freenovelworld Chapter 746 The Emperor's Doubts!
Chapter 746 The Emperor's Doubts!
Finally, the day of the prince's burial arrived.
As the eldest son of the legitimate wife, Duanmu Chen naturally wore mourning clothes. However, as soon as the coffin left the East Palace, he was informed that the Crown Princess had also passed away.
As the son, Duanmu Chen was naturally the one who suffered the most.
As for the Emperor and Empress, they naturally didn't care whether the Crown Princess lived or died.
Upon arriving at the imperial mausoleum, Prince Kang and the others watched as the crown prince's coffin was lowered into the tomb. They then subtly gave Prince Ming a signal, and sure enough, Prince Ming nodded in agreement.
Although King Kang was nervous, he knew that success or failure depended on this one move, and at this crucial moment, he absolutely could not afford to make the slightest mistake.
"Your Majesty, Yu Shaojiang's men have already entered the capital under the guise of the Crown Prince's funeral. As for Prince Kang's men, they are also approaching the capital."
"Hmph! The news sent back by the fourth prince is indeed true. Fortunately, the fourth prince is here this time, otherwise, I'm afraid I would not only be suffering the pain of losing my son, but also the pain of being forced to abdicate."
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Guards are all stationed inside the palace, and with the addition of General Yu's men, we have more than enough to deal with Prince Kang's troops. The capital is certainly safe, and the palace is as secure as Mount Tai."
"Yu Shaojiang is quite capable; I've always known that. Besides, aren't Chu Rong and General Li also guarding the city?"
"Your Majesty, that's right. General Chu's 100,000 troops have not yet been withdrawn and are currently stationed ten miles outside the capital. The imperial decree was delivered yesterday, and he and General Li have split into two groups, left and right, and will surely block Prince Kang's forces from entering."
Has the fourth brother made a move?
"Your Majesty, Prince Chang Le secretly left Yanzhou last night, and he should be almost at Prince Kang's fiefdom by now."
"Well, I won't ask for anything else. Since the third prince doesn't want to be a vassal king, I'll grant his wish. I trust the fourth prince with his work. Also, inform Chu Rong and General Li that Prince Kang must be captured alive."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After a while, Mu Chang'an came in, carefully reported the imperial decree, and then asked somewhat uncertainly, "Your Majesty, what about Prince Ming?"
"Whether the Prince of Ming will get involved, the fourth prince didn't say. He only said that many things over the years were instigated by that scoundrel, the third prince. Keep an eye on the Prince of Ming. As long as his men don't move, then I naturally won't take any drastic measures against him."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, this was delivered to me by His Highness Prince Ming last night."
The one who entered was Yu Shaojiang, who had just been ordered to return to defend the area.
"Your Majesty, after obtaining this document, I dared not be careless and sent several groups of men to verify it. Upon careful examination, everything written on it was true. However, Prince Kang has two hidden military units, which are not mentioned in Prince Ming's document. I suppose he was unaware of this as well."
After reading it, the Emperor frowned slightly and nodded, "I understand. You may all leave."
The emperor actually harbored some suspicions about Prince Ming.
But now that he saw what he had sent to Yu Shaojiang, he was no longer so sure.
The things he asked Lao Si to investigate still haven't yielded a clear answer. It seems I should wait a little longer to avoid wrongly accusing him again.
After this incident, although the emperor was deeply saddened, he also realized that among all his sons, only Duanmu Chuze truly put his mind at ease.
And Duanmu Chen?
The Emperor sneered. The reason he recalled Yu Shaojiang to defend the area was because he had already seen what Duanmu Chen was planning.
As the eldest son of the Crown Prince, his future status and power will naturally be directly affected by the Crown Prince's death.
It's not unusual for him to get anxious.
It's a pity that he was too young to realize what the King of Kang was doing. He only thought about himself and acted without considering the consequences. How could he possibly govern Dayong well?
Is he/she young?
Come to think of it, he's not much younger than Duanmu Chuze, is he?
When Duanmu Chuze was his age, he had already made great contributions in battle.
The emperor shook his head. A dragon throne, indeed, is something that makes people envious.
On this day, a deep sense of sorrow permeated the entire capital.
But for those nobles and high-ranking officials, the air above the capital was still filled with a bloodthirsty atmosphere.
Sure enough, that very night, mutinies of varying degrees broke out in and around the capital.
The term "military coup" now refers to anything that is disloyal to the emperor and that has not acted in accordance with imperial decree.
This also includes the 10,000 Imperial Guards of the Eastern Palace and the 3,000 armored soldiers of the Prince of An's Mansion.
Yu Shaojiang did not disappoint the emperor. In just two hours, he subdued all the rebel soldiers in the capital. As for Duanmu Chen, Yu Shaojiang respectfully invited him into the palace.
When Duanmu Chen saw Yu Shaojiang, he felt like killing him!
Previously, he had specifically asked the Xie family head to discuss the matter thoroughly with Yu Shaojiang. Although he had not explicitly agreed, he had not refused either.
In the eyes of Duanmu Chen and the Xie family head, this was tantamount to tacit approval.
But unexpectedly, at the crucial moment, they stabbed him in the back.
That night, the imperial palace was unusually quiet.
Prince An, Duanmu Chen, knelt outside Chengqian Palace for an entire night.
He was not summoned by the emperor even when the emperor held court the next day.
At this moment, Duanmu Chen was utterly despondent!
He was still young, and his mental fortitude was far from being strong. His entire demeanor was like that of a duckweed floating on the water, utterly颓废 and desperate.
Duanmu Chen actually wanted to explain that his goal was not to force the emperor to abdicate, but to directly take down Prince Kang and Prince Ming.
Of course, his order to his men was to kill them on the spot.
This was something the Emperor absolutely could not tolerate.
How could a father allow his own grandson to kill his two sons?
What if the fourth prince were in the capital? Would he also kill him directly?
Duanmu Chen did inherit his ruthlessness, but what's the use of being so ruthless to one's own people?
That's really something, go and attack the Turks!
After all, it was the Turks who killed the crown prince.
The emperor refused to see him, and in fact, he had never been able to sleep peacefully in the palace.
He knew he was getting old, and he had been thinking about it all this time, about making his grandson the Crown Prince, or at least someone of the legitimate bloodline of the royal family.
But he didn't expect that his grandson would be so impatient.
It seems he had overestimated his grandson.
The throne... I'm afraid he really can't handle it!