Quick Transmigration: Drama Queen's Daily Life-Chapter 771 - 760: The Substitute Younger Sister

"You are presumptuous! How could I have once trusted you so much and appointed you as Regent King, only for you to treat me this way?" Emperor Wen turned red with anger, coughing heavily as if he were an old man on his deathbed.

"Trust?" Duan Huaijin sneered sarcastically, "That wasn’t trust. It was because you had no one else to use. You thought the harsh weather of the Northwest had eroded my ambitions, so a little kindness from you would be enough for me to be eternally grateful."

"You..." Emperor Wen, infuriated, stood up only to collapse back onto his throne.

The Ministers panicked: "Your Majesty, please take care of your dragon body!"

"Ah, take care of the dragon body? Of course, you all wish for my elder brother to live well, but even if his body stays healthy, he won’t survive today," Duan Huaijin coldly declared.

He then stared intensely at Emperor Wen and said, "Elder brother, you’ve stolen my throne for so many years, it’s time to give it back to me."

Emperor Wen retorted angrily, "Stolen? Did you think because Father Emperor favored you, he would pass the throne to you? You’re mistaken; Father Emperor had chosen me all along."

"You’re lying. When Father Emperor held me, he clearly said that if I wished, he would pass the throne to me. You altered Father Emperor’s will," Duan Huaijin angrily pointed at Emperor Wen.

Emperor Wen laughed mockingly, "So that’s what you always thought. That was just a casual remark by Father Emperor. Back then, when foreigners were invading and our kingdom was unstable, do you think Father Emperor would entrust the Jiang Shan to a ten-year-old boy? Only I could stabilize the nation at that time. Although Father Emperor was incompetent, he would not jest with the entire nation."

Duan Huaijin felt that Emperor Wen might be right, but he didn’t want to admit it and continued to argue, "If you didn’t alter the imperial decree, why didn’t you let us see Father Emperor one last time? Why did you send me far away? Is that not because you’re guilty?"

"Me, guilty?" Emperor Wen’s mood became calmer, "I didn’t let you see Father Emperor because he died suddenly from an illness and deteriorated rapidly; I didn’t want to tarnish his image in your minds. As for sending you to the Northwest, when was that? It was after you turned fifteen, after I discovered your military talents. I knew you could fend off those ambitious foreigners."

Duan Huaijin pursed his lips tightly, his previous perceptions from the last decade vastly different from what he was hearing now, he then questioned, "Then why have you never summoned me to the capital? Why suppress me every time? Are you not wary of me?"

"That’s jealousy," Emperor Wen scoffed at himself, "I am the eldest son. Since birth, Father Emperor had high expectations for me, and was very strict. You were Father Emperor’s late-life son, he doted on you from the beginning and even reconsidered the succession in favor of you. Moreover, all of Father Emperor’s private treasuries were given to you. How could I not be jealous? Yes, the rewards I gave you may not be as much as your three other brothers, but just your private treasury alone is more than the one I, as the Emperor, possess. Isn’t that enough?"

Duan Huaijin turned his head away, shouting sharply, "No matter how you justify it, I will secure this throne, come in!"

Emperor Wen and the ministers felt despair, but after a brief wait, realizing Duan Huaijin’s men hadn’t come, began to suspect something was amiss.

"Elder brother, your Imperial Brother has come belatedly to save you, please forgive me." Just then, Prince Zhao burst in with troops, soon followed by Prince Liang, who had also returned from his fiefdom and brought troops into the palace.

All factions looked at each other in complete astonishment.

Emperor Wen breathed a sigh of relief: "How did you all return to the capital?"

"Wasn’t it elder brother who summoned us back to the capital? I even have elder brother’s handwritten letter and a token!" Prince Zhao took out a letter and a Jade Pendant.

Prince Liang similarly took out two items: "I have this as well."

What in the world is going on?

Emperor Wen’s thoughts were in utter chaos; he felt that the letter wasn’t written by him, but it was a good way to extricate himself from the situation.

"Second, arrest Prince Li and imprison him in the Heavenly Prison," he ordered sternly, "Fourth, go to Prince Li Mansion and detain everyone, interrogate them harshly."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Because of the timely arrival of Prince Zhao and Prince Liang, Duan Huaijin had no choice but to surrender without resistance, his face ashen.

After ten days, the charges against Prince Li of privately making weapons, bribing officials, embezzling military provisions, and intending to rebel were publicized to the World. However, the current Emperor, out of mercy and considering his years of meritorious service guarding the Northwest, spared him from the death penalty.

Although the death penalty was spared, the living penalties were unavoidable; his status as a Prince was stripped, reduced to a commoner, and he was to be imprisoned in Prince Li Mansion for life, with all his property confiscated.

Uncle Wang and Aunt Chen heard the news, but before they could take any action, the Old Lady panicked first, personally driving out their daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren from Prince Wang Mansion. According to the Old Lady’s wishes, she did not want Prince Wang Mansion to also be suspected of rebellion; the Wang family had finally reached their current status and could not afford any mistakes.

Aunt Chen felt vindicated after hearing the news, but she still thought the Old Lady was too heartless. In the end, she sent the Ye Family out of the capital and even provided them with some travel funds.

After knowing this, Uncle Wang was immensely grateful to Aunt Chen. Being a scholar, he knew not to act excessively in all matters. Fortunately, his wife had promptly saved his reputation, and from then on, the relationship between the husband and wife became even more harmonious.

After experiencing previous affluence, how could the Ye Family endure their current poverty? Ye Borong and Ye Wangshi, filled with resentment, after suffering a few hardships, vented their anger on their once most beloved eldest daughter, Ye Xia.

"I once thought you were a blessed child, but it turns out you came to take revenge. If not for your scheming thoughts, how could we have fallen into today’s situation? What sins did I commit to have given birth to a daughter like you? Would it have been better if Qiu’er had been the healthy child? Now that Prince Li has been deposed, Qiu’er’s position as Princess Consort remains, and it’s all because you usurped her nourishment in the womb, which led to her early demise. She was born to be an Empress; it’s all your fault, you disaster, I genuinely regret giving birth to you."

Devoid of their former wealthy life, enduring having to watch others’ faces even while eating a bowl of noodles, Ye Wangshi turned into a shrew, frequently beating and scolding Ye Xia abusively.

Ye Xia endured for a long time but finally couldn’t hold back: "I caused it? Would today’s situation exist if you hadn’t been partial? Didn’t you support everything I did? And now you blame me? What a joke!"

"How dare you talk back? I’ll tear that deceitful mouth of yours!" Ye Wangshi lunged forward to hit her.

In the end, she was stopped by Ye Borong, who narrowed his eyes: "Stop, what if you hurt her face?"

"What do you mean?" Ye Wangshi was stunned, and a bad premonition arose in Ye Xia’s heart.