Zhou Weizhao’s reply to a chancellor of the Eastern Palace quickly reached Fan Liangdi’s hands. As she clutched the letter, her delicate fingers stained with rouge were trembling slightly. With a sharp smack, she threw the letter back onto the table, her refined features already somewhat twisted.
Zhou Weizhao’s casual message to the various Eastern Palace faction members who had gone to sound out his intentions, telling them to remain silent, clearly meant he wanted to watch the Chen family go to their destruction. Of course he didn’t care about the Chen family. He had now allied himself with the Song family and the Cui family, and compared to the Chen family, these two families carried far more weight. Having gained such great benefits, how could he still care about what happened to a Chen family that had obviously lost imperial favor?
She wearily leaned back against the soft cushion at her waist, allowing Nanny Fang to come up and massage her shoulders, only feeling utterly overwhelmed. When the Emperor had issued the decree appointing Zhou Weiqi to supervise this case, she had already felt alarmed. Anyone could see that Elder Chen protected the Eastern Palace, yet His Majesty had deliberately decreed that the Prince of Dongping supervise this case—clearly with the intent to warn and watch the drama unfold. Now Elder Chen’s household was in disarray, and this kind of incident had erupted directly.
Even though Fan Liangdi was in the deep palace, she had heard about Third Master Chen’s blood letter, and about the Chen family’s reaction when Third Madam Chen’s body was dragged out—the Chen family had truly lost their minds. Old Madam Chen, she wondered if the old woman had become senile, but at such a time when people were panicking and the whole city was in turmoil, she had actually allowed her eldest and second daughters-in-law to prevent Third Madam Chen’s children from collecting her body.
Even a rotten ship has three pounds of nails. Third Madam Chen was at least the biological daughter of Scholar Long. Although Scholar Long had long since retired and returned home, his reputation remained, and among his former examination cohort, there were still those continuing to serve as officials. Immediately they submitted memorials impeaching the Chen family for improper household management, impeaching Old Madam Chen for treating the concubine-born branch harshly, calling it unkind.
This was truly adding frost to snow. When His Majesty attended court, although he didn’t openly express his position, he had the eunuchs read the memorials aloud on the spot. What the Emperor’s heart intended—the clever could glimpse the truth from this one instance and had already seen the signs. Even those old foxes Feng Yinglong and Meng Jiming had become much more diligent recently, and visited Censor Tao even more frequently.
She waved her hand to stop Nanny Fang’s service, rose and paced anxiously around the room for a while, deeply worried.
Nanny Fang had become quite good at guessing her thoughts lately, and seeing this, softly consoled her: “Your Highness, don’t be anxious. The Crown Prince has always cherished our prince. This time summoning the prince over, perhaps he’s instructing him on how to act.”
The Crown Prince of course had to instruct Zhou Weiqi on how to act. After all, Elder Chen was his man, and the one supervising this case was his own biological son—the one even more favored than the Imperial Grandson. His father emperor arranging things this way now obviously showed dissatisfaction with him. He couldn’t let this matter become worse.
As the chief administrator of the Prince of Dongping, Qian Ying sat behind the Prince of Dongping. At this moment, he had no opportunity to speak. Those old hands in the Eastern Palace’s Office of the Heir Apparent were all sufficiently aged with enough seniority and cleverness that it wasn’t his turn to show off his learning and cultivation. He was only responsible for helping the Prince of Dongping collect all these suggestions.
The Prince of Dongping also listened intently with perked ears. When he heard Hanlin Academy Lecturer Chen Dezhong say they should truthfully report the case details to the Emperor, he couldn’t help but hesitate and speak up: “But if we do this, won’t the people of the realm think our Eastern Palace is sacrificing pawns to save the king, severing our own arm to gain merit and favor?”
That the Prince of Dongping at his young age could think this far brought a hint of delight to Chen Dezhong’s eyes. It seemed the Crown Prince loved this son born to a concubine so much for a reason. In his eyes, there was no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate. In the imperial family, legitimacy and concubine-born status were hard to distinguish—in the end, it all came down to victor and vanquished. Since the Crown Prince’s heart favored this prince, he naturally also inclined toward this prince. Hearing Zhou Weiqi say this now, he slowly shook his head: “Right now is not the time for us to have choices. If we retreat, the people of the realm and the scholars won’t think we have righteous hearts just because we value those who’ve pledged loyalty to us. This time Elder Chen has truly offended everyone under heaven. This isn’t something we can cover up for him just by wanting to. We must say what should be said. Your Highness need do nothing now but wait for the three chief judges to finish trying the case, then present the results they’ve reached to His Majesty, and that will be all.”
The Wei family representative also nodded in agreement: “Lecturer Chen speaks reasonably.” He paused and continued: “Now is not the time we can manipulate things. The whole realm has its eyes on this year’s examination fraud case. Whoever tries to show favoritism and protect the Chen family at this time would not only be opposing the scholars of the realm, but also opposing His Majesty.”
Right to the point—this was what was most frightening. The Emperor’s heart was no longer with the Chen family. Since His Majesty had placed the supervisory responsibility on the Prince of Dongping, it was itself a warning.
It would be better if the Prince of Dongping willingly accepted misfortune, willingly severed his own arm—His Majesty would feel somewhat appeased. Once His Majesty was appeased, there would be room for reconciliation afterward.
The Prince of Dongping was not stupid. After thinking for a moment, he realized this was not only the opinion of these strategists, but also his father’s intent. Hearing this, he receptively indicated his understanding: “I comprehend what you gentlemen mean. Imperial Grandfather merely wants to test whether I place Eastern Palace private interests first, or the realm’s justice first. I know what to do now. When the three judges reach their verdict, I will certainly present it impartially to Imperial Grandfather.”
Exactly this principle. Chen Dezhong stroked his goatee, feeling this prince was teachable.
The Crown Prince also smiled as he looked at the Prince of Dongping. Compared to his eldest son Zhou Weizhao with whom he hadn’t spent much time, his second son Zhou Weiqi gave him much stronger feelings than Zhou Weizhao. Zhou Weiqi he had personally held when he was small, watching him grow bit by bit. The affection accumulated in this wasn’t false. He only had two sons, and of the two, only Zhou Weiqi was raised at his side, so naturally he was closer to the one raised at his side.
His second son was one he had personally taught and raised. Although not as brilliantly intelligent and exceptional as Zhou Weizhao, compared to ordinary people, he was also outstanding enough. With everything, a few words of guidance and he would understand. This feeling made him both gratified and proud. He looked back at Chen Dezhong: “He’s young and has experienced little. In the future, I ask Master to teach him more.”
This was a promise that Chen Dezhong would become Zhou Weiqi’s teacher in the future. Chen Dezhong was immediately overjoyed. Zhou Weiqi was deeply favored by the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince was even more attentive in selecting a backup team for him than for Zhou Weizhao. Wealth and honor were sought in danger. His thoughts raced, flashing through many considerations, and finally he gladly accepted, smiling and shaking his head repeatedly, saying he dared not.