Old Madam Chen was also angry in her heart. By now she had belatedly realized what was special about this Sixth Miss Song—her granddaughter was right, this Sixth Miss Song was indeed somewhat uncanny, as if her body had been blessed. No matter how many sinister schemes and plots you deployed against her, in the end she would somehow remain safe and sound. There were no real reincarnated Bodhisattvas in this world, so perhaps this Sixth Miss was just particularly clever. But for a young girl to truly be this clever—that could be called wisdom bordering on the demonic.
With wisdom bordering on the demonic, even if Chen Mingyu received several more years of instruction, she would be completely no match for her. Such a frightening young girl… The first few times, Old Madam Chen had thought it was fine whether they eliminated her or not, but now she truly had the thought of wanting to eliminate her as quickly as possible. Having thought through this point in her heart, she reached out to stroke Chen Mingyu’s head: “Don’t worry, your clan uncle isn’t the type without discretion. He won’t leave behind the slightest handle. Those river bandits aren’t fools either—surely they wouldn’t add an extra crime to themselves and aren’t afraid of offending those above them? Rest assured, this matter won’t come to light.”
Otherwise, Old Madam Chen wouldn’t have agreed so carelessly back then for the people from Huangjue Temple to make their move. She wasn’t a fool.
Chen Mingyu lazily leaned against Old Madam Chen’s knees and sighed faintly: “Grandmother, today when I entered the palace, I heard Her Majesty the Empress mention that His Highness the Grand Prince will also be going to Jinzhong… I’m truly afraid…”
What would warrant the Grand Prince’s personal presence was naturally not because of Old Madam Cui’s birthday celebration, but because a coal mine in Shanxi had an incident. The nearby common people had occupied the mountain as kings and actually raised banners wanting to claim the coal mine as their own—this was a major matter. The local officials had exhausted all methods with little effect. Instead, more and more greedy people appeared, and large and small coal mines were all occupied by a group of troublesome people. These people were terrified of poverty—they feared neither heaven nor earth, willing to risk everything to pull the emperor down from his horse. They caused more and more disturbances, and before the New Year they even killed a county magistrate, which finally made the matter blow up and reach the capital.
Emperor Jianzhang probably wanted to give his grandson some tempering experience and assigned him this task of quelling the rebellion.
Old Madam Chen had also heard Elder Chen mention this matter. At the time she had been somewhat anxious, asking Elder Chen why he didn’t speak a few words on His Highness’s behalf—poor mountains and bad waters breed troublesome people. That gang had been terrified by poverty. When they saw silver their eyes would shine with greed. To snatch silver, fathers weren’t fathers and sons weren’t sons—there were plenty who would brandish knives and hack at each other. How could such a precious person as His Highness the Grand Prince go to such a place?
But Elder Chen shook his head at her: “This precisely shows His Majesty’s regard for His Highness. If His Highness can accomplish this task, who in the world won’t look at His Highness with higher esteem? At that time, His Highness will be able to openly take on official duties—the Crown Prince is weak and sickly, His Majesty is placing all his hopes on His Highness. We cannot advise against this.”
Not only could they not advise against it, Elder Chen had even summoned his advisors overnight to write up a method for eliminating the bandits to send to the Grand Prince—if the Grand Prince handled this matter well, he would have nothing more to say afterward. He would definitely stop wavering and completely tie himself to the Grand Prince’s ship.
Thinking of this, Old Madam Chen comforted Chen Mingyu: “What’s there to fear? His Highness the Grand Prince is going to Yangquan, which is far from Jinzhong… Besides, His Highness the Grand Prince is going to conduct proper business. When men conduct proper business, we shouldn’t obstruct them. Don’t worry, just maintain your usual composure and enter the palace to win the favor of Her Majesty and the Princess. You’ll have your own rewards.”
Though she said this, after sending Chen Mingyu away, Old Madam Chen still personally went to find Elder Chen and told him what she had done. Finally, lowering her eyelids, she said: “This Sixth Miss Song truly has an extraordinarily hard life. Mingyu’s worries also have some merit. Whether she has wisdom bordering on the demonic or her luck is truly this good, if such a person gains His Highness’s favor, Mingyu will have no more chance of victory… I always feel that the timing of Huang Yiping and Zhou the garrison commander’s actions was far too coincidental…”
Having been an official for so long, Elder Chen naturally saw through the trickery at a glance. How could this be Huang Yiping and Zhou the garrison commander risking their lives? Clearly someone had instructed them to perform this task and then pushed them forward to claim the credit and divert attention. Otherwise, would a mere few hundred river bandits really be so difficult to suppress? No one was a fool—everyone just turned a blind eye and got by as best they could.
Elder Chen was somewhat angry at Old Madam Chen for acting on her own initiative, but even more so he agreed with what Old Madam Chen said. Old Madam Chen was right—if this Sixth Miss Song truly had such scheming ability, they absolutely could not allow her to remain alive in this world. She was already on close terms with His Highness the Grand Prince. If she gained this additional advantage, what would Chen Mingyu have to compete with her?
He pondered for a while, the corners of his mouth revealing a cold sneer: “Wait a bit longer.” He paused, tapping the table to moderate his tone, then raised his head to look at Old Madam Chen and repeated: “Wait a bit longer. After this year’s spring imperial examinations are over, I’ll naturally free up my hands to deal with the Song family.”
He was not an inner quarters woman. If he made a move, he couldn’t leave the opponent the slightest room to maneuver. The failed matter with Cui Shaoting last time had already made him extremely vexed. Now that half a year had barely passed since that incident, it was time to plan a new scheme. Once he finished with the spring examination matters, he would free up his hands to deal with the Song and Cui families once and for all.
Speaking of which, Huangjue Temple was indeed a target that could be contacted and utilized. He looked thoughtfully at Old Madam Chen: “Didn’t you say that this time Huangjue Temple wanted to use your hand to eliminate Sixth Miss Song? The meaning is that they indeed bear a grudge against the Song family over Master Yuanhui’s matter. Since that’s the case, we can temporarily rally them and use them as allies.”
Even Elder Chen couldn’t fully fathom the depths of Huangjue Temple’s background, but there was one thing Elder Chen knew—this gang of monks had previously had deep connections with Prince Duan, and later had lingering ties with the Eastern Palace, with hints of pledging allegiance to Consort Fan.
Now that Song Chuyi had cut off their path and killed Master Yuanhui, it was only natural for them to hate the Song family and Song Chuyi. Since there was such a useful ally, it would be wasteful not to use them.
Old Madam Chen understood Elder Chen’s meaning. Following his intent, she nodded in agreement: “In the second month when Brother Ying has his birthday, I’ll go to Huangjue Temple on his behalf to light an eternal lamp and invite the masters to chant sutras for a day.”
Many children of noble families in the capital did this for their birthdays—it wouldn’t stand out at all. Although Huangjue Temple had been quiet for a while because of Master Yuanhui’s matter, it was only quiet for a while. After all, it was an imperial temple that enshrined the relics of eminent monks. Once the storm passed, it would still be thriving and prosperous. Old Master Chen slowly nodded his head.