Chapter 373 Dogs Fighting Dogs

Before long, someone brought over an exquisite silver suit of armor, which Lin Changning really wanted.

From the moment the person entered, his eyes were fixed on the armor and never looked away.

The King of Chu smiled, thinking that although Changning was clever, he still had some of the temperament of a young boy. He looked at Lin Changning and laughed.

"like?"

Lin Changning blushed slightly and clasped his hands in a gesture of embarrassment towards the Prince of Chu: "Your Highness, I truly do like it."

The King of Chu laughed heartily: "It was a gift to you anyway; fine armor and a fine sword are a fitting match for a talented man."

Lin Changning felt even more embarrassed, his hands holding the tray were at a loss. After placing the armor on the table next to him, he knelt down on one knee: "Changning is deeply indebted to Your Highness and is willing to die for you."

Qi Rong watched as Lin Changning became increasingly adept at expressing his loyalty, and a smile slowly crept onto his lips.

He sighed inwardly: Little rascal

The King of Chu was indeed quite pleased with Lin Changning's flattery recently. He looked at the man and laughed heartily, waving his hand: "Get up, get up, no need for formalities."

Lin Changning sighed and sat back down in his chair.

After admiring the child, the King of Chu's expression became serious: "I heard from your report that this child was sent here by his eldest brother?"

Qi Rong glanced at Lin Changning and nodded: "Yes, Uncle."

The King of Chu tapped his fingers on the table, seemingly deep in thought.

After a long pause, he said, "The Xie family is quite interesting. The Wu family married a young lady from a collateral branch of the Xie family, the orphan of the previous head of the family. By all accounts, she shouldn't have been sent to his family. Yet, the young master Xie was sent to Taiyuan by the current head of the family's son. It seems like they're fighting amongst themselves, using us to kill someone, and then putting a big accusation on us."

Qi Rong thought the same thing and nodded upon hearing this: "The person behind this is truly wicked. What does Uncle plan to do about this child?"

The King of Chu pondered again. If something happened to this child in the King of Chu's residence, he would definitely not fare well. For a moment, he was in a dilemma. If he sent the child back, the Xie family would be fighting amongst themselves, and this ignorant and naughty child would probably lose his life innocently.

Lin Changning turned his head and asked Qi Rong softly, "Is the Xie family very powerful? Commanders?"

Based on what the two people had just said, Lin Changning had a rough idea that the Xie family was probably not united as one. He just didn't know what role the Xie family played in the political game.

Qi Rong thought that Lin Changning was from a commoner background and probably didn't understand the intricacies of aristocratic families, so he chuckled and explained to the man: "The Xie family holds a pivotal position in the literary world. Many great scholars are surnamed Xie. In addition, the previous head of the family became the top scholar in the imperial examination at a young age and died for his country. The Xie family's reputation was at its peak and they were highly respected among scholars."

Lin Changning nodded: "So the reason this child was sent to the Wu family was to use us to kill him, so that scholars all over the world would condemn us and ruin our reputation. What a vicious scheme!"

Qi Rong nodded: "Indeed."

However, upon hearing the words "internal strife within the Xie family," Lin Changning's eyes lit up, and he looked at Qi Rong with some hesitation: "Commander, sending this child here might not be a bad thing."

Upon hearing Lin Changning's words, Qi Rong and the King of Chu both looked at her simultaneously. Qi Rong was alright, but the King of Chu's gaze held a hint of inquiry, instantly putting pressure on Lin Changning.

The King of Chu asked softly, "Changning, if you have any thoughts, please tell us."

Lin Changning clasped his hands in a fist salute to the King of Chu: “Your Highness, since this child is the orphan of the previous family head and we have saved him, why not use this child to seize the position of Xie family head?”

The plan is to widely publicize the fact that the current head of the Xie family murdered the orphan of the previous head, and then tell the Xie family that although their royal family is not wealthy, they still have enough money to support the orphan of a loyal and righteous man.

The child will then be raised in the Prince's residence, thus saving the Xie family from killing innocent children for the position of family head.

A thoughtful look flashed across the King of Chu's eyes. After careful consideration, he suddenly burst into laughter: "Excellent!"

After thinking about it, Qi Rong realized that Lin Changning's move was quite underhanded.

The Xie family's orphan was raised in the Prince's Mansion. First of all, the scholars of the world would look at them with higher regard. Not only would they be freed from their hats and gain the moral high ground, but they would also expose the current infighting and discord within the Xie family. If anything happened to the child later, they could simply shift the blame to the Xie family.

If this child grows up, with the support of the Prince's Mansion and being raised as an orphan of the Xie family, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to reclaim the position of head of the family.

Even as the head of the Xie family, who came from a royal family, he dared not imagine how much benefit he would bring to the royal family in the future.

"Could Changning be a little more specific?"

Seeing his lord ask this question, Lin Changning's mind raced for a long time before hesitantly speaking:

"Since the goal is to inform the Xie family that the child will be raised in the Prince's residence, then we must wage a propaganda war. We should turn this incident into a story, into a folk song, and have it spread throughout the streets. Although the main target is the Xie family, we can also involve the imperial court, since Lord Wu, who stirred up this trouble, is a member of the court."

They'll just throw buckets of dirty water at him, saying that the imperial court, in order to frame our royal family, didn't hesitate to send the orphan of a loyal and righteous man to his death. If we hadn't shown compassion for the young child and spared his life, he would have been framed and killed by his own family and the very court his father served.

Lin Changning paused for a moment, then said again, "Perhaps we can write two versions. One version is that the current head of the Xie family sent the child to Taiyuan to die in order to seize power; the other version is that the imperial court sent the child to Taiyuan to die in order to smear the prince."

The story should be elaborated with details, ideally creating a cat-and-mouse game between the imperial court and the Xie family. One version must be true, and both the Xie family and the court will inevitably shift the blame onto each other, thus sowing discord between them.

"The court won, so naturally it will help the orphan punish the Xie family head. The Xie family is disaffected, the Xie family wins, and the court loses the support of scholars because of its labeling. But our Prince's Mansion has won a good reputation in the hearts of the people because of its act of adopting the orphan."

Hearing Lin Changning's words, King Chu and Qi Rong fell into deep thought. After a long while, King Chu sighed and looked at Lin Changning with a probing gaze, which made Lin Changning feel a little flustered.

Thinking he had said something wrong, he looked somewhat flustered, which made the King of Chu chuckle softly.

Qi Rong felt a mix of emotions. He glanced at Lin Changning approvingly and said, "It's a real pity that Xiao Liu isn't a civil official."

The King of Chu laughed heartily: "It would be a waste of his talent if he were not a staff member. Haha, this plan is excellent! Rong'er, go and have someone make the arrangements."

After speaking, his gaze towards Lin Changning became exceptionally kind: "The guest courtyard in Mingxiu Courtyard has been prepared. Changning will be staying at the Prince's Mansion from now on, teaching the two of them martial arts. Changning will also be attending the family banquet tonight."