blenderwars Chapter 428 How Cruel!
Chapter 428 How Cruel!
Upon reading Cen Yin's report, Shen Shixi didn't think much of it, but Li Yuanke was already furious.
"He thinks that without the Crown Prince, that fool Third Prince has a chance? Who gave this Li fellow such audacity? Guards, summon the Imperial Prison!"
Shen Shixi knew what he was going to do, but did not stop him, allowing Li Yuanke to issue an edict to execute Li Sihe. Needless to say, the entire Li family was executed, and their nine generations of relatives were exterminated.
Upon hearing this, Li Sihe collapsed to the ground, shouting, "I want to see the Empress! I want to see the Empress!"
Since the person was about to die, Shen Shixi didn't want her to become a vengeful ghost, so she came to see her.
"Your Majesty, save me, please save me!" She crawled quickly toward Shen Shixi, but Chao En kicked her away.
Shen Shixi said, "What makes you think I should save you?"
Li Sihe was stunned for a moment. "You have always been kind and magnanimous, and never held grudges against the concubines in the harem! If it weren't for you, the Third Prince and I would have died."
Shen Shixi laughed, "I saved you and the Third Prince? What a joke! How much face do you have that I would save you? Back then, when I was conferred the title of Consort Chen, the Emperor entrusted me with the harem. What I did was merely fulfilling my duty."
"I never expected your gratitude, nor do I care whether you betray me or not. I'm here to tell you this: the Li family has been executed, their entire clan wiped out. Your family and friends will soon follow you on your journey to the underworld. You won't be alone on your way."
Li Sihe let out a shrill scream, "Your Majesty, you can't do this! I beg you! My family knows nothing! The Crown Prince and Princess Xihe are perfectly fine, Your Majesty!"
Shen Shixi said, "If you've come for me, I won't kill you all, but if you try to harm my child, I won't hesitate to let rivers of blood flow and mountains of corpses lie in your wake!"
Li Sihe shuddered. She kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "I was wrong! I shouldn't have had such delusions! Please, Your Majesty, spare my life!"
Shen Shixi said coldly, "Send her on her way!"
"yes!"
Shen Shixi stepped out of the gate of Wangxian Palace, turned his head and glanced at the lintel, and ordered, "Notify the Imperial Household Department to change the name of this Wangxian Palace to Wangxian, so that everyone living here won't be so arrogant."
"yes!"
Before her death, Li Sihe was demoted to a commoner. After her death, she was sent out in a thin coffin and buried in a remote corner on the outskirts of Beijing.
The Li family was executed along with nine generations of their clan. The Third Prince realized the gravity of the situation and stayed hidden behind the gates of Xianfu Palace, never venturing out. He became invisible in the palace and has not been given any official duties since. No prince dared to get close to him.
The Eighth Prince has been repeatedly warned by his mother, and with the Third Prince as a precedent, he dares not approach the Third Prince anymore.
After finishing his errands, the second prince requested permission to enter the palace, saying he wanted to visit the third prince, and his mother surprisingly granted his request.
My mother has always been this kind of person.
In just a few days, the Third Prince seemed to have aged considerably. The Second Prince couldn't help but smile. No matter how much reasoning was given, nothing could teach the Third Prince a lesson greater than the loss of a life.
He handed the wine to the Third Prince, who took a sip and tears streamed down his face.
After a long silence, the Third Prince finally asked, "Haven't you ever thought about it?"
The second prince knew what he was going to say. "Back then, my mother was given death and I was adopted by my virtuous mother. The first thing she said to me was that the position of crown prince could never be mine, and that I should not even think about it."
My mother was a disgraced concubine. At first, I felt I wasn't worthy of her, but later I realized that even having that thought felt less real than dreaming.
"Why?" the third prince asked in anguish. "Why are we, also Father's sons, not given his attention? Is it simply because the four of them are the legitimate sons?"
"No!" The second prince gave a wry smile and repeated, "Of course not!"
"What is that?" The Third Prince grabbed the Second Prince's arm. "Second Brother, tell me, why?"
The second prince didn't answer, but instead asked, "Did you want to compete for it yourself, or did someone else make you compete for it?"
His maternal family was all dead, so the Third Prince had nothing left to hide. "It was my mother who said that since we are all Father's sons, I am also qualified. Of course I wanted to, not for anything else, but even just so that Father would look at me more, shouldn't I fight for it?"
The second prince laughed and said, "Your efforts may indeed get Father to look at you more, but it's just a look of disgust. Why bother?"
The third prince was even more indignant. "We're all Father's sons, why don't we even try to compete?"
If it were the Crown Prince who made the move, he would have nothing to say, but it was his father, the Emperor, who made the move. This means that his father was on the Crown Prince's side. Why should he?
"Even my mother herself said that throughout history, only two or three crown princes have ascended the throne and become emperors."
The second prince said, "Look, there are still two or three, aren't there?"
He patted his third son on the shoulder, "Even if we take a step back and assume that Father is willing to support you, think carefully: are you truly capable of holding onto the position of Crown Prince?"
The third son was still clueless, so the second son reminded him, "How many people in the court support the Empress Dowager? How many national policies and plans came from the Empress Dowager? The improvement of weapons in the army is all thanks to the Empress Dowager?"
Why is the Empress Dowager able to interfere in court affairs? Who gave her this power? You know nothing. Your focus is only on the harem and on the Emperor.
You think you're capable? That's just because others told you you are. You think you're similar to the Crown Prince? Tell me, besides having the same father, how are you similar?
The second son concluded with one sentence: "Stop daydreaming, wake up! That person is already dead, and you're still dreaming. When it really matters, Father won't mind sacrificing one or two sons."
The third son shuddered, snapping out of his daze. "Father... Father..."
He wanted to say how cruel his father was, but in the end he dared not say it.
In order to save his life, the third prince volunteered to guard the Empress Dowager's tomb, and the emperor granted his request without hesitation.
After Fuguang and Wangshu started school, Li Yuanke would pick them up and drop them off every day. He stopped testing the princes' studies. The main reason was that these two little devils didn't like to study. If he tested them, they would be at the bottom. Should he punish them or not?
However, Fu Guang showed great interest in studying things, while Wang Shu was very sensitive to numbers. Shen Shixi was now too lazy to worry about court affairs and focused on the local economy, spending his spare time taking care of his two children's studies.
Those who know it are not as good as those who love it, and those who love it are not as good as those who enjoy it!
That's absolutely true. When someone is interested in a subject or field, they can enjoy it immensely.
After Shen Shixi taught Fu Guang some basic physics theories, he was able to figure them out. When he found some logical inconsistencies, Shen Shixi would introduce a new theory to him and teach him how to build a model to prove it.
Wang Shu was too lazy to write, but his mind was really sharp. He could come up with answers by thinking about some data in his head. Shen Shixi thought that his youngest son was a bit lazy, but it was true that lazy people were usually quite smart.
Shen Shixi decided to raise his two sons well, and put in the effort to compile teaching materials and prepare exercises for them, teaching them step by step.
Li Yuanke was pleased to see that this scoundrel was quite attentive to his son, but he was afraid that Shen Shixi would despise his children.
The prince and Xihe first followed Uncle Shen, whom they should call their second maternal grandfather, and traveled to the north and south twice to learn how farming was done. Then they followed their third maternal uncle and third aunt's husband everywhere, dealing with merchants and discovering that these people were all very cunning.
But Mother said that the politicians in the imperial court are even more cunning.
The two then learned that most of the businesses owned by their third uncle belonged to their mother. While handing over the businesses to the siblings, Shen Laosan also gave them a few business deals to practice on, and they did a surprisingly good job.