The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1071 - 150: A Mistaken Encounter

Chapter 1071: Chapter 150: A Mistaken Encounter

Manbao said, "The Prince of Yizhou also wants to snatch his imperial throne."

Bai Shan said, "Currently, the imperial throne belongs to the Emperor. If the Prince of Yizhou wants to snatch it, he would be contending with the Emperor, while the Third Prince is vying for the crown prince’s position, so naturally, the crown prince has to contend with the Third Prince."

Bai Erlang muttered, "Aren’t the crown prince and the Third Prince born from the same mother? Even those born from the same mother are fighting?"

Bai Dalang couldn’t help but whisper: "Even the current emperor and the former crown prince and the Third Prince were born from the same mother, aren’t they? Moreover, the Emperor and the Prince of Yizhou are also of the same blood."

Everyone heard it and indeed it was so.

Manbao sighed, "If I were the Empress Dowager and the Empress, I would be heartbroken, these unfortunate children, they all deserve a beating."

She said, "When my parents were around, my brothers wouldn’t dare to fight over the family property."

Bai Shan however said, "This family property is the whole world. Throughout ancient and modern times, how many cases have there been where father and son, brothers have fought each other over that seat?"

Manbao slightly disagreed, "Who says this world is their family’s property? Sometimes, the common people of the world also have a say. If the crown prince keeps chopping people at will, when he becomes emperor, how fearful will his subjects be?"

Bai Erlang kept nodding, "An emperor who is cruel, we will definitely have a hard time when the time comes."

Bai Dalang was dumbfounded upon hearing it, wishing he could cover their mouths, he turned to look at the teacher, "Teacher, are you really going to let them talk like this?"

Mr. Zhuang, unconcerned, said, "We are just talking within our own home, it’s nothing."

"But walls have ears."

Then everyone turned their heads to look at the walls of their house and reassured with confidence, "Don’t worry, there are houses in between, we’re not shouting loudly, no one will know."

Manbao and the others then said to Bai Dalang, "As long as Senior Brother Bai (big brother) doesn’t tell anyone, it’s fine."

Bai Dalang: ...Am I stupid or dumb? Why would I talk about these deadly matters to others?

Thus, the conversation continued, and Bai Shan, who studied at the Imperial Academy, had access to the most and fastest information.

Moreover, he even made it a point to inquire about the grievances between the crown prince and the Third Prince today. Although few were willing to speak, he indirectly asked about other matters and combined it with what he had heard before to summarize their grievances.

In addition to this, Mr. Zhuang is also not completely oblivious to affairs outside the window. He said, "The crown prince was crowned in the second year after His Majesty ascended the throne. Although there are often rumors among the people that the crown prince dislikes studying and prefers riding and martial arts, in the more than ten years since, the Eastern Palace has been diligent and responsible. His Majesty went on personal campaigns twice and both times the crown prince stayed to oversee the nation, and no accidents occurred. Whether it’s spring planting or autumn harvesting, or even conducting heavenly sacrifices, everything went smoothly, which shows the capability of the crown prince."

Bai Shan nodded, actually, the crown prince is three years older than the Third Prince. According to his schoolmates at the Imperial Academy, the relationship between the crown prince and the Third Prince was not bad when they were young.

As the crown prince got older, he had the responsibility to educate his younger siblings and became inevitably stricter with them. Bai Shan said, "I inquired in detail, the crown prince, when he meets the younger princes and princesses, likes to ask about their studies, often because they are naughty and reprimand the palace staff for their behavior, but, specifically speaking, the crown prince has not really punished any princes too harshly, and several times he actually took punishment on behalf of the younger princes."

Manbao said, "That doesn’t sound too bad, so how did he fall out with the Third Prince?"

Bai Shan said, "The crown prince can’t have children."

This was his guess, and he lowered his voice, "Several times I heard people privately saying the crown prince still has no children, and also that the Third Prince is modest and talented, but as the Eastern Palace, the crown prince’s abilities have always been not bad, so I guess it’s mainly because he has no children."

Bai Shan counted on his fingers, "I calculated, the crown prince has been married for nearly five years now. In these five years, let alone the crown prince’s wife, even the other side consorts and concubines in the Eastern Palace haven’t had a single child. If it were a problem with the crown prince’s wife, then the other concubines should have had children, so I think it’s likely the crown prince’s issue."

Manbao pondered, "Infertility..."

Bai Shan nodded, "Last time, a concubine in the Eastern Palace became pregnant. I heard that both the crown prince and his wife were very happy, but they didn’t tell anyone and protected that concubine. Just when she was three months pregnant and before they had told anyone, she miscarried. The crown prince found out that someone had secretly interfered and traced it back to the Third Prince. The crown prince just went mad."

Bai Shan said, "I heard from people that the crown prince’s wife was also very saddened and collapsed on the spot, and the miscarried concubine felt extremely guilty, thinking she hadn’t protected the child well, and hung herself within a couple of days."

Manbao and Bai Erlang were dumbfounded, "She hung herself just because of a miscarriage?"

Bai Shan nodded gravely, "A lot of people in the academy praised her for her chastity."

Although he couldn’t quite understand where exactly the chastity lay, he still felt suffocated when he learned the full story.

He said, "Anyway, that’s how things are, so the crown prince has been fixated on the Third Prince. Coincidentally, Du Yu has always gotten along well with the Third Prince, and Su Jian is the crown prince’s study companion and also his uncle. On the sixteenth, they were supposed to play ball in the carriage to the eastern suburbs, there was a field, but both stubbornly wanted the same field, and when they couldn’t agree, they started fighting."

Bai Shan turned to Manbao, "This time, if you hadn’t drawn blood from the Du brothers for Su Jian, things would have escalated much worse in the court. Now, it’s just the crown prince and the Third Prince slandering each other, and both the Su Family and the Du Family have kept silent and resolved the matter privately."

If Su Jian had died this time, even if Du Yu would not have been killed, he would have lost half his life, and the Su Family and the Du Family would have become mortal enemies;

If Su Jian hadn’t died, Du Yu would not have had an easy time either, given the severe injuries he had, and the younger generation of both families were not on good terms, fighting in court would have been the least of repercussions.

But Manbao treated Su Jian using blood from the Du brothers, at that time a jar of bright red blood was drawn from each person, and under the watchful eyes of the Su family, it was all transfused into Su Jian’s body.

So the Su Family’s momentum weakened a bit, and they didn’t trouble the Du Family.

Du Dalang also knew he was at fault - the blood-soaked bedding and the injuries he had seen on Su Jian, he heard that a lot of blood gushed from the internal organs.

So afterward, he sent someone to pack up tonics and gifts to send to the Su Family. Today so many people visiting Su Jian was partly to show sympathy, partly out of curiosity about Manbao, and partly because some families had received Du Family’s plea to speak with the Su Family about reconciling.

Although the Su Family did not give a definite answer right away, they also would not impeach Du Yu in court at this time, dragging the Du Family through the mud, so the situation now is much better than anticipated.

The person who had driven nails into Su Jian’s shoes hadn’t expected things to develop into this situation.