He knew this weakling would take the bait.
Once they entered the opera house and the music started, this opera fanatic would surely be enchanted, completely forgetting the affairs of the world.
But before the smile had faded from the Second Prince’s face, Yan Xiaoying suddenly slapped her forehead.
“Ah! I just remembered I have official duties today. Second Brother knows how important the Shao Fu duties are. If I perform well, I’ll be able to do more tasks for Father Emperor, easing his burdens. I truly envy you, Second Brother! No paperwork to deal with, idle all day, nothing to do, free to listen to music and play with birds… I can’t compare… Hahaha!”
With a somewhat arrogant laugh, Yan Xiaoying swung her long robe, strode into her carriage, and knocked on the compartment, signaling the driver to depart hastily.
The Second Prince’s eyelid twitched with anger at the Crown Prince’s remarks about being “idle,” and he spat viciously, though he couldn’t openly curse the heir apparent in public.
After several failed attempts to interfere, he had no choice but to run to Consort Shang, only to be scolded by her for his repeated foolish moves!
“Don’t you know the Crown Prince’s character by now? Even if His Majesty has sent him to the Shao Fu, so what? He’ll only expose his shortcomings!”
The Second Prince tried to argue: “Even if Fourth Brother is incompetent, the Empress will certainly send people to manage things for him. What if he handles the duties well and gains Father’s favor?”
Consort Shang laughed: “Sister Empress is indeed capable of taking matters into her own hands, but why do you think His Majesty insisted on moving the Crown Prince out of Fengming Palace despite the Empress’s objections? His Majesty has always disliked the inner palace meddling in government affairs. Moreover, the investigation into embezzled disaster relief funds is intensifying. The Empress’s half-brother, Tang Zhen, is also implicated. How would His Majesty react if the Empress extends her hand into Shao Fu affairs? After feuding with that mother-son pair for so many years, you still can’t figure this out?”
These words immediately enlightened the Second Prince. Indeed, at this critical juncture, wasn’t Father Emperor’s assignment of the Crown Prince to the Shao Fu also a test?
That Tang Zhen was naturally greedy and had created a mess of corrupt accounts, relying on his sister’s position as Empress—perhaps even Tang Hongsheng, the Empress’s father, was unaware of it.
Empress Tang was protective of her family and shielded her half-brother, but eventually, the stench would be exposed, and Feng Qiyuan would be unable to escape implication!
Realizing this, the Second Prince felt greatly reassured, just waiting for the Crown Prince to make a fool of himself.
Meanwhile, Yan Xiaoying traveled to the Shao Fu with an impressive escort. Among the guards outside her carriage, several had been temporarily assigned from the Empress’s palace, ostensibly to prevent accidents during the Crown Prince’s outing, but clearly, they were additional personnel the Empress had sent to prevent her from escaping.
She peeked out to look at them, then turned and rewarded Jin Zhong, who was serving in the carriage, with a silver ingot.
Jin Zhong thought it was a reward for tracking the guard that morning and accepted it with great delight.
He didn’t know that this reward was actually for being neither the Empress’s nor Consort Shang’s person, making him more reliable to use.
This was also Xiaoying’s deeper intention in sending him alone to track the guard that morning—not only to investigate the Second Prince but also to eliminate suspicions that Jin Zhong belonged to the Western Palace faction.
Shortly after, the Crown Prince’s procession arrived outside the Shao Fu. All officials were waiting to bow and pay respects to the heir apparent.
Thus, the Crown Prince proceeded enthusiastically, led by Secretary Qin, to familiarize himself with the various departmental duties.
Recently, there had been continuous flooding in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The Shao Fu was responsible for distributing grain to various local offices, and many clerks were calculating accounts.
After pretending to examine them for a while, the Crown Prince waved grandly, ordering the clerks behind him to pull out the accounts of disaster relief for Jiangsu and Zhejiang from the past two years for his review.
As it was the Crown Prince’s order, the officials dared not disobey. Since these accounts had already been registered and sealed, they let the Crown Prince review them for review.
At this moment, a tall, thin gentleman approached and greeted the Crown Prince familiarly.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince, if there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask me. I will examine these documents for His Majesty, and if there are any questionable matters, I’ll copy them for His Majesty. Someone, bring some fruit platters for the Crown Prince and lead him to a cool hall to rest.”
As he spoke, the thin man didn’t even wait for the Crown Prince’s response before turning to order people to move the brought documents to his room.
Yan Xiaoying raised an eyebrow as she looked at this slender gentleman, unable to recognize who he was.
It was the quick-witted Jian Hu who quietly reminded her: “This is the young master from the Tang family’s second branch—Tang Mingquan. You should call him a cousin.”
Now Yan Xiaoying could match the identity.
Tang Mingquan was Tang Ru’s elder brother, also from the second branch.
Interestingly, although Empress Tang was a daughter of the main branch, due to her birth from a concubine, besides her own elder brother Tang Zhen, she was closer to people from the second branch.
This Tang Mingquan was Empress Tang’s right-hand man, serving in the Shao Fu and skilled at handling finances. Many of the Empress’s external affairs were managed by him.
When she and her father were captured, it seemed that this Tang Mingquan had issued letters to the Yicheng garrison, using the pretext that the Yan family father and daughter were escaped slaves from his household…
However, at that time, Tang Mingquan was only helping Song Ao capture people and probably didn’t know about his aunt’s past dealings, let alone that the Crown Prince before him had been replaced.
He continued his habit from four years ago, not taking the incompetent Crown Prince seriously.
Yan Xiaoying laughed coldly inside and called out to the minor officials carrying the documents: “Are you all deaf? I want to see the documents—where are you taking them?”
The minor officials panicked, holding the documents, unsure of what to do.
Tang Mingquan had heard from his sister, Tang Ru, that this Crown Prince had grown much bolder after not seeing him for four years. He hadn’t believed it, thinking his sister’s harsh words had provoked the “rabbit” to bite.
But seeing it today, this coward had indeed grown courage and dared to challenge a Tang family member.
Tang Mingquan smiled coldly, patiently explaining: “This official was entrusted by the Empress to assist the Crown Prince in familiarizing himself with affairs. If the Crown Prince is unwilling, please report to the Empress…”
The Tang siblings used the same tactic, pressuring people with the Empress’s authority.
Unfortunately for them, the Shao Fu was not Fengming Palace; half of the people here were His Majesty’s eyes and ears.
After being enlightened by Imperial Tutor Ge, Yan Xiaoying had figured out Emperor Chunde’s concerns. If she submitted to those surnamed Tang, wouldn’t she be cutting herself off from His Majesty?
So she sat in the chair with her legs crossed, saying leisurely: “No wonder cousin A’Ru lacks etiquette—her elder brother behaves the same way. Father Emperor ordered me to work here, and even Mother Empress instructed me to put forth my full effort. What business is this of yours? Running around like this—anyone who didn’t know better would think you were the nation’s heir apparent… more imposing than me! If you want to complain, go quickly, and stop obstructing my view.”
Tang Mingquan’s eyelids quivered with anger: What a thing! After being neglected for four years, he had developed a Crown Prince’s temperament!
First, slapping his sister, and now putting on airs before him, truly failing to recognize the situation!
His aunt had already adopted the Sixth Prince; clear-eyed people knew his aunt’s intentions.
The Crown Prince had been mediocre since childhood. Even with His Majesty’s temporary favor and the support of a few backward-thinking old ministers, he couldn’t compete with the cunning mother-son pair from the Western Palace.
Feng Qiyuan’s eventual removal was the unspoken consensus throughout the court!
A feminine good-for-nothing truly believed he could become Emperor one day? He was merely a stepping stone for the Sixth Prince laid by his aunt!
So-called imperial offspring were merely this—the court would still be controlled by the Tang family!
Thinking of this, Tang Mingquan sneered and swallowed his anger: “Your Highness jests. This official was merely eager to relieve Your Highness’s burdens. If Your Highness can manage, that’s even better…”
After speaking, Tang Mingquan left awkwardly, his expression indicating he was going to file a serious complaint.
After driving Tang Mingquan away, Xiaoying had people bring a padded cushion to make a soft nest. She reclined lazily within it, rapidly scanning through the documents.
However, she read so quickly that those serving nearby could see she was merely pretending, whiling away the time!
After the Crown Prince finally “finished” studying, the slender youth didn’t even get up but closed his eyes, unclear whether meditating or sleeping.
Jian Hu held back her frustration repeatedly before reminding him: “Your Highness, the Empress said to bring back some account documents. Which ones would you like to take back?”
Yan Xiaoying, however, waved her hand and pointed to her head: “I am supremely intelligent and have memorized everything. Why need to bring documents back?”
Jian Hu was so stunned she couldn’t speak, not believing a word of the fake Crown Prince’s boasting.
Thus, the Crown Prince served a day at the Shao Fu, looked at many documents, but didn’t bring a single one back.
The Empress had long since heard Tang Mingquan’s complaint and, upon learning no accounts had been brought back, angrily slammed the table: “Damned thing, are ears merely for decoration?”
She had specifically sent Song Ao with a message for her to bring back the disaster relief accounts because His Majesty was determined to thoroughly investigate corruption in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Those grain and supply accounts from Jiangsu and Zhejiang were deep enough to drown officials of several counties and prefectures. Many of the lower officials were the arms of her brother, Tang Zhen. If implicated, her brother would surely be scolded by their father, and wouldn’t she, as Empress, also be disgraced?
If that Western Palace harlot whispered in His Majesty’s ear, wouldn’t all her recent efforts be wasted?
It wouldn’t be easy to tamper with the accounts at the Shao Fu. Ordinary people couldn’t even touch them. She had originally hoped the young girl would bring back the important ones, and she would have people modify and balance them, meticulously erasing any trace.
But that wretched girl had missed the point, returning empty-handed, infuriating the Empress to the point of grinding her silver teeth.
In her fury, she ordered someone to summon the Crown Prince for a reprimand.
The messenger returned empty-handed, reporting that the Crown Prince had been summoned by His Majesty to join several princes in accompanying His Majesty and Imperial Tutor Ge Danian to fish by the lake in the Imperial Garden.
As it happened, Emperor Chunde in his youth had lived in remote countryside and often went fishing with his mentor Ge Danian, becoming quite skilled.
Today, while playing chess with Old Master Ge, when Ge mentioned his youthful hobby, His Majesty suddenly felt the urge to fish.
Since it was a youthful passion, he naturally wanted to invite some young people to join in the fun.
So Ge Danian suggested calling all the prominent princes in the palace, each with a fishing rod, to set bait and fish under the weeping willows.
While preparing the bait, Yan Xiaoying approached Ge Danian and asked in a low voice: “Didn’t I hear yesterday that your wife complained about you returning home too late? Today, you were supposed to go back early. Why did you go to my father Emperor, and stir up his craving? If you don’t find an excuse to slip away, you’ll end up having a late supper in the palace!”
Ge Danian unhurriedly sipped his old wine and said softly, “That was indeed the plan, but just now someone reported to His Majesty about Your Highness’s day of official duties, mentioning how you scanned documents rapidly but returned empty-handed. Your teacher calculated that if I didn’t come here to fish, someone would likely get spanked with the board until their bottom bloomed like a flower…”
Upon hearing this, Yan Xiaoying was so moved that her large eyes glistened with tears.
Great Master Danian was truly a reincarnated Bodhisattva!
Master Ge must have perceived her deliberate disobedience to the Empress’s edict and thus enticed His Majesty to summon the princes for fishing, incidentally buying her time and shielding her from disaster.
Thinking of this, she immediately handed over a worm with great attentiveness: “Here, honored teacher, this one is fatter. Let your student bait it for you.”
Ge Danian smiled as he watched the youth’s eagerness, knowing that someone as intelligent as this would surely understand the meaning behind his words and would be able to think of an excuse to deal with the Empress while fishing.
It was a pity that such an intelligent youth was a member of the imperial family. The teacher-student relationship could only go this far and no deeper.
Otherwise, extreme intelligence would lead to harm, and he would become the next “him”…
Old Master Ge wistfully recalled a certain person he couldn’t help worrying about, his eyes involuntarily lifting slightly toward a low wall by the lake.
He wondered if “he” was well…
Just then, His Majesty spoke loudly: “What is the Crown Prince whispering about with Master Ge? Tell me!”
Yan Xiaoying remained completely calm, smiling and tilting her head as she called back: “In reply to Father Emperor, this son was just telling the Imperial Tutor about the exciting news that the famous performer Qin Guan’er has arrived in the capital!”
These words immediately dissolved His Majesty’s smile—the useless boy! He had thought he’d improved somewhat, but now he was obsessed with entertainment again!
Nearby, the Third Prince laughed loudly, elbowing the Second Prince: “Look at that, the sissy is craving it again, about to start singing…”
But the Second Prince, Feng Qiting, couldn’t quite laugh, instinctively feeling that something was wrong.