Chapter 112 |
Two more months passed.
The Second Prince's faction rose to prominence in the imperial court with formidable momentum.
Yet, he did not contend with the Crown Prince in the slightest, making the Crown Prince feel as though he had punched cotton.
A remnant of the Third Prince's faction still clung on in the court, waiting for the Third Princess Consort to give birth to the imperial eldest grandson.
It was now the tenth month.
The Third Princess Consort was eight months pregnant. The later the stage, the more she felt unwell, becoming dizzy and lightheaded with the slightest movement.
The Third Prince, his empty sleeve swaying daily, directed the servants to support the Princess Consort for a daily walk in the courtyard.
He said considerately, "I heard from the imperial physician that the later the term, the more one must walk to ensure an easier delivery."
The Third Princess Consort said wearily, "But I am so tired. I wish to rest."
The Third Princess Consort stopped in the courtyard. Looking at the Third Prince's emaciated face and the faint trace of hope and entreaty still lingering in his eyes, she forced herself to take two more steps.
Suddenly, a pain shot through her lower abdomen.
The Princess Consort's face turned even paler. Clutching her stomach, she said, "It hurts..."
The Third Prince's heart skipped a beat. "Fetch the midwife, quickly!"
-
News of the Third Princess Consort's labor spread.
The remnants of the Third Prince's faction still in the court took it very seriously. The Minister of Rites had long been on tenterhooks, not worried about whether his granddaughter would bear a boy, but concerned for her safety.
Emperor Chongzhao also dispatched imperial physicians to oversee the situation. From the Imperial Hospital, Physician Yang grabbed his medicine chest and rushed over with another physician.
The Third Prince had made ample preparations for this child's arrival. With experienced imperial physicians present, after a whole night's arduous struggle, the Third Princess Consort narrowly and perilously delivered safely.
Her face covered in sweat, she looked weakly at the midwife.
The infant was very frail, its cry as faint as a kitten's.
The midwife announced, "It's a girl."
But the Third Princess Consort smiled. Reaching out her hand, tired yet gentle, she said, "Let me see the child."
She poked her daughter lightly, looking at this small, red bundle, feeling both heartache and deep affection. She grasped her daughter's tiny hand and gently nuzzled it.
Thank goodness, thank goodness...
The Third Prince hurried in. "Well? How is the child?"
The midwife said, "Congratulations, Your Highness. Both the Princess Consort and the child are safe and well."
The Third Prince's smile froze on his face.
The delivery room fell silent. The other servants and maids who knew the Third Prince's mind all lowered their heads, not daring to look. Only the Third Princess Consort patiently tucked the little blanket around her baby.
She did not even grant him a direct glance.
The Third Prince scanned the room. "Impossible! The imperial physician clearly said it would be the imperial eldest grandson!" He grabbed the midwife by the collar. "Was it... did you swap the child?!"
"You..."
The Third Prince released the terrified midwife and walked to the bedside. "Did you switch the child? You've always urged me to stop contending. You knew this child was my one last hope. To stop me from contending, you switched it, didn't you?"
The Third Princess Consort glimpsed a trace of madness in his eyes.
She shielded her daughter. For the first time, her gentle and silent nature revealed sharpness. The Third Princess Consort sneered, "You've read too many storybooks, Your Highness. It's almost dawn now. Stop dreaming."
The Third Prince took a step back. "...If you can't bear one, there are others."
He took a deep breath, cast a cold glance at the mother and child, offered not a single word of concern, and left the room.
From then on, the Third Prince frequently visited the chambers of his concubines in the rear courtyard, not even preparing a celebratory banquet.
The Crown Princess did send many infant necessities. Qu Dubian also sent gifts appropriate for a royal uncle. The Fourth Prince, as usual, took some exquisite stationery from Consort Yi, along with some ornaments, and sent them over.
Qu Dubian also heard about the Third Prince's coldness towards his Princess Consort. Shaking his head, he said, "If Third Brother continues like this, his situation will only worsen."
After losing his arm, completely withdrawing from the succession struggle would have been fine. Living a peaceful life with his wife and child—wasn't that better than constant scheming?
The Sixth Prince complained, "His complexion is terrifyingly bad. When I visited last time to deliver gifts, he looked as gloomy as a ghost."
Qu Dubian kicked him in the backside. "Focus on farming! There's still half the soil to loosen."
The Sixth Prince clutched his backside and said fiercely, "Why am I doing your work? Little Seven, why have you been so displeased with me lately? Ever since I recovered from my injury, you've been bullying me."
Lately, he had almost single-handedly managed the vegetable plot in Pinggui Yard—harvesting vegetables, planting the last batch of seeds before winter, loosening soil, removing pests. He was truly exhausted.
Qu Dubian lay back in the rocking chair. "You have no idea how much you owe me." Half a lifetime's debt still outstanding, a son repaying his mother's debt—he was only collecting daily interest. "Besides, there's a great deal of knowledge in farming. Learn more skills; they might come in handy someday. You'll never go hungry wherever you go."
The Sixth Prince was incredulous. "Me? I only do this work here for you. With anyone else, I would have beaten them up long ago!"
Qu Dubian tossed a peanut at him. "Work properly, or I'll shut the gate and release Yidianbai."
Yidianbai timely barked twice.
Amid the Sixth Prince's grumbling, Qu Dubian lay in the rocking chair, thinking about the analysis of the current court situation he had done today after studies with Grand Tutor Fang.
His nominal father should be about to completely sever Third Brother's remaining support in the court, clearing the way for the newly risen Second Brother.
-
After completing her month of postpartum confinement, the Third Princess Consort left, carrying her child and leaving behind a letter of separation.
Returning to her family home, all her pent-up grievances poured out. She cried the entire night.
The lamp in the Minister of Rites' study remained lit all night. The next day at court, the Minister of Rites, citing old age, voluntarily requested to retire.
His only request was for the Emperor to dissolve his granddaughter's marriage to the Third Prince.
The Emperor hesitated repeatedly before granting permission. However, the child would still be registered in the imperial lineage. Considering the Third Prince's current circumstances, he specially granted that the child could be raised by the Princess Consort until adulthood.
The Minister of Rites was allowed to retire with the honor of a second-rank official, leading his entire clan to safely withdraw from the Third Prince's succession struggle. Moreover, because they were raising an imperial child, they received additional consideration.
He stayed home, instructing his descendants in knowledge, anticipating the clan's prosperity.
After his retirement, the position of Minister of Rites was assumed by the former Left Vice Minister of Rites.
In the imperial court, the Third Prince's influence was thereby completely eliminated, never to make waves again.
-
Third Prince's Residence.
The courtyard reeked of alcohol.
When the Crown Prince arrived, the smell made him wrinkle his nose.
Looking around, he finally spotted the Third Prince lying drunk on the floor tiles of the pavilion, drinking.
The Crown Prince walked over and nudged him with his foot. "Still breathing, aren't you? Not dead yet?"
The Third Prince cracked open an eye.
"What are you doing here."
The Crown Prince sat on a stool. "To laugh at you, certainly not out of concern."
The Third Prince scoffed. "After all these years, you're still transparently foolish." He rolled over, propped himself up with one hand on the ground, dragged himself back, and leaned against a pillar. "Speak your mind. Between you and me now, is there still need for pretense?"
The eldest prince looked at him for a moment. "On the day of my estate's founding banquet, Wen Xin's elder brother met a violent end. Was it you?"
"Your estate's founding banquet..." The third prince frowned. It was an event from several years ago, and his mind was muddled from days of drinking. It took him several seconds to remember. "That incident."
"I had just begun attending court audiences then... but I believe I was still two years away from establishing my own estate, wasn't I? I hadn't even secured my footing in the court. How could I have moved against the elder brother of your principal consort?"
The eldest prince: "Wen Xin's brother's body was found at the Northern Gate inspection and transport office, frozen into a statue. Chief Eunuch Ren committed suicide that very night. His Majesty glossed over the whole affair. He didn't order the Eastern Depot to investigate deeply precisely because he believed it was either you or the second prince."
The third prince was silent for a while. "That was your principal consort's analysis, wasn't it?"
The eldest prince was briefly embarrassed, then said irritably, "Can you speak properly?"
The third prince slowly stood up and sat on the edge of the pavilion, looking at the pond full of withered lotus. "It wasn't me."
The eldest prince: "Then it was the second prince."
The third prince: "You believe me just like that? Aren't you going to question me further?"
"The you of now has no reason to lie to me. To be honest, since your... incapacitation, you've become much more direct. Before, hearing you put on that false, affected manner of speaking made me sick," the eldest prince said frankly.
The third prince took off his shoe and threw it at him.
"Get out!"
The eldest prince brushed off his robe. "I'm leaving. Drink less. Lest your daughter grows to despise you... Oh, I forgot. You're divorced now. Your daughter went back to her mother's family with her. My apologies."
The third prince took off his other shoe and threw it.
As the eldest prince reached the moon gate, the third prince said abruptly, "Elder Brother, you are not suited for that throne. I can see it. Do you think His Majesty cannot?"
The eldest prince paused.
"His Majesty has assigned me numerous duties, but rarely you. Have you ever considered that you are merely his pawn to balance the court and the rivalry among the princes?"
"After I fell, he discarded me immediately, cutting away my influence one by one. The second prince's rise has been so swift; His Majesty's support is indispensable. Tell me, you, who were never his choice for heir apparent, might you not become the whetstone for Second Brother? And when that time comes, will those you care about be able to be preserved?"
"Elder Brother, perhaps from the very beginning, you were the target His Majesty set up."
The third prince stabbed each sentence into the eldest prince's heart. Even though the eldest prince had saved him, after so many years of rivalry, the instinct to never let the other feel at ease was carved deep within them.
Withered yellow leaves in the courtyard were swept up by the autumn wind.
The fist inside the eldest prince's sleeve clenched. He didn't turn around, speaking calmly, "As I thought, I still detest you the most."
Laughter came from the pavilion.
The eldest prince strode away.
The third prince laughed until he was done, then coughed several times. He slumped crookedly in the pavilion, the cold wind gradually seeping into his bones, dispelling much of the drunkenness.
His mind involuntarily returned to the matter he had just discussed with the eldest prince.
Regarding the death of the eldest prince's principal consort's brother all those years ago, he had suspected the second prince.
After all, among the second prince's maternal clan, there were those who served in the Imperial Guards. Though their ranks weren't high, smuggling a person to the inspection office without a trace was certainly possible.
But now, looking at the board from outside the game, neither he nor the second prince could be entirely cleared of suspicion in that death.
If it had been his or the second prince's doing, they would have found a way to extricate themselves cleanly.
That incident, aside from deepening the rift between the brothers, making the eldest prince and his consort determined to oppose them, and adding a layer of mortal enmity to the succession struggle, seemed to have served no other purpose.
Was the mastermind behind the killing of the consort's brother truly the second prince? He always felt there was a hand behind the scenes, stirring the winds and clouds.
The third prince thought for a while longer until a headache began. He smiled mockingly at himself and took another swig of wine.
Enough. He was a useless cripple now, with no hope left. What was the point of thinking so much?