TGDS Chapter 87.1

The Good Dad System (Arc 12) Chapter 87.1: (Ancient Times) The People Around My Daughter Have All Been Reborn (10)

Aside from the Crown Prince residing in the Eastern Palace, the two underage princes lived in a special area within the inner palace. Besides attending school, they could also visit their respective mothers in the inner palace.

In truth, there was no real reason for the Crown Prince to have attendants accompany them; after all, his two younger brothers were not yet of court age and could not possibly cultivate any power. However, he harbored resentment, always remembering his second brother’s rise to power and his third brother’s opportunistic behavior in his previous life. He also suspected that they were now colluding with the court. After all, both princes’ mothers came from illustrious families, and their attendants were sons of high-ranking officials. This alone was enough to cause him some trouble.

Perhaps it was fate, but by sheer coincidence, the secret guards he sent out returned within two days to report that the Third Prince, just as he had predicted, had begun asking his uncle to help him recruit talent outside the palace. Well, that made sense. No wonder when he was deposed in his previous life, his third brother seized the opportunity to poach a lot of influence, while his second brother was quite obedient and didn’t do anything untoward.

As for Emperor Xia Ren? He had never considered sending anyone. At this point, his father still treated him like a treasure. As long as he smoothed over the past issues, he wouldn’t anger him. He was just waiting for himself to get older, deal with what needed to be dealt with, and then he could rightfully take over the throne. Of course, if his father didn’t want to, that was another matter. Of course, as long as his father remained well, nothing would happen.

The Crown Prince was resting in the Eastern Palace, leaning back in his chair, deep in thought. Lately, he had been riding high, performing exceptionally well. His father, the Emperor, had given him a position in the Ministry of Revenue, a lucrative post. Several positions he had secured through Prime Minister Gu were now firmly in his grasp, and a steady stream of future benefits was beginning to take shape. He began to consider his next moves.

He hadn’t yet made any drastic moves, waiting to take things one step at a time. Just as the ancients endured hardship to achieve their goals, the Crown Prince was now fishing for his own gain. He wasn’t in a hurry. The Pei family, the Second Prince—they would never be able to trample him.

“Your Highness!” the young eunuch at the door called out loudly. They were very careful. In the past, the Crown Prince would often vent his anger on them, the young eunuchs. Things like shooting arrows with apples on their heads while blindfolded, and if one of them died, it wasn’t good; or fighting like cockfighting, only ending when one of them died… It was common knowledge in the palace that this was not a good job. But for some reason, in recent years, the Crown Prince had suddenly changed.

He no longer played games with them, but his temper was still bad. If you didn’t do what the Crown Prince wanted, you would definitely be harassed behind his back. “What is it?” The Crown Prince frowned, annoyed at being disturbed.

“His Majesty summons Your Highness. Eunuch Shun is waiting at the door.” The young eunuch spoke quickly. In that short time, his forehead was covered in cold sweat. If it weren’t Eunuch Shun from His Majesty’s court, he would have kept his distance to avoid disturbing the Crown Prince, but the other looked quite anxious.

“Alright, I’ll go now.” The Crown Prince immediately stood up, and a courtier quickly came over to help him straighten his clothes. He strode towards the Zhengxia Palace, wondering to himself why his father wanted to see him so early in the morning.

…

“You unfilial son, kneel down!” As soon as the Crown Prince entered the hall, the back door was firmly closed, leaving only Emperor Xia Ren inside.

The Crown Prince immediately knelt down, asking as he did so, “May I ask, Father, why are you so angry? Don’t upset yourself.” His heart tightened; could it be that the missing eunuch hadn’t been properly investigated, and his father had discovered it?

“Don’t upset yourself?” Emperor Xia Ren laughed. “You still don’t know your mistake?”

“What mistake have I made?” The Crown Prince mentally reviewed his actions again, and after confirming that everything he had done was flawless, he remained calm.

Emperor Xia Ren was furious. A thick memorial flew towards him and was thrown directly at the Crown Prince’s face: “Do I have to read it to you?” He turned away, panting heavily. In fact, he had just met with several important officials, and he still vividly remembered the image of Prime Minister Gu kneeling before him, weeping! If it weren’t for this exposure, how would he have known how many good deeds his son had done?

Threatening high-ranking officials, demanding positions in various departments, pocketing bribes, and setting up secret guards everywhere—what a Crown Prince!

The Crown Prince realized that something was wrong and picked up the memorial, reading it quickly. Familiar names appeared one after another. Just seeing these names, he knew that the truth had come out. He felt a little wronged, though. It was just monitoring a few ministers and “caring” about two underage princes—was it really that serious? But when he saw the last few pages, his pupils dilated, and he became very nervous. He immediately knelt down and cried out, “Father, I am innocent! Someone must have framed me!” He was filled with hatred and didn’t know where he had gone wrong. How could he have been accused of spying on the emperor’s whereabouts? Although his father loved his son, he loved himself and his power even more. He could not tolerate this.

“Innocent?” Emperor Xia Ren retorted, a smirk playing on his lips. “I’ve never doubted my own son, yet I never imagined it would turn out like raising a tiger to my own detriment. Even tigers don’t eat their cubs, so why are you so wary of me?”

“Father, I implore you to investigate. I am truly innocent. I would never dare to spy on the Emperor.”

“Then let’s leave that aside.” Emperor Xia Ren asked again, “Or tell me how Li Zhizhang, Zhang Hongjie, and the others obtained their positions? Based on their performance evaluations, how were they promoted to their current positions?”

The Crown Prince’s back was already soaked with sweat. The names Emperor Xia Ren mentioned were his confidants: “Your son, your son…” His mind raced, and he went against the grain, “Back then, Prime Minister Gu repeatedly spied on the Eastern Palace. After being caught, he bribed me with these official positions. I was ashamed and couldn’t resist the temptation, so I complied.”

“You mean, Prime Minister Gu bribed you with a few official positions, and you listened?”

“Yes!”

Emperor Xia Ren was extremely disappointed. Even if what the Crown Prince said was true, what did that mean? It meant that his good Crown Prince was satisfied with just a few minor official positions. With such a narrow vision, what kind of future could he possibly have?

Besides, Prime Minister Gu had already confessed honestly. As the Crown Prince’s tutor, he had the duty to supervise the Crown Prince. After the Crown Prince’s behavior became suspicious, he secretly investigated, only to be accused by the Crown Prince of spying on the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince even directly threatened him, saying that his secret guards were watching the Gu family and demanded several positions. In the end, Prime Minister Gu had no choice but to give in.

Of course, upon hearing this, Emperor Xia Ren also had a lot of opinions about Prime Minister Gu. However, opinions aside, whether the Crown Prince had handled the matter properly was another matter. He ordered the Eastern Palace to immediately send people to investigate. The Crown Prince had just left the Eastern Palace, and the entire palace had been taken into custody. Now, he was just waiting for the investigation results.

“Father.” Seeing that Emperor Xia Ren remained silent, the Crown Prince became even more uneasy.

“Tell me, why are you calling for secret guards to watch over your two younger brothers?” Emperor Xia Ren had already sat down. He took a sip of tea, now feeling he had grasped his son’s true nature: he only recognized the less serious offenses, not the more serious ones. Even on the verge of death, he was still twisting the truth. Since he didn’t acknowledge them, he wouldn’t ask further. But why was he supervising his second and third sons? He was truly puzzled. “I…” Having accumulated debts, he was used to telling lies. The Crown Prince bowed again. “Your subject… Your subject only heard rumors in the palace. The palace servants said privately that my two younger brothers’ maternal families are powerful, unlike me. I rely on Your Majesty’s favor. If that favor is gone…” He twitched his lips and gave a bitter smile. “I’m afraid my position as Crown Prince will be in jeopardy.”

With a sense of foreboding, the Crown Prince immediately began to play the victim. In his previous life, wasn’t his reinstatement solely due to letting his father know his grievances?

Emperor Xia Ren, however, pondered. He paced back and forth in the room, waiting for the Grand Eunuch to return. He wasn’t in a hurry.

The crown prince, kneeling on the ground, could already feel the pain in his knees. You see, ever since he became crown prince, he had only knelt for a long time when offering sacrifices to his ancestors. At other times, even his father, the emperor, would not allow him to kneel for long. He was half furious and half terrified.

Power, indeed, is a wonderful thing. Even after his rebirth and all his hard work, he still has to kneel down immediately at his father’s word, afraid to even rise, lest he anger his father.

But since he was given a second chance, wasn’t it to change his fate? Yes, his fate has changed, and now he’s facing a crisis ahead of time.

“Your Majesty.” Appearing at the door was the Grand Eunuch. The wound on his face had been given basic treatment; now only bruises, swelling, and a little blood were visible. He and everyone he could from the Eastern Depot had just gone to the Eastern Palace for an emergency interrogation, and the results were shocking.

“How is it?” Emperor Xia Ren looked up.

The chief eunuch nodded. This was something Emperor Xia Ren had told him before. A nod meant that what Prime Minister Gu said was true, while a shake of the head meant it was all a frame-up. This nod seemed to strike Emperor Xia Ren’s heart. He smiled instead: “Summon the ministers in.” He quietly looked at his son kneeling there, utterly disappointed. At this point, he no longer wanted to investigate anything. In the end, it was simple: his son had become unruly.

The crown prince, lying on the ground, felt his heart grow colder and colder. He felt as if he had returned to his past life. In his past life, he had knelt here, watching helplessly as the ministers entered, and then he was deposed. When he was reinstated, his brothers had grown up and gathered a whole group of followers. His hands clenched tighter and tighter.

Emperor Xia Ren took a deep breath: “Draft the decree. I want to depose the crown prince.” At his command, there was complete silence below. Only the minister responsible for drafting the decree was already preparing to write it down. He knew the contents of the decree.

Sure enough, it came to this again. The Crown Prince remained kneeling, silent, his expression devoid of any sadness, only cold indifference. “Father, you struck first again in this life. Don’t blame me next, you know what’s coming?” He thought, “I’ve lived like this before. Soon, very soon I’ll be back. It’s nothing special.”

Given a second chance, he wouldn’t be so “docile.”

And… out of the corner of his eye, he saw Prime Minister Gu standing to the side, seemingly composed. Thinking of the list his father had just mentioned, and considering that the memorial didn’t mention her spying on Prime Minister Gu and General Pei, his heart sank. His previous suspicions were overturned.

Could it be… that the one with the same experience as him wasn’t Prime Minister Gu’s second daughter, but Prime Minister Gu himself? Had he died because of him in his past life, filled with resentment, and now sought revenge?

He had calculated everything, but hadn’t foreseen this. Fine, my good Prime Minister Gu, we’ll continue our battle in the future. There’s still time.

…

The Second Prince and the Third Prince were playing chess in the palace. They never discussed anything else while playing.

The Third Prince secretly glanced at his elder brother, occasionally observing him. In his past life, he had always thought his Second Prince was useless and unambitious, constantly spouting nonsense about not competing or fighting, as if he could just run off to some distant land once he had a title, as if that would be a wonderful life. When the Crown Prince was deposed, he immediately began cultivating connections, managing to get ahead of his Second Prince by acquiring many people. In the end, it was the Second Prince who, by finding a good wife, managed to rise to power.