[Red Chamber] I just want to be a dummy

At least the prince hugged a piece of driftwood. The weather is not cold now, even if he has been in the water for so long, he will not freeze.He just drank a few sips of river water and got a little frightened.After being rescued, the imperial doctor checked the pulse, drank a pair of tranquilizing medicine, and slept a little more.

The third prince was secretly pleased when he heard that the prince's ship sank, and his original arrangement was to blame the assassination on the prince.

That was the assassination before.

Yeah, so what if you didn't hurt the emperor, so what if there is no evidence to prove that it was the prince who did it?The woman kept saying that she was the prince's illegitimate son.

As long as the seeds of doubt are planted in the emperor's heart, the emperor will doubt the prince after experiencing the fire and scuttling of the dragon boat.

But the gang of people from the rebellious party made their own claims and asked them to assassinate the emperor. What's the use of them messing with an insignificant child?

Seeing the prince's ship sinking now, the third prince suddenly felt, it's wonderful, originally he just wanted his father to doubt the prince, and then through his father's suspicion, he killed the prince and won the throne.

However, now his mind suddenly opened up.

Why go around and kill the prince directly, isn't the throne his?

But when the third prince saw that there were not many arrow feathers with fireballs shot from the shore, the third prince started to panic.

Although the third prince is extremely confident and thinks that his strategy is invincible in the world, he, the third prince, is the heir to this dynasty.

But the third prince is not stupid.

The rebels have a deep hatred for their royal family, how could they stop after only firing a few arrows, unless...

Unless those rebels were caught without firing a few arrows.

But when they were making the plan, in order to ensure nothing would go wrong, they fixed several places and shot arrows from all directions.

He was caught with only a few arrows, which only shows that his father had known everything a long time ago, and that he didn't do anything before was just to lure the snake out of the hole.

The third prince broke out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.

The emperor now looks really kind-hearted. Some officials have made mistakes, and the emperor is always thinking about the friendship between the emperor and his ministers and his reputation as a benevolent emperor. He held it up and put it down lightly. In the ancient pagoda, there is very little death penalty.

But this is all based on the fact that it has nothing to do with the throne.

Let's look at the prince, he was raised by the emperor himself, and the prince who taught him how to do it bit by bit, wasn't he forced to do nothing by his younger brothers.Could this be their ability to be younger brothers?It's just that the emperor felt that he was getting old, and the prince, as the heir, was full of spirits and felt that his position was unstable, so he pampered them.

But that night, after the prince was rescued, the original noise began to subside, and the entire fleet was as calm as if nothing had happened.

The more calm he was, the more uneasy the Third Prince became.

On the one hand, he comforted himself that his staff did not participate in this incident at all, and only arranged for his confidant to pass on the message, and that confidant is still standing in front of him. Even if the emperor knew about the assassination in advance, he might think it was just a rebellion from the previous dynasty That's all?

And those gangsters hated the dynasty to the core, even if they were caught, they would definitely not reveal half of the truth.

But on the other hand, he felt that with his father's temperament, such things that threatened his family and life must be thoroughly investigated to avoid future troubles. Taking the example of his uncles, the second prince estimated that the best ending in his life would be I'm afraid I have to spend my whole life in the tomb of the emperor.

But there was no movement at the dragon boat, which made the third prince even more flustered.

Could it be that when he arrived in Yangzhou tomorrow morning, his father planned to deal with him in front of the people of Yangzhou?

The emperor didn't intend to show his family's ugliness in front of the people, he just didn't know how to deal with the third prince.

Colluding with the rebellious party and assassinating the emperor's father, for such a crime, even if the third prince is a prince, he can already have the third prince confiscated and beheaded. Of course, according to the father-son friendship and the face of the royal family, he can also circle the third prince, or Sent to guard the imperial tomb.

But isn't there his responsibility to be a father and a monarch?

Before he showed his dissatisfaction with the prince, although the prince and the other princes were not as good as the same mother, they could still be called respectful brothers and sisters.

But when did it change?

It was because he felt that he was getting old, and the prince who he had single-handedly raised became more and more like an emperor, and then he began to show dissatisfaction with the prince frequently.

He even encouraged his sons to compete with the prince.

Promote the mother's family of the second child, let the uncle of the second child be in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and let the second child have enough money to seize the heir.

Find a profitable wife family for the third child, so that the third child can compete with the prince for capital.

Send the fourth child to study in the official department, and give the fourth child the opportunity to win over officials below the fourth rank.

It was he, the father and the king, who gave the sons below him courage and opportunities step by step, and it was he who allowed the sons to keep making small moves, causing brothers to fight against each other.

If the third child is guilty, isn't he the manipulator behind him not guilty?

What's the use of suppressing the prince?Do you still want to be taller among these dwarfs?

Looking for an heir who condoned his uncle's corruption, or an heir who dared to collude with the rebellious party of the previous dynasty?

The crown prince is the crown prince, so he, the emperor, taught the way to be a king from the bottom. What about the other princes?Only do those secret deeds.

A prince can do secret deeds, but can the monarch of a country also do such shady things?

Then look at the veterans who are the same age as him, either they are already pampering their grandchildren at home, or they go to court every day, and then go home to pamper their grandchildren.

For the first time, the emperor felt that he was old, and why did he bother to treat his sons as pawns in his hands for the sake of power in his hands.

Could it be that this power can be taken away after he dies?

The emperor also thought about it all night, and the third prince also worried all night.

"Little Ba, what do you think if the father abdicates, how about passing the throne to your eldest brother?" The emperor asked tentatively facing the eighth prince and Jia Jing.

"Okay, okay, then my son can go out of the palace to start a mansion. At that time, I will raise a Qingke who writes scripts." The eighth prince knew what the emperor meant, but he still replied as if he didn't understand.

"Myna, myna, let's raise two more theater troupes. I like to listen to operas." The Ninth Prince quickly added, "Then our houses will be built together, and it will be convenient to listen to operas and read scripts."

Made mentally retarded, the emperor secretly cursed.

The emperor really couldn't figure out how he, who was wise and mighty, gave birth to such two sons who were not stingy.But after listening to Xiao Ba and Xiao Jiu's words, the original idea in my heart became a little firmer.

Now that the assassins have been caught, Jia Jing no longer has to pretend to be injured in front of the emperor, so he followed the eighth and ninth princes to serve in front of the emperor.

Seeing the emperor looking at him now, Jia Jing blurted out, "If you can give me a house together with Xiaoba and Xiaojiu, I don't think it will affect me."

emperor:……

It's okay, it's okay, not only Xiaoba and Xiaojiu are mentally retarded, but also the children of Lao Jia's family.

Originally, when they came to Yangzhou, they should all get off the boat and go to the Yangzhou Palace, but the officials of Yangzhou and the people were waiting on the shore, but the emperor didn't intend to get off the boat, instead he called all the princes and ministers to come on the dragon boat.

"How is Yue'er?" Seeing that everyone had arrived, the emperor didn't discuss the matter immediately, but asked the prince how he was in front of everyone, and even called the prince by his nickname.

Ever since the emperor and the crown prince had a rift, the emperor had never called the crown prince's name so kindly, it was the crown prince who called him so bluntly.

As soon as the emperor said "Yue'er", the expressions of the people below were different. On the contrary, the crown prince was quite determined, and he came out of the row and bowed back: "My minister is fine."

Could it be a big problem?

Yesterday the princess did not know what was going on, after he had already drunk the medicine prepared by the imperial physician, she had to bring Hao'er to boil a big bowl of dark bitter juice, and she had to watch him drink it.

Perhaps the bowl of medicine was fused with the love of his wife and children for him. The prince actually felt that after drinking the bowl of medicine, he was so energetic that he could go floating on the river again.

"It's fine."

After the emperor cared about his son, he began to put explosives on the ministers.

"Someone told me that the Yangzhou Salt Tax Warehouse doesn't have a tael of silver now. Yue'er, you are the crown prince, and you can hold back your status. Let you find out what's going on."

"My son obeys the decree." Although the prince did not understand why the emperor entrusted this matter to him, but he had never touched the salt tax money, so naturally he acted righteously and stood up straight, and now he answered the prince confidently.

"No, Your Majesty, the crown prince is related to Chen Ke, the censor of Yanyan, and the crown prince should avoid it. How can the crown prince investigate the case?" Someone immediately stood up and objected.

The emperor's attitude towards the prince just now made them, the ministers who stood in line with other princes, feel scared.The loss of salt tax money was supposed to allow them to tear off a piece of meat from the prince, but the emperor handed it over to the prince, which made them feel even more hopeless about their future.

"Then Chen Ke is still related to me? Is it possible that I can't deal with Chen Ke?" the emperor asked.

Speaking of which, Chen Ke is the prince's cousin, so isn't he the emperor's brother-in-law?

"This... how can this be the same?"

"The prince is the prince of my dynasty first, and then I am the heir apparent, and then Situ Yue." The emperor looked around at the ministers and sons with different thoughts, and said slowly, "The prince was taught by me, and I will teach you the prince." I trust the prince."

The minister who had just stood up felt a little heartbroken. They seemed to have underestimated the crown prince's position in the emperor's heart.

"I have one more thing to say," said the emperor, "I'm getting old, and I've thought about spending time with my grandchildren. I plan to wait for our southern tour to return, and it's time for me to abdicate to take care of my old age." The Ministry of Rites can also start preparing."