kvmb Chapter 894 Cannon Fodder
Chapter 894 Cannon Fodder
The emperor remained silent for a long time before finally uttering two words.
"That's right."
Supervisor Feng immediately ordered someone to bring the gold medal and handed it to Sheng Junyi.
Sheng Junyi accepted the gold medal and said respectfully, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."
"Get up," the emperor said calmly.
Sheng Junyi stood up and stood aside.
With the matter of bestowing rewards settled, the final task was to deal with the Third Prince.
The more arrogant the Third Prince was when he arrived, the more panicked he became now.
The emperor felt a tightness in his chest just from looking at his expression.
"Guards, break the Third Prince's legs and imprison him outside the palace. Once all the traitors have been captured, they will be dealt with together."
After saying this, the emperor looked utterly exhausted.
He waved his hand, "Everyone, step back."
"We take our leave." The court officials present hurriedly bowed and took their leave. They were all covered in cold sweat, their clothes soaked through several layers. Who would have thought that they would almost lose their lives in the last court session?
Finally being able to leave after enduring this long was a huge relief.
The guards dragged the Third Prince away, who was still struggling and shouting, "Father, Father—"
Lu Yangyang and the Ninth Princess then bid farewell and left.
Once outside the Hall of Diligent Governance, the Ninth Princess gripped Lu Yangyang's hand tightly, her fingers trembling. "Yangyang, we survived, didn't we?"
Lu Yangyang held her hand. "Yes, it's all over now."
The Ninth Princess finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She had been cautious and timid in the palace since childhood, but this was the first time she had faced a palace coup. She almost thought she was going to die here.
They were incredibly lucky.
Not far away, the Third Prince was still struggling desperately, crying and shouting as he looked in the direction of the Hall of Diligent Governance.
Lu Yangyang patted the Ninth Princess's hand, "You go back first, I'm going to say a few words to the Third Prince."
The Ninth Princess nodded. "Okay, be careful."
Lu Yangyang called Lu Wei over and asked him to send the Ninth Princess back first, while she walked towards the Third Prince.
When the Third Prince saw Lu Yangyang arrive, he struggled even more fiercely, "Lu Yangyang, why? Tell me, why is this happening!"
Lu Yangyang pressed down on the Third Prince's shoulder. She was strong, and when she squeezed the Third Prince's shoulder, the Third Prince felt as if a mountain was pressing down on his shoulder, it was very heavy.
Lu Yangyang said to the two guards who were dragging the Third Prince, "I am here on His Majesty's orders to say a few words to the Third Prince."
The guards glanced at Lu Yangyang, then at the Third Prince, and then at the Imperial Guards following closely around them. They released their grip and stepped aside a few paces, not daring to stray too far.
Lu Yangyang leaned close to the Third Prince's ear and lowered her voice, "There's something I've been thinking about, and if I don't tell you, I'm afraid you won't die peacefully."
The Third Prince gritted his teeth, "Lu Yangyang!"
"Do you know why His Majesty refused to make you the Crown Prince? Duke Xiao took all the blame in the end. Do you think he used someone as a bargaining chip?"
The Third Prince completely failed to understand what Lu Yangyang was saying: "What do you mean!"
"What I mean is that His Majesty has never considered you, including your uncle. His real gamble, the lifeline that can protect his whole family, is not you," Lu Yangyang said.
"That's impossible! Who else could my uncle choose besides me? Stop spreading rumors!" The Third Prince dared not let anyone hear what they were talking about, so he lowered his voice and turned his head to glare at Lu Yangyang with an almost ferocious expression.
"If the person Duke Xiao is looking for isn't the son of Crown Prince Chongwen, then guess whose son he is?" Lu Yangyang's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, but the Third Prince heard it. His body stiffened instantly, and his pupils suddenly contracted as if he had thought of something.
"If he didn't have another trump card, how could Duke Xiao dare to keep those pieces of evidence that could be dug up? So, Third Prince, face reality. From the very beginning, you were never His Majesty's choice; you were just... cannon fodder." Lu Yangyang thought for a long time and felt that this word was quite fitting. The Third Prince, who was the most aggressive from head to toe, was not only cannon fodder placed in the open by the Emperor, but also cannon fodder that the First Prince plotted and manipulated behind the scenes, and cannon fodder that was abandoned by his own uncle.
“In this world, perhaps only Consort Xiao truly believed that you could.” Lu Yangyang released him, no longer deliberately lowering her voice. “She deserved her fate, and the law will eventually judge her. It was truly not worth it for her to die at your hands.”
"No, no, no!" the Third Prince screamed madly, then suddenly burst into laughter and tears, "No, no, hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"
Fearing he might actually go mad, the guards rushed forward, knocked him unconscious, and dragged him away.
Lu Yangyang watched him being dragged away before walking to Sheng Junyi's side. Neither of them spoke until they left the palace and boarded the carriage. Only then did Lu Yangyang ask...
When do you plan to depart?
"We're leaving tonight. What about you? Do you want to come with me?" Sheng Junyi asked.
“I’m going with Zhiyi and Jiaojiao,” Lu Yangyang said. “With that get-out-of-jail-free card, my second aunt and the others can go back to their ancestral home and stay for two years without anyone causing them any trouble. It’s all thanks to Zhiyi for persuading Commander Shen in advance. The Third Prince probably never dreamed that Commander Shen deliberately let him into the capital.”
Shen Kuo, feigning defeat, gave the Third Prince the opportunity to quickly occupy the capital. Thinking victory was assured, he smugly entered the palace to threaten the emperor into issuing him the edict of succession. Little did the emperor know that Shen Kuo had already secretly deployed troops to ambush the capital, waiting for the Third Prince to make his move.
In this way, once the Third Prince made a move, all the forces that Duke Xiao had cultivated and hidden for many years were brought into the open and eliminated in one fell swoop.
Sheng Junyi didn't storm the palace after the fact; he had already infiltrated the Imperial Guards when the Third Prince led his troops into the palace. While the Third Prince was busy threatening the Emperor in the Hall of Diligent Governance, the leaders who were following the Third Prince outside had already been killed by Sheng Junyi.
This coup was, from the very beginning, waiting for the Third Prince to fall into it.
The words Zong Que spoke to her before he left that day were to be careful that the Third Prince might stage a coup.
When Zong Que was mobilizing troops to prepare for the expedition, he gave her the defense map of the capital. If the Third Prince really rebelled, this would be a good opportunity to eliminate all the hidden dangers.
With Zong Que about to embark on his campaign, there was simply no time to discuss things in detail with her. After Zong Que left, Lu Yangyang was left in the palace as a "hostage" and had no chance to discuss things with Sheng Junyi. Fortunately, Jiang Zhiyi's arrival in the capital reassured her.
In fact, not only the emperor, but she also did not expect that the Third Prince would actually stage a coup.
When Zong Que reminded her that Lin Wuji's identity might be problematic, she had already guessed why Duke Xiao was willing to take all the blame, and even Duke Sheng was not revealed to him, unless he had another trump card hidden, a trump card that could allow the emperor to protect his whole family after his death.
If we think about it this way, then the Third Prince was never the Emperor's choice from beginning to end.
Instead, it was put into the open by the emperor as a tool to control his court officials.