115 The Dust Has Settled (Part Two of the Finale)
◎Live freely under the sky of the Great Jin Dynasty! ◎
“Father, back in Yu County, the three of us were so harmonious. Father, I still remember the broad shoulders you carried on your back.”
"You...you said you'd forgotten everything?" Emperor Jin Yuan was weak. He had indeed done something immoral back then, and today all the court officials who knew the truth were in the court.
He didn't think so much back then, only that he should preserve his life. But now that he's the emperor, there are historians behind him. As the emperor, he has to save face!
Qi Gu gave a bleak smile: "For my father's sake, I've forgotten everything."
"Do you know that back then, my mother and my younger brother walked for three days and three nights to find you, and their feet were worn out. My mother brought food from home because she was afraid you would have nothing to eat."
The people in the hall listened in silence, all recalling the bitter days when they first rose up in rebellion.
With the former dynasty's troops pursuing them from the front, and the Prince of Yan eyeing them from behind, they had to hide in all directions.
The Empress's contributions are evident to all; the Emperor's favoritism is boundless.
If it didn't concern the matter of choosing an heir, that would be one thing, but since it does, it's not a matter of favoritism anymore.
Qi Gu cried out in anguish, “Father has become a great general, a king, and has new concubines and new children. But Father, we are clearly family. Why, why do you favor one over the other!”
"Father, am I really lost?"
"Shut up!" Emperor Yuan of Jin had just returned from the Fengshan ceremony and did not want to leave such a stain on his record.
"Back then, when you abandoned me, my mother, my brother, and me off the carriage, did you ever think about what would happen to us? What were you doing when my mother was captured by the Yan army? What were you doing when I was begging along the way?"
"When you held your concubines and children in your arms, did you ever think of us even a little bit?"
"It was my father who saved me! He gave me everything he had to eat! When I was sick, he carried me around seeking medical help! In those days, many people starved or froze to death, but my father never abandoned me! We went through so much hardship to get to Lijia Village. When we arrived, my father was skin and bones! But he raised me to be strong and healthy!"
As Qi Gu thought about what happened back then, tears welled up in her already moist eyes and streamed down her face.
As everyone in the hall listened, Zhang Tian, a burly man, was already sobbing uncontrollably, and even Wei Xin's eyes welled up with tears.
"Aunt Qi, it's all my fault!" Zhang Tian said, choking back tears.
Zhang Tian stepped forward: "Your Majesty, don't you feel heartbroken after hearing every word Qi Gu said?"
He looked at Guo Yun and the Second Prince: "How many more times are you going to indulge the Guo family and the Second Prince! How many times are you going to make A-Ling and Qi Gu suffer!"
"Brother Zhang, I, I didn't..." The matter from back then was thus exposed in front of all the court officials, and Chu Pei felt as if his face had been peeled off layer by layer.
He looked at these people, each with an expression of sympathy and pity on their faces. They dared not despise him, the emperor, but he knew in his heart what they were thinking.
“Father, please punish the Second Prince and Marquis Huicheng severely to set things right. The Guo family has put me in danger many times. Gao Ruyu was also instigated by the Second Princess. These things are easy to investigate. For the sake of Mother and my brother, I have endured it again and again, but everything should have its limits!”
"Yuan Chu, Cheng'er and Xiang'er are also your younger brothers and sisters. How could you be so heartless!" Emperor Yuan of Jin said with great sorrow, as if he were a loving father who hoped for harmony among his children.
Qi Gu gave a sarcastic smile, "Father, I'm heartless? Then have you ever asked the Second Prince and the Second Princess if they considered brotherly affection when they sent people to assassinate me and my brother!"
"If this is the kind of brotherly affection we have, then I will no longer be a princess. I beg Your Majesty to strip me of my princess title and to give my father, Li Shi, justice!"
Qi Gu turned around and looked at the Second Prince and the Second Princess, "A life for a life!"
"You! You're absolutely insane!"
The Empress stood up: "Guards!"
Chu Pei asked, "What are you going to do, Empress?"
Fuming held the tray with both hands, and the Empress took the cloth covered with writing from the tray.
"This is the account of Marquis Huicheng embezzling a staggering two million taels of tax revenue!"
Guo Yun's eyes widened. "This, this can't possibly be a frame-up by the Empress!"
At this moment, Zhang Jun entered the main hall: "Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress, just now we seized two million taels of silver from the Guo family, along with about a hundred land deeds and several granaries of grain. These are the accounts we have tallied."
Guo Yun's legs went weak: "You, Zhang Jun, who gave you permission to raid my house!"
"It was approved by me. What? Marquis Huicheng, I am not qualified?"
Zhang Tian watched him intently from the side.
Guo Yun shrank back, looking at the Emperor with teary eyes.
The Emperor's face turned ashen. The Empress then picked up a piece of cloth from the tray. "This is a sum of 100,000 taels of silver that the Second Prince gave to win over Prince Yi. That's enough to gradually build an army of several thousand men. Second Prince, don't you agree?"
The second prince said, "If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext."
"Really? You haven't learned much of your mother's skills." This was a blatant sarcasm directed at Guo Ji, who was good at acting and playing innocent.
The Empress continued, "Here are the testimonies of the Prince Yi's advisors and confidants. The Guo family's every single thing they did to support the Second Prince to the position of Crown Prince is clearly written down. They even colluded with the Xiongnu. What else are you incapable of doing!"
"You! You're talking nonsense!" The Second Prince vehemently denied it, claiming that those things were done by the Prince of Righteousness and that they had no direct involvement whatsoever.
The Empress looked at the Emperor: "Your Majesty, your beloved son has gone so far as to collude with foreign slaves to destroy the empire you built with your own hands!"
"Such wolfish ambitions, devoid of any sense of propriety, righteousness, or shame, yet he aspires to be a ruler? Even if Your Majesty agrees, it depends on whether the ministers and the people agree!"
Inside the main hall, there was a silence like that after a storm.
After a long silence, the emperor finally spoke with difficulty, "The Second Prince colluded with foreign rebels, intending to... rebel. He has been imprisoned in the Imperial Prison to await his fate."
"Madam Guo failed in her duty to educate her son, allowing the Guo family to deceive their superiors and engage in embezzlement and bribery, and was thus banished to the 'Prison of Abuse'."
"The Second Princess has harmed her own siblings and has been imprisoned in Ganquan Palace, never to be released again!"
Just when everyone thought it was all over, Qu Yan, the Marquis of Yongkang, who had been standing in the corner and almost unnoticed by anyone, came out.
He cupped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, today’s disaster is all because Your Majesty failed to establish an heir apparent as soon as possible to stabilize the court and appease the people. This gave a treacherous person like Prince Yi an opportunity to incite the Second Prince to seize the throne. I implore Your Majesty to establish an heir apparent as soon as possible to ensure the stability of the Great Jin for a hundred years!”
Qu Zilie, who had long since stopped interfering in politics, suddenly made this move, which surprised everyone.
Wei Xin glanced at him, thinking that this was probably the Empress's ultimate goal today.
"Good, good, Zi Lie, even you think I am..." Qu Zi Lie is a national hero, and the whole country respects him alone.
Compared to the Prince of Yi, Qu Zilie was the biggest pillar in the rear back then, and his prestige was no less than his or the Prince of Yi's.
"Zilie, you've finally spoken your mind." Overnight, Chu Pei seemed to have aged ten years.
For the first time, he felt powerless. He loved his second son, but believed he had never wronged the Queen and his eldest son.
His gaze fell upon Qi Gu, whose face was calm and expressionless, but whose eyes had lost their sparkle.
Her face is so thin and frail, just like when she was first born. She looks so fragile, as if she would break if you put any pressure on her.
At that moment, it seemed he was recalling the joy they felt as a family of three when she was born…
But then he had a second, a third, and a fourth daughter...
He also...abandoned her...
No, he was not wrong. Even today, he does not regret his choice back then!
Without that decisive action, how could there be the Great Jin Dynasty, how could there be this peaceful and prosperous era...
For the first time, Emperor Jin Yuan looked at Qi Gu seriously. He remembered when she first returned to the capital, her eyes still shone with light. She smiled and flattered him, her father, helping him cover up what happened back then, and she was very happy being a princess.
Now, those once-shining eyes have dimmed, and Emperor Jin Yuan feels a sense of loss.
After Qu Yan finished speaking, the others saw the Emperor staring blankly at Qi Gu without saying a word. He didn't seem to be angry with the eldest princess, but rather seemed to have a trace of... guilt.
The empress was not pleasantly surprised by the emperor's belated remorse; the damage had already been done, and any further remorse or attempts to make amends were meaningless.
Wei Xin, Zhang Tian, Marquis Xilin, and others all stepped forward and knelt down in unison, "We earnestly request that, for the sake of the stability of the Great Jin Dynasty, the eldest prince be established as the crown prince!"
Chu Pei walked past these people, realizing that everyone had witnessed how many foolish things he had done over the years.
"For the sake of the Great Jin Dynasty, for the sake of its people, and for the sake of its officials, I beg Father Emperor to appoint my younger brother as Crown Prince!" Qi Gu said solemnly, displaying her last bit of princess-like composure.
Emperor Jin Yuan's gaze fell on Sima Hong, who had been watching Qi Gu. "Xiu Yuan, I suppose it goes without saying that you share the same thoughts as Qi Gu."
Ministers, empress, princesses, princes—they were all pressuring him.
Chu Pei suddenly felt old, but he was clearly the master of the Great Jin. Why was it that now, it seemed like they were all eager to choose the next master for the Great Jin?
Is it that he is really old, or... do they all think he is no longer worthy to be the emperor?
He looked at his son, who had been in poor health for years and was like a weak lamb. He didn't hate him, but he was nothing like him.
"Yan'er, do you also want to be the crown prince?"
If it were before today, he would have been filled with trepidation if his father had asked him.
But after so many things happened, he saw his mother's forbearance and her sister's distress and pain.
He wanted to be the crown prince, he wanted to enable his mother to realize her ambitions, and he wanted his elder sister to be free to do what she wanted from then on.
He would never allow anyone to harm his mother and sister again. No one could stop his two most beloved people from doing what they wanted to do, or force them to do what they didn't want to do.
He wanted them to live freely under the skies of the Great Jin Dynasty!
Chu Xiaoyan bowed deeply, "Father, I will ensure that the Great Jin Dynasty enjoys lasting peace and prosperity, and that the people live in peace and wealth. Please rest assured, Father. I will protect the people I love."
Emperor Jin Yuan looked into his son's eyes, which he had never seen before, and in that instant, he saw a resemblance between his own eyes and his own.
So he was just like him after all.
"Someone come here!"
The personal attendant held up the edict that had been prepared long ago, "As all my beloved ministers wish, I hereby appoint the Empress's son, Chu Xiaoyan, as Crown Prince." Emperor Yuan of Jin abandoned his last bit of stubbornness.
After the imperial edict appointing the crown prince was read aloud.
Everything has settled down.
[Author's Note]
This concludes the final chapter of the main storyline. Thank you all for your support over the past four months. The main story of "The Eldest Princess Just Wants to Go Back to the Village and Farm" is now finished! But don't worry, there are still side stories! Due to some recent mishaps with my butt, the side stories will have to wait a few days [laughing and crying emoji]. But it won't be long, so please wait for me to finish cooking! [sunglasses emoji]
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