Chapter 287: Mountain Collapse
The Queen said nothing more, but closed her eyes tiredly. The Emperor held his wife carefully, waiting anxiously for a long time but received no response.
He secretly curled the corners of his mouth in delight.
Fortunately, Shu'er was still tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Since she hadn't refuted him decisively, it meant he still had a chance. In his next life, he would be a good dog-skin plaster, clinging tightly to his wife.
They rode their horses across the fields, singing songs, and stayed far away from everyone. That way, they would never make the same mistake again.
When the prince came to ask for instructions that lunch was ready, the queen forced herself to get up and have the last meal with the children.
The necessary arrangements had been made, and the necessary explanations had been given. It seemed that after completing all the necessary tasks, she could finally let herself fall.
Three days later, on a very quiet morning, the emperor's wife, Queen Qiao, quietly closed her eyes in her husband's arms.
In the sixth year of Zhaowu, she died.
The emperor personally put on the phoenix robe for his wife and looked at the people in the harem who were kneeling on the ground with an expressionless face.
"Don't be so quick to cry, cough cough cough, Wang Sande, have someone pass on the imperial decree, summoning all officials above the third rank to the palace."
"yes!"
Chief Steward Wang immediately ordered the eunuchs to summon all the civil and military officials into the palace as quickly as possible.
"Old Five,"
Looking at his youngest son, the emperor paused before speaking in a deep voice.
"Appoint the fifth prince as Prince Shun, and grant him the fiefdom of Daming Prefecture."
"Father...I..."
Li Jingxiu knelt behind his two brothers, also crying.
"Prince Shun, please accept my order and express your gratitude."
"Yes! Your Majesty, I accept your order and thank you for your grace!"
The emperor turned his head to look at his wife, suppressed the great sadness in his heart, and staggered to his feet.
"Fourth Brother's wife, you stay here at Fengming Palace. Crown Prince, Prince Qi, Prince Shun, all of you follow me."
"Your son obeys your order!"
At this time, no one dared to go against the emperor's wishes.
Jiang Wan's eyes were filled with tears as she looked at Li Chengxiu, whose eyes were red and heartbroken. She could only look at him with worry. Li Chengxiu, who was left behind, patted his wife's arm gently with trembling hands.
"Don't worry about me, just take care of yourself."
He raised his hand and wiped his blurred vision with his sleeve, then immediately stepped out.
The father and son went up to the hall. The ministers who received the news came quickly. After all the people who should have arrived, the emperor issued an oral order.
He wants to abdicate.
Perhaps the emperor had already informed many people, so everything went smoothly without any problems.
Three days later, a new king will ascend the throne.
Unfortunately, he did not live to see the day of the new emperor's coronation ceremony. Only one night later, the old emperor could no longer bear it and chased after the queen.
In just one day and night, the emperor and empress died together.
A group of princes and princesses knelt in front of the bodies of the emperor and empress, crying and wailing.
"Father, Emperor, Mother!"
"Wow, wow, dad..."
"Mother..."
The younger children were still crying for their parents, but the grown-up princes had to suppress their sadness and come out to take charge of the affairs.
The country cannot be without a ruler for a day, so all the loyal ministers knelt in the palace and asked the prince to keep everything simple and ascend the throne as soon as possible to reassure the people inside and outside the court.
However, in the process that should have been least likely to go wrong, a huge mistake occurred. The Crown Prince directly pushed the King of Qi out in front of the ministers.
"My virtue is flawed and unworthy of my position. I have done nothing for the people and have shown no filial piety to my parents. I abdicate today and make way for a more capable person. The Prince of Qi has made great contributions to the pacification of Dongling and has guarded the border for many years. He has made countless contributions to Dayu. He deserves the throne!"
"Brother, are you crazy? What are you talking about?!"
Li Chengxiu, already kneeling on the ground and ready to shout "Long live the emperor" three times, was stunned by his brother's sudden and crazy words. Turning his head to look at the civil and military officials in the hall whose faces suddenly changed, he quickly stood up and loudly disapproved.
"My brother just said something wrong because he was too sad. Gentlemen, please don't take it seriously. The coronation ceremony will begin immediately! The Clothing Bureau, please send the dragon robe over, quickly!"
"I didn't say anything wrong. What I said was that Prince Qi Li Chengxiu should ascend the throne as emperor!"
Li Yanxiu looked at his brother and started crying while smiling.
"Old Four, you're right. I've been crazy for a long time."
He raised his trembling fingers and pointed in the direction where his parents lay. Only at this moment could he open his mouth with difficulty.
"Fourth Brother, I've never dared to tell you. Dad and Mom weren't sick at all, they were poisoned. This poison was successfully administered by the Song family and the noble families behind them, through Song Ziying. So, Fourth Brother, I was the one who killed Dad and Mom, do you know that?"
Li Chengxiu was completely confused. He felt that he couldn't understand what his brother was saying.
My father and mother have clearly said time and again that they damaged their foundation when they were young, which is why they are in poor health now that they are old.
Before their death, his parents repeatedly told him to be sensible and behave himself and not act recklessly anymore. But why did his brother start to act recklessly now?
"Brother, don't talk nonsense. That's not what the imperial physician said! When my parents were young..."
"no!"
Li Yanxiu interrupted his brother's self-deception.
"They are all lying to you. They are afraid that you will hate me. But I hate myself too. I regret it!"
He suddenly vomited black blood.
"elder brother!"
"Your Highness!"
"Someone! Call the imperial physician and tell Qiao Yunyue to come over quickly, quickly!"
Weiwu Hou Qiao Yunhai was hopping with anxiety. He had already heard the details of this matter from his sister. He had even knelt before her and sworn an oath to remain loyal to the new emperor. And hadn't his sister said that the third brother didn't know the details? Who had told him this?
"I'll call someone over right now!"
Prince Shun Li Jingxiu wiped his tears, got up from the ground, turned around and ran out. He cried in fear as he ran. How could such a terrible scene happen just after his father died?
What was Third Brother trying to do? Was it really as he said, or had he simply stopped wanting Fourth Brother? If he couldn't even tolerate his own brothers, born from the same mother, then wouldn't his illegitimate brother be even more miserable? Li Jingxiu was heartbroken and terrified, tears streaming down his face.
And Prime Minister Ji, who was always calm in the face of emergencies, panicked for the first time.
No, what on earth is going on here? The Crown Prince doesn't want to be emperor, and he doesn't want his descendants to be emperor either. Instead, he wants to give the throne to the Prince of Qi?! It's obvious he's truly crazy!
For a moment, the civil and military officials were so upset that they couldn't even maintain a calm expression on their faces.
Especially the officials of the prince's lineage, all of them had pale faces and desperate eyes.
Duke Jiang Huailiang was so shocked he was almost dazed. He only guessed the Emperor and Empress were poisoned, but he had no idea the Crown Prince had gone mad! What was he going to do now? Was he going to kill Li Laosi?
He quietly turned his head to look for his military advisor. Qin Zhenning was standing behind the prime minister. He shook his head in a very subtle way and gave him a look that told him to stay calm.
Since Lao Qin was still able to stand, he must have been confident. Lao Jiang finally dared to breathe quietly.
No matter what these people were thinking, Li Chengxiu didn't bother to look at them for the time being. He just stepped forward and caught his brother who fell to the ground.
"Brother, brother, what's wrong with you?"
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