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Home/ There’s A Beauty / Chapter 94 (Part 1)

The Seventh Prince put in a lot of effort to appease You Shu, and only after the little guy calmed down did he enter the Jinluan Hall to face the Holy Emperor. After the government affairs were dealt with, several ministers stood up and said that all the princes have grown up, and in order to stabilize the country, it is time to establish a crown prince. They asked the emperor to give more consideration to this matter.

Emperor Jing was already in his early fifties this year, which was considered a long life in ancient times when medical technology was very backward. However, he felt that he could live for another ten or twenty years, so he was quite resistant to the idea of establishing a crown prince. 

However, as the ministers said, in the eyes of outsiders, he is already old and his time is running out. If he does not appoint a crown prince, I am afraid that many people will start to sway, leading to chaos in the court.

He squinted his eyes and his gaze swept over all the princes who had joined the court and started participating in politics. The Eldest Prince is the legitimate eldest son, thus showing an expression as if his victory is already determined; the third child’s biological mother was only a singer and had passed away long ago, so he could only rely on the legitimate lineage. At this moment, he was looking at the Eldest Prince, obviously preparing to support him; 

The fourth child’s biological mother is Concubine Jing, who comes from a noble background and has a reliable maternal family. Although she has the strength to compete, she also knows how to restrain her sharp edges. Nowadays, looking at the fourth child, he seems to have no desire for the throne; 

While others including the fifth, sixth, and ninth child, almost everyone has their own plans and calculations.

Emperor Jing suddenly felt a great sense of panic and exhaustion when facing this group of sons who were seemingly filial and gentle, but in reality were eyeing the throne with envy. When a person inevitably enters the state of aging, especially if they have been high up in the sky, and then has to step down from the clouds, even a slight momentum is enough to make them feel a sense of crisis, as if falling into the abyss.

Emperor Jing wanted to get angry, but he finally restrained himself. He calmed down a little when he saw Lao Qi sitting quietly by the side, taking out a small comb from his arms and grooming the puppy on his lap. In recent years, his body has indeed declined significantly, and except for Lao Qi, Deng Chaoshan, and a few confidants, no one else knows about it. If it weren’t for Lao Qi’s help in handling the court affairs, the princes would have started fighting long ago. How could there be such a peaceful and prosperous era now?

He was extremely reassured about Lao Qi: Firstly, he has no maternal family to rely on; Secondly, he doesn’t have a healthy body; Thirdly, he has no ambition and doesn’t care about anything except for the puppy in his arms. Therefore, Emperor Jing was willing to indulge him and his puppy a little. Otherwise, if an ordinary little dog were to wear the royal uniform of the majestic Dayan Kingdom, it would have been beaten to death long ago.

“Lao Qi, everyone is discussing business here, why are you busy grooming your puppy? How many times have I told you that there must be a limit to spoiling it? Look at you now, all your thoughts are focused on raising a puppy, and there’s not even a single person around to warm the bed.” Emperor Jing seemed to be scolding him, but in fact, his face was filled with a helpless smile.

The ministers and princes who had just been staring at the emperor all turned to look at Prince Duan. Although they were used to seeing this, they still found it very absurd. They saw Prince Duan actually holding colorful silk in his hand, slowly braiding the hair on both sides of the puppy’s head into small braids, hanging down on both sides of the purple gold crown. Now, not only did their clothes, but their hairstyle also looked exactly the same.

You Shu was accustomed to being stared at, so he covered his eyes with his paws and prepared to take a nap. 

The Seventh Prince smiled at Emperor Jing, “Father, this is the only precious thing in your son’s heart, so please be kind to us. The matter of establishing the crown prince has nothing to do with me, this son will just listen to what my father says.”

The princes showed their goodwill to the Seventh Prince one after another, and they all believed that on the road to seize the throne, they could win over this imperial brother who has outstanding ability but is indifferent to fame and wealth, which is like adding wings to the tiger.

Upon seeing that everyone had turned their attention back, Emperor Jing pondered and said, “This matter is of great importance and I still need to think about it for a few days. Lao Qi, your mother misses you very much. Go to the Kunning Palace to accompany her for a while before leaving.” 

However, the Empress deeply hates Concubine Hui, so how can she have a kind heart towards the other party’s son? Isn’t it just to pave the way for the future of the Eldest Prince? Prince Duan has outstanding ability and is very good at strategizing, and he has already won the trust of the emperor and the support of the courtiers. Once you win him over, the rest of the princes could only watch with envy.

Not only Emperor Jing was aware of this, but the other princes were also aware of it. Although Emperor Jing was very suspicious, he also cherished talents very much. As a person with outstanding ability to govern the court, he would definitely protect and cultivate a talent like Lao Qi, and then leave it to the next emperor. No matter how incompetent and mediocre the successor is, as long as Lao Qi is there, Dayan will never be any worse off.

The Empress summoned Lao Qi, not only to get close to him, but also to point out her niece to him as the Princess Consort, in order to tie him to the Eldest Prince’s ship. Emperor Jing clearly knew her intentions, but he didn’t stop it and even tried his best to promote it. Does this mean that his preferred choice for the heir apparent was the Eldest Prince?

Thinking of this, except for the Eldest Prince’s faction, everyone else felt restless and their eyes darkened. 

As if unaware of the undercurrent, Emperor Jing personally pushed Lao Qi to leave after a few words, and he also didn’t forget to call the Eldest Prince.

Reasonably, the eldest prince, who is the first in line, is the most suitable candidate for the crown prince. However, he and the Empress have been out of favor for more than ten years, and their foundation is not solid enough. Not to mention that the princes were very angry in their hearts, even the ministers who had stood in line early had some objections, and after returning, they began to think about countermeasures.

The sky in the Dayan Kingdom is about to change.

Seeing his father pushing himself to the fork in the road, and then onto the flowery path of Kunning Palace, the Seventh Prince quickly arched his hands and said, “Father, you and the imperial brother should go ahead. I want to go see Mufei and my younger brother first.”

Lao Qi is too affectionate. Even though Concubine Hui and Lao Ba treated him like that, he still visited them from time to time over the years, which deeply touched Emperor Jing’s heart. Of course, in order to prevent Concubine Hui and Lao Ba from publicizing the scandals of those years, he had already ordered people to put mute medicine in their food. Although they were not completely mute, they could only utter a few short words. If they mention sensitive words, such as Empress Dowager, Duke Jing, incest, and so on, someone would naturally step forward to stop them.

Let’s not talk about promiscuity in the palace, but it also included the crime of violating human relations. If word of this kind of scandal spreads out, it would not only ruin the image of the royal family, but also make the people question the royal bloodline. Emperor Jing, who had always been proud of his surname Ji, would definitely not bring shame to his ancestors, let alone allow someone to destroy the reputation of the late emperor, so he had no choice but to sacrifice Concubine Hui and her son.

He didn’t kill people to silence them, he just confined the two in the cold palace. If his ancestors showed up, they would probably call it “the benevolence of a woman” and scold him. Therefore, Emperor Jing didn’t think that he had done anything wrong, nor did he feel guilty towards anyone, but he was still deeply touched when he saw Lao Qi being so benevolent and righteous. The more Lao Qi behaved like this, the more he hated the iron for not becoming steel, but this was also the reason he trusted Lao Qi more.

“Go ahead, take a look, just make sure not to get hurt again.” Emperor Jing looked helpless, and the Eldest Prince also showed sympathy.

The Seventh Prince nodded in agreement and asked Xiao Shunzi to push him to Cold Spring Palace.  

Cold Spring Palace, as the name suggests, is a palace surrounded by cold and clear lake water, with no other way out except for a corridor laid out on the water. Entering here is equivalent to entering a prison. There is no other way to live or die, and you can only survive the days by thinking about the mysteries of life.

Concubine Hui is only thirty-five or thirty-six this year, but the hair on her temples has already turned grey and her face was full of wrinkles, looking like an old woman in her late years. 

At this moment, she was hunched over, scrubbing the Eighth Prince who was paralyzed in bed. The Eighth Prince had been lying down for a long time, and a large area of bedsores developed on his back and buttocks. The blood-red flesh oozed light yellow pus, which was very shocking to watch. He was obviously in great pain, constantly pounding the pillow and letting out a hoarse growl, but unable to utter a word.  

However, the only two eunuchs just stood at the door and watched coldly, refusing to come forward to serve. It wasn’t until they saw Prince Duan coming slowly that they panicked. One went to fetch the hot water and the other went to get medicine.

Upon hearing the noise, Concubine Hui showed a look of joy and threw down the handkerchief, going out to welcome him.

“Lao ahh, you’re ah (Lao Qi, you’re here).” She opened her mouth to speak, but what came out was a series of strange sounds. She had to lower her head in shame and saw Lao Qi’s puppy scratching its four paws, wanting to climb over the threshold. She immediately bent down to hug him.

“Don’t touch him, he can do it himself.” The Seventh Prince said calmly, but his eyes were a little cold. He disliked others touching You Shu very much.

Concubine Hui awkwardly retracted her hand and rubbed her palms against the hem of her skirt. She remembered that these hands had just helped Lao Ba clean the bed sores, which was really dirty. How could she hold Lao Qi’s precious treasure with these hands? 

As she was thinking, Lao Ba’s sharp roar came from inside the hall as usual. It turned out that the puppy had crossed the threshold and ran straight to the inner hall.

The little dog walked to the bedside with small steps, shaking its purple crown and colorful silk braids on the head. It also lifted its front paws, dressed in a prince’s robe, as if showing off. Then it wagged its small tail, walking from the end of the bed to the head of the bed, and then from the head to the end of the bed, making sure that the Eighth Prince could see its precious attire clearly.

God said that humans have seven deadly sins, and apart from angels, every mortal is more or less tainted with one. However, there are also some extremely paranoid humans who will fall into it on their own and are completely irredeemable. And the Eighth Prince has fallen into the abyss of jealousy. Even if outsiders don’t torture him, he himself will be so jealous that he would rather die than live.

At the age of thirteen, the Seventh Prince was conferred the title of Prince, and at the age of sixteen, he entered the cabinet. Even his little dog was dressed in royal clothes and crown, and it was highly sought after in the palace. On the other hand, the Eight Prince could only lie in bed and gasp for breath, which was completely different from the future he had imagined. Has God reversed their fate?

He stared at the puppy, wishing he could strangle it with his thoughts, but was blocked by Concubine Hui who hurriedly walked in.

As the Seventh Prince picked up the puppy, his face was extremely gloomy. The way Lao Ba looked at You Shu had already touched his bottom line. He sat down by the bed, inquired about their recent situation as usual, and then ordered the two eunuchs to go to the imperial pharmacy to get some good medicinal herbs. Otherwise, it will be too late if Lao Ba’s bedsores are not treated.

I don’t want your fake kindness! The Eighth Prince wanted to scold him, but all he made was a series of ‘ahhh’ sounds, which made him seem even more powerless. In the end, he could only stare with bloodshot eyes.

The Seventh Prince just stared at him intently, without speaking for a long time. He gently squeezed the puppy’s pink flesh pad with one hand and tapped the table with the other, his expression extremely unpredictable. The Eighth Prince was extremely frightened by his gaze, but he still scolded him, “Look ahh, look ahh, what ahh (what are you looking at)!”

Concubine Hui also felt very uneasy. She glanced at Lao Qi for a moment, and then looked at Lao Ba for a while, her face gradually turning pale.

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