Chapter 454 The Prince
Jiang Luli, carrying a pot of strong liquor brought from the banquet, walked leisurely into the imperial garden.
The palace lanterns hanging in the garden emitted a warm yellow light, illuminating the stone path clearly and stretching the shadows of the rockery stones long across the ground.
He found a gently shaped rockery, turned over and lay down on it, and casually placed the wine jug on the stone platform beside him.
The banquet was still going on, and the palace gates were locked. Even if he was a prince, he couldn't leave early. Otherwise, he would have already left the palace and headed towards Taohua Village.
I had just taken two sips of wine when I heard light footsteps behind me.
"Cousin."
Prince Jiang Jingming's voice was a little cautious. He stood under the rockery and looked up at Jiang Luli who was lying on it.
Jiang Luli tilted his head, raised an eyebrow and glanced at him, his tone tinged with sarcasm. "Why are you here? You're not drinking with your father at the banquet. Be careful, he might get angry and punish you later."
The prince's cheeks instantly turned red, and he scratched his head a little embarrassedly. "I'm grown up now, and Dad won't beat me like he used to."
When he was a child, whenever he did something wrong, his father would take off his shoes and spank him, without any regard for his dignity as the crown prince, which made him feel ashamed and annoyed every time.
Jiang Luli sneered, his voice full of insight. "Have you grown up, or has the old man become more suspicious? You know it yourself."
The prince's shoulders slumped instantly, his face full of dejection. He walked to the edge of the rockery and slowly sat down against the stone wall.
"Cousin, do you think I'm really not suitable to be the crown prince?"
His eyes were full of confusion.
"Forget about being unable to compare to a brilliant cousin like you. I feel like I can't even compare to my second, third, or fourth brothers."
The second brother is good at archery and is very popular in the army; the third brother is proficient in learning and even the Taifu praises him for his talent; the fourth brother is good at dealing with people and has a good relationship with the ministers.
Only he is not outstanding in anything.
If he had not been the eldest son, he would definitely not have been destined to be the crown prince.
"Fool." Jiang Luli took a sip of wine and calmed down. "Perhaps it is precisely because you are not outstanding in anything that this old man is confident in handing over this huge kingdom to you."
He paused, then slowly explained, "Dagan's greatest enemy is Dachu, and I've already crippled it. We also have powerful weapons like bombs. I think the surrounding small nations won't dare to provoke us easily within a hundred years. At this time, Dagan doesn't need a king who's adept at expanding its territory, but rather a king who understands everything but isn't extreme in any way, and who maintains the status quo, with a personality that's neither overbearing nor weak. You fit the bill perfectly."
"The most important thing you should do now is not to be sad here, but to think carefully about how to govern the Great Chu after it is incorporated into our territory."
"Govern the Great Chu?" The Crown Prince suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with surprise. "Are you saying that Father will not allow the royal family of the Great Chu to return?"
Jiang Luli looked at his innocent appearance and sighed inwardly.
This silly brother has been raised too simply by the old man.
"From the moment I captured the entire Chu royal family, the entire Chu has been named Jiang."
"How could the old man let the tiger go back to the mountains? The best outcome for the Chu royal family is to be imprisoned in Kyoto for life, never having the chance to return."
The prince scratched his head and felt his temples tightening slightly, as if he was about to grow a brain.
He has always known that matters in the court are very complicated, but he has been constantly learning. However, he now finds that his political acumen is indeed not as good as that of his cousin.
No wonder those old ministers always said he was not as good as his cousin.
Jiang Luli looked at his confused expression and swallowed back the harsh words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Forget it, forget it. He is the prince now, not the little follower behind me. I can no longer scold him casually like before.
Otherwise, if it gets out, it will damage the royal dignity.
But the prince felt a sense of loss in his heart.
Things have changed between him and his cousin.
In the past, no matter what he did wrong, his sharp-tongued cousin would scold him mercilessly; but now, his cousin is unwilling to say even a single harsh word.
Is it that their feelings have faded, or is it really like what my father said, that my cousin has developed inappropriate thoughts and is deliberately distancing himself from him?
He clenched his hands tightly together and mustered up the courage to ask, "Cousin, what do you think of the throne..."
"Stop!" Jiang Luli sat up abruptly, his tone filled with impatience. "Do you and your father have poor hearing or a bad memory? I think I've said it many times before. I have no interest in the throne! I just want to travel and see all the beautiful mountains and rivers in the world. When I've had enough, I'll find a beautiful place to live in seclusion and never care about the trivial matters in the court again!"
He felt that he was about to lose control of his temper.
Why can't these people understand what people say?
He has already written on his face that he doesn't care about power, but he still tests it wave after wave.
If there was no one in the court who could take on the responsibility this time, he would never accept the tiger talisman, let alone lead the army to war.
"During this war, I discovered several talented generals." Jiang Luli suppressed his anger and spoke in a gentler tone. "When you return, build good relationships with them and train them. They will all be your strengths in the future."
"Cousin..." When the prince heard this, his eyes instantly turned red. The loss he had just felt disappeared and his heart was filled with emotion.
My cousin still cares about him!
"I'll be leaving Kyoto tomorrow." Jiang Luli lay back down, his tone returning to normal. "Don't send me messages unless it's something serious. I'm very busy."
"Also, your mother's adopted daughter, Ye Yuntang, is a good girl. She's simple-minded and doesn't have many twists and turns. If you treat her with sincerity, she'll return your sincerity over time. Don't try to imitate your father's empty calculations. As long as you treat her with sincerity, she'll give back to the royal family everything you want."
"By the way, she and that kid Xie Qingyun seem to be showing some signs of getting along. You should create more opportunities for them." Jiang Luli thought for a moment and added, "Also, be more careful of that old man, the Imperial Advisor. He's very scheming and evil."
The more the prince listened, the more he felt something was wrong. It sounded like his cousin was "making arrangements for his final affairs"?
He raised his head suddenly, his eyes full of worry: "Cousin, were you seriously injured during this trip to the border?"
Jiang Luli was stunned, feeling that his clever brain couldn't keep up with the prince's thinking.
How could this silly brother think of this?
In a war, it is impossible to say that you have not suffered any injuries.
But it wasn't too serious, after all, he was surrounded by many powerful guards. If they couldn't even protect him, how could they still have the face to live in this world?
"Wow, cousin, please don't die!" The prince suddenly burst into tears, tears streaming down his face. "Don't worry, no matter what others say, I won't doubt you! When my father is dead, and I become the emperor, I will appoint you as the regent, and we two brothers will rule the world together!"
Jiang Luli looked at him crying heartbreakingly, and suddenly felt that the concerns of the civil and military officials in the court were not unreasonable.
Do we really want to hand over this great kingdom to this silly boy?
Isn't this too much of a joke?
He couldn't help but think: If there's really no other option, why not work harder and take over this mess myself?
No no no!
As soon as this thought came up, it was suppressed by Jiang Luli.
He had no interest in the court at all, but he didn't want to have to get up before dawn every day to review memorials, and he couldn't even marry the girl he liked openly.
Seeing that Jiang Luli didn't deny it, the prince cried even harder. "Cousin! Why did you leave like this..."
At this time, in the banquet hall of the imperial palace, the emperor found that the prince was not at his seat, so he sent his personal eunuch to the imperial garden to look for him.
As soon as the eunuch walked near the rockery, he heard the prince's heart-wrenching cry and words like "cousin" and "gone".
Isn’t the prince’s only cousin Prince Jiang Luli?
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, something bad has happened! The Prince has died of poisoning!" The eunuch was so frightened that he turned around and ran towards the hall, shouting so loudly that the entire palace could hear it.
"What?" The wine glass in the emperor's hand fell to the ground with a clang, and the wine spilled all over the floor.
He suspected that he had drunk fake wine.
Jiang Luli was fine, how could he die of poisoning?
But the eunuch's voice was so loud that not only the emperor heard it, but all the civil and military officials in the court could hear it clearly.
The ministers were instantly furious.
"What? The prince is gone?"
"How is this possible! The Prince is the pillar of Dagan!"
"It's over, it's over. Dagan no longer has any royal descendants worth mentioning. It's God's will to destroy Dagan!"
Only after seeing the panicked reactions of the ministers did the emperor confirm that he was not hallucinating.
He suppressed his shock and shouted at the eunuch, "How dare you! This is a banquet hall, and you are not allowed to make such a loud noise! If you have something to say, please speak slowly. What's going on?"
The eunuch also knew that he had caused trouble. He knelt on the ground with a plop and explained with tears in his eyes: "Your Majesty, this servant... This servant did not see the assassination of the Prince, but this servant saw with his own eyes His Royal Highness the Crown Prince holding the Prince's 'corpse' and crying bitterly, crying inconsolably, and even asking, 'Cousin, why did you leave like this?'"
The emperor felt a black screen before his eyes, his body swayed, and he fell onto the dragon throne.
Jiang Luli's parents fainted.
The banquet scene suddenly became chaotic, with screams and cries for help one after another.
"You... take me to the Imperial Garden!" The emperor gritted his teeth, forced himself to stand up, and ordered the eunuch to lead the way. He wanted to go and see it himself.
On the rockery, Jiang Luli looked at the prince crying as if his father had died, and the idea of "finding a new heir for Dagan" became more intense than ever before.
This silly child has too many emotions and a simple mind. He is really not suitable to be an emperor!
"Shut up!" Jiang Luli growled, unable to bear it any longer.
The prince stopped crying instantly, but still couldn't help but hiccuping: "Hiccup..."
"I'm not dead yet, why are you crying at my grave?" Jiang Luli rolled his eyes, his tone full of helplessness.
"You told me so much just now, I thought you, my cousin, were going to die soon..." The prince muttered in a low voice in grievance.
Jiang Luli: “…”
I feel so tired.
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