Joy of Life

Chapter 511: A Lowly Monarch (1)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In terms of blood, the Crown Prince and Fan Xian were brothers. There wasn’t actually any irreconcilable hatred between them. In the end, those were the matters of the elders. The Crown Prince had expressed to Fan Xian his willingness for peace. However, it was impossible for Fan Xian to believe this. He also knew that the Crown Prince did not have enough power or a strong enough state of mind to bring him down.

Thus, the biggest target for Fan Xian’s actions for the past half a year had actually been the Eldest Princess. He had expected that the Emperor would only imprison her. Instead, he rushed to depose the Crown Prince. Fan Xian pondered this situation for a long time. He felt there was some problem with the order. Given the Emperor’s long immersion in the wrestling ring that was the world, he shouldn’t have made such a mistake.

Regardless of whether the order was right or wrong, the matter of deposing the heir began to be vigorously discussed throughout Qing court. It was more like the butterfly effect. A major event in history may have begun as nothing, but it can create small and inconsequential ripples in court.

The Eastern Palace catching on fire and Crown Prince’s journey to Nanzhao were the ripples.

When the Eighth Bureau of the Overwatch Council threw out some old stories, the Supreme Court suddenly took an interest in the old matter of the winter jackets for the Northern expedition army and began a new investigation. The Ministry of Revenue cooperated in investigating where that silver actually went. The ripples were gradually growing.

During the past spring, the Crown Prince and Second Prince’s factions had investigated the Ministry of Revenue in order to attack Fan Xian. In the end, the largest loophole they found was the matter of the winter jackets for the Northern expedition army. At that time, the Crown Prince would never have thought the matter would be pinned on his head. Fortunately, the Emperor had withdrawn his hand, so the Crown Prince avoided the consequence of losing all his face.

The old matter had been brought up again in court. The officials all sensed there was something different now. The Crown Prince’s side had long lost most of its loyal followers. Who was the Emperor going to have the Crown Prince throw out to take the crime?

The officials still didn’t think the Emperor would directly have the Crown Prince shoulder the crime. Thus, when the Supreme Court and the Overwatch Council placed Xin Qiwu into prison, everyone thought the matter was settled.

No one expected that less than three days after Xin Qiwu was placed in prison, he was let out again. This trusted aid of the Eastern Palace and close official to the Crown Prince was not overly ill-treated in the Overwatch Council because of his good relationship with Fan Xian. He also didn’t give up the Crown Prince.

Even so, the Overwatch Council and Supreme Court still held tight to the Crown Prince and submitted a secret memorial to the royal study. Once again, another royal study conference happened before the eyes of the Hall of Governmental Affairs, the six ministers, and others in the nucleus of Qing Kingdom’s power.

Shu Wu and Hu the Scholar’s begged for mercy on the Crown Prince’s behalf. They even agreed to be his guarantors before the Emperor let go of some of his feigned rage. After the conference was dismissed and the two scholars were drinking together, they couldn’t help but give out long sighs.

The Emperor had truly made up his mind to depose the heir. As scholars of the Hall of Governmental Affairs, they had to protect the Crown Prince. This had nothing to do with factions. As pure officials, they had to demonstrate their attitude toward this matter. As long as the Crown Prince was the heir, they had to treat him like half an emperor. The Emperor would not criticize them harshly for this.

The officials that Shu and Wu represented all agreed that the Crown Prince had acted absurdly in the past. However, he had greatly improved in the past two years. In order to prevent the great turmoil that would arise from a battle for royal power, and to take early action against Fan Xian becoming involved in this matter, they truly wished the Emperor would make up his mind. He needed to decide the future of Qing Kingdom.

Regardless of how one looked at it, the present Crown Prince was the best choice. It avoided Qing Kingdom from draining its resources and prevented the young man in the Overwatch Council from being a solitary power.

The Qing Emperor was not an airheaded monarch. He knew the benefits that the checks and balances between officials brought to Qing Kingdom. He also expected that the matter of deposing the heir would draw great opposition. Thus, he temporarily chose silence. After one wave, his thoughts of deposing the heir seemed to have been removed. ( )

However, the scholars and other officials knew that their Emperor was not one to easily come to a decision. Once he did, he would persist with it no matter what difficulties he faced.

Within a few days, the Jiangnan Governor Xue Qing’s public memorial was delivered to the Palace and read out during the court conference. Each word was quietly directed toward the Eastern Palace. Everyone understood the meaning hidden within.

Shu Wu abruptly flew into a rage. Although he knew the situation was past the point of no return, he still broke rank and scolded Xue Qing harshly for having a disloyal heart. He wildly babbled words inappropriate of an official.

The Emperor took pity on Shu Wu’s age and body and ordered him to recover at home for three months. No punishment was given.

The public memorials from the Governors of the other six Roads also arrived. Some were heavy in tone, and some were light. Others spoke explicitly, while others’ were implicit. They all quietly expressed their attitudes.

At this point, the situation was becoming clear. The Emperor had intentions to depose the heir and the seven Governors were restricted by the might of the Emperor to submit memorials in agreement. The ministers and officials were caught in the middle. They wanted to oppose it but felt they were blocked by the sky above and pierced from below. They felt uncomfortable all over.

Although Shu Wu had been asked to return to his manor, the Hall of Governmental Affairs continued to use the power they were given by the Qing Emperor. Of the officials in court, the brave ones chose their words carefully to express their opposing opinions. Those who were less brave maintained their silence. There was not a single official who came forward under the Emperor’s silent signals to submit a memorial asking the Emperor to change the heir.

Even the people who liked to curry favor found it difficult to do this. All the court and people in Jingdou were watching these officials. The Crown Prince had not many any major mistakes but was going to be deposed. This was simply unreasonable. It would be impossible to explain in history books.

After the court conference ended, a few representatives of the civil officials came to the Shu manor and carefully asked for Shu the Scholar’s opinion. The Emperor knew of this matter, so they were not afraid of someone accusing them of forming a faction.

Shu Wu, in a cloth robe, was silent for a long time. He then smiled slightly and said, “All things in the world have to be reasonable, particularly in the case of the heir apparent to a throne. It involves both the heavens and the people. If it is not reasonable, it cannot be obeyed. Fan Xian once said, the first concern should be the affairs of state. The enjoyment of pleasures come later. This is a state matter not a domestic matter of the Emperor’s family. As an official, I must help the Emperor lessen his burdens and Qing Kingdom remove its worries. There is no need to analyze the Emperor’s heart. It is enough to ask your own.”

“The Emperor has already made up his mind. What should be done?”

Shu Wu stroked the beard on his chin and said in his usual laughing way, “Sir once said, when the Emperor has a wrong order, officials may not accept it.”

The sir he referred to was the great Zhuang Mohan, who had died almost two years ago. The officials each went home in silence.

If the Emperor actually wanted to secretly signal the officials to submit memorials, there were many ways. He could easily find someone to speak for him in court. Remarkably, ever since the ripples had spread, other than the Minister of Revenue Fan Jian, the Emperor had not summoned any other official to enter the Palace alone. Thus, all the officials were confused. They were not sure whether or not the Emperor’s mind had been made up. They were not family servants like the Governors of the Seven Roads and did not dare to randomly submit memorials.

The court sunk into an awkward and silent confrontation. In the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince remained gentle and peaceful. It was as if he wasn’t concerned about this matter. There were no powerful people in his faction, yet he had received the support of many officials. This could be said to be an unexpected surprise.

Thus, the Crown Prince was secretly grateful and became even more silent.

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In this storm of deposing the heir, there were two young men who were removed from the situation that most attracted the gazes of the officials. These two young noble’s appearance and temperament were similar and both had a complicated relationship with the Crown Prince. Their behavior recently was rather unexpected.

The first was Fan Xian. In everyone’s eyes, he was completely in the Third Prince’s faction. Furthermore, he was also the Emperor’s illegitimate son, so his position was very sensitive. However, before and after the memorials from the seven Governors, he maintained a death-like silence in Jiangnan. His usual memorials sent into the Palace did not touch on this matter at all. He only talked in circles about the daily matters of the palace treasury and matters around him. Although the Overwatch Council investigated the Eastern Palace through the Ministry of Revenue, it was clear that their investigation wasn’t as powerful as the officials had imagined. Everyone could clearly see that the Overwatch Council’s actions in Jingdou had nothing to do with Fan Xian.

This made everyone suddenly wonder whether or not the Emperor had tossed Fan Xian to Jiangnan because he wanted to separate him from the Overwatch Council. Why didn’t the outwardly gentle but inwardly unswerving Commissioner Fan not take this opportunity to beat a dog while he was down?

The second was the Second Prince. Before Fan Xian entered the capital, the Second Prince was deep in the Emperor’s favor. He was the first among the Emperor’s sons to be granted the title of Prince and had amassed a large number of civil officials in the court. Later, everyone learned that the Eldest Princess was openly protecting the Crown Prince but secretly protecting him. The Second Prince had done well. Secretly, he could be a true rival to the Crown Prince. The so-called battle of the throne actually referred to him, at first.

Major events happened one after another during this half year in Jingdou, yet they seemed to have nothing to do with the Second Prince at all. After the Eldest Princess was imprisoned, nothing happened to the Second Prince. Rather, it was the Crown Prince who had been exiled for a while by the Emperor.

In the present critical situation of the Crown Prince being deposed, the Second Prince stood to benefit the most. Logically, he should be taking action. Even if he wanted to avoid arousing suspicion, win the Emperor’s favor, and act in accordance to filial piety and fraternal duty, he could simply maintain his silence. However, he personally submitted a memorial to explain, on the Crown Prince’s behalf, the case of the winter jackets for the Northern expedition army. He also secretly called into action officials in his faction to take a stance against the Emperor’s wishes.

Of course, his power in court had been almost completely wiped out by Fan Xian through two attacks. Since he had been in the game for so many years, he still had some power to speak. After he married Ye Ling’er, he became half a master of the Ye family. His words on the behalf of the Crown Prince did indeed have an effect.

The Crown Prince’s two brothers, his two biggest enemies, used different ways to demonstrate their support during the Crown Prince’s most dangerous time. This was a remarkable and amazing situation.

Presumably, the emotions of the Qing Emperor were very complicated.

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Before the matter of deposing the heir reached a high tide, on one of the three most dangerous borders in the world, a high tide had already happened. It shocked the already frightened Qing officials into becoming more excited.

The three most dangerous borders were the ones between Northern Qi and Northern Man, Qing Kingdom and the Xi Lake, and Qing Kingdom and Northern Qi.

The extreme North had suffered three years of heavy snow. It froze the cattle and horses to death. The entire clan had no choice but to go around natural terrain and move. After going through endless difficulties, they finally wrapped from the north of Northern Qi to reach the west of Qing Kingdom. However, they paid the tragic price of about 70 to 80 percent of their entire population.

This was a major historical event that had some deep and far-reaching consequences. First, the Northern Qi people no longer had to worry about the power savages behind them. They could finally free a hand to deal with the Qing people in the South—the famous general, Shang Shanhu.

After Xi Lake used two years to digest the Northern Man who had come there, their power grew abruptly. Although there were not many survivors from the Northern Man, those who did had survived a move of thousands of li, with no food or medicine. They were all elite men and women.

Qing Kingdom was surrounded by enemies, front and back. The pressure increased greatly.

This was why there was an emergency Western line set up by the Ye family in Dingzhou. King Jing’s heir, Li Hongcheng, was currently playing hide and seek in the West with those Hu people.

Yan Xiaoyi in the North also returned to his camp ahead of time. Using powerful military force, he suppressed Shang Shanhu’s plans and bad ideas from the Northern Qi people.

The climax on the border happened on the Northern line between the Northern Governor Yan Xiaoyi and General Shang Shanhu.

When Shang Shanhu had led his army in a retreat to give Yan Xiaoyi time to think and prepare, Yan Xiaoyi did not think about this back path into Qing Kingdom or make preparations to welcome the Qing Emperor capture of himself. Instead, he led his army North. With 20,000 elite troops, they went through the middle of Cangzhou’s Yanjing and abruptly attacked the Northern camp.

All was fair in war. The soldiers swept through like a hurricane. Yan Xiaoyi perfectly executed this directive. He did not ask permission from the Bureau of Military Affairs, nor could he wait for the Qing Emperor’s edict. He personally led the troops and attacked.

Shang Shanhu, who had never miscalculated before on the battleground, had clearly not expected Yan Xiaoyi to attack when his own life was in question.

The Northern Qi troops had slowly withdrawn 50 li and had not yet firmly set up camp when they were abruptly attacked in the night. They suffered heavy casualties, while the Qing army lost 5,000 lives for the great Cangzhou pass.

This seemed to be Shang Shanhu’s first defeat in people’s memories.

After the news traveled to Jingdou, regardless of whether it was Shu the Scholar who had been ordered home to recover or a commoner selling alcohol on the street, they all became excited. The love for battle and enthusiasm for border expansion was buried deep within the blood of the Qing people. They were lifted to a peak by this shameless battle.

The dark clouds that had long hung over Jingdou seemed to be less ominous. Everyone was thinking, With such great news, surely the Emperor would not persist in his absurdity and do things contrary to people’s emotions? It would truly not be a good decision.

With the arrival of the battle reports, the Northern Qi emperor’s letter also arrived. In the letter, the Northern Qi Emperor scolded and cried, speaking about how friendly the two countries were and how could Qing Kingdom do this, and so on. It was very shameless.

After receiving this letter, the Qing Emperor only smiled and gave this matter to Honglu Temple and the Board of Rites to handle. The borders between countries were very blurry. It was difficult to say clearly who entered whose territory. If there truly was a misunderstanding, he could apologize in a few days. In any case, the people who had been killed could not be brought back.

The Emperor smiled and said to Eunuch Hong beside him, “Yao Xiaoyi did well. He knows to use the correct method to demonstrate the reason for his existence.”

If someone had no purpose for their existence, then they shouldn’t continue to exist, such as the Crown Prince.

Thus, the Supreme Court continued to investigate the winter jackets case. The Overwatch Council dug up the mistakes the Crown Prince had made. The most shameless was the Eighth Bureau. They seemed ready to write about the Crown Prince’s teasing of the serving girls when he was young into a memoir.

The matter of deposing the heir did not suddenly end because of Yan Xiaoyi’s massive victory. It only rested a little. Under the officials’ disappointed gazes, it slowly, and without doubt, began to be pushed out.

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None of this had anything to do with Fan Xian.

Currently, he was on a citizen’s boat looking at the Council reports in his hand in a daze. He thought to himself that the Emperor was indeed even more shameless than him. It looked like the worship that Xue Qing had brought up was going to start in a few more days. No one knew what the quiet Qing Temple in Jingdou would be like at that time.

After finding a reason to depose the Crown Prince, the Emperor then asked for heaven’s instructions. He was a son of heaven and the Crown Prince was the heaven’s grandson. If the heavens thought this grandchild had not been obedient, then the son of heaven could only follow instructions.

Once this was written, it would come across much better in the history books. It was extremely shameless.

Fan Xian shook his head and placed the Council report down. Ever since Xue Qing had begun submitting memorials, he had escaped Suzhou, not returned to Hangzhou, and had not gone to Wuzhou. He only disguised himself as a citizen and boarded a private boat. Unconsciously, he wanted to leave this political whirlpool as far away as possible.

He also learned of the matter of the Second Prince writing to protect the Crown Prince. He thought the Second Prince was ruthless.

He thought again of the Cangzhou pass matter. A glimmer of confusion flashed through his eyes. When it came to military matters, he had always been clueless. However, he wondered how such a terrifying person as Shang Shanhu could suffer such a loss at Yan Xiaoyi’s hands. Lightly undertaking a military endeavor was a massive crime. The officials and common people could be happy, like they were watching a show, but how could the Emperor also be as happy as a fool?

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