“Young Chun isn’t dead?”
Emperor Jingming rushed over and slapped the deposed Crown Prince twice. “You fool! Why didn’t you make it clear that young Chun was alright?”
The deposed Crown Prince held his head and explained, “I didn’t say young Chun was in danger. Father Emperor misunderstood…”
Emperor Jingming, without further ado, gave him a severe beating, making the deposed Crown Prince howl in pain.
Pan Hai kept his eyes lowered, pretending not to exist.
Emperor Jingming stopped only when his hand began to hurt.
The emotional rollercoaster and anger caused the old emperor’s face to turn bright red as he panted heavily.
The deposed Crown Prince hung his head in silence.
He had come to seek comfort from his father, but ended up being beaten again!
After a while, Emperor Jingming calmed down and asked, “Tell me exactly what happened, in detail!”
So the deposed Crown Prince started from the birthday banquet. When he mentioned that Yu Jin had stepped forward to save young Chun after he nearly drowned, Emperor Jingming exclaimed, “Wait, are you saying young Chun was saved by Seventh Brother?”
The deposed Crown Prince hesitated for a moment.
He had been knocked unconscious by Madam Yang at that time and hadn’t seen anything!
“Why are you hesitating? Is it so difficult to say a good word about Seventh Brother saving your son?” Emperor Jingming, seeing the deposed Crown Prince’s indecision, became even more irritated. He was already certain that Yu Jin had saved young Chun.
After being scolded, the deposed Crown Prince had no choice but to say, “It should have been Seventh Brother who saved him—”
Seeing Emperor Jingming glaring at him, the deposed Crown Prince suddenly realized this was a good opportunity to complain. He said resentfully, “Father Emperor, you don’t know, but at that time, I was knocked unconscious by that shrew Yang. I didn’t see Seventh Brother’s rescue process. By the time I woke up, young Chun was already fine, so I didn’t know how to explain…”
Emperor Jingming sneered, “You must have been interfering with Seventh Brother’s efforts to save young Chun, so your wife made you stop causing trouble.”
The deposed Crown Prince was speechless. He wasn’t worth even a gust of wind!
“Pan Hai, summon Prince Yan and Prince Jing’s wife to the palace,” Emperor Jingming ordered, then asked the deposed Crown Prince, “How did you discover that young Chun was pushed into the water?”
The deposed Crown Prince touched the spot where he had been hit and said, “Young Chun said it himself. He saw the culprit’s reflection before being pushed into the water!”
Emperor Jingming’s eyes suddenly narrowed, “Has the culprit been found?”
The deposed Crown Prince blinked, “I ordered people to search for the culprit, then hurried to tell Father Emperor about this matter.”
Emperor Jingming’s lips trembled. He habitually wanted to scold but silently held back.
Never mind, although this fool was incompetent, at least he had informed him of this matter early, rather than keeping him in the dark.
Soon after, Yu Jin and Prince Jing’s wife entered the palace.
“Prince Jing’s wife, how is young Chun?” Emperor Jingming asked.
Prince Jing’s wife, her face pale and still shaken, replied, “Reporting to Father Emperor, young Chun has caught a slight cold. He has taken some warming medicine and is now asleep, with the wet nurse watching over him.”
“It’s good that there’s no serious harm,” Emperor Jingming sighed in relief.
Prince Jing’s wife glanced at Yu Jin and said, “Thanks to Seventh Brother for saving young Chun.”
Emperor Jingming had been waiting to ask about this and immediately turned to Yu Jin, “Seventh Son, how did you revive young Chun?”
“First, I cleared the foreign objects from young Chun’s mouth and nose so he could breathe freely, then I gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and pressed on his chest to help him regain his breath…” Yu Jin explained.
Emperor Jingming was greatly surprised, “Mouth-to-mouth? Can a person be revived after stopping breathing?”
The deposed Crown Prince and others listened with equal amazement, all staring at Yu Jin waiting for his response.
Yu Jin chuckled, “Probably not. If it were that simple, wouldn’t everyone live forever?”
“Then how did young Chun—”
“It’s like this: in the south, there’s a lot of water, and drowning incidents often occur. During my years in the southern frontier, I once saw someone use this method to revive a drowned child. When I saw young Chun drowning in Jing Garden, I thought I’d give it a try, and surprisingly, it brought young Chun back. As for why this method can save drowning victims, I don’t understand the principle behind it.”
Yu Jin’s gaze swept across everyone, and he added, “Moreover, this method doesn’t always work. It fails seven or eight times out of ten.”
He smiled and said, “So it’s young Chun’s good fortune and blessed fate.”
Emperor Jingming was particularly pleased to hear this and couldn’t help but glare at the deposed Crown Prince.
Look at how well Seventh Son speaks, having saved young Chun but not taking any credit.
If Seventh Son doesn’t claim credit, he will remember it in his heart.
In front of Emperor Jingming, Prince Jing’s wife bowed deeply to Yu Jin, “Seventh Brother is truly young Chun’s great benefactor. Without Seventh Brother’s miraculous rescue, even with all his blessings, young Chun wouldn’t have become one of those lucky two or three out of ten.”
The deposed Crown Prince, who cared deeply for his only son, followed suit and cupped his hands, “Seventh Brother, your elder brother thanks you.”
“Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, there’s no need for such formalities. Young Chun is my nephew too,” Yu Jin, though known for his temper, was not at a loss for words when it came to pleasantries.
Emperor Jingming was pleased to see the harmonious atmosphere between the two brothers.
“Prince Jing’s wife, I heard from Prince Jing that someone pushed young Chun into the water. Is this true?” Emperor Jingming sought confirmation from Prince Jing’s wife.
The deposed Crown Prince felt like rolling his eyes upon hearing this.
Did Father Emperor have any trust in him at all?
Prince Jing’s wife nodded slightly, “That’s what young Chun said when he woke up.”
“Has the person who harmed young Chun been found?”
“When I left, the person had already been caught, but I don’t know the specifics…”
Emperor Jingming hadn’t expected the culprit to be caught so quickly. He immediately ordered Pan Hai, “Quickly send someone to gather information.”
Pan Hai accepted the order and left.
Emperor Jingming didn’t dismiss Yu Jin and the others. He said coldly, “To harm a child like young Chun is truly unconscionable. Stay with me and let’s see who exactly wanted to harm young Chun!”
He refused to believe that everyone would be as tight-lipped as Wet Nurse Duo. This time, he wouldn’t rest until he got to the bottom of it!
The truth came easier than Emperor Jingming had imagined.
When Pan Hai brought the person who had pushed young Chun into the water before Emperor Jingming, the person confessed everything.
“This servant had no choice. If I didn’t do it, my entire family would have lost their lives…”
“Who ordered you to do this?” Emperor Jingming asked expressionlessly, his heart already clenching.
“It was… it was Prince Jin…”
The deposed Crown Prince became furious upon hearing this, “Why would Third Brother target young Chun, a mere child?”
Emperor Jingming threw the teacup from the table to the ground, “That beast!”
While the Second Son wondered why the Third Brother would target young Chun, he immediately understood.
That deprived Third Son must have felt threatened by young Chun due to the recent rumors about reinstating the Crown Prince’s son!
With the position of heir apparent vacant, it truly brought out the demons.
“Summon Prince Jin to the palace!”
When Prince Jin knelt before Emperor Jingming and saw the emperor’s ashen face, he knew the situation was already lost.
He lowered his gaze to the golden bricks that clearly reflected people’s images and smiled self-mockingly.
Did he regret it? Once he had decided to vie for that position, he no longer had the right to regret it. He only felt sorry for his wife and children.