Jiuxi

Chapter 763: No Way Out

After the initial shock and panic, the Fourth Prince swallowed hard, looked at the middle-aged scholar and said, "But sir, you said before that Father will not continue to investigate. Further investigation of this case will damage the dignity of the royal family."

It's not that he doubted the middle-aged man in front of him. In fact, he had never doubted him.

Eight years ago, the middle-aged man came into the Fourth Prince's sight by chance, and the Fourth Prince then had someone investigate the man's background in detail.

This man lost both his parents when he was young, and grew up in difficulty with the help of kind-hearted people. Later, with his cleverness and diligence, he was appreciated by an ordinary wealthy family in the east city of Dadu. Not only did he let him learn and work in the shop, but he also made an exception to allow him to read and write. After more than 20 years, he finally grew into the mainstay of the shop.

By chance, he helped a steward in the Fourth Prince's mansion solve a problem, and the two became brothers and became increasingly familiar with each other.

Later, with the introduction of the steward, the scholar came before the Fourth Prince, who was only fifteen years old at the time.

After just a few casual chats, he attracted the attention of the Fourth Prince. Although this man was of humble status, he was knowledgeable about astronomy and geography, and could even talk about the general situation of the world.

Although the Fourth Prince was young, he was ambitious. He immediately realized that this man was a rough diamond lost among the people. So after asking someone to verify the other party's identity and background, the Fourth Prince allowed him into the circle around him.

As time went by, the middle-aged scholar was increasingly appreciated and valued by the Fourth Prince for his countless suggestions, especially since he helped the Fourth Prince to make a plan for the succession a few years ago. He had already become the Fourth Prince's only choice for the Shangshu Ling.

Therefore, the Fourth Prince's doubt was not because he did not trust the other party, but rather a life-saving straw that he subconsciously grasped in extreme panic.

The middle-aged scholar frowned and said with guilt: "Now it seems that I underestimated Your Majesty and put Your Majesty in danger."

"Sir, what is going on?"

The Fourth Prince was somewhat confused by him, so he supported his arm and asked him to sit down, and then said solemnly: "Please tell me in detail, sir."

The middle-aged scholar began by talking about their earliest plan.

Although Crown Prince Nalan was not a man of extraordinary talent during his lifetime, he was calm and cautious in his conduct. In addition, he was the eldest son of Emperor Jing and the Empress, so his position as crown prince was extremely stable.

Under normal circumstances, the Fourth Prince would not have the slightest chance, so the middle-aged scholar advised him to go all out and kill Nalan with the most direct means.

But there was a problem here. Emperor Jing was a ruler of great talent and strategy. It would be impossible to kill the prince under his nose and get away with it. So the middle-aged scholar decided to kill two birds with one stone and began a plan that lasted for several years.

He first placed people around the third prince Wu Yan, but did not consolidate the clues. Instead, he left a vague clue, because this would make Emperor Jing believe that it was Wu Yan who could not control his ambition and killed Nalan.

When the time was ripe, the middle-aged scholar put the strange poison in the Queshan Red wine that was delivered to the East Palace at regular intervals, and through the gold obtained from the Third Prince's mansion in advance, he successfully linked the Dachang Hao clerk who was responsible for delivering the wine to the Third Prince.

This is the complete process of the whole plan.

As the Fourth Prince stared blankly, the middle-aged scholar continued, "Your Highness, I originally thought that His Majesty would keep things quiet and consider the overall situation, but he overlooked one problem."

The fourth prince asked quickly: "What's the problem?"

The middle-aged scholar said with a sigh: "That is the marriage between His Highness and Princess Yongping."

The fourth prince was increasingly confused: "What happened to the marriage?"

The middle-aged scholar sighed, "On the surface, His Majesty is showing goodwill to the Prince of Changshan through this marriage. Qing Yu will hand over some of her military power to cooperate with His Majesty's plan to reform the military. Princess Yongping will become the princess and will be the queen of Dajing in the future. With this relationship, the Prince of Changshan does not have to worry too much about Qing Yu's fate. This is a concession from both sides."

The fourth prince nodded mechanically and said, "That's right."

The middle-aged scholar was silent for a moment, then said solemnly, "I'm afraid your majesty's intentions go beyond this."

These words startled the Fourth Prince.

"More than that?" He asked in a deep voice, "Does Father want to kill all of the Qingyu clan?"

The middle-aged scholar said, "If the Prince of Changshan is willing to hand over all military power and serve as an advisor on military affairs in the Military Affairs Council, His Majesty will certainly not treat Qing Yu harshly, and may even allow the Prince of Changshan to lead troops outside after the military system is reformed in the future. But the Prince of Changshan dares not take that step, because military power is the foundation of Qing Yu's survival, and he dares not gamble. Your Highness's marriage to Princess Yongping seems to ease this contradiction, but it is only an easing. Looking at the countless dynasties in history books, there has never been an old rule of equality between the monarch and the ministers, and there must be a difference in superiority!"

After hearing these words, the Fourth Prince felt a splitting headache.

If it was true as the scholar said, then wouldn't it be destined that Emperor Jing's agreement to his marriage with Qing Yu Huaijin would end up in a tragedy?
Future destiny and lifelong happiness are intertwined. The fourth prince asked with difficulty: "Sir, these should only be your speculations, right?"

The middle-aged scholar said slowly: "Although it is just speculation, it is getting closer and closer to the truth. Your Highness might as well think about it carefully. There were unusual movements on the northwest border before, and the Dai army seemed to be on the verge of dispatch. His Majesty then transferred 30,000 elite troops from the Xiashan Army to the northwest border to support them. The chief general is still Mie Gudi, who is the right-hand man of Prince Changshan. If I am not mistaken, this is His Majesty's last test of Prince Changshan. If the prince is willing to hand over his military power, Your Majesty should send someone else as the general!" The fourth prince stood up and paced back and forth in the room.

The middle-aged scholar continued, "If this is not convincing enough, then considering the current situation, the fact that His Majesty still detained the Prince in the capital is enough to prove that their contradictions are irreconcilable. Yaoshan Pass was breached by Lu Chen of Southern Qi, Wu Yan was left behind and suffered setbacks on the western battlefield, and Lord Nan Yong was trapped in Feiniao Pass by the Qi, Shazhou, and Dai armies. The entire battle situation is already extremely dangerous, but His Majesty still did not let the Prince go south to lead the troops. Your Highness, do you still not understand the connection here?"

The Fourth Prince stopped and turned to look at him, his expression very unpleasant, and whispered, "Sir, would Father really do that?"

"Ugh."

The middle-aged scholar sighed again and said quietly, "Your Highness, do you know why I had to go out of the house in the rain today?"

The fourth prince shook his head.

The middle-aged scholar said, "I went to see a spy, and he told me that the steward Saru who used to work in the Third Prince's mansion has disappeared."

"Saru?"

The Fourth Prince's expression changed slightly.

The middle-aged scholar nodded and said, "Yes, he disappeared very suddenly, and there was no sign before. In fact, I advised Your Highness that since the Third Prince has been imprisoned, it would be better to make Saru disappear directly, so that there would be no evidence."

Saru was the insider arranged by the Fourth Prince to be beside the Third Prince Wu Yan at the suggestion of a scholar. He was also the key person who introduced Zhai Xuan, who presented fine wine to Crown Prince Nalan, to the Third Prince.

After the Crown Prince died suddenly and the Third Prince was imprisoned, the scholar suggested that the Fourth Prince kill them to silence them, but in the end he did not agree.

At this moment, the Fourth Prince couldn't help but say with regret and guilt: "I... I saw that the overall situation was already decided. If Sarul disappeared for no reason, it would definitely attract the attention of the group of hawks in the Main Music Department. You also know that Tian Jue is a vicious enough dog."

The middle-aged scholar naturally would not dwell on this at this time. He said softly, "I suspect that Sarul has fallen into the hands of the chief musician Tian Jue, and he will definitely not be able to withstand the tactics of that group of people."

The fourth prince sat back dejectedly.

The middle-aged scholar took a look at his face and added fuel to the fire: "When your majesty imprisoned the third prince, I felt that something was wrong, but I didn't understand it at the moment. Until now, I finally found out the strangeness. According to your majesty's temperament, if he is sure that the third prince is the real murderer who murdered the crown prince, can the third prince survive?"

The Fourth Prince didn't think much about it and shook his head subconsciously.

"This is where the problem lies."

The middle-aged scholar frowned and said slowly, "This shows that your majesty does not believe that the third prince is the murderer. He just used the doubts raised by the Prince of Changshan to give the third prince a chance to live. This is to paralyze your highness and secretly let Tian Jue find out the real mastermind behind the scenes. If it were just this, this matter might not be hopeless, but because of your highness's marriage to Princess Yongping, I am sure that your majesty will explode!"

The fourth prince gradually came to his senses and said in a trembling voice, "You mean, father will use the evidence he has found to label the Prince of Changshan and I as accomplices in the murder of the crown prince. In this way, he can kill me with justification and directly liquidate the Prince and the Qingyu clan's power."

The middle-aged scholar looked at his pale face, hesitated for a moment, and nodded.

The Fourth Prince felt as if all the strength in his body had been drained.

His desire for the chair made him take that step early, and he could no longer extricate himself from it, and could only sink deeper and deeper, especially when he decided to kill his brother Nalan. There was no turning back for him, and he could only bite the bullet and go all the way to the end.

Now he was like a drowning man, looking at the middle-aged scholar and saying earnestly: "Sir, save me!"

The middle-aged scholar stood up and said, "Thanks to your favor, I have the opportunity to realize my ambitions. I am willing to live and die with you. But your majesty is an emperor of all ages. Once he makes up his mind to do something, I am afraid that even the Prince of Changshan will not be able to stop him. I am even more insignificant in front of the majesty of heaven."

The Fourth Prince looked desperate.

But the next moment, a strange look flashed in the eyes of the middle-aged scholar. He walked closer to him and lowered his voice: "I have another way, but I wonder if Your Highness is willing to try it."

The fourth prince said without hesitation: "Tell me quickly!"

The middle-aged scholar leaned over and whispered in his ear: "Your Highness, this is about the throne. It has always been a life-and-death struggle. The only way to deal with it now is to strike first!"

The fourth prince's pupils suddenly shrank.

(End of this chapter)