Chapter 136: Winning over the Court Officials

The Queen Mother looked at the grief-stricken Prince Yu, and a complicated look flashed in her eyes.

She opened her mouth and sighed softly, "Life and death are determined by fate. Don't be too sad and ruin your health."

Prince Yu cried even louder, his voice sounding like sobbing.

"Mother, I am deeply saddened to leave you. Although my second brother and I are not on good terms, the blood connection between us is truly unbreakable."

Then, he sobbed, "My second brother has always been in good health. If someone hadn't poisoned him, he would have lived a long life! Mother, we must thoroughly investigate this matter and give my second brother justice!"

The Queen Mother seemed a little puzzled: "Yu'er, how did you know that your second brother died of poisoning?"

Prince Yu was stunned, not understanding why the Queen Mother asked this.

He answered truthfully, "The Crown Prince sent his guards to catch up with me, and I learned this from the guards."

The Queen Mother nodded, somewhat sadly.

"Your second brother was indeed poisoned to death. He had dinner in my Cining Palace and then passed away."

"Has the Queen Mother found the murderer?"

The Queen Mother shook her head. "Not yet, but soon. I've been in this palace for decades. There aren't many people who I'm completely unaware of and who aren't on guard at all. I can just screen them one by one."

"The most urgent task now is to properly arrange for the remains of your second brother to preserve the royal family's reputation."

Prince Yu's heart skipped a beat. He nodded and said, "My Queen Mother is right. Where is my second brother's body? I want to see him one last time."

The Queen Mother shook her head: "You probably won't be able to see him again."

Prince Yu understood instantly.

The funeral of a prince can only be called a "feudal ceremony" and must avoid the emperor's "national funeral".

Now the emperor had just passed away not long ago, and King Wu died too. The procedures of staying in the coffin and memorial service were compressed, and he was directly put into the coffin.

Prince Yu felt a little regretful.

I heard that the "Tooth Poison Powder" developed by the Miao people in Xiyu is extremely vicious. Those who are infected with it die in a horrific way, with black blood gushing from all seven orifices, and their faces pale and purple. Their eyes are wide open, and they die with their eyes open.

He had been fighting with Yan Long for half his life, and now that he had finally killed him, he naturally wanted to see his miserable state!

But now the person is in the coffin. We can’t order people to pry open King Wu’s coffin, right?

If he did that, wouldn't he be impeached and executed by the censor?

The Queen Mother suddenly added, "Xu'er is still in mourning, and your second brother has passed away. The affairs of state will be handed over to you for now. Please do not leave out of anger again."

Prince Yu felt somewhat guilty. "I left before because I didn't want to create any rift between me and my second brother. I never expected this farewell would become a permanent separation. Sigh... If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have left."

"Who said it wasn't true?" The Queen Mother also felt very sorry.

Prince Yu looked at her hesitantly, "Mother, when my second brother was alive, he didn't approve of me taking charge of government affairs. Now that he's gone, I'm back to take charge. I'm afraid he won't be able to rest in peace."

The Queen Mother shook her head. "No, on the day Prince Wu was poisoned, he took the initiative to admit his fault to me and planned to personally bring you back. Besides, there's no one more suitable right now. You just have to endure a little longer, and you'll have to wait until Xu'er's mourning period is over."

Prince Yu did not refuse this time.

When he lowered his eyes, a hint of pride flashed in his eyes.

Originally, he planned to take advantage of the prince's mourning period to win over court officials and bribe a group of people to work for him.

If it weren't for King Wu's joke, everything would be going extremely smoothly now.

Fortunately, this obstacle has been removed.

…

Capital city.

Zhuque Street, Daji Lane.

Wen Tingkuan sneezed suddenly as he stepped into the mansion.

This is the tenth one today.

He rubbed his nose and muttered to himself: Strange, could I have caught a cold?

Wen Tingkuan hurried to the main hall.

Sure enough, he saw from a distance that his wife was preparing the incense burner, and his son, who had returned from the Hanlin Academy, was also beside her.

The two men prepared to pay tribute to King Wu again before dinner.

Wen Tingkuan hurried forward, snatched the incense stick that had just been lit from the lady's hand, threw it on the ground and stomped it out with his feet.

Liang Yuhe was stunned and looked at him in confusion.

Wen Zhiyan was also a little confused.

"Father, what are you doing?"

There were only a pair of old servants in the Yan Mansion, but Wen Tingkuan still looked outside very carefully.

After making sure that there was no one around, he lowered his voice and explained to Wen Zhiyan and Liang Yuhe.

"Don't light incense for King Wu anymore, and don't burn paper money. King Wu is not dead..."

Liang Yuhe's pupils suddenly widened, and she stuttered to confirm again.

"Husband...what did you say? King Wu..."

Wen Tingkuan quickly covered her mouth and whispered a reminder.

"Madam, please keep your voice down. This matter cannot be known to outsiders."

Although Liang Yuhe didn't understand why she couldn't let other people know, it didn't stop her from nodding vigorously.

Wen Zhiyan became more and more confused.

"Father, how did you know this? If King Wu is not dead, why would the palace prepare a vassal ceremony for him?"

Wen Tingkuan guessed, "It's just a show, not a real ceremony. And according to regulations, when the ceremony overlaps with the emperor's funeral, the ceremony must be postponed until after the emperor's funeral. Now, only some simple rituals such as crying and burning paper are carried out.

In this way, even if the vassalage ceremony for King Wu has not yet been held, it looks like it is being held."

Liang Yuhe repeated the question her son had just asked.

"Then how did you know that King Wu was not dead?"

Wen Tingkuan told them how he was stopped by a guard of the Eastern Palace after he was dismissed from his post today.

Liang Yuhe's eyes were filled with tears when she heard this, and she repeatedly thanked the Buddha for his blessings.

Thinking about how she had been going back and forth to worship and burn paper every morning and evening for the past three days, her face turned pale instantly.

What a sin.

She had to invite an expert into the mansion to perform a ritual to "clear the name" and "break the evil" for King Wu as soon as possible, and sever his connection with the evil spirit.

…

And on Prince Yu's side.

Without King Wu's obstruction, he was able to navigate the court with ease and feel at home.

Over the course of half a month, he met with almost all the ministers who were originally part of Yang Guifei's party on the pretext of discussing state affairs.

To win over and bribe people openly or secretly.

Several ministers with weak resolve have begun to waver.

Yan Shixu saw all this clearly from behind.

And this was the reason why he agreed to let the Empress Dowager let Prince Yu take charge of the government.

After Yang Guifei's death, he did not blindly suppress and eliminate the concubine's party.

Instead, they adopt the method of balancing the forces of all parties and dividing and disintegrating them to observe whether they can be completely used by themselves.

At present, it seems that most of them are aware of the times and can retain their original official positions.

As for the few officials who were bribed, they cannot be kept.

He had given them a chance.

Since they didn't want it, he took it back.

Yan Shixu asked Zhang Sicheng to arrange people to search for evidence of these people's crimes in all aspects.

The first thing he did after ascending the throne was to sacrifice these people to heaven in order to intimidate all officials.

As for Prince Yu...

He has been so arrogant for so long, now it's time to temper his edge.

This day.

Prince Yu brought his wife to the Cining Palace as usual to have dinner with the Queen Mother.

However, after they had eaten and drunk their fill and were about to leave, the empress dowager suddenly fainted.

Prince Yu and Princess Yu were startled and hurried forward to help her.

"Mother, are you okay?"

As a result, as soon as the two of them stepped in front of the empress dowager, their bodies softened uncontrollably and they fell down.

…