The Crown Prince’s obsession had reached a level that was difficult for people to understand. At some unknown point, he had begun acting with increasingly poor judgment. One misstep led to another, and now he had no path of retreat left. After the Crown Prince left, Xie Siyi looked at the Empress with some concern. After hesitating several times, she finally spoke up: “Your Majesty, you’ve stripped away all the Crown Prince’s dignity, both outward and inward. Given his temperament…”
The Crown Prince now appeared quite mad. With his reckless nature, if he truly went on a rampage, he probably wouldn’t care about the Empress’s threats. Xie Siyi sighed. Seeing Empress Lu’s displeased expression, she steeled herself and continued: “Given His Highness’s temper, I’m afraid that even if he’s suppressed for now, he’ll go back on his word soon enough.”
Empress Lu naturally knew the Crown Prince’s temperament. She rubbed her temples with some vexation and gently shook her head: “By binding his hands and feet, at least there are fewer things he can do.” What was most troublesome was that the Crown Prince truly had no conscience. To him, the Fan clan was merely a tool standing before him to amass wealth. If they were gone, so be it. He would only feel sorry for those money-making channels he had cultivated in the Northwest for many years, not for the Fan family. The only thing that could make him restrain himself was probably this position as Crown Prince. A fierce gleam flashed in Empress Lu’s eyes before quickly calming again. She asked in a low voice: “Has the letter to the Prince Consort been sent out? Has there been any response?”
The matter of privately trafficking war horses in the Northwest was no small thing. Once discovered, it would be a calamity that would bring disaster to the entire clan. Empress Lu had always detested the Fan family deeply. Now that the Fan family could be used as a shield for the Crown Prince while also completely severing his reach into the Northwest, she certainly wouldn’t let this opportunity pass. After much thought, the only person suitable to handle this matter was Ye Jingkuan. Thinking of the Zhennan Prince’s Manor and the Prince Consort, another layer of shadow covered Empress Lu’s eyes. The Crown Prince was truly foolish. With such a great asset of useful allies right before his eyes, he instead sought distant solutions through crooked paths, leading to the originally steadfast Zhennan Prince’s Manor now being thoroughly disappointed in him. Having the Prince Consort handle the Fan family matter, she had her own considerations. She wanted to reassure the Prince Consort and the Zhennan Prince that since she had revealed such confidential information to them, it showed she had always considered them her own people. In the future, when the Crown Prince gradually became unable to manage affairs and Zhou Weizhao gradually grew up, he was a clever person who always knew how to balance the relationships between these people. The Zhennan Prince’s Manor would also be willing to be close to him. Slowly, the relationship could always be repaired.
Xie Siyi helped her sit up and gently shook her head: “The letter was sent out yesterday, but there’s been no reply yet.”
Empress Lu asked no more. This matter couldn’t be rushed overnight. She coughed a few times, accepted the honey water Xie Siyi handed her and drank it to soothe her throat, then asked: “Has Rongcheng not come to the palace either?”
Princess Rongcheng had entered the palace, but she hadn’t gone to find Empress Lu first. She went straight to find Crown Princess Lu. Crown Princess Lu remained as composed as usual, appearing as if nothing was wrong as she selected flowers and plants for vase arrangements in the conservatory. Princess Rongcheng waited for quite a while before she returned. She first anxiously pulled her down to sit: “Why did you run to Mother Empress and say…” She paused, her expression somewhat complicated: “Do you really hate elder brother that much?”
Princess Rongcheng was also thoroughly disappointed in the Crown Prince. But the contradiction was that no matter how bad the Crown Prince was, he was still Princess Rongcheng’s biological brother. Although she knew that even if the Crown Princess hated the Crown Prince to death, it was understandable, knowing it intellectually was one thing—when it really came to this point, her heart still felt somewhat uncomfortable: “I heard from the Prince Consort that originally it was Miss Song Six who was going to do this, so how did it end up being you…”
Crown Princess Lu reached out and pushed the tea before Princess Rongcheng closer to her. Her gaze swept over her body in a circle before withdrawing without a trace: “Isn’t it the same whoever says it? You also know that if we let your brother continue his madness, all of us will suffer along with him.” She glanced at Princess Rongcheng, her expression somewhat helpless: “Rongcheng, you must understand that everything in this world follows cause and effect. Your brother treated me that way, treated my son that way—I can’t think of any reason not to do this.”
Princess Rongcheng lowered her eyes. She knew that the Crown Prince’s actions were indeed chilling. That the Crown Princess could endure until now was already her limit. After hesitating for a moment, she no longer harped on this question and sighed: “I just feel that having Miss Song Six do this might be better…”
Crown Princess Lu raised her eyes and looked at her deeply, then slowly but firmly shook her head: “No, I’m the only one who can do this. You know better than I do how much Mother Empress indulges the Crown Prince. Now Mother Empress can make up her mind, but it’s hard to avoid her harboring resentment toward the person who proposed this matter in the future. After all, I am Mother Empress’s niece and also surnamed Lu.” She paused, looking at Princess Rongcheng, speaking sincerely: “Weizhao likes Miss Song Six, and I quite like this girl too. I hope the two of them can properly be together and live a good life.”
Princess Rongcheng had thought that the Crown Princess had been bewitched by the Song family to become this sacrificial bird before the Empress. But now it seemed that the Crown Princess was clearly more clear-headed than anyone. She couldn’t very well continue speaking, and after a moment of silence: “Mother Empress has already had the Prince Consort start collecting evidence of the Fan family’s crimes in the Northwest, while also having to first clean up the loose ends for elder brother—and these loose ends are not easy to clean up. The silver all ended up in the Marquis Jinxiang Manor’s bank. Everyone knows what relationship Marquis Jinxiang Manor has with elder brother, and what relationship the Fan family has with elder brother… The Prince Consort was so anxious about this matter he nearly went white-haired.”
Crown Princess Lu had a mocking smile at the corner of her mouth: “You think Miss Song Six told me about this too? She hasn’t reached that level of omniscience yet. I was the one who exposed this matter to Mother Empress. Without this matter, she couldn’t have made up her mind to abandon the Crown Prince.”
Princess Rongcheng had always known this cousin of hers was no pushover—Crown Princess Lu was much cleverer than her brother, Elder Master Lu. The reason being, Crown Princess Lu had grown up with Old Master Lu and was educated no differently from ordinary men. Old Master Lu had once said that his son was inferior to his daughter. But she hadn’t expected Crown Princess Lu to actually know of such a confidential matter. She felt chilled all over and looked at Crown Princess Lu for a long while before opening her mouth in shock: “You knew early on that elder brother was doing these things, so why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Crown Princess Lu’s hand holding the teapot stopped in midair. As if finding it strange, she looked at her questioningly and asked in return: “If I had spoken earlier, what would have changed?”