Chapter 357: Who is the Winner
We are all living with all our might.
What we live to become, no one can predict.
New Year’s Day.
The Seventh Prince launched a palace coup.
At the same time, a great disaster descended from heaven, and there was an Earthquake.
The ministers wanted the Emperor to issue a decree of self-reproach; natural disasters were too frequent.
But now, the Emperor has passed away.
The culprit, the Seventh Prince, was caught on the spot.
The Seventh Prince’s eldest son, Chu Xi, also died accidentally during the fighting.
Many people died that day.
The sickly Tenth Prince was scared half to death, left with only one breath, inhaling more than exhaling, and it was estimated that preparations for his funeral would be needed soon.
The ministers remembered the First Prince who had been under house arrest, thinking he was lucky. After being under house arrest for a round, he might just inexplicably inherit the throne upon release—he was truly a winner in life.
When the ministers went to fetch the First Prince, they discovered that the First Prince’s entire family had been ordered to die.
The Seventh Prince had actually acted a step earlier, faking an imperial decree to poison the First Prince.
Everyone couldn’t understand why the Seventh Prince was so ruthless.
Wasn’t news of a great victory at the border coming?
It turned out the Seventh Prince confessed that the reports he received were all intercepted by him. The letters sent by Old General Meng at the border were not reports of a great victory, but pleas for help. One by one, the pleas for help were replaced by him with reports of great victory and celebration.
The court officials were all driven mad.
“No, you people of the Chu family can fight for power, but don’t joke about such things. This is a matter of life and death.”
Enemy barbarians breaking through and slaughtering cities, killing all men taller than a wheel, and keeping women and children as slaves—were there few such incidents?
The Seventh Prince was truly over the top.
Everyone hadn’t paid much attention to the Seventh Prince before.
And some people privately involved with the Seventh Prince were breaking out in cold sweat.
Now they were the people who most hoped for the Seventh Prince’s death.
For a time, the Imperial Court had no strong leader like Prime Minister Lu, and the civil officials were divided.
The main force of military officials was fighting at the border.
Censor He, Meng Qingshe, and Minister Dong were all people clearly standing on the side of Second Young Master Jiang.
There was also Eunuch Yan in the palace.
The officials discussed and discussed, and it became temporarily letting the Grand Princess oversee the state until the Emperor’s funeral ended, then they would discuss it further.
The Grand Princess was also a bit confused.
She knew how to swim, raise fish, and climb mountains, but she really didn’t understand what overseeing the state entailed.
Jiang Changtian silently glanced at Princess Huiyun and said: “You don’t have to do anything.”
The Emperor’s funeral was very grand.
After all, the officials of the Ministry of Rites had been doing funerals for the past few years and were very skilled.
They just needed to adjust the specifications up or down.
Mianmian didn’t expect the palace coup to end.
It seemed her status had risen a bit.
Even at the funeral, some people showed ingratiating smiles at her.
Er, in this occasion, is smiling a bit inappropriate?
To smile while expressing moderate sorrow—this degree, it feels like even civil servants from Shandong would find it tricky.
Mianmian was a bit panicked.
She didn’t have a deep impression of this great-uncle Emperor, and now, in the blink of an eye, his funeral was being held.
She only remembered that he looked very majestic when wearing the dragon robe, and very thin when he took it off.
On the day of the palace banquet, she was blocked by her sister-in-law Dong E and Princess Grandma. Although she couldn’t see clearly, she heard quite a lot.
There was a lot of shouting.
The process was neither fast nor slow.
She secretly took a look; at first, it was the Seventh Prince’s people, but later, when everyone was mostly dizzy, many of her godfather’s people appeared, looking arrogant and wild, very much like villains in a TV show.
They killed people and collected bodies very seriously, in an orderly manner.
The funeral was also orderly, with weeping in order and bowing with courtesy.
The Emperor’s funeral ended.
The Seventh Prince was sentenced to death, and the Seventh Princes Consort was also sentenced to death.
Before the execution could be carried out, the Seventh Prince died.
Pointed at by thousands, he died without illness.
Chinese morality is about seeing something immoral, pointing it out, discriminating against it, insulting it, and letting him die.
The Seventh Prince died just like that.
There was only one little prince left in the palace, who had been sickly since childhood and was still like a three-year-old child.
The ministers started arguing again.
Either choose a grandson to inherit the throne.
But there were quite a few grandsons; how to choose? And there were still people from the previous generation, so why choose a grandson?
There was also a proposal for the Grand Princess’s son, Jiang Changtian, to inherit.
As soon as this was said, many people blasted it.
In short, the court had been unstable recently, and all kinds of words and desires had emerged.
Mianmian felt fine at home; it was quite normal.
This day, the family was eating, and as usual, although very busy, Father still came back on time for dinner.
After dinner, they drank tea and chatted together.
Jiang Changtian asked Zi Congheng, who was seriously brewing tea: “You are the son of the Crown Prince; would you like to inherit the throne? If you want to, you are actually the most legitimate, and I will support you.”
Cong Geer was stunned for a moment and said: “It’s quite good like this now—eat well, drink well, sleep well. Uncle, you know, I’m afraid of the dark, I don’t like messy places, I don’t like too many people, I’m afraid of being dazzled, and I’m afraid of sharp things. If I were made to lie alone in a huge palace room now, I’m afraid I would pass away from illness within half a year.”
He brewed the tea and picked out the dried red dates boiled on top for Mianmian; the red dates were sweetest at this time.
Although there are new ways of brewing tea now, they still really liked the old way of boiling tea, putting in some Sichuan pepper and such. In winter, it could also prevent wind-cold. Although sometimes too many ingredients were added, the taste was indescribable and had nothing to do with tea—bitter in a colorful way. But after growing up and leaving home, one always misses this strange taste.
“Uncle, you go to the palace. If you have enough power, we can run rampant, and it’s also good that no one will bully us. Although I can’t do it, you can, and Aunt will help you too. I still quite like the feeling of being a prince or grandson, having power and money without having to work.”
Mianmian was eating red dates and almost swallowed the pit when she heard this.
She was patted by Mother and almost sent away by Mother, and the pit was spat out.
Her face was flushed red.
Cong Geer hurriedly handed her a cup of plain water.
Jiang Changtian also hurriedly stroked Mianmian’s back gently.
This topic ended just like that.
Just when the court was in chaos, news of a great victory from the border army arrived. This time it was true. Old General Meng was still alive, and General Meng and Second Young Master Jiang would soon return to the capital in triumph.
The ministers changed their tune in unison.
They strongly recommended Jiang Changtian as Emperor.
They made up various excuses and created momentum.
Some even said the late Emperor had dreamt that the successor’s name must contain the character ‘Tian’ (Heaven/Sky).
The name Changtian was chosen well. Long in the world.
At the border.
After the fighting.
Many people died, and even more enemies died.
However, they won in the end.
The border was cold.
On the best days after winning, they would at most gather around a fire, eating meat in large mouthfuls.
The fallen comrades made people sad, and those who survived were even more grateful for life.
Some young soldiers cried while eating meat.
“Laisheng said he liked meat with bones the most. From now on, he will never be able to eat it again.”
“War is like this. We won. Laisheng has a pension, and Second Young Master Jiang has recorded it all. When we go back, we will give the money to Laisheng’s parents, and someone from Laisheng’s family can go to the government office to sign up for work.”
“I know. Sometimes when I think of such good conditions, I think it would be fine if I died, but I still miss Laisheng.”
Jiang Feng and Meng Shaoxia were patrolling the camp together and stopped when they heard this.
But they didn’t go in.
The wind was strong outside the camp, and it was cold.
Jiang Feng spoke: “I didn’t know why we fought before. I always felt that people who were caught to be soldiers were very pitiful and would die.”
Meng Shaoxia said: “The Meng Family has been soldiers for generations. Perhaps this country has darkness and shortcomings, but we will always move forward because there are family members and common people behind us. The power struggle in the Imperial Court is chaotic, but that has nothing to do with us. As long as it is needed, our Meng Family will still go to war.”
Jiang Feng looked honest, and Meng Shaoxia was truly honest.
The two walked on together.
After patrolling the camp for another day, they would head back.
Through the baptism of war, Jiang Feng had become more mature.
He thought of those who had long slept underground, and his heart was filled with infinite hatred. Fortunately, he was still alive. He could still walk out of Kaner Village, walk so far, see the world, and living was really good.
He cherished life even more. He missed his Father, Mother, sisters, and also Miss Dong.
When he went back, he must work hard and make progress.
Come on!
Thank you for reading + listening 🙂 I hope you all liked my translations. If you enjoyed my work, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi 😉
