Chapter 499 The tug of war between the Queen and the Crown Prince
The prince ate a few more mouthfuls before he began to make a fuss: "My younger brother is traveling to study with my aunt's third cousin. It will probably take two or three years for him to come back."
Upon hearing this, the Queen dropped her chopsticks onto the table and glared at the Prince with a ferocious look on her face. "What did you say? Say it again?"
The Queen was practically livid at this point. She knew Fu Ning had bad intentions. What kind of status did Fu Ning's son have? What kind of status did her son have? How dare he let his son go on a study tour with Fu Ning's son? If anything happened, could she afford to compensate him?
The prince knew his mother would be angry if she found out, but he didn't expect her to be so angry! He could only whisper again, "My younger brother has gone to study abroad."
"How dare he! He's Prince Ruihe, why would he need to travel to study? It's bad enough that he's taking the imperial examination with those low-class people, but he's actually risking his life. A gentleman doesn't stand under a dangerous wall, doesn't he know that?"
At this moment, the queen felt that she was really going to be angry to death.
Seeing his mother so furious, the prince couldn't even eat. He gently advised, "Don't worry, mother! Father has sent people to protect my brother, so he'll be fine. Young people have grown up, and they always have their own paths to follow."
"I haven't even talked about you yet? You were born He Yichen'er's brother, yet you actually agreed to let your brother run around with someone else. Do you know how important your brother's existence is to you?
He is the barrier that separates you from the other princes. If anything happens to your brother outside, you, the crown prince, will be in great danger."
The Queen thought her eldest son must be crazy. As long as Chen'er stayed in Yuanjing, the future of both brothers would be very bright. But he had to make such a fuss.
Although the prince knew that his mother's words were biased towards him, he still found them very irritating. He truly regarded Yang Chengchen as his younger brother and did not want Yang Chengchen to stay away from home and do nothing for his own sake, just to be a rich idler who would eat and wait for death.
"Mother, what are you thinking? My brother is so outstanding, how can you clip his wings? This position of crown prince belongs to me, so of course I paid for it myself."
The prince was sincerely advising his mother, and if his younger brother could learn well what he was learning now, he would be his best arm in the future. If the brothers worked together, perhaps Jingguo would usher in a new era of prosperity.
Crown Prince Yang Chengchen has been looking forward to the arrival of this prosperous era. By then, the names of the two brothers will definitely appear in history books.
The Queen didn't want to hear her eldest son's reasoning. How could she understand it? The thought of how the situation might change if something happened to her youngest son made her lose her composure. "What do you know? Do you know what your grandfather and his family sacrificed for you to be crown prince? Your position cannot be compromised in the slightest."
"Oh, then, Queen Mother, tell me what my grandfather did to secure my position as Crown Prince. Did he make enemies everywhere? Did he flaunt his power? Did he make marriages better in the mansion? Did he spare no effort to stuff people into my backyard?
The only thing they have done for me is to raise a daughter like you, and to make you my father's wife."
From the Crown Prince's perspective, his grandfather and his men hadn't really done much for him. He was crowned Crown Prince primarily through his own hard work. He didn't ascend to the throne as a worthless piece of shit. Among his current confidants, none were from his grandfather's lineage.
"How can you say that about your grandfather's family?" The queen felt that he was about to faint from anger at this unfilial son.
"Mother, sometimes the truth is really hard to hear, but it is indeed the truth." The prince could understand that his mother relied on her maternal clan, and he could also understand her desire to support her maternal clan.
But the prince could not accept that in his mother's heart, her mother's family ranked before him and his two brothers.
The Queen watched the Crown Prince speak such infuriating words in a calm tone. Tears immediately streamed down her face, and she cried so hard that she was out of breath. She was almost ready to hang herself.
Even as she cried, the Queen didn't forget to criticize the Crown Prince and Yang Chengchen for being ungrateful and heartless. At this point, the Queen had already forgotten the original reason for sending her eldest son to her palace. She only knew that the son she had worked so hard to give birth to was not close to her mother's family, and even felt that he was a burden.
The prince felt that he really did not mean that. He just felt that his grandfather and others were indeed not good enough in terms of achievements, but this did not affect family affection.
Crown Prince Yang Chengchen sighed helplessly and took a step back. "Mother, that's not what I meant. Please stop crying. What a shame!"
"Then you must promise your mother that you will go and ask your father to bring your brother back."
"I can't do this. My brother insisted on going out this time. He even had a big fight with Father in the Imperial Study. I don't want my brother to hate me in the future, so I can't do this. If you are not afraid, please ask Father for help yourself!"
The prince thought silently in his heart, "Brother, you should bear the blame yourself! I can't bear it."
When the Queen heard what the Crown Prince said, she wiped her tears and sat down neatly. She even ordered the people outside to bring a new table of food. As for her asking the Emperor for forgiveness, forget it! She had finally gotten the Emperor to forgive her, so she didn't want to go through with that bad luck!
Wouldn't that show that she doesn't trust the emperor? Since she is like this and her eldest son can't do anything about it, then forget it.
"Mother..." The prince was stunned by this sudden change.
"I'm just going crazy to see if you can get your brother back. Since you can't get him back, forget it. As for your grandfather and the others, as long as I'm still alive, you have to pretend to be close to me, even if you're not close to them. Otherwise, I won't be easy to talk to."
In fact, the queen valued power more than her children. When Yang Chengchen was a child, he was either with Funing or in the palace, and he spent very little time with her.
She valued him, but his position in her heart could not surpass that of her eldest son. It was even more impossible for her to really turn against the Crown Prince for him.
"Okay, as long as you are happy." Although the prince felt that his mother was a little strange, he didn't care as long as his mother didn't cause him trouble.
After the prince finished speaking, he buried his head in his meal again. After he was full, he left leisurely.
After the Crown Prince had walked a long way out of the Queen's palace, he ordered his trusted aides, "Go check if there have been any strange people around our Queen Mother recently, or if there have been any strange things happening."
The prince always felt that his mother today was different from what he remembered.
Not long after the Crown Prince left, the report of his conversation with the Empress was already on the Emperor's table. The Emperor, perusing the report's contents, had to admit that his affection for the Empress had waned a little.
If the Queen could come to him for Chen'er's safety, he would be very happy. As an emperor, others would try to figure out his thoughts, and he would also try to figure out the thoughts of those he cared about.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
