Work overtime

Chapter 774

The sudden ringing of the bell woke up the eldest prince who was still sleeping.

He opened his eyes in a daze. Why was the bell ringing in the middle of the night, again and again?

He rubbed his eyes in confusion and walked out barefoot. Just as he reached the door, he heard someone hurriedly shouting from outside the palace gate, "The emperor has passed away! The emperor has passed away! Everyone wake up."

The eldest prince stood there in a daze, somewhat bewildered. Father? He passed away?
Last night, he was clearly in high spirits, drinking with the ladies in the harem. He even walked up to him, touched his head, and talked to him.

What did the emperor say?

The father said, "Ye'er, you must be a good person in the future. Don't go down the wrong path again. The father believes that you are a kind and sensible child who will correct his mistakes. You will be a capable assistant to the prince in the future."

In fact, he didn't expect that his father would let him attend the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet. He also thought that he had killed the emperor's most beloved princess, and his father would never forgive him and would even kill him after finding out the truth.

But his father told him that he believed he was a kind and sensible child.

The eldest prince's tears suddenly welled up.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince?" Eunuch Chang Le called cautiously.

"Father!" The eldest prince burst into tears in an instant and ran towards the door barefoot.

Chang Le hurriedly chased after him, "Your Highness, wait for me. You haven't put on your shoes yet. I will carry you on my back."

Chang Le caught up with him and picked up the eldest prince.

"Put me down, put me down! I want to see my father!" The eldest prince slapped Chang Le's arm, trying to struggle out of his arms.

Chang Le held the eldest prince stubbornly and said in a sad voice, "Your Highness, you are not allowed to leave the Yanxi Palace without the emperor's order."

"I'm going. I want to see my father!" The eldest prince bit Chang Le's arm hard and jumped out of Chang Le's arms.

However, he was immediately blocked by four tall and strong guards. "Your Highness, please go back to your room. You are not allowed to leave the Yanxi Palace without the emperor's order."

The eldest prince said angrily, "Get out of my way! My father has passed away and can't give orders anymore."

The four guards still did not move, "We have to wait for the Queen's order."

"Then take me to see the Queen." The eldest prince said anxiously.

The guards remained unmoved and said calmly and firmly, "Your Highness, please forgive me. You are not allowed to leave here without orders from above."

"I won't!" The eldest prince said as he tried to move to the side, but was blocked by the guards again and again. The guards did not take any action but just blocked him.

He screamed, kicked and bit, neither fighting back nor letting go.

Chang Le was touched and distressed to see the eldest prince being so stubborn. "Your Highness, please don't bump into him. Can I go and ask the Queen for help? You should follow Chang Xi back to the palace first. You are barefoot and wearing so little, you will get cold."

The eldest prince finally calmed down and said impatiently, "Go quickly. I will wait for you."

He turned around and walked back. But he did not go back to his room. He put on his shoes, put on a coat, sat on the stone steps at the door, folded his arms, and cried loudly, crying very sadly.

There is no one in this world who loves him anymore.

His mother was dead, Concubine Xie was dead, Concubine Rou was dead, all the palace people who had taken care of him were dead, and now his father was dead too.

I cried again and again, tears kept falling.

No matter how Chang Xi tried to persuade him to mourn, it was useless. The sorrow came like a tide, overwhelming him.

I cried until I was exhausted, then took a nap. When I woke up, it was already morning.

After washing up, he walked out of the room, all in white. He sat on the steps in a daze, looking at the sun in the distance, which gradually rose to the sky and then gradually fell.

Chang Le hasn't come back yet.

"Why hasn't Chang Le come back yet?" He murmured, "Maybe he was killed by the Queen."

"Your Highness, please be careful with your words." Chang Xi said in a low voice.

The eldest prince glanced at Chang Xi without saying anything. He looked into the distance, feeling lonely and sad, and his whole body was cold.

When the sun set, Chang Le stumbled back with two people.

"Your Highness, the Queen Mother asked you to go over and cry for the deceased now. Your Highness, please change your clothes quickly." Chang Le said while kneeling on the ground.

"Okay." The eldest prince obediently changed into mourning clothes. He lowered his head and looked at himself, touching the rough linen, his heart ached, and tears fell.

When he arrived at the funeral palace, the eldest prince saw the crown prince and the third and fourth princes, all in mourning attire and kneeling on the ground to keep vigil over the casket.

The other princes were too young, the oldest was only three years old, and they only participated in the daytime worship and had been taken back to rest.

He stood at the door in a daze, looking at the huge coffin parked in the room, unable to move.

"Your Highness, shall we go in?" Chang Le reminded cautiously.

With tears in his eyes, he walked towards his father's coffin step by step, his steps were extremely slow.

When he got there, he slowly stroked the coffin, looking down at his father who was sleeping with his eyes closed. His heart tightened, it was so unreal.

"Father!" His cry broke.

He slowly knelt down in front of the coffin, tears streaming down his face. "Bah! Murderer." The third prince said indignantly.

"Third brother, father said that we cannot say this about our eldest brother. He was used by bad people." The fourth prince said slowly.

The Third Prince twisted his neck and rolled his eyes, "Anyway, he's not my eldest brother! My eldest brother is the Crown Prince. Humph!"

The Fourth Prince looked at the Crown Prince hesitantly.

The Crown Prince turned his head and said to the Third Prince, "Have you forgotten how your mother taught you? Your father is watching you from heaven."

The third prince turned his head away unconvinced.

The prince slowly stood up, straightened his clothes, and slowly walked towards the eldest prince, holding out his hand. "Father told us at the banquet yesterday that we brothers should love each other. Do you still remember?"

The eldest prince looked up at the crown prince, sizing him up intently.

The prince looks very much like his father, with a similar nose, eyebrows, and eyes. Even his expression and tone of voice when he spoke were similar.

Suddenly, I felt a sour nose and my vision was blurry. The prince actually forgave me? I wanted to kill him.

The eldest prince choked up and said, "I'm sorry, Your Highness. I'm really sorry."

The images of the eldest princess, who was lively and cheerful, and the seventh princess, who was soft and cute, appeared in her mind. She felt more and more guilty, lowered her head, and tears flowed like rain.

He simply wanted to bang his head against his father's coffin.

"Brother Crown Prince, he wants to kill you." The third prince couldn't help but mutter to himself.

The prince didn't say anything, but patted his brother's head. "Big brother promised father that he would never do such a wrong thing again. I believe he will do it."

The fourth prince couldn't help but ask, "What if he still wants to kill you?"

The prince's face became unusually solemn. "Big brother promised father, I believe he will not let father down. Big brother, don't you agree?"

The eldest prince nodded hesitantly, extended his hand to the crown prince, and stood up with the crown prince's hand.

The four of them knelt together before the emperor's spirit to keep vigil.

The six-year-old prince was able to speak with such a grand vision. Everyone around him was moved and they admired the prince's broad mind and the late emperor's training of him even more.

After hearing this, Jiang Yuebai called the prince to his side during the night rest, praised his performance today, but told the prince seriously:
"If you find that the eldest prince has done anything against you again, you must not show mercy and must execute him cleanly and decisively. Do not allow anyone to threaten your life and the throne. It is your responsibility to hold on to this position."

She would not give the eldest prince another chance to harm the crown prince.

Seven days later, the eldest prince was sent to Mount Wutai to follow the master to study Buddhism, purify his soul, and pray for the emperor.

She promised Li Beichen that she would not kill Li's descendants indiscriminately, but that did not mean she would condone it blindly.

She and Li Beichen have different ideas as a father.

Li Beichen was very gentle to his family. As if to make up for his original regret, he tried his best to care for and accompany all the princes. This was his duty as a father. So he chose to forgive the young eldest prince and give him another chance.

But Jiang Yuebai believed that the eldest prince was vicious at a young age and must not be allowed to stay with his sons.

First, he had to successfully poison the food under everyone's eyes, then he had to calmly cover up everything, and finally he had to remain indifferent when the eldest and seventh princesses accidentally ate the food. Any hesitation or panic in any link would lead to failure.

It is terrifying that a six-year-old child could be so meticulous and vicious.

However, the eldest prince's moral character is seriously flawed, and he has no powerful maternal family behind him. He has no future in politics. The only thing to guard against is him harming the crown prince.

So Jiang Yuebai sent him to Mount Wutai.

Everyone knew that the eldest prince had tried to poison the crown prince, and ended up poisoning the eldest and seventh princesses. The queen mother sent him to Mount Wutai to practice Buddhism, and no one objected. Everyone praised the queen mother for her kindness and virtue.

Unlike the eldest prince, the seventh prince born to Xie Zhili once had a chance.

When the Emperor ordered Duke Protector Xie Chuanfeng to attack the four Batu brothers to avenge King Anbei, the Duke Protector could take advantage of the situation to rebel. His eldest son Xie Yizhong led the troops of Jizhou Town to provide support, his second son Xie Yixiao served as the Minister of War as an insider in the capital, and his third son Xie Yizhi provided support from the leaderless Anbei Protectorate.

It can be said that the configuration is perfect.

Jiang Yuebai didn't understand why the Duke of the Guard gave up this great opportunity to rebel. She suspected that the Duke of the Guard did not obey the emperor's order to launch a full-scale attack on Batu, and might have been wavering between weighing the pros and cons of rebelling or not.

Li Beichen chose June, when the grass was lush and abundant, conducive to Mongolian artillery and cavalry, and suitable for guerrilla warfare, and asked the Duke of Protectorate to encircle and suppress Batu. This might have been intended to consume the Duke of Protectorate's military strength and let him die together with Batu.

It was impossible for the Duke of the Protectorate to not see the emperor's suspicion of favoring the Xie family. It was a death trap anyway, and she didn't understand why the Duke of the Protectorate, who had been in the court for a long time and controlled a large number of troops, chose to die directly?

Could it be that this family is really full of loyal and righteous people as the legend goes, with no one willing to rebel?
In history, most of these loyal ministers were eventually killed due to suspicion from the emperor.

When I first read about this in history books, I felt deeply sorry for the loyal ministers and felt that they were wronged and unworthy. I wished I could travel back in time to save their lives.

However, in his current position, Jiang Yuebai understood the emperors' approach. They would rather kill someone by mistake than let him go.

But she decided to give it a try.

She advised Li Beichen to show mercy to the Xie family members, so as not to kill the loyal ones by mistake. She sent the Xie family members to remote border areas in the far north and south to work in poverty-stricken areas, embodying benevolent governance, appeasing the officials, and gathering the people's hearts.

Get more in one fell swoop.

Facts have proved that Jiang Yuebai's decision to cherish talents is very visionary and far-sighted.

The Xie brothers did a lot in the places where they worked. They vigorously developed education, encouraged farming, and rectified the administration of officials. They greatly developed local cultural and educational undertakings and promoted economic development.