Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

Thunder, I suppose, but it's not very loud and there's no rain, so it's practically harmless.

Of course, this specifically refers to the royal family.

Since he was his own son, the emperor still showed mercy.

The eldest prince was stripped of his title and reduced to a commoner, and is now imprisoned in his mansion, with no idea when he will be released.

The crown prince was deposed and instead granted the title of Prince of the County. He was temporarily confined to the Eastern Palace, and it was estimated that after some time, the emperor would choose to send him to his fiefdom.

Of course, the destination was wherever it was far away, which was equivalent to semi-exile.

Besides these two, the second, third, and fourth princes in the middle were also granted low-ranking titles, and the areas they governed were roughly equivalent to a county, not even as large as Yin Yin's fief.

Moreover, these officials were not allowed to leave the capital; they were only granted remote leadership, meaning they were still living under the emperor's watchful eye.

But after the Crown Prince's coup attempt, even if they felt the Emperor was harsh, they dared not say anything for fear of being implicated.

Down from the sixth prince, there were others who had grown up, but the eldest sixth prince was not yet married, so naturally he did not participate in this conferment of titles.

However, this news was good for Consort Shu and the Sixth Prince. Consort Shu hurriedly went to offer incense to the statue that the Emperor had bestowed upon her, saying that the statue was efficacious.

If you ask Yin Yin, as long as the Sixth Prince grows up well and doesn't covet things that don't belong to him, he'll definitely be better off than his older brothers in the future.

The princes were lifted high and gently lowered, but those princes and concubines who had followed the crown prince and the eldest prince in causing trouble were in for a bad time.

Several adult men directly involved in this matter, including the Crown Prince's maternal relatives and the eldest prince's wife's relatives, were sentenced to death by the emperor.

The women from these families were all taken into the brothels, and the unmarried men either followed them or were sentenced to exile.

After this incident, many of the mansions of the powerful and wealthy in the capital were left empty.

The house next to Princess Yinyin's residence was also deserted. It was secretly intercepted by the emperor, who gave the house and land deeds to Yinyin and planned to rebuild it for Chengsi as a marquis's residence.

As for the inner palace, Consort De lived in constant fear and was eventually given death by the emperor. Before her execution, she learned that her family had been implicated and punished because of her.

Officials in the capital originally thought that with so many fewer people, there would definitely be chaos and manpower shortages everywhere when doing things.

However, while punishing the criminals, the emperor quickly appointed a large number of officials to take up their posts.

The various government offices were initially in a bit of chaos for a few days, but after getting used to things, they got back on track.

At this point, some people started to figure out the tricks of the trade.

Once these talented individuals are convicted, someone else takes over their duties; even if the cabinet operates at full speed, it wouldn't be that fast.

But the fact that the emperor was able to move so quickly can be explained by the fact that he had made preparations in advance.

That's exactly what the deposed crown prince was thinking.

However, he dared not ask the emperor for confirmation, so he could only send word that she wanted to see Yin Yin.

When the messenger came to deliver the message, Yin Yin happened to be in the Xuan Shi Hall, listening to the emperor's next instructions for her.

Upon seeing that it was someone from the deposed crown prince's residence, the emperor was somewhat displeased: "It took so long for him to realize what's going on. It's a real waste of all the years of cultivation I've invested in him."

Not wanting to echo her, Yin Yin asked, "Father, what should I say if the Fifth Prince asks?"

“Answer the truth,” the emperor said, “so that he knows exactly where he went wrong.”

Yin Yin was silent for a moment: "Father, are you really not afraid of upsetting the Fifth Prince?"

"If he can grow up as a result, I would not mind restoring him to the position of crown prince," the emperor said casually.

His willingness to invest the enormous cost of nurturing the crown prince shows that he doesn't believe the prince will grow enough after this ordeal.

Some things cannot be made up for in a short period of time, such as skills.

After leaving Xuan Shi Hall, Yin Yin went to the East Palace.

The East Palace, which was once like a small imperial palace, is now desolate and deserted, with hardly any palace servants to be seen.

When Yinyin left, the Crown Prince was outside the palace watching the withered and falling autumn leaves.

Hearing her voice, the Crown Prince said, "You've come. Do you think I'm like this withered leaf, about to fall away?"

Yin Yin replied, "The Fifth Prince I knew before was proud and arrogant, not this melancholic and sentimental person."

“You do know me well,” the Fifth Prince paused, then continued, “I invited you here simply to ask you a few questions.”

"Father was prepared for the coup attempt against me and us, wasn't he?"

“Yes,” Yin Yin nodded without hesitation, but did not elaborate.

The Fifth Prince looked at her: "May I ask when you started to be wary of me?"

“I’m not entirely sure either,” Yin Yin said after thinking for a moment. “Perhaps it was some time after I took over Xiwei.”

“No,” the Fifth Prince said firmly, “it will only be sooner.”

"My father was always wary of my mother, so after she died, he extended that same wariness to me as well."

"He doted on me on one hand, but on the other hand, he was wary of me and tested me."

The Fifth Prince looked at Yin Yin and said, "Sometimes, I envy you. Only you have Father Emperor's unique favoritism."

"Does Your Highness think this is unique?" Yin Yin thought for a moment and said, "Relationships between people are built through interaction. I remember before, Your Highness was Father's darling."

"How could that be?" the Fifth Prince said in disbelief. "Father only pretended to like me so much to deceive Mother and Grandfather. Look, now that he has the chance, didn't he just depose me?"

"That's what the late Empress and the Duke of Chengen told you, right?" Yinyin glanced at the location of the First Prince's residence. "I think you should listen to other people's opinions, such as your other brothers."

"They probably feel it even more deeply than I do."

“And what about you?” the Fifth Prince said. “Aren’t you my sister now? I want to listen to you.”

Yin Yin lowered her eyelids: "Fifth Brother, instead of asking me, why don't you think back to how Father treated you and the other princes? If you have the chance, you can also ask the First Prince why he betrayed you time and time again. I think he will tell you the truth this time."

The Fifth Prince still didn't believe it: "Is there such a thing as a precious treasure that you can both teach and guard against?"

Yinyin tilted her head and looked at the big tree next to her, which was almost bare of leaves. She drew out her voice and said, "If you insist on this point, you can investigate the late Empress in the future. I believe you will understand why Father Emperor both loved and guarded against you."