The matter was thus settled. The Crown Prince led Zhou Weiqi out the door, and seeing Zhou Weiqi following him step by step, his heart suddenly welled with emotion—this son had been following behind him since learning to walk. He had watched bit by bit how he wobbled and swayed while holding onto tables and chairs, growing into his present appearance.
Since his paternal heartstrings were stirred, his heart softened, and his words came out especially gentle: “Did you understand everything the masters just said? Your age is gradually increasing. In the future, official duties will only increase, not decrease. You should learn how to handle affairs.”
This matter was both a test from Emperor Jianzhang for Zhou Weiqi, but also counted as an opportunity. If handled well and to Emperor Jianzhang’s satisfaction, future assignments would only increase, not decrease. With assignments came opportunities to distinguish oneself.
Zhou Weiqi was very grateful for his father’s kindness toward him. He followed closely for a few steps and said softly: “Your son has received instruction and will definitely learn skills well from the masters in the future. Please, Father, don’t worry.”
“What parent doesn’t worry about their children?” The Crown Prince walked a few steps with his hands clasped behind his back, shaking his head with a wry smile: “You’re still young—” He looked at his son’s considerably taller height, and his words took a turn: “As parents, we always feel our children never grow up. I actually still think of you as a child, but thinking about it, you’ve also reached the age for a betrothal. A few days ago I heard your imperial grandmother and mother have already been concerning themselves with this matter. Women have women’s considerations. Do you yourself have anyone you admire?”
Zhou Weiqi’s mind had never been focused on romantic entanglements. Whether it was his mother favoring Song Six or Chen Mingyu back then, there was actually no difference to him. Now hearing his father ask this, he was slightly hesitant: “Previously Mother thought Miss Chen was good, but given the current situation, a Chen family daughter won’t do anymore.” He stopped walking and looked at his father with a childlike reverence: “Actually, your son doesn’t really know what kind to choose. Mother always feels we should choose someone from a powerful family. Grandmother has also shown me renowned young ladies from prestigious families. I myself actually have no particular thoughts.”
Indeed still a child. The Crown Prince couldn’t help but smile. His own marriage arrangement back then had been extremely difficult—thinking of it again was an infuriating matter. He remembered the old affair of the Lu family first favoring Prince Gong, and the smile on his face couldn’t help but grow cold. But faced with his second son’s childlike affection, he smiled and shook his head again, saying gently: “Your grandmother and mother are naturally doing this for your own good.”
Thinking this, the Crown Prince had already taken to heart the matter of selecting a princess consort for Zhou Weiqi, wondering when would be good to discuss this with Fan Liangdi.
After Zhou Weiqi took leave of his father, he went to see Fan Liangdi. Fan Liangdi had already been waiting for him for quite some time. Seeing that his expression looked fairly good, she breathed a sigh of relief and asked him: “How did the discussion go?”
Zhou Weiqi recounted the results the advisors and officials had discussed. At the end, he couldn’t help but sigh: “It seems the Chen family cannot be saved.”
Indeed. They themselves wanted to court death—no one could stop them. Usually people said Elder Chen was extremely shrewd, but who could have imagined he couldn’t even handle his inner household affairs properly, leading to disaster arising from within. The rot started from the bottom. Even if others wanted to reach out and save them, they had to be able to save them. Now His Majesty’s intentions had been expressed so obviously. Their Eastern Palace had already attracted His Majesty’s displeasure. At this moment, they absolutely could not move closer. Fan Liangdi nodded.
Zhou Weiqi then mentioned the Crown Prince asking him about finding a wife, asking his mother with some concern: “Now a Chen family daughter definitely won’t do. Does Mother have other candidates in mind?”
Fan Liangdi had actually already been planning this matter for a long time. She had never considered daughters from the Fan family. She herself was born into the Fan clan and bore the reputation of being arrogant due to favor. To find another Fan clan daughter for her son would be putting him on a fire to roast—there was no benefit whatsoever. Moreover, there really weren’t any particularly outstanding young ladies in the Fan clan.
As for Chen family daughters, from the day Elder Chen’s incident occurred, it became impossible. Of the remaining options, they could start selecting from prestigious families. Fan Liangdi frowned thoughtfully. Since the Crown Prince had already thought of this matter, she needed to make preparations as soon as possible. It would be best to have some prospects in mind first, so she could advocate for them before the Crown Prince when the time came.
Fan Liangdi had already regarded the Chen family as grasshoppers after autumn. The Chen family themselves were also aware. Old Madam Chen had sent in her visiting card to the palace countless times, but they all sank like stones in the sea without the slightest echo.
Second Madam Chen cried and wailed at home every day. The days had truly become unbearable—worrying every day about their family’s fate, with a heart suspended in anxiety, rising and falling, was truly unbearable.
She waited for Second Master Chen to return home from running connections, but before she could wait for Second Master Chen, she first received one of the three chief judges, Censor Tao. He had brought people to confiscate the family property.
It had been only five or six years since the Su family was raided, and the miserable state of the Su family members was still vivid in memory. That was distant—more recently, there was the Wang Ying family. Second Madam Chen’s eyes rolled back on the spot and she fainted.
Censor Tao coldly watched the chaos throughout the Chen mansion, feeling many emotions in his heart. Elder Chen was not defeated at his hands, but was defeated within his own household. His household was in such chaos, rotting from the roots first—it was fundamentally beyond saving.
He was relatively merciful, restraining the officials below who were like wolves and tigers, at least not making the Chen family’s inner quarters too thoroughly humiliated. But even so, Old Madam Chen nearly fainted on the spot from anger. She had never dreamed she would fall to such a fate.
How could this be? How could things turn out this way?! No matter how experienced and steady Old Madam Chen was, when facing property confiscation, she too lost her composure. She tightly gripped her granddaughter’s hand, her entire body trembling like a leaf in the wind.
Not much was confiscated from the Chen family—at least there was no trace of those two hundred thousand taels of silver. However, Censor Tao was not worried. These things originally weren’t that important anyway. With Third Master Chen’s blood letter, and the subsequent testimonies of Zhou Chengfang, Lu Bingyuan, and that clan uncle from the Lu family, Elder Chen’s crime of leaking examination questions could basically be established.
Three days later, the Prince of Dongping presented this evidence upward, neither glossing over problems nor exaggerating peace. He fully gave his own opinion—the crime deserved execution. At this point, this case temporarily had a general result. They only needed to wait a few more days for the final court session. If there were no other accidents, they would just wait for Emperor Jianzhang’s verdict.
Second Master Chen heard the news in prison. His entire person was immediately as if struck by lightning, looking at his father with a bloodless face—even the Eastern Palace they had relied upon had now abandoned them. What hope could they still have?
Elder Chen was an old fox, yet was not as panic-stricken as his son. He was a cunning old fox and had long ago realized he had fallen into someone else’s trap.