Chapter 98 The fake prince ascends the throne as emperor!
When Empress Dowager Chen played the emotional card, no matter how suspicious and angry the emperor was, he couldn't help but be moved. In his mind, he recalled the scene when he was an inconspicuous prince and depended on his mother during the previous emperor's time.
The Chen family only officially became prosperous after the emperor ascended the throne, which means that before the emperor ascended the throne, the Chen family had no ability to support him at all.
The emperor was able to ascend the throne that year because, firstly, he and his mother depended on each other for survival and did not participate in the fight for the throne among other princes whose maternal families were powerful; secondly, he was extremely lucky. Those brothers who were jumping around happily were all killed by the previous emperor. He was obedient enough and was not killed by the previous emperor as well. Before his death, the previous emperor found that all his sons had been killed by him, and only this one was still acceptable. So the current emperor was passed the throne by the previous emperor.
The emperor who ascended the throne in a hurry did not have many people of his own to use, so when he first ascended the throne, he tried his best to promote his mother's family. After all, his mother's family, the Chen family, was the family that most wanted him to sit firmly on the throne.
The Chen family also became prosperous at that time.
The emperor was wary and had to use concubines in the harem to balance the power of the previous dynasty. It was because his own power was not strong enough and his throne was not stable enough that he was restricted in everything he did.
Later, he had been emperor for a long time and had secured his throne, but his fear of those powerful families seemed to have become a habit, so the emperor subconsciously started fighting the princes against each other in order to deplete the strength of their powerful maternal families.
The emperor has always regarded the Chen family as his own power, and he supported it. He believes that no matter from the perspective of blood relationship or gratitude, the Chen family should not betray him. However, the emperor considered the Chen family's choice to support the eldest prince's ascension to the throne as a betrayal of him.
However, Empress Dowager Chen's emotional appeal reminded the emperor of his dependence on her in the past, and of the contributions made by the Chen family to him when he first ascended the throne. The emperor softened his heart.
After all, the Chen family is his maternal family, and he should be given a chance to reform if he makes a mistake.
So the emperor issued an edict to release the Chen family without charge and returned the Cheng'en Mansion to the Chen family for their residence. Although the title of Duke Cheng'en has not yet been returned to the Chen family, seeing that the Chen family can still live in the Duke Cheng'en Mansion, one knows that this is only a matter of time.
However, the fact that the emperor showed leniency to the Chen family because of Empress Dowager Chen did not mean that he had no grudges against the Chen family's betrayal. He still had time to express his anger.
So he stripped Chen Guipin of her position and demoted her directly to Chenpin.
The noble concubine was of the third rank, while the concubine was only of the fifth rank, and she was four levels higher.
Chen Guipin, who was originally worried about her natal family in her own palace and praying in her heart that her aunt the Empress Dowager would succeed in her plea for mercy, received the emperor's decree to demote her to the position of concubine. If she had not heard later that the Chen family had been released, Chen Guipin would have been so angry that she almost died.
Isn’t the emperor’s cousin too much of a dog? She was demoted for no reason!
From a first-rank imperial concubine, she will now be demoted to a fifth-rank concubine. This speed of demotion is like jumping off a building.
Fortunately, Concubine Chen knew that her situation was not good. This was not the time to vent her anger on her cousin, the Emperor, who was already angry. She could only endure it for now and then go to the Empress Dowager to ask for help.
As for the treatment after demotion, as long as Empress Dowager Chen was around, no one in the harem dared to bully the Empress Dowager's niece, the eldest prince's biological mother.
Therefore, Concubine Chen was still able to sit still.
But when she learned that the eldest prince was confined to the palace by the emperor and could not leave without the emperor's order, she could no longer sit still and hurried to the empress dowager's palace: "Aunt, aunt, isn't His Majesty going to confine my son?"
Empress Dowager Chen had just played the emotional card with the emperor, saving her family and restoring her mother-son relationship with the emperor.
At this moment, she would never confront the emperor for the sake of the eldest prince whose life was not in danger.
Not to mention just house arrest, what would happen even if the emperor really imprisoned the eldest prince? Can't you wait until the emperor calms down before begging for mercy? It's not like you can't be released again after being imprisoned.
Therefore, Empress Dowager Chen was very dissatisfied with her niece's panic and said sternly: "The eldest prince behaved improperly and angered his father. What if he was confined to his house for a period of time to reflect on his mistakes? If you are in the mood to cry and wail here, why not send someone to teach your good son what loyalty to the emperor and father means!"
Concubine Chen had long been accustomed to the scolding from the Empress Dowager Chen. After all, her aunt the Empress Dowager had often complained that she was stupid, so she was accustomed to looking for advice from the Empress Dowager's words of scolding - send someone to pass a message to the eldest prince in the name of admonishing him, asking him to show his loyalty and filial piety to the emperor.
Got it.
Chen Pin went back and did as she was told.
The emperor only ordered the eldest prince to be confined to the palace for an indefinite period of time, but the emperor did not prohibit his biological mother, Chen Pin, from sending people to visit her son, let alone those people who were sent to the palace on the pretext of admonishing the eldest prince.
After receiving the news from Concubine Chen, the eldest prince immediately called his staff and asked them to help him draft a letter of reflection. He then copied another one and submitted it to the emperor.
The eldest prince's staff had good literary talent, and wrote the self-reflection book in a penetrating and touching way, as if the eldest prince really knew his mistakes from the bottom of his heart, and cried bitterly for himself for failing to live up to his father's attention and teachings...
After the emperor saw it, he knew it was all an act by the eldest prince - after all, these were the tricks he had used when he was a prince.
But even if you know this, you will still be moved by the content of this article.
Although the eldest prince coveted his throne, he was his own son after all, and his first child, and he had been looking forward to his birth.
Even though the emperor's paternal love for the eldest prince was far less profound than his paternal love for Li Zhaoyi's son, it was still there.
So the emperor ordered that the eldest prince be allowed to attend the palace banquet during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
What this means is that the eldest prince's house arrest will end during the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet.
The eldest prince and Concubine Chen were both ecstatic about this. Now, there were still more than three months until the Mid-Autumn Festival, which meant that the eldest prince only needed to be under house arrest for more than three months before he could be released.
The people of the eldest prince's faction were happy about the result, but people from other camps were not so happy.
In particular, Zhou Xihe, who manipulated all this behind the scenes, personally reported the second prince to the eldest prince.
Zhou Xi was quite dissatisfied with the fact that the emperor once again easily covered up the crimes of the Chen family. He also found that he had underestimated the influence of Queen Mother Chen on the emperor.
He handed the emperor the evidence of how the Chen family betrayed the emperor and supported the eldest prince. The emperor's anger also proved how much he hated the Chen family's behavior. As a result, when Empress Dowager Chen stepped in, the Chen family and the eldest prince were basically let off by the emperor.
As long as Empress Dowager Chen is still alive, she will be the most solid support for the Chen family and the eldest prince.
After Zhou Xi realized this, he just sighed secretly and put the matter aside for the time being.
Unless Empress Dowager Chen died, the emperor would not really make up his mind to get rid of the Chen family. So he would keep the Chen family for the time being, and wait until he got rid of the emperor in the future before getting rid of the Chen family.
The second prince was a little uneasy every day. When he first learned that the eldest prince and the Chen family were punished by the emperor, he was ecstatic and thought he had successfully defeated the eldest prince. However, when Empress Dowager Chen took action, the Chen family was temporarily stripped of their titles and the eldest prince was confined to his home for more than three months.
How is this different from no punishment?
As for Concubine Chen becoming Concubine Chen, what’s the point? Concubine Chen could still show off her power in the harem by relying on her aunt, the Empress Dowager, and the second prince's mother, Concubine Shu, could not do anything to Concubine Chen.
The Second Prince was originally looking forward to the action that Concubine Shu had said would make it impossible for Concubine Chen to stand up again. However, not long after, Concubine Shu sent a message saying that the Queen Mother protected Concubine Chen too well and that she could not be touched.
The second prince: “…” Mother, you are so unhelpful!
After the news came that the emperor allowed the eldest prince to attend the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, the second prince became even more uneasy. Wasn't his father too partial to the eldest prince?
The eldest prince is fine, so he who reported the eldest prince will definitely be retaliated against violently.
The second prince was not afraid of the eldest prince's revenge at all. After all, the two brothers had been fighting each other to the death in the past. However, through this incident, he realized that his father was partial to the eldest prince. The second prince was worried that if his father did not punish the eldest prince, he would vent his anger on him.
The second prince is not afraid of fighting with the eldest prince, but he does not have the confidence that he can defeat his father, the referee.
The second prince waited with uneasiness in his heart. When the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet came, the eldest prince attended the banquet, but was despised by the emperor and sat at the end of the table. Only then did the second prince's heart finally settle down.
Hehe, it turns out that father is not that partial to the eldest prince. It seems that father must be lenient towards the Chen family and the eldest prince out of consideration for the empress dowager's face.
Because the eldest prince was driven to sit at the end of the table, the second prince was the one sitting closest to the crown prince.
The second prince looked at the crown prince who was sitting above him and spoke to him in a low voice: "Fifth brother, you see that eldest brother seems to be unwilling, as if he is dissatisfied with the punishment from father."
Crown Prince Zhou Xi glanced at the eldest prince who was sitting at the end of the table. Emmm, because the distance was too far, he couldn't see clearly the expression on the eldest prince's face.
So the Crown Prince looked at the Second Prince again and told him the truth: "My eyesight is really not as good as your second brother's. I can't see your eldest brother's expression at all. Is your second brother's eyesight that good?"
The second prince: “…” He couldn’t actually see the eldest prince’s expression clearly, but couldn’t he just say whatever expression the eldest prince had? How come the prince has no tacit understanding with him at all? Shouldn't you join him in taking this opportunity to falsely accuse the eldest prince of harboring resentment towards his father?
The second prince became speechless when he looked at the crown prince. He originally wanted to provoke the crown prince to be dissatisfied with the eldest prince, but he didn't expect that the crown prince would focus on whether his eyes were good or not.
Prince: “…” Thank you for the invitation. There’s no need to provoke us. We’ve been sworn enemies for a long time.
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