usatvline Chapter 305 305 Kings, Marquises, Zhuge Liang, and Their Conquests
Chapter 305 305 Kings, Marquises, Zhuge Liang, and Their Conquests
Chapter 305 305 King Zhuge's Conquests
After Chunyu Yang left the capital for his fiefdom in Qianzhou, the capital became Chunyu Jing's domain. He successfully married Ye Yingrou as his principal wife, established a marriage alliance with the Marquis of Anshi's family, and received financial support from the Xu family.
He thought that Chunyu Yang had lost his military power and had been exiled to the southern frontier, so there was no one in the capital who could compete with him for the position of crown prince. However, the emperor was reluctant to appoint an heir and preferred to leave the position vacant for two years.
Just as Chunyu Jing was wondering if the emperor planned to wait until Chunyu Yang's three-year mourning period was over and he married Ye Pianran before establishing an heir, his spies in the palace sent word that the emperor had already written an edict to establish the sixth prince, Chunyu Shan, as the crown prince.
Chunyu Jing had painstakingly planned for so long, thinking that the position of crown prince was already in his grasp. However, he did not expect that the emperor would rather appoint a useless person as crown prince than hand over the country to him. He was so angry that he began to prepare to seize the throne.
He knew that Chunyu Shan and Liu Lulu had a good relationship, and that Liu Lulu was Ye Pianran's master. He believed that Liu Lulu could cure Ye Yingrou's poison. In order to prevent his plan to usurp the throne from failing, he offered a high price to win Liu Lulu over to his camp, but Liu Lulu refused.
Liu Lulu said that he was the son of her enemy, and that she would never help him even if it meant death.
Liu Lulu was later found dead in Fenxiang Courtyard. Shuntian Prefecture came to investigate the case, and following the clues, they finally found out that it was the work of Jianghu bandits, but in fact, Chunyu Jing killed her to eliminate future troubles.
Mo Youguang, Liu Lulu's senior brother and former Grand Master of the Left Prime Minister's Office, rushed to Qianzhou overnight and told Ye Pianran about Liu Lulu's murder by Chunyu Jing.
Meanwhile, Chunyu Jing began implementing his plan to usurp the throne. The emperor was once again poisoned by Ye Yingrou and fell ill on his bedside. The imperial physician diagnosed it as a common cold, but no matter what treatment he received, his condition did not improve and instead worsened, which alarmed the emperor greatly.
He remembered that he had the same symptoms when he fell ill last time. After Consort Zhuang came to take care of him, he died not long after. He instinctively felt that there must be some connection between the two times. After thinking carefully, he found that he had been in contact with Consort Min the night before he fell ill both times.
Consort Min was Chunyu Jing's biological mother.
The emperor had long planned to make Chunyu Shan the crown prince, but he had not told anyone else. He was also alone when he wrote the edict, but he suspected that the news of his intention to make Chunyu Shan the crown prince must have been leaked.
The emperor's sense of crisis made him realize that his situation was very bad. He summoned his most trusted shadow guard and sent him to Qianzhou to bring Chunyu Yang back to the capital. He also hid the edict to establish Chunyu Shan as the crown prince.
Chunyu Jing's influence had already permeated every corner of the palace. When he learned that the emperor had sent people to Qianzhou to recall Chunyu Yang, he sent assassins to eliminate them along the way. If they couldn't be eliminated, he would try to delay their progress.
When Ye Pianran learned that Liu Lulu had died at Chunyu Jing's hands, she guessed that Chunyu Jing wanted to usurp the throne. Without waiting for the emperor's summons, she and Chunyu Yang were already on their way back to the capital.
The assassins sent by Chunyu Jing to kill Chunyu Yang were led by Ji Linchuan and belonged to a top-ranking assassin organization in the martial arts world. Ji Linchuan had been defeated by Chunyu Yang before, losing an arm, and harbored a deep hatred for him; this assassination mission suited him perfectly. Although Chunyu Yang had already returned to the capital, Ji Linchuan was also very fast; Chunyu Yang and Ye Pianran encountered Ji Linchuan as soon as they arrived in Shu Prefecture.
Thanks to the spatial treasure that Ye Pianran possessed over the years, Chunyu Yang's martial arts skills have become even more refined and powerful than they were two years ago. Ji Linchuan is no longer his match. However, he is in a hurry to return to the capital. Ji Linchuan intends to kill him. The two clashed several times on the way, neither of them gaining the upper hand, but they successfully delayed Chunyu Yang's progress.
When Chunyu Yang, unable to bear it any longer, killed all the assassins who had intercepted him and rushed back to the capital with Ye Pianran, the emperor had already "died of illness," Chunyu Shan had also disappeared, and Chunyu Jing had ascended the throne as emperor with a fake imperial edict, changing the era name to Kangning.
Chunyu Yang suddenly appeared in the capital and questioned Chunyu Jing about the cause of the emperor's death in front of all the civil and military officials. Chunyu Jing presented several pieces of evidence to prove that Chunyu Shan had killed the emperor. Chunyu Shan, who had failed to usurp the throne and was afraid of being held accountable, had fled and disappeared.
Then, Chunyu Jing falsely accused Chunyu Yang of attempting to retaliate against him by leaving his fiefdom without an imperial edict. He then immediately ordered the imperial guards to detain him and imprison him.
The Imperial Guards were no match for Chunyu Yang, but Chunyu Yang naturally couldn't make a move, as that would confirm Chunyu Jing's claim that he intended to rebel. So he could only remain inactive and wait for the right opportunity.
Upon learning that Chunyu Yang had been imprisoned by Chunyu Jing, Ye Pianran sought an audience with Chunyu Jing that very night.
Upon seeing Ye Pianran again after many years, despite being poisoned by Ye Yingrou's heart-cursing spell, Chunyu Jing couldn't suppress his feelings for her. The desire to possess and conquer her grew wildly, and he immediately tried to force her to become his own. However, he didn't expect that this action would disturb the heart-cursing spell planted by Ye Yingrou, and he was immediately attacked by the spell, bleeding from all seven orifices.
Upon discovering that the Heart Gu was showing signs of backlash, Ye Yingrou sensed something was wrong and rushed towards Chunyu Jing's bedchamber. When she arrived, Chunyu Jing had already recovered, and she realized that she had lost contact with the Heart Gu within Chunyu Jing's body.
It turns out that Ye Pianran made a deal with Chunyu Jing: if she could help him remove the heart-cursing Gu from his body, he would let Chunyu Yang leave the capital.
Chunyu Jing was initially unwilling to agree, but Ye Pianran added another condition: she would stay in the capital as a hostage. Only then did Chunyu Jing agree to let Chunyu Yang leave.
Chunyu Yang was worried about Ye Pianran staying in the capital, but Ye Pianran reassured him that she should return to Qianzhou to recuperate.
In reality, Chunyu Shan hadn't disappeared; rather, Chunyu Jing had broken both his legs and imprisoned him in the Blackwater Prison, subjecting him to constant torture. While Ye Pianran remained in the capital as a hostage, she secretly searched for Chunyu Shan's whereabouts and gathered Chunyu Yang's connections in the capital, gradually infiltrating the palace. After returning to Lingnan, Chunyu Yang outwardly appeared to be under Chunyu Jing's control, but secretly he was reorganizing the Xuanjia Army he had once led, preparing to seize the opportune moment to return to the capital, rescue his wife, and kill Chunyu Jing.
Ye Pianran finally found Chunyu Shan, who had been tortured beyond recognition, in the Blackwater Prison. She faked Chunyu Shan's death from the torture and rescued him, nourishing his body with the spiritual spring every day. Chunyu Shan slowly returned to normal.
Since returning to Gongsun Yuan's side, Ye Yanxun's tendons in his hands and feet have been reconnected by Ye Pianran. Although he still walks with a slight limp, he can now move freely. He also accompanied Ye Pianran back to the capital, but he did not make a public appearance. Instead, he quietly returned to Ye Yingrou's side and regained her trust.
With the help of Ye Yanxun, Ye Pianran arranged for people to completely infiltrate the palace and collect all the evidence of Chunyu Jing and Ye Yingrou's treason.
With everything prepared, on another Mid-Autumn Festival night, Chunyu Shan appeared at the banquet holding the edict actually written by the emperor years ago, causing an uproar among the officials. Chunyu Jing ordered the Imperial Guards, who were loyal to him, to arrest Chunyu Shan on charges of plotting to assassinate the late emperor. However, the Imperial Guards suddenly turned against him and produced evidence of Chunyu Jing and Ye Yingrou conspiring to murder the former crown prince and crown princess, poisoning the emperor and the seventh prince, delaying supplies leading to the loss of the front lines, forging edicts, and plotting treason and usurpation, among other things.
Meanwhile, Chunyu Yang appeared in the capital with the Xuanjia Army and beheaded Chunyu Jing in the Golden Hall. Ye Yingrou fell from the city wall and was riddled with spears by the Xuanjia Army, dying instantly.
After Chunyu Jing's death, Chunyu Yang supported Chunyu Shan's ascension to the throne. Subsequently, he led the Xuanjia Army and Ye Pianran to the border to defend against foreign enemies. After successfully repelling the allied forces of Xiliang, Beiman, and Dayue and establishing a century-long peace agreement, he returned to the capital, returned the Tiger Tally and the Xuanjia Army, and then traveled the world with Ye Pianran, far away from the capital.
——End of the book——