The whole month of April seemed like a turbulent autumn. Emperor Jingming was still worrying about the issue of appointing a crown prince when news came that an earthquake had occurred in Qianhe County.
Qianhe County is in Lin Province, very close to the capital. On the day of the earthquake, even the capital could feel the ground shaking and the crowing of chickens and barking of dogs.
Upon receiving the urgent report of the earthquake in Qianhe County, Emperor Jingming immediately summoned the six ministers and other important officials to discuss the aftermath.
Teams set out from the capital and rushed to Qianhe County.
News came back from Qianhe County one after another.
"An earthquake occurred in Qianhe County, countless houses collapsed, and tens of thousands of people were killed or injured..."
A string of shocking numbers made Emperor Jingming's face gloomier day by day.
In such a solemn and sad atmosphere, as May was about to begin, a bigger worry came: an epidemic broke out in Qianhe County!
It is common sense that there will be an epidemic after a disaster. The reason is simple: after a disaster, there are countless casualties. If so many corpses are not handled in time, they will rot, mosquitoes and flies will swarm, and even people's drinking water will be contaminated.
Under such harsh conditions, the outbreak of an epidemic is almost inevitable.
Even though it was expected, Emperor Jingming was not in a good mood. A team of medical officers brought countless medicinal materials and rushed to Qianhe County.
It's so unlucky!
Emperor Jingming could no longer tolerate this, so he followed the advice of the imperial teacher and asked the Qintianjian to choose an auspicious day. He led the royal family, nobles, civil and military officials to offer sacrifices and pray in the Taimiao.
Taimiao is the royal family's ancestral temple. In addition to the regular memorial ceremonies throughout the year, every major event must be reported to and sacrificed to the ancestors in order to seek their protection.
The Great Zhou had suffered many natural disasters in recent years. Emperor Jingming originally thought that he could bear it, but all the troubles came at once, so he wanted to cry to his ancestors and seek comfort.
It was a fine day on the day of the sacrifice. The sky was blue and the bright sunshine made the white jade steps in front of the Taimiao Hall sparkle.
Led by Emperor Jingming, all the people wore formal ceremonial clothes and began to kowtow under the leadership of Emperor Jingming.
Emperor Jingming recited the words he had prepared, and said silently in his heart: My ancestors, my unworthy descendants have been in dire straits recently. If you don’t take care of me, I will not be able to bear it anymore.
Before he could finish his silent complaint, the world suddenly spun around and the heavens and the earth shook.
There was an earthquake in the capital!
The earthquake came too suddenly. At that moment, the royal family, nobles, civil and military officials were all frightened. After a while, countless screams were heard and the scene was extremely chaotic.
Emperor Jingming couldn't even stand steadily, and he stumbled and fell to the ground, watching a flagpole break and fall down. Those who saw this scene couldn't help but burst into tears and shouted wildly: "Guard the driver, quickly guard the driver——"
Those who were far away were helpless, while those who were close - a figure rushed over and pushed Emperor Jingming away, followed by a scream.
Fortunately, this place was not the epicenter, and the chaos seemed to last very long. In fact, it stopped in just a cup of tea.
The world stopped shaking, and people were finally able to stand up steadily.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, how are you?" Countless people rushed towards Emperor Jingming.
Emperor Jingming calmed down, and after being helped to stand up by the people around him, he looked at the person who was pinned to the ground by the flagpole and said in a lost voice: "Lang'er!"
The deposed crown prince was named "Lang".
Everyone was shocked to find that it was Prince Jing who saved the emperor.
"Your Highness, are you okay?" everyone asked.
The deposed prince lay on the ground motionless, blood oozing from his back.
Emperor Jingming rushed over, ignoring the lingering fear from the earthquake he had just experienced, "Lang'er, Lang'er, how are you?"
At this time, Emperor Jingming was heartbroken and felt real pain.
He had to admit that no matter how much he hated his son, he could not erase the father-son relationship.
"Lang'er——"
"Cough, cough, cough—" A light cough was heard, and the deposed prince said in a dilemma, "Can you... put up this flagpole first..."
Hearing the voice of the deposed prince, Emperor Jingming was overjoyed and shouted, "Are you all dead? Hurry up and raise the flagpole to save the prince!"
Having been called the prince for more than 20 years, he was already accustomed to it. When the situation became critical, this title came out of his mouth, but the word "Jing Wang" was forgotten.
When the word "Crown Prince" came out, Yang Deguang, the Minister of Rites, almost cried for joy.
That’s great. The Emperor has called the Crown Prince on this occasion. There is no need to worry about the Crown Prince not being reinstated.
The wolf fell in the earthquake, and the King of Qi, who was covered in scrapes all over his body, had just gotten up. When he heard what Emperor Jingming said, he forgot to react for a moment.
Save the prince?
Do you know how big of an impact this misunderstanding by your father will cause?
His face turned pale, and a fear deeper than the earthquake filled his heart, which gradually turned into despair.
What's an earthquake? This place is obviously not the place where the earth dragon can show its power. The ground shook for a while and then it passed. So many people were just bruised or fell at most.
But with his father's shout, all his previous plans suddenly became a waste of time...
The ugly expression on Prince Qi's face was not noticeable at all among the crowd that had just experienced shock. He temporarily suppressed the turmoil in his heart and forced himself to comfort the deposed prince along with the others.
The deposed prince was taken directly back to the palace for treatment.
"How is Prince Jing?" Emperor Jingming asked impatiently after the imperial physician came to report.
The imperial physician bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the injury on the prince's back is not serious, but his internal organs have been shaken a little. He needs to recuperate for some time."
Emperor Jingming heaved a sigh of relief: "That's good. We must take good care of Prince Jing's health and not let him get sick."
The imperial physician quickly responded.
Just kidding, he heard the emperor call him "Crown Prince" in front of the imperial temple. It seems that Prince Jing is going to make a comeback, so he can't be careless.
Emperor Jingming walked in, took a look at the pale-faced deposed crown prince lying on the bed, and asked, "What do you think?"
The deposed prince struggled to stand up, but was stopped by Emperor Jingming: "Don't move, just lie down."
The deposed prince turned his head to face Emperor Jingming and said with pain: "My son is fine. I just hope that my father is okay."
"You——" Emperor Jingming wanted to ask why he rushed over regardless of everything at that time, but in the end he swallowed the words silently.
They are father and son. He has feelings for the second son, and the second son feels the same way about him.
Emperor Jingming gently patted the deposed prince on the shoulder and said softly, "Return to Jingyuan and take good care of yourself."
The deposed crown prince, who was still the King of Jing, was carried out of the palace and returned to Jingyuan to recuperate, but everyone knew that King of Jing might not stay in Jingyuan for long.
As the father-in-law of the deposed prince, it is understandable that Yang's father went to Jingyuan to visit.
After sending the waiter away, Prince Jing asked excitedly, "Father-in-law, do you think the emperor will change his mind?"
Father Yang couldn't hide his joy: "Your Highness has risked his life to save the Emperor. The Emperor will surely change his mind. Congratulations, Your Highness!"
The deposed prince smiled foolishly for a while, then asked, "Father-in-law, did you ask someone to tamper with the flagpole?"
Father Yang was stunned, and then he didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Prince, you think too much. How can you do something in such a situation..."
The deposed prince began to cry.