Chapter 35 A Dream of Nanke The former Prince Zhi is no longer a prince...
The former Prince Zhi was no longer a prince; now he was just a bald prince without a title. He actually knew what his fate would be when the emperor secretly arrested the lama who practiced sorcery and took away everyone from the Buddhist hall in his mansion. He just didn't expect those servants to be so spineless and to give in so quickly. In the blink of an eye, the soldiers of the infantry camp surrounded his mansion, and then someone from Changchun Garden came to announce the imperial decree, and he ended up being stripped of his title and placed under house arrest.
From that day on, the eldest prince locked himself in his room, spending half of each day drinking heavily. He tried to get himself drunk so that all the bad things he had done would seem like a lie. One day, he got completely drunk again, and then he mistook the pillar in his room, which was wrapped in apricot-yellow curtains, for the emperor, and started talking nonsense to it.
"Yes, it was all my doing. It was the rumors I spread, and the curse I castrated on the deposed crown prince. I wanted to take his place and sit on the throne." He said this while laughing maniacally. As he laughed, he raised his hand and smashed the wine bottle down. The shattered porcelain shards reflected the sunlight streaming in from the window, making the eldest prince's face strewn with tears.
"Father, I am also your son. Why do you always favor the Crown Prince? What about all those years you supported me? Were I just a pawn to hone the Crown Prince's skills?"
He staggered to his feet and smashed everything in the room to pieces.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and the eldest prince's personal eunuch rushed in, prostrating himself and weeping, saying, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened! The Princess Consort..."
The eldest prince originally wanted to vent his anger, but upon hearing the word "Fujin" (wife), he immediately raised his head and asked, "What happened to Fujin?"
At this moment, everyone in the Fujin's courtyard was as if they had lost their parents.
Since marrying the First Prince, Consort Yigen Gioro had been the most important woman in the household. The First Prince currently had five daughters and two sons, four of whom were born to her. However, due to the frequent childbirths, her health had always been poor. Nevertheless, she had no regrets, because the First Prince treated her exceptionally well. Which other consort in the royal family was as blessed with so many children and fortune as she was? Her only regret was her bad luck; her first few children were all daughters, and her only son, Hongyu, was born a few days later than the Crown Prince's son, Hongxi, thus failing to secure the title of the eldest grandson of the royal family for him.
The eldest prince strode in like the wind, and the others hurriedly knelt down. Faint sobs could even be heard from a corner of the room. He was instantly enraged, glaring fiercely at the source of the weeping. "The Princess Consort is perfectly fine! What are those servants crying for? Are they tired of living?!"
Lady Irgen Gioro lay weakly on the bed, but she could tell what the eldest prince was thinking just by looking at his face. She immediately took his hand and said, "I heard you locked yourself up. Have you been drinking?" She couldn't smell anything now, and the news from the front yard was being kept from her, but she knew everything just by looking at the eldest prince's half-red face.
The eldest prince hummed in agreement and tried to reassure her, saying, "The doctor in the manor is not well. I have already sent someone to the palace to fetch the imperial physician."
Lady Yigenjueluo smiled slowly. Their residence was already surrounded, and who knew if the petition requesting the imperial physician would even get out? Even if it did, she would have to ask the Emperor for permission, and she probably couldn't wait that long. So she said, "I know my own body. Actually, I would be content just to see you one last time, my lord." Moreover, she felt much more relaxed now, as if she couldn't feel any pain at all.
She held the eldest prince's hand tightly, as if she wanted to say everything she hadn't finished saying in her life. "Your Majesty, a dying man's words are often the best, and some of the most treasonous things can only be said at this time. As the saying goes, both thunder and rain are the Emperor's grace. Our family is already in such a state; you must not go against the Emperor. After I pass away, I hope the Emperor will be so kind as to bestow upon me a virtuous and wise second wife to take good care of you and the children."
As the eldest prince listened to her rambling on, tears streamed down his face. He gripped her hand tightly and said, "Don't say anymore. Let's wait for the imperial physician to come, to examine her pulse and prescribe medicine."
Yigenjueluo shook her head and said softly, "Call the children over here, let me see them."
The eldest prince said "okay." Just then, a young eunuch with a mournful face peeked in from outside the door. The eldest prince sensed something, first patted Lady Yigenjueluo's hand to comfort her, then excused himself and went out, before kicking the young eunuch so hard he fell flat on his face.
The young eunuch hurriedly got up and whispered, "This servant was ordered to deliver a memorial requesting the imperial physician, but the guards at the gate said that the commander of the guards had gone back to Changchun Garden to report, and they were ordered to guard this place and dared not neglect their duties."
The eldest prince was instantly enraged, his eyes blazing with fury. In the past, he could command respect with the slightest movement of his sleeve, but now even a lowly guard dared to act arrogantly in front of him. Thinking this, he clenched his fist tightly, but then, remembering the sickbed of Lady Yigenjueluo, he gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "Bring me pen and ink."
With red-rimmed eyes, he went to the study next door and quickly wrote a memorial of apology, because no one dared to stop him from doing so. Although writing each word on the memorial felt like it would kill him, he forced himself to finish it. Finally, he went to the front yard and summoned the guards at the gate.
The guards were surprised that the First Prince wanted to see them, and they were immediately embarrassed when they arrived. Although the First Prince had lost his title, he was still a prince, and the prestige he had when he was a county prince in his earlier years still remained. They dared not offend him when they actually met him, and they were even more concerned when they learned that one of the memorials was a letter of apology. They immediately said that they would present both memorials to him as soon as possible.
The eldest prince said "thank you for your trouble," and then knelt down in the direction of Changchun Garden, performing three kneelings and nine prostrations in front of everyone. The two guards only dared to glance at him quickly and didn't dare to look closely before hurriedly leaving.
No sooner had the guard left with the memorial than a servant came down with a mournful face and said, "The First Princess Consort has just passed away."
Although the First Prince's residence was under siege, the funeral of the First Princess still had to be held, though on a small scale. If the Emperor had been merciful, he might have issued an edict to elevate the scale of the First Princess's funeral, but when the news of the First Princess's death reached the Emperor, no decree of grace was issued. He only said to follow the rules, so the First Princess's funeral could only be held according to the standards for a prince's wife.
The funeral of the First Prince's wife was truly sparsely attended, as no one dared to come to pay their respects for the first two days. Fortunately, on the third day, people finally arrived at the mansion. It was none other than the Eighth Prince and his wife, who came to help with the funeral arrangements for the First Prince's household.
After the Eighth Prince and his wife entered the gates of the First Prince's residence, it set a precedent for others. Officials who had previously supported the First Prince and their families began to come and mourn.
The eldest prince fell ill after the death of Lady Yigenjueluo. He felt guilty for not being able to give his wife posthumous honors, and thus he fell seriously ill.
For the first few days, the funeral arrangements for the First Princess Consort were handled by her unmarried third daughter and the First Prince's concubine. But with the arrival of the Eighth Princess Consort, everyone felt more at ease, as she took over all the work. The Eighth Prince, meanwhile, took advantage of a break at noon to visit his beloved elder brother.
The Eighth Prince brought ginseng soup and earnestly advised the First Prince to take care of his health. The First Prince didn't even glance at him, swept the soup bowl aside, and said in a deep voice, "I really didn't expect you to come at this time. It's true that true friendship is revealed in times of trouble."
Seeing that he didn't drink, Eighth Master put down the soup bowl in his hand, lowered his eyes and said, "What are you saying, elder brother? Although we are not born of the same mother, we are still brothers. After hearing about elder sister-in-law's situation, I was also very distressed. I was worried that things might get chaotic if there was no one in charge of the household, so I specially requested permission to come and visit you, elder brother, and also wanted to help."
The eldest prince looked up and scrutinized the eighth prince from head to toe. Finally, he closed his eyes and said, "Truly, we are brothers. Thank you for your help, Eighth Prince's wife."
Eighth Prince smiled gently and said, "Brother, you flatter me." He stirred the soup bowl and continued, "I know that Brother is not someone who gives up easily." Then he handed the soup bowl to the First Prince.
The eldest prince didn't take it, but instead touched his forehead with his hand, revealing a disheartened expression, and said, "No, you're wrong. But it doesn't matter, even if I sink, those people in the front yard will find another good master, won't they?" He waved his hand outside and said, "Right now, I'm suffering from a heart ailment, these soups and liquids won't help, put them down and leave."
Eighth Prince didn't insist, and said in a deep voice, "Yes." When they arrived at the front yard, as expected, all the officials who had come to offer their condolences surged over.
As evening fell, all the mourners had left, and the eldest prince came to the mourning hall alone. He looked at his wife, who seemed to be sleeping in the coffin, gently touched her face, and then burned paper money for her.
“The people who come here during the day have impure thoughts,” he said. “Don’t use the money they burn in the underworld, it’s covered in ash and very dirty. Just use the money I burn for you, these gold ingots are all folded by me personally.”
"Only now do I realize what a dream is." After a long while, the eldest prince sighed and continued, "Eighth Prince, ha," followed by a contemptuous smile, "Eighth Prince is good. I've misjudged him all these years."
After experiencing such dramatic ups and downs, he seemed to have seen everything clearly.
"Although the Crown Prince has been deposed, Father Emperor still cares about him. I wonder if this father-son bond will be the catalyst for a resurgence." At that time, the Eighth Prince was drinking with him and sighed, saying in a low voice, "If only the Crown Prince would still act as he always has, like he's gone mad. If only he really were mad, but I'm afraid he'll wake up after this setback."
He suddenly stopped talking, lowered his eyes and showed a panicked expression, saying, "It was my fault, brother. Please don't take it to heart, brother. Let's drink."
What was he thinking at the time? Yes, it would be great if the Crown Prince went mad.
Thinking of this, the eldest prince suddenly realized that he was the one who had gone mad. He had long since gone mad, mad because of the years the emperor had promoted him, mad because of the flattery of his courtiers, mad because of the hope that he was only one step away from becoming the crown prince. But now he was awake, and his first thought upon waking was, "Eighth Prince, how wonderful! How truly wonderful!"
As he burned paper money for the Yigenjueluo clan, he thought to himself: "Eighth Brother, I'll wait and see if you go crazy with everyone's adoration. I want to see what your fate will be!"
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