Chapter 56 Self-preservation is the right path. ...
The Crown Prince sat in the Empress's palace, his face grim.
The current situation is not the outcome he desired. He guessed that Emperor Jinghui would not have asked him to organize the ceremony for no reason; he must be planning to do something under the guise of it. However, the palace servants who had previously been in contact with him and the Empress had been purged from the palace by the reborn Emperor Jinghui under various pretexts, making it difficult for him to know Emperor Jinghui's plans at present.
Since it was difficult to know, he prepared a foolproof plan.
Since he was in charge of organizing the ceremony, if anything went wrong, it would be due to his own negligence, while Emperor Jinghui would be completely innocent and without any suspicion.
Therefore, the Crown Prince not only wore close-fitting soft armor beforehand to prevent assassination attempts, but also hid cotton in his sleeves. Before drinking, he would secretly stuff the cotton into his mouth, use it to absorb the liquid while drinking, and then spit it out and hide it. As for the sacrificial meat, there was actually no problem. He personally watched as the palace servants cut a large piece of meat and distributed it to the princes and ministers. Emperor Jinghui would not allow a large group of princes and ministers to be poisoned in order to deal with him.
He feigned abdominal pain, and the imperial physician, after examining his pulse, could find no other problems. Based on his words and reactions, he naturally assumed the problem lay with the wine and meat he had consumed. There were still remnants of wine from the same pot that could be examined, and they showed no abnormalities. However, the same piece of meat had already been distributed and eaten; it was impossible to cut open everyone else's stomachs to examine them all. Therefore, the imperial physician could only speculate that perhaps His Highness was simply unlucky enough to have eaten that small, problematic piece.
When the Crown Prince fell to the ground and saw Emperor Jinghui's surprised and uncertain expression, he knew that the old man had indeed plotted something, only to have managed to evade it. But having evaded Emperor Jinghui's schemes time and time again, the emperor, not being a fool, would surely begin to suspect something.
The Crown Prince had a well-thought-out plan. He knew that Emperor Jinghui would definitely suspect him, so he simply took advantage of the opportunity to drag the other officials involved into the mess.
Especially Yao Shaoqing of the Ministry of Agriculture, who was implicated in the sacrificial meat incident. The Crown Prince had already planned to first use the situation to force the Emperor to detain Yao Shaoqing and others, and then step forward to take the blame and release them. In this way, the officials would surely praise his magnanimity and benevolence, and his leadership qualities.
The Yao family will certainly be grateful to him.
Yesterday, he had already sent Eunuch Cao to inquire about Yao Biyue's whereabouts. Eunuch Cao thought he was pitying the innocent Miss Yao who had been implicated, so he quickly went to do so. After returning with the information, he said that Yao Biyue had first gone to the Marquis of Wu'an's residence and then to the Lou family. The Crown Prince nodded in satisfaction.
Very good. Yao Biyue wants to spend more time with Susu. When he lets Yao Shaoqing go tomorrow, Susu will know about his magnanimous act. Others praising his merits may be useless to her, but if Yao Biyue praises him highly, it will definitely change her opinion of him.
Therefore, he was willing to let the Yao family off the hook for the time being.
In this way, she can clearly know that the crown prince in this life is different from the crown prince in the previous life, and she doesn't need to be so wary of the crown prince in this life.
Finally, even if that old man guessed that he had also been reborn, so what? Facts are not proven by words, but by actions. As long as he refuses to admit it, as long as he continues to act like a gentleman, as long as he remains the crown prince who has been inexplicably suppressed yet remains prudent and forbearing, how could Su Su possibly believe what the old man said?
He just didn't expect that the old man, who had jumped halfway into the pit, would actually be able to climb out on his own.
He deliberately provoked the old man, deliberately portrayed himself as the perfect victim in front of everyone, and deliberately made everyone think that the current emperor was probably out of his mind, in order to damage the old man's prestige and pave the way for his own future ascension to the throne.
But the old man managed to fabricate a story to justify his absurd act of killing the crown prince, giving the civil and military officials an explanation. In this way, the officials would no longer scrutinize the matter of killing the crown prince—at least not on the surface. After all, they couldn't understand why the emperor would kill the crown prince in the first place, and now that there was an evil spirit involved, it was somewhat plausible.
And the old man didn't even give him a chance to pardon Yao Shaoqing! What should have been a good story of the Crown Prince taking full responsibility and showing his benevolence turned into the Crown Prince's failure to do his job well, harming others and himself, and reaping the bitter fruit of his own actions, leaving Emperor Jinghui to clean up the mess!
The prince gritted his teeth, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged out.
"Ji'er, are you alright?" The Empress sat down beside him with a worried expression.
Last night, the crown prince rushed to her palace, leaving her completely bewildered. When she later learned that the emperor wanted to kill the crown prince, she was struck dumb.
Even after the emperor sent Eunuch Zheng to explain, she still couldn't sleep all night.
The Crown Prince grabbed the Empress's arm and said in a deep voice, "Mother, do you really believe Father's words?"
At this moment, only the mother and son were in the hall, so the Crown Prince no longer hesitated and asked directly.
The Empress paused for a moment, then whispered, "But... but why does His Majesty want to kill you? What wrong have you done?"
"Mother, don't you understand? It's not that I've done anything wrong, but that Father is getting old and has begun to be wary of me," the Crown Prince said, staring at the Empress.
The Empress was speechless for a moment.
She was not an ignorant woman, and naturally she knew that since ancient times, when emperors wanted to kill the crown prince, it was sometimes not because the crown prince had done anything wrong, but simply because the emperor was extremely suspicious.
The Crown Prince recently came of age, signifying his formal adulthood and readiness to shoulder all responsibilities. Could this be why Emperor Jinghui's mindset has shifted, making him see the Crown Prince not as a son, but as the next emperor, thus perceiving the Crown Prince's growing threat?
The Crown Prince said, "Your Majesty, I am shameless. I believe that I have acted prudently over the years and have been well recognized by the officials. When Father Emperor reprimanded me at the court meeting, some officials spoke up for me. Perhaps that is why Father Emperor misunderstood me."
The Empress looked at the Crown Prince with unease, feeling that her son seemed unusually different today.
Was it because of some trauma last night that your temperament suddenly became so sharp?
The Crown Prince continued, “Father is wary of me, but I cannot prove my innocence, which is truly frustrating. That’s fine, but there is something I want to tell Mother so that she can make plans in advance.”
Empress: "What?"
The Crown Prince said, “Last night, Father came to the Eastern Palace, dismissed all the palace servants, and questioned me. But he asked all sorts of nonsensical questions that I couldn’t even understand, let alone answer. When Father saw that I couldn’t answer, he became even angrier and said that he would kill me.”
What did he ask you?
The crown prince frowned, feigning deep thought as he shook his head: "He asked me about my past life, and why I murdered my father and usurped the throne..."
"What? What do you mean by 'past life'?" the Empress exclaimed in shock. "You... when did you commit patricide..."
"Yes, Mother, I don't understand either. How could I be accused of patricide and usurping the throne? I did nothing wrong! I'm truly innocent!" the Crown Prince said in a low voice. "And then there were all those talk about this life and the next, all sorts of strange and supernatural things. How could I possibly understand them? That's why I hurriedly sent for the imperial physician to see if Father was having a fit of hysteria. But instead, Father summoned a Taoist priest to the palace! Mother, do you really think this is normal?"
The Empress frowned and remained silent.
The Crown Prince took a deep breath: "So, Mother, I believe that what happened yesterday was probably not an accident. Father has become suspicious of me, but out of reason, he has not taken any action. However, Father has somehow developed hysteria, yet he refuses to seek medical help and has even misused Taoist priests without our knowledge, deceiving himself as well. Mother, this is no small matter!"
The empress's brows furrowed more and more deeply.
To be honest, she also found Emperor Jinghui's act of personally drawing his sword and attempting to kill the Crown Prince on the spot last night utterly absurd. Even if he truly suspected the Crown Prince and wanted to kill him, surely he shouldn't have done it in such a way?
But today, combined with what the Crown Prince said, we learned that Emperor Jinghui had said some inexplicable crazy things before taking action, so all these unreasonable behaviors can be explained - it turns out he was suffering from hysteria.
Since he has developed hysteria, it's not surprising that he would do anything.
"How could someone suddenly develop such an illness?" the Empress asked, puzzled.
"That's no longer important, Mother." The Crown Prince gazed at her. "The most urgent matter is what to do next. If Father is unwilling to treat his illness, this hysteria will only worsen. If he suddenly becomes lucid and stops killing me halfway through today, what about tomorrow? The day after? What minister might he suddenly kill during the morning court session? What bizarre decree might he issue while in a daze? What will we do then? What will the court do? What will the people of the world do?"
The empress could no longer sit still; she stood up and paced back and forth in the room.
"Perhaps I have exaggerated, but Mother cannot ignore this possibility," the Crown Prince said solemnly. "Given the situation, if we do not go against the current and fight with all our might, we may drift downstream and fall off a bottomless waterfall."
The Empress's expression was grave. She asked, "Who else knows that His Majesty has suffered a hysteria?"
The Crown Prince said, "Last night, I was flustered and spoke without thinking. I'm afraid the entire Eastern Palace heard it. But whether anyone believed it or not, I don't know."
"I understand." The Empress closed her eyes. "I need to discuss this matter with your maternal uncle and others. Do not act rashly."
"Your subject understands."
-
"Rustling, rustling!" Yao Biyue ran excitedly into the Marquis of Wu'an's residence. "Have you heard? My father has been released!"
Lou Xueying smiled and took her hand, saying, "I heard about it. See, I told you not to scare yourself. Things might take a turn for the better. Has your father gone home yet?"
Yao Biyue said, "Father is now redeeming himself through meritorious service and is busy with the new sacrificial ceremony, so he can't come home for the time being. But no matter what, it's good that everything is alright!"
At this point, Yao Biyue whispered, "Now I really believe what you said about changing the heir apparent. My mother still hasn't recovered. She almost faints when she thinks about how our family almost had to marry the crown prince."
Lou Xueying: "I haven't asked you yet. You clearly said before that you wouldn't be the Crown Princess anymore, so why were you with the Crown Prince that day?"
“Oh, it’s because Her Majesty the Empress has issued another decree. She insists that I take His Highness the Crown Prince around to see the common people and talk to him about their lives.” Yao Biyue said, “I was afraid that this would never end, so I told the Crown Prince directly that I didn’t want to get married.”
Lou Xueying was taken aback: "He agreed?"
“Yes, he agreed,” Yao Biyue said. “I gave him a zither, implying that he could give it to His Majesty to win his favor. Perhaps it was because of the zither, or perhaps he never really liked me, so he agreed.”
"A zither? What zither?" Lou Xueying asked in confusion.
“It’s a zither this long—and this thick,” Yao Biyue gestured. “That zither is quite valuable. It’s said to be made of some kind of century-old paulownia wood and inlaid with turquoise gemstones. My mother went to great lengths to obtain it and specially asked me to present it to the Crown Prince to relieve his worries.”
Lou Xueying froze. This description... this description sounds so much like...
“But then again, did the Crown Prince not give the zither to His Majesty?” Yao Biyue muttered to herself. “However, judging from the current situation, His Majesty has already decided to kill the Crown Prince, so giving him a zither probably wouldn’t be of much use.”
Lou Xueying: "Where did your mother get the zither?"
"I didn't ask in detail, but do you also want one?" Yao Biyue assumed she was interested in the zither. "But it's said that the zither was made by a famous craftsman, and there's only one in the world. If you want one, you might have to have it custom-made."
"No...no need." Lou Xueying waved her hand, trying to remain calm, "It's a good thing that you and the Crown Prince didn't get together."
I smashed that zither myself, so how did it end up in the Yao family's hands, and then be given to the Crown Prince through Yao Biyue? There can't be so many coincidences in the world. The only explanation is that Emperor Jinghui took the zither back and did something to it, trying to get the Yao family to induce the Crown Prince to present the zither to the Emperor, and then use some pretext to kill the Crown Prince.
However, for some reason, the Crown Prince did not present the zither, forcing Emperor Jinghui to rethink his plans. The Crown Prince is still alive and well, suggesting that the repeated failures of his plans led Emperor Jinghui to lose control and decide to take direct action.
Lou Xueying felt that this must be the case.
The thought that Yao Biyue had almost been implicated made her feel a wave of fear.
Even if the goal is to deal with the Crown Prince, why drag innocent people into it? The gift of the zither implicated the Yao family, and now the auspicious offering ceremony has dragged in even more officials. Can't the matter between father and son be resolved between the two of them?
How long will this farce continue?!
"By the way, where is your lord?" Yao Biyue asked.
"He's inside talking to the old lady."
What is his opinion on what happened last night?
Lou Xueying shook her head and said softly, "A storm is brewing; the right thing to do is to protect yourself."
Yao Biyue wholeheartedly agreed.
Inside the room, Li Pan casually flipped through the papers his mother had been practicing calligraphy recently and asked her, "Mother, are you having a good time in the capital?"
Li's mother said, "I'm so happy."
Li Pan: "Do you still want to go back to the Northwest?"
Mother Li shook her head and said, "'This place is so pleasant, I don't miss Shu at all!'"
Li Pan: "...Where did you learn that?"
Li's mother laughed and said, "That's what Susu taught me. How about it? Your mother is very smart now, isn't she? Applying what she's learned!"
"Hmm, smart." Li Pan twitched the corner of his mouth, put down the paper in his hand, put his hands on the table, looked at his mother seriously, and said, "Mother, have you thought about it? If there is trouble on the border again and I need to go back to guard it for a long time, should you stay in the capital or come back to the Northwest with me?"
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