The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 848: difficulty
Chapter 848 Difficulty
On the third day of May in the eighteenth year of Xuanjia, the spy who had been sent by the left prime minister Li Mao to Daliang to inquire about the army’s movements returned to the capital and reported to Li Mingrui that Princess Zhenguo and Liu Hong were leading the army back to the country in a hurry. When he sent the letter back, the people and officials along the way all knew about the King of Liang’s rebellion and were discussing it heatedly.
Li Mingrui clenched his fists tightly, knowing that he could not delay any longer. He asked King Liang to order Fan Yuhuai to immediately attack the imperial city with all his strength. He must enter the palace immediately to force the emperor to issue an order to pass the throne to King Liang.
Who would have thought that just as Fan Yuhuai ordered the attack on the Imperial City, the Wude Gate would open automatically…
Xie Yuchang and Fu Ruoxi came out of Wude Gate. Xie Yuchang looked very unhappy and said, “Your Majesty has ordered that King Liang be invited to the palace.”
The palace had run out of food yesterday, but that was not a big deal. The emperor ran out of saltpeter for alchemy and needed to transport it in from outside the palace. So the emperor ordered Xie Yuchang to pass on the order to let Prince Liang enter the palace.
Lu Xiang, the Minister of War, and Xie Yuchang argued with the emperor, but it was of no avail. The obsessed emperor actually let Xie Yuchang arrest Lu Xiang and the Minister of War and their gang. Lu Xiang, such a smooth minister, was so angry that he cursed the emperor as a tyrant.
The emperor took advantage of the situation to depose Prime Minister Lu, and asked Xie Yuchang if he only listened to the prince and did not recognize him as the emperor, and wanted to disobey the imperial order… and disobey the order.
It was a huge burden to bear, but Fu Ruoxi still held back Xie Yuchang, who was about to die for his remonstrance, and followed his orders to accompany Xie Yuchang out of the city to invite King Liang.
But deep down, both Fu Ruoxi and Xie Yuchang were extremely disappointed with this emperor and this dynasty. They did not want these soldiers to sacrifice their lives for such an emperor, so they came out to invite King Liang as requested by the emperor.
Although the prince was not a wise monarch, at least he was not as cunning, sinister and good at disguise as King Liang. Sometimes the prince would listen to the advice of his ministers.
But if King Liang ascends the throne, it is hard to say what will become of the State of Jin.
Prince Liang was a cautious person. When he heard that the emperor invited him to the palace, he was afraid that there must be a trap. He first asked Fan Yuhuai to send people to take over several gates of the imperial city, and then captured Xie Yuchang and Fu Ruoxi. Then he entered the palace with a large army and asked Fan Yuhuai to stay outside the palace to deploy defenses.
The emperor was sitting on the throne in the palace. He looked at Prince Liang, who came in from outside the palace with a large army and knelt down to pay respect to him. He patted the armrest of the dragon throne and said, “You led your army to force the palace this time just to get this dragon throne?”
Although the King of Liang was respectful to the Emperor at this time, he was no longer as panicked and frightened as before. He kowtowed and said, “Your Highness, I beg you to abdicate…”
“Good! Very good…” The emperor looked at Prince Liang with cloudy eyes. He really didn’t expect that he had misjudged this son. “Prince Liang is really my good son. His usual timid appearance was actually all fake!”
Prince Liang remained kneeling on the ground with his head bowed, motionless, with a humble attitude of allowing the emperor to vent his anger.
“You can have the throne if you want it! I have conditions…”
When Prince Liang heard the emperor’s words, he was delighted and said hurriedly, “Don’t worry, father. I will not embarrass my brother, the crown prince!”
The emperor shook his head and said, “I’m not talking about the prince, but my Nine-Storied Tower! The Nine-Storied Tower… must be built no matter what! So… if you want the government, I can issue an order to let you lead the government now, but the throne… when you build the Nine-Storied Tower and find a thousand boys and girls for me, I will abdicate and let you be the emperor!”
Prince Liang thought that the emperor wanted to plead for the prince, but he didn’t expect that he was most concerned about the Nine-Layered Platform where he sought immortality!
He actually felt a trace of pity for the prince. It turned out… the prince was not that special in his father’s heart. He was someone who could be abandoned at any time.
Seeing that the Prince of Liang did not answer, the emperor continued, “If you are unwilling, then… kill me, the emperor, and then you can ascend the throne! However… I have already sent the imperial edict out of the palace, and asked the prince to take the imperial edict to order the garrisons in various places to rush to the rescue! In this way… in the future, your reputation as a traitor will never be washed away.”
Prince Liang did not quite believe what the emperor said and thought that the emperor was just bluffing. The prince had been on the run for more than a month. If he really had an imperial edict to mobilize troops, he would have reached the capital city long ago.
Li Mingrui, who was kneeling behind Prince Liang, felt that the prince might really have an imperial edict in his hand. Since reinforcements had not arrived yet, the prince might still be in the capital city!
Li Mingrui’s heart skipped a beat and he looked up at King Liang. Suddenly, he had a selfish idea. He wanted to send people from the Li Mansion to search for the prince secretly. If they could get the secret order from the prince, when King Liang ascended the throne in the future, this secret order… would be the most powerful handle that the Li family could use to restrain King Liang!
Li Mingrui calculated the time of Bai Qingyan’s army’s march in his mind, and lowered his voice to speak to King Liang: “Your Highness… As long as His Majesty is still alive, people in the world will think that Your Highness’s ascension to the throne is legitimate. Otherwise, now that the prince has not been caught, and the emperor of Dadu City is dead… If Your Highness ascends the throne, others will think that Your Highness’s throne is not legitimate, and those who have ulterior motives… and are loyal to the prince, such as the Princess Zhenguo, will have sufficient excuses to rebel against Your Highness!”
King Liang pursed his lips and said nothing, but the nine-story platform should take more than a month to complete. If the Zhenguo Princess can return in time within a month…
Prince Liang raised his eyes and looked towards the emperor.
By then, his position with the emperor would change, and he would be the only one being controlled by the emperor.
Li Mingrui seemed to know King Liang’s concerns and whispered, “Your Highness, if the Minister of Works of Jiuchongtai speeds up the construction, it can be completed within 20 days!”
The Minister of Works was a man of the Left Prime Minister Li Mao. King Liang knew that Li Mingrui had joined him in the rebellion, and if he failed, his property would be confiscated and his family would be exterminated. I think if the work could not be completed within 20 days, he would not dare to say so.
“Your Highness might as well agree to His Majesty for the sake of legitimacy! The Nine-Layered Platform and a thousand boys and girls are not difficult to obtain!” Li Mingrui advised again.
Upon hearing this, the King of Liang looked at the Emperor and kowtowed again: “Please, Father, issue an order to arrest the Crown Prince who is plotting rebellion. I will complete the matter of the Nine-Layered Platform and the 1,000 boys and girls within 20 days!”
The emperor’s eyes were cold and gloomy: “Within ten days!”
King Liang clenched his teeth and turned his head slightly to look at Li Mingrui behind him.
Li Mingrui was thinking in his mind that if he could recruit more civilians to build together and get to the Nine-Storied Terrace within three days, maybe… he could finish the construction within ten days.
The difficulty lies in these one thousand boys and girls. Li Mingrui had heard from the Heavenly Master before that they wanted boys and girls between five and ten years old, and they also had to have clean family backgrounds. Not to mention that there had been rumors that the emperor wanted to use the lives of these one thousand children to make elixirs. It was indeed difficult to gather these one thousand children within ten days.
First update! Keep asking for monthly votes! Please stop asking about the next update! I already had a new update in early May! It’s still the same old rules… I’ll be ranked third in monthly votes this month, and I’ll have a new update next month!