King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

The palace of the King of Han.

The dim oil lamp in the study flickered.

Zhu Gaoxu leaned on the couch, half-closed his eyes, tapping the table with his right hand from time to time, wondering what he was thinking about.

dong dong dong.
Not long after, a crisp knock on the door suddenly sounded, waking up the silent Zhu Gaoxu. He slowly raised his head and looked at the closed door, frowned slightly, and said:
"Come in."

As the voice of assent sounded, the tightly closed door was slowly pushed open with a creak, and an old and slightly hunched figure walked in quickly from outside. The person was none other than Lao He, the chief steward of the Prince of Han's mansion.

Seeing the visitor, Zhu Gaoxu raised his eyebrows and asked:
"How is it?"

"After leaving our mansion, did the bastard Third Brother go directly to the mansion of the eldest brother, or did he go somewhere else on the way?"

Lao He calmed himself down, sorted out his thoughts briefly, bowed slightly, and saluted:

"Go back to your lord."

"The news sent by the people below is no different from what the prince expected."

"Prince Zhao did not stop at all after leaving our mansion, and he rushed to the Crown Prince's mansion without stopping."

Get a definite answer.

Zhu Gaoxu's face, which had been calm and motionless, showed a long-lost smile. He nodded without comment and continued:
"What happened?"

"When that bastard the third brother came out of the eldest brother's mansion, did he leave with a smile on his face, or did he leave with a look of deep hatred and bitterness?"

"Or, have you discovered any different scenes than before?"

Upon hearing this, Lao He replied respectfully:

"Your Majesty."

“No other abnormalities were found.”

"However, when Prince Zhao left the Crown Prince's residence, according to the observations of the people below, they could clearly feel that Prince Zhao was in an unusually good mood, and the smile on the corner of his mouth could not be suppressed."

"So if nothing unexpected happens, the things that Prince Zhao and the Crown Prince talked about should be unusually pleasant."

joy?

I'm afraid the third brother is happy about this, but the prince, who is in the prince's mansion, is probably not in a happy mood, but the people below can't see it.

As for why the prince was unhappy, the reason is naturally needless to say.

The princes who hold real power below must accumulate strength in their fiefdoms, and the number of people must be no less than 90,000.

With such a thing and such a big threat, no matter who it is, it would be difficult for anyone to be happy.

The most important point is that although he was extremely unwilling and did not want to agree, he was forced to do so and finally had to accept it. Anyone who is not a fool can imagine what kind of mood and emotion he would feel at this moment.

As he thought about it, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, a bitter smile appeared on his face, and he murmured in a low voice:
"On this matter."

"I'm afraid the boss must hate me to death!"

"Ha ha ha ha."

Hearing this, Lao He did not dare to make any answer or express any opinion. He lowered his head obediently, buried his head deep, and waited quietly by the side.

However, Old He naturally understood Zhu Gaoxu's feelings clearly.

After all, Zhu Gaoxu asked him to do many things personally.

Moreover, Zhu Gaoxu had almost never concealed anything from him about the entire matter of the Prince of Han's mansion, so he naturally knew what Zhu Gaoxu meant by this.

That's it.

After a long while, Zhu Gaoxu came back to his senses from his emotion. Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he frowned and turned to look at Lao He beside him. His face darkened and he asked:

"The third brother is in the prince's residence."

"How long did you stay there?"

"Can you count the people below?"

I knew he would ask this. Fortunately, he asked his subordinates to be very careful when monitoring and tracking. No matter what happened, when it happened and the time it took, it must be recorded in detail. If not, if he was suddenly asked this question, Lao He would be really scared.

Therefore, this seemingly extremely tricky question was not a problem at all for Lao He who had prepared everything early on.

Then, without even thinking about it, Lao He replied directly:
"Report to the prince."

"According to the report from the people below."

"From the time Prince Zhao entered the Crown Prince's residence to the time he left, it took no more than a cup of tea."

Get a definite answer.

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment, then frowned and fell into silent thought.

At the same time, one could see that Zhu Gaoxu's expression darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This move made Lao He, who was standing aside, feel a little confused. He didn't understand what was going on. Weren't they talking and laughing just now?

How come everything suddenly turned into this?

Or, what exactly happened, something that he didn't know, and did he overlook something?
Or.
The people below did not record honestly, and there are anomalies in the records. Did the people below neglect their duties in this matter?

But when he thought about it carefully, no matter how he thought about it, he felt that it was not right.

You must know that those who can stay in Yingtian City are not newcomers, but veterans who have been through many battles and naturally know what to do and what not to do.

For this reason, under normal circumstances, no one would dare to act in this way.

He thought so, but after all, they are all human beings, and Lao He could not guarantee 100% that the people below him could really do their work 100% honestly. After all, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Then, after a brief moment of daze, Lao He came back to his senses. He did not dare to hesitate for a moment, and bowed repeatedly, and replied:
"My lord."

"But do you think there is something wrong with the time reported by the people below?"

"If so, please give me half an hour. I will go and check with the people below and give you an accurate answer."

"If it is true that the people below are negligent in their duties and submitted false data to deceive His Majesty, I will definitely not let Your Majesty down and will definitely give Your Majesty a satisfactory answer."

Say it.

Lao He didn't dare to tease him at all and was about to turn around and leave.

"return."

Before he could turn around, he heard Zhu Gaoxu's voice stopping him. He was stunned on the spot as he was about to leave. He subconsciously asked:
"My Lord, do you have any other instructions?"

Zhu Gaoxu frowned and pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and said:

"Not urgent."

"Let me think about it first. It's not urgent and there's not much time left."

"The real can not be fake, the fake can not be real."

"If it's really one of our subordinates who's doing this recklessly, we can investigate at any time."

"But I am thinking about something else now."

"That is, if the content reported by our subordinates is correct, it is the most authentic data."

"If this is the case, have you ever thought about the meaning and problems contained therein?"

Lao He was completely confused. He stood there in a daze, brows furrowed, and fell into deep thought.

The atmosphere in the entire study also fell silent at this moment, it was terrifyingly quiet.

Just like that, after a long while, Lao He slowly came back to his senses from his daze. He raised his head slowly with a look of doubt and looked at Prince Han who was staring at him with a playful smile on his face. He spoke carefully:

"My lord."

"You mean, the things here."

"Perhaps Prince Zhao and the Crown Prince have reached some agreement that we are not aware of, or the Crown Prince has some unknown plan in this matter?"

Have to admit.

Although Lao He is not young anymore, his brain works very quickly, surpassing the reaction of many young people. The saying "things turn into monsters when they get old, and people turn into spirits when they get old" is really reflected in him.

Since others had already guessed it, Zhu Gaoxu naturally had no intention of hiding it. He nodded at him without commenting, and then asked:

"So."

"As you see fit."

"If there is something or a plan that we don't know about, what do you think the plan is?"

"Do you have any guesses in your mind?"

this problem.

The question directly made Lao He silent.

This matter involved the game between the Crown Prince, Prince Zhao, and his master, Prince Han, or the calculations and plans between the three. How could a slave like him make blind guesses?

No matter whether you can guess it or whether you have the answer in your heart.

He is certainly not a fool, and he certainly cannot answer this question honestly. He must know better than anyone what it means to stop when enough is enough.

Trouble comes from the mouth, this truth has always been a wise saying that he used to warn himself.

Thinking of this, Lao He calmed down, an embarrassed look appeared on his face, he shook his head slightly and smiled bitterly, saying:
"Go back to your lord."

"Please forgive my ignorance on this matter."

"It's really hard to guess. I can't guess it."

"Hehehe" Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but laugh when he heard that. He looked at Lao He with interest, and a helpless look appeared on his face. He pointed at Lao He who bowed his head to admit his mistake, shook his head slightly, and said:
"You! You!"

"Old He, you bastard, what should I say to you?"

"There are only two of us here, and there is no one else in the study. Do you need to be so cautious?"

"I am really impressed by you."

"Okay okay okay"

"If you don't know, then you don't know!"

"We won't make it difficult for you. If you don't want to talk about it, then don't talk about it."

"If you don't want to tell me, then let me tell you. Let me tell you."

After hearing this, Lao He could only respond with a silly smile, without saying a word, and just waited quietly by the side.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Zhu Gaoxu smiled to himself and said:
"Actually you don't say."

"But we all know the answer in our hearts."

"There are only two possibilities. One is that the third brother and the eldest brother are in collusion with each other and are trying to set a trap for me. The other is that the eldest brother agreed so readily, so he must have laid a trap for me."

"The so-called foreshadowing is nothing more than planting their own people in the forces that the Third Brother and I have cultivated, so that they can monitor the Third Brother and me and know our every move."

"Or, he deliberately gave the third brother and me an opening, allowing us to increase our strength without restraint. He wanted to see if the third brother and I could maintain our previous mentality when our strength was rapidly expanding."

"Will he do irrational things because of his growing power?"

"If he really does something irrational because of his swelled power, then he, as the crown prince, will be able to stand on the basis of righteousness and propriety and fearlessly attack me and the third brother, and completely eliminate these two threats."

"That's all there is to it."

As he was talking, Zhu Gaoxu turned his head to look at Old He who was hanging his head. He narrowed his eyes and asked with interest:
"Lao He"

"Which of these situations do you think is more likely to happen?"

Lao He: “!!!!!!”

Isn't this question meant to embarrass people?
Is that really a question he can answer?

At this moment, Lao He really wanted to curse in his heart.

Please!

Being able to guess two possibilities, is it possible that you don’t have any decision or guess in your mind?
Why do you have to make things difficult for a servant like him?

However, facing Zhu Gaoxu's eyes that pierced his heart, although Lao He felt helpless, he had to speak:

"Your Majesty..."

“We, we, we…”

Seeing his behavior, Zhu Gaoxu glared at him, then waved his hand and said:
"Okay, okay..."

"Don't leave it here, we're not done yet."

"It's really boring."

"I won't tease you anymore."

Having said that, Zhu Gaoxu paused and did not necessarily force Lao He to explain the matter.

Then, he briefly pondered for a moment, sighed deeply, and said:
"If nothing unexpected happens, given the boss's personality."

"I'm afraid the second possibility is more likely."

"After all, the boss always wants to stand on the side of justice and law in everything he does."

As he spoke, Zhu Gaoxu seemed to have thought of something. His brows, which had been relaxed, furrowed again. His expression suddenly became solemn, and he said in a deep voice:

"Before, we asked you to summon the princess."

"Let her and the people around her find out the spies that the boss might have planted in the fiefdom."

"But for such a long time, there has been no letter from the princess in the fiefdom."

"Now that something like this has happened again, I will send someone to send a message to the princess in the fiefdom after I go down."

"Tell her to take this matter seriously."

"We must firmly control our fiefdom and the people in it. There must not be any accidents in this matter."

"Do you understand?"

(End of this chapter)