Chapter 69 069 The Crown Prince is panicking!

Before today, Luo Fu had always thought that although Princess Kangping liked her, it was only because she was a very good playmate. The princess could be generous enough to reward her with a fine horse from the Western Regions worth a thousand taels of silver, and be intimate enough to bathe in the same hot spring with her, but she would not develop any real feelings for her. For example, if Luo Fu suddenly fell ill and died one day, the princess would at most lament that she had lost a playmate she liked, and feel sorry for Luo Fu for a day or two, and then the princess would continue to happily be a princess.

But today, the princess even told her about her suspicion that the crown prince might be neglected by the emperor. If Luo Fu still doesn't understand the princess's affection for her, then she's truly foolish.

Although the princess will distance herself from the crown prince for a period of time in order not to incur his resentment, and may even remain so forever, including when the crown prince ascends the throne and retaliates against the Xiao family, the princess will only watch coldly from the sidelines. This is because the princess is also afraid of imperial power, which Luo Fu can understand. When Xiao Yu was first imprisoned, she, as his wife, had considered divorce. So why should she expect a noble princess to open her heart to her?

Luo Fu was already content with the princess's few words of advice and the princess's explanation for her desire to distance herself.

At night, Luo Fu lowered the brocade curtains to completely cover the canopy bed, then snuggled into the quilt and rested her head on Xiao Yu's shoulder. While brushing away his hands that were trying to move around, she whispered the princess's advice: "...The princess and I both feel that the emperor's actions have a deeper meaning. What do you think?"

Xiao Yu gently squeezed his wife's hand, a fiercely beating fire igniting in his heart: "Your Majesty truly has profound intentions; this will be a blessing for all the people of the world."

Two years ago, he petitioned the emperor to depose the crown prince. Xiao Yu was naturally afraid of death, but he was afraid that his advice would be useless and he would die in vain. If offering his own head could guarantee that the emperor would definitely depose that cruel crown prince who was unworthy of being the crown prince, Xiao Yu would have no fear, only the regret of parting forever from his loved ones and wife.

Luo Fu's heart had been burning with excitement all day. Emperor Yongcheng was a wise ruler; his willingness to release Xiao Yu from prison showed his magnanimity and that he wouldn't bring up past grievances with Xiao Yu. But the Crown Prince, who could snatch life-saving grain and silver from the disaster-stricken people of the four prefectures, must be incredibly ruthless. If such a person became emperor, it would be good enough if he were to grant Xiao Yu a proper burial and only exile his family.

With the Crown Prince's position secure, Luo Fu adopted a "live one day at a time" mentality, deliberately avoiding thinking about the future. However, with the Crown Prince's position unstable, Luo Fu hoped more than anyone else that the Crown Prince would fall from power quickly, thus completely removing the huge boulder weighing on the Xiao family and her own.

The couple, one thinking of the people and the other of their own family, were of the same mind, both hoping that the crown prince would be deposed!

After a while, Xiao Yu suddenly asked his wife, "Have you told your mother, eldest sister-in-law, and second sister-in-law about this?"

Luo Fu: "How could that be? I won't tell anyone else except you, including my father, my mother, and my sister."

Whether or not to depose the crown prince is a decision only the emperor can make. Neither the Xiao nor the Luo families have the power to influence the emperor's mind. Even if they did, if they rashly tried to influence him, firstly, the emperor might not be happy about outsiders interfering, and secondly, if the emperor had no intention of deposing the crown prince at all, their efforts would anger both the emperor and the crown prince.

Because she valued her life, Luo Fu thought things through more thoroughly than anyone else. If Xiao Yu were as careless as Xiao Hu or as scheming as Xiao Lin, Luo Fu wouldn't even tell Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu: "It is indeed necessary to keep this a secret, to avoid trouble from what we say. You and I should just pretend we know nothing and observe the situation from the outside."

Luo Fu nodded and reminded him, "You also need to be careful in the Censorate. It's best not to cause me any trouble before the situation becomes clear."

Xiao Yu smiled and said, "His Majesty appointed me as the head of the Censorate, probably because he didn't want me to interfere in the situation in the capital."

The Censorate supervises local officials. Only when a local official's case involves a Beijing official does the Censorate and the Imperial Censorate need to jointly investigate the case.

Luo Fu: "It seems that the Emperor still likes you quite a bit, and he specifically chose a job for you that would not offend the officials in the capital."

Xiao Yu squeezed the lady's hand.

The more lenient and benevolent the emperor was towards him, the more Xiao Yu would repay the Great Zhou with utmost sincerity.

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On March 25th, the Ministry of Rites had just announced the top three candidates for the imperial examinations this year. Before Emperor Yongcheng could hold a banquet to entertain the new candidates, Empress Gao hosted a peony flower banquet in the palace.

This flower banquet was quite a grand affair, but none of Luo Fu's three sisters-in-law received an invitation to the palace. Yang Yanzhen, who had the widest network of connections, leaked the news to Luo Fu, saying that this year, all those who received invitations from Empress Gao were noble and official families with daughters of marriageable age. For example, Li Huaiyun's maternal family, the Duke of Dingguo's Mansion, had their five granddaughters of both legitimate and illegitimate children brought into the palace by order of the Empress.

Luo Fu: "...They still have to choose from the Duke's mansion? If they really do choose, no matter which prince's concubines my second sister-in-law's sisters become, they will still be of a different generation than the Crown Princess."

The crown prince marries his aunt, and the younger brother marries his niece. Doesn't that sound a bit awkward if word gets out?

Yang Yanzhen: "...marriage is to establish good relations between two families, and there is no need to be bound by seniority."

Let alone the fact that royal brothers married aunts and nieces from the same family, it is not uncommon in history books for the same emperor to marry sisters or aunts and nieces from different families. So-called etiquette and law are mostly used to restrain officials and common people. Those stories that sound absurd and bizarre, such as sisters and aunts and nieces sharing a husband, fathers taking their sons' wives or their fathers' concubines, or even fathers and sons killing each other and brothers killing each other, mostly came from the royal families of various dynasties.

Of course, out of consideration for his younger siblings' ears, Yang Yanzhen did not go into detail about these things for them.

Naluo Fu also liked to gravitate towards her sister-in-law. Since she couldn't go to the princess's residence for the time being, the two princesses had no chance to meet. As the wife of a minister who was an enemy of the crown prince, she couldn't very well rush over to the Yang and Li families at this time. Therefore, her sister-in-law, Yang Yanzhen, became the best person for Naluo Fu to inquire about news from the outside world.

In early April, as the excitement of the newly appointed top three scholars parading through the streets gradually faded, Luo Fu finally heard from her sister-in-law about the candidates for concubines of Prince Qi and Prince Fu.

The Prince of Qi's two concubines came from the Pingnan Marquis's residence and the Ministry of Rites' residence, respectively. The Pingnan Marquis's residence was also the maternal family of the Princess of Shun, and the new concubine was a half-sister of the Princess of Shun. The Pingnan Marquis's wife was over fifty years old and had only three biological children, while the Pingnan Marquis was still vigorous in his old age and could take one or two more children from his concubines every two years.

Prince Fu's two concubines came from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion and the Dali Temple Minister's mansion, respectively. The concubine from the Duke of Dingguo's mansion was Li Huaixiu, the younger sister of Li Huaiyun's stepmother, and the other concubine was the granddaughter of Lin Bangzhen, the Dali Temple Minister.

When discussing marriage, the groom doesn't care much about the bride's status as a legitimate or illegitimate child. What matters is the power of the bride's family. As long as the bride's father holds power, even if the son-in-law is a prince, he still has to give his father-in-law some face.

Therefore, the concubines chosen by Emperor Yongcheng and Empress Gao for Prince Qi and Prince Fu were all noble ladies from outstanding backgrounds in the capital.

Neither of the princes was young, so they did not hold grand ceremonies to marry their concubines. Prince Qi brought two concubines into the family at the same time in mid-April, and Prince Fu also brought two concubines into the family at the same time in early May.

The Prince of Qi was ambitious. Even without a formidable queen in his household, he wasn't particularly interested in the looks of his two new concubines. While novelty was certainly a factor, what he cared about more was the support their fathers' families could provide. Concubine Liang's father, Marquis Liang Bizheng of Pingnan, commanded 50,000 cavalry in the Southern Camp, wielding considerable power. However, he was slightly less powerful than the Li family of the Duke of Dingguo's mansion. Although Li Gong was old, he had four sons who were young and capable military generals. His eldest son, Li Wei, had already returned to the capital from the north to take over as commander of the Eastern Camp, as ordered by his father. Instead, his second son, Li Chong, and third son, Li An, had taken over as generals of Liangzhou and Jizhou respectively.

However, Consort Xia's father, Xia Qiyuan, was the Minister of Rites and was only in his fifties. He was more useful than his fourth brother, Lin Bangzhen, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, who was about to retire and had no high-ranking officials or heirs.

Compared to his brother, the King of Qi felt that his father had treated him and his fourth brother fairly. In any case, even if his father had to choose between him and his fourth brother, he would have a chance to compete for the position of crown prince, so the King of Qi was very satisfied.

Prince Fu was also very satisfied. Firstly, he shared the same ambition as Prince Qi, and the new in-laws, the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, would undoubtedly become a powerful ally for him. Secondly, his concubine, Li Huaixiu, was as beautiful as a peach blossom, and she was passionate, proactive, and very good at being coquettish in bed, much better than the cold and beautiful princess who always treated sex as a chore.

They were satisfied, but the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace was so worried that he had a few more gray hairs!

The Crown Prince dared not question his father, but relying on his mother's favor since childhood, he went to the Empress's palace. After dismissing the servants, he knelt before his mother and began to complain: "Mother, ever since you and Father bestowed four high-ranking concubines upon my second and fourth brothers, rumors have been circulating both inside and outside the palace that Father has long been dissatisfied with me because of the disaster relief efforts in the four prefectures and wants to depose me and choose another..."

Empress Gao's face darkened, and she interrupted the Crown Prince, saying, "There are such rumors in the palace? It seems I need to investigate this thoroughly."

The Crown Prince paused his tears, then grasped his mother's knees and said, "Mother, the rumors should be investigated, but I'm not at ease. Please give me the truth: does Father really intend to change the heir apparent?"

The forty-five-year-old crown prince had wrinkles around his eyes and had grown a beard. He was crying so hard for the sake of the performance that tears and snot streamed down his face. The tears were fine, but the snot that was being blocked by the mustache on his lip was...

Even though Empress Gao was her own mother, she still disliked this kind of crown prince.

Empress Gao quickly took out a handkerchief and handed it to the Crown Prince. She pressed one hand on the Crown Prince's shoulder and the other on his head, forcing his face down. Only then did she scold him, "Nonsense! The Emperor is only dissatisfied with your second and fourth brothers for having too few children, which is why he bestowed them with concubines. You, the Crown Prince, how can you believe everything you hear? Remember, your father is a man who remains calm even when Mount Tai collapses before him. He himself is like that, and he admires such people. You must not lose your composure because of a few rumors."

The Crown Prince felt slightly relieved, but still wanted to hear a definite answer. Clutching his handkerchief, he raised his head again: "Mother, did Father really not reveal anything to you?"

Looking at the Crown Prince's tearful eyes, Empress Gao sighed and said, "I have been Empress for more than 30 years. Your father has never talked to me about state affairs. He doesn't talk about them, and I don't ask about them either."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince's heart sank to the bottom.

His mother's words could fool outsiders, but he would never believe them, because his father often discussed state affairs with his mother, even in front of him!

Changing the heir apparent is not only a matter of state, but also a family matter. It is impossible for the emperor not to mention it to the empress. In fact, the empress painstakingly selected four concubines from high-ranking families with the emperor's permission!

Good heavens, his father doesn't like him anymore, and even his mother has fallen out of love with her eldest son!

The crown prince, who was crying and bidding farewell to his mother just a moment ago, turned around and the grievance in his eyes turned into hatred and anger.

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Author's Note: Here it is! 100 little red envelopes! See you at the second update tonight!