bestfiction Chapter 455 The Death of the Emperor
Chapter 455 The Death of the Emperor
After a brief period of consciousness, Emperor Wenjing fell into a deep sleep again. Empress Su and Old Man Feng stayed in the palace to take care of him, while the rest of the people withdrew first.
Emperor Wenjing has already issued an oral edict establishing Prince Chen as the crown prince, and cabinet ministers such as Xie Shifu should hurry up and draft the edict.
According to Old Man Feng, the emperor's lucid moments will become shorter and shorter, and the imperial edict will need to be reviewed by the emperor after it is drafted, so they must complete it as soon as possible.
While the cabinet was busy drafting the imperial edict, Prince Chen met with Yun Shang at his residence.
Previously, Yun Shang did not need to kneel and bow when meeting Prince Chen, but now Prince Chen's status is different.
Yun Shang lifted his robe, bent his knees in a salute, and said, "Your subject congratulates Your Highness."
Prince Chen, who was originally sitting in a chair, quickly got up and helped him up when he saw him kneeling. "I said before that you don't need to kneel when you see me. Why are you kneeling again?"
Yun Shang's expression was aloof, and his voice was indifferent: "Now that Your Highness's status is different, you still need to observe proper etiquette."
Prince Chen couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he could only sigh, "Fine, I can't argue with you."
He asked Yunshang to sit down and told him what Emperor Wenjing had said to him when they were alone.
"Father asked me whether Prince Qi's rebellion was related to me." Thinking of the expression on Emperor Wenjing's face when he said this, Prince Chen's eyes darkened slightly. "If Prince Qi had not rebelled and touched Father's sore spot, I'm afraid I would never have been able to win the throne from Prince Qi no matter how hard I tried."
Yun Shang's eyes flickered, and he lowered his gaze, saying softly, "How does Your Highness intend to deal with Prince Qi?"
Prince Chen narrowed his eyes, his face still gentle. "I promised Father that as long as Prince Qi behaves himself, I will spare his life."
Yun Shang nodded thoughtfully, "I remember that the Imperial Clan Court is still empty. Rather than exiling the Prince of Qi to a desolate place, it would be more appropriate to keep him under our noses."
Prince Chen nodded, "That's what I think too."
“The Prince of Jin and the Prince of Su have already made their stance clear to me today. They shouldn’t do anything for the time being, but to avoid any surprises, we should still send someone to keep an eye on them.”
"With so many people entering the palace today, the news that Father Emperor is nearing his end will likely reach the ears of various factions very soon. Although most of the aristocratic officials have been captured, it is hard to guarantee that there will be no escapes."
"Before I ascend the throne, you should have people keep a close eye on these people's movements."
Emperor Wenjing had previously temporarily entrusted Yunshang with the authority to mobilize troops in Shengjing, which is why Yunshang was able to mobilize the patrol guards and imperial guards in Shengjing.
Prince Chen originally thought that Yun Shang only had policies for governing the country and benefiting the people, but he did not expect that he was also quite capable in military strategy.
Decisive and efficient, without any hesitation or delay.
"Yes."
Yun Shang accepted each toast.
……
As expected, news of Emperor Wenjing's serious illness spread. Although no one dared to say it openly, they secretly kept trying to find out more.
Throughout history, dynastic changes have always been accompanied by bloodshed. Now that Emperor Wenjing is seriously ill and nearing his end, a bloody storm is sure to follow.
Some people just want to hide away and avoid the limelight, while others want to seize the opportunity to make a name for themselves and rise to the top.
As a result, for the next few days, a heavy atmosphere of impending storm permeated Shengjing City.
Although the people did not know the inside story, they sensed that something was wrong and reduced the number of times they went out.
Yu Wan knew that trouble was likely to occur at this critical juncture, so she temporarily closed several shops and stayed in the mansion without stepping out.
She learned from Yun Shang that Emperor Wenjing was preparing to make Prince Chen the crown prince, but as long as the imperial edict was not issued and Prince Chen did not ascend the throne, things could still change.
Moreover, Yun Shang is currently in charge of the troop movements in Shengjing, and many people are watching him closely, wanting to win him over.
Some people might try to coerce you if they can't be won over.
She, Shen Shi, and Yun Xi are the perfect targets.
This is no joke.
In the past few days, several groups of people have been keeping watch outside the Yun residence, and some have even broken into the residence at night, most likely intending to kidnap them to threaten Yun Shang.
Yu Wan cherishes her life very much.
Even knowing that Yun Shang had sent many people to protect them in secret, they still spent a lot of money to hire some famous martial arts masters to guard outside the mansion, adding an extra layer of protection.
Yun Shang was busy every day, while Prince Chen had been staying in the palace for the past few days to attend to Emperor Wenjing. Although he was supposed to be attending to him, Emperor Wenjing had not woken up since his last coma, and the imperial edict on establishing an heir, which the cabinet had prepared, had not yet been stamped with the imperial seal.
Even Old Man Feng was powerless against the poison of 'Dove Shadow', especially since Emperor Wenjing had been poisoned for a long time, and when the poison took effect, it was raging and violent, and could not be suppressed.
Furthermore, if it weren't for Old Man Feng administering medicine daily along with special acupuncture techniques, Emperor Wenjing would have died long ago.
Five days passed in this manner.
The imperial edict prepared by the cabinet was placed in the Hall of Longevity, so that Emperor Wenjing could affix his seal as soon as he woke up.
Prince Chen also stayed close to the Hall of Longevity, and apart from Empress Su, Yun Shang, and Liu Haifu, who served Emperor Wenjing personally, no one else was allowed to approach the Hall of Longevity.
Five days have passed, and various forces are starting to stir.
Yun Shang was worried that something might go wrong, so he could only urge Old Man Feng to wake Emperor Wenjing up as soon as possible.
Old Feng had been going crazy researching 'Dove Shadow' these past few days, and upon hearing this, he roared at Yun Shang without any politeness: "The emperor is only hanging on by a thread right now. I can stimulate his acupoints to wake him up, but after he wakes up this time, he will never wake up again!"
Although it was called a roar, the sound wasn't actually that loud.
Only Prince Chen, Yun Shang, and Old Man Feng were present in the Hall of Longevity. Empress Su and Liu Haifu were not there at the moment, so they weren't worried about being overheard.
Upon hearing this, Prince Chen's eyes darkened as he looked at Emperor Wenjing on the dragon bed.
Emperor Wenjing was not old, but in just these few days, he seemed to have aged twenty years, suddenly becoming a frail old man.
He lay on the bed, his chest barely rising and falling; if one didn't get close enough to look, one would probably think he was already dead.
Prince Chen looked at the emaciated Emperor Wenjing, his heart filled with mixed emotions. After a long silence, he slowly spoke: "Mr. Feng, if Father Emperor were to wake up naturally, how much longer could he... hold on?"
This was the first time Old Man Feng had encountered such a troublesome poison. He considered himself a divine doctor, and this was the first time he had suffered such a blow.
He looked exhausted and wiped the sweat from his face.
He said, "Given the current situation, it seems impossible for the Emperor to wake up naturally."
The toxins will continue to erode Emperor Wenjing's body. What Old Man Feng feeds him every day can only slow down the erosion of the toxins, and a balance has not yet been achieved.
Perhaps it would be feasible to give him more time, but Old Man Feng also knew very well that while he could wait, Prince Chen could wait, and the Emperor could wait, those restless people outside could not.
Old Man Feng glanced at Prince Chen and said in a relatively polite tone, "Your Highness, I still suggest using needles directly."
They used needles to stimulate Emperor Wenjing and wake him up.
Prince Chen's gaze was fixed on Emperor Wenjing.
If what Old Man Feng said is true, stimulating acupoints to awaken the Emperor, then Emperor Wenjing will never wake up again...
After a long while, Prince Chen turned his back to Emperor Wenjing and said softly, "Let Xie Shifu and the others enter the palace."
This means that Old Man Feng is to take action.
In the autumn of the twenty-third year of the Qiyuan era, Emperor Wenjing abdicated in favor of his seventh son, Prince Chen. On the same day, Emperor Wenjing died of a serious illness, and the whole country mourned.
A month later, the new emperor ascended the throne, changed the era name to Qianhe, and granted a general amnesty.