Chapter 82 Fortunately, they can ask for it, but they absolutely cannot take it!
The emperor returned to his study and, without even taking a sip of tea, asked, "Any movement from Prince Ning and the Xie family?"
Since the incident at the Cheng'an Marquis's Spring Banquet in March, the Emperor dismissed or laid off staff from the Pingjun Prince's residence and transferred He Yuan there.
He Yuan was nominally employed in the Prince's Palace, but in reality, he was still the Emperor's man.
After capturing Lin Si and following this lead to Prince Ning, the Emperor concealed the truth to maintain the overall situation and did not publicize it. However, he still told He Yuan about it, warning him to be wary of Prince Ning's family potentially harming Qi Jingxuan and framing him again.
The Xie family is the maternal family of the Imperial Concubine and the maternal grandfather's family of Prince Ning. It's possible that the Xie family might be involved in the Spring Banquet. Naturally, He Yuan paid attention to both sides and kept people secretly watching them.
"As far as I know, everything is as usual, no different from any other day. It seems that Young Master Lu's men arrived in the capital first, and the Xie family is unaware of the incident in Yingzhou."
He Yuan replied respectfully.
Yingzhou is a strategically important border region, far from the capital. Frequent correspondence could easily be discovered. Prince Ning and the Xie family, to conceal their illegal iron ore mining activities, would certainly not take such a risk. They must have trusted individuals personally overseeing the situation in Yingzhou, and would not easily contact the capital unless it was a matter of great importance.
Although Lu Heng accidentally wandered into the mine, the other party would not have thought that he was from the capital until they recognized his identity, and therefore would not have sent a message to the capital immediately.
But as time went on, regardless of whether they caught the person or not, out of caution, they would send messages to the capital, warning Prince Ning and the Xie family to be on their guard. If they knew that the person was Lu Heng, they would certainly send people to keep an eye on the Lu family, and might even take other actions, such as... a preemptive rebellion.
However, according to the information He Yuan currently has, Prince Ning and the Xie family have not made any unusual moves, and have not even paid much attention to the Lu family.
The emperor breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and then picked up the teacup beside him and took a big gulp.
Having just heard Qi Jingxuan mention the Xie family's illegal iron ore mining, he was certain that Prince Ning harbored treasonous intentions. He appeared calm on the way out of Zhaohua Palace, but inwardly he was burning with anxiety, only concealing it to avoid revealing his actions.
It's been so many years since I've felt this way.
When Emperor Gaozu seized the throne, a bloody power struggle ensued, with most of the Qi family members, whose names and surnames were known, dying. Ultimately, Gaozu, having successfully seized the throne, killed most of them, and the remaining members were exiled to harsh, desolate lands, their surnames even changed. By the time of Emperor Taizong, he had only one son, the late emperor, who in turn had only one heir, the former crown prince.
With the death of the Crown Prince, the late Emperor couldn't find a suitable candidate to adopt a son from a collateral branch. Upon examining the imperial genealogy, he discovered that the collateral branches with whom he was relatively close by blood were either extinct or had deep-seated hatred towards his branch. If he didn't want his funeral arrangements to be too hasty, he could only choose from those who were almost beyond the fifth degree of kinship.
And so the emperor sitting on the throne was chosen. The reason for his selection is still considered a joke when people talk about it in private: the imperial astronomical divination indicated that he would have many offspring and a strong bond with his children, which can be simply put as being good at bearing children.
Both the late Emperor and Emperor Taizong had few children. To ensure the stability of the Great Zhou dynasty and to ensure that future emperors would take good care of their imperial tombs, he chose an emperor who was "fertile." In this way, this lineage could continue to exist, and the throne would not fall into the hands of those who had a grudge against the lineage of Emperor Gaozu.
Thus, an ordinary boy from the countryside, a man who had almost nothing except the imperial surname and whose life was worse than that of the local gentry, became the crown prince and inherited the throne after the death of the previous emperor.
The late emperor was forced to adopt this son when his health was failing, and the emperor was only taught for less than two years before the emperor's death. How could a boy who had never been exposed to imperial power become a qualified emperor in such a short time?
The court officials were restless, and the powerful families were ambitious, each wanting the person on the throne to serve them.
After a brief period of excitement and joy, the emperor began to tremble with fear, often waking from nightmares in the middle of the night. He dreamt that he was made into a puppet, dressed in dragon robes, and manipulated at will on the throne, his every action completely out of his control. After the birth of his first son, he even dreamt that he was pulled from the throne and the infant was installed as emperor. After all, an infant is much easier to control than an adult emperor, isn't it?
Fortunately, Consort Hui's child was born prematurely and was very weak, clearly not a suitable candidate for the imperial heir.
Yes, thankfully.
That's what he thought at the time, even though... that was his son, his first child.
Later, the emperor finally survived and secured his position with the help of the people left to him by the late emperor.
Although the process was difficult, he eventually became a competent emperor. Now, more than twenty years later, he is adept at handling affairs of the court and is no longer the ignorant youth he once was.
He once believed that everything was under his control, and nothing could make him panic anymore. Even though he knew that the Xie and He families, his in-laws, were restless and that powerful clans still wanted to usurp his imperial power. But so what? What they couldn't do before, they couldn't do now.
The emperor was very confident about this. Even though he had learned from Lin Si that Prince Ning had framed Qi Jingxuan and knew that Prince Ning was not honest, he remained calm.
They're all princes; who wouldn't want to be the crown prince or the emperor? It's simply a matter of whether they can or can't. Prince Ning and Prince Jing'an, with the support of powerful clans, will only want it more.
But today, when he learned that the Xie family was illegally mining iron ore and confirmed that Prince Ning was interested in the throne, that panic he hadn't felt for many years suddenly resurfaced, making his heart race and his hair stand on end.
The emperor took a sip of tea to suppress his anxiety and said, "Keep an eye on things. Now that Shi An has entered the capital, the Xie family will surely receive the news soon, and they will definitely take action. Report back immediately if you discover anything."
He Yuan agreed, and then said, "Your Majesty, I wonder if the Consort knows anything about the iron mine?"
The emperor sneered and said, "Whether she knows or not is irrelevant."
They were illegally mining iron ore, plotting a rebellion. As a member of the Xie family, it was impossible for her to extricate herself from this matter, especially since... she was also the birth mother of Prince Ning.
He Yuan knew that apart from Consort Shu, His Majesty had no genuine feelings for the other concubines in the harem. Now that he knew about this matter, regardless of whether Consort Gui was involved or not, she would inevitably face death, but that was not what he wanted to say.
"If the Imperial Concubine finds out, His Majesty will probably have to be even more vigilant, especially regarding the food and other items sent from the inner palace."
He Yuandao.
Unlike Consort Hui, Consort Jia was carefully selected by the Xie family and sent to the palace from the beginning. Her original intention was to become Empress, but she failed to succeed in the competition in the end.
Although she had been in the harem for many years, the Xie family had frequent dealings with her, so she was not entirely without help in the palace.
Although the emperor had taken precautions, if the Xie family and Consort Jia joined forces both inside and outside the palace, they might actually find a loophole. After all, nothing in this world is foolproof, and even the most stringent defenses can have a lapse.
The emperor nodded: "I know that. You don't need to worry. Just go and do your job."
He Yuan agreed again, bowed, and withdrew.
The emperor's face was somber. After he left, he raised his hand to Fu Shun, who was standing beside him, and whispered a few instructions.
Fu Shun listened calmly, and nodded after he finished speaking: "Yes, this servant will make the arrangements right away."
Outside the hall, the sky was clear and blue, but inside, the atmosphere was gloomy, as if a storm was brewing.
The emperor picked up the letter Lu Heng had written to Qi Jingxuan again and looked at it, his grip on the letter tightening.
He could tolerate his children vying for the crown prince position, but he would never allow them to covet the throne while he was still on it! They could take it from him, but they could never snatch it from him! Otherwise… don’t blame him for disregarding father-son relations!
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