Chapter 646 - Overstepping His Authority
646 - Acting beyond one's authority, what a crime!
The next day.
Jing Yi never expected that it was Jing Xian’s arrangement that resulted in him slowly being pushed onto a path of no return.
A storm of bloodshed was heading towards the capital.
Early in the morning, the Office of Transmissions sent dozens of memorials to the Emperor. Almost all of them were discussing the choice of the heir apparent, and they all proposed to make Jing Yi the Crown Prince. Now, Jing Yi's influence was gathering momentum just like a tornado. To put it politely, the officials were supporting his bid for the position; to put it bluntly, the officials were causing chaos.
He, Qizhen Emperor, was still alive. The Crown Prince had just been dead for less than half a year, and these courtiers were forcing him to designate his heir apparent. Do they even still regard him as Emperor? The Emperor was furious and swept all the memorials on the table onto the floor.
Zhang Quan didn't dare to pick the fallen things up.
A fist viciously slammed the hard table.
"All they keep talking about is the Crown Prince and Crown Prince. How can We keep such ungrateful bastards around?"
"Your Majesty, please calm down."
"All the officials are forcing me to choose Jing Yi as the Crown Prince." Another fist slammed down on the table.
Now the Emperor resembled a tyrant. Zhang Quan opened his mouth, but he didn’t say anything.
The Qizhen Emperor said, "First he married a consort, then he wanted to take the position of Crown Prince. My throne will be his sooner or later, so why can't he just wait until I’m dead?" He finished speaking and started coughing. He nearly coughed up blood.
When Zhang Quan saw this, he immediately poured a cup of tea and placed it right next to the Emperor’s hand, "Your Majesty, please pay attention to your health."
"Bastard." Qizhen Emperor waved his hand, causing the cup to fall to the ground and shatter into many pieces.
At that moment, a eunuch entered, holding an imperial decree. "Your Majesty, this is the imperial decree to be sent to Yufu for Prince Rong. It’s waiting for Your Majesty’s seal."
Qizhen Emperor’s expression suddenly turned serious at this, "Bring it over."
The eunuch handed it over.
The imperial decree was opened on the desk, and what was written on it was the oral instruction given by him in the court yesterday. But, instead of stamping it, he crumpled the decree into a ball.
Zhang Quan, who was standing beside him, sensed something was wrong and bowed, "Your Majesty, surely you’re not thinking of ..."
Qizhen Emperor narrowed his eyes and said, "The choice of the Crown Prince has yet to be determined, and no one can force me to do anything." The imperial decree in his hand was torn and tossed aside.
Zhang Quan understood what he meant and immediately fetched new paper and spread it out on the table. Then he ground the ink and handed the brush to the emperor.
Qizhen Emperor re-wrote an imperial decree, and finally stamped it with the jade seal. Then he placed the imperial decree inside a yellow bamboo tube and handed it to the eunuch, "Send it to Yufu immediately, without delay. You must not tell anyone about the change in the imperial decree."
"Yes Your Majesty!" The eunuch held the confidential decree and left the palace.
Only Qizhen Emperor and Zhang Quan knew what was written in the decree sent to Jing Rong.
Soon, Prince Yi received the ministers’ proposal that he should be the crown prince. Instead of being happy, he was shocked.
On the surface, it was beneficial to him, but in fact, it was the same as the last time when Jing Rong was reported by the Ministry of Personnel. Not only could it not bring him any benefits, but also he would be thrown into the abyss, making the suspicious Qizhen Emperor think that he was going to overstep his power. What a crime to act beyond one's authority!
At the end of the day, he was just a prince now, if even there were more people around him to support him, so what? His opponent was the Emperor, an old strategist who had been sitting on the throne for twenty years. Both his knowledge and strategy was better than his. What's more, that was his father.
And what he didn't understand was...
"Why would the ministers suddenly submit these petitions?"
That’s right, why so sudden? It was only yesterday that the Emperor ordered Jing Rong to stay in Yufu to continue investigating the case, and today the ministers started petitioning for the Emperor to promote him as the Crown Prince, isn’t it too coincidental?
He called for Dou Quan and asked, "Who initiated this matter?"
Dou Quan shook his head, "I'm not sure. It could be that those ministers thought that Prince Rong would never have a chance to return to the capital again, that's why they would like to support Your Highness and make Your Highness the crown prince."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple."
"Why would Your Highness have misgivings over this?"
"It's not that, but rather, I am worried. Imperial Father is paranoid and the situation is very unfavorable for this prince if the ministers petition now."
"Then what should we do now?" Dou Quan asked.
Jing Yi seemed to have thought of something, his eyes widened, and asked, "Has the imperial decree that Imperial Father ordered to be sent to Yufu for Jing Rong left the capital?"
"It just left the capital."
"Immediately send someone to check that decree, this prince wants to know what exactly is written on it."
……
Dou Quan didn't quite understand, "Shouldn't what was written on the decree be the Emperor's dictation given during the court? Is Your Highness worried about ..."
Jing Yi narrowed his gloomy eyes and nodded his head.
Dou Quan suddenly understood and immediately went to carry out his instructions.
Jing Yi clenched his fist and placed it on his own knee, his heart burning like fire. "Imperial Father, I really hope ...... you won't do this to your son."
The imperial decree was delivered by a courier, who travelled on horseback and didn't dare to delay. After half a day's riding, he took a rest in a tea stand in the forest because he was too tired.
"What would you like, sir?"
"Give me a pot of tea."
"Sure."
The waiter brought him a pot of tea. After drinking a large bowl of tea, he felt dazzled. He shook his head vigorously. It was like he had been hit by a hammer. After his head kept buzzing for a long time, his head fell heavily on the table with a thud. He fainted.
Dou Quan came out of the darkness and took the imperial decree from the post officer. He opened it, and he was greatly surprised by what he saw. His hand tightened. He returned the decree and disappeared into the forest with a leap.
The waiter quickly took out something and put it under the post officer's nose. When he smelled the smell, he woke up immediately. As soon as he opened his eyes, the man immediately took out his sword and stabbed at the waiter. He asked, "who are you?"
"Sir, please don't be impulsive. I didn't do anything. "
"You put the medicine in the tea. Tell me, who sent you?"
The waiter knelt down on the ground, raised his hands high, and said with tears on his face, "I’m wronged, sir, I just gave you a pot of tea, and you fell down after a sip. I called you several times before you woke up. I really didn't do anything."
The post officer was suspicious. He put away the sword and checked the imperial decree. Fortunately, it was still there. If the decree was lost, he would lose his life. It didn't look like the waiter was lying. Thinking of it, he might really be too tired.
"Alright, get up." He took out the money for a cup of tea and threw it on the table. Then he quickly took the things and rode away.
After all, this person was only a courier and he was not very vigilant. He didn’t know that the waiter had tricked him. Behind him, the waiter got up and sneered in the direction of the post officer. Then, he picked up a few coins from the table and put them into his waist pocket.