Chapter 505
He stepped forward, the clatter of his armor ringing out. "Your Majesty, Dayan is already at our doorstep. Nanyue has lost four cities in a row, and floods are imminent. I am not impatient, but the people of this realm cannot afford to wait!"
"Does Uncle also believe Yue Fuguang's nonsense?" Gan Sheng looked at Prince Cheng in disbelief, suspecting that he too had become a follower of that person.
Prince Cheng let out a scoff. "Nonsense? Who told Your Majesty it was nonsense?" He pointed at Zhao Quan'an. "Your Majesty should listen to people outside your inner circle, not just those beside you. Sometimes, those voices are the true ones, the honest ones!"
He sat down with an air of authority, pouring himself a cup of water. "Even if Your Majesty is bedridden with illness, surely you have sent spies into Dayan's territory to see for yourself? Yue Fuguang does indeed have the power to control rain, and truly performs divine deeds in a mortal body!"
"Your Majesty, if you cannot even see this, or simply refuse to acknowledge it, then does the rain in heaven only favor Dayan's lands?"
He drained the cup in one gulp, as if a thought had just struck him. "Ah, I nearly forgot—how did the war between our Nanyue and Dayan even begin? If Your Majesty did not believe in the Divine Maiden's abilities, why would you have gone against the will of heaven to forcibly summon her? Your Majesty believes more than anyone. Why deceive yourself here?"
At Prince Cheng's mockery, Gan Sheng's pale face flushed red. "Your Majesty cares only for his own reputation, not the lives of his people. That is not the way of a wise sovereign."
"Your Majesty, rest assured. Even if I take the throne, I will take good care of the people of Nanyue and... of your wife and children!"
(System, is it the kind of 'taking care' I think it is?)
[Host, no need to doubt—it is exactly that kind of taking care! Also, this Prince Cheng’s estate has one principal consort, two secondary consorts, plus over twenty concubines and nameless bed servants. His harem rivals the emperor’s.]
"So many wives—how does he manage? Isn't he afraid of dying in bed?" He had sounded almost respectable when dressing down Gan Sheng, but at the end, he had turned beastly again!
[Host, you actually hit the mark. Originally, Prince Cheng's fate was to die in the bed of a favored concubine.]
"Is there something suspicious about that?"
[Naturally, Gan Sheng orchestrated it. He wanted to seize military power from Prince Cheng, who refused, so he had him killed.]
"Isn't this karmic retribution? Now it's Prince Cheng's turn to watch Gan Sheng die."
Creak—the hall doors were suddenly pushed open with force from outside. Several ministers were "invited" in by Prince Cheng's men. Their faces were pale, and their legs trembled as they walked.
(Judging by their official robes, these are the true heavyweights of Nanyue, aren't they?) She had thought the ones already in the hall were weaklings—none of them had dared to let out a single fart after Prince Cheng entered.
At the front were Prime Minister Li Jie, Minister of Works Zhou Wenbi, Minister of Personnel Liu Yu, Minister of Rites Wei Zhao, Minister of Revenue Fei Yongxing, and several other senior officials who had been attending to the emperor in his illness.
They had already known something was gravely wrong when the armored guards "invited" them here. Now, with grim faces, they stood in the hall, neither advancing nor retreating, like startled birds.
[Master, they don't look much better than the ones already in here.]
Minister of Works Zhou Wenbi, well past sixty and a veteran of three reigns, stepped forward unsteadily, clasping his hands in salute. "Prince Cheng, entering the palace with armed men without summons violates ancestral law. His Majesty is unwell. If there is urgent business, perhaps we should discuss it at court tomorrow..."
"Lord Zhou." Prince Cheng did not so much as glance at him, cutting him off flatly. "I do not like being interrupted while I am speaking."
Before the words had even faded, one of the armored guards at Prince Cheng's side drew his blade half an inch. The flash of steel was biting cold.
Zhou Wenbi's face changed instantly. His lips trembled a few times, but in the end, he fell silent and shrank back into the ranks of officials.
Gan Sheng took all of this in, his chest heaving violently. He suddenly found it ironic—these ministers who daily shouted "Long live the Emperor" could not even finish a single sentence now.
The so-called might of the Son of Heaven was nothing more than a sheet of thin paper, torn at the slightest poke.
"What does Uncle want? Say it plainly." Gan Sheng's voice suddenly grew calm, as if he had resigned himself to fate.
Prince Cheng gave him a long, hard look, then unbuckled the sword at his waist. He planted it on the ground still in its sheath, producing a dull thud.
He swept his gaze across the room—over the trembling imperial concubines, the ashen-faced ministers, the unmoved empress—and finally rested his eyes on the emperor upon the dragon bed.
"What I ask for," he said, each word deliberate, "is the Imperial Jade Seal in Your Majesty's hand."
The entire hall was struck dumb. Though Prince Cheng had hinted at it and then said it outright upon entering, the words still made Gan Sheng's body tremble when he actually heard them.
Everyone had guessed the answer, but when those four words were spoken so bluntly, they still landed like a thunderclap over every head.
Fei Yongxing dropped to his knees with a thud, crying shrilly, "Your Highness! His Majesty still lives! What is the meaning of this? This is high treason!"
Prince Cheng finally turned to look at him, his gaze as flat as if he were regarding an ant. "Lord Fei Yongxing, when I was defending the northern border, did you ever send me a single grain of rations? Nanyue has lost four cities in a row, and Dayan is already at our doorstep. With an emperor like this, how can he govern the realm or repel the enemy?" Fei Yongxing was struck speechless, kneeling and shaking all over.
"And now you speak to me of rebellion?" Prince Cheng laughed coldly. "I am of the imperial clan; the blood of the late emperor runs in my veins. The name of this dynasty will not change. Unlike you lot, I want this dynasty to stand for a thousand, ten thousand years!"
[Master, has he forgotten that two of the four cities Dayan took were lost on his watch?]
(Good thing he's forgotten. Once he takes the throne, it won't be cities he gives away—it'll be the entire kingdom!)
Shen Chunying, still hidden and having retreated further into a corner after the ministers arrived, heard the two ancestors' banter and could not help but curl her lips into a faint smile.
They were all pleased here, but across the room, Gan Sheng lying on the bed felt as though a invisible hand were gripping the broken heart in his chest—aching, suffocating.
He forced the words out with difficulty. "The jade seal... is in my hands... If I refuse to pass it on, even if Uncle takes it, it would be... an act of usurpation, would it not?"
Prince Cheng sneered, taking up the thread without missing a beat. Unhurriedly, he produced a roll of bright yellow silk from his sleeve, unfolded it, and laid it before Gan Sheng. "Your Majesty, the abdication edict has already been drafted. It only awaits the jade seal."
Gan Sheng looked down. The calligraphy on the silk was bold and forceful—unmistakably Prince Cheng's own hand. The gist was this: the emperor was gravely ill and unable to govern, no crown prince had been established, and the young princes were too immature to bear the burden—therefore, following precedent of abdication by virtuous rulers of old, the throne was to pass to his uncle, Prince Cheng...
"No crown prince established? My crown prince..." Gan Sheng caught the phrase, his pupils constricting. "I have already named my eldest son as Crown Prince!"
Prince Cheng smiled, and in the flickering candlelight, that smile was laden with meaning. "Your Majesty will not have one soon. The eldest son born of Consort Shu is too young and unfit for the position. As of today, his title as Crown Prince is revoked."
"How dare you!"
"Your Highness, you cannot!"