Back then, he should have ordered his soldiers to fight to the death, and no matter what, should have first taken him, the young prince, and the Crown Princess to escape, regardless of whether Bai Jinxiu could lead troops to rescue the Father Emperor.
Chancellor Lu, seeing such a deposed Crown Prince, felt utterly disappointed and heartbroken: “Your Highness! That rebel Prince Liang committed regicide, killed his father, and framed his elder brother. How can you beg for mercy from such a person!”
But the deposed Crown Prince seemed unable to hear Chancellor Lu’s shouts, only focused on kowtowing and begging Prince Liang for mercy.
Xie Yuchang lowered his eyes, refusing to look, having already given up on this Crown Prince and the entire Lin imperial power.
Fu Ruoxi needn’t be mentioned – from the moment she learned that the Emperor and Crown Prince had traded the throne and required a thousand children to die for the Emperor’s quest for immortality, she had already given up on the imperial family.
Later, when the Crown Prince was captured and imprisoned with the rest of them, the Crown Prince’s concern wasn’t for the life and death of those thousand children, but worry that Prince Liang would beat him to completing the Nine-Tiered Platform for the Emperor and gathering a thousand virgin boys and girls, causing the Emperor to look favorably upon Prince Liang.
Fu Ruoxi was utterly disgusted, wondering how sick Princess Zhenguo would feel if she heard this news.
Prince Liang’s lips curved upward, looking at the Crown Prince’s wretched appearance like a homeless dog, feeling extremely pleased. To deliberately humiliate the deposed Crown Prince, Prince Liang beckoned to him.
The deposed Crown Prince crawled forward using both hands and feet, quickly reaching Prince Liang and looking up at him with an ingratiating smile: “Your Majesty… Your Majesty, considering we are brothers, please spare your elder brother!”
Chancellor Lu and the other important ministers, seeing the Crown Prince groveling like this before the regicidal usurper, finally couldn’t maintain their composure after holding it together for so long. As if suffering the greatest humiliation, they broke down and wept aloud.
Prince Liang lifted the heavy hem of his ceremonial robes, used his toe to lift the deposed Crown Prince’s chin, looked at the Crown Prince, whose eyes were filled with nothing but fear, yet showed him a fawning smile, suddenly burst into loud laughter, and kicked the Crown Prince away.
Prince Liang, triumphant and satisfied, loudly asked Chancellor Lu and those other important ministers who had been stripped of their official robes and were about to die: “This is the Crown Prince you’ve been so devoted to supporting? Chancellor Lu… you’ve always been the most pragmatic in court. I’ll give you one more chance – if you submit to me properly and personally wield the blade to behead this regicidal deposed Crown Prince yourself, you’ll still be my trusted minister!”
Upon hearing this, the deposed Crown Prince looked at Chancellor Lu in terror, quickly crawling to Prince Liang’s feet and grabbing the hem of his ceremonial robes: “Your Majesty! Your Majesty, spare me! Demote me to commoner status… that’s fine too! I will never compete with Your Majesty for the throne in this lifetime! Please spare me!”
Chancellor Lu couldn’t bear to watch the Crown Prince’s spineless, groveling appearance any longer and spat at Prince Liang: “Bah!”
“Good! Chancellor Lu has backbone!” Prince Liang laughed instead of getting angry, “The Pingyang army is about to reach the capital. When the time comes… Chancellor Lu, when you see your descendants die one by one before your eyes, I hope you can still be so tough!”
Just as Prince Liang finished speaking, a soldier came to report: “Report… Your Majesty, the Pingyang army has arrived. General Wang Meng is leading the Pingyang army to attack the capital. Half of the rebel forces besieging the imperial palace have withdrawn to the city walls to resist the Pingyang army!”
“Excellent!” Prince Liang’s momentum surged.
The officials led by Chancellor Lu, Shen Jingzhong, Dong Qingping, and Lu Jin who refused to submit to Prince Liang felt uneasy inside, only able to pray in their hearts… that Bai Jinxiu would surely achieve great victory, praying that Princess Zhenguo Bai Qingyan could return as quickly as possible.
Prince Liang’s gaze swept over the ministers pressed down by imperial guards, kneeling before the great hall, some hanging their heads and weeping, then turned to instruct Fan Yuhuai: “Fan Yuhuai, you are the greatest contributor to my ascension. Didn’t you plead with me to spare these ministers?”
Fan Yuhuai, now with only one eye remaining, quickly stepped forward and knelt on one knee: “Your Majesty has just ascended the throne. Pardoning these court ministers… would help stabilize the government!”
“Good!” Prince Liang’s lips curved upward, his smile carrying a hint of coldness. Looking at the deposed Crown Prince who was still kowtowing and begging for mercy, he smiled and said, “Draw your sword! Go to those ministers who once opposed me. As long as any of them dares to stab the deposed Crown Prince with one thrust, I… will spare that person! I’ll act as if nothing happened!”
The deposed Crown Prince’s eyes widened, his terrified gaze falling on those ministers who had been imprisoned by Prince Liang for supporting him, afraid that someone who valued their life might take Fan Yuhuai’s sword and stab him. He immediately broke down in tears, kowtowing and begging Prince Liang to spare his life.
The officials kneeling before the great hall looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
Chancellor Lu was so shocked by these words that he tried to stand and curse, but was pressed back down by the imperial guards. His chest heaved violently: “Prince Liang! Are you even human?!”
Even Li Mao and Minister of Revenue Chu Zhongxing were quite surprised that Prince Liang would disregard how history would record this, only seeking his momentary pleasure.
Li Mao clenched his fists. If the Anping army couldn’t achieve a great victory over Bai Jinxiu this time…
Li Mao didn’t want to think about the consequences. This time, Prince Liang must achieve a great victory, and with someone like Prince Liang on the throne, Li Mao would have room to control the government.
Minister of War Shen Jingzhong, who had always followed Chancellor Lu’s lead, clenched his fists and shouted: “I’ll do it!”
Chancellor Lu turned to look at the bound Shen Jingzhong standing up, his face dark as water, saying: “Untie me! I’ll do it!”
“Good! Minister Shen is indeed pragmatic!” Prince Liang smiled and signaled Fan Yuhuai to give the precious sword to Shen Jingzhong.
Chief Justice Lu Jin seemed to understand what Shen Jingzhong intended to do and widened his eyes: “Minister Shen!”
Shen Jingzhong didn’t even look at Lu Jin. Taking advantage of the moment when they loosened the ropes binding him, he glanced at Xie Yuchang and Fu Ruoxi with apparent meaning, then walked unhurriedly toward Fan Yuhuai, took the sword, weighed it, and walked toward the Crown Prince’s direction.
Fan Yuhuai’s eyes were wary, moving toward Prince Liang’s direction almost in sync with Shen Jingzhong, signaling the imperial guards beside Prince Liang to protect him.
The Crown Prince was so frightened that his legs went weak, continuously backed away. Looking at the stern-faced Shen Jingzhong, his throat seemed strangled, unable to make a sound. With tears and snot streaming down his face, he kept backing away, shaking his head repeatedly, looking at Shen Jingzhong with pleading eyes.
“Report…” A scout rushed up the steps, knelt on one knee, and clasped his fists: “Your Majesty! Outside the capital… black sails with white python flags have appeared! Both the Yuanping rebels and Shuoyang rebels are shouting that Princess Zhenguo has returned! The current situation is unclear!”
“Haha!” Dong Qingping laughed wildly, straightened his spine, and his eyes showed excitement and wild joy. His niece had returned! Let’s see what other tricks this dog thief, Prince Liang, could play. “Prince Liang! Did you hear that! Princess Zhenguo has returned! Let’s see how much longer you can be arrogant!”
“What?! How could it be so fast!” Li Mao was shocked and pale, “It can’t be! All’s fair in war… they must be deceiving us! Your Majesty originally sent out edicts along with the requisition for a thousand virgin boys and girls, plus edicts blocking those leading troops. Bai Qingyan couldn’t possibly arrive this quickly!”