Chapter 504
Just then, Little Anzi's report suddenly came from outside the door, "Your Majesty! The Crown Prince requests an audience!" Through the palace door, Gan Sheng was first taken aback, a flicker of complex emotion quickly passing through his eyes, while Consort Shu, standing in the corner playing the part of a wooden post, gave a slight shudder.
The hand holding the brocade handkerchief instantly clenched tight. Shouldn't her royal son be hiding himself away at this moment? What was he doing here!
Consort Shu inwardly blamed the Crown Prince, then cursed everyone around him as well, but most of all she regretted having played the virtuous woman—pushing the Empress aside to come tend to the Emperor herself.
"Absolutely not!" Before she could say more, Prince Cheng laughed and said, "Nephew's wife, what words are these? The Crown Prince has arrived at an opportune moment—it just so happens I haven't seen my grand-nephew in a long while. Today is a fine day to meet him!"
"Let him enter." Gan Sheng let out a long sigh inwardly, his hand beneath the brocade quilt gripping the hem of his robes tightly. The first child he had with his beloved—was even this one to be lost?
Zhao Quan'an kowtowed, rose, and backed out of the inner hall. Before long, the sound of armor clinking came from beyond the hall, heavy footsteps growing nearer. The curtains were swept open by eunuchs on either side, and a hot wind rushed in, carrying a mixture of iron rust and blood, scattering the medicinal fragrance throughout the hall.
Crown Prince Gan Minghao stepped into the hall, accompanied by a tall, burly young officer—one of Prince Cheng's trusted men.
He strode in behind the Crown Prince, his gleaming armor reflecting a faint cold light in the dim hall. His cloak, originally dark in color, was now stained with patches of darker blotches, and the smell of rust came from there.
The sword at his waist had not been removed, its scabbard striking against his outer thigh with each step, making a dull, heavy sound.
"Your subordinate Qian Tu pays respects to His Highness!" Qian Tu did not even glance at the Emperor lying on the dragon bed, only offering his salute to Prince Cheng.
His voice was neither servile nor rushed, yet carried the fierce vigor befitting a warrior commander, and his respect toward Prince Cheng was extraordinary.
Gan Sheng on the dragon bed narrowed his eyes at him, and when his gaze fell upon an unremarkable ornament hanging at the man's waist, a sharp light suddenly burst forth from those sickly, clouded eyes—like the last moment of clarity in a dying man before his final breath.
His palms were sweaty, his heart felt like it might leap into his throat, but he bit his lip hard and put on an angry expression.
Prince Cheng, however, did not look at him. Instead, he turned a benevolent smile upon the Crown Prince. "Grand-nephew, do you still remember me?"
The Crown Prince, who appeared to be around ten years old, instinctively flinched at Prince Cheng's smile. He looked up at his father's pale face, then at his mother standing in the corner, before stepping forward respectfully to bow. "Minghao greets Sixteenth Grand-uncle!"
Prince Cheng nodded with a satisfied smile. "Good lad!"
He then turned to Gan Sheng and said, "Grand-nephew, what do you say to me sending Minghao to Lingbao Mountain?"
"No!" Before Gan Sheng could respond, Consort Shu's shrill voice cut through in refusal.
Prince Cheng's expression showed clear displeasure at her words. Frowning at the Empress, he said, "Empress, you are the nation's Empress, the master of this palace. You allow a concubine to behave with such impropriety before an elder—how are you managing the harem as Empress?"
The Empress did not even glance at Consort Shu, only replying calmly to Prince Cheng, "It is this niece's failure in discipline. Please forgive us, Uncle."
Her expression was serene, showing neither alarm nor anger, and even carrying a faint trace of... detachment.
Prince Cheng gave a slight nod, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment before turning back to Gan Sheng on the dragon bed. "Grand-nephew, it is not your uncle's place to scold you, but no matter how much you dote on a palace concubine, she is still a concubine. Even if she has borne you an heir and that child has been named Crown Prince, she cannot be set above the legitimate wife."
The corner of his mouth curled upward, revealing a mocking smile. "Don't follow in Father's footsteps."
That remark—"Don't follow in Father's footsteps"—was a blatant slap in the face to Gan Sheng's line. After all, Gan Sheng himself had risen to power when his legitimate elder brother and mother had died, relying on his own father's favor. And Consort Shu was now walking the very path the late Empress Dowager had once taken.
The only difference was that the former Empress had had the Crown Prince at her side and her maternal family's backing, while Empress Dowager Jiang Wan, during her lifetime, had only been the first among the Four Concubines, never even attaining the rank of Guifei.
Gan Sheng's pale face flushed a livid purple. Clenching his teeth, he looked at Prince Cheng and said, "What Uncle says is right!"
He then weakly waved a hand toward Consort Shu, who was still wiping tears but inwardly seething with hatred for Prince Cheng. "Shu'er, withdraw for now."
"Your Majesty!" Consort Shu was deeply unwilling. It could only be said that even at this moment, she had yet to see reality clearly.
Gan Sheng's face turned cold. "Withdraw!"
Yue Fuguang had been watching the imperial family drama throughout, and seeing the Empress's reaction only confirmed that there was more to this story.
[Host!] The system's electronic voice almost cracked.
[I think I've found a clue about the Pen Mountain lair!]
"Really? Where? Can we raid it?" Yue Fuguang asked excitedly in rapid succession.
Among all her missions, everything had gone smoothly except for eliminating Pen Mountain. Only Pen Mountain, which truly lived up to its name—had been as hard as rock to uproot.
[I don't know the exact location yet, but if we can capture the key leader, we should be close to finding out where their lair is!]
"A key leader—who is it?" Yue Fuguang's gaze swept one by one across everyone in the bedchamber.
From the Emperor, Prince Cheng, the several adults, the Empress and Consort Shu, to the eunuchs and palace maids—and even the ten-year-old Crown Prince—she even harbored a small suspicion of him.
While Yue Fuguang was searching for someone here, Prince Cheng was not idle either. Clearly feeling that the preliminaries had gone on long enough, his words were now beginning to show his true hand.
"The Emperor has been gravely ill for a long time, the court has fallen into neglect, and the realm is unsettled. This Prince has come for the sake of the dynasty, for the ancestral foundation."
He paused, his voice deepening. "Originally, with Your Majesty in the prime of life, you could still bear the weight of our Gan family's heritage. But now..." He looked at Gan Sheng's face, which clearly showed signs of impending death. "If one day... Your Majesty ascends to heaven, tell me—how can a young Crown Prince truly inherit the throne and secure the realm?"
The words were so blunt as to be almost cruel.
The air in the hall seemed to freeze. Although Gan Sheng had designated an heir, he had six sons and four daughters in total, and the eldest, the son of Consort Shu who had been named Crown Prince, Gan Minghao, was only ten years old this year.
As for Prince Cheng—he was the late Emperor's younger brother. Though not born of the Empress, as a princely member of the imperial clan, he held command of a hundred and fifty thousand troops on the northern front, eighty thousand of whom were his personal loyalists, with additional support from certain quarters in the court...
A morbid flush spread across Gan Sheng's pale face. He gasped for breath, and his voice, though weak, still carried the final dignity of a Son of Heaven. "I... have my own plans! Why is Uncle so impatient?"
"Impatient?" Prince Cheng suddenly laughed, the sound echoing through the vast hall with a trace of derision. "Your Majesty, I have garrisoned the northern front for five years, clashed with the Dayan forces numerous times, and have walked through the gates of death more than once.
And in the court? Treacherous ministers hold sway, and eunuchs meddle in affairs." At this point, he deliberately swept a pointed glance at Zhao Quan'an. "Your Majesty presently lies ill, having not held court for over a month."