1627 Abdicated, they were loyal to their father

Although the emperor's accident disrupted the rhythm of the Ninth Prince, it did not cause him to panic. He had been preparing for this day for a long time, and no matter when this day came, he could face it calmly.

Externally, the Ninth Prince appeased the ministers; internally, the Ninth Prince strictly investigated the palaces and concubines. Those with problems were thrown into the temple, and those without problems were sent to serve the emperor.

It's not that no one in the court had anything to say, and some even accused the Ninth Prince of murdering the emperor, but they couldn't produce any evidence. The emperor's absurd behavior some time ago was still fresh in people's minds, and the emperor did force the palace maid to have sex, which was why he fell into the palace maid's trap.

This fact was laid out before all the ministers, who wished they were blind and had not seen anything. Those who accused the Ninth Prince had no right to do so, after all, it was the Emperor's order to hire women to serve him every night, and the Ninth Prince could not control whether the Emperor favored women or not.

The emperor's current situation was entirely due to his own excessive indulgence and absurdity, and he could not blame others. Those who spoke for the Ninth Prince listed the emperor's behavior during this period one by one, all of which showed that the emperor had poor morals. If this were to be spread, the Three Kingdoms and Nine Cities would probably laugh at them.

The emperor has strengthened his control over the court, and this turmoil should not have passed so quickly. However, when the three ministers stood up to speak for the ninth uncle and proved that the emperor was indeed ridiculous and had become paralyzed on one side of his body, the ministers simply remained silent.

The three ministers had served for two dynasties and were deeply trusted by the emperor. They must have been extremely disappointed with the emperor for standing up to accuse him. The ministers stopped fighting and did not dare to fight again, for fear of offending the future ruler.

The emperor was recuperating in the palace, but he was not blind. Although most people saw the emperor's condition and thought that he would never rise again, they all changed their allegiance and clung to the support of several princes and the ninth uncle, but there were also some people who remained loyal to the emperor, such as the group headed by Fu Lin.

Fu Lin was very diligent. Even if the emperor did not ask him to collect information, Fu Lin would collect the recent news and present them to the emperor's desk one by one. He did not slack off at all because of the emperor's accident.

The emperor's condition has gradually stabilized under the care of the imperial physician. However, seeing that the situation outside is getting worse and worse, how can the emperor calm down and recuperate? Every time he sees the information sent by Fu Lin, he gets so angry that his blood pressure rushes to his head.

The Ninth Prince took advantage of his illness to directly control the government. Those under him did not dare to resist at all. Even the ministers who were loyal to the emperor did not dare to speak out at this time.

The emperor's condition was clear. No matter how much they said or did for him at this moment, he would never get better. And a man lying in bed, unable to speak, could never become the emperor of Dongling.

When the imperial physician diagnosed that the emperor needed rest and would remain disabled even after recovery, the forces led by the aristocratic families began to speak in the court to ask the emperor to abdicate and a new ruler to take the throne.

At the beginning, there were still people who opposed it, and some ministers always wanted to wait a little longer. But as time passed, the emperor's condition did not improve at all, and everyone was speechless.

The country cannot be without a ruler for a day. The current emperor is no longer able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the emperor, and a new ruler must be appointed.

It's easy to appoint a new master. The emperor has already appointed a crown prince, but...

Would the Ninth Prince agree? Would he be willing to continue to be his prince? The Ninth Prince was a dictator in Dongling. With his current power, it would not be a problem for him to depose the emperor and establish himself as king.

As a result, contrary to everyone's expectations, when the officials proposed that the crown prince succeed to the throne, the Ninth Prince not only did not object, but was the first to support it.

Because of the Ninth Prince's concession, the ministers also recommended the Ninth Prince to be the regent. As soon as the new emperor ascended the throne, the Ninth Prince would be the regent of Dongling.

When the next step was to select officials to assist in the administration, in addition to the three ministers, the Ninth Prince naturally took up another position, and the Prince's Tutor Wang Jinling became one of the regent ministers.

All the ministers in the court knew about the gathering between Wang Jinling and the Ninth Prince in Zhufeng Tower. The three ministers were people left behind by the late emperor and they were fair in their conduct, but it was hard to say for Wang Jinling.

In order to prevent the Ninth Prince from becoming too powerful, the ministers suggested adding another regent to be selected by the Emperor himself. The Ninth Prince had no objection to this.

The increasingly worsening situation made the emperor very uneasy. When he heard that the Ninth Uncle and the court officials had forced him to abdicate, the emperor was so angry that he vomited blood and collapsed on the bed again. This time, the corners of his mouth were crooked and he couldn't close them.

Had a stroke.

This time, the imperial physician didn't need to say anything. Everyone who saw the emperor understood how seriously ill he was. They no longer expected the emperor to return to court, but instead obediently established a new monarch and thought about how to gain a firm foothold when the new monarch ascended the throne.

No matter how serious the emperor's illness was, it had nothing to do with the Ninth Prince's uncle. As usual, the Ninth Prince's uncle came to report to the emperor on the developments in the court.

"Your Majesty, the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. I, your humble servant, have discussed with the other senior ministers and decided to abide by your decision. Let the crown prince succeed to the throne, and I, your humble servant, will serve as regent." The Ninth Prince said it easily, but the Emperor was so angry that his whole body was shaking.

"Third... Madam, Madam." As soon as the emperor opened his mouth, white bubbles came out of the corners of his mouth, and his limbs became stiff and he couldn't lift them up.

"Your Majesty, do you want to talk about the three ministers? They also agreed." The Ninth Prince stood beside the bed, looking down at the emperor. His eyes were calm and deep. There was neither the pride of a winner nor sympathy for the emperor. Everything was as if he had expected it, without any surprise at all.

The Ninth Prince's attitude deeply irritated the Emperor. The Emperor bit his tongue and asked vaguely, "Why?"

With just these three words, the Ninth Prince knew that the Emperor was asking why the Three Lords were on his side. This was not a big deal, so the Ninth Prince generously told the Emperor: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten how you got the throne?"

"Ah..." There was a flash of surprise in the emperor's eyes, and his whole body froze in his chest. His saliva dripped down his chest, pulling out silver threads, but he was unaware of it.

The three ministers he trusted the most were actually never loyal to him.

"Your Majesty, you are right. The three ministers have never been loyal to you. They are only loyal to our father and the successor chosen by our father. Obviously, you are not loyal to us." The Ninth Prince had a calm face. Seeing that there were more and more white bubbles at the corners of the emperor's mouth, he took the handkerchief beside him and personally stepped forward to wipe away the white bubbles at the corners of the emperor's mouth.

"Brother, don't you understand by now? Even if the three ministers are loyal to you, it doesn't matter. You wanted my brother to die and the imperial decree that allowed the King of Jiangnan to succeed to the throne has been destroyed by you. Even if they are loyal to you, they are powerless to change the situation."

Before the emperor lured the poisonous insect, he had prepared to die and made a series of arrangements. However, he did not die at all. So those arrangements were useless and even brought danger to himself.

The emperor would never keep the imperial edict that allowed the Prince of Jiangnan to succeed to the throne. If the Prince of Jiangnan knew the contents of the imperial edict, he would assassinate the emperor at all costs and then ascend the throne legitimately, the emperor would be depressed to death.

Without this imperial edict, it would be easier for the Ninth Prince to do what he wanted, and the Eighth Prince's succession to the throne would also be legitimate. The current emperor did not have the right to say no, but he simply could not say no...