Chapter 177 Mid-Autumn Festival
Princess Yan’s family is a northern military family. They have no title and have fallen into decline over the years.
Given the court's restrictions on royal family members, it would be impossible for him to marry the daughter of a general who is still active in the army.
Zhao Xing was not interested in investigating whether the nephew of Princess Yan had really made a mistake. Since the Prince of Yan said so, it must be true.
But this does not mean that this is the real purpose of King Yan.
Zhao Xing felt that this was just an excuse by King Yan, whose purpose was to send the two women to him.
Even if this incident had not happened, King Yan would have found some other reasonable excuses.
The reason why the King of Yan sent him women was not because he hoped that he would have many children and leave a bloodline. It was also not because he wanted him to indulge in women and cause the emperor to be disappointed in him.
After all, Zhao Xing was the only son of the emperor. No matter how obsessed with women he was, the emperor would never pass the throne to his nephew because of this.
The purpose of King Yan was most likely to make him die from indulgence in women.
If Zhao Xing indulged in women, harmed his body, and died without leaving any offspring, King Yan would have his chance.
He guessed all this when King Yan asked the two women to pay their respects to him.
That's why he didn't refuse directly, but pretended to be lustful and accepted the two women.
The purpose is to make King Yan relax his vigilance.
After Sanshui left, Zhao Xing checked the gifts sent by King Yan again.
The King of Yan was quite generous and the gifts he gave were indeed as he said, all very valuable things.
A rough estimate is that it is around tens of thousands of taels.
But this money is nothing to King Yan.
After all, the Song Dynasty valued civil officials over military officials, yet it treated military generals very favorably in terms of salaries.
In this regard, members of the royal family are treated more favorably than military generals.
Of course, this refers to those who are closely related by blood.
…………
Prince Yan returned to the Prince Yan's Mansion, got off the carriage and entered the mansion. After walking around a lot, he came to the study.
"Please invite Mr. Chu here."
After Prince Yan gave the order, he closed his eyes and reviewed what had happened when he met Zhao Xing in the East Palace.
I don't know how long it took, but then I heard footsteps coming in.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!" the visitor bowed and saluted.
Prince Yan opened his eyes, pointed to a seat beside him, and said, "Please take a seat, Mr. Chu. I am itching to play chess with you."
Mr. Chu was in his forties, dressed like a teacher. He nodded slightly when he heard this, then came over and sat down next to Prince Yan.
The maid brought the chessboard and started to work.
"How is Yuan'er's academic performance?" asked Prince Yan.
"The prince is very intelligent and learns things quickly. More importantly, he works very hard and completes the assigned studies very well. I don't need to worry about him." Mr. Chu said with a smile.
A trace of relief flashed across Prince Yan's eyes, and then he sighed, "What a pity..."
As they were talking, the maid had already set up the chessboard and served tea.
"You all go down." Prince Yan waved his hand.
Mr. Chu held the black piece, picked up a chess piece from the chess box, and placed it on the chessboard. Seeing that the maid had already left, he said softly, "It's a pity, it's too early to say anything now."
The King of Yan placed a piece and said, "I have already sent the person over, but will it really work?"
"It's just like playing Go. Sometimes a move can be useful, or it can be a useless move. It all depends on what the prince does next." Mr. Chu said with a smile.
"I think the prince may have already figured it out." Prince Yan said.
"What His Royal Highness saw was just what I wanted him to see. It doesn't matter." Mr. Chu said.
The King of Yan stopped his move and frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Your Highness, the prince was assassinated before. Logically, some clues should have been found, but the emperor has not taken any action. Don't you think there is a problem?" Mr. Chu said.
"There is indeed a problem. I have been feeling a little uneasy these days." Prince Yan said, casually dropping the chess piece in his hand.
Mr. Chu saw the King of Yan's chess piece fall and said with a smile: "Your Highness, sometimes when your mind is disturbed, it will affect your judgment."
As he said this, he picked up the chess piece and placed it in a position.
King Yan looked around and saw that many of his chess pieces had been eaten, but he had no intention of paying attention to the chessboard at all. He said, "Sir, can you please stop beating around the bush?"
He hated these scholars the most. Although they had some abilities, they always liked to speak in a roundabout way and act as if they were unfathomable.
But sometimes he had to rely on these scholars.
Mr. Chu said as he picked up the chess pieces: "If Your Highness were an outsider and heard that the Crown Prince had been assassinated, who would be the most suspicious in your first reaction?"
"The emperor has only one son, so naturally, after the crown prince dies, the person who is most qualified to compete for the throne is the most suspicious," said Prince Yan.
"That's it. Once the crown prince dies, Prince Yong and the prince are most likely to become the heir apparent, and naturally they are the biggest suspects. Although all the clues now point to Prince Yong, the government has not taken any action. The only possibility is that the evidence is not sufficient," said Mr. Chu.
"But the emperor must be very angry about the assassination of the prince. Even if there are only clues, he can arrest the person first and interrogate him strictly. How can he wait for conclusive evidence?" said Prince Yan.
He also has only one son. If he were in his place, he would take action as soon as he saw the slightest clue and would not wait until there was solid evidence.
As for making a mistake, so be it. What impact will it have?
If he has this idea, what about the government?
"If Prince Yong is the only suspect, the government will naturally look for him and take action," said Mr. Chu.
"Do you mean that the emperor suspects me?" Prince Yan's face changed.
"That's right." Mr. Chu said, "Only this can explain why the Tongguan family has not taken action yet."
Prince Yan pondered for a while and said, "So you asked me to send a woman to the prince, using this seemingly clumsy method to make the emperor think that this matter has nothing to do with me?" "Your Highness is wise." Mr. Chu complimented.
"Why didn't you explain it to me before?" Prince Yan looked at Mr. Chu with flaming eyes.
"If I tell you, Your Majesty, will you still go?" Mr. Chu asked.
Prince Yan fell silent upon hearing this. If Mr. Chu had made it clear from the beginning that he was going to alert the enemy, he would definitely not have gone.
Doing so might alert the enemy and clear him of suspicion.
It is also possible that the snake was frightened and bitten, and your life was in danger.
"Your Highness, if Xiang Yu did not have the courage to burn his boats and cross the river, how could he have achieved such a great victory in the Battle of Julu? Since ancient times, those who want to accomplish great things should avoid leaving a way out for themselves. Because as long as there is a way out, they will lack the determination and courage to die if they fail, and they will always look ahead and behind when doing things." Mr. Chu said.
"you…"
Prince Yan looked at Mr. Chu with murderous intent.
Just as Zhao Xing thought, he sent women to Zhao Xing in the hope that he would become addicted to women and die from excessive indulgence.
But this idea was proposed by Mr. Chu.
Mr. Chu told him that Zhao Xing might not be able to see it.
King Yan thought for a long time and finally decided to take a risk.
After all, as long as Zhao Xing was alive, he had no chance of getting his hands on the throne.
Once Zhao Xing died, he would be qualified to compete for the throne. Although there was still a Prince of Yong competing with him, he did not take Prince of Yong seriously.
However, Mr. Chu did not tell him that the government had already suspected him.
Just because Zhao Xing couldn’t see it doesn’t mean the government couldn’t see it.
Mr. Chu saw the murderous intent in Prince Yan's eyes and said calmly, "Even if the emperor suspects, the prince only sent two women, and the emperor will not do anything to the prince. I acted on my own initiative for the sake of the prince's great cause. If the prince is angry about this and wants to kill me, I am willing to die! After all, the emperor already suspects, and if I don't do this, I will die."
King Yan's eyes flickered, and after hesitating for a long time, he said, "I called you here to play chess, so don't talk about these inexplicable things."
After that, he picked up the chess piece and placed it, saying, "It's your turn, sir."
Mr. Chu raised the corner of his mouth and started playing chess with King Yan.
…………
"Greetings, Your Highness!" Yin Hanzhang bowed.
Zhao Xing waved his hand and asked, "How is the investigation into the assassin going?"
"At present, 80% of the farms within 200 miles of Bianjing have been checked, and no abnormalities have been found. If nothing is found after checking the rest, Prince Yong will be the most suspicious." Yin Hanzhang said.
Zhao Xing nodded slightly, picked up two portraits from the table and handed them to Sanshui.
"Check the identities of these two women for me and see when Prince Yan found them. Also check all the palace maids and eunuchs in the East Palace who need to go out to see if there are any problems with the people they have contacted when they go out." Zhao Xing said.
Zhao Xing felt that it was unlikely that Prince Yan would find two divorced beautiful women and send them to him after learning the news that Sheng Shulan had entered the Eastern Palace.
After all, not counting today, Sheng Shulan has only been in the Eastern Palace for two days.
Previously, he asked Liu Sanshi to tell Sheng Wei that after Sheng Changwu got married, Sheng Shulan should come to the East Palace, but not many people knew about it.
It would be fine if Prince Yan learned the news through other channels, but what Zhao Xing was most worried about was that there was a traitor around him.
"Yes!" Yin Hanzhang replied.
"Also, keep a close eye on Prince Yan's movements and be careful not to get discovered." Zhao Xing said.
"Yes!"
Seeing that Zhao Xing had no other instructions, Yin Hanzhang took the portrait, bowed, and left.
…………
A few days passed in the blink of an eye.
Early that morning, Yu Yanran and Sheng Shulan each took the gifts prepared for them by Zhao Xing and returned home in a carriage under the escort of the Yidu Imperial Guards.
Sheng Wei's family learned the news and waited at the door.
Seeing the carriage stop, the old lady could no longer bear it and hurried forward.
"Shulan!"
"grandmother!"
The grandparents and grandchildren held hands and were very excited.
"Good! Good! Good!"
The old lady looked at him for a while and said hello several times.
Although I haven't asked Sheng Shulan how she is doing in the Eastern Palace, but judging from her complexion, Sheng Shulan is much better than before.
Before, Sheng Shulan felt that she had brought shame to her family because of the divorce, and her brows were furrowed and her expression was melancholy.
After not seeing each other for a few days, the depression between Sheng Shulan's brows disappeared and there was light in her eyes.
"Mother, let's go inside and talk first." Sheng Wei said.
"Father, mother!"
Sheng Shulan let go of her grandmother's hand and bowed to her parents.
"Yes, yes, come into the house and say it."
The old lady held Sheng Shulan's hand and walked inside.
(End of this chapter)