"Elder sister, what are your thoughts?" Ye Jingchen asked.
"My opinion is that you should resolve this matter quickly. I finally managed to win Ye Jingyan's heart, but because of these ridiculous rumors, she's backed away again!" Ye Jingshu said irritably.
"It's not that we're rare to find something like this; we all know the truth. This is a good opportunity for you to experience what 'three men make a tiger, five men make a story' means. This way, when you face rumors in the future, you'll at least be able to maintain some rationality and not be easily swayed by them," Ye Jingchen said with a smile.
"Judging from Your Highness's composure, could it be that you already know who is behind these rumors?" Xie Chang'an asked inquiringly.
"There are indeed suspects, we're just waiting to find evidence," Ye Jingchen said.
Xie Chang'an chuckled lightly, saying with an ambiguous meaning, "Someone as shrewd and intelligent as His Highness the Crown Prince would be asking for trouble if anyone tried to scheme against you."
It sounded like praise, but also like mockery.
Ye Jingchen smiled and said, "It's just taking precautions and being prepared for any eventuality."
"Who dares to plot against you? This princess will never forgive her!" Ye Jingshu asked, pressing for an answer after hearing that Ye Jingchen had already identified someone he suspected.
"Naturally, they are people who are very familiar with the Eastern Palace. After I drowned, I happened to check the palace servants of the Eastern Palace and knew some of their backgrounds," Ye Jingchen said.
Ye Jingming's heart stirred. He knew that his mother had placed many people in the Eastern Palace, and she was always the first to know about anything that happened there.
Could the rumors have been spread by my mother?
This does indeed seem to be her doing. The rumors circulating outside about the Emperor are also her doing. She only knows these few tricks.
Did she really think that these few tricks would be enough to shake her brother's position in their father's heart?
Ye Jingshu was furious. "You dare to keep a spy sent by someone else right under your nose? Did you really lose your mind when you fell into the water?"
"Playing the long game to catch a big fish, or using other people's spies as my eyes and ears, even enemies are not unusable, the key is how to use them! Royal sister, one must be flexible in thinking. Look, hasn't she just handed me a ready-made handle?" Ye Jingchen said with a smile.
Ye Jingshu: ……
"You're so cunning!" she couldn't help but say after a long while.
She spoke for everyone present.
"Our background dictates that we can't be ordinary people, and we can't live an ordinary life. So naturally, I hope you are as smart as possible. The smarter you are, the more you can control your own lives, instead of being controlled by others," Ye Jingchen said, taking the opportunity to educate you.
“His Highness the Crown Prince is only eight years old this year, just one year older than me. How can he be so smart?” Yun Shu couldn’t help but ask Xie Chang’an beside her.
Xie Chang'an also wanted to know the answer to this question.
Did Ye Jingchen really only live to be fifteen? Could a fifteen-year-old have such wisdom, insight, and strategy?
Why is he so skeptical?
Today's lesson left a deep impression on everyone.
"Mother, did you have the rumors about my elder brother abusing my fifth brother spread?" After returning to Yichun Palace from school, Ye Jingming asked directly.
At that moment, Consort De was enjoying her tea in a pleasant mood when Ye Jingming's words made her hand tremble. She lost her grip on the cup, and it fell to the ground, shattering into several pieces.
"Where did you hear such nonsense?" Consort De asked sternly, ignoring the broken cup.
“My brother already knew you had planted spies in his palace, and he has already found them all,” Ye Jingming said calmly.
"That's impossible!" Consort De denied instinctively.
Her reaction confirmed Ye Jingming's suspicions.
"Your Majesty will soon find out about Yichun Palace. Mother Consort should hurry up and think of a way to clear herself of any involvement in this matter!" Ye Jingming reminded her.
He originally didn't want to get involved in this matter, but Consort De was his birth mother. If Consort De suffered and was completely abandoned by his father, it would also implicate him.
With such a mother, he would feel ashamed among his brothers and sisters.
"He's just an eight-year-old child, how could he have such abilities?" Consort De said she didn't believe it, but in her heart she was already thinking about how to cut her losses and save herself.
In this harem, it's not unusual for two or three people to disappear; the lives of palace servants are utterly insignificant in the hands of those in power.
"Mother, please don't use these underhanded tricks to deal with my brother anymore. Not only are they useless, they will only bring trouble upon yourselves!" Ye Jingming said.
"You call these petty tricks of mine?" Consort De exploded upon hearing this, pointing her finger at Ye Jingming's nose and scolding, "If you weren't so useless and unable to win your father's favor, would I have gone to such lengths to plan for your future?"
Ye Jingming inwardly cried out 'mistake,' he shouldn't have brought this up.
"I have my own plans for my child's future," Ye Jingming said.
My elder brother is favored by our father and has the support of the Duke of Anguo's mansion. He is also on good terms with the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, which our father has tacitly approved. Not to mention that he is calm, collected, wise, and his mind, strategy, and vision are far superior to his peers. His position is as secure as it gets. For my mother to still want me to compete with him for that position is wishful thinking!
"We're both princes, why should you be subservient to someone else? Do you know how big the difference is between the emperor and a leisurely prince? Besides, Ye Jingchen might not let threats like you live! Just like His Majesty, didn't he kill all his brothers in order to ascend the throne?" Consort De asked angrily.
“Father is Father, and elder brother is elder brother.”
He didn't know what his father was like before, but his elder brother was now gathering them together to study and teaching them all sorts of principles of conduct, which shouldn't be for the purpose of killing them later.
"What, you've been studying at the Wenhua Hall for a few days and you've been tamed by Ye Jingchen? You've started to side with him?" Consort De sneered.
“Jingming, you never used to talk back to your mother.” She said meaningfully.
"It was Emperor Emperor's personal decree that I was sent to study at the Wenhua Hall!" Ye Jingming said.
"It's alright. Once Ye Jingchen's reputation for abusing the prince is established, you will naturally be able to leave Wenhua Palace. Everything your mother has done is for your own good!"
It was the same phrase that Ye Jingming had heard countless times.
When he was younger, he might have been moved by what he heard, but now that he's grown up and has heard it so many times that his ears are practically calloused, he feels no emotion whatsoever.
After school, Ye Jingchen instructed Chenxi to send people to keep a close eye on the spies that Consort De had planted in the East Palace. On the surface, he also instructed Lin Xun to conduct a thorough investigation in the East Palace.
When it was time for bed, Chenxi told him that the informants had almost been silenced, but had been rescued by the guards.
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