Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 300 The Song Family's Devastation (4,000 words)
Just moments before, he had spoken those words to the Empress.

Not long after he left, the emperor spoke to him.

If we rule out the traitor being the Empress...

They're not going to act anymore, they're not going to act anymore!

Prince Jin had been frightened by the old emperor many times in his life, but only this time did he truly feel the crisis of 'death'.

That hat is way too big.

Who has the authority to make decisions for the emperor?
But he also knew clearly that this was not something that came out of thin air.

The idea that nobles can preserve their status by giving up arrogance is far more serious than it seems on the surface.

This means that before the land reclamation even began, he had already bestowed upon himself a state.

Could this be what Father Emperor foresaw?
The emperor was filled with rage, displaying an unprecedented majesty. Even though he was now old and frail and no longer as oppressive as he had been in his youth, it was a completely different feeling.

Few emperors in their later years are without suspicion.

Yes, he once killed his elder brother and forced the crown prince to his death, but the circumstances were not quite the same.

No one has ever said that severe punishment or decree is wrong.

The most terrifying thing is to punish someone severely for a minor offense.

I must live!

"Father!" For once, Prince Jin hardened his voice, glaring at the emperor. "Let Zisheng be the crown prince! He is stronger than me and more suitable for this position! If he is the crown prince, the entire court and the people of the land will all trust him!"

"I know without you saying it!" The emperor would not tolerate his son yelling at him.

"However, Your Majesty, I beg you to retract my claim that I used the Empress Dowager and my maternal relatives to vie for the position of Crown Prince!" Prince Jin's eyes were piercing, and his face trembled.

These words startled the emperor.

His face froze.

what?
You want me to take back what I said?

"Your Majesty, I have come to pay my respects not just today, but frequently. Not only today, but many times this month alone!"

The Prince of Jin had originally only intended to prove himself, but as he spoke, the resentment in his chest was completely unleashed. He simply stood up and roared at the emperor, "It wasn't just this month, it was last month too! It wasn't just recently that I've fallen out of favor with you and come here often, but also when you were presiding over the imperial examinations, when you helped me to your position and made me call you 'I,' it was always like this! Since you know what I said a moment ago, you should understand that I did not lie!"

"..." For the first time, the emperor was overwhelmed by the prince's imposing presence.

Even his expression wavered.

“Father, if you think your son is a sycophant and flatterer, don’t say that your son has become such a person.” Prince Jin said angrily and painfully, “Your son has been like that for a long time. Decades ago, when my elder brother was still the crown prince and I was still in the palace, I greeted my mother every day!”

The emperor's mind went blank, and the world suddenly seemed to blur before him.

The face of the Prince of Jin before me had become somewhat unfamiliar.

This unfamiliarity is actually an unacceptable familiarity.

His older brother's face appeared on him...

"You, you dare say you don't want to be the crown prince?" The emperor said, trembling, pointing at his rebellious son.

"Yes! I have always wanted to!" the Prince of Jin said without any hesitation. "But now, I don't want to anymore. Not even a little bit!"

"Swear! Swear before your ancestors!" the emperor said through gritted teeth, his eyes wide.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Prince of Jin knelt on the ground, raised his finger towards the ancestral temple, and said, "Your subject, Wei Yixuan, swears before our ancestors that if I ever harbor any ambition for the throne, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death. May I never be able to enter the ancestral temple after death, and may I never be reincarnated!"

As he spoke, he choked up and tears streamed down his face.

What he thought was his last chance of survival turned out to be a trap set by the emperor.

And he stepped firmly into it.

He really did find something that could kill him.

A tear rolled down the corner of the emperor's eye, and he was overcome with grief, unable to bear looking at the person kneeling before him.

“I know. Ever since Song Shi’an won, I know I am no longer Your Majesty’s choice for Crown Prince. I don’t want to trouble you, and I don’t want to make Yiyun uneasy,” Prince Jin said. “I am willing to relinquish all power, return everything you gave me, and no longer participate in politics. Your Majesty, you can transfer those officials who are close to me out of the capital, or simply dismiss them. As for Hua Zheng… he grew up with me and is also Yiyun’s cousin. When Yiyun ascends the throne, he will wholeheartedly assist him.”

At this point, the King of Jin was no longer simply trying to save his own life by cutting off his tail.

It's fair to say that he lost half of his body.

The emperor lowered his head and remained silent.

"Your Majesty, I have come to the palace today because my mother is sad."

The Prince of Jin slowly rose, uttered these words, turned around, and left the palace. But before stepping across the threshold, he slowly turned back and said, "You know."

"..."

The emperor watched as the Prince of Jin departed.

The figure gradually disappeared from his sight.

he knows.

Wei Yixuan has always been the most filial child since he was a child.

In fact, it was already true when the former crown prince was still alive.

The emperor turned around heavily and looked at the dragon throne.

Behind the dragon throne, a head popped out first. Then, the King of Wu, whose legs were already weak with fear, staggered and crawled to the emperor's side.

"He has relinquished power." Looking at his trembling son, the emperor said with a touch of melancholy, "Your throne is secure."

Defeating the Prince of Jin is not difficult.

With a single decree from the emperor, he could be stripped of everything.

However, that was punishment.

Punishing a prince without cause is not only inauspicious, but could also incite unrest.

After all, it's a political struggle.

Moreover, punishing someone without cause would cause the prince to panic and develop the idea of ​​saving himself.

One of the former crown princes was like this, but his case was somewhat special. When he was the crown prince, Prince Ning received too many extra favors, which caused him to feel fear and act in self-defense.

This was the old emperor's last act of cunning before his body completely decayed.

This will allow the Prince of Jin to willingly relinquish his power.

What's the cost?
There is no longer any affection between father and son.

"Father!" Holding the emperor's leg, the Prince of Wu looked up at him and said very seriously, "After I become the crown prince, I will definitely treat my brothers well! I will definitely treat my second brother well!"

"Really?" the emperor asked.

"Your subject, Wei Yiyun, swears before our ancestors that if I break this oath and kill my brothers, may I not be allowed to enter the ancestral temple after death, but will be sent to the hell of Yama, never to be reincarnated!"

Wei Yiyun knew he had already won, so he seized the future with all his might.

The future is in our hands.

There was no reverence for oaths in his eyes.

Only the desire for the emperor.

The emperor smiled slightly and said, "Alright, I trust you."

.........

"Sometimes I also feel that being an old man is quite difficult."

In the pavilion in the middle of the lake at the Prince of Jin's residence, the two princes were fishing together. Then, out of the blue, the Prince of Jin uttered this remark.

This startled Wei Yiyuan. He quickly looked around warily, wondering, "Won't what we're saying here reach the old man's ears?"

What he said to the Empress reached the Emperor's ears the next moment. For the first time, Wei Yixuan, who was usually quite radical, felt a sense of awe.

But the Prince of Jin remained remarkably calm, not because he was unafraid, but because he didn't care. He continued on the same topic: "Seeing him, at his age, crying like that, it was truly unbearable."

"You really think so?" Wei Yiyuan didn't believe he would think that way. "You said before that you also harbored hatred."

“They are not contradictory,” said the Prince of Jin. “Why do we hate, and why do we love?”

"Don't overthink it," Wei Yiyuan said. "It's just that the old man set a trap for us, and you lost this round. Other than that, there's no problem."

“You’ve always told me to be more radical and not too conservative,” Prince Jin joked. “You saw it today, didn’t you? I’m climbing up the rope myself.”

"Although you went without telling me, if you had, I think I would have agreed..."

Then, the emperor seized on this weakness and had him killed.

Wei Yiyuan used to think he was quite clever, able to maneuver within the rules and even understand the old man's thoughts, but now he realizes that he really can't win.

The skill gap is too big.

"It's a pity, we still don't know what that dream was about," Wei Yiyuan sighed.

"Don't think about it anymore, let's be as prudent as possible," said the Prince of Jin. "After today, let's see each other less often. Especially on your side, don't make any more decisions on your own."

“I know.” Wei Yiyuan also felt a chill. “Maybe the old man is up there and has seen everything.”

Then, I hated myself even more.

The Prince of Jin would never kill him, but if the old man got angry, he really might kill me.

“Once Wusheng returns, His Majesty should announce the Crown Prince’s position,” said Prince Jin.

Before the emperor died, the two had already tacitly agreed that they would not take any further action.

"Second Brother, do you think Fourth Brother will really let us go after he becomes Emperor?" Wei Yiyuan rarely became the one asking the question.

"What do you think?"

The Prince of Jin smiled and looked at him.

“I think…” Slowly turning his head to look at the lake, Wei Yiyuan shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

.........

A tavern in Sheng'an.

The deliveryman found the owner.

After closing the door, the two faced each other and lowered their voices to discuss important matters.

"It's possible that the Qi army retreated. Given His Majesty's personality, this battle probably won't actually be fought. But they won a great victory, seized 100,000 shi of grain, and abducted tens of thousands of civilians. Can this really be true?" the shopkeeper said with some suspicion.

"It's obviously impossible." Having been involved in guerrilla warfare and propaganda for so long, the boss is quite knowledgeable. "They probably only seized some grain and people, but definitely not this much."

“That’s true.” The shopkeeper nodded. “When I was a scout in Qi, I told a lot of lies because of the orders of those higher-ups. For example, if ten people were killed, it would be a hundred. If a hundred people were killed, it would be a thousand. If a thousand people were killed, it would be ten thousand.”

"That's alright. To call a loss a win would be truly difficult to justify," the landlord joked.

The struggle between ancient states was a subject of various theories of winning.

"What should we do then?" the shopkeeper said, somewhat conflicted. "We attacked Song Shi'an so much before, letting them spread rumors and incite public anger. But as soon as he returned to the country, the tide turned, and Sheng'an arrested quite a few 'spies'."

"As for catching spies, our losses weren't significant. It was mostly infighting among their own people, and they extracted a lot of confessions under torture." The boss remained calm. "As long as I don't leak the list, we'll be fine."

The real work behind enemy lines involves a hierarchical system, with each level acting on its own.

If you could know who your upline is, wouldn't you be able to take them all down?

Moreover, these people are not purely spies.

Their main job was to bribe officials in Dayu.

The ones who really put in the effort were those corrupt officials from Dayu who took money and turned against everyone.

"Then what should we do? Their emperor said it was a great victory this time, so how can we guide them or launch an attack?" the waiter asked.

“The attack was wrong.” The master’s serious expression gradually changed, and a smile appeared on his lips. “Wei Wusheng made an example of the nobles, which is a great act of kindness. Of course, we should praise him lavishly so that the whole world knows that the Sixth Prince is a good person.”

"But His Majesty ordered us to use this money to attack Song Shi'an..."

“Listen to me.” He gestured with his hand and said, “Praise Wei Wusheng for his strong leadership and killing of nobles. Then praise Song Shi’an for his effective governance and killing of powerful families. Use all the gold we have left to praise them.”

"How should we praise it?" the waiter asked.

After thinking for a moment, the landlord came up with a brilliant idea: "Let's say that An Sheng and his companion are a pair of wise and virtuous ministers who serve the country and its people!"

.........

News of the great victory reached Sheng'an, and a sense of upward momentum permeated this ancient city with a history of hundreds of years.

Wei Wusheng, leading the Imperial Guards in triumph, was getting closer and closer to the capital.

"elder brother!"

Suddenly pushing open the door, Song Ce hurriedly found Song Shi'an.

"Huh?" He was sitting on the bed and shuddered in fright.

Yun'er, who was kneeling on the bed behind him, massaging his back with her beautiful breasts pressed against his, quickly got off the bed and left so as not to disturb their discussion.

"Brother, something bad has happened." Song Ce walked up to him, looking very uneasy. "Now everyone in Sheng'an is talking about two people."

"Wei Wusheng and Hua Qu?" Song Shi'an asked.

“This counts as one person,” Song Ce said.

"Oh, that's one of the things, isn't it?"

“Yes, his strict military discipline, including the fact that he dared to behead even the Empress’s relatives, has earned him high praise from the people of Sheng’an. They say that with His Highness Prince Zhongshan in charge, the Qi bandits will never dare to march south again,” Song Ce said.

What a clever trick of flattery to kill!

"The other person you're talking about is me?"

"Yes," Song Ce said. "Your previous actions in Beiliang, where you arrested all the aristocratic families, confiscated their property, and sent them to serve as soldiers to guard the city, have also been brought up by everyone. They say you are the upright and just ruler of the Great Yu, and with you here, those aristocratic scions no longer dare to be arrogant and domineering."

"That's fair." Song Shi'an smiled.

It's just flattery to the point of harm, as if no one has ever been flattered like that before.

"The key point is that the two of you are now linked together!" This is what Song Ce fears most.

Song Shi'an also had a vague premonition of something bad.

His brow furrowed: "How do I contact them?"

"A wise ruler and virtuous ministers."

Song Ce uttered these four words.

Song Shi'an's face was as still as water.

“Someone must be pulling the strings behind the scenes!” Song Ce said very seriously. “If we really tie you all together, then this will be a huge problem.”

A catastrophe.

"Actually, it's fine if I'm just saying it..."

Song Shi'an was not afraid of those four words.

Because compared to these four words, there are four even more terrifying words.

But when these eight words are put together, that's the ultimate kill.

A wise ruler and virtuous ministers, or a rebellious minister appearing in a dream.

(End of this chapter)