Chapter 483

The old Emperor was dead, and no one had the heart to sleep in the middle of the night.

Medical Official Mu draped a padded jacket over his shoulders and came to the office to drink tea.

"You didn't think much of His Highness the Prince of Zhong before, but now you say His Highness the Prince of Zhong can seize the throne; your changes back and forth are too fast."

Chen Guanlou poured a cup of hot tea for Medical Official Mu before saying, "That was then, this is now. The reason I didn't think highly of the Prince of Zhong before was because the Emperor was still alive. As long as the Emperor was on the throne for a day, the Prince of Zhong could forget about making a comeback. For him to make a comeback would be equivalent to slapping the Emperor in the face.

The Emperor was such a face-conscious person; could he allow such a thing to happen? Perhaps in a fit of ruthlessness, he would have directly pinned the sacrificial altar explosion case on the Prince of Zhong, completely cutting off the Prince of Zhong's chance for a comeback. Who could have thought that while in a coma, the Emperor would suddenly pass away? With the Emperor gone, the situation reversed instantly. Things that were impossible in the past suddenly became possible, and the opportunities are huge."

Medical Official Mu hummed. "In the Emperor's condition, it was always very easy for something to go wrong. The imperial physicians couldn't wake the Emperor at the first opportunity, so the probability of waking him later was lower, and the possibility of death was higher. That the Emperor was in a coma for so many days without dying was already the result of the imperial physicians using all their skills. Even if it were me, it would be impossible to do better."

"So, your medical skills are on par with that gang of imperial physicians, or even a little better than them." Chen Guanlou grasped the key point.

Medical Official Mu waved his hands repeatedly to deny it. "I didn't say that; don't frame me. I just want to tell you that the Emperor's passing was not sudden, but a thing destined to happen. If not tonight, it would be tomorrow night, the night after..."

Chen Guanlou nodded, acknowledging Medical Official Mu's statement. In later generations, letting a vegetative person live for many years relied on equipment. Without the development of modern technology and modern medical techniques, it was all wishful thinking for a vegetative person to live year after year.

"You don't like the Prince of Zhong?" Medical Official Mu asked suddenly.

"Who said that? I like His Highness the Prince of Zhong very much. Don't frame me." Chen Guanlou denied it flatly.

He had only met His Highness the Prince of Zhong once, when he was still the Crown Prince, sending Grand Tutor Zhuang to the prison. It wasn't a matter of liking or disliking; they weren't people of the same social class.

Instead, he had learned a little of the Prince of Zhong's true face from the mouth of the young widow, Liu.

As expected, people in that circle all had two faces: one for the inside, one for the outside. Court officials only needed the face for the outside.

The Prince of Zhong did very well; for decades, the face for the outside had remained consistent—humble, learned, accepting remonstrance, having a bottom line, and having a conscience. The court officials were satisfied; this was the image of a standard enlightened monarch.

As for the face for the inside, no matter how cruel or ugly it was, the court officials wouldn't care even if they knew. Who didn't have some small quirks? Who didn't have some temper? No need to be overly critical!

"You seem unhappy to see the Prince of Zhong seize the throne?" Medical Official Mu saw through Chen Guanlou's thoughts.

Chen Guanlou laughed at himself. "Are my preferences important? If I told you that I don't like any of those princes or imperial sons, and I'm unhappy whoever becomes Emperor, what then?"

"No wonder the Great Ming Prince incited you to rebel back then. You have rebellious bones, and you refuse to cover them up."

"The Great Ming Prince died thoroughly long ago; don't mention him, it's bad luck!"

"The Great Ming Prince died cleanly; it can be considered a fortunate event." Medical Official Mu sighed. "Not being subjected to death by a thousand cuts is the greatest blessing he cultivated in this life. The explosion came just in time."

"It wasn't that the explosion came just in time, but that when the death by a thousand cuts began, the first cut was the signal for the explosion action. The second cut, ignite. The third cut, boom, explosion! Otherwise, how could the sacrificial altar have exploded so accurately and timely? Everything was calculated."

"Now that the Emperor is dead, the imperial court should investigate the explosion case. You should be prepared in your heart."

"What should I prepare? I am clean and white, serving according to the rules. No matter who is locked in, I treat them all equally. The prison cells of the Heavenly Prison do not distinguish between factions or stances."

Chen Guanlou snorted coldly, pouring a cup of tea into his stomach, a fire burning in his heart.

The old Emperor could finally be considered dead.

The sky of the Great Qian was finally going to change!

The Eight Immortals cross the sea, each showing their magical powers!

On the surface, everyone in the Imperial Palace was busy with the old Emperor's funeral affairs. In reality, undercurrents were surging, and the contest had already begun, only it was still staying under the table.

Several ministers had already closed their doors and had a round of discussions regarding the succession to the throne. First, they excluded those who were unqualified, such as minors, or those born of low-status maids, or ordinary princes whose maternal clans were not prominent. These people were unqualified to compete for the throne from the beginning.

Unless someone present wanted to be a powerful minister and intentionally chose a weak prince to inherit the throne, making it convenient to monopolize power.

However, in the current imperial court, it was clearly a matter of mutual checks and balances. Even Li Liangcheng, the head of the hundred officials, could not dominate alone.

Moreover, on the side of the nobility, Chen Guanfu took the lead, vaguely and publicly supporting the Prince of Zhong's restoration and direct inheritance of the throne.

After weeding out everyone unqualified to inherit the throne, what remained were a few princes who had already been enfeoffed; they were not only qualified but also powerful, each with a group of supporters around them. The situation appeared deadlocked.

Chen Guanfu only chatted with Yu Zhaoan in private; he didn't make a sound when expressing his stance publicly. He was playing the game of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. He had to figure out everyone's stance first before he could prescribe the right medicine.

Yu Zhaoan even suspected that Chen Guanfu's support for the Prince of Zhong was just bait thrown out by the other party to fish for him. He feared it wasn't sincere support for the Prince of Zhong.

"The Prince of Zhong was deposed last year, which means he lost the qualification to inherit the throne. Is it appropriate for you to bring up the Prince of Zhong now? If the Emperor were here, I fear he would explode on the spot."

Yu Zhaoan secretly gave a hint, and immediately someone provided assistance, seizing the initiative and denying the Prince of Zhong's right of inheritance from a legal perspective, using this to test everyone's attitude.

"The Emperor is gone!"

"The Emperor was old and muddle-headed; deposing the Crown Prince back then was a wrong move. We are merely setting things right."

"Setting things right does not include the rule of letting a deposed Crown Prince inherit the throne. Doing so may cause criticism from all under heaven. It is denying everything the Emperor did. The Emperor was on the throne for fifty years, after all; must we deny it all?"

"Don't be unreasonable. Everyone opposed the Emperor deposing the Crown Prince back then. Now we are merely correcting that matter and giving His Highness the Prince of Zhong a qualification to participate in the competition. Does the Prince of Zhong not even have the qualification to compete? Don't go too far."

"If the Prince of Zhong doesn't even have the qualification to compete for the throne, who among the other princes has the qualification? If you ask me, from the beginning, when the rules were set, it should have been equal treatment. We cannot break the rules for him just because the Prince of Zhong had a miserable experience and everyone sympathizes with him."

"If the Prince of Zhong doesn't have the qualification to compete for the throne, who among the other princes has the qualification?"

Yu Zhaoan observed silently; more than half of the people were supporting the Prince of Zhong, while the opponents were only a few. The Prince of Zhong had the hearts of the people and had won a round.