mtlumby2d Chapter 128
Chapter 128
When Min Liu woke up again, he was lying alone in the cold hall.
The hall was empty, with no one in it.
There was no paper figurine of Rong Liu, no Qikong’s head, no body of the third prince, and no severed limbs of the old emperor.
No brother.
He looked around, like a child thrown in the snow, looking around, but there was no familiar smell.
The young man became a abandoned dog.
Suddenly there was a sound of falling, and a small bamboo basket appeared out of thin air. Min Liu picked up the bamboo basket with trembling hands, looking blankly at the dim sunlight outside the window.
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The 325th year of the Jing Dynasty was an eventful year.
The Crown Prince died unexpectedly years ago, the Fourth Prince rebelled and was arrested, and the identity of the blind Second Prince who had been raised for many years is in doubt.
The emperor, the third prince, and the so-called second prince brought back by Master Cheng Wang, the young man who had made a name for himself on the battlefield in just a few years, all disappeared after an ordinary morning court session.
The chief eunuch, who had been standing outside the palace for a whole day, could no longer bear the repeated pleas of the old ministers. He mustered up the courage to finally push open the palace door after knocking on it many times with no response. However, he was nearly frightened to death by the description inside the palace.
There were traces of a fight, an overturned sacrificial furnace, and crushed white jade ground, but there was no one there.
A scream attracted the old ministers who were kneeling outside the hall. The powerful officials remained calm and worked out a plan to deal with the search in just a few breaths. They did not stand there stupidly and look at each other. Instead, they looked at each other and closed the doors and windows of the hall at the same time.
The thoughts of everyone in the hall could be organized into a million-word epic, but in front of others, they all wore masks of worry.
Truth cannot be hidden forever. News can be kept secret for a while but not forever, especially when more than one or two people know about it.
The common people had heard some unusual things through rumors, but the situation in the imperial city was tense and they didn't know whose young master or whose retainer was sitting next to them when they were eating and chatting, so they all kept their mouths shut and continued to make a living in a hurry.
The court officials were so angry that their brains turned into dogs'.
The second prince Liu Zining in the prince's mansion must not be dragged in, firstly because he is blind, and secondly because his identity is questionable. On that day, Taoist Chengwang spoke loudly in the court, and every official heard it clearly.
The Queen's family has repeatedly interfered, but they can't bear the pressure of most of the court. The current situation is just a temporary balance of power among multiple parties. The situation is as precarious as an egg on the wall, and the slightest change may lead to unpredictable consequences.
General Chang feared civil strife the most. The tribes on the border were like flies that swarmed at the smell of blood. It was clear that if the situation in the imperial city continued, all his years of hard work in defending the city would be in vain, and all the soldiers who had died on the border over the past decade would have sacrificed their lives in vain.
He couldn't accept such consequences.
Everyone was looking for someone, the emperor, the third prince, and Taoist Chengwang. They wanted to dig three feet into the ground and turn the Astronomical Observatory upside down.
General Chang and the masters are looking for Min Liu.
Finally, after disappearing for fourteen days, Min Liu returned to the Stargazing Temple. When he came out of Cheng Wang Zhenren's practice room, Qingyi was extremely surprised. Last night, he and several fellow disciples were still cleaning the dust in their master's room with heavy hearts. No one saw how he came back or how long he stayed there.
General Chang and his think tanks came upon hearing the news and saw the young man with red eyes, scars all over his body and exhausted.
Old Zhang was supported by his nephew and came to the front of the temple. He saw that the young man's eyes were dead, like a walking corpse, but he had to force himself to come back and complete his unfinished business.
After half a month of bizarre struggle over the vacant throne, General Chang and the officials he supported helped Min Liu secure the throne with iron-blooded means.
The past events of that year were slowly leaked out, like a bottle of aged wine, which did not produce a mellow and delicious wine, but instead spilled out a rusty liquid.
The late queen gave birth to twins, which would have been a happy event worth celebrating with a theatre performance in an ordinary family, but it was hardly a happy occasion in the royal family.
They look similar, have the same maternal family, and have only one older brother. If anything happens to the crown prince, who will these two children nominate to succeed the throne?
The old emperor was still young at that time, and he was confident that he could create some suitable successors, but the son who occupied this position could not be a hidden danger.
If the queen is gone, she is gone. You can marry another one as long as it does not affect the power you have won over. If one of the two sons is gone, there is always one left.
Perhaps God was helping him. After he secretly gave the order for the execution, before the person who received the order could carry out the execution, a fire broke out in the harem, and all the witnesses and evidence disappeared. Only the midwife managed to run out of the fire holding a baby in her arms.
They are all dead, no one is alive.
The midwife also died in front of the emperor.
That's wonderful.
The emperor thought to himself, it’s wonderful that God is helping me.
Even though the one who helped him was not God, but his reborn eldest son.
This was not the version that the common people heard. Legend has it that Taoist Cheng Wang brought back the successor who was truly blessed by the dragon. In order to commend the old emperor for his good governance and his sincere heart, he led the old emperor to seek immortals and medicine and embarked on the path of practicing Taoism.
The third prince was very filial to his parents and volunteered to take care of trivial matters and travel with the immortal. That was why he hid his tracks and left the world.
The original Second Prince Liu Zining and the true heir were twins from the same mother, there was no doubt about that. With their eyes covered, the two looked extremely similar, except that one of their eyes was longer and the other was rounder, with different styles, which always gave people a very different feeling.
But they are born from the same parents, and anyone with a discerning eye can tell.
In the first few months, Min Liu's throne was not stable. There were always many forces that wanted to start another uprising. There were also many people who watched from the sidelines and profit-seeking people who wanted to take advantage of the situation. All of them were suppressed by the irresistible military strength.
Emperor Min Liu also fulfilled his duties conscientiously, appointed virtuous people and was vigilant, worked day and night, and was very much like a wise ruler. Gradually, all the dissenting voices were suppressed, and by the end of the year, no one, from top to bottom, dared to say a word against the person on the throne.
He worked diligently for the people, personally taking care of everything, treated his people well, and did not let any disturbance affect his fragile brother in the prince's mansion, and continued to live a leisurely prince's life of luxury.
The newly promoted chief eunuch was originally the godson of the former chief eunuch. Even after being promoted for several months, he still couldn't figure out the new emperor's temperament.
All we know is that he is calm and diligent, speaks little and keeps his emotions in check. No one can tell what the young man who sits on the throne is thinking.
The new emperor is always dealing with government affairs.
He convened ministers to discuss matters, set regulatory standards, and reviewed memorials all night long, all while trying to govern the country as if he had no future.
The only special thing the young eunuch knew was that the new emperor always went to visit the fourth prince who was caught for rebellion at night.
The verdict has not been made yet. In the luxurious and comfortable prison, Liu Zikang hugged his quilt, looked at the dry and withered branches outside the window, and listened to the footsteps approaching.
The young man who was once brave and good at fighting, who loved to act like a spoiled child with his elder brother, the young man who would eat crab beans to show off, now just comes to see her quietly every day, as if he was looking at a useful tool.
Today, he came again.
Bringing in the bleak chill outside, the man uttered a few words from his thin lips, which melted into the air like ice.
"Thirteen days left."
Liu Zikang knew that the Chinese New Year was in thirteen days, which was the latest date of her death.