Chapter 125: I’m Here To Send Father Emperor On His Final Journey!
By the time the ministers arrived at Lu Quan Palace, the Crown Prince, several princes except the Third Prince, and all the concubines were already standing outside the palace.
“The Emperor summons the ministers and princes for an audience.” Eunuch An announced loudly. He stood at the door, looking at the crowd, his expression a mix of sorrow and joy, hard to discern.
The mentioned people filed into Lu Quan Palace one after another. Upon seeing the Old Emperor seated upright on the Emperor’s Bed, they all knelt on the ground together, “Your humble subjects/sons pay respects to the Emperor/Father Emperor. Long live the Emperor/Father Emperor, long live, long live, long live!”
“All you ministers, rise!” The Old Emperor’s sharp gaze swept across the faces of these people one by one, lingering especially long on the Crown Prince. If not for his exceptional composure, he might have been sweating profusely by now.
After looking over everyone, the Old Emperor was satisfied. He turned to Eunuch An, “An He, proclaim the decree!”
“Yes!” Eunuch An held the Imperial Decree in his hand. After everyone knelt, he stood at the bedside and read aloud:
“By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:
I have been blessed by Heaven, inheriting the great foundation of our ancestors, ruling the world, vigilant day and night, never daring to slacken.
Now that my time is near, I wish to select a worthy successor to continue the great line, to bear the heavy responsibility of the ancestral temple and the state.
Crown Prince Qing Ye has been wise since childhood, benevolent, filial, respectful, and frugal, possessing all virtues, deeply in my heart, and unanimously recommended by the ministers. I hereby specially bestow the throne upon Crown Prince Qing Ye. You shall succeed to the throne of Emperor. I hope you revere Heaven and emulate the ancestors, govern diligently and love the people, to continue my aspirations. All civil and military officials inside and outside, each respect your duties, assist the new sovereign, and jointly achieve great accomplishments!
Respect this!”
As Eunuch An’s voice fell, the ministers exchanged glances, then all kowtowed respectfully, “Your humble subjects obey the decree!”
A rare smile in recent days appeared on the Old Emperor’s face. He looked at the Crown Prince, “Qing Ye, come to my side.”
The Crown Prince’s expression was somewhat complex. He stood up, walked to the bedside of the Emperor’s Bed, and stood bowed.
“Dingguo Duke,” the Old Emperor glanced at the Crown Prince, then turned his gaze to Mo Qilan.
“Your humble subject is here.” Mo Qilan quickly responded, an inexplicable bad premonition rising in his heart.
“Minister Mo, I remember that the Mo family’s noble title can be inherited for five generations, and after five generations, it is downgraded. I have not remembered wrongly, have I!”
“Your Majesty has not remembered wrongly. Your humble subject is the fourth generation.”
“That’s good. Back then, the Mo family’s ancestor followed the Founding Emperor in campaigns north and south, his martial arts superb, even the Founding Emperor praised him endlessly. But I vaguely remember that after him, military generals in your family declined, and by your generation, you abandoned martial arts for civil pursuits. Is that so?”
Sweat beaded on Mo Qilan’s forehead. He prostrated on the ground, his voice trembling as he answered: “In response to Your Majesty, your humble subject is dull and has no talent in martial arts. Indeed, I have failed our ancestor’s aspirations.”
“I have heard that you have a son who was once Qing Ye’s reading companion, and he has learned martial arts quite well. Is there such a matter?”
“This… my son has indeed learned a few fancy moves.”
“Hm, Minister Mo, people say civil ministers stabilize the state, military generals secure the country. Do you think there is reason in this saying?”
“There is, there is reason.”
“That’s good.” After saying that, the Old Emperor no longer looked at Mo Qilan, but addressed everyone, “After the Crown Prince ascends the throne, it will depend on you to assist him.”
“Your humble subjects will certainly not fail Your Majesty’s trust and will exert all efforts to assist the Crown Prince.” Everyone answered in unison.
“Good, good!” The Old Emperor smiled as he said these three words, but his face suddenly withered rapidly, his eyes becoming exceptionally cloudy.
“Father Emperor!” The Crown Prince was closest. Seeing him like this, he quickly took two steps to the bedside, lifted his frail body into his arms, his nose souring, choking as he called out.
The Old Emperor leaned in his son’s arms, barely lifting his head to smile at him. This was the only smile he had seen since he was old enough to understand, untainted by any scheming.
“Father Emperor!”
The other princes all rushed to the bedside. The Old Emperor’s gaze was already scattered. He slightly lowered his head toward his several sons, the light in his eyes gradually fading. Finally, his head rested on the Crown Prince’s shoulder, and his hand, which had been limply on his knee, suddenly dropped.
“Father Emperor!”
“Your Majesty!”
Everyone burst into loud cries, especially the Crown Prince the most. Over these few days accompanying the Old Emperor, his emotions had been intensely fluctuating. The Old Emperor had confided imperial family secrets known only to successive emperors, and he then realized that the Old Emperor’s inner heart was not the same as what he had shown. He had many misunderstandings about the Old Emperor before, but he still could not forgive him for scheming to cause the death of his own Crown Princess, forcing him and his son to be separated.
When the imperial physician announced “the Emperor has passed away,” he actually fainted from holding his breath.
“Your Majesty!” The ministers and imperial physicians changed their address very quickly.
After a bout of chaos, the Crown Prince slowly woke. He struggled to stand and walked to the bedside of the Emperor’s Bed, looking at the late Emperor’s emaciated but peaceful face, unable to stop his tears from flowing again.
At this moment, a sound of clashing metal and weapons suddenly came from outside the door, along with shouts of killing and angry rebukes, growing clearer and entering everyone’s ears.
The room door was kicked open. The Third Prince, dressed in dark prince’s attire, entered Lu Quan Palace protected by numerous guards.
“Third Brother, what are you doing?” The youngest Seventh Prince was the first to question loudly.
“Heh, what am I doing? Didn’t you see? I’m here to send Father Emperor on his final journey!” The Third Prince’s face was full of arrogance. He kicked over the Minister of Rites closest to him and strode step by step toward the bedside of the Emperor’s Bed.
“Old Three, are you rebelling?” The Second Prince pulled the Crown Prince behind him and pointed at the Third Prince’s nose, shouting sternly.
“Haha, rebelling? Who said I’m rebelling? As long as the name on the succession decree is mine, who can say I’m rebelling? Hm? Hahaha…” The Third Prince laughed maniacally.
“Father Emperor has already passed the throne to the Crown Prince. The decree absolutely cannot have your name on it!” The Second Prince said firmly.
“Hmph, I knew Father Emperor only had the Crown Prince in his heart. We other sons are nothing to him, not even farts. Why? We are all his sons. Why can’t we sit in that position? Ah?”
“Because you are inferior to the Crown Prince in every way, because none of us submit to you.”
“Don’t submit to me? Hahaha, no matter. Soon you will submit.” After the Third Prince spoke, he glanced at the Old Emperor on the Emperor’s Bed, sneered coldly, stood there without speaking, as if waiting for something.
Soon, cries from women and guards’ rebukes came from outside the door again. The ministers in the room all changed expressions; they could tell the crying women outside were their family ladies.
The Third Prince glanced sideways outside, a smile appearing on his face, “Let’s go, everyone. I’ll show you a good show, then you decide whether to submit to me.”
After saying that, he took the lead and strode toward the door.
The ministers looked at each other, then all turned to look at the newly minted Emperor His Majesty.
“Let’s go. I will go with you to see.” After speaking, the Crown Prince also headed for the door. At the doorway, he saw Mo Ziyuan guarding it. Mo Ziyuan nodded slightly to him. The Crown Prince understood in his heart, even more calmly walked up to the Third Prince, frowning as he looked at the family ladies from various houses being escorted over by a group of guards.
