The emperor has not attended court for the past two days, and the crown prince has been staying by the emperor's side.
"I've recovered from my cold, but I haven't been feeling very energetic lately."
The Crown Prince's tone also revealed his concern for the Emperor.
Zhao Shi'an changed the subject and started talking about matters in the court.
When the Crown Prince left, Zhao Shi'an instructed him not to interfere in court affairs for the next few days, and to simply take good care of the Emperor's health.
The crown prince didn't understand why he said that, and pondered his words before quietly returning to the palace.
It wasn't until noon the next day, while he was accompanying the emperor to review memorials, that the emperor suddenly smashed things on the table.
"You bastard! Where is the third prince? Tell him to get over here right now!"
Not to mention the crown prince, even the chief eunuch who had served the emperor for decades was startled.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. The Third Prince is under house arrest, presumably at the Liuli Palace. This old servant will go and invite the Third Prince here immediately."
After the chief eunuch left, the emperor coughed violently, and the crown prince quickly put down what he was doing and went over to help the emperor catch his breath.
"Father, please have some tea. The imperial physician said you must not get angry."
The emperor was so angry that he threw the memorial in his hand at the crown prince.
"Look at the mess he's made!"
The crown prince picked up the memorial.
This was sent from the Censorate. It impeached that the Third Prince, during his confinement, frequented the brothel Wan Hua Lou and, after drinking, forcibly took advantage of a girl there. The girl had a fiery temper and the next day she went to the Jingzhao Yin's office to sue the Third Prince.
Given his status as the Third Prince, Jing Zhaoying naturally wouldn't take the case; instead, he gave the girl a warning.
The crown prince was momentarily dazed after reading it.
He knew about the Third Prince's visit to the Wan Hua Lou. Zhao Shi'an had told him that the Third Prince had secretly met with several officials from the Dali Temple there in order to smooth things over for the Qin family father and son.
As for the girls he favored at Wan Hua Lou, Zhao Shi'an didn't mention a word about it at the time.
The crown prince couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.
He even felt that today's events were orchestrated by Zhao Shi'an.
No wonder Zhao Shi'an said those things to him when he left last night.
What is Zhao Shi'an trying to do?
“Father, my third brother is just young and doesn’t have anyone to serve him, so it’s understandable that he goes to a place like Wan Hua Lou.”
The Third Prince is the only one among all the princes who has not yet left the palace to establish his own residence, simply because the Emperor and the Imperial Concubine dote on him.
Consort Gui was deeply favored by the Emperor. She was especially favored by the Emperor after the birth of the Third Prince. The Emperor gave the Third Prince the Liuli Palace where he grew up. She was the only person who took her by his side and personally taught him. She was also the only prince who had a fiefdom before he was an adult and was not even released from the palace after he came of age.
Such pampering is unique.
There are also rules in the palace that princes who have not left the palace to establish their own residences cannot be given concubines, so the Third Prince has not had a legitimate woman by his side to this day.
The emperor was clearly aware of this as well.
"He is only three years younger than you. You didn't cause me this much worry when you were his age."
The crown prince lowered his eyes, thinking to himself, "It's precisely because he's favored that he worries about me."
From a young age, he learned to read his father's expression and dared not let his father worry about him.
"Father, please calm down. Your health is the most important thing. I'll go to the small kitchen to see if the ginseng soup is ready."
Before long, the Third Prince was invited over. He didn't know what had happened and came forward to pay his respects.
Of all the emperor's sons, the third prince looked the most like him, so the third prince must have been different from the other princes in front of the emperor.
Take the matter of bowing, for example; it's always been done perfunctorily.
But the emperor was even angrier when he saw him like this, and threw the memorial directly at the third prince's face.
"Look at the mess you've made! You're all grown up now, and you haven't accomplished anything worthwhile?"
The Third Prince was stunned after reading what was on it.
“Father, I have never done it.”
"Do you dare say you haven't left the palace these past few days? Do you dare say you haven't been to the brothel?"
The Third Prince was speechless.
He did both of those things.
“Father, I shouldn’t have left the palace during my confinement, but I truly did not force any girl to leave. How could you believe what those old fogies in the Censorate wrote…”
If he had been more sincere in admitting his mistakes, the emperor might have been able to let it slide.
But when the Emperor saw the mature and composed Crown Prince, and then looked at him like this, he became even angrier.
"You still dare to deny it? Is this how I've always taught you? You worthless brat, fine, then bring everyone here to me!"
The chief eunuch dared not delay and hurriedly went to carry out the task.
The Crown Prince carried in ginseng soup, put it down first, and then tidied the Emperor's desk.
"Father, please calm down. But if we really summon them and things escalate, wouldn't that make Third Brother lose face?"
Although the Third Prince was annoyed by the Crown Prince, he had no choice but to go along with the Crown Prince's words at this moment.
"Yes, Father, I didn't do anything at all. You summoned that kind of person to the palace, isn't that making me..."
Before he could finish speaking, the emperor threw the bowl of scalding ginseng soup at him.
"Shut up! You know what shame is, then don't do shameless things!"
The third prince had no way to express his suffering.
The crown prince glanced at him indifferently and sat down beside him without saying a word.
The round trip from inside the palace to outside takes about 15 minutes, during which the Third Prince kneels in the main hall the entire time.
The person who returned delivered the letter to the Grand Eunuch, who then relayed the message to the Emperor.
The girl from the brothel Wan Hua Lou wasn't brought along; it turns out she left a suicide note and took her own life a few days ago.
The Grand Eunuch showed the Emperor the suicide note left by the girl.
It turned out that this girl was just a performer at the Wan Hua Lou (a brothel), not a prostitute. The Third Prince went there a few times and took a liking to her. He took the opportunity to get her drunk, and then they had sex. The girl already had a fiancé, and after this happened, she couldn't face either her family or her future husband's family. In order to seek justice, she filed a complaint against the Third Prince with the Jingzhao Yin (a local official).
However, the Prefect of the Capital had the Third Prince's men, and before the matter could escalate, the girl was dismissed by the Prefect's men.
After returning home, the girl left a suicide note and hanged herself.
The body has now been disposed of by the people of Wanhualou.
One was a street performer with no background, and the other was a prince who was currently in power. If the officials of the Censorate hadn't happened to overhear this while drinking at the Wan Hua Lou, no one would have known about it.
After reading it, the emperor was so angry that his head was throbbing and his vision went black.
"Let's see what this bastard has to say for himself!"
The Grand Eunuch showed the will to the Third Prince.
The Third Prince didn't think much of it after reading it.
She's just a woman. Does he, a prince, have to pay with his life for that vile woman?
"Father, this woman is just a sore loser. Is serving me, the prince, somehow unfair to her? I promised her good things, but who knew she would..."
However, before he could finish speaking, the emperor threw the paperweight at him.
The third prince instinctively dodged, which made the emperor even angrier.
"You still dare to hide? It seems I've spoiled you rotten. If I had known you would behave this way, I shouldn't have kept you in the palace in the first place!"
The Third Prince looked at the Emperor in disbelief.
“Father! Aren’t I just like you? You were the same when you were young, and you even snatched Consort Li away back then…”
"You bastard!"
The emperor was so enraged that his face visibly turned black.
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