Chapter 82. The attack begins.
Before the Lantern Festival, Chu Heng was ordered to enter the palace to meet the emperor, where he found the eldest prince and the second prince receiving instruction.
After bowing to the emperor, Chu Heng then bowed to the two princes, who naturally could not accept the bow and quickly stepped aside, bowing to Chu Heng in return.
The emperor gestured for Chu Heng to sit down, but made the two princes stand: "Fifth brother is their uncle, how can these two lads accept your courtesy?"
Chu Heng smiled slightly: "Yes, Your Majesty, I have remembered."
Bowing is against etiquette, but not bowing might incur the emperor's wrath someday; the emperor's son is truly a troublesome figure.
"You two are also..." the emperor continued, "My sons are nothing special. When you meet the elders of the imperial family in the future, the first thing you must remember is the rules and etiquette, understand?"
The eldest and second princes bowed side by side, saying, "Your sons understand and thank you for your teachings, Father."
The emperor nodded slightly: "Go ahead. Celebrating the New Year is fine, but you can't forget your duties while having fun. I will test you tomorrow."
The two princes bowed respectfully and withdrew.
Chu Heng joked, "Your Majesty is too strict. It's the New Year, can't you let the children relax a bit?"
“I still remember it. You were just as lax back then, relaxing for two or three months at a time. By the time you returned to your study, you had long forgotten everything your teacher had taught you!” The emperor shook his head. “With you as a cautionary tale, I have to keep an eye on them. Diligence leads to mastery, while idleness leads to ruin.”
The smile in Chu Heng's eyes faded, leaving only a rigid smile on his face: "Studying is too tiring; I prefer to be lazy."
"Back then I was too busy, but now I have the time. I will keep an eye on you from now on and make sure you can't be lazy and shirk your duties anymore." The emperor picked up his teacup, took a sip, and changed the subject. "The other day, several of Fang's aunts and cousins brought their children to pay their respects to Mother. The Empress took Rong'er with her, and the girl played with her cousins for a while. When she came back, the Empress mentioned something."
The emperor stopped there, and Chu Heng had no choice but to ask, "Your Majesty is so concerned about the children's affairs. I wonder what important matter it is?"
The emperor said with an inscrutable expression, "I was unaware that the Fang family had hired palace matrons to educate their daughters according to the Empress's rules and etiquette."
Chu Heng paused before saying softly, "Perhaps the palace matrons were too strict in their teaching, and the children spoke without thinking, which is why their words came out in this way."
While saying this aloud, Chu Heng inwardly clicked his tongue in admiration. So his maternal grandparents' family had such lofty ambitions. Truly impressive.
It doesn't matter who the current emperor is; what matters is that the empress must be from the Fang family, and what matters is... that the future emperor must have half of the Fang family's blood.
Chu Heng was even more curious about one thing: Did the Empress Dowager know about her family's plans? Did the Empress Dowager approve of her family's plans?
The emperor could not say it, because he had already secretly ordered people to investigate the affairs of the Fang family's inner quarters after the empress's casual remark.
The Fang family's ambitions were already obvious to the emperor.
Now, the emperor is not trying to weaken the Empress Dowager by attacking the Fang family; he genuinely believes that if things continue unchecked, the Fang family will one day become a major threat to the royal family.
“My uncles are getting old,” the emperor said. “They should enjoy their retirement like Mother.”
Chu Heng stood up, bowed his head, and said, "Please give your orders, Your Majesty."
The emperor raised his hand: "No rush, let's talk about it after the New Year."
If the emperor wasn't in a hurry, Chu Heng was even less so. Besides, judging from the emperor's demeanor, he clearly already had a plan, but he just wanted to inform Chu Heng first so that he could prepare in advance.
...
The next day was the Lantern Festival. Chu Heng and Daiyu went to the palace early in the morning again. Because of the emperor's words the day before, they knew that there would be constant turmoil after the seal was opened. The two, who were already in low spirits, became even more listless.
Yongkang found it strange and leaned closer to ask in a low voice, "Sister Lin, did you and Fifth Brother stay up late last night?"
Daiyu misunderstood her meaning for a moment: "I just didn't sleep well." As she spoke, she saw Yongkang's clear eyes and realized that she had misunderstood. Her face turned even redder, and she added dryly, "I had a nightmare and woke up your fifth brother, so... I couldn't fall asleep."
Yongkang patted her on the back and comforted her, "I also wake up from nightmares sometimes, it's not shameful."
Daiyu smiled awkwardly.
“You can burn some lily incense. I also have lily tea, Sister Lin. I’ll have someone bring you a jar.” Yongkang said, listing the ingredients with great familiarity. “Lilies are very calming.”
Daiyu looked at her and asked, "Do you often have nightmares?"
Yongkang thought for a moment and said, "It's not very often, just when I was a child and last year, but I'm fine now!"
Seeing her smile, which was free of any gloom, Daiyu nodded: "That's good."
Chu Heng pushed a plate next to Daiyu, which contained hazelnuts that he had just peeled. Daiyu smiled and gestured for him to eat one first.
Yongkang watched as Chuheng and Daiyu each picked up a hazelnut and ate it, then said, "I want to eat some too."
Chu Heng handed her the unpeeled hazelnuts: "Peel them yourself."
Yongkang pursed his lips, handed it to the palace servant beside him, and said to Chuheng, "Fifth Brother, the brother-sister relationship between us is getting weaker and weaker."
Chu Heng raised his chin: "That's already a lot, otherwise why would I give you hazelnuts? You need to learn to be content."
Daiyu ate hazelnuts while watching the siblings bicker, which she found quite amusing.
The palace banquet on the Lantern Festival was even more lively than that on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The emperor frequently raised his cup, and the crowd echoed his toast.
However, the performance on stage was still a festive model opera, which made everyone drowsy until fireworks went off, which roused them.
Chu Heng covered Daiyu's ears until the smoke cleared before letting go: "Are you feeling better?"
Daiyu smiled and said, "It's just too loud. I'm not scared."
"Hmm." Chu Heng brushed a strand of hair from her face and smiled, "It's all because fireworks manufacturers are so lazy. They just want us to see but not hear."
Daiyu snorted lightly: "Don't think I don't know you're making fun of me. Am I the only one who can't stand this noise?"
Looking around, many of the women covered their ears; Daiyu was not the only one, so naturally no one laughed at her.
Chu Heng immediately protested his innocence: "I was clearly just concerned about you, and you still misunderstood me. Sigh, I'm so sad."
Daiyu pinched his fingers: "You're not allowed to do this outside."
Chu Heng immediately calmed down, but didn't forget to add, "You can coax me when we get home."
The time they returned to the mansion after the banquet was much earlier than on New Year's Eve. Chu Heng and Daiyu leaned against the soft pillows in the carriage, feeling drowsy.
Chu Heng yawned and put his arm around Daiyu, saying, "Don't fall asleep, it's cold in the carriage..."
Daiyu forced herself to stay awake: "Hmm... then don't just sit there, say something to wake yourself up."
"What did you say?" Chu Heng asked, his eyes half-open. "...I really don't want to celebrate the New Year."
Daiyu chuckled, "At least we had a few days of leisure during the New Year, so it wasn't all bad."
Chu Heng thought for a moment and agreed, "That's true."
The two chatted idly for a while, and when they got home, they quickly washed up, turned off the lights, and went to bed.
As for coaxing him, when Chu Heng remembered it the next day, Daiyu only said that time was running out, but she couldn't win against Chu Heng in the end, so she still coaxed him.
...
After the New Year, the first thing the imperial court did upon reopening its seals was that a young censor from the Censorate accused the Fang family of committing murder in the street, resulting in the deaths of three innocent people.
The Fang family immediately protested their innocence. The young censor, who had come prepared, presented the emperor with a signed testimony, which was a statement he had brought back from his hometown before the new year.
It turns out that the censor was not suing the Fang family in the capital, but rather their distant relatives from their ancestral home.
The Fang family was speechless. They were five degrees of kinship with the Fang family from their ancestral home. Apart from being listed in a family tree, they had never had any contact with each other and could not even tell who was who. They couldn't possibly blame them for this.
In the end, the blame really fell on the Fang family in the capital. After all, ordinary people couldn't distinguish between different degrees of kinship. In the end, those surnamed Fang, relying on the Fang family in the capital, acted arrogantly and domineeringly, even involving the Empress Dowager and the Emperor in their words. Over the years, they had become local tyrants.
The censor's grandparents had left their ancestral home years ago. This time, the censor was taking his parents back to their hometown to trace their roots. Unexpectedly, they stumbled upon this case. Fortunately, he intervened, and the local officials, fearing that they would be implicated in the Censorate, were able to bring the culprit of the case to justice.
Upon hearing the reason, the emperor was naturally furious. After all, since last year, first it was the Prince of Qi, then the Zhen family, who had all used their power to oppress the people. This time it was the Empress Dowager's family's turn. They acted recklessly and violently, and in the end, all these debts would be settled with the emperor.
It is because of these parasites that the empire is about to be unstable! The emperor almost shed tears in the Golden Palace.
The officials all knelt down, begging the emperor for forgiveness.
The Fang family members were sweating profusely. Was this just a coincidence, or was the emperor deliberately putting on this show?
Your heart is hard to fathom.
Chu Heng, who knelt down along with the crowd, rolled his eyes. His Majesty was really good at acting. Did he get his inspiration from the Prince of Qi and the Zhen family? Did he arrange for someone to go to the Fang family's ancestral home in advance so that he could catch them off guard and give them a good beating?
The Empress Dowager and the Fang family both knew that the Emperor disliked the Fang family, but they all thought that the Emperor would target the Fang family in the court. They never imagined that the Emperor would extend his reach so far.
The emperor severely reprimanded the Duke of Cheng'en and others for their lax discipline, which led to such a disgrace to the people in their clan. He felt ashamed of the late emperor's grace, disgraced the Empress Dowager, and deeply saddened him.
Afterwards, the emperor ordered the Censorate to thoroughly investigate such acts of bullying and oppression in various places, and instructed all officials to take this as a warning and properly discipline their families and clansmen upon returning home.
As for the Fang family, the emperor fined them their salaries and sent the three old dukes home to reflect on their actions and to properly manage their clansmen. He also temporarily handed over the official duties he was in charge of to others.
This "other person" specifically refers to Chu Heng.
Upon hearing this, Chu Heng could already envision his future.
The Empress Dowager and the Fang family will not let him go, and the Empress Dowager will be the first to make a move.
Sure enough, at noon, someone came to the Imperial Clan Court to invite Chu Heng. The chief eunuch of Renshou Palace said with a smile, "Today's lunch is a dish of bamboo shoots. The Empress Dowager thought that Your Highness liked to eat it, so she sent me to invite you to have lunch."
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