Chapter 343 5 Princes
When the news came out that the emperor was seriously ill and the crown prince was handling state affairs on his behalf, there was another uproar in the court.
The Crown Prince's party was naturally very happy, but the eldest prince's party and the fourth prince's party were worried.
On the day when the emperor vomited blood and fell into a coma, the eldest prince, the fourth prince and others wanted to visit the emperor, but were stopped by the queen's people.
Now that the crown prince was suddenly asked to govern the country, they were all very dissatisfied. The eldest prince and the fourth prince's party all clamored to visit His Majesty, but the crown prince lied that His Majesty had issued an oral decree that the emperor was critically ill and needed to rest and recuperate. No one was allowed to visit and disturb him, otherwise, if anything happened to His Majesty, the visitor would be responsible.
After the oral order was issued, no one dared to clamor for visiting His Majesty anymore.
After the Crown Prince became Regent, he began to frantically suppress the people of the First Prince and the Fourth Prince. Those who should be demoted were demoted, and those who should be replaced were replaced.
Originally, the eldest prince had never thought that he would have the opportunity to ascend to a high position, so he just muddled along and did not have many followers in the court.
After the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince were successively neglected by His Majesty, His Majesty began to value him. He saw a glimmer of hope and therefore began to actively win over court officials.
Now that the Crown Prince has become Regent, all of the First Prince's people have been replaced. Although the First Prince is not convinced, he is also aware that his mother's family is in decline. If His Majesty really prefers the Crown Prince to be the Heir, then he alone will not be able to compete with the Queen and Prime Minister Zhao and their people. So the First Prince accepted his fate.
The fourth prince is different from the eldest prince. His mother is Concubine Li. Although Concubine Li's family is not as powerful as the Queen's family, Concubine Li has a brother who is a military general. This somewhat gives the fourth prince the confidence to participate in the seizure of power.
Seeing that the emperor was critically ill and the crown prince was in power, the Fourth Prince could not wait to start his own plan.
What happened in the court did not affect Qianhuan's life. She recently created a new crispy black sesame egg roll in the store.
After tasting it, Wenjie exclaimed that it was delicious. He asked flatteringly, "Sister, this black sesame egg roll is so delicious. Can I bring some more of this when I go to the Imperial College tomorrow?"
Qianhuan smiled and said, "Of course you can. If you like it, you can take as much as you want. But this is a dessert after all, and I'm afraid you'll eat too much and won't be able to eat the whole meal, which is not good for your physical development."
"Sister, I'm not eating this by myself. I want to give some to the fifteenth prince."
Qianhuan didn't know too much about the Fifteenth Prince. She only knew that he was not very old and was in the same class as her younger brother Wenjie.
"When did you get to play with the fifteenth prince?"
"After changing shifts, the Fifteenth Prince and I have already become good friends."
Qianhuan advised, "Wenjie, it's a good thing that you have a good relationship with the princes, but you still have to be careful when interacting with them. After all, they are the sons of the emperor. If you make them unhappy one day and report it to the emperor, we will be the ones who suffer, understand?"
Wen Jie nodded, "Yes, sister, I know. You don't have to worry too much. Although the fifteenth prince is a prince, he is not arrogant. His biological mother died early, and not many people in the palace care about him. Sometimes other princes bully him, but he is very smart, and those who bully him will not get much advantage in the end."
"Well, as long as you know the limits, I'll make some more egg rolls tonight, and you can bring some to the fifteenth prince tomorrow morning."
"Well, thank you sister."
On the second day, the fifteenth prince ate the egg rolls that Wenjie brought him. He felt that the egg rolls were extremely delicious and even better than the snacks he had eaten at the palace banquet.
He thought of his father who was seriously ill in bed, so he said to Wenjie, "Wenjie, can you give me all the black sesame egg rolls you brought today? My father is seriously ill in bed now, and these egg rolls taste so good, I also want to take some for my father to try."
Wenjie nodded readily, "Of course, no problem, take them all. If you like them, I'll bring them to you tomorrow."
After finishing his studies at the Imperial College, the fifteenth prince went straight to the emperor's bedroom.
When he was about to reach the door, the fifteenth prince happened to see Concubine Li, who came to visit His Majesty, being stopped by the soldiers at the door: "His Majesty has given an oral order, and no one is allowed to disturb him."
Imperial Concubine Li just wanted to come here to find out the true condition of the emperor. Seeing that the empress could enter but she could not, she said angrily, "Why is it that the empress's visit to His Majesty is not a disturbance, but I am a disturbance when I go? I think His Majesty's oral order is probably fake. It's obvious that someone doesn't want us to see His Majesty."
The soldier said respectfully, "I don't know about this. I was just following orders. Please don't embarrass me, Madam."
Concubine Li was not convinced, but there was nothing she could do about these guards. She shook her sleeves and left with her men.
The fifteenth prince thought that even Concubine Li couldn't go in to visit the emperor, so it would be even more impossible for him, a powerless little prince, to go in.
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly heard the Queen's voice, "Guard the palace door for me. Don't let even a fly in. If anything goes wrong, I will not forgive you."
"Yes, Queen, I will guard the palace gate."
The fifteenth prince hid in the dark. He looked at the fierceness on the queen's face when she gave orders to the soldiers, and he had a bad premonition in his heart.
At night, the fifteenth prince found two cats from somewhere. After the cats led away all the guards at the door, the fifteenth prince sneaked into the emperor's bedroom.
Li Dequan was taking a nap beside the dragon bed at this time. The emperor was also lying on the dragon bed with his eyes closed. His breathing was not very stable, and it was unknown whether he was asleep or awake.
The emperor's health was already very poor due to the elixir he had taken before, and this time he was poisoned by the queen. Although he took the antidote on time, his body was still severely damaged.
In addition, he and Li Dequan had been imprisoned in the palace by the Queen these days, and the news could not be passed on. The old emperor was overly worried and seemed to have aged by ten years in an instant.
The fifteenth prince tiptoed towards the dragon bed. He saw that the emperor lying on the bed with his eyes closed looked very old, and he couldn't help feeling a little sad.
At this time, the old emperor suddenly opened his eyes. The fifteenth prince was surprised and whispered, "Father, you are awake. Are you feeling better? I brought you some black sesame egg rolls. They are delicious."
The old emperor looked at the young man who was handing something to him and his mind was confused for a moment. He heard him calling him father, but the old emperor could not remember which order of his son this was.
Li Dequan woke up when the fifteenth prince started talking. He saw that His Majesty was embarrassed, so he reminded him, "Your Majesty, this is the fifteenth prince, Teng Yaojin. You are usually busy with state affairs, and the fifteenth prince is studying in the Imperial Academy, so he rarely comes to see you."
His Majesty suddenly realized what was going on. He motioned for Li Dequan to take the things, and then asked curiously, "Jin'er, there are guards at the door, how did you get in?"
"Father, I managed to distract the guards at the door and came in. Mother said you had issued an order not to allow anyone to visit, but I was really worried about your condition, so I sneaked in. Father, if you want to punish me, I will accept it."
His Majesty seemed to have seen a savior. He grabbed the fifteenth prince's hand and said excitedly, "Jin'er, listen, the order was not issued by father. It was the queen and the prince who wanted to usurp the throne. Not only did they imprison father, they also poisoned him. Even father's secret guards were controlled by them. When you get out, hurry up and find..."
Before the emperor could finish his words, footsteps were heard approaching the door.
The fifteenth prince guessed that the two guards were about to come back, so he quickly said, "Father, someone is coming soon. I have to go now. I will find a way to rescue you."
After saying this quickly, the fifteenth prince quickly slipped out of the hall.
The two guards came back, and one of them asked curiously, "Why weren't you guarding the door?"
Another person said, "After you left, I also saw a shadow running past this side. I was worried so I chased after it, but I didn't see the shadow anymore."
The guard immediately shouted, "No one is cheating, let's go in and see if His Majesty is still in the palace. If he is missing, the Queen will skin us alive."
When Li Dequan and the old emperor in the hall heard this, one continued to pretend to doze off, and the other closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
The guard came in and saw that both of them were in the hall. He searched the hall again, and when he found nothing unusual, he went out again.
After everyone left, Li Dequan took out the egg roll sent by the fifteenth prince and handed it to the emperor, "Your Majesty, this is what the fifteenth prince brought to you. You should eat it now. It will be bad if the queen finds out."
His Majesty nodded. While eating the crispy egg roll, he sighed and said, "This snack is indeed delicious. The Fifteenth Prince is thoughtful this time. You should try it too."
Li Dequan also ate the egg rolls while saying, "Your Majesty, in fact, the Fifteenth Prince has not only been interested in you today. He has come to see you many times before, but you were busy with state affairs, and you always asked me to send him away. You yourself have forgotten these things since then."
"It seems that I have indeed neglected this child. I don't know if he is smart enough. If he can save me this time, I will definitely compensate him."