Chapter 369: Crown Prince
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Xiao Jue led the rebel army to Emperor Kangze’s sleeping chambers and fought fiercely with the Imperial Guards outside.
Just as Xiao Jue’s group was about to break out of the encirclement, a figure descended from the sky and chopped off the sword in Xiao Jue’s hand.
Xiao Jue was forced to take back a few steps due to the jolt from the powerful internal strength before he could stabilize his body.
He raised his head abruptly and met Xiao Jin’s two deep dark eyes.
“Xiao Jin, 1 thought you were so afraid of death that you didn’t even dare to show your face. Since you’re here to die, I’ll send you on your way!” Xiao Jue roared as he raised his sword to kill Xiao Jin.
Xiao Jin brandished the long sword in his hand to counterattack.
In just a few dozen rounds, Xiao Jue was knocked down to the ground!
Xiao Jue’s face turned ashen as he looked at the tip of the sword pointed at his forehead.
“Xiao… Xiao Jin, I… I’m your brother. How dare you kill me!”
Xiao Jin’s face was filled with bloodthirsty killing intent. “I will only be praised by the world for killing a traitor who tried to force the Emperor to abdicate and staged a rebellion. You, on the other hand, will forever be nailed to the pillar of shame in the Chu State. Tell me, why wouldn’t 1 dare?”
The sword in Xiao Jin’s hand swung and straightaway cut the tendons in Xiao Jue’s hands and feet.
“Argh!” Xiao Jue rolled on the ground in pain.
No one would have thought that there would be a great turmoil in the capital overnight, and a major political upheaval almost occurred!
The rebel army was subdued by the soldiers who rushed here from outside the city. Xiao Jin led the soldiers to stand guard inside and outside the palace.
When Prince Ma saw that his plan was unlikely to succeed, he took advantage of the chaos to slip away.
In Emperor Kangze’s sleeping chambers, the whole group of Imperial Physicians occupied almost every inch of space. The people in the palace frowned deeply and did not even dare to breathe loudly.
The Emperor and Empress Dowager were seriously injured, and the Empress was grounded. The only person who could make decisions now was Xiao Jin.
Emperor Kangze only had two wounds on his body, but both of them were potentially fatal. Although the Imperial Physicians had already treated the wounds, it was not that easy to save his life.
Xiao Jin stood in front of Emperor Kangze’s bed and looked at the very pale Emperor Kangze. His eyes grew increasingly darker.
“Ask Princess Consort Qi to come to the palace.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After Xiao Jue was captured, Su Ying left the palace with the two children. Xiao Jin would handle the rest on his own.
Su Ying woke up after a good sleep with the children and found out that all the traitors in the palace had been captured.
“Your Highness, just now His Highness sent someone back to the manor to pass a message. He wants Your Highness to go to the palace.”
Su Ying wasn’t surprised. She had seen Emperor Kangze getting injured yesterday, and the locations of the injury weren’t easy to deal with. The Imperial Physicians in the palace might not be able to handle it.
“I understand.”
After Su Ying gave Bai Shuang some simple instructions, she carried the medicine box and entered the palace.
When the horse carriage arrived outside the palace gate, the patches of bloodstains left behind from last night’s turmoil could still be seen vaguely.
Very soon, the Imperial Guards led Su Ying into the sleeping chambers.
When Xiao Jin knew that Su Ying had arrived, he walked out of the inner hall.
“How’s the situation?” Su Ying went up and asked him.
“The Imperial Physicians are at their wit’s end. It seems like he doesn’t have much time left. You go in and take a look. If he is going to die, it’s not too late for him to die after he has given clear instructions on all the necessary matters.”
Su Ying knew what Xiao Jin meant. The Chu State had yet to establish a Crown Prince, and if Emperor Kangze went to hell at this point, the Chu State’s inner court would be in chaos. This wasn’t a good thing.
Su Ying followed Xiao Jin into the hall. The Imperial Physicians were still discussing countermeasures at the side, but when she saw their tightly furrowed brows, she figured they probably didn’t have a better solution.
Su Ying gestured for everyone in the hall to leave. Xiao Jin stood at the side without moving.
Su Ying raised her eyes to look at him. “Don’t let anyone in.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jin didn’t say anything else and turned to leave the hall.
Emperor Kangze’s wounds had already been given external treatment, but Su Ying still untied the bandages to have a clearer look at his injuries.
Emperor Kangze was injured in two places, and one wound was in the chest. She remembered the situation at the banquet. This injury should have been caused by the hidden weapon in the dancer’s hand.
There was also a sword wound on his abdomen. The sword had pierced from the front of his abdomen all the way to his lower back. It was obvious how powerful the strike was. However, since he did not die on the spot, these two wounds probably did not hit his vital parts. Otherwise, he would not have been alive until now.
After Su Ying understood the basic situation, she brought him into her interspatial store for further examination.
When she took a chest X-ray, she realized that the hidden weapon was still embedded in Emperor Kangze’s chest. There was a hook on that weapon. Fortunately, the hook missed his heart by a fingernail’s width.
No wonder he didn’t die. His heart hadn’t been injured yet.
As she looked at the sword wound on his abdomen, that sword strike had only cut through half of his small intestine. The other parts inside were actually fine.
However, he had lost too much blood and his organs were beginning to show signs of failure. Even if he could be saved, it was impossible for his health to return to its previous state.
Su Ying thought for a while and decided to remove the hook from his body first to ensure that he didn’t die suddenly. After that, she did a simple treatment on his wound and brought him out.
She was not someone who would repay evil with good. She was already kind enough by not finishing him off personally.
Su Ying gave Emperor Kangze an injection. He should regain consciousness soon.
Su Ying opened the hall door and nodded at Xiao Jin. Xiao Jin understood and walked in.
When Xiao Jin walked into the inner hall, Emperor Kangze opened his eyes weakly.
As soon as Emperor Kangze regained consciousness, he felt a wave of excruciating pain overwhelm his body. It was so painful that he almost fainted again.
Emperor Kangze looked at Xiao Jin and moved his lips a few times before saying in a hoarse voice, “Jin’er…”
Xiao Jin stood by the bed with no emotion on his face. “Your Majesty is awake.”
Emperor Kangze coughed once. “Those traitors… those traitors…”
“Xiao Jue and the other traitors of the Grand Mentor’s Residence have all been captured.”
Emperor Kangze chuckled when he heard that. “They… wanted to… wanted to murder me… Also, Prince Ma… Prince Ma injured me… Arrest them all.”
Xiao Jin’s face remained emotionless. “The Imperial Guards are also investigating Prince Ma. Today, I entered the palace to bid farewell to Your Majesty.”
Emperor Kangze’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What did you say? Farewell? Where are you going?”
“I’m going back to Jin City, my fiefdom. I will guard the borders of the Chu State.”
“No, not… now!” Emperor Kangze was so agitated that he wanted to grab hold of Xiao Jin’s hand, but he didn’t even have the strength to raise his hand.
“After leaving the palace, your humble servant will set off on his journey.”
“No!” Emperor Kangze was so agitated that his blood surged and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Prince Ma had not been captured yet, and the remaining members of the Grand Mentor’s Residence had not been completely eliminated. He was now seriously injured and bedridden. If Xiao Jin left at this juncture, who knew how chaotic the Chu State would be.
“I… I’ll make you… make you the Crown Prince! You… you don’t go back to your fiefdom!” At this moment, Emperor Kangze felt humiliated. In the end, he had to make the son he distrusted the most the Crown Prince!
However, it didn’t matter. He would first let Xiao Jin eliminate the remnants of the traitorous faction and stabilize the Imperial Court. It wouldn’t be too late to suppress Xiao Jin after he recovered.
Emperor Kangze thought he had planned everything out well but he did not notice the iciness in Xiao Jin’s eyes at all.
Xiao Jin kept his eyes lowered, making it impossible for others to see the emotions in his eyes. “I have never thought about becoming the Crown Prince one day.”
Emperor Kangze gritted his teeth and said, “You… you’re virtuous and talented. I… have long… wanted… wanted to make you… You are the one… Go… go summon them… in here… I want to draft an edict… Go!”
Xiao Jin replied very reluctantly, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
The ministers of the central court and the eunuchs waiting outside the door all entered the inner hall and heard in person Emperor Kangze’s decision to make Xiao Jin the Crown Prince. One minister even drafted an Imperial edict to be read out to everyone the next morning.
After drafting the Imperial edict, the breath that Emperor Kangze had been strenuously holding onto suddenly dissipated. His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed on the dragon bed.
The next morning, the Grand Steward read out Emperor Kangze’s Imperial edict in front of all the officials.
Xiao Jin had become the Crown Prince..