Furthermore, at this time in the capital, the more unpleasant rumors were that Consort Ye, relying on her pregnancy, did not respect the Crown Princess.

This was naturally the Crown Princess's intention.

The purpose of provoking Ye Liangdi to make such a scene that day was precisely to achieve this effect.

It's not the Crown Princess's fault; it's mainly because Consort Ye herself is stupid.

A fool in this position is bound to be taken advantage of.

Having lost the Seventh Prince as a pawn, the Ning family dared not target any other prince.

The Crown Prince's performance in Chengzhou was also a demonstration of his abilities to the court officials. The Ning family, naturally, has now returned to fawn over him.

This is an opportunity we must seize.

It's not a good time to directly clash with the Ye family, but at least there are a few impeachments in the court.

Although it didn't hurt or bother anyone, it still made the person in charge aware of it.

What he wanted was for the girls from the Ning family and the Ye family to fight each other, and then for the Ning and Ye families to fight each other as well.

If they could truly live in harmony, he wouldn't be able to sleep.

After returning home from court, Duke Ye summoned Consort Ye's father.

Ye Chengen entered the study, greeted his father, and sat down to listen to him speak.

"You know what's going on outside. You know what happened this morning. Right now, the Ning family is causing some minor trouble. Who knows what will happen in the future? I'm extremely worried about Yue'er's temperament. Now, because she's pregnant, it's causing quite a stir. His Majesty already has a complicated relationship with the Empress... It's inevitable that he'll blame her again because of these things. You should talk to your wife and suggest that she send someone to properly instruct her."

"Yes, we've already sent some nannies; they're all elderly family members," Ye Chengen said.

"But... Father, things at court... Sigh. His Majesty seems kind on the surface, but he's becoming increasingly harsh on the Empress. In just the last few days, he's bestowed gifts upon the Twelfth Prince several times. The other day, the Twelfth Prince mentioned wanting to eat glutinous rice cakes, and said the ones in the palace didn't taste good. His Majesty actually sent someone to invite the owner of a pastry shop in the city to the palace to make them specially for him."

"The Consort Zhen and the Cao family were also commended several times."

"Let's wait and see. What can you and I do about these things? We don't understand the Emperor's thoughts, do we?" Duke Ye felt utterly disgusted.

He and Duke Lan were of the same generation, although he was a few years younger than Duke Lan. Now he is over sixty years old.

Even though he is still sharp of hearing and sight, he is really not young anymore.

His sons were all capable, but no matter how capable they were, once he passed away, they could not continue the current glory.

I'm afraid it won't be long before His Majesty demolishes it.

The Ye family was also a family that had rendered meritorious service in the past. His daughter was betrothed to the current emperor by the late emperor.

But Your Majesty treats this group of old ministers like enemies.

He thinks day and night about how to weaken the power of these families.

Without power, they would likely end up like the Lan family back then. No, to be precise, the Lan family's downfall was due to their lack of offspring.

However, in recent years, with the death of the former crown prince in battle, Empress Dowager Jiang, although still the empress dowager, has lost her power.

The Jiang family was also like outsiders.

If Duke Ye hadn't survived until the Crown Prince ascended the throne, Empress Ye might not have been able to retain her position.

How can the Ye family possibly protect themselves?

Thinking of this, he became very anxious.

"His Highness the Crown Prince's temperament is still much like that of the current emperor." Duke Ye was giving a blatant reminder: "He and the Empress are mother and son. Although he will care about the Ye family, he is, after all... different from His Highness the Prince of Qin back then. You all remember this."

He only hoped that after the Crown Prince ascended the throne, even if he was dissatisfied with the Ye family, he wouldn't go so far as to exterminate them. As his maternal family, he should be able to do that.

They dared not expect that the Crown Prince would treat the Ye family well once he came to power.

However, if they do not support the crown prince, the Ye family may face annihilation no matter who comes to power.

Ye Chengen sighed, "I know, son. It's just a pity for His Highness the First Prince."

The child always called him "uncle." At that time, the Ye family only thought that once he was made crown prince and became emperor, the Ye family would have a good life.

But unexpectedly...

Why.

"Don't dwell on the deceased." Duke Ye waved his hand. "That child was too kind, in the end..."

He shook his head and didn't bring it up again.

Given His Majesty's character, there's no way the Prince of Qin could become the Crown Prince.

Only someone with a temperament like Shu Chengfeng could remain in the position of Crown Prince, becoming more and more stable year after year.

"The fact that Consort Zhen and the Twelfth Prince enjoy such favor is now common knowledge throughout the land." Ye Chengen frowned. "Such behavior is truly..."

"We can only watch out for His Highness the Crown Prince, making sure he doesn't make any mistakes that His Majesty can use against him. Sigh, the Crown Prince has it tough." Duke Ye sighed softly.

What could be more powerless than knowing that the emperor wants to depose you and goes to great lengths to do so?

If Your Highness were even slightly weaker, you could be heartbroken to death.

Thinking about it, only someone as cold-hearted and ruthless as Shu Chengfeng could have made it to the end.

"It's not time to take action against the Cao family yet. Your Highness is currently handling things with ease, so neither of us should interfere. We should just wait for Your Highness's arrangements," said Duke Ye.

Ye Chengen agreed and went to find Madam Qian after leaving the study.

He was also worried that his daughter would cause trouble.

As for the palace, Consort Zhen's smugness didn't just begin; she's been smug for over ten years.

She thought that Consort Fang, being pregnant with the emperor's child, would steal much of his favor, but in the end, His Majesty still favored her the most.

She was naturally pleased that His Majesty favored the Twelfth Prince. The Twelfth Prince was still young; he would wait until the Crown Prince stepped down.

For now, I'm afraid His Majesty doesn't like those older princes either.

What if we wait another ten or even twenty years?

When the twelfth prince came of age, it was only natural.

She doesn't care about whether someone is born of the principal wife or a concubine. His Majesty himself is born of a concubine.

He wouldn't care.

After the court session ended that day, Shu Chengfeng also met with people.

In a restaurant in the city, I met Minister Yan of the Ministry of Revenue.

"Your Highness is in high spirits, I hope I am not late?" Lord Yan bowed.

"It's not too late, have a seat." Shu Chengfeng beckoned.

Lord Yan sat down and said, "The tea and snacks at Shubilou are excellent, and I am fortunate to have enjoyed them."

"I'm glad you like it, Lord Yan." Shu Chengfeng drank his tea.

After a few words of small talk, let's get to the point.

"Laiyang Prefecture is suffering from floods, and a lot of grain has been used for disaster relief. I wonder how Lord Yan's preparations are going?" Shu Chengfeng asked.

Laiyang Prefecture is located next to the Yuanjiang River, so the possibility of it being affected by disasters in the summer is not low.

Usually, these are minor issues that can be resolved by building dikes, but there's always one major flood every ten years.

For example, this year.

Countless fertile fields were flooded, and several counties were affected.

“Well…we just sent military rations to the north at the beginning of the year, and it’s not harvest time yet…” Lord Yan hesitated greatly: “I’m trying to find a solution, but the situation is not good in any region right now.”

Shu Chengfeng accepted this task yesterday.

It must be difficult to handle, otherwise why would it be his turn?

Hearing this, he smiled and asked, "Is Lord Yan in such a difficult position?"