Unparalleled Beauty

Chapter C105 pt1

Within Zichen Hall, more than twenty influential court officials had gathered.

"Please, Your Majesty, reconsider!"

"Please, Your Majesty, reconsider, ah!"

"Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, your dragon body has always been healthy, full of vigor and vitality. It would be acceptable to establish a Crown Prince, but now you also intend to abdicate the throne to the Crown Prince. This old minister and others truly cannot bear to part with Your Majesty."

Seeing that Emperor Taihe remained unmoved, another minister brought up the matter of the nation's stability, saying, "Your Majesty's sudden establishment of a Crown Prince, and now the sudden intention to abdicate, will cause turmoil in the court and instability in the current situation. It truly cannot be done so hastily. Even if Your Majesty does not consider the court, you must consider the stability of the nation."

The implication in those words was clearly: even if you want to abdicate, you should wait a while. To do things in quick succession like this is akin to wanting to turn the world upside down.

"Lord Tian's words are very true. We also hope that Your Majesty will reconsider."

"We hope that Your Majesty will reconsider."

"We hope that Your Majesty will consider carefully before acting."

Emperor Taihe's expression shifted, revealing sorrow, melancholy, and a myriad of emotions. After a long silence, he finally sighed and said, "All of you lords are the pillars of Great Liang, the supporting arms of the court. In truth, I did hear what you lords said before about establishing a Crown Prince, but I simply did not know how to decide. I was unwilling, I couldn't bear it, and always sought a way to achieve both, so as not to let my sons experience the tragic struggle for the throne that occurred during the Jiancheng years."

This was the first time since Emperor Taihe ascended the throne that he had publicly discussed the struggle for the throne among the princes of that year.

"This Emperor has experienced it, and thus understand that it is the most un-monarch-like and un-minister-like, un-father-like and un-son-like of times. I always thought that perhaps my sons would not, always clinging to a sliver of hope. But as time passed, I realized that all of this was but a pipe dream. As the princes come of age, even if they do not harbor such thoughts, there will always be countless people pushing them forward from behind."

As he said this, Emperor Taihe swept his gaze across those below.

Those with a clear conscience naturally remained as steady as Mount Tai, while those with a guilty conscience could not help but lower their heads even further.

"In truth, it was I who miscalculated!" Emperor Taihe exhaled a long breath and said, "The longer this matter is dragged out, the more chaotic it will become, not only within the palace, but also within the court. Therefore, I intend to correct the mistakes I made before. Why did I first establish a Crown Prince and then intend to abdicate? You are all veteran officials of the court, assisting me for many years, you should understand my meaning."

The Crown Prince is, after all, still just the Crown Prince. As long as he has not ascended the throne for even a day, he is still just the Crown Prince. As long as he has not ascended the throne, there is still room for maneuvering, such as killing this Crown Prince, or causing the Crown Prince to fall out of favor or lose his virtue. In short, after removing the Crown Prince, everyone will naturally return to the same starting point and compete again.

Then what is the point of Emperor Taihe establishing this Crown Prince?

If establishing a Crown Prince still cannot make you give up, then how about directly passing on the throne? Completely extinguish your thoughts.

After all, Great Liang follows the system of inheritance by the eldest son born of the legal wife. As long as the Crown Prince ascends the throne, even if he dies one day, the throne will only be inherited by his son, and not by his brothers.

Emperor Taihe's words were thought-provoking. Seeing that most people were silent, even if some had objections, they dared not voice them at this time.

"All of you, withdraw. Ponder well on what this Emperor has said."

The assembled ministers filed out of the great hall in an orderly fashion. Before departing, they glanced at Emperor Taihe's grave countenance, thinking that His Majesty was truly serious this time.

That was precisely to make them believe he was serious.

Time turned back a little over a month.

Prince Wei had told Wushuang that he would inquire with Emperor Taihe about the Prince An affair, and it was not merely empty words; he truly went.

At that time, Emperor Taihe was partaking in his meal.

Seeing Prince Wei arrive, he invited him to dine together.

This was the first time in many years that the father and son had spent time together in such an atmosphere. Emperor Taihe also discerned that Prince Wei sought him out with a matter in mind, and thus dismissed those who were serving nearby.

One does not speak while eating, nor converse while resting; during the meal, neither of them spoke.

Emperor Taihe had always been frugal in his meals, requiring neither a table laden with dishes, nor rare and expensive ingredients, but merely six ordinary hot dishes, two cold dishes, and a soup pot.

It seemed like a considerable amount to hear, but for an emperor who possessed all under Heaven, it could be considered frugal. Moreover, when Emperor Taihe dined alone, he never used large plates or bowls; the amount of food in each dish was only half of what was ordinary. In this way, it neither appeared meager, nor did it involve extravagance and waste.

This habit had been imitated by many palace concubines. Prince Wei also seemed familiar with this manner of dining. Like Emperor Taihe, he had a bowl of polished rice placed before him, and silently ate.

In truth, if Wushuang were present, she would have noticed that Prince Wei's manner of eating was exactly the same as Emperor Taihe's, as if they had been cast from the very same mold.

Having finished eating, he set down his chopsticks.

Normally, a Chamberlain would have been there to offer Emperor Taihe a handkerchief to wipe his mouth, but now that everyone had been dismissed, Emperor Taihe raised his hand, only to remember.

Just as he was about to retract it, a handkerchief was offered to him, handed over by none other than Prince Wei.

Emperor Taihe accepted it, wiped his mouth, and set it down, saying, "What matter do you seek this Emperor for?"

Prince Wei returned to sit at his side, saying, "This son wishes to inquire of Father Emperor about some matters concerning Prince An."

"Why inquire about Prince An?"

Clearly, compared to Wushuang, Prince Wei was far more meticulous, and his mind was also far more capable. Wushuang had no way to avoid speaking of her rebirth to clarify these matters, but Prince Wei could.

He spoke lightly of his investigation into Prince Jin, mentioning that he had discovered some clues, clues that seemed to involve Prince An and Consort Dowager Hu. He spoke of the old Chamberlain who had taught Prince Jin to read and write, and also of the old Granny who had cared for Prince Jin since birth.

***

And so it was said, speaking with intelligent people was simply easier.

Prince Wei's words seemed rash, going straight to the point, but when he spoke of the main content, he only mentioned it lightly in a few sentences.

The highest level of conversation was not defeating all opponents with eloquent arguments, but how to use simple sentences to stir the other person's thoughts, to make the other person help you fill in what you wanted to know, or to use a sentence or two to strike at the existence that the other person most feared being known deep in their heart.

Why did Emperor Taihe detest Prince Jin?

It was not only because that incident had created a rift between him and Consort Chen, but also because the appearance of that palace maid had shattered the illusion that had always existed between him and Consort Chen.

Since entering the palace, Consort Chen had been exclusively favored by him. He had spent a lot of time capturing her heart. He had almost forgotten that he also had an Empress and other concubines, and Consort Chen also seemed to have forgotten that he was an Emperor.

But the matter of mistakenly taking a palace maid in his drunken state and sleeping with her had destroyed all of this.

Consort Chen was a sincere woman with fervent emotions, daring to love and daring to hate. When she was angry, she was angry; when she was jealous, she was jealous, never concealing it in front of others.

When had Emperor Taihe ever seen such a woman? All along, the women who appeared before Emperor Taihe were respectful and gentle, without jealousy or envy, but she blatantly told him that she was jealous, that she did not want him to have other women.

The two had a big fight because of this. Although the misunderstanding was cleared up afterwards, it also left hidden dangers and cracks.

Two people who were just beginning to understand what love was learned to give way to each other and be tolerant of each other. Emperor Taihe, as the Emperor, could not exclusively favor her, but he tried his best to give her the best. She knew that he was the Emperor, and in the years that followed, she slowly learned to tolerate and turn a blind eye.

But the hidden dangers were still there, and the wounds were still there. How could the fact that the two of them had a quarrel over a palace maid be concealed from the other palace concubines? Thus, methods specifically targeting Consort Chen came one after another.

A sentence or two of instigation, a small action or two, a small scheme, was enough to make her, who was in a foreign land and seemingly strong but actually sensitive at heart, heartbroken again and again.

These wounds accumulated little by little beneath her seemingly bright smile. Consort Chen began to become more and more abnormal, more and more irritable, and her emotional fluctuations became greater and greater. Gradually, there was talk in the palace that Consort Chen was insane.

This is digressing a bit.

But this was precisely the main reason why Emperor Taihe detested Prince Jin and did not summon him back to the palace for more than ten years. After Consort Chen went mad, every time he went to visit her, he would think of that palace maid, and naturally he would vent his anger on Prince Jin.

Another reason that made him feel as if he had a fishbone stuck in his throat was that, on the surface, it seemed that he had been drunk and mistaken the person, and only then had he slept with that palace maid, but in fact, he had been drugged.

Afterwards, Emperor Taihe investigated, but found nothing. It seemed that the drug had come out of nowhere. The drug was not administered by the palace maid either. She had only appeared by chance and was mistaken and forced upon by him.

How infuriating and stifling!

***

Few knew of this matter, yet it was a thorn lodged deep within Emperor Taihe's heart.

And so, Prince Wei, with only a few brief words, caused Emperor Taihe to contemplate much.

"You suspect Prince Jin's origins, believing they are connected to Prince An?"

Emperor Taihe phrased it rather subtly; if he were less so, it would likely be: You suspect Prince Jin is not of my seed, but of Prince An's?

"If there is no connection, why would two palace servants, inextricably linked to Prince An, both go to care for a newborn infant? One could be coincidence, but can two also be considered coincidence?"

Even setting aside these coincidences, Prince Jin's behavior upon first returning to the palace astonished many, including Emperor Taihe himself.

It was perhaps that you deemed him unremarkable, yet he repeatedly surprised you.

One surprise, two surprises… In the years after Prince Jin returned to the palace, in order to gain a firm foothold, he displayed extraordinary talent before others, causing people to exclaim over how remarkably intelligent Prince Yi was.

Especially those civil officials.

Why was Prince Jin able to gather a group of civil officials around him, praising him to the utmost? A large portion of them had admired Prince Jin since he was a little over ten years old, and it was from this time that Prince Jin's reputation for talent was established.

But if one were to think deeply about this matter, it would give one a sense of abruptness. What virtue or ability did an old eunuch from the imperial villa possess to be able to teach such a child prodigy?

Emperor Taihe, born as an emperor, possessing a vast empire, had seen and heard of many so-called child prodigies. These child prodigies never came from ordinary peasant families, but were mostly descendants of prominent clans and famous families. From a very young age, they often had elders in their families guiding them, enlightening them. They heard, read, and saw much, which allowed them to compose poetry and prose, and recite the Four Books and Five Classics at a young age.

An old eunuch who had only learned a few characters in the inner study could never have taught Prince Jin to be like that in his youth. However, Prince Jin had given a reason at the time, saying that after he learned to read and write, he often ran to the imperial villa's library.

These things were not obvious at the time, but as it is said, everything cannot withstand suspicion and deep thought. Once one thinks deeply, one will feel that there are doubts everywhere.

"And also Marquis Wuding. If my understanding is correct, Marquis Wuding and Prince An were extremely close in those years. When Prince An died, Marquis Wuding grieved greatly and was even ill for a while."

Emperor Taihe lost his composure and moved, knocking the chopsticks beside his hand to the ground.

Hearing the sound, Fengxi hurriedly walked in, "Your Highness…"

Emperor Taihe stood up and said, "Take these away. I will go to the study with Prince Wei to speak; no need for anyone to follow."