Frost for a Thousand Years

After Wei Wusheng closed his eyes, he recalled the rough hand that had held his cheek in its hands. The man looked at him and Song Shi'an with loving eyes, like a gentle father who was proud of his child.

Such a touch has never happened before.

It was a frosty winter day in Sheng'an, and the mother's body slowly grew cold amidst her own wailing.

When he was young, Consort Zhang told him: Your father hates you. If you want to live, you must avoid him for the rest of your life.

He had never seen his father show any disgust towards him, because in the palace, he had always avoided that emperor and never let himself appear in his sight.

But that scene often flashed through his memory: the majestic emperor staring at him, covered in blood, in his swaddling clothes with piercing eyes. Every cry from him made the emperor feel an extreme disgust that made him want to kill him.

Even if you've never seen them, you can't forget them.

The words "disobeying one's will" repeatedly reminded him of the curse that person had placed upon him for his entire life.

Whether one lives or dies, it is always up to him to decide.

However, the long-standing intimidation did not make him tremble with fear or desperately seek survival. On the contrary, it made 'death' as ​​natural as 'life,' without any special significance.

Death is just like breathing.

You can die yesterday, you can die today, and you can die tomorrow.

"So, why do you really think I would live on in order to avoid death?"

Staring at the tiger tally in his hand, Wei Wusheng's expression remained completely calm, and his heartbeat didn't even change slightly.

.........

"Cousin, please."

While having breakfast in the main hall, the Crown Prince stood up and extended his hand to Hua Zheng with a smile.

"Your Highness, you are being too kind to me."

Hua Zheng hurriedly bowed and used the rather improper title of "your subject" (臣).

After all, everyone knows now that the Crown Prince is the one who truly holds power.

The crown prince is also a ruler.

"You are the Empress Dowager's nephew, and I am her son. How can I not call you 'cousin'?" the Crown Prince joked. "If you can call me Prince Jin, why can't I?"

"Your Highness!" Hua Zheng immediately lowered his head and explained very cautiously, "His Highness Prince Jin usually addresses me by my courtesy name or official title. Of course, His Highness the Crown Prince may address me however he wishes."

Huazheng is indeed his cousin.

Regardless of which of these two becomes emperor, it will not affect his status.

But after all, he and Prince Jin are about the same age and grew up together. Before the struggle for the throne, he had stood up for many people and was bound to worry about being purged by the current crown prince.

"Alright, Master Hua." Seeing how nervous he was, the Crown Prince stopped making things difficult for him and casually said, "Sit down and have your meal."

"Yes, Your Highness."

After the Crown Prince sat down, Hua Zheng slowly took his seat as well.

Logically speaking, there should be a difference.

If the Prince of Jin becomes emperor, as his cousin, he is also a nobleman and has already become one of the Nine Ministers at this age. He is a military officer in charge of the country's military forces and will definitely be the most powerful person under the emperor, with immense power.

However, Ye Changqing and Zhao Yi were the ones who were in charge of the Wu King's cooking at that time, so there was no place for him, whether he was a civil or military official.

He dared not have any extravagant hopes.

After the crown prince inherits the throne, he should naturally focus on doing his job well.

At this moment, Zhao Yi was also invited in.

"Your Highness." Zhao Yi first bowed to the Crown Prince with a fist salute, and then bowed to Hua Zheng, "Grand Master of the Palace."

"General Zhao," Hua Zheng returned the greeting.

After the two politely nodded and smiled, they sat down facing each other.

In the Great Yu Dynasty, the left side was considered the most honorable, and the Grand Master of the Palace was one of the Nine Ministers and a member of the imperial family, so he was located directly opposite Zhao Yi.

This made him somewhat uneasy.

After all, he had never been part of the Crown Prince's inner circle before.

What's going on today? Why was he specially invited to breakfast, and even to eat with this nobleman and newly rich?

If it's just for breakfast, is it really necessary to choose this place?
Moreover, he was invited there openly and legitimately by a eunuch in front of the post station.

It's fair to say that everyone knew they had been summoned by the Crown Prince.

It was clearly Prince Jin who arrived first...

While they were pondering, the eunuchs came over and brought the food to each of them, along with chilled rice wine.

"Lord Song is in charge of agricultural settlements in Huai County, and he has strictly prohibited extravagance, so the entire agricultural settlement has no stored ice," the Crown Prince explained. "This ice was brought from Sheng'an."

In ancient times, storing ice was extremely expensive.

The cost of building and maintaining ice cellars is also a considerable expense.

It was usually reserved for royalty.

Compared to the previous dynasty, the economy of Dayu has seen a significant improvement.

However, basically only very wealthy families with considerable resources could afford to build dedicated ice storage rooms.

Therefore, Song Shi'an issued a special decree prohibiting the storage of ice in military agricultural settlements.

He neither enjoys it nor allows his officials to enjoy it.

This could be considered one of the pieces of evidence of Song Shi'an's use of oppressive policies.

"Your Highness, this wine is truly refreshing and delicious, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth," Hua Zheng said with a smile.

He definitely hated Song Shi'an.

Putting everything else aside, Wei Wusheng's killing of Hua Qu was essentially a show of force to these imperial relatives.

But he couldn't hate Wusheng, since Wusheng was the King of Zhongshan. So naturally, he could only despise this cruel official who had corrupted the King of Zhongshan.

"Master Hua, I have specially invited you to Sheng'an this time. Do you know why?" the Crown Prince suddenly asked.

Hua Zheng was taken aback by the sudden topic, and then honestly replied, "Your Highness, I do not know."

"Everyone says you are close to Prince Jin. After I come to power, I will definitely suppress and demote you. Have you heard that?" the Crown Prince asked.

At this moment, Zhao Yi's expression was very serious.

“Your Highness, I have never heard of such a thing.” Hua Zheng shook his head and said with particular fear, “Such rumors are definitely malicious, intended to sow discord between me and Your Highness. Whatever arrangements Your Highness has for me, there must be a reason for it, and it must be for the sake of the Great Yu Kingdom.”

“That’s what I think too,” the Crown Prince said solemnly. “Hua Taipu is the Prince of Jin’s cousin, and also my cousin. Moreover, you are first and foremost the Taipu of Dayu.”

"Your Highness is wise!"

Hua Zheng stepped forward from the front of the table, then knelt before the Crown Prince and prostrated himself in worship.

"Very well." The Crown Prince walked up to him, helped him up, then put his hand on his shoulder and said, "I entrust you with the important task of commanding the large army of the Huai County garrison."

"..." Huazheng was completely dumbfounded.

It's not that I find it unbelievable that the Crown Prince trusted me too much and entrusted military power to this former member of the Jin Prince's faction.

Making such arrangements to win people's hearts is actually nothing special.

These armies have virtually no base of operations, and their power will still be limited as long as a minister who can restrain them and is a confidant of the princelings is appointed as deputy commander.

His main concern was this: "But Your Highness, isn't the current commander of the Huai County agricultural settlements His Highness the Prince of Zhongshan?"

Not right.

Something's definitely not right.

Although Hua Zheng became one of the Nine Ministers because of his noble status, he was usually a bit of a coward, such as when he was sent as an envoy to Northern Yan. But he was, after all, a man who had experienced many high-level situations in the court. How could he not notice something was wrong?

"Master Hua, please sit down."

When asked this question, the Crown Prince's tone gradually lowered, and his expression became somewhat serious.

"Yes." Hua Zheng sat back down. The Crown Prince, the only one standing, sat between the two at the table. After a long pause, he said, "The war in Beiliang is getting tense."

Although news of Ji Yuan's invasion had not spread throughout the court and the public, those in high positions were well aware of it.

And I wasn't too nervous.

Because of the formidable military strength of Northern Liang and Liangzhou, and with the Chishui River serving as a defensive line, even if a battle were to break out, Great Yu would not be intimidated.

Otherwise, why would the emperor make an eastern tour at such a time to participate in the land reclamation ceremony and celebrate with the people?
So what if I'm not afraid of you?

"Nervous?" Hua Zheng asked, puzzled. "Has war already begun?"

“Not so fast yet, Ji Yuan still needs to prepare.” The Crown Prince slowly turned his head to look at him and said, “But we ourselves are in chaos.”

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince fell silent. Then, Zhao Yi added to the bewildered Hua Zheng, "At this moment, the governor and general of Nanshuo County are resisting General Xiao Qun's orders. Furthermore, they are showing signs of blocking transportation and challenging Liangzhou's authority."

"Is there such a thing?!"

Hua Zheng couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, his expression completely genuine, without any acting skills.

Does this mean that the Northern Liang rebelled?
"Of course, the imperial court will handle it. And if there really is a situation where someone declares independence, the other soldiers of Northern Liang may not necessarily all defect to their side," Zhao Yi said.

"That's good, that's good..." Hua Zheng said in a relaxed tone, expressing his loyalty to the country.

At the same time, I was already panicking.

"The matter of Beiliang disobeying orders is naturally unrelated to His Highness the Sixth Prince, there is no doubt about that," the Crown Prince said. "However, Wusheng believes that Qin Kuo, Zhu Qing and others were promoted by him and should be responsible for the current situation. Therefore, he asked me to resign from his position as the commander-in-chief of the military agricultural colony."

"Is that so..." Hua Zheng tried his best to keep his trembling and to keep his expression calm, but the shifty look in his eyes still betrayed him.

"After much deliberation," the Crown Prince said, looking into his eyes with trust, "among the court officials, in terms of position, rank, and of course, ability, my cousin is the most suitable to serve as commander-in-chief."

At this moment, he called out to his cousin.

However, my cousin is a little scared.

"Your Highness, what should I do?" Hua Zheng asked cautiously.

After taking out a "Crown Prince's Decree" from the table, the Crown Prince handed it to Hua Zheng: "At this moment, please go to the Jianxing General Camp and take over the duties of the commander-in-chief."

The ceremony for the settlement and reclamation took place at noon.

Jianxing Camp was over a hundred miles away.

At this point, he had to take over the position before he had even finished the meal.

Your Highness, what's the rush?
This is ultimately about succeeding the Sixth Prince.

Or should we forcibly strip the Sixth Prince of his military power?
Although Hua Zheng was afraid, he felt obligated to know: "Your Highness, should I discuss the handover with the Sixth Prince?"

Damn it, one order and I'm put in charge.

Where is the tiger tally?
The Crown Prince frowned slightly and said expressionlessly, "No need. With the commander-in-chief's abilities, plus General Zhao's assistance, General Hua... General Hua can easily handle the task."

The heart of East China University of Political Science and Law turned cold.

An army of tens of thousands of men can be handed over so easily, without even having to meet with the original general.

This is clearly an attempt to take advantage of the land reclamation ceremony to strip the Sixth Prince of all his military power and effectively sideline him.

Why did the Crown Prince ask him to do it?

Because he used to be a member of the Prince of Jin's faction.

This move is a declaration to the world that China University of Political Science and Law is now a princeling faction.

Furthermore, the fact that the crown prince confidently used a former member of the Jin Prince's faction to seize Wei Wusheng's military power also demonstrates that he has completely taken control of the Great Yu.

This power grab will not cause any unrest.

"..."

After receiving the Crown Prince's decree with both hands, Hua Zheng slowly stepped down from his seat and approached the other party. Then, he knelt down on both knees and prostrated himself, saying, "Your subject Hua Zheng obeys!"

.........

The Prince of Jin was a little flustered.

Hua Zheng was just invited by the Crown Prince to have breakfast.

Everyone knows that East China University of Political Science and Law is one of their own.

Even though he has fallen now, Huazheng was once a member of the Prince of Jin's faction.

One generation advances, another rises.

The Crown Prince can easily convert him, and he can do it later. But at this critical juncture, why summon him in front of him? What is his intention?

He was a little uneasy.

Moreover, he increasingly felt that the atmosphere of the land reclamation ceremony was unusually tense.

It's reasonable for the army to be on alert when the emperor travels. But this military alert seems a bit excessive.

It was completely sealed off, inside and out.

It was like a furnace, completely enveloping the grand ceremony and all the officials inside.

In the past, when the imperial tours were held, there was never such a grand display.
So he went straight out to find Hua Zheng. But when he arrived, he learned that Lord Hua had been summoned by the Crown Prince and had not yet returned.

No matter how you look at it, it's been too long.

So he drove his carriage to find Wei Yiyuan.

"Your Highness, Prince Zhongping is not here."

The eunuch at the door answered.

"Where...where did the Prince of Zhongping go?" the Prince of Jin asked.

"His Highness has gone to the altar to watch the rehearsal," the eunuch said.

The Prince of Jin turned around, got into his carriage, and casually said to the driver, "Let's go to the altar."

For some reason, he always had a bad feeling.

I have a feeling that the Crown Prince is planning something big.

No, it's the emperor and the crown prince who are making a big move together.

Combined with the fact that East China University of Political Science and Law was recalled...

Are they trying to kill me?

The more I think about it, the more panicked and uneasy I become.

Finally, he arrived at the center of the ceremony, the place known as the 'altar'.

Here, there is a huge platform about half a meter high, more than two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) in length, with stone steps on both sides leading up to it.

This platform is about four hundred paces long and three hundred paces wide.

(12 square meters)

In the center of the platform is an altar, accessible by a long staircase running in all directions.

Below the altar was the emperor's table.

On either side of the steps stood civil and military officials.

The song and dance performance took place right in the center of the emperor and his officials.

Since the ceremony had not yet begun and the area was not strictly sealed off, Prince Jin easily went upstairs. He then saw Wei Yiyuan tinkering with his "Journey to the West" opera again, and he seemed quite approving of the performances by his strangely dressed men.

So he strode over and said, rather speechless, "How old are you? Can't you stop being so playful?"

"Second brother, this is no joke."

Wei Yiyuan didn't care at all. Since he had no hope of winning the throne anyway, he just needed to do his best to appease the dying old man. So he smiled and said, "This is a surprise I prepared for Father Emperor."

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There was a bug in the previous chapter, pointed out by a reader. He's right, I forgot about Huang Tong's feud with the State of Qi, and I've already corrected it. (End of Chapter)