Jiuxi

Chapter 740 738 [Seeing the True Heart]

Dadu, the Fourth Prince’s Palace.

When the scholar walked into the outer study, the Fourth Prince Hai Ge stood up to greet him to show his respect for the middle-aged strategist.

"Congratulations to Your Highness, congratulations to Your Highness."

The scholar was the first to congratulate and perform the formalities.

The fourth prince quickly stepped forward and held his arms, smiling, "It seems that sir knows."

A faint smile appeared on the scholar's usually dull and rigid face, and he said, "Your Majesty has announced the imperial decree granting marriage between Your Highness and Princess Yongping to the world, and the wedding will be completed at the end of the year. Most people know about it, so how can I be an exception? Your Highness's long-cherished wish will finally come true, so how can I not be happy for Your Highness?"

The fourth prince said emotionally: "This is all thanks to you, sir."

The scholar shook his head and said, "Without your help and support, I would have been a dead body on the roadside, not worth mentioning. From ancient times to the present, there are countless so-called counselors, but there are only a few wise rulers. Your Highness treats me so highly, but you don't know that in my heart, your glory has already been shining brightly."

"Sir, you are so complimentary."

The fourth prince was delighted when he heard this, and he took the scholar's arm and said, "Please sit down."

After the two of them sat down, he asked again with concern: "Excuse me, sir, what should I do next?"

The scholar thought for a moment and said slowly, "That's why I came here. Your Highness, the voices of the ministers in the court asking for the establishment of a crown prince are gradually rising. You must be cautious at this time and must not get carried away and cause the dislike of His Majesty. Now that His Highness the Crown Prince has passed away and His Highness the Third Prince has been imprisoned in the underworld, Your Highness has left the other princes behind and will soon become the crown prince, so you must be more careful. Your Highness, remember to keep a distance from the court officials, be more filial on weekdays, and especially go to the palace often to pay respects to the Queen."

"Remember what the gentleman said."

The fourth prince spoke sincerely, then asked with a hint of worry, "Will something unexpected happen to the third brother?"

Ever since this unremarkable-looking scholar gained his trust many years ago, the two had been planning how to fight for the position of crown prince. The most crucial part was to find a scapegoat first.

Under the scholar's plan, a confidant of the Third Prince Wu Yan became the Fourth Prince's man. The Fourth Prince then used this man to set a trap for Wu Yan, and finally successfully pinned the blame for the death of Crown Prince Nalan on Wu Yan, thus killing two birds with one stone.

But this conspiracy is not perfect. In fact, there has never been an absolutely perfect conspiracy in this world.

Just as Qing Yugong said that day, since it was the Third Prince Wu Yan who had people poison the liquor presented to the Crown Prince, how could there be no traces of this process?

It is a bit far-fetched to convict Wu Yan based solely on the one hundred taels of gold hidden in the home of a clerk at Dachanghao.

Perhaps it was for this reason that the emperor did not directly sentence Wu Yan to death, but only imprisoned him, and this was what the Fourth Prince was worried about.

"Don't worry, Your Highness."

The scholar said calmly, "His Majesty did not order the death of the Third Prince. Perhaps it was because he found that there was still something fishy about the incident, but His Majesty will not continue to investigate."

The fourth prince asked in confusion: "Why?"

The scholar was silent for a moment, then said with a sigh: "Your Highness, Your Majesty is the Emperor of Dajing, and you must always consider the dignity of the royal family. The Crown Prince died suddenly, and the Third Prince was imprisoned. This is already a tragedy of brothers fighting each other. If the world knew that there were also princes involved, where would Your Majesty's dignity be? Could it be that all the princes are cruel and cold people? Therefore, even if Your Majesty noticed something strange, he would not investigate further, and the matter ends here."

After hearing these words, the Fourth Prince couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The scholar continued, "In addition to what I said before, the most important thing for Your Highness now is to continue to win the favor of His Majesty."

The fourth prince groaned and said, "But the master asked me to keep a distance from the court officials..."

The scholar smiled and said, "Your Highness, do you know what His Majesty wants to do most?"

The fourth prince was not stupid. After careful consideration, he tentatively asked, "Take back the military power?"

"Exactly."

The scholar showed admiration on his face, and then said: "Your Highness's marriage with Princess Yongping is the key. His Majesty will make Your Highness the Crown Prince, and Princess Yongping will be the Crown Princess, and even the future Queen Dajing. With such a layer of protection, even if the Qingyu family surrenders part of the military power, they will not become fish on the chopping board in the future. Your Highness can see that the Prince of Changshan gladly accepted His Majesty's appointment and became the first Grand Commander of the Metropolitan Government because he understood His Majesty's mind."

After his in-depth and easy-to-understand analysis, the Fourth Prince suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly, "That's right."

The scholar smiled and said, "Your Highness, what you need to do is very simple. As long as you get along better with Princess Yongping, maintain a certain respect for Prince Changshan, and show your sincerity to Princess Yongping, this is the situation that Your Majesty wants to see most, and it will play a vital role in adjusting the overall situation of the court."

"I understand."

The Fourth Prince very much agreed with this proposal. Besides, he himself admired Qing Yu Huai Jin, so why would he not agree?

He immediately stood up and said, "I was originally thinking that since my father had issued the imperial decree granting marriage, I might have to go to the Prince's Mansion less often. Fortunately, you have someone to help me find out the missing parts. I will go to the Prince's Mansion to visit Yongping now."

The scholar stood up and bowed, saying, "Your Highness will see you soon."

The fourth prince returned the greeting and smiled, "Sir, would you like to go back and rest?"

The scholar said calmly: "I will help Your Highness plan the follow-up arrangements."

"Sir, please make yourself at your own convenience. I will ask someone not to disturb you." The Fourth Prince trusted this man very much. He left leisurely after saying this.

The scholar respectfully escorted her to the door, then turned back and sat quietly at his desk for a long time.

He looked at the numerous files on the table, his lips curled up, and he said silently in his heart: "Your Highness, you still don't understand your father after all. He never cares about dignity, but only cares about whether he can achieve his goals. Besides, he has many sons, and the death of two or three of them may not shake the king's mind. Otherwise, how could Tian Jue, a silent dog, secretly stare at me? It's better this way, so that I don't waste energy to attract his attention."

"It's just that...just the father and son killing each other isn't interesting enough."

He suddenly picked up a pen with his left hand and wrote a very obscure sentence on the spread white paper, and then silently said: "Prince Changshan, I believe you have already noticed something strange, so let me lend you a helping hand."

The Fourth Prince, who was on his way to the Prince of Changshan's Mansion, naturally had no idea what his most trusted adviser was doing. At this moment, his heart was full of expectations for the future and the beautiful figure that haunted him.

When they arrived at the palace, Qing Yuzhongwang came out to greet them personally, then respectfully brought the Fourth Prince to Jinyuan, and then found an excuse to say goodbye and leave.

Dajing was not Southern Qi. Although under the emperor's call, the court and the people made great efforts to learn the culture of Qi, some things would naturally not be copied completely, such as the etiquette of strict separation between men and women.

Even though the engagement has been confirmed, the Fourth Prince can still visit Qing Yu Huaijin openly.

I haven't seen her for a few days, but she is still more beautiful than flowers.

However, the Fourth Prince vaguely felt something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what was different. He just felt that there seemed to be some strange emotions hidden in the depths of Qing Yu Huaijin's eyes.

After the greetings, the fourth prince smiled and said, "Yongping, my sixth brother asked me to go to the northern suburbs hunting ground the day after tomorrow. Do you want to go with me to relax?"

The two of them had been getting along better and better over the past six months. Normally, Qing Yu Huaijin would not reject his proposal, but this time she looked at the Fourth Prince calmly and said without comment: "Your Highness, I want to ask you a question."

The fourth prince happily said, "You ask."

Qing Yu Huaijin's tone was very calm, but his words sounded like thunder to the Fourth Prince: "May I ask, Your Highness, is the Crown Prince's death related to you?"

The atmosphere in the flower hall dropped to freezing point in an instant.

The fourth prince tried very hard to control his emotions and said seriously, "Of course it has nothing to do with me, Yongping, how could you doubt that I would do such a thing?"

"Your Highness, forgive me."

Qing Yu Huaijin lowered his head and said, "Your Highness must be aware of the brother-sister relationship between me and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

The fourth prince asked in confusion: "I know, but what does this have to do with your suspicion of me?"

"Because His Majesty has issued an order, and Qing Yu did not refuse."

Qing Yu Huaijin raised his head and said sincerely, "I just don't want to marry a man who murdered my brother. I would rather disobey the order and die. That's why I asked so suddenly. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

The fourth prince felt relieved and quickly consoled him, "You are too kind. How could I be angry with you for this?"

At this moment, Qing Yu Huaijin showed a smile on his face and said softly, "Thank you, Your Highness."

The Fourth Prince secretly thanked his luck that he did not lose his composure, otherwise this intelligent woman would definitely become suspicious. He gradually calmed down and then cleverly changed the subject.

However, that sharp question ultimately affected the atmosphere of the conversation. The Fourth Prince was no longer able to speak eloquently like he did in the past, and after chatting for a while, he stood up and said goodbye.

Qing Yu Huaijin saw him off to the ceremonial gate, and then slowly returned to his study.

All the maids withdrew, and she walked to the desk and took out an official document from the bottom of a pile of files.

She reached out and opened it, looking at it carefully. It contained the details of the Battle of Yaoshan Pass.

"There are many people in this world who indulge in conspiracy and deception, such as you and your brothers from the royal family, who have fought tooth and nail for the throne."

"This kind of thing is not uncommon. It's inevitable to be dragged into the situation. If I were in your position, I would probably not be immune. But if you are sincere to me, why are you so evasive? It shows that your so-called sincerity is only half true and half false."

"What you really value is the strength of the Qingyu clan. From borrowing from them in the past to using them now, it all comes down to making a good impression on you in the emperor's mind, so that you can successfully become the crown prince of Dajing."

"I do not blame you."

"After all, people living in this world are always bound by shackles. Everyone is fighting among themselves, and no one can stay out of it. If you take a step back, you will fall into the abyss."

"I just think...you and those people could have done something more useful instead of being immersed in these intrigues."

"Like him."

Qing Yu Huaijin's gaze stayed on the paper, and he finally smiled silently, looking bleak and lonely.

"Pity."

(End of this chapter)