In the first month of the tenth year of Yanxi's reign, Quan Cong, who had been appointed the Great Sima of the State of Wu, was lying on the bed dying.

The whole princess sat beside the couch, weeping secretly.

All the descendants of the family stood in attendance, looking sad and sad.

Quan Cong's eyes were half-open and half-closed, and his eyes seemed to contain both reluctance and indifference to the unknown that was about to come.

Occasionally, those eyes will focus hard, seeming to be looking for something, or looking forward to the last look of the loved ones around them.

The lips are slightly cracked due to long-term dryness, and every difficult breath is accompanied by a small but clearly audible gasp, like a candle swaying in the wind, which may be extinguished at any time.

Seeing Quan Cong's movement, Princess Quan, who was closest to Quan Cong, quickly stopped her tears and called out softly:

"Alang?"

Although Princess Quan was narrow-minded and cruel, after she became a widow and remarried Quan Cong, she actually had a bad temper with Quan Cong.

Otherwise, he would not have given birth to two sons, Quan Yi and Quan Wu.

Not to mention that the couple fully supported Sun Ba and even tried every means to frame the prince Sun He.

Therefore, the two of them can be considered loving each other on weekdays. How can you not be sad when you see your husband like this?

"Xi...Xijun," Quan Cong's cloudy eyes glanced around and moved his lips.

Princess Quan leaned down and wanted to listen carefully, but she didn't hear Quan Cong make another sound for a long time.

She couldn't help asking:

"Alang, do you have something to give me?"

Quan Cong made two "ho ho" sounds in his throat.

Princess Quan finally came to her senses and turned around and ordered:

"You all get out."

Quan Cong's hand, which was held in Princess Quan's hand, moved again, and Princess Quan understood:

"Dalang, please stay."

So Quan Cong's disciples, except the eldest son Quan Xu, all withdrew.

There was a deathly silence in the room.

After a while, Quan Cong seemed to have gathered enough strength to open his eyes and shouted again in a hoarse voice:

"Xijun?"

Princess Quan quickly shook Quan Cong’s hand and said:

"Alang, I'm here."

"I'm afraid it won't work."

"Alang, please don't say that..."

Quan Cong wanted to shake his head, but found that it was extremely difficult for him to even perform such an action. He couldn't help but smile bitterly:

"No need to comfort me, I know my own body."

As he said that, he looked at the eldest son Quan Xu behind Princess Quan, with a somewhat complicated look flashing in his eyes.

There was another deathly silence.

Finally, Quan Cong asked in a low voice, but his words were completely unexpected:

"How is it in the palace?"

Only then did Princess Quan understand why Alang wanted to send out all his disciples except Quan Xu at this time.

She glanced at the whole situation and said with some hesitation:

"Your Majesty has recovered, and he held a court meeting the day before yesterday..."

Naturally, this is not what Quan Cong wants to hear.

He looked at Princess Quan steadily and said nothing.

Princess Quan could only continue to say something vaguely:

"Mrs. Pan has been favored by His Majesty more and more recently. She is openly called the Fairy Lover by His Majesty in the palace, and everyone in the palace calls her a goddess."

"Cough cough cough..."

Quan Cong coughed violently.

"Alang!"

Princess Quan quickly stroked Quan Cong's back.

"It's okay." Quan Cong coughed a few times and regained his breath. He seemed to be relieved, but also seemed a little disappointed. "It seems that the prince is really going to lose power?"

The whole princess remained silent.

"Fortunately...it's a pity..."

Fortunately, of course, the prince is finally finished.

If not, if the prince really ascends the throne in the future, the whole family will be afraid that all of them will die.

"Alang, King Lu...are you really not able to ascend to the throne?"

The couple had been plotting for so long, so Princess Quan naturally understood what Quan Cong was feeling regretful about.

She asked with some reluctance.

"cannot."

Quan Cong closed his eyes, and although his tone was weak, his tone was extremely sure.

As Sun Quan's most trusted son-in-law, he was also one of the most important supporting forces in this battle for the inheritance.

Although Quan Cong didn't quite understand from the beginning, what was the purpose of His Majesty's connivance and even some deliberate provocation of the Nanlu dispute.

But the moment General Lu Xun was forced to die, he had completely woken up.

During this Nanlu dispute, the Jiangdong children who originally had the most political prospects were either dismissed or exiled.

The death of General Shang also means that the Jiangdong family, dominated by the four surnames of Wu County, has once again been greatly weakened, and has even affected the balance of power in the Wu Chaotang.

It can even be said that if King Lu is established as the crown prince, it means that His Majesty will go one step further:

Exterminate all the great families in Jiangdong.

This will only arouse fierce resistance from the Jiangdong family.

Based in Jiangdong, but trying to kill all the local aristocratic families in Jiangdong - King Huan has proven that this is an extremely foolish approach.

Your Majesty has spent so many years, but still has not been able to completely bridge the rift between the Sun family and the Jiangdong family.

If something like this happens again, Dawu will fall apart internally without external enemies.

Therefore, Your Majesty will never do this.

It is impossible for King Lu to ascend to the throne, but this does not mean that Prince Sun He can keep his position.

The same principle applies.

If Sun He really ascends to the position of Dabao one day, he himself and the Jiangdong family behind him will only become more frantic in taking revenge on those who support King Lu today.

By that time, the Jiangdong family will become the dominant family, and the emperor will only gradually be held hostage. For the Sun family, this is definitely not a good thing.

Quan Cong didn't believe that His Majesty couldn't see this.

Therefore, based on the information Princess Quan got from the palace, Quan Cong has reason to believe that His Majesty will most likely choose a third prince.

This is a compromise acceptable to all forces in Dawu.

As for who it is...the answer is almost ready to come out.

The night before Mrs. Pan gave birth to the seventh prince, she dreamed about the dragon's head, which had already spread a lot in the government and the public. Could it be that someone was secretly testing it?

But it is impossible for Quan Cong to explain these words clearly to Princess Quan.

Spying into the emperor's mind is already a crime that risks death, let alone spreading the word after spying, even to the emperor's daughter. This is undoubtedly asking for death.

Although Quan Cong knew that his life was short, he did not want all the Quan family members to be buried with him.

Princess Quan naturally didn't know that Quan Cong was about to die and would still think about it so much. She just reminded:

"But Ah Ji..."

Ah Ji is Quan Ji, the second son of Quan Cong.

With Quan Cong's acquiescence, Quanji attached himself to Sun Ba, King of Lu, and could even be regarded as one of King Lu's most trusted guests.

If King Lu failed in his bid for the throne, one can imagine the fate of Quanji.

Quan Cong did not answer immediately, but turned his attention to his eldest son Quan Xu:

"After I die, if Aji's life is in danger, you can decide and choose one of the brothers' children to adopt him, so that he will not lose his incense."

The tone was calm, but in Quanxu's ears, it made his body tremble slightly:

"Here."

Then he asked with some worry:

"Sir, if my second brother is in trouble, I can still help you. But if this matter involves our whole family, what will happen to me?"

In this battle of Nanlu, important ministers and generals were dying, getting sick, getting sticks, and being exiled...

In his entire life, he has never seen such a huge battle.

When I think about how my second brother is trapped in this situation and cannot be saved, I feel terrified.

"No matter how big the matter is, at most it will only be limited to your second brother, and the rest will not be punished without reason. For the sake of your father's past achievements and your mother's sake, your majesty will never add guilt."
To be continued...