The Crown Prince looked at him coldly with an expressionless face for a long time without speaking. An awkward and anxious silence spread through the hall. After quite a while, the Crown Prince finally seemed to show mercy and sighed, breaking the heart-stopping atmosphere: “I know you all think my health is poor, and that Weizhao is young and accomplished, and favored by my Imperial Father…”
Elder Wei and Zhende were frightened to death. They both felt they couldn’t bear such speculation and fell to their knees with a thump, pressing their hands to the floor and repeatedly crying out that they wouldn’t dare.
“Wouldn’t dare? Are you truly not daring?” The Crown Prince’s body leaned forward slightly, looking down at the two of them for a long moment before saying: “Then I won’t say more. I cannot stand this marriage alliance, cannot stand Sixth Miss Song. This matter must be carried out.”
Zhende’s cold sweat dripped onto the floor drop by drop. He felt he had been quite blind—how had he followed Old Minister Chen onto the Crown Prince’s ship back then? Originally he had thought that by performing steadily without major errors, he could join the next court’s administration, but looking at it now, whether he could even keep his life was uncertain. This Highness was truly too willful and too unscrupulous. What frightened him even more was that whether it was Chen Dezhong who had followed him so long or Elder Chen, he could abandon them without a second thought. The ruthlessness and lack of loyalty shown in this was truly chilling. And now, he could even move against his own biological son… But he already had no path of retreat. As he thought of this, he heard the Crown Prince speak again: “Listen carefully. I don’t care what method you use, but I want Bai Dong to reveal to Elder Du that I’m very satisfied with this marriage alliance with the Song family—extremely satisfied. Not only that, but I also plan to seek the hand of the Cui family’s legitimate eldest daughter, Cui Hualuan, for Dongping.”
Zhende finally somewhat grasped the Crown Prince’s thinking—he was plotting to divert disaster eastward, wanting to use Prince Gong’s hand to eliminate the Song family, the Cui family, and Song Chuyi. Prince Gong and the Crown Prince could be said to be irreconcilable enemies. Although they had maintained a surface harmony over these years, in reality their relationship was no different from that between Prince Duan and the Crown Prince. Zhende didn’t doubt Prince Gong’s determination to see the Crown Prince dead. If Prince Gong learned that the Crown Prince was so smoothly successful, not only wanting to forge a marriage alliance with the Song family but also wanting to seize the Cui family in one fell swoop, and with Song Chuyi being so special, he would probably be unable to sit still.
But at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel worried for Zhou Weizhao. By doing this, the Crown Prince would completely cut off this good marriage for him. Not only that, but he would also expose him to Prince Gong, and Prince Gong probably wouldn’t remain quiet. Before the shock and fear in his heart could be fully digested, he heard the Crown Prince at the head of the hall cough heavily for a while before gasping for breath.
After this spell of gasping evened out, the Crown Prince curled his hand and placed it at his lips. After recovering for a bit, he continued looking at Zhende: “Incidentally, have Bai Dong also find a way to let the envoy reveal another piece of news to Prince Gong—that the Crown Princess has been having a very difficult time in the Eastern Palace.”
That the Crown Princess was not favored by the Crown Prince and had a very difficult time in the Eastern Palace was a well-known, tacitly understood secret that didn’t need anyone to specially remind anyone about. Zhende sighed deeply in his heart, feeling that the Crown Prince’s thinking was obscure and unfathomable, but then his eyes widened—if the Crown Princess was living so unsatisfactorily, why did she still persist in staying in the Eastern Palace? Everyone knew the Grand Prince was her only hope. And for Prince Gong, who had once been childhood sweethearts with the Crown Princess and had nearly become a couple with her, this fact was truly too embarrassing and bitter. Since he felt bitter, since his heart was still resentful, then what complex emotions and what deep-seated hatred must Prince Gong harbor toward the child of his blood, born by the woman he yearned for? Zhende couldn’t help but shudder. When he raised his head to look at the Crown Prince again, his gaze had changed.
The Crown Prince acted as if he didn’t see it. In a tone so calm it raised goosebumps, he placidly laid out for his own son and future daughter-in-law a great net sufficient to ensnare them with no escape.
“It seems you understand my meaning completely.” He said, his eyeballs not turning at all, sitting composed as a deity in his chair: “I want these words to reach Prince Gong’s ears, with the meaning not changed in the slightest. If you delay my next moves… I don’t need to spell out the consequences, do I?”
Zhende had originally wanted to learn from those censors and show some literary official backbone, determined to persuade the Crown Prince no matter what, to make him face up to his legitimate son properly. Now he realized he had been far too naive. The Crown Prince simply could not be reasoned with. Since he couldn’t be reasoned with, and Zhende was a subordinate official of the Eastern Palace with his entire family’s lives and fortunes in the Crown Prince’s hands, he naturally had no room for choice. His heart dead as ashes and his face deathly pale, he kowtowed several times and answered hoarsely in affirmation.
After the Crown Prince finished giving him orders, he turned to look at Elder Wei: “Do you know about your son going to Xiangfan or not?”
Elder Wei had never much managed household affairs. What he most enjoyed was hosting poetry gatherings and literary meetings, drinking tea and discussing literature with others. As for where his son had gone, although he vaguely remembered his son mentioning it before leaving, now that some time had passed, he didn’t remember very clearly and shook his head somewhat bewildered.
The Crown Prince laughed once, thinking this father was truly rather ridiculous. After finishing his laugh, he flicked his sleeve and pulled a letter from the table, throwing it in front of him: “Take a look at what this is.”
Elder Wei picked it up and scanned through it. Only after this look did his face turn white. In a panic, he knelt back down on the ground: “Your Highness! I beg Your Highness to show mercy. How could my son have such boldness? How could he travel all the way to Xiangfan just to seize a sum of silver? This… wouldn’t this be an enormous joke?”
The Crown Prince somewhat impatiently raised his hand. Seeing him anxiously close his mouth, he then said: “What are you so worried about? I called you here precisely because of your son’s matter. Go to Xiangfan yourself and find Hubei Provincial Governor Jiang Tianhua. He will retry this case.”
Elder Wei breathed a sigh of relief and repeatedly kowtowed loudly to the Crown Prince.
After the Crown Prince waited for him to finish kowtowing, he instructed him further: “I have two more letters here. Take one to Hubei Provincial Governor Jiang Tianhua, and give the other to your son. You don’t need to concern yourself with the rest. But there’s one thing—these two letters must arrive safely in both their hands. If there’s the slightest mishap, I won’t forgive you!”
How could Elder Wei dare say no? Although he wasn’t very clever, he excelled in being honest and cautious. Hearing the Crown Prince say this, he hurriedly patted his chest and made a guarantee: “Rest assured, I absolutely won’t dare to ruin your affairs.”