bayedsolid Chapter 167 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (71)
Chapter 167 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (71)
The Emperor's suspicion of Ji Shumin is temporary. As long as Ji Shumin can find a way to defend himself and convince the Emperor, he will succeed.
It's easy to imagine who would suffer the consequences after that.
Because the emperor was suspicious, even in the palace, his medical records and prescriptions were top secrets.
Even the imperial physicians in the Imperial Hospital who were specifically responsible for examining the emperor's pulse were rotated every few people.
Except for those most trusted by the emperor, no one should stay by his side for long.
Therefore, even if the emperor's health condition changes, not many people will know.
A few days ago, the Emperor suffered from a severe headache and ordered the Imperial Hospital to develop a pain-relieving formula.
Because of his illness, the emperor was unable to get up, attend court, or review memorials.
Therefore, the court officials knew that, even so, they still did not know what was wrong with the emperor's health.
He could only watch anxiously, desperately trying to find out information from the palace.
If everyone knew that the Emperor was unwell, then it wouldn't be surprising if the matter of wrongly accusing Ji Shumin occurred.
Even with such tight secrecy, someone still managed to slip through the cracks. Presumably, the Emperor can only suspect a handful of people...
The first to be affected was his most beloved Consort Rong.
As the saying goes, beauty fades and love wanes; the emperor loved Consort Rong's beautiful appearance the most.
Flowers don't bloom for a hundred days, and neither do people.
No matter how much she takes care of herself or dresses up, Consort Rong is no longer the young girl the Emperor once loved.
The Seventh Prince is not young anymore. Consort Rong's appearance has become even more powerful and dignified, influenced by the power within the palace.
But what followed was the emperor's growing indifference year after year...
Consort Rong herself knew that she could not hold the Emperor's heart forever, but she was no longer the little noble lady who could only rely on the Emperor when she first entered the palace.
Consort Rong kept an eye on the Dowager Consort, who possessed an extraordinary bearing, unmatched by any other woman in the palace, and whom even the Emperor respected greatly.
With no empress in the palace for a long time, Consort Rong's ambitions grew stronger day by day...
In particular, the Seventh Prince was born with a dignified and imposing appearance. The Emperor once praised him personally, saying that the Seventh Prince had the same demeanor as him in his youth and was the most similar to him among all the princes.
This further fueled Consort Rong's belief that she and the Seventh Prince would inevitably emerge victorious in the palace intrigue.
She wanted to become the most honored woman in the palace. The position of Empress was no longer what she desired. She wanted to be the Empress Dowager, even more glamorous than the current Imperial Concubine Dowager!
She was blinded, as if just one more step, and one more step... and she would achieve her goal!
The Seventh Prince was spoiled by Consort Rong since childhood, and the Emperor also treated him kindly.
He was even personally taught by his father for a period of time when the child was young.
This made the Seventh Prince, like Consort Rong, arrogant and complacent. He even disregarded his other brothers.
Ji Shumin's disability became the final spring that made him go from being restless to taking the first step.
Heaven is on his side! This must be his destiny!
No one can defeat him!
The Seventh Prince's thoughts grew stronger and stronger. When he and his mother got together, they acted recklessly and without regard for the consequences.
Until that day, when he left Ji Shumin's Songjing Garden, the Seventh Prince was still immersed in his own fantasy.
They were not even aware of the impending danger...
Even the Second Prince, who was always narrow-minded and self-important, sensed that a storm was brewing.
Ji Shumin's deposition and expulsion from the palace were by no means the end of the matter, but rather the beginning of an even more unpredictable and turbulent period.
"What will the Emperor do to them?" Lu Liruan couldn't believe it.
"That depends on what they do next." Ji Shumin shook his head and clicked his tongue twice in a pitying manner.
But Lu Liruan could clearly hear schadenfreude in his sigh.
“We’ll be able to escape and live a good life then. Li Ruan can live however she wants, and we can live however we want.” He clapped his hands lightly, displaying a wild and unrestrained attitude.
"I would go boating on the lake with Li Ruan, admire the moon from the mountaintop, compose poems and paint pictures to comfort my life, and play the zither to express my feelings." Ji Shumin said it as if it were true.
"I can't compose poetry, and I can't play the zither either. I'm sorry to have disturbed your enjoyment." Lu Liruan shrugged, indicating that she had no particular skills.
"If Li Ruan leaves the palace, what does she want to do?" Ji Shumin asked earnestly.
Lu Liruan pondered, fiddling with her fingers as if counting copper coins: "I'm a rather materialistic person. If I really want to do something, I'd rather run a business. It's more satisfying to earn more money than something superficial."
Lu Liruan was intrigued by his words and began to seriously imagine that even when talking about the outside world, she had never been very interested.
Now, however, they find it fascinating; something that was once unattainable has suddenly become readily available, so naturally, they are willing to talk about it.
"What do you do for a living?"
"I don't know yet." Lu Liruan shook her head; she was just saying it casually.
“Hmm…” Ji Shumin tilted his head.
"No! I'm not capable of making a living, so don't worry about me!" Seeing his pensive look, Lu Liruan suddenly thought of something and hurriedly said loudly.
Ji Shumin's exceptional practical abilities might lead him to do something unexpected!
His methods were quite interesting. For example, when Lu Liruan was interested in calligraphy and painting, Ji Shumin encouraged her to learn as much as possible and to master the skills.
What might be a hobby for others, Ji Shumin believed in thoroughly mastering whatever he liked.
Ji Shumin seemed a little disappointed.
Lu Liruan quickly changed the subject: "Father Emperor doesn't like you and doesn't want you to be the Crown Prince, so who...who does he want to succeed him?"
What Lu Liruan didn't say was that, according to Ji Shumin's analysis of the poisoning of the emperor, the poison had already taken effect and there was no medicine to suppress it.
As the Emperor suffers from his illness, his condition will surely progress faster and faster.
When his illness has penetrated to the core and become incurable, it will not be long before the throne falls into someone else's hands.
"He doesn't realize he already has one foot in the underworld," Ji Shumin scoffed.
Once you peel away his usual facade of respect and filial piety, when he mentions the emperor again, he is dismissive and disdainful. This father and son have long since lost all trace of familial bond.
"Your sins are numerous, ranging from minor disturbances within the palace to the destruction of countless lives. Your Majesty? Ha! You'll fall into the realm of demons and asuras, or the animal realm, and taste all the bitterness!" Ji Shumin's hissing curse, like that of a venomous snake, made Lu Liruan deeply feel his malice towards the emperor.
"What exactly is the He family doing?" Aren't they upright and incorruptible, never forming cliques or engaging in favoritism?
"What use is loyalty when tens of thousands of soldiers are starving to death in a desolate, bitterly cold land where the wind howls like ghosts? Loyalty is blind loyalty, loyalty is death..."
Ji Shumin looked at the border map that had been taken out of the secret room and was now hanging on the screen in the small hall. His eyes were filled with sorrow and coldness, like the gleam of a blade drawn from its sheath under the cold moon.
"Layer upon layer of withered bones, blood and tears piercing through armor, the bitter battle against the Western Rong was paved with the lives of soldiers, while provisions and military pay became the fat that gluttonous men devoured, mixed with bones and blood, chewed up with glee..."
Ji Shumin flung the teacup beside him at the picture...
The tea in the cup spilled onto the yellowed, worn-out drawings, spreading out in a large patch that looked shocking in the dim candlelight.
In a daze, Lu Liruan seemed to see the tragic scene that Ji Shumin had described.
"Yu Xun and I were talking about the magnificent border scenery and the people who galloped across it," Lu Liruan murmured. She had never experienced war, nor had she ever felt so deeply what it meant for one general to achieve success at the cost of countless lives.
Through Ji Shumin's eyes, Lu Liruan saw his hatred and lofty aspirations, his ambition and responsibility. He had the world and the people in his heart, an epic heroism, and a sword that had been tempered and sharpened.
“Yes, there are people there. I won’t abandon them. I want them to be able to see the betrayal and the land they’ve protected, even if they bleed and die on the front lines.” Ji Shumin patted his leg.
“I can’t stand up, but there are always people who can. So I’ll clear the rough road for those who can stand up.”
Lu Liruan felt her blood boil and realized that Ji Shumin had kept those countless ledgers of evidence not to prepare for his counterattack today, but because he had long ago vowed to eradicate the rotten woodworms!
The emperor may not see it, but Ji Shumin can.
Lu Liruan sketched a picture of the border region from Zhuang Yuxun's cheerful words.
Furthermore, Ji Shumin's words completed the picture.
I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to see it with my own eyes in this lifetime.
But to be able to associate with someone like Zhuang Yuxun, who has returned from there and is never afraid, is already a great fortune.
Lu Liruan once heard Zhuang Yuxun jokingly say that the capital city was too small and too comfortable, making her feel itchy all over.
Upon hearing this, her mother picked up an inkstone and was about to hit her with it, saying, "Let me loosen your bones!"
Zhuang Yuxun, having nowhere else to go, came to the palace to eat the various fruits from Lu Liruan's place.
As Lu Liruan listened to her story, she said, "Then I'm destined to stay in this small capital city."
What was meant as a casual agreement made Zhuang Yuxun put down the half-eaten melon he was holding, look at Lu Liruan, and say seriously:
“The capital city is small to me, but it may not be to you. Everyone has their own vastness, and for you, Li Ruan, your vastness lies here.” She pointed to the ground beneath her feet.
“Your Highness’s vastness is also here. Because of Your Highness’s vastness, my vastness is boundless. Li Ruan, you are very important to this vastness.”
Even someone as carefree and easygoing as Zhuang Yuxun could sense how important Lu Liruan was to Ji Shumin.
Ji Shumin seemed unable to control himself, piercing through everything until the longsword broke. Lu Liruan then sheathed the blade.
In Lu Liruan's dream that night, the ground was covered in red, an endless wilderness.
The Emperor was not only wary of Ji Shumin. He had been in the supreme position for too long and desperately wanted to live forever. Every son of his was a threat to him.
I thought that now that Ji Shumin was no longer the crown prince, I could live a peaceful life in Songjingyuan for a while.
But the emperor's headache flared up again.
Lu Liruan watched as Ji Shumin slowly tied the jade pendant to his waist, then went over to help him smooth his loose hair.
Lu Liruan sniffed: "Why can't I smell anything?"
Lu Liruan thought he had also used the herb to fumigate it.
“Some pain needs to be experienced firsthand. Perhaps if the pain is too intense, he won’t even think about the Emperor anymore?” Ji Shumin pushed the wheelchair out.
There was no point in Ji Shumin staying by the emperor's side any longer. At first, the emperor didn't believe it, but after repeatedly summoning Ji Shumin, he finally had no choice but to accept it.
When his headache flared up in the middle of the night, the emperor was in so much pain that he lay on his bed clutching his hair in a frenzy.
After this wave finally passed, the delicate bright yellow nightgown was soaked with sweat.
"Why, why is it no longer useful!"
The Emperor's face contorted with rage: "Useless! All of you are useless! Why haven't you found a cure to relieve my pain yet!"
"The other day, whenever the Crown Prince was near me, my headache would be relieved, but they still couldn't figure out the reason! What's the point of having those idiots in the Imperial Hospital!"
"Issue my decree! If my headache cannot be cured, I will rip their heads off!"
The emperor roared hysterically and smashed everything around him on the ground.
After he finished venting his anger, the chief eunuch De Cheng, who had been serving him closely, knelt before the emperor with his head down and handed him a hot handkerchief.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. This servant will send someone to inform the Imperial Hospital immediately!" he said in a low voice, afraid of offending the emperor.
De Cheng was a eunuch who served by the emperor's side when he was still a prince.
Besides conveying imperial decrees, he also served the emperor with writing materials and stayed by the emperor's side on a daily basis. The emperor always treated him with more leniency.
Seeing him kneeling on the shattered porcelain shards of a teacup, the Emperor waved his hand, signaling him to get up.
De Cheng thanked the emperor and carefully wiped his hands. Then he took out a new nightgown and said, "Your Majesty, I have dismissed all the servants outside this room. I will serve you as you change your clothes. Please forgive me for taking the liberty of doing so."
De Cheng spoke softly and gently.
To prevent others from knowing his health condition, the emperor would dismiss all the palace servants whenever he had a headache.
He was in so much pain this time that he forgot all about it.
Upon hearing De Cheng's words, he closed his eyes and nodded wearily: "I understand. De Cheng, tell me, why is there no cure for my headache?"
"I am the emperor, how can there be anything I cannot do?" He clenched his fist.
"Your Majesty, you are overthinking things while you are ill," De Cheng said softly in a feminine voice.
"The people in the Imperial Medical Academy are working hard on their research. You can rest assured, you are the Emperor, how could there be anything you can't do?"
"Why is the Crown Prince by my side...?"
"Your Majesty, the Third Prince is no longer the Crown Prince," De Cheng reminded him tremblingly.
"Oh, I forgot all about it. But Min'er resents me, which is why he can't share my burdens anymore?" The Emperor seemed to be talking to himself, immediately labeling Ji Shumin as someone who harbored resentment.
"This humble servant dares to say..." De Cheng knelt down with a thud: "Your Majesty, please forgive me!"
"Speak your mind, I won't hold it against you." The Emperor leaned against the bedside, his stubble dark and bluish, looking extremely haggard.
"Your Highness, when you were still the Crown Prince, your ability to alleviate your headaches might not be due to your own good fortune or to share your burdens..."
De Cheng took a deep breath: "It is the crown prince he appointed for you who has been tainted by your true dragon aura. With such blessing and protection, he can show some dragon might and have such a miraculous effect."
De Cheng's voice trembled. The Emperor detested witchcraft and sorcery the most. His words were not about magic, but about karmic retribution...
This time, the emperor was not angry; instead, he seemed to fall into strange contemplation.