not even attend court. They just relaxed at home and were busy getting close to their new bride.
Pei Ji was not idle. Although he had not expected that Emperor An would let the Third Prince go so easily, he knew that the Fourth Prince would definitely not be satisfied and stop. However, the other party was also trying to protect himself and did not dare to take any action in the short term. It would be the same if he did the same.
The abandoned mansion was cleaned up neatly by the Third Prince, so it is impossible that he only hurt one girl.
The Third Prince's temperament has changed drastically since he was confined to his house. He has to rely on torture every day to relieve the depression in his heart. There are definitely more than a few people who have died at his hands.
Pei Ji handed over everything he had found to the Shangshufang in the name of the Fourth Prince.
In the Shangshu room.
Emperor An was a little surprised when he saw these evidences. After all, he already knew that the third prince had bullied women, so why would he send these to him?
But the more he looked, the tighter his brows furrowed. He was worried about what the Third Prince had done and how many people might have died at his hands, including what happened to Zhou Qi and He Yao. He was also involved, and it was even his wish. Those two did this to please him.
Any woman or man he likes will be sent to his bed by Zhou Qi and He Yao for him to play with, abuse and abuse at will, and be extremely violent!
"Peng Tongmin!" he shouted angrily.
"I'm here." Peng Tongmin looked up at his expression and waited for his orders.
Emperor An was silent for a moment, then changed the subject, "Leave this matter to the Fourth Prince. Have him lead the Censorate to investigate thoroughly. If this is true, arrest the Third Prince immediately!"
He originally wanted to ask Pei Ji to do it, but in the end he didn't call him.
When the Fourth Prince received the order, he was so happy that he almost jumped for joy. He had already found the evidence, but he had never dared to hand it over to His Majesty, for fear that the Third Prince would show leniency.
Now, there is nothing to be afraid of!
This was a long-planned conspiracy. The Fourth Prince pretended to investigate for a day, and on the second day he brought all the evidence that he had prepared long ago into the palace.
"Father, I have thoroughly investigated this matter. I have dug up many rotting corpses from the backyard of the abandoned mansion. I have also had their relatives claim the bodies, and it is indeed my Third Brother who did this."
"It's said that Zhou Qi and He Yao forcibly took them away despite their relatives' attempts to stop them. They offered them dozens of taels of silver as compensation and threatened that if they dared to report the matter to the authorities, they would definitely not let them go."
Ordinary people had never seen such a scene. Even if they wanted to save their own children, they dared not speak out because of the power, and even had to cry in secret.
Emperor An felt as if his chest was being pressed by a force of anger, making him want to vent all his anger, but he could only suppress his anger and continue to deal with the matter.
He believed that he had loved the people like his own children during all the years he was in power, but his prince actually did such lewd and immoral things behind his back, which really brought shame to him!
"I don't have such a son!" Emperor An shouted angrily, "Imprison him directly in the imperial prison!"
The Fourth Prince felt something was amiss and asked carefully, "What about the Third Imperial Concubine and the Imperial Grandson..."
Emperor An closed his eyes and continued, "Investigate whether Meng is involved. If so, she will be convicted along with the Third Prince. As for the Emperor's grandson, he will be raised by the concubines in the imperial palace."
The matter of the third prince is of great importance. This time even the Jin and Meng families could not sit still and had to go to the palace to plead for mercy.
The third prince is the hope of the Jin and Meng families. As long as he can successfully ascend to the throne in the future, the Jin family will be promoted to a higher level, and the Meng family will directly become the emperor's in-laws. How noble is that!
Even if he is dismissed from the position of crown prince, it doesn't matter. As long as he is still a prince, everything is possible. But in a place like the imperial prison, no one who goes in will ever come out safely. If the third prince really goes in, then there is no hope!
"Your Majesty! Please forgive our son! All the mistakes he made are my fault. I failed to discipline him properly. Please forgive him!"
The empress knelt in front of the council hall and begged bitterly, but no matter how she kowtowed and apologized, Emperor An did not show leniency as usual, and he did not even want to see her. He left her with a bloody head and just ordered someone to take her away to see the imperial physician.
Even though Emperor An was harsh, he could not do anything to the empress. After all, she was the mother of a country, and he had never thought of deposing her and appointing another one.
The Jin and Meng families also went to the palace to plead for mercy. Taifu Jin relied on the fact that he was a veteran of two dynasties and was the father-in-law of Emperor An, and he knelt down as soon as he entered the hall, which made Emperor An's heart soften.
After all, this was his former teacher.
But no matter how soft-hearted he was, the punishment for the third prince could not be lenient.
"I have made up my mind about this matter. The Third Prince has behaved rudely and has a bad character. Now he has done something so outrageous. If I forgive him again, wouldn't I be condoning him to cause chaos in the world?" Emperor An was dissatisfied with their coercion.
The Third Prince's deeds are truly innumerable. If he were to let him go and the news were to get out, who knows what the people would say about it. His dignity and face as an emperor would be in vain!
"Your Majesty, the Third Prince was only momentarily possessed by a demon. Please be lenient with him! Save his life!"
"Your Majesty, the Third Imperial Concubine has always been well-educated and well-mannered. She must not be aware of this matter. I beg Your Majesty to investigate!"
All they seek is for themselves.
Minister Meng knew his daughter's character. She would indeed fight in the backyard, but she would definitely not get involved in the matter of the Third Prince. It would be unacceptable if she was implicated.
The Meng family has finally produced such an outstanding child, and it must not be ruined here!
How could Emperor An not know what they were thinking?
But he would never let this matter go easily, otherwise he would be telling the people that the royal family are cold-hearted and heartless!
The Fourth Prince really didn't know whether Meng Wanxin was involved, but what happened to Meng Wanxin had nothing to do with him. What the Fourth Prince had to do was to take the little grandson to the palace and make it impossible for the Third Prince to turn things around.
"Third sister-in-law, are you really unaware of what Third Brother has done?" The Fourth Prince chuckled softly. "Whether you know or not is of no consequence to me. It's just that Father said that if you knew about this, you would suffer the same fate as Third Brother."
Meng Wanxin originally wanted to stop them from taking Lin'er away, but after hearing what he said, she completely stopped moving.
She understood that if she knew about this, even the Meng family would be hit hard. But if she didn't know, she still had royal blood, and His Majesty would not be too cruel to her. He might even allow her to be reasonable, and Lin'er would still be the emperor's grandson.
She had no choice in what to choose.
"Your Highness is very busy, so I naturally don't know what he does on a daily basis. All my thoughts are on raising our children, so I don't know what he is doing." Meng Wanxin shed tears as she spoke. "I have a deep affection for him, but I didn't know he would do such a thing behind my back..."
The Fourth Prince was satisfied. "In that case, my younger brother will explain this matter to Father and will definitely not let Third Sister-in-law suffer any injustice."
Meng Wanxin quickly thanked him: "Thank you, fourth brother."
The Fourth Prince left with his people in satisfaction. With Meng Wanxin's attitude, the Meng family would definitely not plead for the Third Prince anymore. After all, he had been imprisoned in the imperial prison and there was no way he could be saved.
If he continued to plead, the Meng family would suffer as well. Minister Meng had worked so hard to reach his current position, so naturally he didn't want to fail at the last moment.
The Fourth Prince had been waiting for this day for a long time, so he acted quickly. The Third Prince was directly detained in the imperial prison without knowing the reason. Meng Wanxin was also taken back to the Meng Mansion, and the child was taken to the temporary palace to be raised.
"Father, everything has been taken care of. You can rest assured." The Fourth Prince stood in the hall and soothed in a deep voice. He had shed his previous dissolute spirit of traveling around and could really serve as a role model for the other princes.
"You've done a good job on this matter." Emperor An looked at him and praised him. "Now it seems that you have quite a talent. Do your job well in the future and don't let me down again."
"Your son obeys your order. You will not let your father down." The fourth prince quickly responded solemnly.
Now he is the only eldest prince, and the throne of the crown prince should be his turn. As long as he performs a little better now, he can surpass the third prince. He doesn't believe that his father will remain indifferent.
Emperor An nodded in satisfaction. "You've worked hard these past few days. It seems like it's time for you to start a family. Lord Degui is still thinking about your marriage. Do you have someone you love?"
The Fourth Prince silently shook his head upon hearing this. "This son is solely dedicated to helping His Majesty relieve his worries, and does not wish to be entangled in personal relationships with his children. If Your Majesty has a suitable candidate, this son will obey Your Majesty's orders."
He was not concerned about his children's personal affairs, but only cared about whether the woman he was going to marry in the future could be of help to him.
Over the years, the position of the principal wife in his house has been vacant, and he was waiting for the right candidate. However, when his father came to power, he did not want him to be the crown prince, so the position remained even more vacant.
When he ascends the throne in the future, naturally all the beautiful women in the world can become his concubines.
But at this time, if the emperor is willing to make plans for his marriage, it means that the other party still has him in his heart and will definitely choose the most beneficial family background for him.
"In that case, I won't ask any more questions. If you find someone you like one day, it's not too late to marry." Emperor An said, and then he didn't want to talk any more. "You can go back home and rest."
The Fourth Prince was stunned for a moment, then said, "I want to go and pay my respects to Mother before leaving the palace."
"Go ahead."
The Fourth Prince still couldn't recover from what he had just said. His father didn't even make plans for his marriage. It was obvious that he had no expectations for him and was not prepared to hand over the position of Crown Prince to him!
Then who should he hand it over to? His ninth brother who hasn’t even grown all his hair yet?
He went to Deguijun's palace with a stern look on his face. After listening to his story, Deguijun sighed and said, "Your father has been taking immortal pills recently. They say it can prolong his life."
"Is he trying to seize the throne and become an immortal?" The Fourth Prince roared in a low voice, "I've already asked the imperial physician. He's been in poor health in recent years, so he should be appointed as the crown prince as soon as possible!"
"So what? If those magic pills are effective, you will probably be over middle-aged by the time you ascend the throne." Degui Jun was also a little helpless. In the past two years, His Majesty has not treated him as well as before.
If they really want to completely eliminate the possibility of the Fourth Prince ascending the throne, then they have to make long-term plans.
The Fourth Prince has coveted the throne for a long time. He cannot bear to see Emperor An live longer. So when will he be able to become emperor?
"We can't just wait like this!" The Fourth Prince gritted his teeth and looked at De Guijun with an extremely crazy look. "Don't you, mother, want to become the Queen Mother as soon as possible?"
Deguijun frowned, "The queen is still here. Even if you ascend the throne, she will be the queen..."
The Fourth Prince said with some dismay, "Mother! Do I need to teach you the ways of the harem? Are you willing to be inferior to others for the rest of your life? If you can accomplish this, my son will become emperor, and you will become empress dowager!"
Deguijun understood what he meant. Everyone in the harem had some means, and he was no exception. Otherwise, he would not have been able to protect his life and give birth to an heir.
He can no longer become the queen, but he still has great hope of becoming the empress dowager.
As long as they plan this matter well, if everything goes well they can achieve their wish, but if they fail, their mother's family will be implicated.
"Just think about it, mother. Now I am the only elder prince. If I try my best, I can become the emperor sooner, and you can become the most honorable person in the harem!" The fourth prince just put all these benefits in front of him and let him consider them.
This will definitely succeed. My father has not yet issued a will, but he is the eldest prince besides the Prince of Qi, and the throne can only be his. Do the court officials really want to support a child under ten years old to be the emperor?
What's more, it is clear that his father is not willing to even make any effort in his marriage. It is obvious that he is unwilling to make any plans or considerations for him. Those scenes of brothers being friendly, fathers being loving, and sons being filial are completely useless in the imperial family.
He only knew that he was being trained as the future crown prince, so the throne should be his. If anyone dared to block his way, his father would kill them without hesitation!
Deguijun nodded slightly, "Since we are going to do it, we have to set a date. The Queen can be removed at any time, but we have to be careful with His Majesty."
"Autumn Hunting." The Fourth Prince had already thought about it. "Autumn Hunting is a time when there are many prey, so there are bound to be dangers everywhere. Accidents are only natural."
He is determined to get the throne.
In the past few days, the court has been dominated by the Fourth Prince's faction. All the members of the Pei family have stayed at home and refused to go out. They even politely turned away people who came to visit them, and it was obvious that they did not want to get involved in this matter.
After all, this matter is of great importance and no one wants to get involved in it.
"The Fourth Prince acted very efficiently. The Third Prince is now powerless to save the situation." Pei Ji chuckled, feeling particularly satisfied with the current situation.
They can defeat the enemy by just acting secretly, so they don't have to put in much effort.
Pei Su pondered for a moment and said, "Based on my understanding of him, he won't be satisfied with this. His Majesty hasn't appointed him Crown Prince yet, and his future is still uncertain. What if he sets his sights on Xiaojiu?"
"No, he won't," Pei Ji said. "Your Majesty is already taking the immortality pill, and not appointing a crown prince. It's obvious that he wants to keep his throne. Given the Fourth Prince's temperament, I'm afraid he would kill anyone who stands in his way."
"Do you mean he will rebel?" Pei Xiao frowned.
They all felt disgusted with the idea of treason. After all, in their previous lives, they had their homes confiscated and were executed on such false charges. Even if they hadn't done it, they would still feel disgusted whenever a similar thing was mentioned.
Pei Ji shook his head, "I don't know, but he won't sit and wait for death. He won't wait until Emperor An passes the throne to him."
The Fourth Prince was cruel, otherwise he would not have slandered the Pei family after they had given him great help in his previous life. He then destroyed the Pei family's family members and even cursed them after his death!
He always managed to catch any sign of trouble. It was obvious that Emperor An took the immortal pill because he didn't want to abdicate early, and he couldn't wait any longer.
Pei Su said: "Then we must be more vigilant."
Everyone nodded. It was not surprising for the royal family to do anything.
After the chat, several people dispersed and prepared to leave.
As soon as Pei Ji walked into the yard, Lin Feng came running over, "Master, the people sent by Jin Ling are back!"
"Bring him in quickly!" Pei Ji said.
He originally wanted to go back to the house and be intimate with He Zhiliao, but he didn't know whether the news those people brought back was good or bad. If he rashly let He Zhiliao know, it might affect his mood.
Thinking of this, Pei Ji simply met them in the study.
They had been away from Miaojiang for half a year, and these people came back in a hurry. They were all dusty and looked very embarrassed.
"Sit down and talk." Pei Ji raised his chin.
None of them were overly polite to him. They immediately sat down on the chair and couldn't wait to drink from the teapot.
"Please forgive me, we still haven't found the antidote."
This one sentence completely put Pei Ji's originally anxious heart at ease. Even though it was expected news, he still found it difficult to accept it.
The subordinate continued, "It's not completely without news. We asked around, and everyone said no one knew where the reclusive Miao people had gone. However, several elderly Miao elders said that the antidote had been taken away."
"Took it away?" Pei Ji frowned. If the antidote was lost after the chaos, it might be possible. "But did you say where you took it?"
"If those old men remembered correctly,
"They said that the person who left with the antidote has come to Apocalypse."
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The author has something to say: The Imperial Prison was where the Pei family was imprisoned in the previous life~
Also, the perceptive Bao should have smelled an unusual smell~
Next book is "Marrying a Sickly Person to Get Married" [kiss][kiss][kiss]
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