Chapter 45: The Game is Over
The emperor was angry and everyone in the palace fell silent.
The eldest princess saw that the situation was not good. In front of all the civil and military officials in the court, the censor accused her of using the word "law". She was afraid that Huan Yanbo would be skinned alive if he didn't die. This was her only son in her life, and she loved him more than her life. From his childhood to adulthood, she felt heartbroken even if he got a little bit of skin broken . How could she bear to see him suffer any injustice?
She immediately covered her handkerchief and wept bitterly, "Your Majesty, I grew up with you. Even if it's a piece of cake, I will share half of it with you. I am willing to exchange my life for yours. But this wicked boy is your only child. No matter how big a mistake he made, can you forgive him for your sake?"
Yuan Heng's words were not just empty slogans to show his loyalty, but were about an old story. When the previous emperor ascended the throne, he encountered a rebellion by the three kings. The kings of Chu and Wu entered the capital to force the emperor to abdicate, while the king of Shu led his troops to attack cities and seize states. The three kings relied on each other and caught the previous emperor off guard.
Due to the haste, the palace had not yet been cleared of spies, and the young emperor was abducted by the spies. Thanks to Princess Yuanheng who risked her life to follow and insisted on staying with her brother, the siblings depended on each other and protected the emperor from suffering a lot of torture. Only then did the late queen send people to track them down and rescue the two children.
This alone makes the relationship between the siblings different from that of ordinary royal siblings.
The words "even if it's a piece of cake, half of it should be given to Your Majesty" refer to the time when the current emperor was kidnapped. The bandits took them, siblings, to meet up with the two kings. The food and water they provided were extremely scarce, and they were just barely on the verge of starvation. Yuan Heng gave most of the water and food to her younger brother, and by the time she was rescued, she was already dying of hunger.
When the emperor recalled the old days, his expression couldn't help but warm up.
A hoarse, cold laugh suddenly rang out from the hall: "Sir Wang, if it is a critical moment, would you be willing to exchange your life for His Majesty's life?"
The eldest princess looked over in astonishment, with a tear hanging from the corner of her eye. The warmth she had deliberately created was broken by this unruly citizen.
Wang You immediately said generously: "My loyalty to Your Majesty is evident to all day long. I am willing to exchange my life for Your Majesty's at any time!" As the censors were biting court officials every day, in order to prevent backlash, they always had to show their loyalty to the Emperor and make sure that the Emperor would believe it without a doubt and never forget it. These words came out of his mouth without any draft.
Tang Ying said: "I'm afraid there is no one in this palace who is unwilling to exchange his life for your majesty's." She counted on her fingers: "If all the adults' sons come and beat the prince, and let the prince repay this favor with his own body, your majesty's princes will not be enough to share." Your Majesty, you have to work harder!
Yuan Yu had experienced more than one dangerous incident in his life, and the little beggar's words hit the nail on the head. If everyone who had done him a favor came to threaten him, would he still be able to be the emperor?
The situation took a turn for the worse. The eldest princess's expression changed, and she looked at the little beggar in front of her viciously: "You are so bold and unruly. How can you interfere in the affairs of the Golden Palace?"
Huan Yanbo was forced to kneel on the ground by the warriors in front of the palace. He looked at Tang Ying viciously and cursed: "You unruly person! Shut her mouth and throw her out!" The warriors in front of the palace took it as their responsibility to maintain harmony and order in the palace. They took out a handkerchief from somewhere and stuffed his mouth with it.
Huan Yanbo: “…”
Tang Ying rolled up his sleeves and shrank back, looking like he was admitting his guilt: "I am just talking nonsense! It's just nonsense, don't take it seriously!"
Many of the civil and military officials could not help laughing out loud, as they felt that the little beggar's words sounded nonsense, but every word he said hit the nail on the head for the Princess, and they could not be taken lightly.
Fu Chen lowered his head to hide the smile on his face.
The Grand Princess is not only your Majesty's biological sister, but you also have a childhood affection for her. Now that she is an adult, she has an even deeper sisterly bond with your Majesty. Between national laws and family affection, it all depends on how your Majesty chooses.
However, these matters are taken care of by the censors and court officials.
The Chief Censor Wang You was the first to disagree and took the lead in debating the topic of "how to convict the Grand Princess for allowing her son to commit crimes, humiliating the prince, and defying the imperial power."
The eldest princess was anxious and panicked, but she also knew that today's matter could not be resolved peacefully. She waited until the debate died down, stepped forward and said, "Yuanjian, my dear child, it was your cousin who was a bastard and treated you wrongly. Your aunt kneels down in front of you, please spare his life?"
She pretended to kneel, but the Fourth Prince broke away from the Second Prince and rolled off the couch. He sobbed and knelt at the feet of the Grand Princess, "Why would the Grand Princess do this? How dare I offend Master Heng? Does he want me dead? Anyway, I don't want to live anymore, which is exactly what Master Heng wants."
Who doesn’t know how to show weakness?
Who doesn’t know how to compare misery?
Brother Zhang said that if the eldest princess acts pitifully and shows weakness in the Golden Palace, Your Highness will be even more miserable than her!
Yuan Jian was extremely convinced by Zhang Erge at this moment. He showed weakness to show his sincere submission. Even his kneeling posture was extremely humble. His Majesty was awakened by his unfamiliar address: "Hurry up and help the fourth brother up!" Fearing that the eldest princess would provoke the fourth brother to continue to seek death, his tone became stern: "The eldest princess should not force the fourth brother. He has always been an honest and timid child. If he had not been forced into a corner, how could this happen?"
Grand Princess: "..." Did I force him? It was clearly him who teamed up with those unruly people to force us mother and son!
She was of noble status, but today she was almost cornered by the Fourth Prince and the beggar. She had no idea how much hatred she felt in her heart.
However, the Emperor of Southern Qi felt infinite pity for Yuan Jian, an honest child who was almost forced to death by the princess's son and had to be rescued by a beggar to survive. It was also the beggar who spoke up for him in the Golden Palace. Isn't he countless times more pitiful than Huan Yanbo, who had been spoiled since childhood.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince's head and face were covered in blood, he was afraid that something serious might happen if he was not treated. The Southern Qi Emperor cut the Gordian knot and issued an edict: "Strip Huan Yanbo of all his titles and rewards, and throw him into the Heavenly Prison to await trial."
The eldest princess suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Her son had never suffered any injustice since he was a child. Wouldn't being in prison be the end of his life?
"Your Majesty..." She knelt on her knees and tried to plead for her son, but the Southern Qi Emperor raised his hand to stop her: "Princess, you should know that the country has its own laws and the family has its own rules. It is true that Huan Yanbo beat the prince. If he is not severely punished, wouldn't it damage the reputation of the royal family?"
He then put on a loving face and comforted Yuan Jian: "My son, you have been wronged this time, you must not think of committing suicide. If your mother knew that you had such thoughts, wouldn't she be sad?"
When the fourth prince heard the emperor mention his mother, he couldn't help but cry out in grief: "This son is unfilial!"
In fact, the fourth prince's mother was very beautiful when she was young. It was the emperor who was in love with her that day. She passed by from a distance holding a vermilion tray. She had pink and black eyebrows, a thin waist that could be held in one hand, and walked gracefully, looking as if she was too weak to be clothed. She was hurriedly brought in to serve him in bed, and that's how the fourth prince was born.
The emperor's favor could never last long, let alone for a woman who was born a palace maid.
Yuan Yu probably spent all his life's love on Concubine Wan. The other concubines in the palace did not receive as much favor as Concubine Wan. Even the queen only respected her more than loved her.
The Emperor of Southern Qi tried to comfort him again and gave him some soft words of advice. Jing Huai, who was good at smoothing things over, also came on stage. The court officials were all delighted to see that the emperor would no longer shield Huan Yanbo this time. They were even more considerate when they tried to persuade the Fourth Prince. The two ministers of Works and Revenue felt guilty, as they felt they had handed the Fourth Prince a handle, so they kept saying soft words to him.
Among all the persuading voices, Tang Ying's persuasion was the most ridiculous: "Your Highness, it is better to live a miserable life than to die a good death. You see, we beggars are in danger every day, but we can still struggle to survive. Your Highness has a father and a mother. Even if you are bullied by those blind people, they will definitely not dare to bully Your Highness in the future. You should live a good life..."
Those who are blind: "..."
The Minister of Works and the Minister of Revenue always suspected that the beggar was scolding them as well.
The Second Prince and the Third Prince: "..." Is there something else this beggar is saying?!
Fu Chen: “…”
The eldest princess was speechless. She thought of more than a hundred ways to kill the beggar and was just waiting to put them into practice after leaving the palace.
After much persuasion, the Fourth Prince's crying gradually subsided, as if he had vented his anger and sadness. As his emotions calmed down, another imperial physician came forward to clean his wounds. This time he did not refuse and allowed the imperial physician to wrap up half of his head.
While the imperial physician was bandaging the wound, the Southern Qi Emperor asked with a smile, "Zhang Er, you saved my son's life, what reward do you want?"
"Your Majesty, when I saved the Fourth Prince, I didn't know he was a prince." Tang Ying thought about it and said, "But my brothers have never eaten the snacks in the palace. I wonder if Your Majesty can give me two boxes of snacks from the palace ?"
The Emperor of Southern Qi was greatly surprised. Even the court officials thought that the little beggar was stupid. He did not take this opportunity to ask for gold, silver, houses and land, but only asked for two boxes of snacks. He really had never seen the world.
Only Fu Chen guessed her intention.
She was originally a descendant of a loyal hero, but she entered the palace as a beggar to testify. If she was found out by someone with ulterior motives in the future, she would be charged with deceiving the emperor. At this time, she only asked for two boxes of snacks, which showed that she was honest. Even if the emperor knew about this one day, it was just that Yao Niang from the Shadow Department sent her to the capital to gain experience, and she happened to run into the fourth prince being bullied.
It was a fact that she saved the Fourth Prince, and it was also a fact that she did not ask for anything in return.
Deceiving the emperor is actually a minor matter.
The Emperor of Southern Qi was even happier to see that the little beggar was so noble and did not ask for anything in return. He said, "How difficult is that? I will order the imperial kitchen to prepare two large baskets of snacks for you to take out of the palace with you so that your brothers can have a taste of the snacks in the palace."
Tang Ying knelt down to express her gratitude: "Thank you very much, Your Majesty, for the reward! This is a great gift from heaven!"
Because the Fourth Prince was dizzy, the imperial physician said that he could not be moved easily, so he was temporarily carried to the side hall for observation. The Emperor of Southern Qi saw the little beggar stretching her neck with concern, and allowed her to go with him: "Since you care so much about the Fourth Prince, come with him to take a look." Tang Ying was able to go to the side hall with him.
A palace servant had already brought a brazier from the side hall. The Fourth Prince's request to commit suicide in the Golden Palace not only frightened the Emperor of Southern Qi and his courtiers, but also made the palace servants walking in front of the emperor realize a problem: no matter how humble the mother of the prince was, he was still the biological son of the emperor.
They put aside their past contempt, prepared hot tea, snacks, and braziers, and brought a quilt to cover the Fourth Prince, saying respectfully, "It's a little cold in the palace, Your Highness, it will be warmer if you cover yourself with the quilt." They even prepared a hot water bottle, which they stuffed into the quilt to warm the Fourth Prince's hands.
