Chapter 223: Secret Agent

Even the ruler of a country cannot resist the erosion of time. The emperor's serious illness came like a mountain and went away like a thread. Although he can now attend court as usual, he has to admit that his physical strength is not as good as before.

When he was young, Emperor Xuanwu had often stayed up all night painting, composing poems, drinking and having fun with his beloved concubines. But now, he often felt tired before it was completely dark.

In this way, the emperor seemed to be quite interested in self-cultivation. Rather than the fresh young palace maids, he preferred the elderly who had been with him for many years. Among them, Concubine Yu was still the most favored, and even the matter of the crown prince did not affect her much.

This is something that one has to admire. Even Concubine Xu secretly gnashed her teeth and cursed the little bitch for feeding the emperor so many sweet drugs. When the prince's incident became a problem, the emperor seemed to be quite disgusted with her, but he still doted on Concubine Yu.

As his health condition deteriorated, the emperor not only did not give up his power and immediately decide on the prince's intention, but became more and more wary of the fourth prince.

The more officials in the court supported the Fourth Prince, the more dissatisfied the Emperor became. He even began to miss the deposed Crown Prince, thinking that although the Crown Prince was unreasonable and had many faults, he was a filial child.

Under such circumstances, the emperor relied more and more on Prince Rong and Prince Cheng. The former was his younger brother whom he had trusted for so many years, and the latter was his "son" whom he believed he could fully control.

Prince Rong is a few years younger than the emperor, but his health is not as good as his. He has been ill in recent days.

Under such circumstances, the emperor naturally did not want Prince Cheng to leave the capital.

Su Fengzhang originally thought that if Prince Cheng wanted to leave the capital, he would have to go through a lot of trouble to convince the emperor. However, who would have thought that every few days, Prince Cheng would go to Qingzhou with ease.

In this regard, Su Fengzhang had to once again consider Prince Cheng's influence on the emperor, or in other words, the influence of the empress and concubine Yu in the harem on the emperor.

Su Fengzhang confirmed once again that this was an emperor who was very easily influenced by rumors.

The fifth prince is at the peak of his career, and his every move attracts the attention of countless people, especially those with ulterior motives.

As soon as he left, everyone who should know knew it.

The Fourth Prince was particularly puzzled and sought out Minister Xu at night to discuss the matter. "Grandfather, you said it's still early in the year, and it's freezing cold. Why didn't the Fifth Prince stay in the capital to accompany our father, but instead rushed to Qingzhou?"

Although Qingzhou is a prosperous place, there seems to be nothing worth noting except the abundance of silver and money. If you must find one, it might be Yufei's uncle.

But Fang Zhiwen, someone the emperor isn't even sure he can remember, isn't really worth the trip in this cold weather, the Fourth Prince thought to himself.

Minister Xu pondered over it, but couldn't figure out why the Fifth Prince would go to Qingzhou at this time. He simply frowned and said, "Whatever he does, the Fourth Prince doesn't need to worry. Instead, he should focus more on His Majesty."

The Fourth Prince felt a bit resentful whenever the Emperor was mentioned: "Of course I know this, but I didn't expect that Father would not remember our past friendship at all. Now he won't even see Mother, and he's always glaring at me."

Minister Xu looked unsurprised and said with a smile, "Your Majesty's behavior is not surprising. He has loved the Crown Prince for many years. Even after the Crown Prince did so many absurd things, he still wanted to protect him. This shows the deep love between father and son."

The Fourth Prince's face darkened and he sneered, "They do have a deep father-son relationship, but am I not his biological son? Father is being a bit too partial. Could it be that all his love for me over the years was fake?"

"Back when the Crown Prince was still on the throne, Father showed a lot of favoritism towards me. Why is it that now that he has been deposed, Father is acting in the same way?"

Minister Xu sneered, "It is precisely because the Crown Prince has been deposed that Your Majesty is acting this way."

He sighed and explained, "Fourth Prince, even though His Majesty dotes on the Crown Prince now, when the Crown Prince was at the peak of his power, he was also wary of him. Otherwise, he would not have strongly supported you and the Xu family."

The fourth prince's eyes flickered, and he seemed to understand something. He smiled and said, "Yes, father only has the throne in his heart."

Minister Xu, seeing that he had come to his senses, consoled him, "So, Your Highness, don't worry. Just wait. His Majesty is ill, and the Fifth Prince is... She's just a pawn being used by the civil and military officials. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to cause any more trouble."

"Compared to the Fifth Prince, I am worried about someone else."

The Fourth Prince frowned and asked, "Crown Prince? He's been deposed now. Even if he still lives in the Eastern Palace, is there any chance he could cause any trouble?"

Minister Xu shook his head and said, "It's not the Crown Prince, but..."

He raised his hand and made the number nine.

The Fourth Prince's expression changed slightly, and he frowned as he asked, "This... He's just a baby in swaddling clothes. We don't even know if he can grow up. Could he be a threat to me?"

Minister Xu said, "I heard that Concubine Yu sent the Ninth Prince to the Queen's palace, and now the Queen is raising him."

The Fourth Prince also frowned and cursed, "I don't know what the Queen is thinking. She has lived without children for all these years, and now she wants to raise the Ninth Prince."

In the opinion of the Fourth Prince, the Queen's behavior was unwise. If she had no children, no matter who ascended the throne, they would respect her as the Queen Mother. If she raised one, it would be hard to say what would happen next.

Minister Xu then said, "That's why I'm so worried."

When the Fourth Prince heard this, he realized that the threat posed by the Ninth Prince would be even greater than that posed by the Deposed Crown Prince. After all, it was extremely rare for a Deposed Crown Prince to ascend the throne since ancient times, but there had always been many young monarchs in history.

Minister Xu continued, "Fourth Prince, do you now understand why I am trying so hard to win over Prince Cheng, Su Fengzhang?"

The Fourth Prince subconsciously asked, "Are you saying that the Fifth Prince might switch sides with the Ninth Prince?"

Minister Xu shook his head and said, "Probably not now. For Prince Cheng, all he needs to do now is stand by His Majesty and wait for everything to end. He can rest easy. There's no need to take such a big risk."

The Fourth Prince was a little anxious, frowning and saying, "Who knows if she also wants to rule the country from behind the scenes?"

Minister Xu also frowned: "That's why we can't give him a chance."

"Grandpa, are you saying that we should take advantage of this opportunity when he goes to Qingzhou?" The Fourth Prince stretched out his hand and made a gesture to silence the witness.

Minister Xu was startled and quickly advised, "Your Highness, absolutely not. Prince Cheng commands a large army, and it would be difficult for him to kill her. If he fails in one blow, he will only push her completely to someone else."

"Besides, even though she is in such a good position now, it is easy to deal with her. Compared to Prince Cheng, Prince Rong and Prince Xi are more difficult to deal with."

"Our most urgent task is to keep them stable. If we can't win them over, we shouldn't let them turn to others."

The Fourth Prince cursed in frustration, "The Crown Prince has been deposed, and the Ninth Prince is still a nursing baby. Why didn't Father establish me as the Crown Prince? Could it be that he wants to establish the Crown Prince again?"

Minister Xu knew that he was anxious and advised, "Since the Fourth Prince also knows this, why worry so much?"

The Fourth Prince said, "Grandfather, it's not that I'm anxious, but as long as the position of Crown Prince is not settled, I will be unable to sleep or eat."

Minister Xu shook his head and said, "Your Highness, this is precisely why we cannot be impatient. Otherwise, we will be at a disadvantage. Please take a message to the Empress in the Palace. If we can get rid of the Ninth Prince, that would be the best. If not, we must not let him stay too healthy."

When the Fourth Prince heard this, he immediately understood what this meant. Over the years, there were only three adult princes who survived in the palace. Empress Yuan certainly made an indelible contribution to this, but Concubine Xu also had a lot of involvement.

As long as the Ninth Prince is gone, or his health is not so good, the emperor will probably have even fewer choices.

Minister Xu added, "As for the deposed Crown Prince, Your Highness, there's no need to worry too much. I will never allow him to be reinstated. The Eastern Palace will be a cold palace!"

The Fourth Prince couldn't help but sigh after hearing this, and said with emotion: "If I knew that this day would come, I shouldn't have offended the He family so thoroughly back then. Otherwise, Prince Xi wouldn't have been against me all this time."

Minister Xu said helplessly, "Back then, the Xu family was only following His Majesty's orders. Who could have known that the women of the He family would be so fiery and commit suicide before they were even imprisoned? We are wronged in this matter."

The Fourth Prince also said indignantly, "Indeed, the imperial edict was issued by Father himself. It was he who wanted to punish the He family. Grandfather was just following orders. Who could have imagined what would happen later?"

Minister Xu felt complicated when he thought about what happened back then. The emperor took action against the Li family, the maiden family of Concubine De, and the He family, the husband's family of Princess Ronghe, because he was afraid that they held a large number of troops.

The Xu family certainly wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to climb up the ladder, but ultimately this matter was led by the emperor.

The Li family fell into complete ruin. Men were executed and women were imprisoned on charges of crimes whose truth or falsehood was unknown. Later, Concubine De knelt at the palace gate while holding the newly born fifth prince, and only then did His Majesty revoke his order and give the Li family a chance to live.

After the Li family was defeated, it was the He family's turn.

The evidence that the He family failed to suppress bandits and secretly kept a large number of troops was personally discovered by Xu Shangshu, who was still working in the Ministry of Justice at the time!

But who could have imagined that General He died on the way to suppress bandits before he was escorted back to Beijing, and the women of the He family committed suicide to protect their innocence, leaving behind only the elderly Mrs. He and the infant He Jun.

Minister Xu still vaguely remembered how Princess Ronghe died in the palace. Fate was so cruel. The princess had such a glorious life when she got married and had children, but she died so miserably.

The He family's commotion actually made the emperor feel a little guilty, and he actually directly conferred the title of Prince of Xi on He Jun. It is not known whether he was really afraid that the military generals in the world would be disheartened, or because he felt guilty about his dead sister.

The emperor acted like a loving uncle, so the He family did not dare to resent the emperor. Instead, they kept the Xu family in mind.

After He Jun grew up, he targeted the He family everywhere. The emperor did not take it seriously but indulged them everywhere, which made Minister Xu feel cold in his heart.

If the Fourth Prince cannot ascend the throne, their Xu family will sooner or later become the next Liu family or He family. It is for this reason that Minister Xu is putting pressure on the Crown Prince.

They both sighed, and Minister Xu said helplessly, "Prince Xi has become much calmer since his marriage. I just hope that when he grows up and becomes sensible, he will understand the difficulties our Xu family has faced."

The Fourth Prince sneered, "I'm afraid it's difficult. He Jun has always been unruly and unruly. He only has a good face towards the Fifth Prince."

Minister Xu also said, "That's right. When Zifeng returned to the capital from Qingzhou, he almost died from the arrow of Prince Xi. Speaking of which, it was Su Fengzhang who came to his aid. Who would have thought that after a few years, the situation would have turned out like this."

The Fourth Prince also said, "Su Fengzhang's personality is also strange. He is just ordinary with Zifeng, but he is close to the Fifth Prince. Could it be that he is really blinded by beauty?"

Minister Xu did not think there was anything beautiful about the Fifth Prince, and he added, "After all, he is not an enemy."

Thinking back on these years, Minister Xu felt a little regretful. They were too focused on the situation in the capital and neglected other places.

Su Fengzhang is one of them, and Fang Zhiwen is also one of them. If he could have made friends with them back then, he could now form an alliance with Prince Cheng outside the palace and form an alliance with Concubine Yu inside the palace. It would have been a great deal.

"Isn't Meng Ting a good friend of Su Fengzhang? Isn't it possible to let him go there as a lobbyist?" The Fourth Prince suddenly asked.

"I remember that Zifeng had a good relationship with both of them. Why didn't he mention it now?"

Minister Xu shook his head and explained, "Zifeng and Su Fengzhang have long been estranged, and now they have no private contact. He is on good terms with Meng Ting, but Meng Ting is arrogant and proud of his talent. He is even more difficult to talk to now than before, making it even more difficult to get him to help with things."

The Fourth Prince frowned upon hearing this and cursed, "He still dares to have grudges against the Xu family. Look at how many years it has been. Su Fengzhang, who was in the same class as him, has become the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and what about him?"

"Although he is useless, he is better than troublemakers like Su Qun." Minister Xu admired Meng Ting very much in his heart and felt that he was quite talented. However, Meng Ting's mind was less and less on the court in recent years. He even liked to hang out in the pleasure boat rather than being an official.

"Never mind. Meng Ting has no good feelings towards Prince Xi either, as he still holds many grudges from the humiliation he suffered back then. At least he won't side with them."

"Forget it, let's not talk about him. If he's not useful, then he's useless." The Fourth Prince had no obsession with Meng Ting and added, "You should keep an eye on He Tang. Father likes him."

He Tang's paintings of beauties are now famous throughout the Great Zhou. In the past, Su Fengzhang was also famous for his painting skills, but after a few years, he was overshadowed by other people.

The emperor liked beauties, and he liked pictures of beauties even more. Compared with the capable, practical and shrewd Su Fengzhang, he summoned He Tang more often, and even once let him stay overnight in the palace. Looking back over the years, only Fang Zhiwen had received such treatment. Although He Tang's official position was not high, the Fourth Prince and others did not dare to look down on him, and he happened to be a good friend of Su Fengzhang.

Minister Xu naturally would not let go of a person like He Tang, and the two of them whispered something before hurriedly dispersing.