"Wanwan, do you know what you're saying? You can't just say things like that." Si Nantian looked at Sheng Wanwan seriously, his voice carrying a hint of authority.
Sheng Wanwan was not afraid at all. She nodded and said, "Uncle Emperor, of course I know what I am saying. Prince Rui is really not the late Emperor's biological son. This is absolutely true."
Si Nantian frowned, and after a moment of contemplation, he asked, "Wanwan, how did you find out about this?"
Sheng Wanwan smiled slightly and said mysteriously, "Uncle Emperor, I've calculated it with my fingers! If you don't believe me, you can check! The evidence is in a small county town below Yongzhou City. The magistrate of Rongshui County looks very much like Prince Rui. He is Prince Rui's biological father!"
Many years ago... um... that is, how many years ago was it when the emperor was old!
Consort Jin and the Empress Dowager were both pregnant at the same time. The late Emperor had said that whoever gave birth to the eldest son first would become Empress. Consort Jin was afraid that the child in her womb would not be a boy, so…
Sheng Wanwan tried hard to recall the plot of the book and slowly recounted everything she knew...
After listening, Si Nantian looked at Sheng Wanwan with disbelief: "Wanwan, you can calculate such details with just a few strokes of your fingers? You can even predict what my father said back then?"
"Of course! Uncle Emperor, don't you trust Wanwan's abilities? Didn't the late Emperor say that? Why don't you just ask the Empress Dowager?"
Sheng Wanwan smiled playfully, her face full of innocence and cuteness.
Looking into her clear eyes, Si Nantian's doubts lessened slightly.
He knew Sheng Wanwan wasn't an ordinary child; she possessed extraordinary abilities. Perhaps she truly knew things that others didn't.
"Alright, Wanwan, I will send someone to investigate." Si Nantian took a deep breath and said to Sheng Wanwan.
“Okay, Uncle Emperor, you can take your time investigating. Wanwan will be going now!” Sheng Wanwan said, taking Chu Shi’s hand. “Mother, let’s go home!”
Chu nodded and left the main hall with Sheng Wanwan.
After the two left, he whispered something to Eunuch Li, who nodded solemnly and left in a hurry.
Meanwhile, Si Nantian headed towards Cining Palace...
Late at night, the gates of the Chu residence slowly opened, and Chu Qianhan, dressed in black, used her lightness skill to head directly towards the imperial palace...
After returning from the Empress Dowager's palace, Si Nantian was even more convinced of Sheng Wanwan's virtues.
Whenever he had free time, he would ask Sheng Wanwan to come over and do his fortune telling.
For example, when will the Shadow Guard headquarters break ground?
Are there any officials in the capital who have been corrupt or accepted bribes?
Which high-ranking officials in the court were part of Prince Rui's faction?
Unfortunately, because Sheng Wanwan was very familiar with the plot of the original book, she actually managed to expose several treacherous officials.
After the evidence was found, Si Nantian became even more convinced of Sheng Wanwan's abilities.
Later, when it came to matters concerning the palace, everyone had to consult Sheng Wanwan for a "fortune telling"!
For example, when selecting concubines for the emperor, princes, and princesses, their birth dates and times had to be sent to the general's mansion so that Sheng Wanwan could take a look first.
If Sheng Wanwan says no, even if you are the child of a powerful minister, you can forget about having anything to do with the royal family.
As a result, many daughters of officials would frequently come to the East Garden to curry favor with her, bringing her money and food, and Sheng Wanwan's private treasury quickly became quite full.
For example, if a concubine was about to give birth, Si Nantian would ask Sheng Wanwan to calculate the auspicious time for the child's birth...
If Sheng Wanwan says that today is not a good day to give birth, then even if the concubine is in excruciating pain, the Emperor will not allow her to give birth.
They even went so far as to say that they should just hold on for one more day for the sake of the prince. The goddess Wanwan said that the one who gives birth to the prince tomorrow is more likely to be born.
But how could anyone endure childbirth? So, before giving birth, the concubines would approach Sheng Wanwan and bribe her in advance.
Then we can decide which day to give birth to, whenever we want.
Besides, being born into royalty, could you possibly have a better life?
Even the best of fate would be to become the emperor, wouldn't it? They might want that, but seeing how the emperor treats the crown prince, who would dare to dream of sitting on that throne? Wouldn't that be courting death?
Sheng Wanwan was also a woman of her word; once she received the money, she quickly calculated the amount.
Even those who didn't receive money could do some quick calculations...
Regardless of whether money was received or not, today is the auspicious day to give birth, and the baby's fate will be good no matter when it is born!
There was no other way; she was a kind-hearted child, and we couldn't let her suffer the pain of being tortured to death just because we didn't take her money!
Since Master Huiyuan last met Sheng Wanwan, he has come to visit her very often.
Seeing this situation, I have to give them a long and earnest pep talk every time.
Sheng Wanwan was too lazy to argue with the old monk. Each time, she would obediently nod and say that she remembered and that she was wrong to do it and that she would change next time!
But every time he received a "gift," he happily accepted it.
As a result, Master Huiyuan came even more frequently.
No wonder the little kid had a calamity on him; it turns out it was really caused by his own bad growth!
At such a young age, he's already learned to accept bribes! What will he be like when he grows up?
No, he absolutely has to straighten the bent-over baby...
In the days that followed, Kyoto remained as peaceful as ever, but beneath this seemingly calm surface, turbulent waves were brewing.
The Ruiwang faction seems to be having particularly bad luck lately, with all the dirty deeds they did in the past coming to light these past few days.
Impeachments were rampant in the court. Taking advantage of the situation, Si Nantian escalated minor issues into major ones and executed serious ones. Through his maneuvering, he successfully eliminated several officials of varying ranks from Prince Rui's faction.
For a time, corrupt officials in the capital were all living in fear.
But officials from Prince Rui's faction didn't suspect anything.
After all, those people had indeed committed crimes, and they weren't all officials in their group...
After secretly meeting with Si Nantian that night, Chu Qianhan went directly to the southern border, taking with him the military seal of the Sheng family army.
Although the Emperor granted Sheng Lingtian real power, he did not entrust the military command of the Sheng family army to Sheng Lingtian with complete confidence.
This is also why Prince Rui has been hesitant to take any action.
The Sheng family army is now divided into two forces. One force consists of the former Chu family army, with about 50,000 soldiers.
One wave consisted of approximately 60,000 new recruits personally recruited by Sheng Lingtian.
Although General Sheng has been gone for three years, the battle he fought before his death utterly decimated the Southern Barbarian Kingdom, and its national strength has yet to recover. Therefore, there has been no war on the southern border.
New recruits who haven't experienced the baptism of war are still greenhorns.
Therefore, even though the original Chu family army was slightly smaller than the Sheng family army, if a real battle broke out, the Sheng family army would not be a match for the original Chu family army.
This is the real reason why Sheng Lingtian has never dared to touch the Chu family.
The Chu family army is extremely loyal to the Chu family. They will never stand for it if any member of the Chu family is bullied and will make a scene!
Chu Qianhan's secret trip to the Southern Border was to quickly consolidate the Chu family army's power, eliminate Sheng Lingtian's confidants, and bring the Sheng family army under Chu's command without bloodshed.
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