Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 882: Afterglow
"Chu Kuan, bring me the new ink that my father sent me."
When this sentence did not attract a response for a long time, the third prince raised his head and sighed deeply. The longer he spent studying in Ciqing Palace every day, the more he could feel Chu Kuan's consideration and benefits . People often just stand here silently and can meet all your needs, so whenever someone is suddenly absent like now, he is not used to it.
"It is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality." The little prince blurted out such a sentence that was not very suitable for the situation, and then he couldn't help but wonder where Chu Kuan had gone. He still remembered that the last time he went on a long journey was to rescue the second prince who was held hostage by the rebels. Although he failed to rescue him, he killed all the rebels as a sacrifice.
Chu Kuan's title is the manager of Wan'an Palace, but his mother never asked Chu Kuan to stay in Wan'an Palace. Instead, she earnestly told Chu Kuan to take good care of him. Now he is not in Ciqing Palace, but definitely not in Wan'an Palace either. He must have gone out of the palace again to do something.
Speaking of which, ever since the incident with the Second Prince, his father seems to have become much more distant from others. Should he try to persuade him?
When the Third Prince was thinking about this, he suddenly heard a commotion outside, and then the Fourth Prince rushed in like a gust of wind, following a shout of "Third Brother". However, as soon as he entered the room, he pushed aside the door curtain and shouted to the outside: "I'm talking to my Third Brother, all of you get out of here, don't come near me!"
The Third Prince was immediately puzzled. Today's classes were over, and the tutors had all gone home. Considering that some elders had hoped not to use literate eunuchs here, and Chu Kuan often served here, there were only some sweepers outside the Ciqing Palace, who would never dare to come in or eavesdrop, so wasn't his fourth brother's order unnecessary?
The Fourth Prince certainly didn't know that his Third Brother was thinking this. He rushed forward, pulled the Third Prince up, looked around for a while, and immediately lowered his voice and said, "Third Brother, Chu Kuan is dead!"
"What did you say?" The Third Prince didn't react at first. After asking, he finally realized what the Fourth Prince had said. His face suddenly changed. "How could he be dead? Who assassinated him, or..."
The words after two words were about to come out, but the third prince cut them off. If it wasn't an assassination attempt, then the only person who could kill Chu Kuan could be the emperor. But why would the emperor do this? Didn't Chu Kuan grow up with the emperor? It is said that during the most dangerous period, he had saved the emperor and the queen mother several times!
The Fourth Prince saw the Third Prince's expression changing constantly, and when he looked down, he saw his fists clenched and unclenched, unclenched and clenched again, clearly very emotional. Although he didn't quite understand when his Third Brother became so close to Chu Kuan, he wisely didn't ask any further, but whispered, "Chen Yongshou specifically told me this, and told me to tell my Third Brother not to mention him again in the future."
In the eyes of the Third Prince, this was equivalent to confirming why his father had killed Chu Kuan. His originally pale face suddenly became even paler. He wanted to say something, but his lips trembled for a long time, and he couldn't say a word. It took him a long time to regain his ability to speak.
"Fourth brother, let me think about it..."
The Fourth Prince saw that the Third Prince was already in a state of confusion. He hesitated for a moment, and finally asked in a low voice, "This happened quite suddenly, and since Eunuch Chen reminded me of this, there must be something behind it... How about I go and ask the teacher? He is a person that my father trusts very much, and he is well-informed. The sun hasn't set yet, so if I hurry, I should be able to make the trip in time."
Although his mind told him that he should not disturb Zhang Shou because of such things, and the Third Prince asked himself, he was not yet to the point where he could not leave Chu Kuan, let alone have a deep relationship with him. After all, he was not like his father, who grew up with him and lived with him day and night for decades.
Therefore, after pondering for a long time, he finally whispered: "Fourth brother, when you go to see the teacher, speak more gently, just say that if Chu Kuan died, would the emperor be depressed, and what should I do as a son. Don't ask other questions. Since Eunuch Chen has reminded you alone, it's better to be cautious about this matter."
"Third brother, just look at me!"
The fourth prince was full of confidence, but he didn't care about comforting the third prince, and turned around and ran away. After he left, the third prince, who had just barely maintained the appearance of the prince's brother, no longer had the strength to continue pretending, and his mind was full of inexplicable fear. This fear was not because of Chu Kuan's death, but because he thought of the people who had been around his father for the past two years.
The deposed empress, her son and three others, plus Chu Kuan, and perhaps Liu Feng, the former steward, are all considered the closest people to my father. Although the latter two are in a very different position from the former three, they are not much different in terms of closeness. After experiencing such severe blows time and time again, how does my father feel?
The Third Prince tried his best not to think about himself or Chu Kuan, but to put himself in his father's shoes and think about everything. He sat there alone, unconsciously becoming a little dazed. Outsiders did not dare to come in without his permission, and he did not know how long he sat there, even forgetting that he was thirsty and hungry.
It was not until the familiar voice came back that he suddenly woke up. He looked up and saw the fourth prince, who was shouting "third brother", rushing in, but Zhang Shou was not following him. Although he realized from the surrounding environment that it was night and the palace gates were about to close, and it was impossible for the teacher to enter the palace at this time, he still felt a little lost and regretful.
But the next moment, these emotions were completely dispelled by the whispers of the Fourth Prince who sat next to him: "Third brother, luckily I went to ask the teacher. It turned out that Chu Kuan had an appointment with the teacher at Baiyun Temple today, and then he committed suicide!"
Feeling that his brother had completely frozen there, and thinking about how he was also stunned and almost speechless when he heard the whole story from Zhang Shou, the Fourth Prince felt that this was completely understandable.
Although Zhang Shou did not tell him too much detail, he still processed the story Zhang Shou told him vividly and then relayed it to the third prince. Even without the details of the verbal confrontation between Zhu Jing and Chu Kuan, the specific reasons were very clear.
However, when he finished speaking and took a deep breath, ready to curse, he heard a faint voice: "Why did you go to Zhang Shou to ask about this matter instead of asking me in person?"
The two brothers looked up at the same time, and when they found that it was their father, the fourth prince almost subconsciously hid behind the third prince. Seeing that his father's face was a little pale, and there were even some bloodshot eyes, the naughty boy didn't know where the impulse came from, and he actually mustered up the courage to shout: "Father, don't be sad, it's not worth it for a guy like Chu Kuan..."
But before he finished speaking, he noticed that his father's expression was extremely scary, which immediately stunned him. He shrank his head timidly, wanting to show his courage, but in the end he still kept his mouth shut. As a result, the emperor's next words scared him again. So, the naughty child was very glad that he didn't continue talking.
"It's really not worth being sad for him. He killed your two useless brothers and also the deposed queen. Now that I think about it, the mother and her two children did a lot of stupid and wrong things, and they did not die unjustly. But I'm afraid that some of the things were framed by Chu Kuan. In fact, a large part of the reason why I deposed the queen and expelled my son was because of him."
The third prince felt a chill on his back and wanted to comfort her, but his tongue seemed to be frozen and he couldn't say a word. Because he had realized that his father had deposed the empress and expelled his son, and he was the biggest beneficiary. He was also at a loss because of Chu Kuan's death. If his father suspected him or his mother, it would be a disaster.
The little prince fell into an unprecedented state of terror, until he felt the soft touch of the Fourth Prince poking at his back, and then he woke up, but his voice was already a little hoarse: "Father, is this what the teacher said?"
"Your teacher is not that talkative. He almost said nothing after a near-death experience. All the words were spoken by his father-in-law, Duke Zhao. Of course, Duke Zhao is not the King of Hell who knows everything. Chu Kuan told him these things himself. I thought about it and thought that Chu Kuan had already made the worst plan this time. Either they would perish together or he would fail and die."
"According to his character, if he died, he would definitely not want me to still remember his past kindness, so he would make it clear to me so that I would hate him to the core."
At this point, the emperor sneered, then suddenly stretched out his finger and flicked the forehead of the dumbfounded Fourth Prince behind the Third Prince. Seeing the naughty boy quickly covering his forehead, he said lightly, "Chen Yongshou was afraid that you two brothers would get into trouble with me, so he specially reminded you, but you..."
"You even went out of the palace to seek advice from Zhang Shou? He was very generous when he heard the word Chu Kuan and didn't get angry with you or drive you out!"
Seeing the Fourth Prince was silent and the Third Prince was hesitant to speak, the Emperor stood up and said calmly, "I have been sad and upset so many times in recent days that I am almost numb to it. This time is no exception. Especially, some doubts that have troubled me for a long time have been answered, so there is actually nothing to be sad about."
Although the emperor said so, the third prince keenly noticed that his father's mouth drooped and his fists were clenched tightly, which clearly showed that he was not calm at all. Even though he didn't know many of the details, what the fourth prince and the emperor said was enough to shock him. So, the slight fear that had just arisen suddenly turned into another impulse.
The little Crown Prince subconsciously reached out his hands and hugged his father directly. However, he didn't say a word, but just hugged tightly, as if he was using up all his strength.
Zhang Shou had indeed taught this trick of hugging someone's thigh and crying, but the emperor thought he had heard clearly what the fourth prince said to the third prince just now after he rushed in, and he definitely didn't teach this trick again. This can also be seen from the stunned look on the fourth prince's face at this moment.
Therefore, after being stunned for a moment, the emperor couldn't help laughing. Although the laughter was full of bitterness, his tense mood gradually relaxed until he heard a shout.
"Third brother, you are so cunning. You didn't even call me!" The fourth prince didn't care about anything and just pounced on the emperor and hugged one of his thighs. Then he didn't say a word and just held him tightly.
Seeing the younger one imitating the older one, and the little baby who didn't understand anything when he went to see the fifth prince before, but still made a fuss at him, and finally giggled, the emperor was stunned for a long time, and finally rubbed their heads gently with one hand each.
The third prince had already been crowned, but the fourth prince was unwilling to do so early, so the difference in the attire of the two brothers was obvious. One had a golden crown that hurt his hands, while the other was still dressed in a pigtail. So, just based on the feel of it, the emperor couldn't help but laugh after rubbing it.
Having grown up together, the second prince was obsessed with competing with the first prince, from the fineness of his clothes and food, the size of his courtyard, the number of his followers, the amount of his rewards, to the position in the Eastern Palace. The third and fourth princes, on the other hand, slept side by side, went in and out together, and the younger prince was even happy for the older prince to be in the Eastern Palace, and would deliberately make mistakes to show his clumsiness for the older prince...
Chu Kuan might have done many things wrong, but there was at least one thing he did not do wrong, and that was to make him reflect upon his mistakes and choose the third prince, who was not particularly suitable at the time, as the crown prince.
Thinking of this, the emperor finally shook his head, trying to drive all these fantasies out of his mind, and then he let go of her hand and said, "Okay, okay, you are so old, and you are still acting like a spoiled child... It's getting late, come with me to Qingning Palace and have a good dinner with the Queen Mother."
The fourth prince breathed a sigh of relief, feeling relieved that his father had let go of those things. But the third prince suddenly remembered that although Chu Kuan had been in charge of the Imperial Household Department and was his father's confidant, and had been with him for a period of time, in the beginning, he had grown up with the Queen Mother. How would the Queen Mother feel if such a person died suddenly?
However, just as he was trying his best to think about how to comfort and appease him, he arrived at Qingning Palace and met the Queen Mother, but he saw that she was still sitting there indifferently. During the entire dinner, she didn't mention Chu Kuan at all, so that he felt like he had no place to put his energy. When he finally left with his father, his mood was even more chaotic.
After watching the emperor and his two sons leave, the empress dowager turned her head slightly and instructed Yuquan: "Burn the letter from Chu Kuan that Hua Qi sent... Don't keep it."
After Yuquan left as ordered, the Queen Mother was stunned. That child who looked ordinary but had great abilities and was grateful for the kindness he had received had finally come to this point because of his paranoia. He did not hope that the truth would be covered up forever, but instead revealed everything he had done, and then sought his own death... If it had not been for her one-sided decision when she was choosing a queen for the emperor, would he not be here today?
