Even after leaving the Imperial Study, Prince Dongping was still in a daze. Standing beneath a camphor tree in the garden for a long while, he raised his head to look at the bright newly risen sun in the sky, lifted his hand to shield against the light, and slightly squinted his eyes.
Emperor Jianzhang had told him to go to Hubei for disaster relief, making him deputy imperial commissioner. He shifted his feet, first heading toward Empress Dowager Lu’s Qingning Palace—Emperor Jianzhang had told him to bid farewell to his imperial grandmother. Even if this trip went smoothly, it would take at least one or two years. If it didn’t go smoothly, three to five years was also possible. He lifted his feet and went to Qingning Palace, first paying respects to Empress Dowager Lu. Seeing that Crown Princess Lu and Princess Rongcheng were also present, he naturally had to pay respects and greet his legitimate mother and aunt as well. Crown Princess Lu nodded at him, the smile on her face always faint. Instead, Princess Rongcheng asked him: “Why have you grown so thin? Even if you must care for your father, you should still take good care of your own health.”
After Princess Rongcheng finished speaking, Empress Dowager Lu asked him: “What did your grandfather say?” Fully believing that Emperor Jianzhang was selecting a wife for him.
Zhou Weiqi’s facial expression changed, and finally he couldn’t maintain his composure. He grimaced: “Imperial Grandfather didn’t summon grandson to discuss that. Imperial Grandfather wants grandson to go to Hubei together with Minister Cui for disaster relief.”
At these words, Qingning Palace fell silent for a long while. Only after some time did Empress Dowager Lu somewhat recover, looking at Zhou Weiqi with some shock: “Go to Hubei for disaster relief?!”
Previously, Zhou Weiqi had indeed begun to handle several assignments and performed quite well, but ever since the Crown Prince’s incident, Emperor Jianzhang hadn’t assigned him any more tasks. Why, all of a sudden, would he assign him work?
Crown Princess Lu and Princess Rongcheng were even more astonished. They exchanged glances, and it was Princess Rongcheng who spoke first: “This is also good. You’re grown now, and you really should learn to handle matters…”
Speaking to this point, she couldn’t continue. After leaving the palace and returning to the princess’s residence, she inevitably mentioned this matter to her husband: “I don’t know what Father’s intention is. Why would he suddenly send Dongping to do this?”
Things had finally calmed down, so why elevate Dongping now?
Ye Jingkuan couldn’t help but furrow his brow and ponder for a while. Seeing Princess Rongcheng full of worry, he came over to massage her shoulders and neck: “Father is afraid Weizhao’s ambitions are too great. Having Dongping go to Hubei is actually appropriate—having him leave the capital for a few years, any improper thoughts he might have will probably die out.”
The Prince of Zhennan, however, truly couldn’t view this matter as lightly as his son. He furrowed his brow and thought for a moment, then shook his head: “This is not wanting to credit Yingshu with the merit of Hubei’s disaster relief—if the Hubei matter is handled poorly, then it’s Yingshu’s incompetence. If the Hubei matter is handled well, then it’s the credit of Prince Dongping, this deputy commissioner of dragon and phoenix blood. When all is said and done, His Majesty has still become distant from His Highness.” Previously, when Emperor Jianzhang trusted Zhou Weizhao, he had confidently sent him alone to preside over the Yangquan matter, even assigning Commander Lai to serve under him.
Ye Jingkuan was somewhat more open-minded than his father: “This actually isn’t really a bad thing. In any case, His Highness’s reputation has been too prominent. His Majesty bringing forth Prince Dongping also has the intention of balancing these two.”
The Prince of Zhennan had no solutions either. He was also about to go on border patrol. After speaking with his son once more, he returned to the rear courtyard and heard the Princess of Zhennan mention another fresh matter: “Tell me, isn’t it strange? Although Song family’s Little Sixth appears excellent on the surface, we all know that whoever offends her never has a good end. But somehow this time, I don’t know what happened—Madam Du wants to marry her granddaughter into Earl Guang’en’s household, such an obvious attempt at currying favor, and it actually succeeded.”
She helped her husband remove his outer garments, personally serving him as he changed into casual home clothes, and instructed the maids to bring the soft-soled shoes for wearing indoors: “If you want me to believe Little Sixth has changed her nature, that’s absolutely impossible. Anyone could change their nature, but not her.”
The Prince of Zhennan listened carefully and then laughed: “This marriage match is excellent!”
The Princess of Zhennan looked up at him: “How is it excellent?” She was actually also very curious, feeling that Song Chuyi absolutely didn’t have such a kind heart to provide a ladder for Elder Du of Prince Gong’s faction. But to have her figure out Song Chuyi’s intentions was truly rather difficult. What this girl wanted to do had never been successfully guessed by anyone.
The Prince of Zhennan leaned against the bed with closed eyes resting, still taking time to answer the Princess of Zhennan’s words: “You also know that Song Liu isn’t one to suffer losses. The Du family now wants to warm up the cold stove—where were they before? They want to warm up the stove, and Song Liu probably just wants to borrow them to stoke the fire for a while, to thoroughly heat up the stove. Just wait and see. Although old Du is a shrewd person, he can’t withstand Song Liu being a little shrewd spirit. The Du family is definitely going to lose both the lady and the soldiers.”
The heart of Prince Dongping, who had just been regarded with wariness, was truly only filled with joy. Worry existed too, but compared to his excitement and happiness, this bit of worry was really too insignificant to mention.
Even Qian Ying and Huang Yiqing’s faces showed brilliance as they smiled and congratulated Prince Dongping.
Prince Dongping extended his hands, supporting one with each hand to help them up, his face bearing a smile. The words he spoke were especially sincere: “Speaking of it, this is all thanks to you two. Initially, I was in utter despair. If you two hadn’t advised me, coaxed me, and told me to go attend my father’s sickbed every day, I probably wouldn’t have today.”
Qian Ying was truly an extremely steady person who knew how to read the winds. He looked at Zhou Weiqi and smiled: “Your Highness gives us too much praise. This is also because Your Highness could listen to advice. Otherwise, no matter how capable we two are, there would be no way. Although we know the Crown Prince’s incident was our own doing, others don’t know. Not knowing, with Prince Gong and the Crown Prince both falling into misfortune at the same time, naturally they would suspect the Grand Prince, after all, the only one who benefited was the Grand Prince. Even if His Majesty doesn’t suspect, over time, he must make some preparations.”
Huang Yiqing nodded and quickly took over Qian Ying’s words: “Chief Administrator Qian speaks correctly. This way, His Majesty naturally thought of you. The Crown Prince becoming like this is naturally disadvantageous to us. But isn’t there a saying about removing the firewood from under the cauldron? We’ve reached a dead end, but instead opened another path. This way, no one can make hasty conclusions about future matters.”
When all was said and done, wasn’t everyone’s prospects and fate determined by a single word from Emperor Jianzhang?
After being stifled for so many days, to unexpectedly receive such an assignment—although Emperor Jianzhang was merely using him as a raft to keep the civil and military officials peaceful and prevent them from placing bets everywhere, he had at least given him a path forward. He truly felt pleasantly surprised beyond expectation. The face he had frequently kept stiff recently finally relaxed. The accumulated grievances between him and Zhou Weizhao ran deep. Not to mention the grudges and resentments between their maternal clans and Zhou Weizhao’s mother, just speaking of their own identities, they couldn’t possibly coexist peacefully until old age.