CH 81

Chapter 81 – Worshipping the Heavens

Early in the morning of the following day, there was a faint smoke coming out from the camp where they were stationed.

The civil and military officials arrived bright and early at chenshi* to the site where the heaven worshipping ceremony was to take place. They waited for a long time, but the emperor still did not arrive. Not even His Royal Highness or the other princes showed up.

[*T/N: 辰时 chenshi refers to the time from 7 – 9 a.m.]

The officials were all feeling apprehensive at heart. It was going to past chenshi soon…

Xue Gui was secretly rejoicing. He had already received the signal from his son. The mission last night was foolproof. This time, he was gambling with his life on the line to take this action.

Xue Gui looked at the officials standing in front of him, and was secretly feeling proud of himself, thinking that he would stand at the forefront in the future…

Xue Gui’s position was in the middle, not as front as Xue Rong’s. Xue Gui looked at his elder brother Xue Rong, who was at the front of the line. He was envious and jealous of his elder brother Xue Rong, who was the leader of the Xue family. Whenever outsiders talked about Xue Gui, they would call him Lord Xue Rong’s younger brother, rather than by his name.

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The reason that Xue Gui was cooperating with Prince Li was to one day surpass his older brother. In the future, when people mentioned the Xue family, he would the first one to come to mind and not his older brother. So this time, he wanted to accomplish something big…

“His Royal Highness Prince Li is here…”

Prince Li, Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong, walked over in an unhurried manner, surrounded by a crowd of imperial bodyguards.

“Your Royal Highness Prince Li…”

The courtiers looked at Prince Li in amazement. Prince Li should be in Li City. The vassal king was not allowed to enter the capital without an edict, but right now Prince Li was…

Some of the old officials sensed that something was wrong when they saw Prince Li coming but not the emperor or the crown prince.

“The emperor and the crown prince are ill. For the heaven worshipping ceremony this time, this prince will be presiding over matters.” Prince Li said loudly as he looked at the murmuring crowd of state officials.

Prime Minister Xie Chang Qing asked Prince Li, “The heaven worshipping ceremony is a major event. The emperor cannot be absent for no reason. Does Prince Li have the emperor’s written decree?”

Xie Chang Qing was the head of the civil service. At the age of sixty, he had gone through two dynasties, so he refused to believe what Prince Li said. After the prime minister finished speaking, the other ministers also expressed their agreement.

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“The emperor is so ill that he is delirious and cannot issue a written decree. The auspicious time to sacrifice to the heavens is about to arrive. We cannot miss the auspicious time.” Prince Li ignored Xie Chang Qing’s words and insisted on presiding over the heaven worshipping ceremony.

“In regards to the heaven worshipping ceremony, asides from the emperor only the heir apparent to the throne may preside over the ceremony. I’m afraid the esteemed Prince Li does not have this qualification.” Xie Chang Qing was unwilling to step down.

“This prince is also the di son of the late emperor. Why can I not make sacrifices to the heavens? Don’t talk nonsense. The heaven worshipping ceremony may begin.” Prince Li said arrogantly. He had already taken care of Emperor Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen and Crown Prince Xuan Yuan Han Cheng, so it’s only natural and justified for him to preside over the ceremony. He has waited so long for this day to come.

When the late emperor was still alive, he had taken Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong along with him to the heaven worshipping ceremony. Ever since then, Prince Li had sworn in his heart that he would one day stand in the position that his father stood in. And what qualifications did Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen have? He was only able to ascend to the throne through luck. Back then, the late emperor clearly wanted him [Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong] to inherit the throne.

The more Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong thought about it, the more unreconciled he became. Today, he must be the one to preside over the heaven worshipping ceremony and make sacrifices to the heavens. This was also the reason why he rushed to the altar instead of checking on the comatose emperor, crown prince, and other princes first.

When he finished offering sacrifices to the heavens, he would go and take care of those people. If it weren’t for the fact that poison would be easily discovered, then he really wanted to poison the lot of them and clean them out once and for all.

But there was no need to hurry. He still wanted to enjoy the fun of torturing them. After forcing Xuan Yuan Zhao Shen to issue the edict of abdication, he would justly ascend the throne. Then he had plenty of tricks to put those people to death.

Translations by Vanilla Muse.

Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong was familiar with Crown Prince Xuan Yuan Han Cheng’s personality. He and the crown princess had joined hands to kill the crown prince’s children. Once Xuan Yuan Han Cheng found out, Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong could already guess the kind of fate that awaited him. Thinking about how the crown prince annihilated the barbarians, Xuan Yuan Zhao Hong knew he had to strike first, but he did not expect to succeed so smoothly… The heavens were really helping him!

Prince Li arched his eyebrows when eh saw that the ministers were not cooperating with him. The imperial bodyguards stepped forward and surrounded the ministers.

“Prince Li, this is rebellion!” Xie Chang Qing shouted loudly.

Xue Rong watched all of this, frowned, and said nothing. Prince Li was too reckless this time…

At this time, Xue Gui ran forward, “I await Your Royal Highness Prince Li to preside over the heaven worshipping ceremony.” Xue Gui looked at Xue Rong who was standing silently on the side. “Big Brother, why don’t you support His Royal Highness Prince Li with me…”

Xue Rong looked at his excited younger brother and sighed in his heart. The matter has come to this point, there was no other alternative, their Xue family could only stick to this course until the very end.

Prince Li watched with satisfaction as the Xue family and the ministers that sided with the Xue family acknowledged their allegiance to him. They were just about to step onto the sacrificial altar when an angry shout came from the distance.

“Prince Li, you dare!”