The Whole Family is Reborn, But I Transmigrated into a Book - Chapter 64

The Sixth Prince achieved his wish and married, receiving many gifts from the Emperor on his wedding day. However, he was far from satisfied. His patience had reached its limit. Waiting for a wife to bear an heir would take a year—far too long in a world where power could shift in an instant.

Seeing all his brothers gathered in the capital, he grew increasingly frantic. He confronted Consort Ling, his face a mask of agitation. “Mother, I can wait no longer. The New Year feast is the time to strike. Have you done what you promised?”

Poisoning an Emperor was no simple feat. Consort Ling had hesitated for a long time before acting. Slow poison was safe, but Old Six was now demanding a lethal dose.

“My son, I told you this cannot be rushed,” she sighed, regretting the foolishness of the child she had raised. Yet, there was no turning back. “I will increase the dosage. After the New Year, His Majesty will fall ill. By then, the Second Prince will have left the capital, and you will have your window. You have only one chance. If you fail, we both lose our lives.”

“I won’t wait that long,” Old Six declared coldly. “I will poison them all at the palace banquet. I am not asking for your advice, Mother. I am informing you: in ten days, I move.”

The ten days passed in a blur of tension. The Eldest Prince sent a letter home, making it clear he had no intention of returning to fight for the throne, a gesture meant to put his brothers’ minds at ease. The Emperor said little; in this life, his only wish was for his sons to live well rather than slaughtering each other.

The New Year banquet was intimate, attended only by the princes and the Emperor’s most trusted ministers. During the meal, the Emperor specifically called upon the Sixth Prince, speaking to him with a gentleness that few noticed. Only Gu Qingjia understood: his father was giving his son one last chance to repent.

Old Six did not take it.

As the banquet neared its end, the Sixth Prince smashed his cup on the ground. Immediately, assassins flooded the hall. The ministers, mostly elderly scholars, panicked. Old Six stood up, his face glowing with a terrifying confidence.

“Father, I have waited a long time for this day.”

“Sixth Highness!” a minister cried. “How can you commit such a rebellious act?”

“Rebellious?” Old Six laughed. “I only want what is mine! Why can’t I sit on the throne? Even that ‘useless’ Old Five is favored now. Am I not also your son, Father? Why did you never look at me?”

Gu Qingzhe, the Second Prince, stood his ground. “Old Six, what nonsense are you talking? Father is in good health.”

“I don’t care! I will sit in that seat!” Old Six’s eyes were wild. “I was always the unfavored one, the one with the weak maternal clan. I am not resigned to it! I am not afraid of blood or sacrifice. I only feared losing to Old Five.”

He turned his crazed gaze to the others. “Fourth Brother, shouldn’t you be a monk? Why did you come down the mountain to meddle in the red dust? And Old Seven, you’re supposed to be a sickly invalid—why aren’t you hiding in your manor? You are all trying to rob me! But I will be the one to prevail!”

He pointed a finger at Gu Qingjia. “And you, Old Five! Why couldn’t you just stay a failure? Why did you have to fight me?”

Gu Qingjia’s expression remained calm. “Old Six, I gave you many chances. I never wanted to fight you; you simply couldn’t get past the demon in your own heart.”

Gu Qingjia had planned to retire to a peaceful fief with Liu Qingyue once the dust settled. It was Old Six who had forced his hand by attempting to assassinate them one by one.

“It doesn’t matter,” Old Six whispered with a distorted smile. “You are all dead. My mother has poisoned the Emperor, and your wine is laced with venom. Within moments, you will all fall.”

The Third Prince, Gu Qingyi, merely raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Bring them in.”

Gu Qingyi’s men brought in the conspirators, including the palace servants Old Six had bribed. The poisoning plan had been intercepted long ago. Realizing he had lost, and knowing there was no mercy for a failed usurper, the Sixth Prince drew a hidden blade.

“I do not regret it,” he gasped as he took his own life. “If there is a next life, I would still…” He died before he could finish the sentence, but everyone knew his meaning. His obsession had traveled through two lifetimes and ended in blood.

After the tragedy was cleaned away, the Emperor called his sons for private audiences. Gu Qingjia was the last.

“Of all my concubines, I loved your mother the most,” the Emperor said, shocking Gu Qingjia.

“But Father, everyone said my mother was… a result of a drunken mistake.”

“The world believed what I wanted them to believe,” the Emperor smiled tiredly. “I am the Son of Heaven; do you think a common palace maid could get near me while I was drunk unless I willed it? I protected her by feigning indifference. If I had shown my love, she would have been destroyed by palace intrigue.”

The Emperor looked at his son. “You have met your uncle; he will help you. Your brothers do not want the throne. Second Brother can win the empire for you, and Third Brother can help you manage it. As for the Eldest, let him have his peace. I wanted you to be a family that supports one another. Despite losing Old Six, I can die in peace knowing the rest of you are together.”

“Father—”

“Go,” the Emperor waved his hand. “Your wife is waiting for you. I am tired, and I miss your mother.”

Gu Qingjia bowed deeply and left. Shortly after, the Emperor passed away in his sleep, a peaceful smile on his lips, clutching a silk handkerchief that had belonged to the woman he loved.

Epilogue

Gu Qingjia ascended the throne, and Liu Qingyue, despite her dreams of the countryside, became his Empress. True to the late Emperor’s wish, the brothers served as the pillars of the state, ushering in a golden age of prosperity.

The Second and Third Princes married their respective loves. However, the Fourth Prince’s story ended in bittersweet silence. Shen Xizhi, whose body had always been frail, passed away the following winter. They spent one final night together before she died; no one knew what they said, and no one asked.

The Fourth Prince never married. He claimed Shen Xizhi was the “tribulation” he was meant to face when he left the mountain. He spent the rest of his years at the Great Xiangguo Temple, though he never officially became a monk. He said his heart could never be still as long as he remembered her—and as long as he remembered her, she was still alive.

In the imperial palace, Gu Qingjia and Liu Qingyue remained devoted to one another. They had a son and a daughter who were doted on by their many uncles, living the healthy, vibrant life that Liu Qingyue had once only dreamed of in the pages of a book.

[THE END]