Southern Chen Dynasty, Shengjing.
These past few days, Chen Huang has felt like he's floating on air, with dark circles under his eyes and his whole body emaciated.
He Shuye claimed to be in seclusion. Emperor Chen, referring to the "immortal book" he left behind, refined a lot of pills according to his own understanding. While eating them, he sighed to Qin Ye with regret: "I wonder how Minister Shang is doing now... In the end, the Imperial Preceptor and he have some connection."
Qin Ye smiled and comforted him, “Your Majesty need not worry. Ever since the assassin Yan failed to assassinate you, the Prince has felt that he was the culprit and insisted on becoming a chivalrous knight to help others; this is a good thing. If Your Majesty forces the Prince to stay in Shengjing, I am afraid he will blame himself every day.”
Emperor Chen only mentioned it casually; he wasn't worried about Shang Yunlan at all. He was about to say something when suddenly everything went black before his eyes, and then he lost consciousness.
...
When the Crown Prince and Zhao Ming learned that Emperor Chen was unconscious, they were still in a brothel, each embracing a girl and having a good time.
The two exchanged a glance, and then both saw a kind of joy in each other's eyes—if they handled things properly, the throne would be within their grasp.
The Crown Prince was quite anxious. Emperor Chen was only in his forties and in good health. He would probably live to be seventy or eighty. If he waited until then to ascend the throne, it would be too late.
He also wanted to build a temporary palace, and since Empress Chen had many beauties in her palace, since Emperor Chen could only look at them, he might as well give them all to him.
Unlike the Crown Prince, who was full of conceit and greed, Zhao Ming felt that this was a good opportunity to let his mother, the Eldest Princess, take the opportunity to rule as regent. When the time was ripe, the world would be his.
Thinking about it that way, it's absolutely wonderful.
On their way back to the palace, the two remained silent, their eyes gleaming with wisdom (crossed out).
After a long silence, the Crown Prince finally spoke: "Cousin..."
Zhao Ming smiled and said, "Cousin, what is it? Please speak freely."
The Crown Prince smiled and said, "I would like to invite my aunt to the palace so that she can take charge of the overall situation."
Zhao Ming: "...?"
He felt that the Crown Prince was not very bright—although this was exactly the result he wanted, didn't the Crown Prince know that Chun Chun was inviting a wolf into the house?
He didn't understand, he didn't comprehend, but he was happy.
Zhao Ming paused for a moment, then quickly smiled and said, "No problem."
Zhao Ming alighted from the carriage and then hurried towards the Princess's residence.
Princess Lu Rong was listening to music with one of her male favorites when she saw him rushing around. She rolled her eyes at him, annoyed, and said, "What's the rush? Can't you be a little more composed?"
Zhao Ming wiped his face and gestured for them to leave first. The princess glanced at him indifferently and scoffed, "So what if His Majesty is unconscious? Why are you so distraught?"
Zhao Ming sighed helplessly and sat down next to his mother: "Mother, do you really intend to stay in this little courtyard for the rest of your life, hanging out with these gigolos?"
The eldest princess glanced at her son, with whom she wasn't particularly close, narrowed her eyes, and slammed her teacup heavily on the table: "Insolence! How dare you criticize your mother like that?"
Zhao Ming was not afraid of the Eldest Princess. He looked at her deeply and then said, "Mother, I know that your life and personality are the result of my uncle's actions. You are not reconciled, and neither am I... I want that position, and I ask for your help, Mother."
The eldest princess stared at him intently for a moment.
She knew her son was ambitious, but she also knew he was mediocre.
When ambition and ability don't match, such thinking is nothing but unrealistic ambition—the princess curled her lips in a mocking smile: "If you can't hold onto that position, I can't help you."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Ming immediately felt a surge of blood rush to his head. He stood up anxiously and exclaimed, "How could I not be able to sit still? I secretly won over many of his advisors without the knowledge of that fool, the Crown Prince. I shifted the blame for the tragedy at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion onto my uncle, yet he remained completely unaware!"
Looking at the distraught Zhao Ming, the eldest princess actually laughed: "You really are your father's son, just as incompetent and ugly as ever! Let me tell you, I personally killed your father with poison. Do you know why? Because he, like you, harbored such thoughts!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Ming froze, feeling a chill run through his body.
He was only three years old when his father died. His mother told him that his father had been seriously ill and died.
But it turns out... he was killed by the eldest princess herself.
The eldest princess continued, "His Majesty is foolish, but he possesses the suspicion and sensitivity that an emperor should have! If I hadn't acted decisively back then, you would have been implicated by your father and would have died countless times by now! Yes, I also have ambition, but I know that I do not have the ability to match my ambition!"
As she spoke, she looked at her son with great disappointment: "If you had even a fraction of my self-awareness, you wouldn't have such thoughts!"
Zhao Ming still didn't think his idea was wrong. He had always been arrogant and conceited. Upon hearing this, he simply stared at his mother and said, "Mother, just because you are unwilling doesn't mean that your son is unwilling. I know what I'm doing, so you don't need to worry about it anymore—just pretend I never came to the Princess's residence."
The eldest princess shouted sternly, "Stop! You stay right here! These are turbulent times. If anything happens to you, how can I protect you?"
Zhao Ming did stop, but when he turned to look at the Princess, his eyes were full of mockery and sadness: "Mother, even now, you still refer to yourself as 'this palace' in front of your son. How much maternal love do you truly have for your son?"
The princess was stunned for a moment, then opened her mouth, her face looking rather unpleasant, unsure of what to say.
Seeing this, Zhao Ming scoffed and turned to leave.
No sooner had he left than the princess swept the teacup off the table and smashed it to pieces on the ground.
Seeing this, the old nanny sighed, "Your Highness...why are you doing this to yourself?"
The princess's eyes reddened, but her gaze still held a hint of stubbornness: "I am a member of the Lu family, and I live by relying on the Lu family... It is not easy for women in this world. I was born into the royal family, and I have my own mission."
She paused, closed her eyes slightly, and opened them again with a look of sorrow: "Back then I could be ruthless enough to poison Qinglang, and I will not be soft-hearted now—Granny, you should know that I have always only wanted to live a good life."
The old nanny listened with trepidation, but having watched the princess grow from a baby to her current state, she naturally knew her princess's temperament.
She wanted to say a few words of advice, but in the end she could only sigh and say, "Your Highness, this old servant only wishes that you can live well."
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