Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 1429

Chapter 1429: Chapter 1424: Rightful and Proper

"Rest assured!" Liu Rushi gently patted Fan Yugan’s hand, "If it really comes to that, Liu Rushi will never allow himself to become a burden to Zhou!"

Fan Yugan instantly understood that Liu Rushi was resolved to die if necessary. Just as he was about to voice his persuasion, he saw Liu Rushi raise his head to look at his servant who stood frozen at the doorway: "What are you standing there for? Escort Master Fan out!"

Liu Rushi was the chief envoy among those from Zhou. By staying, he might still find a way to negotiate with the second prince who would ascend the throne. However, if everyone from Zhou left, and Yan Kingdom and Tianfeng Kingdom continued to instigate the second prince, Zhou and Dongyi might indeed end up at war, which would be utterly detrimental for a Zhou already gambling its fortune, thus failing Bai Qingyan’s trust.

Moreover, Liu Rushi was also concerned this could be some sinister plot. Staying behind might stabilize the new monarch of Dongyi Kingdom.

"My Lord!" Fan Yugan felt a sudden rush of panic.

"This is an order from above!" Liu Rushi spoke decisively, then lowered his eyes to the heavily injured messenger, "You stay as well!"

If this turned out to be some insidious plot, Liu Rushi would bind this person and hand him over when the time came!

"Send someone to treat his injuries, and watch over him... Make sure nothing goes wrong!" Liu Rushi instructed the guard.

Fan Yugan was dragged away by Liu Rushi’s servant, wrapped in a cloak, and the group hurriedly departed.

Fan Yugan, Lu Fenglang, and a group of sixteen boarded the ship, and only then did Lu Fenglang find an opportunity to ask, "Why did the Lord order us to leave Dongyi overnight?"

"Our Zhou was allied with the Queen of Dongyi Kingdom, intending to elevate the seventh prince, and the second prince found out! Presumably, the old Emperor is dying, intending to change the heir to the seventh prince at the last moment, and thus the second prince acted preemptively!" Fan Yugan whispered as he watched Dongyi Kingdom recede into the distance.

Lu Fenglang’s face changed immediately. It wasn’t the old Emperor who intended to change the heir at the last moment; Lu Fenglang had learned from the Queen of Dongyi Kingdom that... the old Emperor wouldn’t last three more days, so he suggested an idea to the Queen!

He advised the Queen to stay by the old Emperor’s side day and night, and take advantage of his muddled state to imprint the imperial seal on a pre-written edict. Once they were sure the old Emperor couldn’t make it, pretend that he had something to say and retrieve the edict from under the old Emperor’s pillow, by which time... since the seventh prince was born of the main wife, he would be legitimized.

It seems that something went awry during this process, prompting the second prince to stage a coup against the palace.

Lu Fenglang originally thought he was merely offering advice, and whether the seventh prince could finally ascend the throne depended on divine favor. Even if the seventh prince couldn’t ascend, Zhou still had a Crown Prince and a second prince. However, he didn’t expect the second prince would be driven to rebel.

And the Crown Prince? Was there no reaction from the Crown Prince?

The Crown Prince of Dongyi Kingdom had no chance to react. As the Emperor’s breath was only outgoing and not incoming, the Queen hastily hid the Imperial Edict under the Emperor’s pillow and summoned the prince and the prominent ministers of the court to enter the palace quickly.

The Crown Prince, fearing the second prince might cause trouble upon the Emperor’s death, rushed into the palace in a hurry.

In the flickering shadows of the great hall’s lamps, the old Emperor’s chest wheezed with phlegmatic rattles, as if heard the tumult, fuming in impotent fury.

Layered in gold and crimson drapery, fastened by auspicious beast hooks on either side of the Emperor’s bed, the Queen sat at the edge in an ink-green top of Haitang gold brocade, arrayed in a skirt embroidered with rosy clouds thread in gold, exuding regal composure, lacking the terror shown by the Crown Prince, a true picture of imperial dignity.

The ministers were each like gourds with mouths sewn shut, silent as the grave.

The Queen lowered her gaze and spoke with a smile, "Your brother is young, he’s already asleep by this hour, it’s fortunate he did not come, because of an edict of inheritance... his brother would wield a sword against kin; imagine how frightened he’d be if he saw."

The second prince chuckled, "The Queen isn’t worried about whether the seventh brother’s life can still be saved, but about whether he’s frightened."

"Second Prince, you did well to burn the edict!" The Queen looked at the second prince with a sword to the Crown Prince’s neck, "I didn’t expect, after being the Emperor’s wife all these years, although I dare not claim to surpass the former Empress, I have fulfilled my duty, never thought... the Emperor would want me to accompany him to his grave after the seventh prince comes of age. Since I became this Queen of Dongyi Kingdom, I haven’t enjoyed a day of comfort with the Emperor, always laboring in the palace, and now... the Emperor also wants to make the most use of me, to raise the seventh prince and then to die!"

The second prince watched the Queen’s earnest performance, the smile on his lips growing larger.

"I don’t want to die, with the current situation as it is, it seems the seventh prince cannot become Emperor now! If the second prince aims for the throne... by all means, help yourself!"