"Prince Ning …"
Emperor Yunqing opened his mouth like a fish that had jumped out of the water. He was both terrified and helpless.
"Father, how could you forget that I am no longer a prince, but a prince?" Jiang Luo placed his sword against Emperor Yunqing's neck. As a son, he led troops into the palace in an attempt to kill his father. This kind of thing would go down in history, but Jiang Luo did it without any psychological pressure. He even had a somewhat crazy smile on his face.
"You bastard, do you want to kill your father?" Emperor Yunqing was so angry that he couldn't stop breathing. He opened his eyes wide and looked at his crazy son. "Are you crazy?"
"I've been crazy for a long time. When you favored the Crown Prince and gave him all the good things, I was already crazy." Jiang Luo's twisted smile turned into endless resentment. "I and the Crown Prince are brothers of the same blood. When we were young, the Crown Prince always ranked first in all the good things you had. Have you ever thought that I am also your son?! "
Emperor Yunqing looked at Jiang Luo like this and didn't dare to speak.
"When we were young, it was fine. Later, when the Crown Prince got married, you had him marry the virtuous Shi family. What about me?" Jiang Luo roared with jealousy. "The Xie family is not presentable. You told me to marry her, so even if I didn't want to, I still married her. But why did you have someone remove the Xie Dalang's position not long before I was about to get married? You can't wait for the world to know that your second son is just a joke and has no place in your heart? "
Emperor Yunqing didn't expect his second son to have so many complaints. These years, he deliberately only trained the Crown Prince and alienated the concubine-born sons. He wanted his other sons to give up the idea of fighting for the throne and avoid following in the footsteps of the previous emperor. He originally thought that this could avoid the tragedy that happened to him and his ancestors. Who knew that it would bring about such a big hidden danger?
"If you step down now, Father won't pursue your responsibility."
"Won't pursue? Ha! " Jiang Luo laughed sarcastically. "Do you think I'm still the kid I was ten years ago? Do you think I'll believe anything you say?"
He liked the trinkets that the neighboring countries offered as tribute. His Imperial Father had said that he would give it to him. In the end, because the crown prince had done his homework well and looked at the trinkets a few more times, the trinkets became the crown prince's.
Later, when the crown prince found out that he liked it, he flaunted it and had someone send it over. He was so angry that he smashed it. As a result, he was reprimanded by his imperial father. There were too many things like this, so many that he didn't want to recall them again.
"Don't talk nonsense. I want you to write the abdication edict right now." Jiang Luo pressed his sword down, and a long blood-red wound appeared on Emperor Yunqing's neck. When Jiang Luo saw the wound, he didn't regret it at all. Instead, his eyes lit up. "It's fine if you don't want to write it. In any case, the crown prince is in my hands. If I'm impatient, I'll have the crown prince go down and ask you to pave the way. When the time comes, you won't be lonely when you walk together."
"Jiang Luo, I'm your father. The crown prince is your older brother!" Emperor Yunqing didn't dare to move. He could see that Jiang Luo wasn't lying. He really wanted them dead.
"With power, what's the use of father and older brother?" Jiang Luo laughed coldly. "When I was young, I looked up to you. When did you look up to me? Now, you're using these useless blood relations to talk nonsense with me. I don't like to hear it anymore. "
"Don't talk nonsense." Jiang Luo dragged Emperor Yunqing off the bed and had two eunuchs help him to the imperial desk. "Write."
"Bastard!" Emperor Yunqing was only wearing a thin layer of clothing. At this moment, he was shivering from the cold. He glanced at the two eunuchs. The two eunuchs knelt down in fright.
"Imperial father, what time is it now? You're still trying to show off your power to two eunuchs?" Jiang Luo stuffed the imperial pen into Emperor Yunqing's hand. "Hurry up and write. If you don't start writing in the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, I'll have someone cut off one of the crown prince's fingers."
"Jiang Luo, the imperial edict of abdication isn't just written by me. It needs the left and right prime ministers and the six ministers to be present at the same time. Finally, it has to be announced to the world." Emperor Yunqing looked at Jiang Luo. "What's the use of having me write this now?"
"Whether it's useful or not is up to me to decide. It's not up to you to decide." Jiang Luo saw that Emperor Yunqing wasn't willing to write and couldn't help but laugh mockingly. "It seems that the crown prince has no place in your heart. What you love the most isn't the crown prince, but your throne. "
Emperor Yunqing angrily glared at Jiang Luo. "Shut up."
"Right now, I'm the knife and you're the fish. Imperial father, you should be gentler to your son." Jiang Luo walked to the side of the dragon bed and took out a sachet from under the pillow. "Princess Fule's embroidery skills are worthy of imperial father's treasure? It's a good thing that Ban Han is your niece. Otherwise, your son would suspect that you have ulterior motives. "
"You bastard, how can you say anything?" Emperor Yunqing stared at the sachet in Jiang Luo's hand. His face was red with anger. However, he didn't dare to get up because two soldiers with swords stopped him.
He knew that Jiang Luo could be so arrogant in the palace right now because he had the entire harem under his control.
"Where did Commander Yang and Shi Jin go?" Emperor Yunqing couldn't believe that with these two people, Jiang Luo could silently control the entire harem.
"Commander Yang?" Jiang Luo raised his eyebrows and the smile on his face became strange. "You're talking about that lackey of yours. He's probably waiting for you on the road to the netherworld."
"As for Shi Jin …" Jiang Luo sneered. "He's not on duty tonight. How could you not know?"
Emperor Yunqing really didn't know. He looked at Jiang Luo as if he was looking at the biggest mistake of his life.
Jiang Luo didn't care about his gaze at all. He saw that Emperor Yunqing didn't write anything, so he turned around and said, "Come, bring the things here."
A guard in iron armor brought a tray. There was a black brocade handkerchief covering the tray. It was unknown what was inside. Jiang Luo opened the handkerchief in front of Emperor Yunqing. There were three bloody fingers lying inside.
Emperor Yunqing was so disgusted that he almost vomited. He turned his head and didn't look, but Jiang Luo didn't want to let him go. "This is the finger of your chief eunuch. If someone brings it here later, it won't be a eunuch's finger."
"Jiang Luo, what do you want to do?"
"Didn't I tell you to write an edict for abdication?" Jiang Luo sneered. "Why do you have to ask?"
Emperor Yunqing's hand holding the brush trembled. Soon, the blank edict was stained with ink.
"Fuhuang, your hands shouldn't tremble," Jiang Luo took the blank Imperial Decree and put another one in front of him, "Erchen has a bad temper. If Fuhuang continues to tremble, erchen doesn't know what will happen."
Emperor Yunqing raised his head to look at the palace door. It was pitch black outside. It was so quiet it was like a tomb.
He wrote word by word. When he reached the word "abdication", he suddenly stopped.
"Lao 'er, what does this world mean to you?"
"Of course it's supreme power." Jiang Luo asked back. "What else do you think it is?"
Emperor Yunqing couldn't write another word. "Have you ever thought that you would regret it one day?"
"Regret?" Jiang Luo laughed ambiguously. "Of course you had the secret agent poison Ban's son-in-law. Did you regret it? And that year, Cheng Anbo. Why did he die at your hands? "
Emperor Yunqing's expression changed greatly. He asked in a hoarse voice, "You … how do you know?"
"Because when you ordered the elimination of De Ning's son-in-law, I was hiding in the corner of the main hall. As for Cheng Anbo …" He raised his eyebrows. "Isn't Rong Xia your illegitimate son? Cheng Anbo's cause of death is a mystery. His eldest son didn't get a title until he died. When it came to Rong Xia, he didn't get a title. Didn't you want to leave the title to Rong Xia?"
"You keep saying that you like Ban Han. But if she knew that her grandfather was killed by you and the late emperor, do you think she would hate you?" Jiang Luo put the purse in his hand to burn under the candlelight. "I don't know if Princess Royal De Ning would regret risking her life to save you if she knew the truth."
Emperor Yunqing's face was deathly pale. He couldn't say a word.
"You call me a beast. In reality, I'm just learning from you." Watching the purse burn bit by bit, Jiang Luo laughed out loud. "I'm a little beast. You're a big beast. The late emperor is an old beast. Our Jiang Family's sons are all beasts."
"Was the affair between the Crown Prince and the consort part of your plan?"
"What, you finally remembered to ask about this?" Jiang Luo smiled as he looked at Emperor Yunqing whose hair was disheveled and whose face was blue from the cold. "Do you really not believe in the Crown Prince, or do you need to not believe in the Crown Prince?"
"Although I don't like the Crown Prince's sissy personality, the way he does things is more humane than you." Jiang Luo smiled proudly. "It's just that he's a bit stupid."
Emperor Yunqing's face paled. Muddy tears flowed from his dim eyes.
"It seems that fuhuang's mental state is not very good. I'll have someone come to help you wake up."
A basin of water soaked in ice cubes was brought in. Jiang Luo pointed at Emperor Yunqing's bare feet. "Come, help His Majesty soak his feet."
Just after midnight, Emperor Yunqing's miserable cries came from the Great Moon Palace.
In the Empress' palace, the Empress was sealed in by layers of guards. She couldn't send messages outside and didn't know what was happening outside. Although the soldiers guarding her didn't make things difficult for her, their attitudes were stubborn. No matter what she said, they wouldn't let her out.
"Niangniang." A palace maid supported the Empress who was on the verge of collapse. "Rest for a while."
The Empress shook her head and walked tiredly to the window. She didn't know if she was waiting for reinforcements to arrive or waiting for the bad news that she didn't dare to hear.
Time passed little by little. When the sun rose from the east and the main doors of the Imperial Court opened, the courtiers didn't see the regent Crown Prince or the recovered Emperor. Instead, they saw Prince Ning dressed in a dragon robe. Prince Ning's dragon robe fit him perfectly. It was clearly tailor-made. No one knew how long it had taken to prepare it.
"Prince Ning, do you want to rebel?" A rather stubborn courtier pointed at Prince Ning and scolded, "Hurry up and get off the dragon throne."
"Impudent. From today onwards, zhen is the Emperor of the great cause." Jiang Luo raised his chin. "Come, take out Retired Emperor's imperial edict and read it aloud."
"Emperor, Jiang Luo is benevolent and righteous. He has the talent to govern the world …"
The courtiers listened to the imperial edict in a daze. His Majesty had just decreed Prince Ning's title. How could he let him inherit the throne? Some courtiers refused to accept this and wanted to enter the palace to request an audience with His Majesty. However, the palace was heavily guarded. As soon as they reached the palace gates, they were chased out by the guards.
However, the more it was like this, the more everyone suspected that something had happened in the palace. Otherwise, why couldn't they even enter the palace gates? In the past, eunuchs would often leave the palace to handle matters. However, they were nowhere to be seen these days. It was as if the entire palace had quieted down.
Prince Ning had taken control of the palace.
Everyone thought of this, but they didn't dare to openly announce it. In the end, those who supported the Crown Prince couldn't help but stand up and question Prince Ning. When Prince Ning was a prince, he had a violent temper. Now that he was the Emperor, he was even more hot-tempered. He immediately ordered for the officials who questioned him to be thrown into prison. For a moment, the court was in a state of panic. The entire capital was in a state of panic.
On the fifth day of Prince Ning's ascension, he impatiently conferred the title of Empress Dowager to the Empress Dowager. He also bestowed upon a few of his favorite concubines. However, his official consort, Madam Xie, still hadn't received the title of Empress. She was awkwardly waiting in the palace. All of the officials who followed Jiang Luo received large amounts of rewards. Aside from these officials, no one else dared to make a sound.
After the rewards were bestowed, Jiang Luo began to reprimand the imperial edict. The first person he wanted to reprimand was Rong Xia. However, because Rong Xia's status was too high among the scholars, Jiang Luo was stopped by his trusted aides. In the end, he could only settle for the next best thing. He issued three decrees to demote Ban Huai.
The first decree was to demote Ban Huai to Marquis.
The second decree was to demote Ban Huai to Count.
The third decree was to directly demote Ban Huai's title. He also took back the residence that the Imperial Family had bestowed upon him and began to confiscate his property.
The Ban Family, which had flourished for hundreds of years in the Daye Dynasty, finally collapsed in an instant. However, because the Ban Family did not oppress the people in the village, other than having their property confiscated, they were not recorded as criminals. However, this unforeseen event, in the eyes of others, was already a huge blow.
Some people sympathized with the Ban Family, while others sympathized with the Ban Han. After losing power, how could she raise her head in her husband's family?
However, what no one expected was that on the day that the Ban Family's property was confiscated, the Ban Family's expression was calm, as if they were not surprised at all. As for the various elderly people who had been raised by the Ban Family, they had already been given money by the Ban Family and had been sent to other places.
Recently, many people had their property confiscated. It was said that those who had offended Jiang Luo in the past few years would either have their property confiscated or be demoted again and again. These people cried to the heavens and cried bitterly. However, the Ban Family's calm and indifferent reaction was like a clear spring among the victims.
Perhaps because Jiang Luo was too unpopular, the Ban Family's reaction attracted a lot of praise. There were even scholars who specially wrote two poems praising the Ban Family for not being afraid of authority and how they coldly faced the evil forces. People who saw the poem all rubbed their hands and cheered. They had forgotten that the Ban Family was once a part of the powerful.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Ban Family was now the enemy of my enemy.
After the Ban Family's property was confiscated, they were taken away by the servants of the Marquis Cheng 'an Residence. However, the Ban Family did not want to implicate Rong Xia, so they were unwilling to live in the Marquis Cheng 'an Residence. In the end, Rong Xia had no choice but to buy a large residence in the capital for the Ban Family to live in for the time being.
"Father-in-law, mother-in-law," Rong Xia looked at the residence and said with a bit of guilt, "I've wronged you."
"We're family, there's no need to be so polite." Ban Huai happily pulled out a few banknotes from his belt. He had specially asked someone to sew them in. The soldiers who confiscated the property did not make things too difficult for him, so he came out wearing clothes with banknotes sewn on them.
He stuffed the banknotes into the hands of the Yin Clan: "Madam, I'll leave these for you to take care of."
The Yin Clan did not hesitate to take the banknotes. She looked at Rong Xia and said: "It's not convenient for us to go to the Marquis's Residence right now. Please take care of Huahua."
"Mother-in-law, please don't worry. This son-in-law will definitely take care of her." Rong Xia bowed. He did not neglect the Ban Family even though they were in dire straits. "Huahua's health has improved a lot in the past few days. She can eat half a bowl of rice and some meat every time."
"This child has been picky since she was young. You must have spent a lot of effort coaxing her these days."
"Huahua is very good. It doesn't take much effort to treat her well." Rong Xia smiled.
Seeing him like this, Madam Yin's hanging heart finally relaxed.
After settling the Ban Family, Rong Xia hurried back home. Rong Xia did not know how to tell Ban Han that the Ban Family's property had been confiscated. He was worried that her body, which had not yet recovered, would be affected by this matter again.
"You're back?" Ban Han was wearing a thick brocade robe and sitting on the chaise lounge watching the folk artists perform. Seeing Rong Xia come in, she stretched out her hand to beckon him over. But her brocade robe was a bit loose. When she stretched out her hand, half of her arm was exposed.
Rong Xia walked over and held her palm. After confirming that her hand was not cold, he said: "Did you secretly eat snacks today?"
"Do I look like someone who can't control her mouth?" Ban Han proudly turned her face away, "I'm not a two or three-year-old child."
"Yes, I know you're a seventeen or eighteen-year-old child." Rong Xia smiled and picked her up. The two of them went back to the bedroom. Rong Xia tucked her under the quilt, "What do you want to eat for lunch? I'll ask someone to make it for you."
"I don't have a good appetite today. Ask the kitchen to make something appetizing and refreshing." Ban Han looked at Rong Xia suspiciously, "Are you hiding something from me?"
She looked like she wanted to say something but stopped on second thought. No matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem like there was anything wrong.
"Huahua …" Rong Xia stroked her soft cheeks, "Something happened today. Don't be too excited when you hear it."
"Oh?" Ban Han raised her eyebrows, "Did someone else take the throne, or did my father offend someone again?"
Rong Xia: "…"
"Huh?" Ban Han was even more confused, "Did I really get it right?"
Otherwise, why didn't Rong Xia say anything?
"A few days ago, the Retired Emperor issued a decree for Prince Ning to ascend to the throne."
Ban Han's hand that was holding the quilt paused. She looked at Rong Xia with wide eyes, "You mean … Prince Ning?"
Rong Xia nodded silently, but his expression was very calm. It was as if the person who ascended to the throne wasn't a prince that he had a grudge against, but a stranger who had nothing to do with him.
"What about the Crown Prince?"
"No one has seen the Crown Prince. Shi Chonghai has been removed from his position as Prime Minister and has been transferred to another place as a Prefect. Shi Jin has also been sent to the border."
"Jiang Luo is crazy. Why would he let the Shi Family, who supports the Crown Prince, leave at this time?" Even if Ban Han admitted that she didn't have any political awareness, she knew that she absolutely couldn't let the Shi Family leave at this time. This was undoubtedly letting the tiger return to the mountain.
"Prince Ning probably thinks that this will humiliate the Shi Family even more."
"But this will only humiliate his brain that isn't very bright to begin with."
"Is there anything else?"
Rong Xia was silent for a moment, "Within three days after Prince Ning ascended to the throne, he issued three imperial edicts to denounce his father-in-law. Today, his Jingting Gongfu was confiscated …"
"His family was confiscated?" Ban Han looked at Rong Xia in a daze, then suddenly nodded, "So that's how it is … so that's how it is …"
She had always felt that the sequence of her dreams was chaotic and illogical. Only now did she understand that the Ban Family's nobility was going to be stripped. However, the one who stripped them of their nobility wasn't the new Emperor, but Jiang Luo, who had always been at odds with the Ban Family.
"Huahua, don't be sad. As long as I'm here, I'll protect the Ban Family." Rong Xia saw that she was both smiling and crying. He was worried that she was too sad, "Believe me, I won't let my father-in-law and mother-in-law suffer."
"I'm not sad," Ban Han looked at Rong Xia and smiled, "I believe you."
Rong Xia could see that Ban Han really wasn't sad. Her eyes were as bright as stars, and there was a brilliance in them that he couldn't understand. This kind of Huahua made him confused and addicted. He couldn't help but pull her into his arms, "Huahua, if you have something to say, you have to tell me. Don't keep it in your heart."
"Then I want to eat goose feet today. Tell someone to make it."
"Okay." Rong Xia immediately agreed. He turned and went out to order the servants waiting outside.
Ban Han got up from the bed and walked to the wardrobe. She opened the door carved with two flowers and bent down to take out a wooden box from the bottom.
"Huahua," Rong Xia walked to Ban Han and helped her put the wooden box on the table, "What's inside?"
"A set of clothes." Ban Han gently stroked the lid of the box. "I asked someone to make a set of clothes for you." After saying that, she opened the lid of the box. Inside was a set of gorgeous black brocade robes. Clouds were embroidered on the brocade robes, and every stitch and line showed its low-key luxury.
Rong Xia did not expect that there was only a set of clothes in the box. It was a set of brocade clothes in a gold-rimmed Phoebe Zhennan wood box.
"I don't know if I should let you try on this dress." Ban Han turned to look at Rong Xia with a smile. "Because you look good in light-colored clothes."
Rong Xia felt that Ban Han wanted to say more than that.
"But when I think about how I have never seen you wear black clothes, I feel a little regretful." Ban Han took the black brocade robe out of the box and handed it to Rong Xia with a smile. "Pass it to me."
"Okay." Rong Xia took the brocade robe and turned to go behind the screen.
Ban Han sat down at the table. She rested her chin on one hand and her eyes fell on the vase in the corner. She thought of the man who had given her a fox fur coat before she died.
She had mixed feelings about the new Emperor in her dream. On one hand, she was grateful that he was willing to take care of her family. On the other hand, she resented him for stripping the Ban Family of their titles.
Her ending should have been that after Shen Yu broke off the engagement, she would not be able to find a suitable husband. In the end, she would be stripped of her title and die under an unknown arrow. But when she woke up from her dream, reality was drifting further and further away from her dream. She gradually stopped paying attention to that dream.
Whether she was happy or sad, she had walked through this world and enjoyed glory and wealth. If she ended up with an early death, that was her fate. As long as her family was safe, she had nothing to resent.
After an unknown amount of time, Ban Han heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw a nobleman dressed in black leisurely walking towards her. He wore a white jade crown, fine white jade, a white neck, and a perfect chin that was almost unreal.
He was exactly the same as the man in her dream.
Ban Han suddenly laughed. The sound of her laughter echoed out of the room. The servant girl outside thought that the Madame had gone crazy because of the Ban Family's mishap.
"Huahua, what are you laughing at?"
"I'm laughing at a poem."
"What poem?"
"Flowers planted with the intention do not bloom, but willows unintentionally grow. Did I read it wrong?"
"No." Rong Xia sat down beside her. "I just don't understand why you thought of this poem."
"En, probably because I think you look better in black than light."
"Really?" Rong Xia looked down at her clothes. "Since Huahua likes it, then I'll wear it for you every day."
"That won't do." Ban Han shook her head. "I don't want other women to take advantage of you and let them see your beauty."
"Then I'll wear it at home?"
"Okay."
Ban Han nodded with a smile.
She reached out and touched Rong Xia's white jade crown. Suddenly, she said, "Rong Xia."
"Hmm?" Rong Xia held her other hand in his palm and played with it.
"I'll only ask you this question once."
"Are you hiding something from me?"
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