Chapter 733 Linxi's Treasure Map
Cheng Wanwan began to think seriously.
The emperor summoned her, a woman, and informed her of such an important matter; this showed his trust in her, and she had to take it seriously.
The former crown prince was able to lie low in the shadows for more than ten years, which must have been his plan for a great undertaking. Once he made his move, the palace would be awash in blood, and once the palace was in chaos, the world would be thrown into chaos as well.
She thought for a long time before carefully speaking: "According to my guess, Your Majesty has not yet found the whereabouts of the former Crown Prince. At present, only the He family is in the open. If we touch the He family, it will be like stirring up trouble, which would be a loss. Why not use the He family to lure out the former Crown Prince, and use this trick to lure him out of his hole and into a trap?"
"Consort Sui and I have the same idea, but alas—" the Emperor sighed, "For the past ten days or so, I have relaxed the defenses of the palace, and even allowed most of the garrison troops to take early leave to go home for the New Year. It can be said that the defenses of the imperial city are extremely lax now, making it the perfect time for a rebellion. However, for many days in a row, the He family has made no move, and the former Crown Prince Xiao Jue has not been seen at all. The strategy of luring the enemy into a trap is good, but what if he doesn't come?"
The He family's plot to rebel is so serious that only he, the sixth son, the General of the Cavalry, and Lady Sui know about it.
These days, he has been calling the sixth prince and General Ruan to the imperial study almost every day to discuss important matters, but they have been unable to come up with a good solution.
There are many key ministers in the court, but if these ministers were summoned to discuss matters, it would cause great panic. Moreover, some of these ministers were once close advisors to the former crown prince, and if they learned that the former crown prince was still alive, they might have inappropriate thoughts.
After much deliberation, the emperor realized that the only solution was to consult with Consort Sui.
Although Sui Shuren was a woman, her intelligence and perceptiveness were in no way inferior to those of men, and he believed that Sui Shuren could give him a good solution.
Cheng Wanwan pondered it carefully.
Having watched so many related films and TV series in her past life, she was convinced she couldn't come up with a good solution.
Sitting would distract her from thinking, so she simply stood up and paced back and forth in the imperial study. She walked back and forth countless times before finally stopping.
She turned to the emperor and said, "The reason why the former crown prince did not fall into the trap is probably because he guessed the emperor's plan. Knowing there was an ambush, he still raised an army to rebel. Wouldn't that be sending himself to his death? The former crown prince should know the art of rulership. Instead, we should use some other more down-to-earth methods to force the former crown prince to take action."
The emperor became somewhat interested: "Please tell me more, Lady Sui."
“Last time, when my wife and Miss Ruan disappeared, everyone in the capital thought we went to the Western Hills to admire the plum blossoms. The common people didn't know what we actually went through. The He family could tell someone had entered the cave, but they didn't know whether anyone had entered the secret chamber inside.” Cheng Wanwan smiled. “And the He family, fearing to alert them, will definitely not move those weapons during this time. As long as the weapons are still there, we can make a big fuss about it…”
She took two steps forward and carefully explained her plan.
It was late at night when the snow stopped, and Cheng Wanwan finally came out of the Imperial Study.
Once she was on the carriage heading home, she was shocked to realize that she hadn't eaten or drunk anything all afternoon and evening, and was so hungry that she didn't even realize it.
The emperor probably felt the same way, otherwise he would have definitely kept her in the palace for a meal.
After returning home, Granny Qi quickly prepared hot food. After eating, she lay in bed, but couldn't fall asleep.
Although she had watched many movies and TV shows, she had never experienced it firsthand. Whenever she thought about what was about to happen, she couldn't calm down.
Originally, the intention was only to bring down the He family, but who would have thought that the He family would get involved with the former crown prince?
I thought I would just spend my life farming and doing business, but who would have thought I would get involved in court intrigue?
The night passed in a daze, and the next day was already the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month.
In the capital, this day is the Little New Year. After the snow stops, the streets become lively, and there is a festive atmosphere.
Meanwhile, some rumors began to circulate on the streets.
"Have you heard? The treasure map of the Xie family from a hundred years ago has been discovered."
"What? A treasure map? What kind of treasure is hidden there?"
"You all know the Xie family, right? A once-prosperous family a hundred years ago, producing three empresses. The Xie family's wealth far exceeded the national treasury. Because of their great prominence, the emperor became wary of them and confiscated their property on a trumped-up charge. It is said that when the people who confiscated the property entered the Xie family, they could not find a single coin or a single grain of rice... At that time, some people said that the head of the Xie family had foreseen the disaster and had hidden away his gold and silver treasures long ago, and even drew a treasure map to leave to the Xie family's descendants."
"Wasn't the entire Xie family executed back then? Where are their descendants now?"
"So, the treasure map ended up in the hands of an outsider. But back then, too many people were watching the Xie family, so the person who got the treasure map didn't dare to look for the treasure, and the matter was gradually forgotten."
"It is said that last night a beggar found the map in a crack in the wall of a dilapidated temple. Because he did not know its value, he sold it to the owner of Duobao Pavilion for ten coins. The owner was from the south and did not know anything about the Xie family. He just thought the treasure map was quite interesting, so he had more than ten copies made and sold them. Many people were interested and bought them, only to find that the end of the treasure map was actually the place where the Xie family ancestral hall was located a hundred years ago."
"..."
The news reached Cheng Wanwan's ears.
She sent Cheng Yi out to buy a treasure map, and he bought one for three taels of silver. The map was drawn in a very winding and mysterious way.
The matter was only agreed upon last night, and this morning the treasure map was drawn up and spread throughout the entire capital. This is the emperor's ability.
She had been to Xishan in Linxi twice and was quite familiar with it, but just looking at the map, it was still difficult to tell that it was Xishan in Linxi, which shows that the person who drew the map had put in a lot of effort.
"Mother, let's go find the treasure too." Zhao Sidan, who rarely gets a day off, said with bright eyes, "The book mentions the Xie family. Besides being rich, the Xie family also produced many talented scholars and writers. After the Xie family was raided, all of their paintings and poems were lost. If we could get these things, how wonderful that would be."
Just as Cheng Wanwan was about to speak, she suddenly noticed a figure flash past the greenhouse door.
She smiled and said, "Okay, after breakfast we'll follow the treasure map to find the treasure. But I just studied the treasure map and the route looks familiar. It seems to be Linxi outside the capital. I've been there twice already, and there's no treasure there. This must be something the owner of Duobao Pavilion drew to fool the common people."
Zhao Sidan said, "Mother didn't come here specifically to find treasure, so of course she didn't find anything unusual. Let's just treat it as a trip for fun."
“Alright.” Cheng Wanwan nodded. “Last time when Miss Ruan and I got lost, we entered a cave. We joked about whether there was a secret room inside. This time, we’ll bring a few more people who know about this to search the cave properly. If there really is a secret room, we’ll be rich.”
She chatted casually with Si Dan for a while, and then Granny Qi came to report: "Old Liu said he was going to inspect the reading room, and he left in a hurry..."
Cheng Wanwan smiled softly.
With Lao Liu tipping them off, the former crown prince might make his move a few days earlier.
In these kinds of situations, the worst thing is that things might get complicated if things drag on. It's better to rebel early and resolve the issue sooner rather than later.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
