QT: The Rescue Of The Miserable Bigshots-Chapter 318 - 10.19

"The three former princes cannot remain."

After the long coronation and Empress Conferment ceremony, Xiao Jinan finally returned to his bedchamber with his new Empress. Just as he was about to act, Jiang Jiamian spoke calmly.

By then, Xiao Jinan had already renamed the dynasty Xuan, marking the official end of Great An.

The three princes once imprisoned were now merely former princes.

Xiao Jinan nodded. "Don’t worry. I’m not soft-hearted."

Whether they were innocent or not no longer mattered.

Their status alone sealed their fate.

No dynastic transition is bloodless.

Someone always has to die.

"Shadow One."

Without loosening his hold on Jiang Jiamian, Xiao Jinan spoke into the darkness. "Take men and kill the three of them, cleanly. As for their families, conscript their concubines and kill their children."

It wasn’t cruelty.

It was necessity.

Mercy in usurpation only invited endless disaster.

Jiang Jiamian raised a hand to his chin. "Wait."

Xiao Jinan paused. "What is it?"

He was already impatient, but Jiang Jiamian’s tone was serious.

Ignoring it would be unacceptable.

Jiang Jiamian smiled slyly. "There’s no need for secret assassinations. Kill them openly. Announce to the world that upon ascending the throne, you exterminated the entire Great An royal family, including the Fourth Prince."

Xiao Jinan froze, then his eyes lit up.

"Exactly!" He laughed. "As expected of my Empress, you’ve thought of everything!"

Chen Tangqing, the Fourth Prince, had escaped.

If he ever sought to raise forces, he would certainly use the banner of the Fourth Prince to claim legitimacy.

But what if the whole world believed the Fourth Prince was already dead?

What if the entire royal bloodline of Great An had been wiped out?

Who would dare support a dead man’s restoration?

"What?!"

Inside a dilapidated temple on the outskirts of the city, upon hearing the news that he had been ’killed’ by the King of Huainan who stormed the capital, the Fourth Prince, Chen Tangqing, nearly ground his teeth to powder.

"He wants to make me a dead man in the eyes of the world, leave me with no hope of restoration!"

Chen Tangqing clenched his fists, hatred burning in his eyes.

On the day the King of Huainan attacked the capital, Chen Tangqing had originally planned to mobilize his own troops to confront him. If things went well, he might even have used his merit in supporting the new emperor to suppress the King of Huainan and emerge as the ultimate victor in the chaos.

However, at that critical moment, the girl he had secretly loved for three years, Yu Miaomiao, the Yu family’s daughter, unexpectedly disguised herself as a maid and entered his residence.

The first thing she did was urge him to retreat immediately, preserve his strength, and plan for a future comeback.

Chen Tangqing’s first reaction had been shock.

This girl seemed different from the naive young woman he remembered.

More importantly, he clearly knew that she had been in love with the Seventh Prince for the past two years...

So how could she suddenly appear at his residence at such a critical moment?

Yet despite the strangeness, seeing his beloved arrive in such a hurry, panic written all over her face, Chen Tangqing, after a brief moment of hesitation, still chose to believe her.

He fled with her in disguise.

At the time, he had thought that as long as he was alive, there would always be hope. He still had the identity of a Great An prince, remnants of forces he could contact, and the Yu family, whom he believed he could persuade. Even if Xiao Jinan seized the throne, restoring Great An would not be impossible.

But now... He had been ’killed’ by Xiao Jinan.

His title had been stripped away first.

Restoration had become nearly impossible.

Because as long as he possessed the identity of a Great An prince, his uprising would be legitimate. With a single call to arms, loyal ministers and citizens of Great An would rally to his banner.

But once that identity was gone...

Who would follow a commoner in rebellion?

"Can you help me contact Miaomiao?"

Chen Tangqing reluctantly grasped the hands of the only two trusted confidants he had managed to contact since leaving the temple.

"Reporting to Your Highness..." One of them said cautiously, "Today is the coronation ceremony. General Yu entered the palace to pay his respects, and the Yu family, following custom, offered their congratulations from their residence. It seems... impossible today."

"Then tomorrow!"

The more Chen Tangqing thought about it, the darker his prospects became. Yet the Yu family remained his final thread of hope.

As long as the Yu family was willing to fully support him, and with the Northwestern Gele and Tuojia eyeing the Central Plains, there might still be a chance when chaos erupted both internally and externally.

"Tomorrow, you must find a way to deliver a message to Miaomiao!" Chen Tangqing said firmly. "I must see her."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

In the end, he couldn’t even give the woman he loved a future, and instead had to rely on her just to survive, plotting a restoration that might never come.

How had everything turned out like this?

"Jiamian... my Jiamian... you’re so beautiful."

Inside the palace, Xiao Jinan was finally able to enjoy an uninterrupted, passionate night with his empress after ascending the throne.

This unprecedented satisfaction made him wish time would simply stop.

"Hn..."

Jiang Jiamian tilted his head back, his cheeks flushed, eyes already unfocused. Hearing Xiao Jinan’s voice again, he irritably lifted his eyelids and shot him a glare.

"If you want to do something, then do it. Don’t keep whispering in my ear."

Xiao Jinan: "..."

My wife is fierce. I love it.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress."

Early the next morning, a eunuch’s voice rang out from outside the palace doors.

Because Jiang Jiamian had adamantly refused to be addressed as ’Empress’, the awkward title ’Your Majesty the Empress’ had come into existence.

Though strange at first, after repeated use, people found it unexpectedly smooth to say, and even pleasant to hear.

Xiao Jinan frowned. He glanced at Jiang Jiamian, who was still sleeping deeply, then carefully slipped out of bed. Putting on his outer robe and shoes, he opened the door before the eunuch could speak again.

He wanted to see what matter was so important that it dared disturb his empress’s sleep at dawn.

Last night, he had been in too good a mood and had gone a bit overboard.

Jiang Jiamian had been exhausted, and only just managed to fall into a deep sleep. If this eunuch didn’t have a truly urgent reason, Xiao Jinan was fully prepared to have him dragged out and executed.

Despite his thoughts, his movements were uncharacteristically gentle.

He quietly closed the door, then gestured for the eunuch to follow him farther away before speaking in a low voice.

"What is it? From now on, unless it’s an extremely urgent matter, no one is allowed near the imperial bedchamber in the morning."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The eunuch wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Your Majesty, the Imperial Father-in-law has arrived. And... he appears to be in a very bad mood. When he entered the palace, we paid our respects according to the proper etiquette for the Imperial Father-in-law, but he refused to accept it."

Xiao Jinan’s pupils shrank.

He instinctively glanced back toward the bedchamber before lowering his voice. "What did you say? Jiang Qingshan has arrived? Already?!"

He had clearly instructed people to escort Jiang Qingshan to the capital only after things had fully settled.

According to all estimates, the journey should have taken at least one or two months.

Yet Jiang Qingshan had arrived in less than half a month, and was even demanding an audience early in the morning?

Could it be that he had traveled day and night...

Just to interrogate him?

Even though Xiao Jinan was now the Emperor, the most exalted man in the land, he couldn’t help but feel a creeping sense of nervousness and guilt.

Like an ugly daughter-in-law meeting her in-laws...

No, worse.

Like a fragile porcelain son-in-law about to face an iron-willed father-in-law.

When he had declared Jiang Jiamian Empress, he had been imposing and decisive.

But when it came to Jiang Qingshan...

Xiao Jinan truly didn’t know how to deal with him.

That was Jiang Jiamian’s father. And a father deeply loved and respected by his son.

How could Xiao Jinan possibly dare use imperial authority to pressure him?

His wife would tear him apart.