The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 221 The Past Events of Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang

At the Tong family residence, Tong Guowei stared at the defiant Longkodo and asked again, "Did the Crown Prince really say he didn't want it?"

“Father, would I lie to you about this? The Crown Prince himself said he doesn’t want any money from our household.” Longkodo said with a frustrated expression, “I think the Crown Prince is deliberately trying to make things difficult for Orondai!”

"You're in debt and won't pay it back? Well, I'll let you taste what it's like to be in debt and not pay it back!"

At this point, Longkodo muttered under his breath, "The Crown Prince isn't short of money!"

Upon hearing his son's words, a chill flashed across Tong Guowei's face.

Yes, the Crown Prince is not short of money!
The Crown Prince's move was clearly a prank on Orondai, meant to torment him.

The problem is, Orondai himself can be shameless, but what about the entire Tong family?

The Crown Prince wanted to use this incident to put pressure on the Tong family, and then, through the Tong family, transfer the pressure to Orondai.

Sixty thousand taels of silver is no small sum, but to the Crown Prince, it's nothing!

Thinking about all this, Tong Guowei felt a headache coming on.

He said to Longkodo, "Summon Orondai here!"

After saying that, Tong Guowei suddenly realized that even Orondai's dead father couldn't command this kid, let alone him, the uncle!

"Go and invite Orondai over yourself."

Longkodo hesitated for a moment and said, "Father, I just got back and heard that the Crown Prince is being impeached. He will definitely be in a lot of trouble for the next period of time."

"Why should we bother with him at a time like this?"

Tong Guowei glanced at his son, feeling quite disappointed. How could this guy be so mediocre and unable to think of anything further ahead?

Although he was unhappy, he still said calmly, "Don't worry about this."

"You only need to remember one thing: hurry up and invite Orondai to me."

He paused, then added, "If Orondai still refuses to come, tell him that I am here on the Emperor's orders."

"Go!"

Seeing his father's serious expression, Longkodo felt uneasy, thinking that his father was about to make a big move!

But for the time being, he couldn't guess what his father was planning to do.

Filled with confusion, Longkodo could only run to the Duke's mansion next door!

Although they were cousins, Orondai and Longkodo did not get along well and looked down on each other.

Orondai, who had just been appointed Grand Minister by Emperor Qianxi, did not think highly of Longko.

He was a first-class duke, and his position was higher than Longkodo's. He looked down on his cousin at all, not to mention that Longkodo's chances of becoming a first-class duke were not very high!
"Olendai, my father wants you to come over." When Longkodo entered the room, Orondai was leisurely drinking tea. When he saw Longkodo come in, he didn't even bother to lift his buttocks.

Longkodo was seething with anger, cursing inwardly, "What are you so arrogant about in front of me, Orondai? You're acting like a big shot right in front of me! You're so capable, yet you've still been dealt with by the Crown Prince time and time again."

You even dared to incur debts from betting; now, you've completely disgraced the entire Tong family!
The Crown Prince doesn't care about those 60,000 taels of silver right now. He just wants to ruin your reputation and the reputation of our Tong family! With your IQ, what do you know?
Orondai was already somewhat resentful of his second uncle, Tong Guowei. Not to mention, Longkodo's message at this moment sounded rather irritating.

He casually put down his teacup and said indifferently, "What's wrong, Uncle? Just say it. I have something to do later, so I'm afraid I won't be able to make it!"

Upon hearing this, Longkodo's anger flared up instantly. He cursed inwardly, "You, Orondai, really don't respect my old man at all! He's your own uncle, after all, and you won't even give him this much face?"

He was annoyed, so he wasn't very polite. He retorted bluntly, "Olundai, my father doesn't have anything to assign you."

"However, he was acting on His Majesty's orders, and there were some things he had to say in person."

Longkodo's voice turned cold as he said this: "I've delivered the message. Go or don't go, it's up to you!"

After saying that, Longkodo turned and left.

Upon hearing that Emperor Qianxi had sent a message to him via Tong Guowei, Orondai's expression changed rapidly.

Given his personality, he hates being manipulated the most.

However, he also knew very well that he could offend anyone in the world, but he could not offend his cousin, Emperor Qianxi.

This cousin may be sentimental, but if you anger him, it can really be fatal.

Neither Tong Guowei nor Longkodo dared to falsely convey the imperial edict.

He hesitated for a moment, then put down his teacup and went to Tong Guowei's residence.

Upon seeing Tong Guowei, who appeared calm and leisurely sipping tea, Orondai cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Second Uncle, you wanted to see me?"

“Today I had Longkodo take 60,000 taels of silver to return to Yuqing Palace, but the Crown Prince refused to accept it.” Tong Guowei didn’t waste any words with Orondai and said directly.

Orondai was surprised that Tong Guowei would repay the money for him. In a moment of shock, he immediately became angry and asked, "What is the Crown Prince trying to do?"

"The Crown Prince doesn't care about the 60,000 taels of silver, and neither does our Tong family."

"The Crown Prince should think that it is well worth using these 60,000 taels of silver to trample on your reputation, as well as the reputation of our entire Tong family."

"I think it was totally worth it!"

"After all, it's worth exchanging 60,000 taels of silver for two first-class dukes."

Tong Guowei's voice was calm, yet it carried a hint of coldness.

Hearing Tong Guowei's words, Orondai's expression calmed down, despite his anger.

If someone offered 60,000 taels of silver to buy the reputation of the Tong family and Orondai, he would never sell it, feeling it would be too much of a loss.

The Crown Prince's actions infuriated him, and he also felt he had made a huge mistake for a small gain. "Second Uncle, I understand. I'll send it to him right away!" Although Orondai was reluctant to spend the money, he knew what was important.

Tong Guowei nodded and said, "Some things, if left open to criticism, even His Majesty will find it difficult to speak up for you."

"After all, His Majesty is also a father."

Orondai glanced at Tong Guowei and then said, "Second Uncle, you, the Grand Secretary and Chief Minister, are you just going to stand by and watch our Tong family suffer such humiliation?"

"I have my own plans, you just need to be patient for a few days."

After saying this, Tong Guowei picked up the teacup in front of him.

Orondai didn't press the matter. Although he was a bit impulsive, he knew his second uncle's character; he wasn't one to suffer a loss.

So as he left, he solemnly said, "Then I'll wait and see!"

Just as Orondai was taking the silver to Yuqing Palace, the Fourth Prince was working with Wu Sidao in the Ministry of Revenue's office.

That's right. Nominally, Wu Sidao was assisting the Fourth Prince with his work at this time.

However, many of the things they talked about had absolutely nothing to do with official business.

For example, after confirming that no one was disturbing them, the fourth prince told the crown prince how to deal with Tibet.

He said with a hint of skepticism, "Mr. Wu, I find it hard to believe what the Crown Prince is saying."

"The Crown Prince is exceptionally intelligent, far surpassing ordinary people. How could he possibly come up with such a terrible idea!"

Wu Sidao stroked his beard, lost in thought.

He was also somewhat incredulous when he first heard the Fourth Prince's words.

After all, the Crown Prince has been the heir apparent for so many years; he couldn't possibly treat matters of national importance as a joke.

After all, drawing lots is really not a very clever method.

But slowly, a look of astonishment appeared on Wu Sidao's face, and he couldn't help but slam his hand on the table and exclaim, "Brilliant! Truly brilliant!"

The fourth prince was taken aback!
If he hadn't known that this scholar from Jiangnan was exceptionally talented and usually very calm, he would have thought that this fellow had some kind of mental problem.

Brilliant? What's so brilliant about this terrible idea?
He immediately looked at Wu Sidao with a suspicious gaze!

"Fourth Prince, I was overcome with emotion and lost my composure. Please forgive me," Wu Sidao quickly said, bowing.

Yunzhen waved his hand and said, "Mr. Wu, you don't need to be so polite. What you just said is something I don't understand. Please enlighten me."

Wu Sidao poured himself a cup of tea, then said in a deep voice, "Your Highness's move is truly brilliant."

“Using lotteries elsewhere would be absurd, but in this case, it’s a stroke of genius! Because a true reincarnation of a Dharma King would surely be protected by gods and Buddhas, so how could he possibly fail to draw a lot?”

"If you can't draw it, then it's not real."

After hearing what Wu Sidao said, the Fourth Prince slowly came to his senses.

He tapped the table lightly with his fingers, his expression a mixture of admiration, fear, and above all, anxiety…

"Mr. Wu, at this moment, is there anything you can teach Yunzhen?"

Wu Sidao pondered for a moment, then finally sighed and said, "Fourth Prince, the method was proposed by the Crown Prince. Even if you defend the Crown Prince now, the credit will ultimately go to the Crown Prince."

"It might actually put you in the spotlight."

"So right now, your best course of action is to sit back and watch the tigers fight it out. Haven't those people already impeached the Crown Prince?"

"Then let them play!"

"I reckon His Majesty will protect the Crown Prince, but those people will certainly not let it go so easily and let them jump all they want."

"The more you jump, the harder you fall."

"As for you, you can go to the Crown Prince's Yuqing Palace, say some words of support for the Crown Prince, and express your stance."

After listening to Wu Sidao's suggestion, the Fourth Prince carefully considered it and felt that this was the best approach.

However, he felt as if a large stone was lodged in his heart, making him extremely uncomfortable.

"Mr. Wu, the Crown Prince is at the height of his power, do I still have any hope?" The Fourth Prince is a man of strong character and rarely gives up.

But at this moment, he still couldn't help but ask such a question.

Wu Sidao glanced at the Fourth Prince, pondered for a moment, and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince is intelligent, and with his position as heir apparent decided early, he can be said to be unmatched in the short term."

“If His Majesty is now over sixty years old, then the best choice for Your Highness is to live a law-abiding life as a prince.”

"But His Majesty is only forty-five years old and in good health. If nothing unexpected happens, His Majesty will have more than ten or even twenty years to reign."

"There cannot be two suns in the sky, nor two rulers in a country!"

"When the Crown Prince's prestige grows higher and higher, and His Majesty grows old, it will be time to repeat the old stories of Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang."

"As for what to do next, Your Highness is to decide for yourself."

The fourth prince stared at Wu Sidao, repeating the words "the old stories of Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang" as his expression slowly hardened.

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(End of this chapter)