Chapter 393: Battle for the Throne (Part 4)
Speaking of this, the Emperor felt a bit bitter, because he never imagined that his painstaking efforts would ultimately be unappreciated by his sons.
"Brother, the throne is inherently bloody." Su Yaogeng could understand the Emperor’s painstaking care, but the allure of the throne is fatal to many people. Throughout history, since the founding of nations, this position has been attained by stepping on countless corpses.
In the royal family, how many people are caught in situations beyond their control.
The expression on the Emperor’s face was lonely. In fact, he wasn’t unaware; he just hoped that at least... they wouldn’t go astray, but he had always hoped too much.
He wasn’t unaware of the Crown Prince’s secret maneuvers either. He turned a blind eye, hoping the Crown Prince would understand his intentions. Unexpectedly, it only led to more intense actions.
"The assassination attempt on the hunting path last autumn..." Su Yaogeng had just begun to speak when the Emperor interrupted her.
"It was the Crown Prince, wasn’t it!" the Emperor suddenly said.
Su Yaogeng looked at the Emperor in disbelief. Su Yu hadn’t mentioned it, and even she hadn’t guessed it. How did Brother know?
The Emperor looked at Su Yaogeng: "Are you curious how I found out?"
Su Yaogeng nodded.
The Emperor sighed: "Initially, I didn’t know either. I sent people to investigate, but no clues were found. Even if I suspected someone, I wouldn’t have suspected the Crown Prince. But on the day of the birthday banquet, he strongly opposed that marriage. After the banquet, my people saw Prince An enter the Crown Prince Mansion..."
The Emperor shook his head, his voice trembling: "So I ordered an investigation into the Crown Prince. From this investigation, some clues were inevitably uncovered. However..."
For those two days after learning the truth, he was truly furious, but after the anger, he had no idea how to deal with it.
He knew he couldn’t let the Crown Prince ascend the throne. Now that he is alive, the Crown Prince couldn’t wait to make a move against him; once he truly passed away, he would be even more unrestrained, implicating countless innocents.
But after all, he was a son he had painstakingly raised for many years and pinned high hopes on. At this moment, he still didn’t know how to deal with him. Kill him, he couldn’t bring himself to do so; don’t kill him, if he dared to order an assassination on his own father, how could he possibly resign himself to being deposed and imprisoned?
"Are you hesitating about how to deal with the Crown Prince?" Su Yaogeng hadn’t expected this; she had only heard that Brother had been unwell for the past couple of days and didn’t attend the morning court. She didn’t know he had already learned about the assassination.
The Emperor nodded: "After all, I just can’t do it."
Su Yaogeng sighed: "I’m afraid it’s no longer a matter of whether Brother can do it or not. Who knows what the Crown Prince and Prince An will do together, but there will probably be an answer in a few days at the latest. Brother knows, neither Yun Peng nor I want to get involved in the court’s affairs. I married Jing’er to Yun Peng, hoping he would take her to the Spirit Cultivation Realm, not interfering in worldly disputes from then on, and I could leave at any time, carefree. But my Princess Mansion still houses a hundred or so people, and Qiao’er in the Northern Land has countless brothers who have gone through life and death with him. It’s not something that can be abandoned at will. If only the Crown Prince had a trace of magnanimity..."