Mystery makes me strong

Chapter 2609 The Third Brother Succeeds
Several generals of the imperial guards lowered ladders for their men.

This is what they had prepared long ago.

It was a hassle to open the door, but putting up the ladder was much easier.

In fact, before his death, the emperor wanted to keep the two princes under house arrest in his own residence, or even send them away from the capital.

However, the supporters of the two princes, including some heavyweight generals, kept making suggestions.

This forced the emperor to delay the matter.

Later, he wanted to let the third prince ascend the throne directly before he died.

But his attachment to imperial power prevented him from making this decision.

What if he could live a few more years?

This has happened before.

When he was 60, he almost died, but he persisted for another 14 years.

Who's to say he can't get through this now?
Another 14 years?
There were emperors in the previous dynasty who were over 80 years old.

Once you get through it and give up the throne, you can never get it back...

No matter how close the relationship is, it is still scum in front of the imperial power.

In this way, the extremely selfish nature of imperial power made the emperor hesitate until the last moment.

Then another sudden death occurred.

In history, those emperors who abdicated the throne early and still held the real power as the emperor emeritus, in fact, have to be said to have great control over the people.

After all, once he abdicates and he is old, everyone knows that the young emperor is the future.

However, the inertia of loyalty from the emperor still allows the emperor to hold power.

This is actually something that is very strange to outsiders.

Essentially, this is because feudal imperial power is based on an acquaintance society and relies on personal relationships.

We are not motivated by some common lofty ideals.

It’s about, I pledge allegiance to you, and you give me benefits, that’s all.

In this situation, the emperor actually plays an important role in coordination, organization and distribution. As long as he is alive, he can carry out this distribution task, and he naturally still holds the power.

The new emperor was unfamiliar with many coordination and organizational tasks, so he had no way of completely seizing power.

The best way is to start a war and get familiar with new deployments through the war.

And now.

The emperor died suddenly, and as a result the eldest and second princes were refused entry to the palace.

This made the eldest prince and the second prince very angry.

This time, with the help of the general of the imperial guards, they entered the palace and finally saw the deceased emperor.

And the third prince.

They haven't seen the Third Prince for a long time...

Firstly, they felt ashamed, so they didn't dare to meet him directly.

Secondly, they were also suspicious and unwilling to meet each other.

Now the two princes were surrounded by their guards. They saw the third prince being taken by a group of people to change into the emperor's attire.

He also wore the emperor's exclusive crown.

The pearl on it was shaking slightly.

They were shocked.

"This lame man can actually walk so steadily!"

That’s right, at this time, the third prince used great willpower to make his fat body look very healthy.

Soon, other ministers came in one after another.

They divided into camps and followed the eldest prince and the second prince.

"The emperor has just passed away, and you led your troops into the palace. This is treason!" The general guarding the palace said to the two princes.

"Be bold!"

The eldest prince immediately scolded: "We are the emperor's own children. We entered the palace only to prevent treacherous villains from murdering our father!"

"That's right, take us to see our father quickly." The second prince also shouted.

Many important officials and nobles also clamored.

Everyone knows that this is a critical moment. Who can achieve great success in the next few decades depends on this moment!
If you can get over it, you can maintain your wealth and prosperity.

Shivering is not good, it will be another one of the four major families.

Yes, they also have one of the four eliminated families here.

Things like the Red Mansion are not uncommon.

Then everyone came to the emperor's bedroom.

However, at this time, Wen Rensheng frowned slightly.

He discovered that the third prince had secretly created a new painting.

That is, at this time, the old emperor in the painting was testing the hearts of his ministers.

The old emperor played a trick to escape and pretended to be dead.

In fact, everyone was tricked into the palace.

He wanted to completely eliminate the danger for the Third Prince.

Wen Rensheng couldn't help but smile when he saw this.

This cheat is just a cheat.

In this situation, the Third Prince was able to make a comeback.

Sure enough, the old emperor, who seemed dead and lying on the bed, woke up immediately.

He spoke to the royal family, nobles, ministers, and generals:
"I will pass the throne to the Third Prince XX."

"He is the new emperor I chose for you."

"Your Majesty, the third prince is disabled. How can he inherit the throne?" At this time, a minister was the first to stand up.

Because his daughter is the second prince's concubine, the two sides are highly bound.

It can be said that the extermination of the clan will implicate him.

"Shut up, do you dare to rebel?"

"I dare not, but I am only considering the country."

The old emperor continued with difficulty: "Only the third prince is the emperor who can truly expand the territory and maintain the prosperity of the country."

"Only he can maintain the dynasty's heritage!"

When everyone heard this, they were all stunned.

Then everyone looked at the third prince.

The third prince looked extremely terrified.

"Father, you have a long life ahead of you. How can you pass on the throne so hastily?"

He just cried right there.

The old emperor looked pleased and looked at the other two princes.

The two behind him looked very angry, wishing he would die quickly and pass the position to them.

They are all sons, why is there such a big difference?
All I can say is that they are not stupid actually, but they got so caught up in the fight that they started to forget about these things.

"No, life is only seventy."

"I have lived seventy-four years."

"I have been the emperor for so many years, I should have left long ago. If I don't leave now, the heavens will be jealous of me."

The old emperor is very self-aware and sees things very clearly.

At this time, Wen Rensheng noticed that the third prince knelt quietly on the ground again, covering the charcoal pencil and white paper he made with his big sleeves, and drawing new content in them.

Good guy.

Even when attending court, he never forgot to bring the charcoal pencil with him.

This would not be possible if it were a brush.

It is simply impossible to paint in such a way that is unnoticeable.

The other party also carried a piece of white paper with him.

Then, a new scene was discovered.

The emperor ordered a eunuch to hand a tiger talisman, which symbolized the highest military power, to the third prince.

And he asked his most loyal confidant to swear allegiance to the third prince.

Seeing this scene, the two princes gritted their teeth in hatred.

But now we are on the opponent's home court.

At this time, the emperor said to the third prince:
"You must treat your two brothers well in the future, and never let me down."

"You, you have to swear..."

"You must never lie."

The third prince immediately knelt on the ground and swore to the palace beams:

"I, the unworthy descendant XX, swear to my ancestors that I will treat my two brothers well."

"Treat my brother as I would my father..." "I will definitely treat my nephews and nieces well..."

In short, this oath was too true.

If the ministers had not studied history books and knew about the Luo River Oath, they would have actually believed it.

But they had no idea.

The third prince really had no intention of killing his two elder brothers.

On the contrary, treat them well.

Lock them up and let them have babies.

In one lifetime, one can give birth to dozens of children.

This is also kindness.

After all, in the eyes of the ancients, the best way to honor parents is to have more children.

Just like a certain careless emperor, he has no shame at all and was captured like a prisoner.

It's ridiculous that they can still give birth to more than a dozen children despite all the humiliations.

There is no sense of shame at all.

And the third prince was about to ascend the throne.

The eldest prince and the second prince, who had been fighting for most of their lives, were both very angry.

They were angry in their hearts.

[Damn it, it was indeed the third brother who did this! ]

[In fact, we had already started preparing, but why was the third child able to succeed? ]

【Is there something we did wrong? 】

At this time, the third prince swore to all his ministers: "I will definitely implement benevolent policies and treat the people with kindness..."

Hearing this, many neutral ministers felt relieved.

Because the so-called "benevolence" means being kind to these ministers and gentry.

How could ordinary people enjoy the emperor's mercy?
They could not even see the emperor, but could only see officials at all levels.

So it is really good if a dynasty can last for 200 years.

These officials still had some humanity at the beginning and were afraid of the people rising up.

But after a long time, people tend to forget things.

In fact, it would take less than 200 years, just a few decades, for the descendants of these officials to forget the horror of the people's rebellion.

Over the past two hundred years, generation after generation, haven't they treated the people like sheep and eaten them?

Not long after, the old emperor ran out of breath and finally collapsed.

Seeing this, the eldest prince and the second prince fell down in front of the old emperor's bed and burst into tears.

Everyone cried bitterly.

Why don't you send me the location?

When the several staff members who followed saw this, they also sighed deeply.

The reason why the two princes failed was because they lost their compassion.

The biggest cause of failure is "intolerance of each other".

They didn't know that the third prince was cheating.

I don't know how the normal development would have been for the eldest prince and the second prince to rush into the palace, and while the guards were wavering and indecisive, lead their troops to kill the third prince.

As a result, when the old emperor began to struggle again, the palace guards had someone to be loyal to, suppressed the situation, and transferred their allegiance in time.

This caused the eldest prince and the second prince to lose their relative advantage.

They were just guessing that, in the old emperor's view, he had to choose someone who could accommodate his three sons to be the emperor.

The only way to allow all three sons to survive is to let the disabled but kind third son ascend the throne.

The old emperor no longer had time to think about anything else.

When the emperor grows old, his final concern is not the world.

Just thinking about a home, a father's position.

Of course, this kind of thinking is not good for the world.

Li Shimin was wise all his life, and finally chose Li Zhi. Some people said that Li Zhi was very powerful.

But those in power only look at the results.

The result was that he lost his kingdom.

If you pass your position to a person who has lost his kingdom, then the person who passes it on can never say that he made the right choice.

And now, in the eyes of others, the old emperor's choice is of no benefit to the world.

It's no good for the royal family either.

After all, the third prince is disabled and has no prestige.

The eldest prince and the second prince then began to cry.

The Minister of Rites began to arrange the funeral.

Then the two of them found an opportunity and went to a house alone to rest for a while.

The eldest prince said, "I will fight to the death."

"If I give up this time, it means I will never have another chance."

An aide nearby asked, "Do you want to take this opportunity to assassinate the Third Prince?"

"Yes."

At this time, another staff member said: "This is no longer possible."

"The Third Prince has been pledged allegiance by all the ministers, and has accepted the Emperor's order in person."

"If you rebel now, you will be committing treason, and the other side will have a legitimate reason to eliminate you."

"It is better to go with the flow and then establish a vassal state. In the end, we can accumulate strength again."

In fact, what this aide said was just to find a way out for himself.

He had long planned to escape as soon as he left the palace.

"Is this the end of it?"

Suddenly, a man in black, covered in a cloak, appeared from behind the eldest prince.

"Who are you?" the eldest prince asked in horror.

The man smiled and said, "Of course it won't end like this."

"Now you just have to go and offer sacrifices to me, and I will help you become emperor."

"Who are you?" the aide asked in surprise.

"You can call me Ghost." said the man in black.

"Impossible. A man does not talk about strange things. How can there be any ghosts?"

"Hahaha, idiot, originally this is a world without magic." The man in black laughed.
"But now, under the influence of someone, it has begun to transform into a world with demons."

The eldest prince and his staff only partially understood what was said.

What is the difference between having a demon and not having a demon?

Are you talking about the devil?
Wen Rensheng naturally saw it at a glance.

This is exactly when a ghost appeared.

He is actually the product of the eldest prince's jealousy, anger and many other extreme emotions.

In addition, the eldest prince was framed by the third prince, and his mentality has collapsed.

Of course, the most important thing is that the third prince also painted a picture.

In the painting, the eldest prince will encounter a ghost and be scared to death.

As it turned out, the content of his picture actually activated the weirdness produced in the eldest prince himself.

The third prince's painting was not really successful because the opponent had developed resistance.

This also means that the world has truly been changed.

The eldest prince thought about it, and then decisively made a deal with the man in black.

But his staff advised: "It is better not to trade with such inexplicable things."

"It is often said in folk tales that in such situations, people always suffer in the end."

“The risk is just too great.”

But the eldest prince insisted on his own way and refused to listen to any advice.

Losing the throne has twisted his mind.

He always thought that according to the order, he should be the heir.

Even if he loses, he will lose to the Second Prince who has been fighting all the time.

How come in the end it was a disabled person who benefited?

And all his previous kindness has gone to waste.

He couldn't bear to be pitied by the disabled third brother in the future.

This would drive him crazy.

(End of this chapter)