Outside the window, an endless stream of people flowed past. At a glance, one could see the golden sunlight gleaming on the roof tiles. Zhou Weizhao only looked once before withdrawing his gaze, his fingers tapping on the table surface. “I know Uncle is thinking of what’s best for Xiaoyi and me, but Uncle, from the very beginning, I didn’t say these words to make Xiaoyi fall in love with me. What I said was sincere—in this life, I only need Xiaoyi, and that’s enough.”
Still speaking such childish words. Cui Yingshu felt somewhat helpless. Even Ye Jingkuan and himself, who treated their wives with such respect and care, whose wives held such precious status—they still inevitably had a few people serving them. When the time came, Zhou Weizhao’s status would only be more precious, and he would only have more people around him. How could it truly be possible for him to only need Song Chuyi alone?
But before he could let out a laugh, Zhou Weizhao had already stood up. He pressed his lips together and walked to the window. “My master once told me: ‘Among three thousand measures of weak water, take only one ladle to drink.’ I’ve seen what kind of life my mother lived. I’ve also sworn never to make Xiaoyi live such a life. And I’ve always been someone who does what he says.”
On this point, Cui Yingshu had deep understanding. This half-grown youth before him had never been someone who went back on his word. But when it came to something as intangible and uncontrollable as true sincerity, who could truly guarantee it for a lifetime? These words were spoken far too grandly. Cui Yingshu worried that if Song Chuyi couldn’t obtain this unique and exclusive true heart in the future, she would be even more disappointed.
However, Zhou Weizhao had already decided not to discuss this deeply. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Even if I say this a thousand times or ten thousand times, I’m afraid no one would believe it. Time reveals a person’s heart—we’ll take it slowly. Earlier, Uncle said we must consider reputation and therefore can’t make a move against the Princess Consort Gong. But I don’t think so.” As he spoke, the corners of his mouth, which usually held a smile, curved even deeper, yet his eyes held not a trace of warmth. “Though there are always ways to bring them down, having these flies constantly buzzing around is truly too disgusting.”
Zhou Weizhao rarely displayed his aggressive side. This was the first time Cui Yingshu had seen him clearly show such killing intent. He froze for a moment before reacting, his heart both happy for Song Chuyi’s importance in Zhou Weizhao’s heart and anxious for Zhou Weizhao himself. “What does Your Highness plan to do?”
Emperor Jianzhang had only punished Prince Gong, yet still permitted Princess Consort Gong to attend the Mid-Autumn family banquet and the Longevity Celebration along with Princess Consort Su and Princess Consort Lu. This showed that he still didn’t plan to be too ruthless. Zhou Weizhao should actually be displaying his magnanimous and benevolent image even more vividly before Emperor Jianzhang at this time. This moment was truly not appropriate for appearing too aggressive.
When things reach an extreme, they reverse. If pushed too hard, even what’s reasonable becomes unreasonable.
Zhou Weizhao had made up his mind. Standing at the window with his hands behind his back, his brow carried a trace of rarely-seen gloom. “I won’t act myself.”
All these years, he had never felt wronged. His master had taught him that in this world, no one originally had any obligation to treat anyone else well. Therefore, even though his early days hadn’t been easy, he had never resented anyone.
He had encountered far more dangers than ordinary people. Back then, if his master hadn’t spoken up, he probably would have been gone by age five. And even at Longhu Mountain, his master and senior brothers had to constantly worry about his safety, blocking countless open attacks and hidden arrows for him—who knew how many. All of this he could endure; all these hardships he felt were nothing significant.
But not Song Chuyi. He could allow himself to suffer some grievances and eat some bitterness, but he absolutely didn’t want Song Chuyi to suffer the same hardships. His imperial grandmother had watched his suffering and his mother’s grievances with folded arms for so many years, and now she wanted to use the pretense of being good for them to torment the person by his side—
Cui Yingshu had nothing more to say. He made a detour to visit his own teacher first, telling Chief Minister Chang about the situation in the northwest. “After these several years, Shaoting has already reinforced the city defenses quite thoroughly. Now should be the time to clean out the internal troubles.”
To resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the home front. With so many parasites in their own house busy not having enough to eat themselves while still sending things outside—no matter how great the family fortune, it couldn’t withstand such squandering. Chief Minister Chang smiled steadily with mature composure. “That Marquis Jinxiang is a clever man. Yang Xuan’s death can’t be connected to him right now. I wonder if Shaoting has any way to deal with him over there.”
After all, Han Zhengqing had been operating in the northwest for so many years. The matter of selling warhorses to the Tatars wasn’t something he could accomplish alone. The chain of interests involved layer upon layer, implicating countless people. To deal with him was almost equivalent to opposing all the military officers of the northwest. Perhaps it wasn’t limited to just military officers—even people like the Xuanfu Governor-General couldn’t possibly remain uninvolved. Like Zhang Tianhe, being situated within it, getting caught up was very normal. With so many people involved, how could Cui Shaoting possibly clean them all out?
“His Majesty’s meaning is not to act rashly before having evidence.” Chief Minister Chang spread out a map and pointed it out to Cui Yingshu, his expression serious. “If Shaoting makes one careless mistake and falls, even His Majesty couldn’t protect him.”
If Cui Shaoting didn’t have solid evidence to bring these people to justice and they caused trouble, Emperor Jianzhang couldn’t possibly risk pulling out all the military officers of the northwest by their roots to support Cui Shaoting.
Cui Yingshu understood this principle very well. Looking at his teacher, he sighed. “That’s true, but Shaoting has already offended quite a few people these past years. Previously, he nearly fell into Elder Chen’s hands. In the northwest, he’s actually also struggling at every step. If he doesn’t take advantage of Yang Xuan’s matter coming to light this time, who knows how long he’ll have to wait.”
The matter in the northwest couldn’t be delayed. The longer it dragged on, the fatter those wolves of the Tatars would be fed. But if too eager for quick success, the risks to bear would be truly too great.
Chief Minister Chang furrowed his brow in thought for a long time before making up his mind. “Tell him to write a memorial to make this matter big, then we’ll hold a court conference. Only after we stabilize things on our end here can we continue forward.”
They had to first get all the civil and military officials to agree to let Cui Shaoting investigate thoroughly. That way, Cui Shaoting’s actions would at least have legitimate authority, and he would face less resistance. At least then, if Cui Shaoting ultimately failed, he wouldn’t necessarily have to be pushed out as a scapegoat—after all, it was the Cabinet and Emperor Jianzhang who decided to have Cui Shaoting conduct a thorough investigation.
Cui Yingshu responded affirmatively. As he was about to leave, he couldn’t help but turn back to ask his teacher, “Teacher, the Crown Prince is already at his rope’s end, and Prince Gong’s reputation is completely ruined. What do you think about how the Grand Prince should conduct himself in the future?”
Since ancient times, being heir apparent had always been most difficult. Previously, when the Crown Prince was weak and in poor health, unable to get involved in anything, Emperor Jianzhang naturally treated him with tolerance. But once the Crown Prince revealed his ambition for power, Emperor Jianzhang became more guarded against him day by day. And now Zhou Weizhao, though still young, had already put down the Yangquan Rebellion and accomplished quite a feat. Now with no one to compete against him, he was the most legitimate heir. In the future, how should he serve as this heir apparent? How could he avoid arousing Emperor Jianzhang’s suspicion while also not being beaten from all sides like when the Crown Prince was weak?