Chapter 509
Originally, this son could have followed in his footsteps, and he would have done as his own father had done, letting the child of the woman he loved most inherit his empire.
But alas, heaven had other plans — a divine maiden descended from the Great Yan and utterly upended his grand design!
Gan Sheng closed his eyes.
If he refused, Prince Cheng would truly lay hands on this child. Putting himself in Prince Cheng's shoes, if he, Gan Sheng, were in that position, he would act even more ruthlessly than Prince Cheng.
There was a benefit to the man being simple-minded: Prince Cheng's soft-heartedness was the only lifeline his children had.
Otherwise, before the Great Yan forces even broke through the gates, all his sons would have died of "sudden illness" — wasn't that exactly how he had dealt with his late imperial uncle's only heir?
He opened his eyes and looked at Prince Cheng. The uncle and nephew stared at each other for a long moment, until Gan Sheng finally spoke, his voice weak yet clear: "Imperial Uncle, I have three conditions."
Prince Cheng raised an eyebrow slightly. "Your Majesty, pray speak!"
"First, the eldest prince shall be created Marquis of Anguo, with a fief of a thousand households, hereditary in perpetuity, and never subject to prosecution."
Prince Cheng nodded. "Granted." This had been the place he'd already arranged for the crown prince — but as for "never subject to prosecution"... if the man fell ill or got hurt, that had nothing to do with him.
Prince Cheng's gaze flickered toward someone in the corner. He didn't even need to act personally; the man behind him would take care of the cleanup.
"Second, the Grand Dowager shall move to Ciming Palace, with all her provisions doubled and her treatment at court never diminished."
Prince Cheng hesitated a moment, then said, "Granted."
That old woman was already advanced in years — she didn't have many years left, and how much could she really use up anyway?
"Third," — Gan Sheng's gaze suddenly turned sharp, a flame burning with the light of a dying man's final rally — "I require the Imperial Uncle to swear before heaven that, for as long as he lives, he shall never harm the Grand Dowager or the princes. If he breaks this oath, may men and gods alike forsake him, may the state collapse, and may he die without a place to be buried!"
The hall fell silent. Everyone turned to look at Prince Cheng.
Prince Cheng was silent. The final rays of the setting sun streamed through the window lattice, falling across his armor and casting shifting, uncertain light and shadow.
His expression revealed nothing — neither joy nor anger. Only his narrow, elongated eyes narrowed slightly, as if weighing something in his mind.
At last, he raised his right hand, faced the hall's entrance into the dying sunlight, and spoke in a low, solemn voice: "Let Heaven and Earth above bear witness: I swear before Heaven that, for as long as I live, I shall never raise my hand against the Grand Dowager or the princes. Should I break this oath, may men and gods forsake me, may the state collapse, and may I die without a place to be buried."
As the oath settled over the hall, complete silence reigned.
Gan Sheng listened, and a bleak smile crept across his lips.
Slowly, he sat up — a motion that drained nearly all his remaining strength — then extended his trembling hand and took up the Imperial Jade Seal.
The seal was heavy. Holding it in both hands, it felt like clasping a mountain.
This seal had passed from his father's hands to his own, and now it was to pass from his hands to another's.
What it represented was not power, but a death warrant. A throne without the strength to protect it was nothing but a road to ruin.
He held the seal over the blank imprint space left on the edict, suspended, undropped.
Everyone in the hall held their breath.
The Grand Dowager turned her head away, unable to look. Empress Xu finally paused in her stirring of the medicine broth, her gaze lifting slightly to fix upon the jade seal, light flickering on and off in her eyes.
Even Prince Cheng's breathing unconsciously grew shallower. His fingers tightened slightly, the scales of his armor whispering against one another.
Gan Sheng suddenly raised his head one last time, taking in the palace he had lived in for twenty-eight years.
Carved beams, painted rafters, glorious and resplendent — not a single corner lacked some trace of him.
This palace had once belonged to his father, then to him, and now it was about to welcome a new master.
Suddenly, he felt a sense of release.
With a heavy, muffled thud, the seal fell.
The cinnabar seal paste left a scarlet imprint on the yellow silk: "Receiving the Mandate from Heaven, May It Prosper Forever." Eight characters, red as if written in blood — so bright it dazzled the eye.
Gan Sheng's hands fell limp, his whole body drained of all strength, collapsing softly against the backrest.
His eyes were half-open, half-closed, his chest rising and falling faintly — a lamp on its last flicker of oil.
Seeing the matter settled, Yue Fuguang could not help but grow anxious. "System, Prince Cheng is about to get exactly what he wants. What about the high-level figures of Panshan you mentioned? Those who side with the Emperor and the Crown Prince, those who side with Prince Cheng — where are they all?"
Her gaze swept across every face in the room. At several junctures, she had expected someone to leap out and intervene, but from beginning to end — over several chapters by now — aside from one Fei Yongxing, everyone's role had been played entirely by three generations of the royal family.
"Host, don't be impatient! The real show is just beginning!"
No sooner had the system finished speaking than the tightly shut doors to the hall creaked open once more.
In came a procession of people. At the head was a young general in full armor, a sword at his waist, followed by two soldiers, and behind them a gaggle of elegantly dressed women and children — likely Gan Sheng's consorts and offspring. Behind them came a few more armored guards.
The women were of varied figures, each beautiful in her own way, and the children appeared to be Gan Sheng's sons and daughters.
They filed in, instantly drawing the attention of everyone in the bedchamber.
"System, what's going on here? The edict of abdication has already been sealed. Why has Prince Cheng brought in all of his little wives and children? If it's meant to be a threat, isn't it a little too late?"
"It is too late. Host, didn't you notice? While Prince Cheng was facing off against the Grand Dowager earlier, he was unobtrusively glancing at the doorway several times."
"His men are useless! They took so long that by the time they finally arrived with the hostages, the deed was already done."
"Host, is it possible they did it on purpose?"
"What do you mean by that? Is this the 'real show' you mentioned?"
"Aren't you the one who's been looking for the head of Panshan? Well, look — that person is right there in this crowd."
"Which one, which one?" Since no one could see her, Yue Fuguang shamelessly let her eyes wander over every person in the group, thinking everyone looked suspicious, and yet no one looked like the Panshan leader.
Prince Cheng, who had just picked up the edict to scrutinize it — his gaze lingering especially long on the fresh red seal — was examining it.
Why hadn't he simply seized it and stamped it himself? Why go through the convoluted process of making Gan Sheng do it by hand?
Merely for the sake of "legitimacy." Of course, such tricky maneuvering was not his own idea — it had come from his good strategist.
Left to his own temper, he would have had his men handle it long ago. There would have been no need to argue with the Emperor and his mother for all this time, or to drag in so many ministers as witnesses and hostages!
Just as he was thinking of his hostages, Prince Cheng's good mood from receiving the abdication edict soured a little. His brow knit. He had been about to look at his strategist and ask what they should do next, when the doors opened.
The man he had been waiting for all this time — Xiao Qi — had finally brought the people in.
Useless fool! By the time he got here, everything was already done... But then Prince Cheng's eyes landed on Gan Sheng's gathered consorts, and they lit up suddenly.
Xiao Qi grinned proudly at Prince Cheng. He knew he had fumbled the original task, but with such beauties in hand, his lord's punishment would be light.
Xiao Qi clasped his fist in salute to Prince Cheng. "Your Highness, the people have been brought!"
Before Gan Sheng could even say a word, the Grand Dowager exploded first: "Prince Cheng! The edict has long since been sealed. The oath you swore had barely been made a moment ago — do you mean to renege already?"
She slapped the bed frame hard, clearly enraged to the core.