As the year was drawing to a close and government offices had sealed their stamps, Emperor Jingming felt slightly relieved.
At least from now on, he could have some peace. Any troublesome matters could wait until after the New Year.
However, just as this thought crossed his mind, another problem arose: Prince Lu had beaten Prince Jing!
Looking at Prince Lu kneeling before him, then at Prince Jing’s bruised and swollen face, Emperor Jingming’s expression darkened.
“Fifth Brother, did you eat something wrong? Why did you go to Jing Garden to beat your Second Brother?”
Prince Lu stubbornly defended himself: “Son originally went to visit Second Brother. He invited me for a drink, but who knew he would speak so foully. I drank too much, and in a moment of drunken anger, I couldn’t help but fight with him—”
“Silence!” Emperor Jingming roared, startling Prince Lu.
Prince Lu thought to himself: Father Emperor looks a bit scary. Why is he only angry at me? When Seventh Brother beat Second Brother back then, it wasn’t like this.
To be honest, he had deliberately gone to Jing Garden to drink with the former Crown Prince, just to find an excuse to beat him up and fulfill a long-standing wish.
Glancing at the former Crown Prince’s pig-like face, Prince Lu felt refreshed.
The deed was done. At most, he’d face a scolding like Seventh Brother and spend a couple of days in the Clan Court. It was still worth it.
No, it might not be that serious. When Seventh Brother beat Second Brother, he was still the Crown Prince. That was called insubordination. Now he had beaten a former Crown Prince. Perhaps the Father Emperor would punish the Second Brother to join him in the Clan Court.
Hehe, if that happened, he’d come out ahead.
“Got into a fight?” Emperor Jingming’s voice rose as he pointed at the former Crown Prince. “You call this a fight between two people? This was a one-sided beating!”
This little brat thought he was senile. He had beaten Second Brother until his mother would hardly recognize him, yet he dared to argue in front of him.
He hated arguments the most!
If Rongyang hadn’t argued back then and had simply admitted her mistake, he wouldn’t have punished her so severely. Perhaps she wouldn’t have died at Cui Xu’s hands…
Emperor Jingming felt somewhat guilty about Princess Imperial Rongyang’s death. And Prince Lu chose this moment to cause trouble, truly hitting a sore spot.
Prince Lu still hadn’t sensed the approaching danger. He explained, “Son’s strength is great. I didn’t expect Second Brother to be so frail. I couldn’t control my strength for a moment…”
“You beast shut your mouth!” Emperor Jingming roared, then turned to the former Crown Prince. “Second Son, do you have anything to say to me?”
The pitiful-looking former Crown Prince lowered his eyes and said softly, “Son was wrong. Please forgive me, Father Emperor.”
In his heart, there was a sea of rage and resentment.
When he was still the Crown Prince, except for that troublemaker Seventh Brother, all his other brothers were at least outwardly respectful to him. Now that he had become Prince Jing, even that fool Fifth Brother dared to beat him.
Father-in-law was right. All he could do now was endure.
As long as a new Crown Prince wasn’t appointed, he still had a chance to turn things around. If he endured for now and managed to make Father Emperor change his mind, he could become Crown Prince again.
The thought of spending his entire life as Prince Jing, staying in that desolate Jing Garden, was too terrifying.
When the former Crown Prince honestly admitted his fault, Emperor Jingming did feel a pang of sympathy.
He was angry at Second Son for committing such a treasonous act, but that didn’t mean anyone could trample on the former Crown Prince.
After all, Second Son was his and Empress Yuan’s only child.
Emperor Jingming looked at Prince Lu, his gaze cooling: “In these troubled times, not only do you not think of helping your father, but you beat your elder brother. You have truly disappointed me!”
“Father Emperor—”
Emperor Jingming raised his hand: “I don’t want to hear your explanations. Pan Hai, convey my imperial edict: Prince Lu has disrespected his elder brother, risking fraternal strife. He is hereby demoted from Prince to Duke. Let this be a warning to the other princes…”
The pitifully kneeling former Crown Prince was stunned.
Fifth Brother had beaten him, and Father Emperor demoted Fifth Brother’s title.
After the initial shock came wild joy.
Father Emperor cared for him so much, he must still have a chance! Father-in-law was indeed not deceiving him…
The former Crown Prince firmly remembered Yang Father’s words, forcing himself not to show even a hint of joy, feeling he had used all the restraint he had learned in his life.
Even more shocked than the former Crown Prince was Prince Lu.
Demotion? Wait, this outcome wasn’t right.
When Seventh Brother beat the Crown Prince, he only spent a few days in the Clan Court without any real punishment. Yet when he beat Prince Jing, he was demoted?
“Fa-Father Emperor, have you made a mistake—”
Emperor Jingming kicked Prince Lu: “Mistake my foot, get out of here!”
Prince Lu was driven out, leaving only the former Crown Prince kneeling obediently.
“You may rise.” Emperor Jingming glanced at the former Crown Prince, feeling both angry and sympathetic.
He had indeed placed high hopes on this son, with feelings that other princes couldn’t replace.
He had watched him take his first toddling steps, picked him up when he fell, and even personally taught him to write, correcting his pen grip… All these were experiences the other princes never had.
Emperor Jingming’s anger dissipated somewhat upon seeing the former Crown Prince’s current pitiful state. He asked, “Are your wife and Chun’er adapting well to Jing Garden?”
He couldn’t bring himself to directly ask the former Crown Prince if he was doing well.
“Jing Garden is spacious. Chun’er often builds snowmen with his two sisters. They’re quite happy…” The former Crown Prince remembered Yang Father’s instructions: whenever he had a chance to see Father Emperor, he must never complain or grumble.
The scene of his grandchildren building snowmen appeared before his eyes, and Emperor Jingming’s lips curved into a slight smile: “It’s good that you’re adapting.”
He looked steadily at the former Crown Prince and said, “Your status is not what it was before. You must get along harmoniously with your brothers.”
“Son will carefully heed Father Emperor’s teachings.”
“Remember to bring Chun’er to the family banquet.”
The former Crown Prince suddenly looked up, gazing eagerly at Emperor Jingming.
Father Emperor was allowing him to attend the New Year’s family banquet.
“Hmm?”
The former Crown Prince kowtowed with tears streaming down his face: “Thank you, Father Emperor. I thought Father Emperor never wanted to see me again…”
Emperor Jingming’s lips twitched.
It was true that he had wanted to strangle this scoundrel at the time, and now seeing this scoundrel being trampled on so pitifully, he did feel some sympathy. That was also true.
Call him weak or biased, but he truly couldn’t be stone-hearted towards Second Son.
Restoring Second Son’s position as Crown Prince was impossible, but he couldn’t let people think that just because Second Son had lost power, he could be trampled on at will. The punishment of Fifth Brother and the New Year’s family banquet were ways of conveying his attitude to those people.
“Don’t say such nonsense. Go back now.” Emperor Jingming dismissed the former Crown Prince with a stern face.
Prince Lu returned almost in tears. When he reached the gate of his mansion, he turned and knocked on the gate of Prince Yan’s mansion.
“What’s wrong with Fifth Brother?”
Prince Lu wiped his face and said through gritted teeth: “Seventh Brother, tell me the truth today.”
“What?”
“When Second Brother was still Crown Prince, did you hit him?”
Could it be that he was used as bait?
Yu Jin laughed: “How could that be false? I beat him right at the palace gate. Many guards saw it at the time. Why is Fifth Brother asking about this?”
Hearing this, Prince Lu immediately became dispirited and murmured, “I understand now. I might be adopted…”