Chapter 46: The Scapegoat Princess Consort Is Sentenced to Death (46)

Looking at the newly delivered urgent memorial, especially after reading its contents, Emperor Tianwu's hands were trembling. At this moment, he could no longer deceive himself into thinking the matter was over.

The public execution of his son, the Prince of Lu, at the Altar of Heaven was merely the beginning, not the end!

In an instant, Emperor Tianwu seemed to age a decade, his spirit and vitality wilting. Even back in the days when he was fighting to conquer the realm, when five thousand men faced a siege of thirty thousand, he had never felt so powerless and helpless. Because back then, at least he knew who the enemy was, whereas now, he was enveloped in total bewilderment.

He didn't even know who the adversary was. How could he speak of a response?

At the same time, although Emperor Tianwu knew this matter could not be kept secret for long and that all the civil and military officials would learn of it within hours, he did not summon the court to discuss and debate it, nor did he gather his top ministers for a small meeting.

Firstly, he did not want his son to be subjected to their gossip and critique.

Secondly, he could tell that the officials did not take the matter seriously, even viewing it as a private family affair of the imperial house, and would be quite reluctant to cooperate; summoning them would be entirely useless.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Emperor Tianwu could only summon his eldest legitimate son, the Crown Prince, intending for father and son to discuss the situation in private.

Who would have thought that before the Crown Prince even arrived, the Ministry of Personnel delivered yet another memorial. It had been sent by express courier from the local officials in the fief of the Prince of Qi. That fief was slightly closer to the capital; even though Ding Shui had set out late, their memorial arrived right on the heels of the one from the Prince of Han's fief.

The memorial from the Prince of Jin's side would presumably arrive later, given that it was the most distant region, and Ding Shui had traveled there last.

It was only after Emperor Tianwu finished reading the newly arrived memorial that the Crown Prince hurried in.

"There is no need for formalities. Come quickly and look at these two memorials. All other irrelevant personnel, withdraw for now."

How could Emperor Tianwu be in any mood to care about protocol right now? As he urged the Crown Prince to examine the memorials quickly, he cleared the room. While the eunuchs and maids curtsied and quietly retreated, Crown Prince Zhu Quan still insisted on performing a brief, formal bow before stepping forward to inspect the documents.

The fates of crown princes throughout history were filled with twists and turns. Having read plenty of history books, Crown Prince Zhu Quan made a point of minimizing rule-breaking behavior in his daily life, no matter how troublesome it might be.

He wanted to avoid a day when his imperial father might look at him unfavorably and pick faults.

After all, an emperor was truly different from a father. When his imperial father viewed him favorably, he could probably smile and let it slide even if he wore a dragon robe. But if he fell out of favor, or was perceived as a threat, or if the imperial temper flared up, simply taking one extra glance at his father might arouse suspicion that he was attempting a palace coup.

Minimizing overreach was the only way to avoid being targeted!

Both memorials were short in length, but the information they revealed was so shocking that within a short while, Crown Prince Zhu Quan finished reading them with a numb scalp and a cold sweat breaking out on his back. Their worries from a few days prior had truly come true.

The Prince of Lu was only the beginning.

None of the other law-breaking and misbehaving vassal kings would be able to escape.

"What are your thoughts?"

Faced with Emperor Tianwu's inquiry, Zhu Quan desperately wanted to roll his eyes. What thoughts could he possibly have? If these younger brothers weren't his actual siblings, and if he hadn't needed to put on a show of brotherly affection before his imperial father, judging by the things they had done, they deserved to be sliced into a thousand pieces a long time ago.

At this moment, what worried him more was that in previous years, to demonstrate brotherly harmony and kindness to his younger brothers in front of his imperial father, he had frequently interceded on their behalf when their misdeeds were exposed and censured by the imperial censors. He had no idea if this would be counted as a crime, whether he would be implicated, or if retribution would come looking for him.

Yet, even if he hadn't interceded, his imperial father could never have taken action against those younger brothers of his. If he hadn't interceded, the one facing misfortune would likely have been himself.

His younger brothers would have resented him, their elder brother, for being too cold-hearted, worrying that once he ascended the throne he would treat them poorly or even exterminate them. And his imperial father would likely have felt that if his eldest son was already like this before ascending the throne, how could he possibly treat his younger brothers well afterwards?

By then, he would be isolated and blamed by everyone.

Even his position as Crown Prince could be shaken.

Therefore, he truly had no choice but to plead on their behalf. If he were to be targeted by this unknown entity simply because of that, wouldn't it be too unjust?

With his mind in absolute turmoil, Crown Prince Zhu Quan directly bypassed his father's question. Emperor Tianwu, unaware of the tumultuous thoughts racing through his son's head, simply assumed that his son was momentarily at a loss for how to reply, which was entirely excusable.

After all, he himself had no idea what to do:

"Sigh, the fiefs of the Eighth and Ninth Princes are more than a thousand miles apart, yet they were attacked on almost the exact same day. The process was similar to the incident at the sacrifice to heaven; the memorials state that the sound was tremendous, heard by nearly the entire city. I suspect they haven't had time to investigate thoroughly yet before rushing to report the situation. Upon closer investigation, it will probably turn out much like the situation here in the capital—even a deaf person could hear that eerie sound, a sound not meant to be heard by human ears. The only question is why there was a gap of several hours between the two. If it was the work of a single faction, they could easily have coordinated the exact same time."

Since his son was unhelpful and remained silent, Emperor Tianwu could only analyze the known information himself first.

Fortunately, by this time, the Crown Prince had recovered his composure.

After deep contemplation for quite a while, he finally spoke:

"Imperial Father, it is possible that your premise is entirely wrong. This may not be the work of some rebel faction, like the White Lotus Sect or similar rebel groups, but rather the doing of a single individual—a person possessing abilities akin to gods and demons. Though we do not know how she accomplishes it, if it is the work of a single person, certain details make much more sense. Look, she has consistently spoken of executing justice on behalf of heaven, rather than *they* executing justice. This 'she' perhaps implies that there is only one person. Because there is only one person rather than a massive organization, she was simply unable to deal with the Eighth Younger Brother and the Ninth Younger Brother at the exact same time. She could only target the Eighth Younger Brother first, and then turn around and rush to deal with the Ninth Younger Brother. Her speed must be extraordinary, far exceeding our imagination, capable of traveling a thousand miles in just a few hours. In mythological legends, immortals can pluck clouds and grasp the moon, shorten distances into inches, or have their spirits roam three thousand miles in a night. Although we have never witnessed it, since such tales exist, they cannot be entirely groundless. Since she already possesses so many miraculous methods, traveling at high speed is hardly bizarre. Now, I am beginning to feel that she resembles an ordinary person who suddenly acquired miraculous, immortal-like abilities. If we follow this line of reasoning, since she first targeted the Thirteenth Younger Brother, and even vented her anger on Imperial Father and the Thirteenth Younger Brother's birth mother because of him, I have a bold hypothesis: could it be that she was once harmed by the Thirteenth Younger Brother and survived, or that her family members were killed by him? That is why she prioritized the Thirteenth Younger Brother. Her initial purpose must have been vengeance. Of course, it is also possible that she was someone who miraculously escaped the executioners when Imperial Father punished those people to absolve the Thirteenth Younger Brother, or perhaps she is a family member, relative, or friend of theirs who encountered a stroke of fortune and now seeks to exact revenge."