Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2742 Still Vigorous in Old Age 126.0
As soon as Shen Cha finished speaking, she realized she might have guessed wrong. She coughed lightly and poured herself a glass of warm water to cover up her embarrassment.

She felt that no matter how arrogant and domineering the two young princes were, they would never do something like besieging their uncle's mansion for the sake of a younger brother who was being used as a punching bag. Such behavior was simply going against the natural order.

Shen Haolin glanced at her expression and knew what she was thinking. He couldn't help but smile, took her hand that was on her lap, and gently patted it twice when she looked over.

Chu Han glanced at Shen Haolin, then at Shen Cha, observing their interaction. He couldn't help but sigh silently. He truly had to admire Hui Lan; her judgment was spot on. These two children were indeed a match made in heaven.

"Grand Uncle?" Shen Cha felt Chu Han's gaze. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just thought your guess was a bit outrageous." Chu Han, caught staring at someone, wasn't embarrassed at all. He raised an eyebrow at Shen Cha and said, "A prince with real power besieging his uncle's residence with his guards, especially since this uncle is their father's confidant, would be no different from forcing their father to abdicate, right? They probably wouldn't do that for a dispensable younger brother. If they did, they would be truly insane."

“Grand Uncle is right.” Shen Cha agreed wholeheartedly, smiled apologetically, and said, “I regretted it a little as soon as I said it. These two don’t have to be this crazy.” She looked at Xiao Fengqi, “I’m sorry for offending you.”

“You two, your imaginations are still a bit lacking.” Xiao Fengqi held up two fingers and gestured. “General, don’t feel sorry. I’m not being offensive at all. On the contrary, I’m being a bit conservative. Also,” he looked at Chu Han, “benefactor, in their eyes, Young Master Lan is not dispensable. He is their biggest competitor for the throne. If we can get rid of him, we will have one less powerful opponent.”

"That's true." Chu Han nodded. "But you just said... conservative?"

"Yes, the general's guess is relatively conservative, or rather, not bold at all."

"This is conservative? This is bold?" Jin Miaomiao exclaimed in surprise. "They wouldn't really want to use this opportunity to seize power, would they?"

"It's not quite there yet, but it's close enough, just a little bit lacking in the right touch."

"What does Young Master Xiao mean?" Shen Haolin looked at Shen Cha and Jin Miaomiao beside him, who looked bewildered, then at Song Yaojia and Xia Chen, who were shocked, and then at Chu Han, who had already put down his snacks in surprise, and said, "Actually, their behavior is even more outrageous, and they are only one step away from usurping power?"

“The Duke is right, it was just one step away.” Xiao Fengqi nodded. “They should know that as long as they don’t take that last step, they can use other excuses to cover it up, but taking that step will lead to utter ruin.”

If that's the case...

Shen Cha, Shen Haolin, and Song Yaojia exchanged a glance. The three of them unanimously recalled the palace coup in Yiqing Prefecture. According to their later investigation, Wanyan Zongcheng had also carried out a similar operation before the coup to test the bottom line of the former Jin king.

"Could Wanyan Zongcheng have gotten his inspiration from here?" Shen Haolin frowned slightly. "After all, this happened a little earlier this time."

"It should be, but it didn't work this time. Wanyan Zongcheng succeeded."

Chu Han looked at the children in front of him, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "It seems that you have figured it out."

"Yes!" Shen Haolin nodded. "Those two young princes didn't intend to do anything. No matter how much commotion they caused, it was probably just a bluff to test everyone's reaction and make adjustments accordingly, right?" "That should be the case." Chu Han looked at Xiao Fengqi. "Are they right?"

"That's the gist of it, but in the end, some wanted to make the best of a situation and directly ask the late king to abdicate, but..."

"It didn't work, it was blocked?"

"Hmm!" Xiao Fengqi looked at the others, then at Chu Han, "Does our benefactor know what happened that night?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I was in the southwest and north when I was trying to capture them, so I don't know much about what happened," Chu Han sighed softly. "But I found out some details later, and it was quite interesting. Like you said, at first they only wanted to scare Yelü Ertu. Although he was their uncle, they never took him seriously. In their minds, this uncle was just a dog of their father, nothing to be afraid of. But they never expected that the very person they underestimated would completely defeat them." He smiled at everyone. "Yelü Ertu was able to become regent because of this battle."

“Yes!” Xiao Fengqi nodded. “That’s what I knew too.”

“However, I’m not entirely clear on exactly what happened at the Regent’s Palace on that day.” Chu Han looked at Xiao Fengqi. “You should know, right?”

“I have a little bit of an impression of that day, but most of it comes from my great-aunt’s later account.”

"Tell me what you remember first."

“I vaguely remember that it was very cold that night. My great-aunt sent someone to bring me to her side. My two younger brothers and a younger sister from my uncle’s family were also brought over. Not only that, my great-aunt instructed several uncles to guard all the gates of the Xiao residence with people. Even the dog hole was filled in.”

"The atmosphere is so tense?"

"Indeed, I could vaguely sense that the entire mansion was on high alert. As you all know, since Empress Dowager Xiao passed away and the Xiao family relinquished most of their military power, unless it is an extremely urgent situation, the Xiao family members will not wear armor or helmets to avoid being misunderstood and causing unnecessary trouble. But that night, all the adults in the family, including my great-aunt, were fully armed, holding their own weapons, and guarding the entire mansion very tightly."

"everyone?"

“Yes!” Xiao Fengqi sighed and said, “That night, only my uncle’s younger brother and sister slept soundly. They had no idea what they were going to face. As for me, although I was in bed, I tossed and turned for the first half of the night, afraid that I would miss something.”

"You were only three or four years old at the time, how could you know these things?"

"After all, the atmosphere at home is different."

"Did you hear anything?"

"No." Xiao Fengqi shook his head gently. "I originally wanted to hold on and wait for a result, but because I was too young, I tossed and turned for a while and then fell asleep without realizing it. When I woke up again, it was already the next morning. Everything was as peaceful as usual, and my family had returned to normal, doing what they were supposed to do. It was as if everything that happened the night before was just my hallucination."