Free Web NovelChapter 1303: Chapter 1292: Illegitimate Son
"Did you know we would rebel today?" Prince An exclaimed in shock.
Prince Kang smiled faintly, "I didn’t know long in advance, just felt more at ease with some precautions."
At this moment, he was grateful for listening to his son’s advice. Originally, he had rightfully taken the position of Crown Prince, thinking there would be no problem, but didn’t expect his three brothers to be so bold!
Luckily, a month ago, his son’s mother discovered something wrong with Father Emperor’s health in the Empress Mother’s palace. Immediately, his son sent a letter to Nanyue to mobilize troops back. If Ye Jing had not discovered something wrong with Father Emperor, if his son hadn’t insisted on mobilizing troops, today could have truly been a disaster!
Upon hearing this, Prince Min’s face became extremely ugly, but he still tried to compose himself, "Even if you were prepared in advance, so what? How can you alone be a match for the three of us?"
"Is that so?" Prince Kang merely looked at them coldly. These ignorant fools, they would never know what Nanyue had become under his rule. With wealth, would he still worry about not having a strong army or horses?
He had planned that if Father Emperor didn’t appoint him as Crown Prince, if Father continued to use him as a pawn, then he would start anew. Perhaps by then, the one breaking through the city gates would be him.
He just didn’t expect things to progress so smoothly. Just as Father Emperor pretended to favor and use him, he had a stroke, leaving him no choice but to seize the opportunity, and the troops of Nanyue were his guarantee.
"Second Brother, Third Brother, you underestimated me. Did you really think that my voluntary request to go to Nanyue back then was a retreat?" Prince Kang said no more, but just this sentence made them change their expressions.
After all, if his request to go to Nanyue twenty years ago was false, then this big brother hid too deeply, and not a single person saw through it.
No wonder the seemingly uncompetitive and unfavored Empress could take control of the harem so quickly, this plan started twenty years ago! This big brother can really endure!
In Prince An’s Mansion, Ye Sihui was anxious all day, until the atmosphere of the mansion suddenly turned tense, she knew Prince An must have done something, and it was related to today’s Crown Prince appointment.
At this point today, she suddenly became timid, intuitively feeling that Prince An who ascended the throne in a past life might ultimately have no fate with the throne in this lifetime, so she had early this morning let her son drink a bowl of sleeping potion. She hoped her son wouldn’t get involved in any messy affairs.
She no longer dreams of becoming Empress; she just hopes her son can live healthily and carefree for a lifetime. After two lifetimes and nearing forty years old, she finally understands the throne is not something good.
She knows that as long as you’re tied to that position, you’ll live in perpetual fear, scheming before taking the throne, and laboring worry and fearing rebellion after ascending.
Being Emperor is said to be fulfillment, but in reality, to be a good Emperor is more exhausting than anyone else, and even to be a foolish Emperor you have to ask if the Ministers and the people are willing. On the surface everyone follows, but actually restrained in deeds, the simplest truth is: can you wander freely beyond the Imperial City after becoming Emperor? No!
So, although Ye Sihui is jealous of Ye Jing, she herself does not want to be Empress, nor does she want her son involved in this turmoil. Prince An cannot escape it, she only hopes Ye Jing and Xiao Rui will consider their nephew/cousin’s welfare, and since he didn’t partake in these events today, spare him.
In the afternoon, Ye Sihui heard screams, heard the hurried escape of the servants, then saw a squad of sturdy soldiers enter her courtyard and surround it tightly, controlling their actions.
From this, she could conclude, Prince An was defeated. This ended as she expected, only didn’t anticipate it to happen so quickly.
After all, in a past life, Prince An ascended the throne, but to lose so easily this time is somewhat sigh-worthy.
"Mother, what happened?" Xiao Rui woke up groggily, asked anxiously and puzzled.
"Don’t act rashly. Even though your Father did something foolish, you weren’t involved. Your own uncle guards the border for this dynasty, they won’t trouble you too much." Ye Sihui quickly clarified the situation for Xiao Rui while calming him down.
But how could Xiao Rui calm down? After a moment of realization, his face turned pale.
His Father committed rebellion? And failed? And he was fed sleeping pills by his mother early on?
"Don’t blame me for acting on my own accord, I just didn’t want you involved. The Crown Prince’s succession is legitimate, we must hold him in reverence," Ye Sihui’s words were not only intended for her son but also for the soldiers guarding them, praying her half-sister Ye Jing could speak well of them to Prince Kang.
Xiao Rui led the army they built in Nanyue into the capital like a pack of wolves among sheep; these spoiled soldiers of the capital were no match, and control was swiftly seized.
Prince Kang took his three brothers whose faces were ashen, without a care for delaying the auspicious time to continue the succession ceremony.
"Do you hear what’s happening outside? Even without your imperial decree, my son has become Crown Prince, and has undermined all your power." The Empress sat beside the old Emperor’s bed, speaking with a radiant smile.
The old Emperor now was immobile, only his eyeballs could move. Hearing her words, he glared with rage, letting out hoarse sounds from his mouth.
"Angry? Furious? Things haven’t gone as you wished?" The Empress’s laughter grew louder, "Do you know how long I’ve waited for today? Do you know how much I hate you? Rest assured, I will ’kindly treat’ your beloved concubines and those proud sons of yours well."
The old Emperor’s eyes reddened in anger, but what could he do?
The Empress suddenly stopped smiling, her gaze turning ruthless, "You say if you had been a bit kind to me and Hong’er, would it have come to this? Clearly, I was your official wife, but have you respected me for a day? Clearly, Hong’er was your legitimate eldest son, but did you ever intend to make him Crown Prince?"
"No, you never did." The Empress said with a fierce expression, "Don’t resent me or Hong’er now. Had we not given you medicine, you wouldn’t have lived this long. Though we seized your throne, the medicine we gave was good, but who made you greedy, who made you ungrateful?"
The Empress, as if tired, slowly stood up, finally speaking disdainfully to him, "Rest assured, I won’t let you die early, I know how painful it is to lie immobile on the bed, you may experience how I felt punished and unable to move after giving birth to Hong’er!"
