The Adventures of the Crying Princess

Inside the Imperial Study Room

The day after the Crown Prince was sent out of the palace, Crown Prince Yuwen Qian knew that his father would not let him go, and he also knew that his life as a crown prince was probably over.

He began to confine himself and went on a hunger strike and deprived himself of water. The old emperor had complicated feelings towards this son. It was impossible to say that he did not like him. On the contrary, he still had expectations for him.

I hope he can be a good crown prince and a good emperor in the future.

I have been disappointed, but I always feel that no one is perfect, so I always want to give him another chance.

Now that things have come to this, it is difficult for the old emperor to make a decision. Royal family affairs are often very complicated.

It is easy to depose the crown prince, but it is not good to disturb the foundation of the country. The crown prince seems to be sick all day long and rarely leaves the East Palace.

There were many of his supporters in the Cabinet, the Imperial Clan Temple, and even the three provinces and six ministries. The one who gave him the most headache was Duke Liu. That old guy was the most stubborn. How could he allow him to depose the crown prince?

The old emperor rubbed the walnuts in his hand and fell into deep thought. The queen walked into the study with tea and snacks, "Your Majesty, have some tea and take a rest. How can the affairs of the court be finished?"

Emperor Chengde collected his thoughts, grabbed the Queen's hand, and pulled her to sit next to him. "You probably heard about Qian'er's matter. This child is giving me a headache."

"I don't understand state affairs, I only know that Qian'er was weak since childhood, and after growing up, she was harmed by someone. As a mother, I blame myself.

If he really violated the law, or did something that harmed the country, I dare not plead for him. I only ask Your Majesty to give him some dignity for the sake of our father-son relationship."

Mingde patted her hands and was speechless for a moment. How could he not know that it had not been easy for Crown Prince Yuwen Qian these years? However, whether the crown prince was virtuous or not was related to the fate of the country, so how could he be soft-hearted?

"Little minister, first send some food to the prince and tell him that his body and hair are given by his parents. No matter what time, he is not allowed to torture himself like this."

After saying this, the old emperor started coughing. He didn't dare to look at the empress, nor did he dare to look at the impeachment letter submitted by the censor.

The words of the prince, as relayed by Long Yi, echoed in my ears: If I have never had it, then forget it...

"Your Majesty, you only know how to persuade Qian'er, why don't you take care of yourself? Look at you, you have lost weight.

I know that it is difficult for you to make a decision now, and I can’t help you in any way. Qian’er and Ji’er are both my children, so I can’t say anything.

Your Majesty, please take good care of yourself no matter what. I will take my leave now."

Emperor Chengde sat alone for a long time, watching the queen go away. He looked up at the secret passage and murmured to himself, "If it was a monkey, what would she do?"

This thought flashed through his mind. How could he possibly ask a species with no intelligence? No matter how smart a monkey is, it is still a monkey after all.

Just as he was thinking wildly, Eunuch Chen came in and reported, "Your Majesty, Princess Yi sent someone to submit a memorial, requesting your permission to give names to the two grandchildren."

The old emperor patted his head. He was so busy these days that he had forgotten about this matter.

After opening the letter and taking a closer look, Bai Yimeng found a pair of names for the child: Yuwen Qi and Yuwen Xing.

Qi means brave and resolute. Ying means beautiful and kind. Bai Yimeng clearly hopes that his children are healthy, happy, honest and kind.

This memorial seemed to be mentioning the names of the children, but in fact it was also expressing that their family had no interest in the throne.

I hope Emperor Chengde can be at ease, but I also hope he won't be too embarrassed.

The old emperor smiled bitterly and patted the memorial, "You little monkey, you are full of evil intentions. I will obey you." He picked up the pen and wrote down the two names solemnly, then turned to look at Eunuch Chen, "Submit it to the Zongzheng Temple, and from now on, confer the title of Crown Prince on Yuwen Qi, the eldest son of Prince Yi, and the title of Princess Jiahe on Yuwen Xing, the eldest daughter.

I will ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to allocate some money from my private treasury to make longevity locks for the two children."

Eunuch Chen smiled and walked out. The emperor suddenly thought of something and stopped him. "Go and ask the Hanlin Academy to draft an imperial edict and have the prince stay at home to wake up. Prince Yi will be granted the token of regent from today."

The two imperial edicts made people panic, and all the civil and military officials in the court couldn't help but guess the emperor's intentions behind the scenes.

Ministry of Justice

"But I heard that the Crown Prince was punished to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors, and our Shangshu was granted the order to supervise the country. What does this mean? Tell me."

"Need I say more? Our Shangshu is going to be promoted!"

"Keep your voice down. I don't know whether he will be promoted or not. I only know that our Shangshu is a good man and he should be like this..." The clerk was petrified when he saw Yuwen Ji coming out. He knelt down and kowtowed, "I have spoken nonsense. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"Are you two tired of living? How dare you say such a thing as killing all nine generations of your clan? What crime should you be punished for speculating on the emperor's intentions?

Someone drag him away and give him fifty strokes of the cane, expel him from the Ministry of Justice and never employ him again."

The two knew that they could not escape the death penalty, so Yuwen Ji obviously treated them leniently and kowtowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.

Yuwen Ji had been uneasy since he received the imperial edict, and he became even more uneasy after hearing these nonsense. He grabbed the token and entered the palace.

Emperor Chengde, who felt that he had solved the problem, was in a good mood. When he saw Yuwen Ji, he was very surprised and said, "Third brother, you are not in the Ministry of Justice. What are you doing in the palace?"

Yuwen Ji didn't waste any words and directly took out the regent token, "Your Majesty, I am very uneasy about this. Your Majesty is healthy and well, and the Crown Prince is in good health. It is not reasonable for Duan Ran to be the regent."

"Are you the emperor, or am I the emperor? You are now as bold as your wife, and you dare to openly question the imperial edict. Do you want to be beaten?"

Seeing that Prince Yi did not move or speak, Emperor Chengde explained, "I have my own considerations, you just do as I say. As I said before, I am the emperor first, and then the father.

I have my own considerations for you and the Crown Prince. This arrangement is also for the sake of the country. Go out.

Don't behave like a monkey in the future. I can't beat her, but I can beat you. Get out of here and don't make me upset."

"Your Highness, I obey your command." Yuwen Ji was about to stand up, but he seemed to have figured something out and knelt down again, "Father, the Crown Prince is actually very kind.

He seemed to be targeting his son before, but in fact it was not the case. For example, in the last incident, on the surface he wanted to frame his son, but in fact he wanted to protect him.

During the time of tracking down the remnants of Jiaxihou, my son found out that someone was secretly trying to assassinate my husband and me.

The son asked the people around the prince, and they admitted what happened and told him the real reason why the prince framed his son that day.

In fact, that person wanted the prince to lead his son to Fumanlou and kill him there.

The prince agreed, made an appointment with his son a day in advance, and set up a plan to send his son to the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice is my son's place, and his life will not be in danger no matter what. The prince didn't tell anyone, probably because he was afraid that no one would believe him.

Father, maybe the Crown Prince just wanted to scare the little girl that day, or there might be some other reason.

If he really wanted to kill her, would it be necessary for the crown prince to do it himself?"

Light

Emperor Chengde was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Yuwen Ji, "When did you know all this? And why didn't you tell me?"

"I showed the case file a few days ago to you, Your Majesty, but you forgot about it."

Yuwen Ji smiled and pushed the regent token to his father, "Father, you naturally have your own judgment. But there is no two suns in the sky. This token is too heavy for my son to bear."

The old emperor thought for a moment, "You take it. I know about the prince's affairs. This is related to the foundation of the country. I will make a decision. Go ahead."