Chapter 195 [VIP]
The emperor was somewhat bewildered, but those who were supposed to understand understood perfectly.
This is a mockery of the Crown Prince's instigation and manipulation of public opinion.
The Prince of Jin remained silent for a long time.
So be it.
He raised a cup of wine: "Your Majesty, I offer you a toast."
This cup of wine marked the complete end of their relationship as ruler and subject, and as brothers.
After the emperor finished drinking, he stared intently down below, desperately trying to see what Xie Yingchen was doing. All he could see were shadowy figures, and he could hear rustling sounds in his ears, saying things like "muskets," "the grandson," "wise and virtuous," "the five barbarian tribes paying tribute," and "the late emperor's wisdom."
"Grandson," the emperor said coldly, "show me the musket."
"Your Majesty, the muskets are too powerful. Your eyesight is not good. It would be bad if you were accidentally injured."
Xie Yingchen politely refused, and not a single voice uttered a rebuttal.
Even if I were to investigate him now for bringing a sharp weapon into the palace, I would only be making a fool of myself.
yes.
He had been ill for so long that his ministers no longer even knew who their master was.
They were all bribed by Xie Yingchen!
He picked up the glass, but his fingers gripped it too tightly, and the wine spilled onto the back of his hand.
The emperor drank it all in one gulp, the fiery liquid flowing down his throat, making him feel agitated.
After several cups, Li Deshun dared not pour any more and cautiously advised, "Your Majesty, you have just recovered, please take care of your health."
The emperor's face was grim. Li Deshun dared not raise his head. After a while, the wine cup did not hit his head. Li Deshun heard him ask, "Where is Prince Duoleng?"
Li Deshun answered the question in turn: "The imperial physician is treating patients in the back."
"Have someone go and ask."
Li Deshun agreed and sent a young eunuch to check on it. The young eunuch returned shortly afterward.
"Your Majesty, the imperial physician is removing the bullet from the eldest prince. He says it will take at least another incense stick to burn."
"I'll go take a look."
With Li Deshun's help, the emperor rose and walked to the back.
The clear and melodious sound of the zither flowed like water, and the dancers moved gracefully in the hall, their skirts fluttering and their water sleeves billowing.
The Duke of Cheng'en sat below, clapping along as he watched intently. When he looked up and saw the emperor leave, his eyes darted around, and he quietly followed him.
After a few rounds of drinks, people began to go out to change their clothes.
Apart from the Prince of Jin glancing at him a couple of times, the Duke of Chengen's actions did not attract much attention.
He left the main hall, called a young eunuch and asked him a question. The eunuch led him to a side hall.
"emperor."
He caught up with the emperor and affectionately called out, "Brother-in-law."
"I'll do it, I'll do it."
The Duke of Cheng'en went to the other side of the emperor to help him up: "I haven't seen my brother-in-law for so long, I...I...I miss you so much. I think about you every day, afraid that you might be wronged. But I can't see you, so I can only ask my sister...I can ask the Empress to pass on a message to you."
The emperor patted his hand, thinking, "My brother-in-law is really an honest man."
"emperor."
The Duke of Cheng'en looked left and right: "Didn't the Empress tell you?"
Duke Cheng'en felt that he must have said so, otherwise he wouldn't have set October 14th as the wedding date for the Third Prince.
The emperor nodded.
"That's good." Cheng'en Gong was relieved and said in a low voice, "Brother-in-law, the Crown Prince has even brought out muskets. If we don't make a move soon, we won't even have a chance to make a move."
The emperor, deep in thought, walked forward without uttering a word.
"Brother-in-law..."
Cheng'en Gong followed him closely, calling him "brother-in-law" repeatedly to try and get closer to him.
The emperor hadn't fully made up his mind; once he took this step, there would be no turning back.
"I will speak with Duoleng first."
"Brother-in-law, I've reached an agreement with the eldest prince..." Before Cheng'en Gong could finish speaking, a patrolling Imperial Guard passed by, and he immediately swallowed his words.
"Your Majesty, the eldest prince is in the side hall at the front."
Li Deshun spoke at just the right moment, prompting someone to push open the door to the side hall.
A strong, pungent smell of blood filled the air.
Cheng En Gong shrank back. Ever since he saw Xie Qiyun die in front of him, he felt nauseous at the smell of blood.
"Your Majesty." The imperial physician greeted him quickly upon his arrival.
"His Majesty the Emperor Daqi."
Duo Leng sat in the grand chair, his clothes half-undone, revealing his bare shoulder. The imperial physician had already cut open the flesh with a knife; his wheat-colored shoulder was a bloody mess. To relieve the pain, the physician had also used silver needles near the wound.
"How badly is the eldest prince injured?" the emperor asked.
"The bullet has been removed."
The imperial physician wiped the sweat from his brow and showed the emperor the pellet.
This was the first time he had ever treated a gunshot wound in all his years of medical training. After cutting through the flesh, the area around the bullet was badly burned; fortunately, it hadn't hit the bone, otherwise the hand would definitely have been ruined.
He didn't go into details, only saying, "I need to cut off the burned flesh, then apply medicine and bandage it."
The emperor took Li Deshun's hand and walked in, sitting down in a grand chair.
Li Deshun dismissed all the other servants, leaving only two imperial physicians.
"Your Majesty, Emperor of Daqi," Duoleng said with a stern face, devoid of any emotion, "Does Your Majesty intend to lure us to our deaths by having the Crown Prince possess such a powerful weapon?"
"Your Highness, you've misunderstood!"
Duke Cheng'en originally wanted to say something like that they didn't know either, but he wisely swallowed the words back.
Even without saying it aloud, Duoleng understood the unspoken meaning.
interesting.
"Fool!" the emperor cursed inwardly.
His brother-in-law is obedient and loyal, but he's just too stupid.
Wasn't he blatantly telling Duoleng that the musket belonged to Xie Yingchen, and that even he, the emperor, was seeing it for the first time?
Therefore, if Duoleng wanted a musket, he would have to befriend Xie Yingchen.
Xie Yingchen has always been ruthless in his pursuit of the throne. If Duo Leng were to befriend him, Xie Yingchen would surely agree. With the Liang people's help, wouldn't he be able to force Xie Yingchen to abdicate?!
Now I have no time to hesitate any longer.
It wasn't Xie Yingchen who died.
It's him who dies.
The emperor, oblivious to the sharp wounds on the man's face, addressed him meaningfully: "Your Highness, this wedding was hasty, and the betrothal gifts were not prepared with sufficient ceremony. In the Great Qi, there is a custom that if the groom's family is particularly satisfied with the marriage, they can send an additional betrothal gift on the third-day return visit."
“Princess Jiaye is my daughter-in-law, and Jing’er is my most favored son. No amount of betrothal gifts is too much.”
His words contained several layers of meaning, which Duoleng understood, and he seemed to be deep in thought.
The imperial physician's hand trembled slightly as he cut off the piece of flesh that had been scorched black.
Ugh. Even with the pain relief from the silver needles, the agony of having flesh and blood ripped out still made Duoleng let out a muffled groan.
Cheng En Gong shuddered, and upon seeing the piece of meat that had been cut off, he immediately thought of Xie Qiyuan.
"Your Majesty, I have been away for too long. I fear that the Crown Prince will take notice of me."
The emperor raised his hand.
Duke Cheng'en quickly bowed and withdrew, only to hear Duoleng behind him say, "If Daqi is willing to provide the betrothal gifts, Daliang will not mistreat Jiaye..."
This barbarian from Xiliang is quite adept at using veiled language. Duke Cheng'en thought to himself, "It's good that we've reached an agreement."
After the banquet, I will ask Prince Jin to go and visit the eldest prince together.
There are only a few days left until October 15th, so we need to make preparations early.
Cheng'en Gong thought for a moment and then went outside.
As soon as he stepped outside, the gust of wind immediately dispersed the lingering stench of blood. He let out a long breath and was about to close the door when he remembered something and asked, "Your Majesty, I wish to request that Her Majesty the Empress arrange a marriage for Nian'er..."
The Emperor: "Which one has Sun Nian taken a fancy to?"
"He is from the Wang family."
"Wang family son?" The emperor hesitated for a moment, but he really didn't have the energy to deal with such a trivial matter. "Tell the empress to talk to Danling properly and ask her to back down so that things don't get too ugly."
The Duke of Cheng'en quickly expressed his gratitude and then quietly closed the door.
If the Emperor agrees, that's good.
Now that he was feeling much better, the Duke of Cheng'en returned to the palace with light steps.
As the dancer gathered her flowing sleeves and gracefully stepped back, a musician carrying a guqin (a seven-stringed zither) came forward.
The Duke of Cheng'en entered with the musicians, and after happily conveying the Emperor's intentions to the Empress, he returned to his seat.
With the Empress around, Nianjie's marriage prospects are definitely not a problem.
The Empress seemed to be deep in thought.
She originally wanted to ask the emperor directly for a marriage decree, but Xie Danling had a terrible temper.
The Empress glanced around but didn't see Xie Danling, assuming she had gone to change. Unexpectedly, half an hour passed before she returned, accompanied by three or five people.
They went there to test the guns.
Gu Yican was very eager to see it. When he first made it, he was still in the Western Frontier. This was the first time he had ever seen it.
He couldn't wait to borrow a musket from Xie Yingchen, and then led his younger sister and cousin away from the banquet. However, after testing it, he found that the range was not good, less than half the range of a one-stone bow.
“Within a hundred paces, the musket is superior in terms of accuracy and power, but beyond a hundred paces, we still have to rely on the repeating crossbow and bow and arrow,” Gu Zhizhuo said in a low voice. “It needs further improvement.”
To achieve continuous fire, the amount of gunpowder was reduced, and the barrel was shortened, affecting the range.
However, they didn't know how many of these muskets the young master possessed, or whether he had equipped an entire battalion with them. This alone was enough to instill fear in them.
Mm. Xie Danling tried it twice and had a great time; her arm was even a little swollen from the vibrations.
"The Fifth Princess".
As soon as she sat down, the head maidservant beside the Empress walked slowly up behind Xie Danling and whispered, "Fifth Princess, Her Majesty requests your presence for a word."
Xie Danling was having her younger cousin massage her arms when she heard this and sighed inwardly.
"I'll be right back."
Xie Danling patted the cat hair off her dress and dawdled over.
"Mother."
After exchanging greetings, Xie Danling sat on the Empress's footstool, her hands resting on her knees, a perfect smile curving her lips, quiet and gentle.
Including Xie Danling, there were only three older princesses. The eldest princess was imprisoned, the second and third princesses died young, and the fourth princess's mother was of low rank. After she arrived, she stayed in front of Jia Ye, flattering her.
The empress gently tapped her feet to the rhythm of the zither music, as if she had been summoned there simply to listen to the music.
Xie Danling looked down absentmindedly. Gu Yican had somehow gotten to Xie Yingchen's side, talking and drawing something on the table with his finger dipped in wine. The Duke of Wei, shameless as ever, squeezed in as well.
Occasionally, words like "musket" would float up, only to be drowned out by the music.
The song ended.
The Empress praised him a few times and said, "Reward him."
The courtesans all presented their zithers in gratitude.
The Empress turned around and asked softly, "Danling, how are you learning the piece I asked you to learn?"
Xie Danling became unhappy at the mention of playing music. She smiled gently and said, "I didn't learn it well, and all of Your Majesty's hard work was wasted."
"Mother, look at my hands." Xie Danling raised her hands, her slender fingers long and white. "I'm so clumsy, I can't even pluck the strings. My mother said that making me play the zither is just wasting it."
"You," the Empress said, tapping her forehead.
Xie Danling covered her mouth and laughed in agreement.
The two chatted and laughed like a mother and daughter, enjoying each other's company.
The Empress took a sip of wine and said casually, "I heard that your cousin has also come to the capital. Is he going to participate in next year's autumn imperial examination?"
"My cousin has no intention of entering officialdom..."
The Empress interrupted her, preventing her from continuing, and said to herself, "I believe that the ancient saying, 'Settle down before building a career,' actually makes a lot of sense. A man spends his life seeking fame, status, and fortune, but nothing compares to finding a virtuous wife to accompany him."
Xie Danling raised an eyebrow, puzzled. Was the Empress implying that she and her cousin should get engaged quickly? Hmm, that didn't seem right. Why would she care about her like that?
"In my opinion, your cousin and the young master of the Wang family are a perfect match."
Cousin? Xie Danling didn't realize who her cousin was at first. After a slight pause, she suddenly understood: "Sun Nian?"
"No manners." The Empress frowned slightly in displeasure.
What do you think?
The Empress looked at Xie Danling with a smile. Her gentle words carried a hint of assertiveness.
Seeing that Xie Danling did not speak, the Empress patted the back of her hand.
The Empress knew perfectly well that Consort Shu had summoned the Wang family's son to the capital in order to marry Xie Danling back into the Wang family.
Originally, the Empress was extremely dissatisfied with Consort Shu's disdain for her nephew from her maternal family, and she didn't care whether he married into the Wang family or not. However, after Sun Nian's incident, especially with her younger brother's disturbance at the Prince of Jin's residence, Sun Nian's reputation was almost completely ruined, making it even more difficult for her to find a good marriage like the one she had with the Prince of Jin's family in the future.
Sun Nian is her own niece; she can't just ignore her.
The Empress considered all the eligible men in the capital, but found none suitable. It was her sister-in-law who mentioned the Wang family, a prominent and powerful clan, which wouldn't be considered a marriage below Sun Nian's station.
Although Wang Xing has no official position, the autumn imperial examination will be held next year. We should urge him to take the exam well and he can become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination).
Wang Xing is thinking about his future and will treat Nian'er well.
Most importantly, his sister-in-law and Sun Nian were very happy to agree.
But the Emperor said that she should talk to Xie Danling properly... The Empress suppressed her impatience and said in a gentle tone, "Your cousin is a year older than you. Her last marriage didn't go well, and I felt sorry for her. Danling is the kindest person, isn't she?"
Xie Danling's face darkened: "My cousin is engaged."
The Empress stroked her nail guard, a half-smile playing on her lips: "Oh, who?"
"My daughter."
Xie Danling spoke without any sense of shame.
Her mother said that whether or not Cousin Xing wanted to marry the princess was a decision for her and Cousin Xing to make themselves. Actually, she hadn't made up her mind yet either.
"Nonsense. Do you think I don't know whether you're engaged or not?" The Empress's voice hardened. "Danling, be good to me, and I will find you a good marriage."
"What do you think of your cousin Gu? He comes from a wealthy family and is close to you. Don't you really enjoy playing with your cousins?"
Xie Danling: ?
ill!
She let out a muffled groan from her nose, clearly indicating her displeasure.
How dare they give me attitude! The Empress's voice grew colder and colder as she said indifferently, "I have heard that the First Princess of Duoling died young in childbirth, leaving behind a daughter, and she has not yet remarried. I think you are of similar age, which is quite good."
What do you think?
Xie Danling suddenly clenched the hem of her clothes.
The Empress's words were clearly a form of coercion.
The obvious meaning is that she should voluntarily give up her verbal engagement with Wang Xing.
If she obeys, the Empress will arrange a good marriage for her.
If she disobeys, the empress will persuade the emperor to let her marry into the Duoleng family.
After all, the marriage with the Wang family was only a private discussion between Consort Shu and the Wang family, and had not yet been formally announced, let alone an engagement.
Gu Zhizhuo narrowed his eyes, gazing thoughtfully in Xie Danling's direction.
The Empress sat on the high platform, speaking in a low voice. Gu Hezhuo was a bit far away from them and couldn't hear what she was saying, but Xie Danling's appearance seemed off.
When Xie Danling is angry, she likes to clutch the hem of her clothes.
When she was little, the hem of her clothes was always wrinkled.
Gu Zhizhuo summoned a young eunuch and said gently, "Please help me find out what the Empress is saying to the Fifth Princess."
The young eunuch was delighted and agreed before leaving.
Xie Danling smiled and shook her head, saying, "Mother, on behalf of my cousin Xing, I thank you for your kindness."
"The Wang family is unwilling to accept this marriage."
"My daughter won't allow it."
She couldn't let the Wang family and the Chengen Duke's Mansion be tied together, and let her cousin become a sacrifice.
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