Quickly wear salted fish, she won by lying down

Chapter 1635 Substitute Bride 39
The Grand Secretary listened to Ding's words and thought they made sense. If the new emperor treated him badly after he ascended the throne and planned to take away his position as Grand Secretary, he would have Ding kill the new emperor and then replace him with someone else. By then, Ding should have accumulated enough power to achieve his goal.

The Grand Secretary knew that killing the Emperor, given his status and influence, would require a great deal of power, but surely influencing those around him to kill him was feasible?
If all else fails, brainwashing takes less effort. Try brainwashing him so he won't take his position as prime minister.

So the Grand Secretary was no longer in such a hurry and relaxed, watching as the three princes fought tooth and nail for the throne.

Anyway, he wasn't particularly close to any of these three people, so he didn't need to get involved. He'd just let them fight it out and wait until they decided who was the winner.

The fact that those three groups were fighting to the death helped to deplete some of their strength, which was also beneficial to him since he was unharmed.

Without the interference of the Ding family and the Grand Secretary, the second prince ascended the throne, just like in the Ding family's previous life.

Although none of the three princes were legitimate sons, the eldest prince occupied the position of the eldest son. Logically, in the absence of a legitimate son, the eldest son would succeed to the throne.

However, the eldest prince was in poor health, and his son was also in poor health, and they might die any day now. So the old emperor thought that it was unreliable to make the eldest prince the heir. What if the eldest prince died and his son succeeded him when he was young? That would lead to a situation where the emperor was young and the country was in turmoil. What if his son not only succeeded to the throne when he was young, but also died young, or had no children or had very young children? That would be even more of a problem. It would be better to choose the second son. At least the second son would be healthier and wouldn't die young.

The old emperor probably never imagined that his second son, though seemingly healthier, would die earlier than his sickly eldest son.

Of course, that's a matter for the future, so let's leave that aside for now. Shortly after the old emperor made the second prince the crown prince, the old emperor passed away, and the second prince officially ascended the throne.

After the Second Prince officially ascended the throne, he did not seize the position of Grand Secretary at first, which relieved the Grand Secretary. He thought that the longer it dragged on, the better, because the longer it dragged on, the more power the Ding family would accumulate, and the less afraid he would be of what the Emperor would do to him.

The second prince's ascension to the throne had little impact on Linlang and the others. After all, the imperial family members did not hold power and could live as idle princes. The emperor certainly wouldn't bother them, and they could continue to live their lives without having to worry about anything.

Those high-ranking officials are the ones who need to worry.

Although high-ranking officials usually hold real power and high status, their official positions are not like those of royal nobles.

The titles of the imperial family members will not be affected by a change of emperor.

However, the official positions of high-ranking officials often change with each new emperor. Some people are lucky enough to be promoted, while others are unlucky enough to be demoted or even lose their positions. So, with the emperor changing, the officials in the capital are not having a very good time lately, for fear of not pleasing the new emperor and losing their positions.

Just as the Grand Secretary had thought, after a while, the Emperor did indeed consider replacing the Grand Secretary.

Although the new emperor didn't say it, the chief minister could vaguely sense it—the emperor hadn't caused him any trouble, but his followers had been severely reprimanded by the new emperor. This was a bad sign, and the chief minister instructed Ding to be ready at any time to brainwash the new emperor or kill him.

How could Lady Ding possibly use so much power to brainwash or kill the new emperor? She simply said that brainwashing or killing the emperor required far too much power, which she didn't have right now. Then she said that if things went badly, she could brainwash someone the new emperor trusted, so that this person could persuade the emperor not to reclaim his position as Grand Secretary. The Grand Secretary didn't know how much power Lady Ding possessed; he only saw that she wasn't unwilling to help, but rather willing but lacked the ability, so he believed her and planned to introduce her to the emperor's trusted chief eunuch one day.

Ding was clever; she knew that since the Grand Secretary was in her hands, she would not get any favors if she did nothing to help him. So she tried to use as little of her influence as possible to help him, so that she could accumulate more influence for herself.

As long as we can stall for a while and prevent the new emperor from removing the Grand Secretary from his post, the emperor won't last more than two years before he dies.

If the young emperor, who is not yet an adult, ascends the throne, trouble will ensue.

You have to understand, the eldest prince's son is still very young, and the second prince's son is even younger. How could it be a good thing if he ascended to the throne? He would definitely be controlled by someone.

The court will be in chaos then, and she can take this opportunity to see if she can escape from the Grand Secretary.

It should be noted that if the Grand Secretary had not stepped down prematurely with her help, he would definitely have clashed with the forces that had supported the young emperor, since the Grand Secretary probably also wanted to control the young emperor.

She can then find a way to help the prime minister's rival kill him and regain her freedom.

Unfortunately, she doesn't have enough power to kill the Grand Secretary right now. If she waits until the Grand Secretary steps down, she'll have less power to kill him, but the Grand Secretary definitely won't want to step down. Before that happens, he'll relentlessly pressure her for help. If she refuses, she doesn't know how she'll be treated. So, although the new emperor plans to seize the position of Grand Secretary, she can't work with him to bring the Grand Secretary down.

She should wait until the new emperor dies and the young emperor ascends the throne. When all sides fight tooth and nail, those people won't be like the new emperor, who only intends to peacefully seize the position of chief minister. They will directly kill people. When the chief minister is killed, she can escape.

Then we'll be free to roam the skies.

The Grand Secretary was unaware of Ding's thoughts. He only watched as Ding brainwashed the Grand Eunuch, who then said something to the new emperor, who temporarily stopped causing him trouble, which relieved the Grand Secretary.

However, this is not a long-term solution, because the new emperor will eventually want the position of chief minister again under the instigation of his forces. Therefore, he needs to make the Ding family accumulate more power as soon as possible and personally brainwash the new emperor so that the new emperor will not take away his position as chief minister. If all else fails, killing him is also an option. When the young emperor ascends the throne, he will be better able to control him.

Of course, the young emperor's ascension to the throne is not entirely a good thing for him. Although the second prince has two sons, the eldest son is the empress's son and the legitimate heir of the empress. Once the emperor dies, the throne will definitely be his. The empress's family is quite powerful. Once the young emperor ascends the throne, with the empress and her family controlling the government, he may not have much of a chance.

He wanted to support the new emperor's second son to ascend the throne, but it was difficult because the second son was only a little over a year old, and his mother had no power. After ascending the throne, he would indeed be easy to control, but in this powerless state, it would be almost impossible for him to get rid of the empress's legitimate son and take the throne. After all, the empress and her family knew that the empress's legitimate son was precious, and there were too many people protecting him. He couldn't even bring himself to do it.

However, he won't take action for the time being, since the emperor doesn't intend to take away his position as chief minister yet, so he's not in a hurry.