Chapter 230 Dark Tide

Yun Qian is the emperor's trusted minister, which is the consensus of all civil and military officials in the court. He is in charge of the Dali Temple, and any case sent to the Dali Temple will always get the answer that the emperor wants most.

This time was no exception. The case of the deposed crown prince was reopened a year later, but less than a month after it was handed over to Yun Qian, he produced real evidence.

A concubine was pushed out from the deposed crown prince's harem. She was the daughter of Chi Liangjun, a member of the Hanlin Academy who had been convicted. She entered the palace earlier than the deposed crown princess, and now she was only a talented person in name only.

Finally, in the confession before the emperor, it was mentioned that Chi Cairen harbored resentment towards the prince because of the incident with Chi Liangjun. After her young son died, she hated the prince even more and even practiced witchcraft in the East Palace.

Regardless of whether the civil and military officials in the court believed it or not, the emperor believed it anyway. He called the concubine Chi a vicious woman and sentenced her to death immediately. He then went to the East Palace in person to comfort the prince.

The day after the results came out, the emperor ordered the lifting of the deposed prince's house arrest order and restored his status as the eldest son of the empress.

Although the crown prince was not reinstated, any discerning person could see the emperor's intention. This was the emperor's eldest son, and he held the title of eldest son. As long as this prince was around, the fourth prince would be neither the eldest nor the legitimate son, and his status would be lowered.

The eldest prince has submitted many memorials to impeach the deposed crown prince, but there has been no response since they were submitted. The emperor did not mention the matter of reinstating the crown prince, but allowed the eldest prince to enter the court to discuss state affairs. They can do nothing about this.

The Fourth Prince's face looked extremely ugly, especially when he saw the First Prince looking like a filial son, but turned around and looked at him with a vicious look. That sinister look made the Fourth Prince feel cold all over.

But the emperor seemed unable to see through this and still wanted the brothers to be united and live happily together.

Back when the eldest prince was still the crown prince, the fourth prince was willing to maintain superficial harmony. But now, everyone knows that they have reached the point of a life-and-death struggle, so how could the fourth prince be willing to pretend anymore?

"Brother, after not seeing you for a year, your ability to pretend has improved a lot." The fourth prince sneered.

When he was still the crown prince, the eldest prince was always arrogant and domineering. The more than one year of confinement has completely changed him. The eldest prince is now less spirited, and his face is more gloomy than arrogant.

Perhaps it was because of the injuries sustained during his confinement, the Crown Prince seemed to be losing strength as he spoke, his voice growing increasingly gloomy. "Thanks to Fourth Brother's guidance, I have finally learned something."

The Fourth Prince sneered and said with a hint of malice, "Brother, don't think that everything will be fine just because Father lets you out. There are plenty of people out there waiting to bring you misfortune."

The eldest prince sneered and asked, "For example, you, fourth brother?"

The Fourth Prince was not afraid at all. He smiled and said, "I am your biological brother, so naturally I hope for the best for you. However, that may not be the case for some people, such as the Empress and Consort Yu in the palace, and Su Fengzhang, who has now become Fifth Brother's confidant."

The Fourth Prince slapped his head and laughed, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, big brother. Lord Su is very powerful now. Everyone in the Ministry of Revenue follows his lead."

"If it weren't for you, big brother, who insisted on making things difficult for him and whipped him in the street in the restaurant, now..."

The prince coughed, interrupting him and said calmly, "It's all in the past. I'm sure Lord Su won't care. I didn't expect Fourth Brother to be so generous as to let go of the Ministry of Revenue."

The two of them went back and forth, but neither of them gained anything.

The fourth prince reminded the eldest prince of his situation of being surrounded by enemies, but at the same time he also realized that the eldest prince was able to stand in the court because of the emperor's favoritism.

Although the eldest prince was ironic about the past, he had to admit that his current situation was not good. If he could not win in the end, the fourth prince would definitely not tolerate him.

Even though the eldest prince has always been very self-important and looked down on his younger brothers, he also knows that the possibility of him being reinstated as the crown prince is extremely small, and the possibility of him ascending the throne in the future is even lower.

If he couldn't, it would be a dead end, which made the eldest prince more and more crazy.

What no one expected was that the returning eldest prince kept silent in the court, and the first thing he did was to go to the Su family and apologize. It was not the apology with gifts like Prince Cheng did before, but a real apology with a stick on his back.

After opening the door, when Su Fengzhang saw the eldest prince with his back naked and carrying a whip on his back, he couldn't help but roar in his heart.

But at that moment, he quickly knelt down: "Your Highness, what are you doing?"

The eldest prince looked haggard and full of regret. He shouted loudly, "Master Su, Qin Xun was young and ignorant back then. He used the power of witchcraft to do absurd things, causing Master Su to be humiliated. This is all Qin Xun's fault."

"Xun cannot turn back time. I can only bear the blame and apologize to repay the humiliation Lord Su suffered that year."

Su Fengzhang's expression remained unchanged as he reached out to help him up. The eldest prince originally wanted to kneel down for a long time, but he did not expect Su Fengzhang to be so strong that he could pull him up with just one hand.

Su Fengzhang immediately said, "Your Highness, at that time you were the monarch and I was the subject. It was not a question of whether I was humiliated or not. Since Your Highness's mistake was unintentional, how could I bear a grudge?"

"The past is like smoke. Your Highness, please do not mention it again."

"I am only a minister of the Great Zhou. Your Highness, please do not do this again. Otherwise, it will be my fault. I cannot apologize even if I die. I will be doing a disservice to the Great Zhou."

The eldest prince burst into tears, holding Su Fengzhang's hand and shouting, "Lord Su is righteous and did not blame me, but I feel so guilty that I can't bear to look back on those days."

There was such a commotion at the gate of the Su family that the whole capital knew about it within an hour.

Prince Cheng had previously traveled thousands of miles to Qingzhou to apologize, and was mostly praised in the capital. However, this time the Crown Prince's actions were met with mixed reactions, suggesting that the public opinion was not in the right direction.

Some scholars, drinking privately, spoke of the deposed crown prince with some disdain, some even saying, "Didn't he kill or injure enough people back then? Why is he only asking Lord Su for apology now? Isn't it because Lord Su is so successful in the Ministry of Revenue and is a close confidant of Prince Cheng? He's just pretending."

The Fourth Prince sneered, "I never expected it. After being deposed once, this boss has learned his lesson. He actually came up with such a shameful idea. He went to Su Fengzhang and apologized. He really has the nerve to do that."

Minister Xu frowned and said, "The eldest prince is probably doing this to show off to His Majesty and Prince Cheng."

The Fourth Prince naturally knew this, and he became even more furious. "Let's not even mention Father, but could this commotion just make Old Five side with him?"

"Don't forget, when Concubine De and the Li family had an affair, Empress Yuan was involved."

Minister Xu said, "That being said, at least now the events of the past are over. Su Fengzhang will certainly not dare to hold onto this matter any longer. If the eldest prince continues to show goodwill, Prince Cheng might change his mind."

The Fourth Prince's face also darkened, and he secretly wondered who had come up with this idea for the First Prince. He was afraid that the First Prince wouldn't be able to figure it out with his brain.

He quickly thought of Master Zhang, who was still resting in bed, and frowned, "Could it be that old Master Zhang?"

Minister Xu whispered, "The Zhang family has always been very close to the eldest prince. Although Grand Tutor Zhang is now bedridden and can't get out of bed, he can still speak. It's possible he's hiding behind the scenes and making plans."

The Fourth Prince cursed angrily, "Why doesn't that old thing just die?"

"Your Highness, is there any news from the Empress in the palace?" asked Minister Xu.

The Fourth Prince sighed and said, "The little brat is sick again. The Queen and Concubine Yu are so busy with the child that they don't have time to think about anything else."

Minister Xu also sighed and said, "After all, we can't let the eldest prince win over Prince Cheng. We have to think of a way."

Before the Fourth Prince could come up with any solution, the First Prince had already taken action. Countless gifts flowed into the Su family, under the pretext of an apology for his youthful recklessness.

On the other hand, the eldest prince visited Prince Cheng many times, and each time he was accompanied by handsome men. No one knew where he found these thin and plump handsome men.

For example, this time, Prince Cheng looked up and glanced at the "handsome man" standing behind the eldest prince. He actually looked three points similar to Su Fengzhang. If it weren't for his far inferior temperament and a bit of timidity, he might have looked five points similar.

Noticing Prince Cheng's look, the eldest prince smiled and said, "If Fifth Brother likes it, why not let him stay and serve?"

Prince Cheng raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "It's still not necessary. I'm afraid some people will get angry."

The eldest prince's eyes flickered slightly, and he thought to himself that Su Fengzhang was quite capable, allowing Prince Cheng to guard him alone. He then advised, "Fifth brother, don't worry, no one else will know."

"That's not an outsider." Prince Cheng raised his eyebrows and said, "Brother, if you have nothing else, please go back."

Prince Cheng found this matter very funny and couldn't help but want to go to the Su family and have a good talk with Su Fengzhang about it. The man looked somewhat similar to Su Fengzhang, and maybe their ancestors were relatives.

In the end, the eldest prince had no choice but to take the person away. Now that his confinement has been lifted, he can only live in the prince's mansion outside the palace.

Once back in the palace, the eldest prince slapped the man to the ground and cursed, "A bunch of trash."

"Your Highness, calm down! Your Highness, calm down!"

The guard who was angered could only kneel down and beg for mercy, but he was still beaten severely. He could only curl up and resist the beating until the eldest prince was exhausted.

"Get out!" The eldest prince didn't even look at the person on the ground.

The guard, covered in wounds, rolled out in a hurry. At this time, his face was covered with bruises and blues. He no longer had any of Su Fengzhang's bearing, especially his temperament.

The eldest prince had a sneer on his face. He would not let any of the fourth prince, Su Fengzhang, and Prince Cheng go once he got that position.

Especially that Su Fengzhang, he was just a minister, but he was asked to apologize on his back. Was he worthy of it?

It’s a pity that Prince Cheng is now completely bewitched by Su Fengzhang. In order to dispute with the fourth prince, he can’t take action immediately, so let him enjoy the glory for a while longer.