For a Crown Prince, and an incompetent one at that, to plot the Emperor’s death was as difficult as a sow climbing a tree.
Regicide was certainly out of the question; he couldn’t even get near Father Emperor now.
Raise an army? Don’t be ridiculous. He only had a handful of guards under the Eastern Palace’s command. Succeeding would be harder than ascending to heaven.
The Crown Prince tugged at his hair.
It seemed that resolving the Father Emperor’s issue through legitimate means was far too challenging.
What could he do?
Slumped in his chair as if boneless, the Crown Prince stared worriedly at the ceiling, racking his brains.
Prince Qi was also pondering this question.
He was now very curious about what the Crown Prince would do.
He had stirred up the Crown Prince’s desperate thoughts, but he didn’t know what method his foolish second brother could come up with.
This was also where Prince Qi felt regret.
Being outside the palace, he found it difficult to extend his reach within.
The two young eunuchs in the Eastern Palace were easy to bribe thanks to the current precarious state of the Eastern Palace.
He promised to elevate them in the future, naturally enticing them.
Working for him offered a future while following the Crown Prince led only to a dead end. Anyone who wasn’t a fool knew how to choose.
The Crown Prince was deeply worried, spending his days in a daze, seemingly always lost in thought.
Seeing the Crown Prince’s state, the Crown Princess felt inexplicably uneasy. Although thoroughly disappointed in this man, she still advised, “Your Highness should raise your spirits and not give up on yourself.”
She hoped they could endure until Father Emperor’s health greatly improved and he had the energy to deal with deposing the Crown Prince, allowing their family to live out the rest of their days in peace.
Hearing the Crown Princess’s words, the Crown Prince grew increasingly irritated: “How can I raise my spirits? You still have the heart to make porridge daily to please Father Emperor. What use is pleasing him? If Father Emperor deposes me, do you think you can still be the Crown Princess?”
The Crown Princess couldn’t bear it anymore and said, “I don’t care about being the Crown Princess—”
The Crown Prince, embarrassed and enraged, gripped the Crown Princess’s chin and asked through gritted teeth, “Then what do you want to be?”
If she didn’t want to be the Crown Princess, looking down on him as the Crown Prince, perhaps she wanted to be Prince Yan’s wife?
He knew this wretched woman had unusual feelings for Seventh Brother!
The Crown Princess, completely unaware of where the Crown Prince’s fury came from, her eyelashes trembling, pressed her lips together and said, “I only wish to be Chun’er’s mother for a long, long time.”
Even if they became common people, she would accept it. She just feared that following a man like the Crown Prince would not end well, preventing her from seeing Chun’er grow up, or even worse, Chun’er might—
The Crown Princess’s face turned as white as snow, not daring to think further.
This response stunned the Crown Prince momentarily, and then he exploded in rage, slapping the Crown Princess across the face: “You harbinger of misfortune, are you cursing me?”
The Crown Princess, holding her stinging cheek, looked at the Crown Prince in disbelief.
Although their relationship had always been strained, this was the first time the Crown Prince had struck her.
Seeing the Crown Princess like this, the Crown Prince felt an inexplicable satisfaction and sneered, “Father Emperor is already utterly disappointed in me anyway. Do you think I still care?”
The Crown Princess’s heart grew colder.
So this man hadn’t hit her before only because he feared Father Emperor would be angry if he knew. Now he was beyond caring and becoming unrestrained.
“Don’t speak such ill-omened words in the future!” The Crown Prince dropped these words and stormed off.
The Crown Princess silently stared at the Crown Prince’s retreating figure, a thought swirling in her mind: Since the Crown Prince was already aware that his position as heir apparent was in jeopardy, where did his bravado come from?
Leaving the Crown Princess, the Crown Prince headed to his favorite palace maid’s quarters.
The young palace maid cautiously asked, “Is Your Highness unhappy?”
The Crown Prince glanced at the palace maid without responding.
“Anger harms the body. Would Your Highness like some tea to calm down?” The palace maid offered the Crown Prince a cup of hot tea.
The Crown Prince took a sip of tea but remained agitated. He slammed the cup on the table, muttering, “How can one kill a person without anyone knowing?”
“What did Your Highness say?”
The Crown Prince had been “chatting” with this palace maid for years and considered her reliable. In his desperate state, he couldn’t help but ask, “Tell me, how can one kill a person without being detected?”
The palace maid’s face paled slightly. She bit her lip and said, “Poison?”
The Crown Prince shook his head, “Poison won’t work. It can still be detected.”
First, he would need to obtain poison, and second, he would need to administer it to the Father Emperor. Neither of these was possible.
The Crown Prince felt discouraged.
He was truly at his wit’s end, resorting to asking a palace maid. If he couldn’t think of a solution, how could a palace maid come up with one?
At this moment, he heard the palace maid utter two words: “Witchcraft?”
The Crown Prince jolted, suddenly looking at the palace maid, “What did you say?”
The palace maid’s face turned pale, timidly saying, “In my hometown, there’s a form of witchcraft that can imperceptibly bring death upon a person…”
“How is it performed?” The Crown Prince asked with a trembling voice.
The palace maid bit her lip and said, “It’s not difficult. Make a doll from paulownia wood, write the person’s birth date and time along with an incantation on it, and bury it somewhere…”
The Crown Prince’s eyes flickered, his heart pounding with excitement.
Illness comes like a landslide but leaves like pulling silk. Emperor Jingming had been ill for a while, and although still somewhat weak, he decided to hold court.
It wasn’t good to suspend court for too long.
The officials waiting outside the Qianqing Gate were overjoyed to hear that the Emperor would receive them.
The Emperor’s health had finally improved greatly, and their worried hearts could finally be at ease.
During these days, the officials had still come early to wait outside the Qianqing Gate as usual, only to receive news that the Emperor’s health hadn’t recovered and the court was suspended. Now that they could see the Emperor, everyone was delighted.
There was no choice in the matter. Although the heir apparent had reached the age of thirty, he was so unreliable that if the Emperor were to fall at this time, the Great Zhou would likely be in danger.
Emperor Jingming, supported by Pan Hai, sat down on the dragon throne. After the officials paid their respects, he slowly said, “Ministers, you may rise.”
The officials straightened up, quickly glancing at Emperor Jingming. Seeing that his complexion was fair, they secretly sighed in relief.
The Emperor indeed looked much better. Thank heavens.
“If any of you have matters to report, please do so one by one,” Emperor Jingming said. Having not held court for many days, he found himself missing it, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face as he returned to the familiar environment.
It had been a while since he had heard these old fellows arguing until their faces turned red and necks swelled.
One minister stepped forward to report on recent important matters.
Then another minister stood up.
They had been waiting for Emperor Jingming to hold court, and various departments had accumulated many issues.
Emperor Jingming patiently listened to the ministers’ reports while secretly pondering the matter of deposing the Crown Prince.
Deposing the Crown Prince for a second time was no small matter. It was best to wait a while, at least not to bring it up when he had just recovered and the hearts of the civil and military officials were not yet settled.
The ministers, considering that Emperor Jingming had just recovered from a serious illness, did not report overly troublesome matters. The scene of ministers arguing until their faces turned red and necks swelled, which Emperor Jingming had been reminiscing about, did not occur. Soon, it was time to conclude the court session.
“If there are matters to report, do so. If not, the court is dismissed—”
The officials bowed, “We respectfully see Your Majesty off.”
Emperor Jingming, holding Pan Hai’s hand, took two steps forward when suddenly a sharp pain struck his chest. He stumbled and fell forward.