Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 548: The Eastern Palace is Decided Today
The fact that his own people were not in the palace, a handwritten edict brought a huge shock to the cabinet, major government offices, and countless officials and families in the capital. However, the emperor was not aware of this. After leaving Zhang Garden, he even took the Fourth Prince for a leisurely stroll around the famous Xisi Pailou in the capital, and then planned to return to the palace through Xi'an Gate.
As a result, the fourth prince who followed his father out today was naturally very happy and almost didn't want to go back to the palace. However, Lu Chan, who was waiting for the emperor at Xi'an Gate, was almost tired of waiting. Although his legs were not broken, when he saw the emperor and his entourage appear in his sight, he almost burst into tears.
He rushed forward like a gust of wind, and after paying his respects said cautiously: "Your Majesty, the three cabinet elders, the six ministers of the six ministries and the Left Censor-in-Chief, plus a large number of prominent ministers, have all gathered at Fengtian Gate to seek an audience. Eunuch Chu is so anxious that I don't know how many people he has sent outside to look for you..."
Before Lü Chan could finish his words, the emperor sneered: "How can Chu Kuan be anxious? Isn't he calm and composed in everything?"
This kind of words sounded like a vent of anger, so Lu Chan naturally didn't dare to continue rashly. After the emperor said this, he didn't say much, but just walked quickly towards the imperial horses that had been prepared long ago. The fourth prince was not to be outdone, and followed closely behind with his short legs. When he saw that there was a horse among the imperial horses that was of a suitable height for him, he was satisfied.
Although the height of the horses was suitable, the emperor and his entourage were riding back to the palace through the Western Garden. Even if the speed was not lightning fast, it was much faster than that of the fourth prince who was just learning riding. So he was left behind in a moment. If he hadn't found that Lu Chan was actually guarding the battle from behind, his face would have drooped.
Seeing that the emperor and his entourage had already run away without a trace, Lü Chan, who had come to report the news in person but was rejected by the emperor, rode his horse closer to the fourth prince and chatted with him with a smile. He wanted to dispel the fourth prince's vigilance and then try to find out why the emperor suddenly took his anger out on Chu Kuan, but he didn't expect that the fourth prince, who was a little bratty, was not easy to mess with.
The man glanced at him sideways and said with a half-smile, "You want to ask why Father picked on Eunuch Chu to get angry, right?"
Seeing Lü Chan's extremely embarrassed expression, the Fourth Prince said unhappily, "Today, I followed my father to Zhang Garden to see the teacher's workshop, and I found a suspicious person inside. It turned out to be a spy planted in the teacher's workshop by our palace! Of course, I couldn't help but ask my father, but he directly scolded Eunuch Chu for doing unnecessary things!"
Lu Chan's heart skipped a beat. What did he mean by seeing a suspicious person? What did he mean by a spy planted by the palace in Zhang Shou's place? Most importantly, how could the emperor be so sure that Chu Kuan had done it as soon as he heard about it?
Although it was Chu Kuan who did it... and the person was selected by him, he didn't expect that he would be so useless!
Even though he thought so, Lu Chan still had to look inexplicably surprised, because the Fourth Prince was famous for his "straightforwardness". Even Liu Feng, who told him confidential information, was betrayed and almost kicked out of the Qianqing Palace. He didn't dare to offend the little prince, so he didn't dare to say a single extra word.
When the Fourth Prince and he arrived at Xihua Gate one after another, he learned from the gatekeeper that all the guards who followed him today had dismounted here, while the emperor rode directly into the palace, most likely heading straight for Fengtian Gate. He couldn't help but feel a toothache.
Historically, the outsiders could only ride horses outside the imperial city, while the imperial palace was a completely restricted area, even the royal family members, and even the emperors of all dynasties would not ride horses in their own palaces. However, there were a few emperors in this dynasty who were unwilling to follow the rules.
First was Emperor Taizu, the founding emperor. Then there was Emperor Yingzong, who had been forbearing for many years and finally fought his way back to the court. Then there was the late Emperor Ruizong, and finally... there was the emperor who did not conquer the world on horseback but particularly loved riding horses in the palace.
It doesn't matter at other times, but today, with so many ministers gathered at Fengtian Gate, how could the emperor ride past like this? If the empress dowager knew, she would probably vent her anger on them!
Although Lü Chan was worried, the fourth prince was inexplicably excited. He shook the reins and rushed into Xihua Gate. Several guards wanted to stop him, but when they saw the pony and the short guy on its back, they thought about it and retreated. With the emperor's indulgence of his two youngest sons, this little thing in the palace was nothing.
Think about it, the queen...the deposed queen had condoned the eldest and second princes to do this!
The Fourth Prince tentatively rode his horse into Xihua Gate and found that no one stopped him. He immediately became bolder and ignored Lu Chan's shouting behind him.
Although his riding skills were a little crude, there might be a few imperial horses in the palace that were selected at the emperor's request and had some majestic temperaments. However, the horses that were really given to the emperor and princes like him for daily riding were all docile and particularly obedient.
Therefore, even though the Fourth Prince had poor riding skills, he was still able to control this docile pony quite well. When he was about to reach a small gate, he hurriedly reined in the horse and then clumsily fell off the horse's back, not caring about the condition of this small mount, and rushed to the small gate as soon as he stood firm.
He leaned over and looked out, and saw a dark mass of people in the square in the distance. Although it was far from the point of ambush, after counting the number of people, he realized that this matter was probably very serious.
Although he didn't understand what was going on, curiosity still drove the Fourth Prince to sneak out of the door and tiptoe towards that place. Under normal circumstances, even if he was inconspicuous, he was still a living person and would not be ignored. But in this situation today, both sides' attention was on each other, so no one noticed him at first.
Therefore, the daring Fourth Prince successfully approached to a distance of 20 to 30 steps behind the ministers. Because he came from behind, he thought that no one except the emperor would notice him. But even so, for the sake of safety, he stopped obediently when he found that his father and the ministers in front of him were in a stalemate.
And the next moment, he heard a voice coming from the crowd.
"Your Majesty, the eldest and second princes are of royal blood after all. Even if they are guilty, you can't let them fend for themselves, one in Zongzheng Temple and the other in Qiongzhou Prefecture, right? Moreover, the two are already adults. They had mentioned the matter of taking concubines before, but now they have suddenly stopped. If this gets out, wouldn't it be damaging..."
"What damage? Damage to my reputation?" The emperor interrupted the old minister in a bad mood and said impatiently, "I heard that your family has a very beautiful daughter. Are you planning to follow the example of Yue Shanzhang and betroth her to the eldest prince?"
It was actually about the eldest and second brothers? The fourth prince's eyes almost popped out of his head after hearing this. Even though he was a little kid, he couldn't help but regret joining in the fun. However, he sneakily took two steps back and saw the emperor's eyes looking at him. His face immediately turned pale, so he simply stood there and watched, not daring to move anymore.
The emperor's extremely sarcastic question really made the old minister stunned. But he was a man who had experienced many things in life. The trembling old minister was stunned for a moment, then took a deep breath and said: "If the emperor..."
"There is no if, I just said it casually, you don't have to be so passionate and push your daughter, whom your wife loves like a jewel in her palm, into the fire pit!"
The emperor interrupted the old minister again with a fierce face, then looked at the others and said: "Since ancient times, history has been judged by later generations. Even though Emperor Taizu came to power in a legitimate way, there were still people who wrote some messy things behind his back, let alone me. I am not afraid of being accused of mistreating my sons, because I was too indulgent to them in the past, which led to their development!"
"Since it has already grown into a crooked tree, if it breeds more crooked trees for me, it is better to suffer a short pain than a long one! Dalang is completely hopeless. If Erlang is willing to stay in Qiongzhou Prefecture for me quietly until I grow the magic medicine for curing malaria, then he is still my son. A prodigal son who returns to his roots is more valuable than gold, and he is naturally worthy of the noble lady!"
The emperor's resolute attitude gave Kong Daxueshi a headache, and the premonition that was already lingering in his mind suddenly became stronger. Although he was not the chief minister, he was the highest-ranking minister in the cabinet, so he had to stand up and raise the biggest question on behalf of all the officials.
"Your Majesty, now that the first and second princes have been convicted, if the Eastern Palace remains vacant as before, the officials and the people will probably feel uneasy. Previously, Your Majesty refused to appoint a crown prince on the grounds that the Eastern Palace had been established long ago and there were constant disputes. But now it seems that if certain people could be persuaded to give up their inappropriate thoughts as soon as possible, perhaps the previous incidents would not have happened."
This was a statement that openly condemned the emperor's actions. Wu Ge Lao asked himself, he would never dare to be so direct. And Zhang Yu, the most junior minister in the cabinet, opened his mouth, but did not dare to agree rashly.
Both of these cabinet ministers were silent. Although the court officials gathered here today had seemed heroic and high-spirited just now, they were all silent at this moment.
Following the example of Confucius, he accused the emperor of having an ambiguous attitude as the root cause of the fall of the two princes? This was too shocking!
However, after the initial slight shock, the emperor did not get angry because of the accusation of Grand Secretary Kong. Instead, he nodded gently and said calmly: "Mr. Kong is right. I once blamed Concubine Jing for not educating her son properly as a biological mother. But as the saying goes, if a child is not educated, it is the fault of the father. In fact, as a father, I am more guilty."
"I previously stripped the eldest prince of his clan membership, but I did not report this to the ancestral temple. Now I will officially report this to the ancestral temple and personally apologize to the ancestors for my poor parenting." When he said this, the emperor's calm face showed a hint of sarcasm, "Or do you want me to issue an edict of apology?"
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar. Even the Grand Secretary Kong, who had just questioned the emperor without being blamed, could not stand up and immediately knelt down and said he dared not. Then, the Fourth Prince saw that the ministers in front of him suddenly became shorter. He felt panic and resentment in his heart because he was highlighted.
What frightened him was that he actually encountered a scene where his father was going to punish his two brothers harshly - although he was not familiar with the two brothers at all, he not only had never experienced brotherly love, but also experienced deep hostility.
What made him angry was that when the deposed queen was still the empress, his father had ordered the two sons to move to the East Pavilion to study, but the empress turned a deaf ear to it and refused to let them go. She even claimed that as long as she was the empress, she would protect her two sons from being bullied... Not to mention that the eldest prince and the second prince had the best teachers and everything else.
At this moment, he even wanted to shout, why was his father so bad to them, why did he have to offer sacrifices to the ancestral temple and apologize to the ancestors!
But the emperor did not personally help any of his ministers up when they knelt on the ground. Later, the emperor and his ministers put aside their past grudges. He just looked at the backs of their heads quietly for a long time before he said word by word: "I have two sons now. Concubine Xian in the palace is already pregnant. If it is a boy, then by God's blessing, I will have another son."
"But the position of the Crown Prince will no longer be vacant. The Third Prince is a man of noble character, gentle and virtuous, and is worthy of being the Crown Prince. The Ministry of Rites should check the ceremonies for enthroning the Crown Prince, and then draw up a simple yet solemn ceremony for me to see."
The fourth prince stood there in a daze for a long time before he came back to his senses from his trance and realized that his father was going to appoint his third brother as the crown prince! Although he had been well protected by the emperor since he was a child, his only two shortcomings were being spoiled and impulsive, but that didn't mean he really didn't understand those adult matters.
In the past, he had whispered with the Third Prince about what would happen if either the First Prince or the Second Prince became the Crown Prince, and he had been confused. But now, these two mountains have been removed, and his best and most beloved Third Brother is going to be the Crown Prince!
The fourth prince, who had fully awakened, suddenly waved his fist to the sky excitedly, and then he turned around and ran away without caring about the occasion. The emperor, who saw him running happily, smiled slightly, but then the smile turned into a trace of regret.
He remembered clearly that when he was young and swore to take over the country in front of his seriously ill father, the equally young Prince Lu naively asked him, "It's great that your brother is the emperor. Can I have whatever I want in the future?" What did he answer decisively at that time? It seemed like a promise that he hadn't thought through at all - of course , you can have whatever you want!
But later, the younger brother whom he had watched grow up not only wanted gold, silver and beautiful women, but also wanted his kingdom and his life.
I just hope his sons won't repeat the fate of their fathers...
