Chapter 13 The Emperor's Plot, the Birth of the White Dragon
"The assassin must be a top-notch expert. He was able to sneak into the palace, assassinate the second prince, and finally escape. Your Majesty is furious and is searching the entire city for the assassin."
Chen Li sighed. He didn't have a good impression of the Second Prince, but he didn't dislike him either. He was just amazed at the strength of the martial arts master.
Jiang Changsheng frowned. Aren’t there masters of the Tongtian realm in the palace? How could the assassin succeed?
so funny!
Could it be the work of those powerful people?
But could the emperor allow those guys to attack his other son?
Jiang Changsheng asked, "Is the Second Prince okay?"
Chen Li said: "Although he is seriously injured, it should not be fatal, otherwise General Hong will go crazy. The second prince's mother is not a good person."
Jiang Changsheng suddenly couldn't understand the emperor.
After chatting with Taoist Qingxu last time, he guessed that he was most likely replaced by the emperor. Besides the emperor, is there anyone more powerful than him?
If it was the emperor who did it, then it would be easy to explain. There were so many experts in the palace, and it would be very difficult to take him out. If the emperor turned a blind eye, then it could be explained. But what did the emperor mean by allowing those people to attack his other son?
He was determined to kill all his sons. Could it be that he, the emperor, was the one who was actually replaced?
Until now, Jiang Changsheng still couldn't understand why the emperor had him replaced.
"I heard that you injured that demon Taoist priest and had a great time doing it. After the demon Taoist priest was injured, His Majesty rarely saw him again. However, His Majesty has been attending court four or five times a month recently. I don't know what he is doing in the palace. Now that the Second Prince is injured again, the people in the court are uneasy. The Prime Minister actually took the opportunity to let the Crown Prince govern the country. It's ridiculous. If there is a rift between the father and son in the future, won't the country be in turmoil?"
Chen Li was filled with righteous indignation when he mentioned what happened in the court, and he didn't care about the emperor or the prince at all.
Jiang Changsheng asked: "Does His Majesty agree?"
Chen Li said: "I don't know. Your Majesty did not attend the court that day. The officials from the three provinces told Your Majesty about the matter and there was no further news."
The Da Jing Dynasty implemented the system of three provinces and six ministries, which was very similar to some dynasties in China, but also somewhat different. The three provinces were the Secretariat, the Ministry of Palace Affairs and the Ministry of State Affairs, which had a higher status than the six ministries. They were all second-rank ministers who directly faced the emperor, and the prime minister was the head of the three provinces, at the same level as the three provinces, but had higher power than the ministers of the three provinces.
Jiang Changsheng asked curiously: "Brother Chen, which prince do you support?"
As an official in the court, how can you not take sides?
Chen Li said: "I naturally respect the Crown Prince. Since ancient times, the eldest son has always been the right way to be the leader. However, if the Crown Prince takes power in advance, the trouble will outweigh the benefit."
Damn it.
You are actually a princeling!
Jiang Changsheng was speechless, but Chen Li should not be his enemy, otherwise he would not have said so many outrageous words.
"Speaking of which, His Majesty's attitude towards His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been sometimes good and sometimes bad. In recent years, he has even begun to neglect the Queen Mother. Perhaps His Majesty has begun to fear the Queen Mother's faction." Chen Li sighed.
Jiang Changsheng asked: "The Queen's faction is very strong?"
It was difficult for him to understand what was happening in the palace in the Taoist temple, and Taoist Qingxu would not say much.
Chen Li sighed and said, "Not only is it strong, it can already shake the foundation of the country. The head of the imperial guards stationed in the capital is the Queen's brother, and two of the three provinces are the Queen's younger brothers. When your majesty started the rebellion, you relied on the Yang family. Your majesty married the Queen, and the Yang family supported you, so you had money to recruit soldiers and horses. At that time, the Yang family was a wealthy family, and they spent all their wealth to support your majesty. Men served your majesty as soldiers and generals, and talented men served your majesty as counselors. No matter your majesty won or lost, the Yang family always followed you and was the most trusted force for your majesty, until they helped your majesty build this great country."
Jiang Changsheng suddenly realized why the emperor wanted to switch him.
He also felt a little sympathy for the fake prince.
This guy is destined to be a tragedy!
The emperor replaced him, and if one day it is revealed that the fake prince is not his biological son, wouldn't he be able to depose the prince?
Although the Yang family was angry, they could not find the real prince, so they could only allow other princes to ascend the throne, and the Yang family would be gradually weakened.
However, the Yang family still has a trump card, that is the fourth prince Jiang Yu.
etc!
That Jiang Yu...
Jiang Changsheng was chilled to the bone. Even a tiger wouldn't eat its own cubs, but his father was truly cruel.
Dajing regards trust and loyalty as the foundation of the country. The emperor had promised to conquer the country and share the world with the Yang family. Naturally, he could not directly destroy the Yang family. He needed means and reasons.
All the important officials who have been dismissed in recent years were charged with rebellion, oppressing the people, etc. Precisely because of this, the emperor still did not lose his faith and loyalty. It was those officials who asked for their own death.
Chen Li chatted with Jiang Changsheng for another stick of incense. After he left, Jiang Changsheng was still thinking about his problems in the room.
It turns out that it is not empty talk that there is no family affection in the imperial family.
Jiang Changsheng felt sad in his heart. He had no interest in being an emperor. If he were asked to be the emperor now, he wouldn't know how to manage the dynasty. But he was still unhappy about being plotted against like this, even though it was his own father.
As I said, if you don’t take revenge, you are not a gentleman!
Jiang Changsheng's eyes flickered, and he gradually came up with a bold idea.
…
In the imperial palace, inside the second prince's bedroom.
Jiang Yuan, with half white hair, sat beside the bed, looking at Jiang Ming on the bed with a look of heartache. Jiang Ming had woken up, but his face was pale and his lips were chapped. He was like a completely different person compared to the high-spirited man he was at Longqi Temple that day.
"Ming'er, don't go out too much in the future. Although the world has been settled, the remnants of the previous dynasty are still there. Do you understand?"
Jiang Yuan patted the back of Jiang Ming's hand and sighed worriedly.
Jiang Ming gritted his teeth and said, "But I was not assassinated outside the palace, I..."
Jiang Yuan glared and shouted in a deep voice: "What you did in Longqi Temple is not impressive enough? I don't even dare to protect a person completely, and you, as a prince, dare to protect a person forever. If others hear it, won't they think you are arrogant?"
"And he even spread the word to the entire capital. How ridiculous!"
Hearing this, Jiang Ming broke out in a cold sweat.
Behind Jiang Yuan, there was a person, none other than the Crown Prince Jiang Qian. He had an elegant temperament, like a scholar, and did not have the ambition of Jiang Yu and Jiang Ming.
Jiang Qian said, "Father, my second brother was just showing off his eloquence and had no other intentions. Besides, he is injured, why would you scare him?"
Jiang Ming gave him a grateful look.
Jiang Yuan glanced at Jiang Qian and snorted, "You only know how to indulge your brothers."
Jiang Qian smiled and didn't say anything else.
The old eunuch behind Jiang Qian is Eunuch Li, who has been following Jiang Yuan for many years. It was also he who sent Jiang Changsheng out of the palace.
Eunuch Li bent down and said, "Your Majesty, the time has come. It is time to ask the heavens."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan shook his sleeves, stood up, put his hands on his hips, and said with a smile: "Take good care of your injuries. Next year, when the canal is in place, I will take you two to the south of the Yangtze River. You have never left the capital since you were little. I will take you to see the great country I have conquered."
After saying this, Jiang Yuan turned away, walking as fast as a dragon or a tiger, and Eunuch Li quickly followed.
Jiang Qian shook his head and laughed, looking at Jiang Ming on the bed, and said with a smile: "Second brother, you should take good care of your injuries. I have to get busy too."
As soon as he turned around, Jiang Ming's voice came and asked him to stop.
"Brother, do you think there is someone in the palace who wants me dead?"
His tone was intriguing, and his eyes were fixed upwards, not at Jiang Gan.
Jiang Qian turned his head slightly, facing Jiang Ming, and said, "Second brother, don't read too many history books. Our Jiang family is a family of true dragons. How could we kill each other? I will investigate it myself, and I will not allow such a thing to happen."
After saying that, he walked out of the room.
Jiang Ming gave a sarcastic smile and then slowly closed his eyes.
…
After the Second Prince was injured, he no longer sent anyone to deliver gifts, and Jiang Changsheng was happy to have some free time so he could concentrate on practicing martial arts.
A month later, the snake eggs finally hatched, and a small white snake appeared. It was thinner than Jiang Changsheng's little finger and nearly ten centimeters long. When it was just born, it was no different from an ordinary little snake. Jiang Changsheng had to take care of it personally, and even tried to be careful when feeding it, for fear that it would choke to death.
During this year, Jiang Changsheng did not encounter any danger again, the Second Prince did not come to visit him, and those powerful people who were enemies of him did not send people to assassinate him again.
The eighteenth year of Kaiyuan!
This year, the emperor, the crown prince and the second prince took a boat into the canal and went south of the Yangtze River.
The canal runs from north to south and is still under construction, but it is almost complete and wide enough for boats to travel.
The emperor's departure from the capital was a major event, and the disciples of Longqi Temple also learned about it. Jiang Changsheng heard it from Qing Ku. This was the first time the emperor had left the capital since the founding of the country.
Jiang Changsheng didn't care. If the emperor was not in Beijing, those powerful people's attack would be a good opportunity to give him a survival reward.
He spends most of his time every day practicing Taoism. His spiritual power is tremendous. Compared with the top masters, to say that their spiritual power is only one thousandth of his is already a compliment.
This day, in the hospital.
Jiang Changsheng was sitting on the doorstep, with two children standing in front of him, both six years old, a boy and a girl. The Taoist robes draped over them looked loose, but also made them look even cuter.
Looking closely, the two Taoist boys were motionless, and their pupils were actually glowing with a faint golden light, which was extremely strange.
On the other hand, Jiang Changsheng's eyes were golden, dazzling even in broad daylight. He was using his magical pupils to tamper with the memories of the two Taoist children.
He suddenly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his pupils returned to normal, and the two Taoist children woke up in shock.
The Taoist girl asked coquettishly, "Brother Changsheng, why did you stop?"
This was the memory that Jiang Changsheng had altered for them, making them mistakenly believe that they were listening to a sermon, when in fact they had just arrived and Jiang Changsheng had not yet preached.
The Taoist boy scratched his head, equally confused.
Jiang Changsheng smiled and said, "Nothing, let's stop here today. Come back tomorrow and I will teach you some martial arts."
When the two heard this, they cheered and left.
After they left the yard, Jiang Changsheng breathed a sigh of relief. Just changing the memories of two children for nearly five minutes made him feel dizzy. The side effects of this Phantom Eye were really strong.
Jiang Changsheng was not disappointed, but excited instead. As long as he was powerful enough, could he directly change a person's memory of the first half of his life, thereby changing his personality and even using it for his own benefit?
Too domineering!
A white snake emerged from the back of Jiang Changsheng's neck and spit out its tongue towards his cheek, appearing to be extremely close.
More than half a year had passed, and the white snake had grown to almost half a meter long. It had a gentle personality and was very human-like. Jiang Changsheng named it Bailong, hoping that it would transform into a dragon one day.
That evening, Chen Li came to visit.
"Changsheng, you have to be careful. His Majesty has left the capital, and there are undercurrents in the capital now. The gangsters of my Chen family have heard that the Demon Sect is preparing to enter the capital, and they are likely to avenge the Ghost-Eyed Evil King." Chen Li said in a serious tone, his face full of worry.
