Capítulo 677: Chapter 483: Little Crybaby, Beautiful and Charming, The Rugged Man Spoils His Wife with Seduction 33
Holding the Eldest Prince’s Token, Su Zhiruan passed through without any obstruction.
The palace path was heavily guarded, with layers of checkpoints, the concubines avoiding coming out, tightly locking their palace gates. The closer to the Jinluan Palace, the more guards there were. Every few steps, one could see bloodstains and corpses, fresh blood splattered on the dark red palace walls, the stench of blood overwhelming.
The sky dimd, the sun hidden within the clouds, with only a faint and weak sunlight barely covering the earth, as if about to be completely swallowed in the next mont. Anyone could tell that today, a monuntal change would occur throughout the Wan Dynasty.
Although Su Zhiruan wore a palace maid’s attire, she carried the Eldest Prince’s Token, and the guards were all under the Eldest Prince’s command. They assud she was a spy planted in the palace by the Eldest Prince, so they let her through.
She sneaked in from behind the Jinluan Palace, hiding behind a pillar to observe the situation.
At this ti, the main hall was tense and filled with the scent of blood, but no one paid heed.
The Second Prince pointed a longsword directly at the Eldest Prince’s throat, his face covered in filth and dried blood. He scread hoarsely, “Elder brother, do you know that your actions today amount to patricide and regicide, disregarding the ethics of father and son, ruler and minister? Do you wish to force the palace, be spurned by thousands, and go down in history?!”
“Brother, your words are mistaken,” compared to his fury, the Eldest Prince had a kind of calm madness. He even smiled slightly, “Since ancient tis, the winner becos the king, the loser the outlaw. The capable take precedence. What I’m doing today is out of necessity.”
“Moreover, since the Second Prince claims I am committing patricide and regicide, coincidentally, I have so witnesses here who can prove that the Second Prince, while pretending to be a virtuous minister and filial son, is not lacking behind in his actions compared to .” The Eldest Prince implied.
Everyone present naturally knew the situation. The two of them were evenly matched, and the Old Emperor now being at death’s door could not be separated from the contributions of these two sons.
Su Zhiruan yawned, leaning against the pillar, sitting quietly.
“If you two surrender, I may spare your whole bodies for the sake of brotherhood,” the Eldest Prince’s longsword unsheathed. Behind him, two generals imdiately surrounded the Second and Third Princes. He stepped forward, continuing the threat, “If you insist on resisting, once I ascend the throne, you two will be traitors, beheaded and displayed on the city walls as a warning, and your corpses will be dumped at the Burial Mound.”
The Second Prince and the Third Prince exchanged a glance, and in an instant, murderous intent erupted—
The Eldest Prince had always been wary of the treasure in the Third Prince’s possession. Although he had never displayed it in public, it was precisely because of this that danger was omnipresent. The Eldest Prince’s n all kept a close eye on the Third Prince, ready to kill him at the slightest suspicious move.
“Enough talk,” the Second Prince chopped with a heavy slash, clenching his teeth as he struck hard, “Ah—”
In an instant, the entire Jinluan Palace was soaked in blood. Their subordinates were also entangled in fights, each move deadly, each style a fatal blow.
Flesh and blood splattered, limbs and broken bodies were everywhere, even outside the main hall there was infighting, devastation everywhere.
“Elder brother—how did we end up like this? We were born of the sa root…”
The Second Prince’s right hand was chopped off, his expression twisted in agony. The ground was scattered with limbs, and his arm still held tight to a sword. Large beads of sweat dripped down his face, lding with the blood flowing from his face and mouth, making it unclear whether it was blood and tears or blood and sweat.
“Enough!” The Eldest Prince’s face was full of deep and shallow scars. He forced himself to stand up with a solemn face, “Born of the sa root?! If we were truly born of the sa root, how could we have co to this?”
The Third Prince was captured, and he shouted angrily, “Why, as fellow Princes, have we co to such a predicant?”
“Fellow?” The Eldest Prince looked at the Second Prince’s feigned righteous face and suddenly burst into laughter, “Hahahaha, if I were also the son of the Central Palace, then rightly, I would be the legitimate eldest son. Now, you debate with in the Jinluan Palace just because you covet that fad Dragon Chair! Pretentious, yet truly hypocrites.”
…
Su Zhiruan listened to half of it and yawned again.
After all, the grievances between these three were not few. She calculated that it might take at least another quarter of an hour.
Since that was the case, she might as well attend to so proper business.
Thus, she got up quietly without disturbing anyone.
The road out was much smoother than on the way in. The guards already recognized her, and she didn’t even need to show the Token to be allowed to pass.
So, Su Zhiruan arrived at Zichen Hall—the Old Emperor’s bedroom.
“Who goes there?!” Two long spears blocked her path, gazing coldly at Su Zhiruan, “No entry without a token!”
“I co by the Eldest Prince’s order to retrieve sothing. You are not to obstruct !” Su Zhiruan displayed the Token, standing neither humbly nor arrogantly.
“Let her pass.”
Pushing the door open, a strong dicinal sll assaulted the senses. The doors and windows were tightly shut, and layers upon layers of curtains covered the room. It seed less of a place for recuperation and more like imprisonnt. In such an environnt, even a healthy person would develop lancholic air.
She parted the layers of bright yellow curtains, stopping as she neared the bedside.
The Old Emperor was already barely breathing. Hearing the footsteps, he coughed and wheezed, asking, “…Is it, is it the Empress?”
“Father, it is your son.” Su Zhiruan stepped forward, lifting the curtain, and saw the Old Emperor looking gaunt. “Do you rember your son?”
“Oh, it’s Jialan…” The Old Emperor was not overly surprised, rely looking at her. “Only you, still rember .”
Su Zhiruan pulled the blanket up for him and squeezed out a few tears, looking at the Old Emperor with tearful eyes. “Father… you will surely get better…”
The Old Emperor sighed weakly and then looked at her, speaking sowhat apologetically, “I once neglected you, but now that I’m dying, it is you who cos to see . If only I had known your filial piety earlier, I would have surely compensated you.”
“I want nothing but for Father to be healthy, so that I may serve alongside my elder brothers.” Su Zhiruan sat by his bedside, speaking sincerely, tears dropping onto the Old Emperor’s hand.
“They…” The Old Emperor smiled bitterly, “Perhaps by now they are already fighting.”
“Father…” Su Zhiruan rose and bowed, “Now, your son has only one wish, I beg Father to fulfill it.”
“Speak.”
“The Eldest and Second Princes are currently at odds, and I do not wish to see siblings slaughter each other, nor the court in chaos, with the people suffering.” Su Zhiruan looked grief-stricken, and the Old Emperor seed moved. She continued, “Please, Father, decree the heir, so as to quash any hopes of the other party and stabilize the court and harem!”
The Old Emperor’s gaze fell upon the layers of bright yellow curtains, pausing for a long ti. Finally, he seed to relent, sighing deeply, “…The Eldest Prince raised an army to force the palace, intending rebellion; the Second Prince, as the legitimate son of the Central Palace, is fit for the great task of Monarch.”
“Father, I will certainly convey the decree!” Su Zhiruan nodded solemnly, then raised her head to ask, “However, without an imperial edict now, and Father unable to personally establish an heir, as a re woman issuing an oral decree, it might not convince others. Would Father hand over the token to , so that I may deliver it to Second Prince even through fire and water.”
Perhaps because the Chief Eunuch by the Old Emperor’s side had been executed or because Su Zhiruan’s words made sense, the Old Emperor heavily coughed and wheezed, his chest heaving violently. Then he stretched out his aged hand, tremblingly pointing far off, “The vase… rotate the vase…”
Su Zhiruan rose, quickly walked to the vase, and rotated it as the Old Emperor instructed. Imdiately, the painting behind her rolled up automatically, revealing a secret compartnt.
Her heart racing, she approached the secret compartnt.
“The ink rack…” ca the Old Emperor’s weak voice.
Su Zhiruan examined the ink rack and saw a pen different from the others. She couldn’t take it off, so she rotated it similarly, and with a rumbling sound, the small door of the secret compartnt opened.
A dark red wooden box caught her eye. She took it out and opened it, finding exactly what she had been aiming to get.
Whole body in green jade, a lustrous touch, with the coiled dragon on top; at the base, the red seal was slightly moist.
It was the Imperial Jade Seal!
She took the box and leisurely walked to the Old Emperor, “Many thanks to Your Majesty from Jialan.”
“You… must deliver the decree… cough cough…” The Old Emperor did not sense anything amiss, gazing at the Jade Seal in Su Zhiruan’s hand, unmoving.
“Naturally,” Su Zhiruan raised an eyebrow and smiled, holding the Jade Seal in one hand while her other hand hooked the yellow belt on the bed’s side, “Your Majesty’s oral command is clear to —pass the throne to Princess Jialan to ascend and beco Emperor, with the late Emperor personally handing the Imperial Jade Seal to your son.”
The Old Emperor’s eyes suddenly widened as if trying to see through Su Zhiruan’s soul, “You—you—ungrateful child—”
He was so angry he couldn’t speak, feeling suffocated and short of breath, already starting to breathe heavily.
“Compared to Father, I truly am the most filial daughter of the Wan Dynasty,” Su Zhiruan no longer acted, she chuckled lightly, “You see Father, in my childhood, I was humiliated and bullied by Princes and Princesses at will, yet never sought your pity.”
“Later, when the family and country were in peril, you pushed to marry for alliance regardless of who it was, just as long as it brought you benefit, it was worthwhile.”
“Upon returning to the palace, you intended to kill for peace of mind, later wishing to take as a concubine, disregarding morality.” Su Zhiruan looked down upon him disdainfully, “For so many years, you’ve taught so much, and now all of this is your reward!”
“As a ruler, you lacked benevolence; as a father, you lacked kindness; as a person, you lacked righteousness; as a husband, you lacked fidelity,” Su Zhiruan sneered, pressing in, “If the late Emperor saw your conduct, he would be infuriated beyond asure.”
“Oh yes, I almost forgot,” Su Zhiruan added the final stab, “The late Emperor, wasn’t it you who killed him with your own hands.”
“You… you…” The Old Emperor could no longer speak, his eyes almost bursting, wishing to tear Su Zhiruan apart on the spot.
“The hour has co,” Su Zhiruan was tired of talking to him, so she simply took out a red pill from her wallet and thrust it into the Old Emperor’s mouth, “Your humble daughter takes leave.”
Having said that, she laid down the layer of bright yellow curtains, and the Old Emperor’s hand could no longer touch the yellow belt.
But even if he could touch it, what could he do?
As she laid them down layer by layer, with the mont she opened the door to step over the threshold, Su Zhiruan thought, the next dynasty is about to begin.
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