"Attack."
Zheng Yuanjia gave the order, raising his right hand high. At his command, the imperial guards surrounded the crowd.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince." The emperor fixed a long, deep look on him and said, "I truly underestimated you. You dared to turn the imperial guards against me."
"Father, why bother with such words?" The Crown Prince's lips curled into a sneer, and his eyes were filled with intense hatred as he stared at the emperor. "If you hadn't forced me, I wouldn't have had to take such measures."
"Hahaha!"
The emperor burst into laughter, his gaze as cold as ice. "I really misjudged you!"
Saying so, the emperor raised his hand.
Zheng Yuanjia's heart skipped a beat, and the smile on his face gradually faded.
"Father, what do you mean by this?"
"Traitorous son!" The emperor roared. "Arrest him!"
Suddenly, the situation reversed.
Zheng Yuanjia never expected that he would be so easily captured by the emperor. He didn't even have time to struggle.
Most of the Crown Prince's supporters at the banquet were also subdued by the guards. Only a few remained sitting there, looking variously.
The Crown Prince suddenly realized that he had been betrayed. His heart grew cold, and he swept his cold gaze around.
"Do you have anything else to say?"
The emperor looked at the Crown Prince with a complicated expression.
The Crown Prince in front of him was the child he had raised with his own hands, his most beloved heir. Yet, this same person had turned against him, showing no regard for their father - son bond and trying to take his life.
Supported by the chief eunuch, the emperor walked towards the Crown Prince.
With the situation lost, Zheng Yuanjia went limp all over. He sat there on the ground, staring blankly at his own hands, as if he couldn't understand why he had failed.
The emperor walked up to him and looked down at him from above.
Zheng Yuanjia looked up, his eyes blood - red as he stared at the emperor.
The guards held him tightly, but Zheng Yuanjia smiled as if he didn't care. "Father, can I have one last word with you?"
"Something's not right."
Meng Ruyi leaned over and whispered to Song Huaizhi, "Zheng Yuanjia is not the kind of person who would give up so easily. What is he up to?"
Before Song Huaizhi could answer, Meng Ruyi continued to whisper her speculation, "Is he stalling for time?"
"But in this situation, how could he turn the tables?"
Meng Ruyi looked at Song Huaizhi, and he looked back at her gently. "What if the emperor suddenly died and the only one with troops on the scene was the Crown Prince?"
"With no leader, he would surely have an opportunity."
"Well..." Meng Ruyi was surprised by the similarity between the father and son. Both were ruthless in their actions but never went to the extreme.
One could say that the Crown Prince might be the person who understood the emperor best in the world.
Really...
"Here it comes."
Song Huaizhi's expression suddenly changed. He took out a handkerchief and covered Meng Ruyi's nose, whispering, "Breathe less."
Seeing that he only covered her, Meng Ruyi got anxious at once, but Song Huaizhi held her down subtly. "It's okay. This poison is special."
"The emperor took the medicine Zheng Yuanjia gave him. Once he smells this, he'll die suddenly. But for ordinary people, it'll just cause nosebleeds at most."
So Zheng Yuanjia had been stalling for so long just to let the medicine spread?
The emperor was looking at Zheng Yuanjia, listening to his words, when suddenly his vision went black and he staggered.
The chief eunuch beside him immediately supported him and shouted, "Your Majesty!"
"I..."
Before he could speak, the emperor suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. His throat itched, and he spat out a mouthful of bright red blood.
"Your Majesty!"
"Father!"
The Crown Prince suddenly broke free from the guards' restraint and crawled to the emperor's side, his face full of grief.
Zheng Yuanqing sat there without moving but quickly noticed that the situation had suddenly changed.
The looks from the people around him had changed from eager to pity, as if they were sighing that he had missed the chance to the throne.
Only Zheng Yuanqing, Song Huaizhi and the others knew that they were waiting for the last moment to strike a fatal blow to the Crown Prince.
The emperor looked at the expression on the Crown Prince's face. As if he understood something, he opened his mouth to speak, but only blood gushed out.
"Quick! Call the imperial physician quickly!" Zheng Yuanjia shouted at the guard beside him. "Guard this place. Don't let anyone out!"
"Father!"
Zheng Yuanjia leaned over the emperor and whispered, "Father, you've made one move less in this game of chess."
Hearing this, the emperor trembled violently, and more blood flowed out of his eyes and nose.
Zheng Yuanjia acted out a show of father - son affection. If an uninformed person saw this, they might really think he was a filial Crown Prince instead of a traitor who had just attempted to rebel.
The imperial physician rushed over in a hurry but could only say helplessly, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."
"Your Majesty's old illness has flared up. It came too suddenly and violently. I'm afraid..."
Hearing this, Zheng Yuanjia seemed to be extremely sad, his eyes bloodshot.
As the emperor gave his last tremor, the imperial physician felt his pulse with a trembling hand, then closed his eyes and said sadly, "Your Majesty has passed away!"
Meng Ruyi subconsciously scanned the surroundings and saw the different expressions on everyone's faces. She suddenly felt a sense of indescribable absurdity.
"Guards!"
Zheng Yuanjia stood up and ordered the imperial guards, "Father passed away suddenly. As the Crown Prince, I shall naturally ascend the throne."
"However..."
His tone changed, and he looked at Zheng Yuanqing who was standing up. "Prince Zheng Yuanqing clashes with the late emperor's fortune. So he should step aside for now. Guards, escort Prince Zheng back to his mansion."
Zheng Yuanqing looked at Zheng Yuanjia's confident look and suddenly burst out laughing. "Brother, Your Highness the Crown Prince, aren't you feeling guilty?"
"Don't you ever think of the displaced commoners in the south because of your greed?"
"The fields were littered with corpses. I could only watch helplessly, even unable to bury them."
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, can you see the tears and blood of those people in your dreams?"
As soon as Zheng Yuanqing started speaking, Zheng Yuanjia realized something was wrong and sent people to stop him.
But those people were all beheaded by Jingzhe. The woman stood there with her sword, scaring dozens of guards away and allowing Zheng Yuanqing to finish his speech.
Before Zheng Yuanjia could react further, the civil officials led by Wen Xiuzhi had stood behind Zheng Yuanqing, and Gu Ling's army had surrounded the place.
Everyone present changed their expressions greatly but didn't dare to move, fearing that a slip of the hand would mean their death under the swords.
Zheng Yuanqing took a two - person - long silk ribbon from Jingzhe. It was sewn from small pieces of cloth, with densely embroidered names on it. Although it was just a piece of cloth, it made everyone present tremble.
Wen Xiuzhi was standing behind Zheng Yuanqing. The moment he saw the ribbon, his heart ached.
"The Crown Prince is heartless. For his own desires, he left the commoners in dire straits and allowed his maternal relatives to embezzle the funds for building the dam, resulting in the dam breaking and tens of thousands of people being displaced."
Zheng Yuanqing held the ribbon, his face solemn. He raised his voice and said coldly to Zheng Yuanjia, "I, Zheng Yuanqing, as the third son of the emperor, have been supported by the commoners since childhood. I was also sent by Father to the disaster - stricken area. So I discovered this truth and felt extremely heart - broken."
"Zheng Yuanjia! Today I'm avenging those commoners. You're unworthy of the position of Crown Prince!"