The Gilded Cage

Go to prison – Your Ancestors Would Be Ashamed. You are not Worthy of Being the Crown Prince (1)

More than a dozen soldiers with bright yellow flower juice smeared on their faces came out in response, and they were about to take them down immediately.

“What are you doing?!” Xiao Yu turned pale with shock, backed away repeatedly, and waved at the guards beside him.

Naturally, the guards were unambiguous, and as soon as they rushed forward, they protected the prince in the middle and raised their knives at the soldiers.

“Who are you? Where is General Zhao? Why didn’t he come to greet me? At such a critical juncture, he, the commander-in-chief, would allow his soldiers to mess around like this!” Not daring to show timidity, his eyes wandered around calmly.

“Hmph, I am Wang Guan, Lieutenant of Zhaowu School. Why are you looking for General Zhao?” The knife in the strong man’s hand fell to the ground suddenly and plunged into the ground, causing a burst of dust, “In front of everyone, tell me clearly!”

More and more ferocious and reckless men in the camp came out quickly and surrounded Xiao Yu and others, making it impossible for them to move, and it was even more difficult for them to escape.

Xu Rong was sweating profusely, leaned close to Xiao Yu’s ear and whispered, “Your Highness, I’m afraid they still doubt our identities…”

Xiao Yu paused, calmed down, and said in a deep voice, “I am the Prince of the court, and I will send the Bozhou Army under the command of General Zhao Lun to enter the capital. You will listen to me!”

After finishing speaking, he took out the seal of the East Palace that he carried with him and held it high in front of everyone.

But Wang Guan didn’t buy it and just sneered, “Everyone heard that the crown prince colluded with Zhao Lun and sent troops into the capital privately with the intention of rebelling. Let’s catch them and send them back to Changan!”

As soon as the words fell, the soldiers closest to him swarmed up, rushed past the guards’ obstruction with brute force, and detained them in two or three strokes.

“You, who are you!?” Xiao Yu was firmly suppressed, unable to move, his face was pale, and he asked tremblingly, “Where did Zhao Lun go!”

Wang Guan ordered someone to pull him up, and said in a cold voice, “Zhao Lun is a traitor who colluded with traitors in private. He was dismissed and investigated by the Emperor half a month ago. Now the leader of the town, Wang Su, is investigating this matter in Bozhou. We’re entering the capital to take up the post on behalf of the general. We can clearly hear what the crown prince said just now, so I will send His Highness to the presence of the Holy One!”

Zhao Lun had already been captured by Wang Suming’s people. During these days, his contacts with Xiao Yu and others were all illusions arranged by Xiao Ke.

Only then did Xiao Yu fully understand that he had already fallen into Xiao Kezhi’s plan, and his plans were already in the hands of others.

Just as he was thinking about how to respond, there was a sudden sound of horseshoes on Huangsha Avenue in the distance, and hundreds of guards from Qianniu Guard and Jinwu Guard as well as ministers and officials galloped towards them.

Jin Jiang, who was at the front, took a closer look and shouted, “It’s the Prince!”

A few veteran officials hurriedly squinted their eyes and looked over. Sure enough, they saw that several soldiers were firmly suppressing the usually dignified, gentle, and modest Crown Prince.

Seeing the crowd chasing after them in a hurry, Xiao Yu’s face darkened to the extreme, and he couldn’t say a word.

But Xu Rong, who was also disheveled, glanced at the crown prince, felt overwhelmed, plopped down on his knees, and shouted, “Your Majesty, these gangsters of unknown origin gathered here to kidnap the Crown Prince and want to slander the Crown Prince. Please, Your Majesty, investigate fairly!”

The chasing people stopped close, Xiao Kezhi looked at his embarrassed nephew who hadn’t spoken yet. He furrowed his brows and said angrily, “Minister Xu! If the Prince has really been kidnapped, why are these guards of the East Palace still here! How many people in the world dare to kidnap the Crown Prince? Besides, Her Royal Highness has already confessed, so what else do you have to say?”

In any case, it was already a fact that the Prince escaped from the capital privately. Even if they had supported the Prince from the bottom of their hearts before, they had to admit at this time that the Emperor had clearly done nothing, but the Prince acted like this, which was big treason.

“In this way, your ancestors would be ashamed. You are not worthy of being the Crown Prince!”

As soon as Xu Rong heard this, he struggled with his almost cold heart and wanted to argue again, but Xiao Yu suddenly said, “It’s all for me to read.”

So many people have heard what he said just now, so what is there for him to argue? At this point, there is no room for change.

“It’s because I don’t have that fate.”

He murmured for a while, then slowly stood up straight, raised his face, and shouted: “I admit it, I really wanted to join the Zhao family in rebelling, but I lost! But you, you took my position, took my wife, you are unkind and unrighteous. You are not worthy of being emperor!”

When it came to the matter of the Emperor’s accession to the throne and the appointment of the empress, the courtiers who followed couldn’t help looking at each other, not knowing how to react.

It was an indisputable fact that the Emperor’s personal virtues are discussed.

However, Xiao Kezhi didn’t look unhappy because of his public exposure. He just asked Qianniu Guard to arrest the Prince and others and then said calmly, “Whether you are worthy of being a monarch, how is that decided by who your wife is? The ancestors passed down the empire to me,  and at least I will not betray the common people and collude with foreign enemies and bandits for my own self-interest.”

To be the Emperor, to rule the world and protect the peace of the people, was not just based on personal gains and losses.

This was a truth that everyone understands, but few people would say it bluntly, and many of the courtiers demanded that an emperor should not lose his personal virtue and set an example for the world. Over time, some people would forget the priority.