Chapter 201: Provocation

(T/L NOTE: Everyone thank the buyers of {330+} chapters, that you got to read these bonus chapters!)

The Second Prince himself is not clean, so the scene where he sued the Crown Prince suddenly seemed funny and ridiculous, and the Second Prince’s face looked even more hateful.

When the Second Prince sued the Crown Prince, it was out of righteousness, but now it has suddenly become a deliberate frame-up.

Emperor Jingwen couldn’t tolerate the crown prince back then, so how could he tolerate him now? Even if the second prince had committed less than half of what the crown prince had done before.

“Second brother, what else do you have to say now?”

With a “bang”, Emperor Jingwen was so angry that he could no longer bear it and threw the memorial in his hand to the ground.

The second prince originally wanted to argue, but when he saw the name list on the memorial, he knew that it was meaningless to refute or not.

It was written very clearly above, with the names, number of people, official positions, and the amount of money that had been exchanged…

It’s not that the Second Prince is greedy. No matter what, he is not so short-sighted. What he wants is not just money. But they are not gods and cannot expect to live on wind and dew. Even if they do that, the people below them still have to live. When they manage things, there will naturally be money circulating, but the amount is not high. If it were in the past, it would be just a small matter. Now, because of the crown prince, it has been magnified all of a sudden.

The memorial was written in great detail. It was obvious that the person who wrote it knew that hiding things would do no good and that they would be discovered sooner or later. If the emperor could accept it, then that was fine. If not, then the Second Prince would naturally have no way to defend himself and it would be useless to say anything.

But it was obvious that Emperor Jingwen could not accept it at the moment. Not only did he not accept it, he was extremely angry.

The second prince is usually eloquent, but now he can’t utter a word.

The second prince knew clearly that there was no benefit in resisting now. If it was discovered later that what he said was untrue, the consequences would be even more serious. He could only obey as much as possible, hoping to win a little sympathy from his father.

This memorial was obviously wrong in every way, but no one could find out what was wrong. One could only say that the Seventh Prince had a very accurate grasp of Emperor Jingwen’s current mood and knew what to do in order to evoke the greatest pain in Emperor Jingwen’s heart.

What did Emperor Jingwen not understand when he saw this scene?

“Come here, fetch my whip!” Emperor Jingwen had never beaten his son except when he was facing Ye Shuo. Moreover, the Second Prince’s current situation was very different from Ye Shuo’s.

For a moment, all the civil and military officials in the court didn’t know how to react.

Strictly speaking, the emperor’s educating his children can only be regarded as a family affair. Moreover, most of the civil servants are in the same faction as Prime Minister He and the Minister of the Chancellery. Behind Prime Minister He is the Sixth Prince. Unless the Sixth Prince gives the order, they are happy to pretend not to see it and are unwilling to get involved.

As for the military officer, the eldest prince didn’t like the second prince’s behavior. He was so happy to see him in trouble that he didn’t have time to plead for him.

Soon, Wang Ziquan brought the whip. Wang Ziquan followed orders and naturally presented the whip immediately.

Even though he knew that the Seventh Prince did it on purpose and that this was the result he wanted, the Second Prince felt that the deposed Crown Prince was too fragile. If it were him, he would definitely climb back to a higher position, even if he had to crawl, and make those who laughed at him die one by one!

But for some things, you only realise how difficult they are when they happen to you.

The crown prince cares about his face, but does the second prince really not care about his face?

Especially in public, in front of civil and military officials, even if he ascended to the throne in the future, he would probably not be able to face them without any grudges.

What’s more, so many brothers are watching him!

Even the second prince couldn’t control himself: “Father, please forgive me this time!”

This was the first time in his life that the Second Prince begged for mercy. After all, he was his own son, so Emperor Jingwen naturally could not remain calm.

But soon, the hesitation in Emperor Jingwen’s heart was replaced by raging anger.

You know, the crown prince at that time didn’t even have the chance to beg for mercy.

How cruel was the Second Prince when he had someone steal the letter?

It would be better not to have such a mean and vicious son.

Seeing Emperor Jingwen hesitate, the Second Prince couldn’t help but feel hopeful. However, before he could be happy, he heard the whistling sound of a whip.

The whip was just about to hit the second prince’s face.

You know, it is better not to hit someone in the face, especially for the princes. Emperor Jingwen’s action was undoubtedly full of hatred. If the whip really fell on the second prince’s face, the second prince would be disfigured, and a disfigured prince would not be able to become emperor.

Before the second prince could react, the whip in Emperor Jingwen’s hand fell on him with a “swish”.

“This whip is to punish you for deceiving your superiors and subordinates.”

“This whip is for your disrespect for your brother.”

“This whip is for you to tamper with my will and commit treason!”

Today he altered his family letter to the crown prince. Will he tamper with the imperial edict tomorrow?

“Swish, swish, swish”, “Swish, swish, swish”, the sound of the whip whistling was endless. In a short while, the second prince’s body was torn into pieces.

The second prince wanted to scream to gain Emperor Jingwen’s pity, but he was helpless. He couldn’t do such a thing in front of so many people.

The familiar dull pain in his chest finally forced Emperor Jingwen to stop. He gasped and looked at his second son in front of him.

The second prince thought that his punishment was over, but he didn’t know that in Emperor Jingwen’s heart, he had already made a decision in just half an incense stick of time.

Emperor Jingwen naturally knew why he did such a thing, and precisely because he knew this, he did not want him to succeed even more.

Since he also wants that position, I might as well stop him from thinking about it completely.

Under the horrified gaze of the Second Prince, Emperor Jingwen’s voice was extremely cold and cruel.

“I have issued my decree. The Second Prince is unfilial and unfraternal. He has framed the Crown Prince and privately tampered with my will. I am afraid he has the intention of treason and is narrow-minded and vicious. He is really not fit for important tasks. From today on, his status as a prince is revoked and he is demoted to a commoner. Within three days, he will be expelled from the capital and will never be allowed to set foot in Shangjing again. His name will also be removed from the imperial jade book.”

Emperor Jingwen paused, then became firm again.

“I will just pretend that I don’t have a son like him!”

Just like the crown prince in the past, the second prince is the same now, except that the second prince is scolded even more harshly. Emperor Jingwen even said that he would not allow the second prince to be his son.

The second prince’s face turned completely pale.

However, this was not the end. Emperor Jingwen continued, “Concubine Shu has no way of educating her son and has indulged her son. She will be demoted to Xiaoyi immediately.”

If there were not the Fifth Prince, even being demoted to Xiaoyi would not be enough, and Emperor Jingwen would have definitely demoted her to the lowest position.

The fact that there was such an ending was already thanks to Emperor Jingwen’s consideration for Concubine Shu’s many years of service.

Now that the Crown Princess has taken the Crown Prince’s many children and concubines to Liangzhou, how can the Second Prince’s wives, concubines and children continue to stay here?

Then, Emperor Jingwen said something that even the Seventh Prince was shocked.

“Also, the Second Prince’s title of second eldest son will be revoked, and all his wives, concubines, and children will be expelled from the capital!”

If this were true, not only the Second Prince, but also his descendants would forever become commoners and be forever expelled from the power centre of the Great Zhou.

For the Second Prince, this was even more painful than killing him directly.

Even a tiger couldn’t bear to attack its own children, so even the Second Prince had a loving and caring heart towards his own children.

It was not until this moment that the Second Prince finally understood how ruthless his father was.

The Second Prince had long known about his father’s deep affection for the Crown Prince. What he could not accept at this moment was that he was so insignificant.

All we can say is that the crown prince died at the best age, and Emperor Jingwen was not yet completely disappointed in him.

When the second prince saw the emotionless eyes of Emperor Jingwen, his heart suddenly turned cold.

The second prince had no choice but to shamelessly plead for his son: “Father, it doesn’t matter how you punish me, but Lang’er and the others are innocent, Father!”

Emperor Jingwen treated the crown prince in the same way, but Ye Shuo pleaded for him at the time, and finally Emperor Jingwen rescinded his order. What does the second prince have now? Even if his brother, the fifth prince, broke his head, it would be useless.

The more the Second Prince behaved like this, the more the emotions in Emperor Jingwen’s heart surged: “You are so good to your son, why couldn’t you think more about me when you attacked the Crown Prince?”

He would feel pain if he lost his child, but wouldn’t he feel pain if he lost his own child?

If the Second Prince hadn’t interfered, the Crown Prince might not have ended up like this.

That’s the prince on whom I pin all my hopes!

I have also put a lot of effort into planning for him.

Thinking of this, Emperor Jingwen felt heartbroken, and his heart gradually hardened: “Come here, drag Ye Hezhi out!”

When the guards lifted up the Second Prince, he could no longer restrain himself and asked, “Father, have you ever considered us as your own sons? Have you ever cared about us in the slightest?”

Now that things have come to this, the Seventh Prince’s wish has finally been fulfilled, and the Second Prince no longer has any concerns.

Without the identity and title of a prince, life or death is no longer that important.

“Even if he is the Ninth Prince, how sincere are you to him? Is it even one tenth of what you have for the Crown Prince? I want to know, if the Ninth Prince knew, would he feel sad about the favouritism of the Emperor?”

The old Duke Zhen, who was pretending to be dead, paused for a moment when he heard this.

The second prince looked at the eldest prince and said, “Brother, you can still be so proud. Do you think your fate will be any better than mine? I am waiting for the day when you will be as miserable as I am!”

The Second Prince only reminded him of and was unwilling to say more.

The second prince could not become emperor himself, so he would not want to see anyone else become emperor, especially the eldest prince.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Fight, fight, the harder you fight in the end, the better!

The eldest prince suddenly raised his head with a look of surprise and doubt, but the second prince, seeing this, burst into laughter for no reason, with a look of triumph in his eyes.

The eldest prince’s face suddenly turned pale.

Even at this point, the second brother still refused to behave himself and continued to stir up trouble everywhere.

But the eldest prince also knew that the second prince would not be so aimless, he must know something.

The expression of Emperor Jingwen on the side kept changing. He had never expected that his second son would know so much.

The Second Prince’s sudden outburst caught Emperor Jingwen off guard. Emperor Jingwen had no intention of taking the Second Prince’s life. Even though he was very angry, he had never thought of taking the Second Prince’s life.

After all, there are only a few emperors who are willing to take action against their grown-up sons.

But the Second Prince’s current attitude seems like he is seeking death.

And the fact is indeed so. The Second Prince knew that after being driven out of Shangjing, the Seventh Prince would not give him a chance to live. It would be better for him to die at the hands of Emperor Jingwen than to die at the hands of the Seventh Prince.

The second prince wanted to force Emperor Jingwen to kill his son with his own hands.

Even if their lives are cheap and not as valuable as the crown prince’s, at most they can use their lives to fill the gap, which should be enough, right?

I just don’t know how many sons my father still has to kill.