By the time King Ping and his entourage arrived in the capital, it was already late at night.
At this moment, the city gates were closed, and only the soldiers were stationed on guard in the corner tower. Two bright lights were swaying slightly outside the windows, like a pair of eyes of a giant beast in the dark night.
Shen looked at the city gate for a few times, then lowered the curtain and raised his hand slowly: "The imperial city is heavily guarded at night. Even high-ranking officials and ministers in the court cannot enter or leave at will without permission."
The palace guards who followed him were not idle along the way. After all, they all came from aristocratic families in Kyoto, so they had some means and information channels. After spying and inquiring along the way, Shen was gradually able to piece together a general idea.
It turned out that the one in the East Palace had somehow begun to suspect that the Emperor was planning to change the crown prince, and so he became increasingly confrontational and tense with the favored Sixth Prince in the court.
At this moment, the emperor, who was only in his prime years, suddenly fell ill. The doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau took turns to take his pulse, but no one could tell the cause of his acute illness. They could only use the method of warming and nourishing to keep him alive.
Some people privately spread the rumor that the Eastern Palace was afraid that the emperor would depose the crown prince and appoint another one, so it secretly hid a puppet to curse his father, which caused the usually healthy saint to suddenly fall ill.
When the guards reported the news to Chen Que, Xie Shiguan was also listening beside him. However, compared to coincidence and the illusory art of exorcism, he would rather believe that this was a deliberate conspiracy by a certain person or a group of people.
Xie Shiguan continued, "The city is under curfew and heavily guarded right now, which is actually a good thing."
Shen looked at him.
Indeed, they were able to hide in the darkness. Although it was difficult for them to enter the city, it was also difficult for those who were hiding inside to take advantage of them.
"If it is true that the prince's party blocked Your Highness from leaving Yingchuan County, then the secret letter in Your Highness's hand is likely to be the only one," Xie Shiguan said in a low voice, "But although you have been hiding along the way, you have not encountered any danger in the end."
He used to be at the bottom of society and was not familiar with the methods and personalities of these high-ranking officials, eunuchs, princes and nobles, so he could only guess what they were doing with his own mind.
He stared into Chen Que's eyes and continued, "There are two possibilities. One is that someone is secretly escorting him. This person must be someone extraordinary. The other is that the East Palace and the Sixth Prince are already fighting to the death, so they have no time to care about other things."
"Why did your grandfather summon you back to Beijing at this time? What does that mean?"
Shen Que's face was slightly gloomy, and his mood was not high: "Whether it is the Ninth Prince or Prince Ping, I am not valued by him."
He paused for a moment, then moved again: "Besides, the saints and ministers will not let an incomplete person like me get involved in the position of crown prince."
He would have thought of what Xie Shiguan said, but he just didn't dare to believe it.
It is said that his mother fell out of favor since he was born. Even princes and princesses born to concubines of lower rank in the palace had at least been embraced and smiled by his grandfather.
And he had nothing.
Grandpa never smiled at him, never praised him, only treated him coldly and with a hint of disgust.
Therefore, when Shen received the handwritten letter, he was actually terrified. But from the moment he received the secret letter, he was destined to be unable to stay out of it.
No matter what was written in this secret letter, and which of his brothers ascended the throne later, people would inevitably be suspicious of him.
"If Your Highness continues to hesitate," Xie Shiguan suddenly said, "it will be dawn soon."
He held Chen Que's hand tightly, pinching the knuckles and rubbing them slowly: "It is a fact that the Saint is seriously ill now. There is no need for your grandfather to go to such great lengths to send such a secret letter just to play a trick on you. Your Highness, why not send a guard with the secret letter to the outside of the city gate to try it out first?"
Shen wanted to pull out his finger, but he was pulled back by the man just halfway.
Now that he has arrived in Beijing, it is meaningless to wait and see, so Shen nodded slightly, raised his hand and said: "Do as you say."
On the city wall, an officer in brocade robe looked down.
He sneered, "Who is coming?"
It is now late at night and the city gates are closed. No matter if you are a prince or a noble, you have to stay outside the city for the night and wait until dawn before entering.
The guards of the palace below held up a secret letter and said, "This is the emperor's edict. Please have a look, General."
The brocade-dressed officer upstairs frowned, squinting his eyes and staring at the man below. This voice was very familiar, but he couldn't remember who it was for a moment: "The emperor is still ill, when did he issue an imperial edict? Raise your head and let me take a closer look at you."
The soldier in charge of lookout in the corner tower bent down and took out two arrows from his quiver: "General, there is a carriage parked in the distance, followed by a dozen people holding knives and swords. Do you want to catch them?"
Before he finished speaking, the man below raised his head.
The city wall was too high and the lights were too dim. The officer in brocade robes only caught a glimpse of a hazy face. His suspicions grew even more. He blurted out, "Qi'er?"
The man below looked slightly stunned, and after a while he replied, "Brother?"
He was the youngest illegitimate son in the family, eighteen years younger than his eldest brother on the city wall. Therefore, when they were still in Kyoto, their relationship was not very close, not to mention that he had been with King Ping in his fiefdom for three years and had not returned.
After recognizing him, the brocade-robed officer first signaled the lookout beside him to put away his crossbows, and then asked in a low voice: "Is His Royal Highness Prince Ping behind us?"
The guard hesitated for a moment and looked back: "Yes."
His family had been loyal for three generations and had always been loyal to the Holy Lord. Three years after leaving the capital, he had never heard that his eldest brother had sided with that force in the court.
Sure enough, just as he finished speaking, he heard the officer above him order: "Open the city gate!"
Just to be on the safe side, Xie Shiguan took out the handwritten note from the secret letter and only let the guard take a blank secret letter to test it.
Unexpectedly, the chief guarding the city did not even check, but only respectfully asked Shen Que to lift the curtain and let him recognize himself, and then he would personally escort him into the palace.
After entering the palace, several servants waited on Shen Que to change a sedan chair. The guards were stopped outside the palace. Only Xie Shiguan, the long-term attendant, was allowed to continue to accompany him.
They were silent all the way, and only when he was getting out of the sedan chair did Xie Shiguan come forward to support him lightly and gently rub the back of his hand with his fingertips.
Shen looked up at him, only to see that person's eyes were slightly curved, and he whispered to him silently: Don't be afraid, I'm here.
This man was really frivolous. The person he was going to meet now was the emperor, the supreme ruler. It would only take a word or an order to depose or discipline him. If something really big happened, could such an unknown attendant protect him at all?
But somehow, with Xie Shiguan's words, Shen Que's panic suddenly subsided for the most part.
This man was indeed born in obscurity, but if Chen were really to be deposed, demoted, or even killed, Xie Shiguan would probably go with him.
Even if it is a sea of endless sin, he will drag him along.
Chen Que finally stepped into the Funing Palace again. The palace was filled with a strong smell of herbs, and the inner room had an irresistible smell of moxa.
He frowned slightly, and then walked slowly inside.
I saw a sickly and skinny figure leaning on the dragon couch surrounded by bright yellow curtains.
When I returned to Beijing to celebrate the New Year last year, this cold and serious grandfather seemed to be in good spirits. But in just one year, he had aged so much.
"Saint," the old eunuch who led him in said with a smile, "look who is here?"
Shen knelt silently beside the dragon couch and kowtowed with his hands on the ground, a heavy and awkward gesture.
The person on the dragon bed sighed softly, his voice hoarse and deep: "My son, how have you been doing in your fiefdom these years?"
Shen straightened up and replied in a serious tone, "Very good."
In his impression, his grandfather never understood what he "said" and always had to ask others to interpret for him. However, even if someone interpreted for him, His Majesty would never say more to him.
But today, Grandpa seemed to understand his sign language and chatted with him lazily: "Princess Ping fell ill a few days ago. Yeye wanted to write a letter home to send to Yingchuan to express his condolences, but the court affairs were too busy and Grandpa was seriously ill, so he really had no time to write."
However, Shen only thought that these were polite words and did not dare to take them seriously: "Father, you should take good care of your illness, which is the serious matter."
The emperor looked at him with his eyes downcast, then lowered his head subconsciously, his thick black eyelashes pressing down on his eyes, revealing a sense of strangeness and timidity.
This is his ninth son. In terms of appearance and conduct, he is gentle, respectful, frugal, benevolent, righteous, polite and wise. In fact, he is no worse than the previous ones, and even... better.
He stretched out his hand with a sigh and gently rubbed Shen Que's head: "If you were a healthy child, you would be no worse than them."
Shen Que's body froze, and he lowered his head and accepted it obediently. Under the emperor's palm, he was like a docile dog.
This was the first time since Shen Que could remember that his grandfather had acted so intimately towards him, but he did not feel moved, only fear.
"But..." He raised his eyes and moved his hands slowly, "But I am not."
The eyes of the man leaning on the dragon couch dimmed little by little. He slowly withdrew his hand, sighed softly, and called him "Guan'er".
"Even if you were not," he said, "you would not be like your brothers, of whom you are the most righteous and kind."
It was the first time that Shen heard his grandfather call him by his childhood nickname. When the thing that had once occupied his mind and dreams now truly happened to him, he did not feel happy for a moment, only a sense of emptiness and confusion.
But he listened to his grandfather very quietly, with his eyes lowered, like a docile and stiff puppet.
"Huan Lang is a straightforward and impetuous person, who is easily instigated and exploited. I thought I knew his weaknesses and that he was not a bad person, but who would have thought that he would easily let others plot against him, and even be so bold as to poison my meal!"
When he said this he suddenly started coughing violently. The eunuch handed over a silk handkerchief to the emperor, who took it and coughed up a mouthful of black blood the next moment.
Shen was somewhat frightened. Although the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace looked panicked, they did not shout for the imperial physician.
It can be imagined that they should be accustomed to such things.
After he recovered, the emperor continued to talk to him.
Only then did Shen Que realize that the puppet's magic was fake, and the prince's intention to poison him was real, and the person who secretly designed and lured him was none other than the sixth prince of King Xuan, who was the most favored among the princes.
In the end, the two people he loved the most, one was stupid, and the other was bad. After years of sharpening their knives, he only got two sharp blades pointing at him.
As for the remaining princes, most of them chose to live in other places, and had nothing to do with these two people. He couldn't help but wonder whether these princes also contributed to this.
"Guan'er," he said, his eyelids drooping, looking dejected, "you are the only one left. You are the only one who is clean."
Suddenly, Chen felt his hand sinking and his palm was cold. He looked up and found that his grandfather had handed him the square jade seal.
He looked at the seriously ill emperor with great fear and trepidation.
But Grandpa just lowered his eyes indifferently: "Yeye doesn't have much time left, don't hurt Grandpa's heart anymore."
"In addition to this jade seal, there is also a will. The Marquis of Xuanping should be arriving in Beijing with the fish token by now. Don't be afraid. They will take care of everything." As if he saw through what Shen was thinking, the emperor paused and said, "Official, you are my ninth prince. Don't underestimate yourself."
"Since I have chosen you to be the crown prince, you will sit in that position with honor."
Chen was holding the heavy jade seal, and for the first time he felt his shoulders were so heavy. The brief warmth in his heart slowly dissipated, and instead, a sense of inexplicable sadness came over him.
He knew clearly that his grandfather chose him not because he valued him, but because he had no choice.
The author has something to say:
I accidentally overwrote, so I have to write one more chapter to finish it (it’s not because I’m lazy that I write so slowly, it’s because of all the boring apps on my phone, which always take me away, and it takes me a whole day, which is really scary w
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