Chapter 353: We Have People on Our Side
Mianmian was drinking fruit juice.
She didn’t know what kind of drink it was.
It was sweet and sour, and quite tasty.
She needed to rinse her mouth after drinking.
No one was picking up the vegetables, and hardly anyone was touching the meat.
At most, they were eating a little bit of dessert.
Because meat gets stuck in the teeth.
The level of dentistry these days isn’t great; having a piece of meat stuck between your teeth is uncomfortable for a long time.
No matter how rich a noble is, if they lose a tooth, there’s no good solution.
Fastidious people get dentures made and embedded; materials for dentures include bamboo, wood, ivory, and animal bones, secured with gold wire tied to adjacent real teeth. Skilled craftsmanship can make them fit well, but they are only for decoration and cannot be used for chewing.
However, with the vigorous development of alchemy, there is now a more advanced type of denture made from a paste refined from silver foil, mercury, tin, and other materials, molded into the shape of teeth for filling. These fit better and are more expensive, but they are still primarily for decoration.
Mianmian hoped she would never need them; just thinking about having mercury in her mouth was terrifying. In any case, daily dental hygiene must be thorough.
Vegetables are fine; they don’t get stuck in the teeth as much.
Desserts can just be popped into the mouth.
She had to rinse her mouth.
Mianmian often used her tongue to poke at the debris on her teeth, curious about how Princess Grandma cleaned her teeth.
Of course, many people didn’t dare to drink the beverages, worried about needing to use the restroom.
They would pretend to take a sip, but hadn’t drunk much after a long time.
Mianmian was just drinking her beverage.
Suddenly, there was a loud clatter from over there.
It’s here!
The Emperor’s cup fell to the ground.
The Emperor was in the middle of saying something important.
Very important.
He was talking about his passing.
Usually, that means giving final instructions, and in front of everyone.
Then the Emperor looked down at his hand, and his hand suddenly hung limp.
“Father!”
The 9th Prince wanted to step forward, but suddenly found his path blocked.
Eunuch Yan was the first to support the Emperor.
Second Young Master Jiang stepped forward to help.
The Seventh Prince, however, took a step back.
The Emperor hadn’t finished speaking, but his hand suddenly lost strength, and the cup in his hand fell, clattering onto the ground.
Everyone was startled.
At this moment, Jiang Wan’s heart was also pounding fiercely.
It should be around this time that the Seventh Prince ascends the throne.
She didn’t know the specific scene, but she knew the ultimate winner was the Seventh Prince.
The other princes were almost all dead.
This was the cruelty of power struggles, which is why she never dared to get involved.
“Father, your son has an important matter to report,” the Seventh Prince said.
“Speak.”
“Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother died in unclear circumstances. Your son could never believe they would just leave me like that. That night we were still drinking and enjoying ourselves, and now we are separated by life and death. So, your son would not give up and has been investigating in secret. I discovered that the poison that killed Fifth Brother was a type of ‘companion grass’, a herb sold in the pharmacy opened by 9th Prince. And a concubine-born younger brother of Fifth Brother’s secondary consort is actually the manager of 9th Prince’s wife’s shop. The advisor who framed Sixth Brother also had a deep personal friendship with 9th Prince, and before the incident, he had gone to the Wangchun Courtyard with 9th Prince.”
The Seventh Prince spoke with resounding force, his face filled with sorrow.
“9th Prince, for the sake of the throne, you poisoned Fifth Brother and forced Sixth Brother to his death. If a villain like you, who is disloyal, unrighteous, and unfilial, ascends to the throne, what will become of the world?”
9th Prince was furious upon hearing the Seventh Prince’s words, his face flushing red.
“You’re spouting nonsense! My relationship with Fifth Brother was very good. Fifth Brother was stingy and would cheat money from me every day, and I gave it to him every time. Although Sixth Brother put on airs, I was just annoyed that he loved to lecture me; I never thought of harming Sixth Brother. As for Wangchun Courtyard, which day do I not run into a few court officials there?”
He was trembling with anger, looking at his father.
“Father, the Seventh is lying. It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it, I would never do such things. I do want to be Emperor—which child doesn’t want to inherit their father’s things? I want to as well, but I am open and aboveboard. If I have ambition, I show it on my face, unlike some people who are hypocritical, sinister, and like venomous snakes.”
The Emperor leaned back on the dragon throne.
At this moment, his heart was beating extremely fast, thumping like it was trying to escape his body.
He was also covered in cold sweat. It was clearly faked, so why was it like this?
“How dare you!”
The person the Emperor was roaring at was not the 9th Prince, but the Seventh Prince.
“The evidence you speak of, the Ministry of Justice had already presented to me long ago. I did suspect the 9th, but at this moment, I know that you did all of this. You were too impatient. You are the inhumane dog. Do you know why I never liked you? It’s not actually because your mother’s status was lowly, but because you are just like her—no matter how warm you appear on the surface, your eyes are always cold. You cannot be tamed. Do you think I, a dignified ruler of a nation, am truly as you imagine, being played in the palm of your hand?”
As the Emperor spoke, guards stepped forward, appearing to be about to seize the Seventh Prince.
But unexpectedly, when the guards reached him, one of them suddenly pierced the 9th Prince with a sword. The 9th Prince looked down to see the tip of the sword protruding from his chest, his face full of disbelief.
And Chu Xi actually made a move at the same time, drawing a guard’s sword and slitting the throat of the 9th Prince’s legitimate son, Chu Ze, killing him instantly.
Blood splattered, with a few drops landing on Jiang Wan’s face, and she couldn’t help but reach out to wipe it off.
Although she had been pushed away by Chu Xi, it was only so that Chu Xi could easily draw his sword.
In just an instant, the 9th Prince and his legitimate son died before the Emperor.
And the guards who had stepped forward to arrest the Seventh Prince actually stood behind the Seventh Prince.
Eunuch Liu also trotted forward to protect the Seventh Prince.
When everyone else’s weapons have been confiscated, the difference between having a weapon and not having one is immense.
Bare hands cannot kill, but swords can.
The Emperor remained seated on the dragon throne.
Even with his son dead before him, he did not waver in the slightest.
He just stared fixedly at the Seventh Prince.
Then he laughed.
Sure enough, the child he detested the most was actually the most like him.
“Even if you kill your brother and father today, when Old General Meng returns in triumph one day, do you think you can sit securely on the throne?”
“Father, you are old, and you are wrong. Old General Meng’s desperate letters for help are on their way; I fear that by now, he and Young General Meng have both already perished. It is precisely because you, Father, have ignored state affairs, indulged in debauchery, sought grand achievements, and listened only to sycophants, that the world has fallen into chaos. You are old; you should abdicate and let the capable take over.”
The Seventh Prince had played the dog for decades.
He had been planning for decades.
Just to wait for this day.
Half of the people in the palace were his men.
He could not wait any longer.
Because he could feel that the Emperor suspected him.
But he was not like the Emperor.
The Emperor suspected him but did not want him dead; he wanted to prove he had done wrong and make him admit his mistakes.
Whereas he only wanted the Emperor to die.
The food and drink were not actually poisoned, but the bowls were. As long as you held them with your hands, even if you just pretended to touch them to your lips without eating or drinking, you would be poisoned.
Sure enough, such a major incident occurred on the side of the female guests, yet there was no commotion, because they had all been poisoned.
Including the Seventh Princes Consort.
Jiang Wan was fine; Jiang Wan had not touched anything here.
Princess Huiyun was startled when she encountered this situation.
Seeing the female guests all dizzy and drowsy.
She also acted dizzy, taking the opportunity to pull Mianmian along.
Miss Dong had fainted, but she leaned toward Mianmian, even trying to embrace Mianmian with her body.
Mianmian was also very clear-headed, even though she had just been slurping down a lot of things.
But she cheated every day with spiritual spring water.
This little bit of stuff really couldn’t poison her.
Qin Luoxia wasn’t dizzy either, but she was the type of cunning woman in the village who immediately started swaying, swaying, swaying…
Just kept swaying.
Seeing that things looked a bit dangerous over on her husband’s side.
No wonder her husband gave her kumquats; he must have been hinting that a very tense situation was coming next.
Her husband was amazing.
The Seventh Prince was very vicious, having his guards stab his brother to death with a single sword, and the Seventh Prince’s son was the same, slitting throats with one strike.
The methods were all very clean.
Qin Luoxia analyzed the scene; there were still quite a few guards.
There was only one way.
She took her hairpin, swaying and swaying, and threw it with force. It was sharp and fine, a hairpin made of meteoric iron plated with a layer of gold, which was actually a real flying dagger.
She threw it with all her might.
Just like that year when she pierced that landlord to death with a spear.
The flying dagger was extremely fast; it seemed to encounter an obstruction in the middle, changing direction slightly, but that didn’t matter.
Qin Luoxia had anticipated the anticipation.
The flying dagger went off course, and Jiang Wan just happened to move her body to the left by one step.
Immediately after, she felt a tightness in her throat. She looked down in disbelief to see a blade tip protruding from her neck. She wanted to turn her head, but the blade tip fixed her head in place; she couldn’t turn, so she could only turn her whole body back.
Then she saw that strong woman, crouching down and holding her head.
The Earthquake occurred; the entire palace was rocking.
Jiang Wan fell straight down, her eyes wide with rage. Impossible, impossible! She hadn’t become Empress yet, she was only one step away.
She lay down, lying beside the twitching Imperial Grandson Chu Ze, who was smiling as he spat blood.
As if saying, “Fairy Liu, long time no see.”
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