Chapter 68 Retching

    The old general Wei who rushed in with Shen Mingyun looked at Emperor Tiansheng: "Your Majesty, I'm late, please forgive me." 

    At this time, Emperor Tiansheng also noticed Shen Mingyun, and he remembered that the fourth child wanted to marry this person before. The ger looked really energetic, and he brought someone to rescue him, which gave him a bit of good impression.

    However, for now, let's deal with the eldest child first.

    Emperor Tiansheng looked at Lin Hongguang: "Lin Hongguang, do you know what it means the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, and now the oriole is behind." 

[螳螂捕蝉 táng láng bǔ chán: the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子); to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger]

    Lin Hongguang was very surprised, but his face didn't change. On the contrary the first prince's hands and legs began to weaken. At first he was confident, but now he had no confidence at all, so he could only ask Lin Hongguang for help: "Grandfather..."

    Lin Hongguang knew him very well, so he put down the sword in his hand: "The first prince, we have lost."

    The first prince seemed didn't understand: "Why, we obviously did it perfectly!"

     Lin Hongguang shook his head: "No, we may have fallen into His Majesty's trap long ago, otherwise General Wei wouldn't have appeared here. General Wei, without His Majesty, I'm afraid you wouldn't have come out so easily.

    The Old General Wei smiled and said: "Indeed."

    Just like that, one moment the First Prince was still embracing the joy of being an emperor, but the next moment, he had to worry about the future of the Lin family and him, whether to execute all of his relatives or to be exiled.

    But the First Prince was unwilling, he didn't put down the sword in his hand, his heart was in a mess, and as soon as he was upset, he stabbed his sword in the direction of Emperor Tiansheng!

    Standing the closest to Emperor Tiansheng, the fourth prince with sharp eyes, took a position to block the fatal sword for Emperor Tiansheng: "Father, be careful!" 

    The Old General Wei was still holding his sword, and he rushed up immediately and kicked the first prince to the ground, and then he snatched the bloody sword from his hand.

    Shen Mingyun was also taken aback, he rushed to the fourth prince's side, and supported him: "Fourth prince, what's wrong with you, what's wrong with you?" 

    The fourth prince endured the pain and said, "It's nothing, it only scratched my arm."

    Shen Mingyun knew a little about bandaging, and immediately started to stop the bleeding: "Call the imperial doctor quickly! I'll stop the bleeding for him first!"

    Emperor Tiansheng was pushed by the fourth prince and almost fell down, and he supported himself by holding onto the table, but now when he saw the fourth prince whose arm was scratched, his heart ached.

    He had lost a disobedient son, and he couldn't lose another obedient one: "Fourth child, bear with it for now, and find the imperial doctor to come and have a look!"

    In this way, the matter of forcing the palace came to an end.

     The fourth prince was injured trying to save Emperor Tiansheng, and Shen Mingyun also successfully showed his face in front of Emperor Tiansheng because of his meritorious deed in saving him.

    The crown prince's family survived safely, but they didn't make any meritorious deed in this forcing palace. Emperor Tiansheng was disappointed with him. After fighting with the Lin family for so many years, he didn't even notice the slightest sign. On the contrary, the fourth prince had done a good job in escorting him this time. He could even give up his life for him, he was dedicated son.

    On the one hand, Emperor Tiansheng fell ill and lay on the bed because of the first prince's matter, and on the other hand, because he discovered the military talent of the third child and the dedication of the fourth child. One side he was worried and the other side he was hepppy, it was heartache and also happiness.

    All in all, the current Emperor Tiansheng felt very uncomfortable.

    As for the fourth prince, he had always kept a low profile. Although Emperor Tiansheng felt uncomfortable, he still sent someone to take good care of him. For a while, the status of the fourth prince rose.

    The turmoil because of forcing the palace soon subsided, and the officials should do their work, and each of them performed their duties.

    The people in the First Prince's Mansion should be arrested. As for the Eldest Prince and Concubine Lin, they were waiting for Emperor Tiansheng to deal with them. For now, Concubine Lin was temporarily confined in her palace, and the First Prince was also confined in the First Prince's Mansion.

    No matter how outrageous the pair of mother and son were, it was impossible for Emperor Tiansheng ordered them to be killed.

    When Emperor Tiansheng recovered from his illness, the officials began to report the matter of the first prince's rebellion, and Emperor Tiansheng really wanted to lie back on the bed again.

    However, he still took the time to care about the fourth prince and asked him if he wanted anything. The fourth prince couldn't let Emperor Tiansheng see his ambition. He wanted to maintain his image of being infatuated in front of Emperor Tiansheng, so he asked Emperor Tiansheng to promote Shen Mingyun became his wife.

    On the day when the first prince rebelled against him, Shen Mingyun really shined in front of Emperor Tiansheng, but now, wasn't it just marrying a wife? If the fourth prince married a high-ranking official's daughter or ger, he didn't know whether the fourth prince would be controlled in the future, so it was better to let him marry Shen Mingyun, who had no father and no mother, and only had an uncle who was a minister who had no roots, and he was still worthy of the fourth prince.

    After the first prince's rebellion, Emperor Tiansheng suddenly thought about this matter.

    Before the matter of the first prince was settled, the fourth prince would marry Shen Mingyun as his main wife.

    Gucheng, The Third Prince's Mansion.

    There was a brazier and a heated kang in the room. Apart from the dryness of the room, it was really warm, and you wouldn't feel too cold even if you only wore unlined garment. Luo Shuyu and Li Mingjin were sitting on the kang and playing chess like usual.

    The two of them stopped playing fove in a row today and switched to play go, so they still had to use their brains.

[五子棋 wǔ zǐ qí: five-in-a-row (game similar to tic-tac-toe); Japanese: gomoku; gobang]

[围棋 wéi qí: the game of Go]

    When Luo Shuyu heard that Shen Mingyun was promoted as the main wife, he wasn't that surprised, but he didn't expect that Shen Mingyun would still become the fourth prince's imperial concubine after everything that had happened.

    Luo Shuyu said: "Unexpectedly Shen Mingyun will be promoted to be the imperial concubine of the fourth prince because of the first prince's rebellion. Wouldn't the fourth prince respect him more in the future?"