PFC Chapter 276 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (176)
Chapter 276 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (176)
Ji Shuling forgot the pain on her face and stared intently at Ji Shumin's leg, her eyes unblinking.
"How is that possible... Didn't the imperial physician say that you'd be crippled for life?" he shouted.
But all he got in return was a sarcastic glance from Ji Shumin.
Because of his earlier outburst, he was now hunched over and leaning against one side. Ji Shumin, who had stood up, was a head taller than him. Just by standing there, Ji Shuling had to look up at him. He had forgotten how long it had been since he had looked up at Ji Shumin like this.
He only vaguely remembered that when Ji Shumin was still the Crown Prince, he always looked up at the Crown Prince's back, who stood on the steps, looking incredibly glamorous. He never imagined that now that Ji Shumin was no longer the Crown Prince, he would still have to look up at him.
"What, aren't you happy for me, Second Prince, that I can walk again?" Ji Shumin curled his lips: "When you learned that I was crippled back then, Second Prince was so heartbroken that he almost wept. He told Father that he would search for famous doctors for me."
When Ji Shuling heard him mention the past, he coldly rebuked, "Now that Father Emperor is gone, let me tell you, I was so happy back then! Just thinking about how you could never stand up again, and how you would live a crippled and miserable life, made me so happy that I couldn't sleep at night!"
Ji Shuqin couldn't stop and wanted to tell him to shut up, but Ji Shumin waved his hand and said, "Oh? What did my second brother gain from my disability?"
"Such a good opportunity, how could Heaven be so biased, almost slapping the opportunity in your face? And what have you gained? You've gained nothing. Now you're kneeling here, barking at me like a mad dog!" Whenever Ji Shumin wanted to, his words could be extremely sharp and sarcastic, like the thinnest knife stabbing into a person's heart.
"You're only concerned with your own happiness, you're only concerned with mocking me, Second Brother, what's the use? In the end, it's all for nothing. It's not that you lacked opportunity or luck, it's just that... you're a fool, an incompetent idiot! Between the two of us, who is the real cripple?"
Ji Shumin said quietly, directly revealing all of Ji Shuling's thoughts.
Ji Shuling always felt that he came from a humble background, that he was not favored, and that he did not have the same opportunities as the Crown Prince, whose tutors were all famous ministers and scholars. He felt that he did not have the same good fortune as the Crown Prince...
Now Ji Shumin has exposed it.
He was unwilling to admit it, but he simply couldn't defeat Ji Shumin. Even if Ji Shumin were to fall from grace, he still wouldn't be able to beat him. For Ji Shuling, who had an extremely strong sense of self-confidence, Ji Shumin was practically throwing his face to the ground and trampling on it...
"Why are you laughing at my inability to walk? I've outmaneuvered your stupid brain, not my legs." Ji Shumin tilted his head slightly, a half-smile on his face.
"Ji Shumin—you!" Ji Shuling was almost bursting with rage, but he couldn't say anything. Ji Shumin seemed to be able to see into his heart and shut him down, leaving him only with impotent rage.
“Even now, you’re still trying to sow discord between me and my brother, what’s the point?” Ji Shumin shook his head.
“You have never had a shred of brotherly affection, benevolence, or magnanimity. You also lack the vision to govern the country and make good use of people. Why do you want to fight for this position?” Ji Shumin looked at him.
"When you were a prince, you schemed and plotted for power and profit, forming cliques and factions. But if you were to actually sit on that throne, all the power and profit in the world would be yours. What would you still want to fight for? What do you still want to do?" Ji Shumin suddenly asked him.
Ji Shuling was stunned.
For so many years, he has never stopped vying for power and wealth, as if this would prove that he is no less capable than Ji Shumin...
But if he were to truly ascend the throne, he would no longer need to fight for anything; everything would be his own. What could he possibly do then? He hadn't even considered what he would do for the world if he were to become emperor. For so many years, he had only fought for the sake of fighting.
"Now that things have come to this, is there anything else you want to say?" Ji Shumin sat down again, looking Ji Shuling in the eye.
"I..." Ji Shuling was filled with indignation and didn't know what else he could do now.
"Do you want all the women in your household to die with you?" Ji Shumin said coldly.
Ji Shuqin met Ji Shuling today because he was worried about what Ji Shuling might do to the women in his residence.
"They are my wives and concubines!" Ji Shuling exclaimed as if struck by a knife: "My honor and disgrace are their honor and disgrace. I want them dead, so what can they do about it!"
"Coward." Ji Shumin frowned slightly. He despised such vicious, stupid, and self-important people the most.
“Then let Consort Liu go with you. She is your mother, and your honor or disgrace is her honor or disgrace. Even if it means her death, I'm sure she would be willing,” Ji Shumin said softly.
"Ji Shumin!" Ji Shuling roared, the veins on his neck bulging. He seemed unable to restrain himself from lunging at Ji Shumin, but in the end he did not move. His fingers gripped his clothes tightly, like animal claws.
“Min’er…”
Ji Shuqin shook his head. He always told Ji Shumin not to create bad karma with his words and not to always talk about the life and death of others.
"I have summoned you here today so that you may make a choice," Ji Shuqin asked calmly. "Do you wish to be confined to the capital, or to share a fiefdom with me in the southwest, where you are not allowed to garrison troops or mint coins, but can only collect a portion of taxes, and never return to the capital in this lifetime?"
Ji Shuqin didn't keep anyone in suspense and explained it very simply.
Ji Shuling stood there stunned. He turned his head, looked at Ji Shuqin, and then at Ji Shumin, as if he was unsure of what he had heard.
Ji Shumin gave him a mocking smile, without objecting to Ji Shuqin's words.
This was proposed by Ji Shuqin. Ji Shuling accused Ji Shuqin of plotting to seize power. Although he knew he was not doing so, the will written by Ji Shumin always made Ji Shuqin feel guilty. If he were to turn around and accuse Ji Shuling of rebellion and take his life, Ji Shuqin could not bring himself to do it.
Because he himself knew in his heart that he had not rightfully obtained the throne.
He let Ji Shuling choose for himself, which could be considered as preserving the last thread of blood ties between the brothers.
"Is what you said... true?" Ji Shuling suddenly seemed to collapse, asking in a low, hoarse voice.
“It’s true.” Ji Shuqin nodded.
At this moment, Ji Shuling painfully realized that even though he resented Ji Shuqin, he still believed Ji Shuqin's words. Even though there was no brotherly affection between them, he subconsciously believed Ji Shuqin's words.
Because Ji Shuqin was that kind of person.
Although he called Ji Shuqin a hypocrite, Ji Shuling knew that he meant what he said and was a man of his word, someone who could be trusted.
If he were to ascend to that position, he would certainly not spare Ji Shumin's life...
Perhaps it was because the two brothers felt they posed no threat to them that they—
Ji Shuling was overwhelmed with thoughts in that instant, and she didn't even know what she was thinking.
"Have you made your decision? Will you be confined to the capital, or will you take your family to your fiefdom?" Ji Shuqin asked again. "Once you've made your choice, there's no going back."
"And what about my mother?" Ji Shuling asked in a low voice.
In his calculating and selfish heart, he only left a small space for Consort Liu. After seeing how desperately Consort Liu was for him, his previous harsh criticism of his mother gradually faded.
"Consort Liu will stay in the palace and spend her remaining years in peace." Ji Shuqin looked at him and said, "Consort Liu is unaware of what you have done, and this is to put your mind at ease so that you will not blame her."
"Then... I will never see my mother again in this life..." he murmured. Whether she was imprisoned in the capital, so close yet so far, or in her fiefdom, so far away, he could never see Consort Liu again.
Ji Shuqin did not answer.
"You have indeed made a grave mistake." Ji Shuqin sighed, as if subtly warning him not to push his luck.
"Make a choice, and you will have to bear the consequences of your actions."
"I...I'm going to my fiefdom," Ji Shuling said, her voice trembling as she closed her eyes.
He had been confined to the palace by the late emperor, so he knew what it was like. A piece of land, a sky, could drive a person crazy with suffocation.
In just a short period of time, he was utterly disheartened; he didn't want to think about being locked up for life.
When he arrived at his fiefdom, he knew it would not be a prosperous place, but rather a barren and desolate land with wild customs. But at least he could live like a human being, instead of being a beast kept in an enclosure!
Ji Shuling did not want to die. Although he had calmed down at home and thought that death was the worst that could happen, when he heard that Ji Shuqin still wanted him to live, his desire to die faded.
“In that case, let’s set off next month.” Ji Shuqin nodded.
His coronation ceremony was scheduled for March, and there were still many preparations to be made beforehand. Ji Shuling set off in February, and he didn't even get to see the new emperor's coronation.
"I...can I see my mother one last time before I leave?" Ji Shuling asked in a deep voice.
"Alright." Ji Shuqin, being soft-hearted, nodded.
Ji Shuling left in silence. When he returned to his residence this time, he was no longer as manic as he had been a few days ago; he was just melancholy and quiet.
Upon hearing that they were to be sent to their fiefdom, the women of the household were thrown into chaos. However, none of them dared to provoke Ji Shuling, and they could only weep in secret, lamenting their bad luck.
Lu Liruan received Lu Yushi's letter. When she opened it, the words on it were written with trembling handwriting, and some of the characters were blurred and unclear, as if they had been soaked by tears and spread out in a large area.
The words implied that she did not want to go to her fiefdom with the Second Prince, and that she did not want to leave the capital.
Sister Li Ruan, I have never left the capital city in my entire life, nor do I wish to leave my parents' side...
The second prince doesn't like me, and my fiefdom is so far away that I'm terrified.
She begged Lu Liruan to let her stay in the capital and asked Lu Liruan to help her think of a way.
After reading the letter, Lu Liruan put it aside.
When Ji Shumin returned, he saw Lu Liruan with her brows slightly furrowed, as if she was thinking about something.
"Will the Second Prince's family members all go to his fiefdom with him?" Lu Liruan asked thoughtfully.
"Ah."
“If…” Lu Liruan pushed the letter in front of Ji Shumin, who looked at it and said, “It’s not that there’s no way.”
The main thing is that Ji Shuling can divorce her. Lu Yushi has no children, so as long as she is divorced and no longer a member of the Second Prince's household, she can stay in the capital.
Lu Liruan wasn't being soft-hearted towards Lu Yushi, but she felt that Ji Shuling's mistakes had ultimately dragged his family members down with him, which was really unfortunate.
She didn't interfere, but simply wrote a letter back to Lu Yushi with the solution.
When Lu Yushi wrote another letter, she wrote that the Second Prince was unwilling. The Second Prince seemed to have gone mad, wishing that everyone would suffer with him. How could he be so kind as to care for a concubine who was not favored?
Lu Yushi's words implied that she wanted her parents to find a way to get the Second Prince to divorce her, so she could return to the Lu family and continue living in the capital.
Lu Yushi was competitive from a young age and was willing to fight and make trouble for others for her own sake. Lu Liruan originally thought that this matter would have some twists and turns, but unexpectedly... there was no news afterward.
When Lu Liruan returned to the Marquis of He'an's residence, she remembered this matter and casually asked Madam Gao about it.
Unexpectedly, Madam Gao sighed softly upon hearing Lu Yushi's name.
Lu Liruan then realized what had happened.
After receiving the solution from Lu Liruan, Lu Yushi quickly wrote a letter back to the Lu family.
Since the Second Prince chose to go to his fiefdom next month, the guards at the Second Prince's residence have not been as strict.
Lu Yushi thought to herself that she should tell her parents about this as soon as possible. Otherwise, with the deadline approaching so quickly, the day to leave the capital would soon be upon them.
But he thought that no matter what, his parents wouldn't just stand by and watch him go to some desolate place and never be able to return to the capital.
She was a pampered young lady raised in the capital; how could she endure such hardship?
To her surprise, the second branch of the Lu family had no intention of helping her at all!
Not only that, he even wrote back to her, telling her to give up on that idea... "A woman follows her husband after marriage. You married the Second Prince, so you belong to him. Going to his fiefdom with him is your fate. Don't disgrace the Lu family."
If a noble family like the Lu family were to have a daughter who had been divorced and then had to return to her parents' home and continue to live in the capital, wouldn't she be the subject of gossip every day?
What about the unmarried girls in the family? Wouldn't they lose face before even choosing a husband?
He wrote a whole bunch of things, but not a single word showed any understanding of his daughter's current state of mind, nor any pity, nor any worry or heartache for her future journey to her fiefdom.
"When her mother came that day, she asked me if their household would be implicated because of the Second Prince's affair. She subtly asked me to ask you to find out what kind of person the First Prince is," Madam Gao sighed.
"After Shi'er goes to her fiefdom with the Second Prince, will she have absolutely no connection with the Lu family? Will the Lu family remove this daughter from their register, and will her life and death be none of their concern from now on?"
"They said they wanted to use this to express their loyalty to the new emperor. They even had the nerve to ask me if their family had so many girls who were skilled in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and since the new emperor is not yet married or has any concubines, could their girls be allowed to participate in the imperial selection in the future?"
Lu Liruan was stunned.
No wonder... Lu Yushi hasn't caused any more trouble.