“Your Majesty, this is bad! We can’t keep the Crown Prince’s coffin lid shut!”
Emperor Li Shimin of the Great Tang Empire was looking haggard as he urgently discussed what to do with Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui!
Suddenly, a eunuch came tumbling in as if his backside were on fire!
At the news, all three clutched their heads and ran toward the mourning hall... Li Shimin had a splitting headache!
He had only been emperor for half a year, and in that time, natural disasters had struck one after another! Disasters were severe across the land, starving people filled the countryside, and public resentment was rising! As the disasters worsened, rumors began to spread. There were all kinds of things being said!
The most common rumor was that he was unworthy of the throne, having killed his elder brother, executed his younger brother, and imprisoned his father to steal the throne, and that Heaven was punishing him for it!
Otherwise, why had the Crown Prince, who had been perfectly fine half a year ago, suddenly gone mad on the very night he became crown prince? Not only did he babble like a lunatic all day, he also preyed on respectable young women, bullied men, and dominated the markets. He smashed, burned, looted, and did every evil imaginable! He had stirred up so much resentment in the capital that the people were furious and wanted him dead. If he hadn’t been Li Shimin’s only child, and thus someone they dared not offend, people would have beaten him to death with their shoes long ago!
But luckily, even Heaven couldn’t stand the mad prince’s behavior! This morning, a bolt of lightning struck him dead!
When the people heard that the Crown Prince had been struck by lightning, they braved the downpour and poured into the streets, clapping one another on the back in celebration! If the weather had allowed it, they would have chopped down a few bundles of bamboo to burn and make some celebratory noise. But the weather wouldn’t cooperate!
So, after clapping and celebrating together, everyone excitedly ran home and, with happy tears in their eyes, ate three big bowls of rice...
