Virtuous Grand Prince?

When the Prince of Han heard this name, a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

“You’re absolutely right. That boy is even more devious than his father, yet His Majesty dotes on him. Sometimes even I have to take a back seat.”

Dong Xiao: “The reason the Crown Prince is still Crown Prince is also because he bore a good son.”

“Boren means…”

The Prince of Han’s eyes showed a murderous glint, “Kill him?”

“Until the very last step, Your Highness must not have this thought.”

“Why?”

“A wild goose’s passage leaves traces. If His Majesty truly investigates something thoroughly, there’s no reason it can’t be uncovered. Killing him is too risky. If the investigation traces back to Your Highness, I’m afraid…”

“I’ll be a dead end too.”

The Prince of Han glanced at Dong Xiao, his brows furrowed tightly, “Since we can’t kill him, why does Boren bring him up?”

“The Crown Prince is in the capital, the Grand Prince is in Lin’an. On one hand, Your Highness needs to find a way to delay the Grand Prince’s movements. On the other hand, you need to quickly enter the capital and attend to His Majesty’s side, spending day and night with His Majesty.”

Dong Xiao looked toward the cabin exterior, “While spending day and night with His Majesty, Your Highness must also spare no effort to do one thing, and need only do this one thing.”

Dong Xiao turned back, looking into the Prince of Han’s eyes: “Find ways to make the Crown Prince look foolish and make mistakes.”

Intelligent people understand with just a hint.

The Prince of Han’s heart raced. His large palm slapped the table, “Excellent plan! Someone come!”

“Your Highness, please remain calm. We need to carefully plan how to entangle the Grand Prince’s feet.”

Dong Xiao quickly spoke up to stop him, “It must be done just right, without letting him notice even slightly, or all will be for naught.”

“Boren’s reminder is apt—I was too impulsive.”

The Prince of Han frowned: “How do we entangle him? With women?”

Thinking of how that Zhao Yishi boy had competed with him for the courtesan, the Prince of Han immediately felt his idea was excellent.

Heroes have difficulty passing the beauty barrier—find a few peerless beauties to make him forget to return, best if he stops doing proper work altogether.

But Dong Xiao shook his head, “The Grand Prince isn’t greedy when it comes to women. If he truly fancies someone, at most he’ll bring her back to the capital and keep her. Women probably won’t be able to hold him.”

The Prince of Han’s gaze deepened: “Then what other method is there?”

Dong Xiao: “I have a plan. Your Highness, listen to see if it will work?”

The Prince of Han: “Speak quickly.”

“The Grand Prince’s trip to Zhejiang is to purge the official ranks, to kill some people and confiscate some estates. Your Highness…”

Dong Xiao leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice.

“Even a cornered dog will jump over a wall, let alone people?”

The Prince of Han was stunned for a moment, then his five internal organs all began to boil, “Boren means…”

Dong Xiao: “Borrow another’s blade to wound.”

…

Zhejiang Province.

Lin’an Prefecture.

The best place in Lin’an Prefecture to view the moon was at Tower Beyond Tower, where a stretch of West Lake reflected the round moon in the sky—extremely beautiful.

In past years at this time, this place was most lively.

But this year for some reason, along with an entire stretch of the embankment near Tower Beyond Tower, everything had been sealed off. Ordinary people weren’t allowed anywhere near.

At this moment inside Tower Beyond Tower sat officials of all ranks. A group of seductive dancing girls in sheer gauze were dancing gracefully.

No one had the mood to spare them a glance. Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the man in the main seat.

The man wore a gray long robe, holding a wine cup in his hand, with a slight smile at the corner of his lips. He truly was like a jade tree with orchid-like bearing, a true gentleman.

This was none other than Imperial Grand Prince Zhao Yishi.

The Grand Prince personally came to Zhejiang bearing the Emperor’s oral edict. What for?

To kill people!

In these times, which official didn’t have some dirt? The current situation was that whoever the Grand Prince looked favorably upon kept their head.

At that moment, someone coughed, and the dancing girls immediately withdrew. The tower suddenly fell quiet.

The officials didn’t dare breathe too heavily, afraid that if they breathed too loudly, the Grand Prince’s eyes would fix on them.

Zhao Yishi set down his wine cup and gave a cold laugh, “The saying goes ‘A county magistrate’s three years bring one hundred thousand in bribes’—I’m sure you’ve all heard this?”

Which of them dared to respond?

“Since you don’t answer, I assume you’ve all heard it. Since you’ve heard it, I won’t waste words.”

Zhao Yishi’s finger tapped on the table.

“Each prefecture and county will send their account books to my palace tomorrow. Those whose accounts match can sleep soundly tonight. Those whose accounts don’t match should carefully consider what to do.”

All the officials were shocked and dismayed.

Zhao Yishi’s gaze swept around in a circle, and his tone softened somewhat.

“His Majesty taught me from childhood that in all matters, one should first be courteous before resorting to force, to be tolerant of people, to tolerate people. But whether I can tolerate you depends on your performance afterward.”

Having said this, he stood up, flicked his sleeves, and walked straight out.

The autumn breeze was intoxicating. Outside the tower, a lake of West Water sparkled with starlight.

Zhao Yishi had no mood to admire the reflection. His mind was calculating matters.

At that moment, Shen Chong walked over, “Your Highness, news has come from the capital. The old Imperial Censor has passed away, and His Majesty has granted him burial at the Imperial Mausoleum.”

Zhao Yishi’s expression changed.

Throughout history, those granted burial at the Imperial Mausoleum could be counted on one’s fingers. Most of these few were founding generals who had established unparalleled merit on the battlefield.

Civil officials?

This Lu Shi was the first.

But his merits didn’t seem to warrant this level!

Why?

Could it be that His Majesty still didn’t know that he was behind those scholars causing trouble?

Not right.

Zhao Yishi immediately rejected his own thought.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard were the Emperor’s personal guards. There was no reason he could investigate matters that His Majesty would be kept in the dark about.

So that meant His Majesty knew full well about Lu Shi’s little maneuvers behind the scenes, yet still gave him a grand burial. Why?

Seeing His Highness remain silent for a long time, Shen Chong continued: “The second matter—His Majesty has issued a self-reproaching edict.”

Zhao Yishi’s throat suddenly tightened. After a long while, he gave a cold laugh, “Now the civil and military officials, and scholars throughout the realm, should all settle down, shouldn’t they?”

“The entire nation is praising His Majesty as a sage ruler.”

“What other news is there?”

“That’s all for now.”

“How is His Majesty’s illness?”

“Already recovered.”

Zhao Yishi narrowed his eyes, “The Zhejiang matter needs to proceed quickly. The Four-Nine City won’t remain peaceful afterward. We need to return to the capital as soon as possible.”

Shen Chong was somewhat surprised, “Your Highness, we’ve only been here a few days.”

Zhao Yishi: “The Censorate, the Ministry of Revenue, the Zhejiang official circles—these three places are all critical. My dear imperial uncle will surely make moves.”

Shen Chong: “Will the Prince of Han return to the capital?”

Zhao Yishi: “He will.”

Shen Chong: “Then should we send word to the capital and have Third Master and the others…”

Zhao Yishi: “No need. Xie Chengyu will surely make arrangements. Notify Wang Xian to come find me at the palace tonight.”

Shen Chong: “What about the people in the tower?”

“Have them disperse first.”

Zhao Yishi’s voice was even gentler than the night, “We can’t let them be too comfortable.”

“Yes!”

Shen Chong summoned the accompanying guards and whispered a few instructions. Turning around, he happened to see His Highness smile for no apparent reason.

Shen Chong immediately thought of that box of mooncakes.

His premonition was extremely accurate.

The next instant, Zhao Yishi asked casually: “What do you think she’ll think when she receives that box of mooncakes?”

Shen Chong shook his head: “This humble servant cannot guess.”

He had been by His Highness’s side for over ten years and had never heard His Highness voluntarily mention any woman.

It was actually Li Buyan?

A maidservant??

Shen Chong bit his teeth and tried to probe indirectly: “Isn’t Your Highness afraid Third Master and the others will have some thoughts about it?”

The corners of Zhao Yishi’s lips curved into a tiny arc.

“I just wanted to send it.”