Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

After Xu Yuan spoke, the ministers beside him also spoke up.

"Excellent, Prince Anyang, this plan is brilliant! We are truly fortunate to have you in our lives."

"Shouldn't we hurry up? There's not much time left for the late emperor's encoffining?"

After a minister raised this question.

The ministers spoke up, saying, "Yes, the day after tomorrow is the day of the late emperor's encoffining. Even if they were willing, it would be too late."

Xiao Yang said, "It's very simple. Our Xiao Kingdom has a rule that if a child is reluctant to leave the deceased, they can postpone it for another seven days, called 'guarding the mausoleum.' We'll use this as an excuse to postpone it for a week... That way, we'll have more than enough time!"

Xiao Yang's words were met with agreement from the ministers.

Looking at the ministers' passive-aggressive manner, Xiao Yang felt nothing but contempt.

He thought to himself, "These ministers are utterly useless."

Xiao Wenqin, who had been listening attentively, spoke up: "Alright, then let's follow the advice of the Prince of Anyang."

Xiao Yang said to Xiao Wenqin, "You are also a scholar, you should know how to write. You must reason with them and appeal to their emotions!"

Xiao Wenqin nodded after listening to Xiao Yang's words.

"Your Highness, do you have any suggestions?"

Xiao Yang pondered for a moment, then said to Xiao Wenqin, "Your Majesty, you should decide on the specifics of how to write it. I'll give you a poem; you can attach it to the announcement!"

Xiao Wenqin looked at Xiao Yang with some surprise, and then said, "Second Brother, you can write poetry?"

After all, Xiao Yang's studies had always been mediocre.

Xiao Yang nodded and said, "I can only say that I know a little bit, just a little bit."

With that, Xiao Yang began to read aloud under everyone's watchful eyes.

"Beans are boiled to make soup, the dregs are strained to make broth. The stalks burn beneath the pot, the beans weep within. We are born of the same root, why such cruel treatment?"

The moment the poem was recited, everyone present was stunned.

When it comes to troop deployment, they are no match for Xiao Yang.

However, they pride themselves on being superior to Xiao Yang in terms of cultural attainments.

However, the poem that Xiao Yang recited at this moment perfectly matched Xiao Wenqin's state of mind.

Especially the last line, "We are all of the same root, why are we so eager to harm each other!"

This pushed the emotions to the extreme.

"What a wonderful poem! What a wonderful poem!" Xiao Wenqin exclaimed. "Second brother, I really underestimated you... I never expected you to have such poetic talent!"

"With this poem, there's no need to write anything else; it's enough to express my feelings..."

Xiao Yang smiled and said very modestly, "Your Majesty, I'm glad I was able to help you. It's almost time; we should go to the mourning hall."

Xiao Wenqin nodded, and then led a group of ministers directly to the mourning hall.

The old ministers who followed him felt much better about Xiao Yang. To be honest, they had previously looked down on Xiao Yang, who was so arrogant, and thought he was only being protected by the emperor.

Xiao Yang's actions have truly impressed them.

...

It wasn't until the afternoon that the ministers wrote a proclamation.

Xiao Wenqin glanced at it; the wording was acceptable, and it matched the letter Xiao Yang had given him.

That can be considered as reasoning with them and appealing to their emotions.

Xiao Wenqin did not release the information directly, but instead went to Consort Yun.

I reported back to Consort Yun.

"Mother, the Prince of Anyang is truly surprising! He was able to come up with such a good solution."

Looking at the notice in her hand, and after reading the letter, Consort Yun said with admiration, "This poem is so insightful...it's excellent."

Xiao Wenqin nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right, not only me, but all the ministers in the court were shocked... My composure, neither humble nor arrogant, also showed my heartache. Those rebellious princes must have been moved when they saw this..."

Consort Yun nodded.

Seeing his mother's expression, Xiao Wenqin quickly asked, "Mother, do you also support this? I thought you wouldn't agree to this method."

Consort Yun nodded and said, "Of course I support it. This method is indeed good. As long as we can lure them here and wipe them out in one fell swoop, we can save a lot of trouble!"

Xiao Wenqin nodded and said, "That's right, Mother, I'll go do it... What surprised me the most this time was my second brother? He's been hiding it quite well!"

Consort Yun gave a cold laugh, then said to Xiao Wenqin, "Your Majesty, you don't think that these ideas, or even that poem, were all Xiao Yang's ideas, do you?"

Seeing Yunfei's expression, Xiao Wenqin asked, "Isn't that so?"

Consort Yun shook her head and said, "Whether it was his scheme or not, I'm not entirely sure. But that poem definitely wasn't written by him! A person's literary cultivation requires years of accumulated experience... and he..."

Consort Yun shook her head dismissively, saying, "He has a powerful backer."

Xiao Wenqin said with a smile, "Even if there's a powerful figure behind me, as long as they're genuinely helping me, it's fine..."

Consort Yun shook her head: "Your Majesty, you must be careful. Before, Xiao Yang was so eager for the position of Crown Prince. Now, he's not competing for it at all. As the saying goes, something unusual is bound to happen..."

Xiao Wenqin smiled and nodded, saying, "Mother, I know! If there are no problems, then I'll publish this notice throughout the land. And then send it to my rebellious prince brothers!"

Consort Yun nodded in agreement and said, "Let Xiao Wenqin do it."

Xiao Wenqin nodded and then left.

After Xiao Wenqin left, a eunuch beside Consort Yun bowed and said, "Your Highness Consort Yun, this Xiao Yang is truly remarkable! He actually came up with this idea!"

Yun Fei nodded: "Xiao Yang has been acting very strangely since he came back! It's like he's become a different person. He seems to have no ulterior motives, but he's actually the one who's after the most. Keep an eye on him and prevent him from taking advantage of the situation."

The eunuch nodded: "Your Highness Consort Yun, I've already sent people to keep an eye on things. However, there haven't been any problems. I haven't found anything amiss on his end."

Consort Yun nodded sharply: "What about that vile Consort Hui?"

The eunuch shook his head and said, "Consort Hui is doing fine, there's nothing wrong with her! Aside from eating, drinking, and relieving herself, she just chants scriptures all day..."

Seeing Consort Yun's worried expression, the eunuch spoke up, "Consort Yun, you don't need to worry. Now that we have Xiao Yang's plan, we can buy ourselves some more time. Once our 'distinguished guest' arrives, all their schemes and tricks will crumble on their own!"

After hearing the eunuch's words, Consort Yun's expression softened considerably.

...

In the following days, Xiao Wenqin announced the method that Xiao Yang had told him.

The announcement shocked the entire nation.

Afterwards, everyone praised Xiao Yang for his profound sense of righteousness, and his poem in particular became widely known throughout the country.

Meanwhile, the princes in various regions received the imperial edict from Xiao Wenqin ordering them to abdicate and yield the throne.

The Ninth Prince, Xiao Zhan, was the first to respond, and he led his troops toward the capital.

Xiao Tao, who had originally intended to observe, set off with his troops without hesitation.

Only the Eighth Prince, Xiao Xiangqing, remained inactive.

On this day, Xiao Tao also set off, and Xiao Xiangqing could no longer sit still.

He summoned all the ministers together and then said, "Now you can all speak for yourselves. Aren't we going to take action?"

At this moment, the ministers nodded and said, "Your Highness, this is clearly a trap... He has simply changed his methods to make us kill each other! Once we have used up most of our troops, we will lose all our trump cards."

Xiao Xiangqing's face was grim as he said, "If we cower now, and they ascend the throne, we'll truly be without legitimacy... Going there now and taking a gamble at least gives us a chance. Otherwise, once they've decided to fight it out, we'll truly become traitors!"

The ministers, their faces grim, said, "Eighth Prince, what we need to do now is remain calm. Our forces are the weakest! Our only chance of victory is to strike when they're in complete disarray. We can't go now..."

“I think it wouldn’t hurt to go. After all, Xiao Wenqin has already said that he has abdicated... If he says that and we don’t dare to go... wouldn’t that mean we have something to hide?”

"Then tell me, what are our chances of winning... Besides, the army isn't allowed into the capital. Once we're in the capital, that's Xiao Wenqin's territory. If he takes the Eighth Prince hostage, do you think you'll retreat or not?"

The ministers immediately started arguing, and to Xiao Xiangqing's dismay, they argued for a long time without reaching a conclusion.

He will miss his Mr. Qianlong very much.

After all, when his Mr. Qianlong was still alive, he always made a very accurate decision whenever there was a problem.

This includes the current situation where troops are stationed in Jiangnan, and they arrived here early on.

If we had been any later, we probably wouldn't have been able to get in.

However, after arriving here, Mr. Qianlong followed Xiao Xiangqing and said he would help him find a way out.

Since leaving last time, I have never returned.

He didn't know if Mr. Qianlong had left.

His ministers argued for more than half an hour.

The biggest problem is that the argument still hasn't yielded any results.

Moreover, what troubled him most was that he felt that what these ministers said was all correct.

He originally wanted to contact his uncle, Dilit, but he used the method they had originally intended to use.

The result was that they couldn't get in touch with them even after trying for a long time.

Just when Xiao Xiangqing was almost in despair, a servant rushed over from outside the door.

Xiao Xiangqing, his head throbbing from listening to the ministers' arguing, waved his hand dismissively, signaling them to stop...

He then asked the servant, "What's wrong? Is there any news?"

Judging from the servant's appearance, the ministers all recognized him as the messenger...

The servants, who had been arguing heatedly, immediately shut up.

The servant bowed respectfully to Xiao Xiangqing and then said, "Your Highness, a carriage has arrived. Inside the carriage is a man dressed in a monk's robe and wearing a bamboo hat, with a child beside him. He says he requests an audience with Your Highness!"

Xiao Xiangqing's eyes lit up immediately upon hearing the servant's words.

Then his face lit up with immense joy.

"It's him! It's him! You all stop arguing! Our savior has arrived!"

As Xiao Xiangqing spoke, she hurriedly got up.

"Let's go pick it up."

He hurriedly went outside.

Once outside, Xiao Xiangqing immediately spotted a carriage.

Beside the carriage stood a man dressed in a monk's robe.

A little boy was with him.

Xiao Xiangqing recognized the man in the monk's robe at a glance; he was Mr. Qianlong.

He recognized the man's figure at a glance; it wasn't the Mr. Qianlong who had been with him earlier.

Xiao Xiangqing's first impression was that it couldn't be an imposter.

However, since this person dared to come, they must have something to rely on.

Without saying a word, Xiao Xiangqing walked over to Mr. Qianlong by the carriage at the door.

"Sir, I heard you were looking for me?"

Mr. Qianlong asked Xiao Xiangqing, "You don't recognize me?"

After hearing this person's voice, Xiao Xiangqing became even more certain that this was not the Mr. Qianlong he knew.

Because the Mr. Qianlong who helped him was a young man, and his voice and other features sounded similar to his age.

The voice of the man in front of me, Mr. Qianlong, clearly belonged to an old man.

Xiao Xiangqing didn't beat around the bush, but said bluntly, "Sir, I recognize your attire... however, I don't think I recognize you!"

Mr. Qianlong said, "Eighth Prince, you have a good eye. The person who helped us earlier was one of us!"

Xiao Xiangqing was taken aback at first, then nodded: "I can see that."

"Before she left, didn't she tell you that she would help you find a way out? I am the way out she found for you!"

After Mr. Qianlong uttered those words, Xiao Xiangqing almost believed him.

After all, apart from him and the previous Mr. Qianlong, no one else could know this.

However, Xiao Xiangqing was still sizing up the person in front of her.

Mr. Qianlong said, "Eighth Prince, do you still harbor doubts?"

Xiao Xiangqing quickly shook his head: "Of course not... Sir, please come in!"

Mr. Qianlong saw that Xiao Xiangqing made a gesture of invitation, but he still stood by the carriage without moving.

Xiao Xiangqing looked at him with a hint of doubt: "Sir, what's wrong?"

Mr. Qianlong smiled slightly at Xiao Xiangqing: "It's alright, Eighth Prince. This is our first meeting, so I naturally didn't come empty-handed. I brought you a gift with me."

Xiao Xiangqing was somewhat stunned. He looked around and finally fixed his gaze on the carriage.

Mr. Qianlong smiled and nodded: "That's right, Eighth Prince, please go in and see for yourself."

The guards standing beside Xiao Xiangqing were about to step forward.

"Your Highness, this gift is something you must accept yourself!"