At the Xie Residence in the East Fourth Hutong, the Lady was lamenting with Su Xingze.
"Things in the capital change suddenly. This morning, people were still crowding me, proposing marriage, and by tonight, an entire family has been thrown into prison."
Ever since the second prince was thrown into prison, those who were aligned with him knew that things were looking grim for them. They began to frantically search for alternatives. Many people turned their attention to Su Xingze. However, nobody could have anticipated that the palace would swiftly slice through the chaos – all in a single night, the emperor ordered the death of the second prince and the homes of everyone who belonged to the second prince’s faction were raided. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
Su Xingze hadn’t expected this either. After he topped the Palace Examination and celebrated at the Jeweled Grove Banquet, he had planned to set off to Jibei. The Crown Prince asked him to wait a bit before departing. After just a few days, news arrived that Zhang Ping had rebelled.
With Zhang Ping’s rebellion, Su Xingze was no longer required to go to Jibei to win over the locals with appeasement policies. This truly was beyond his expectation.
He glanced at the sky, "Mother, you should rest first. I’m going to the Eastern Palace."
"It’s already so late, surely the Crown Prince must be resting?" The Lady was worried; it was already late at night.
Su Xingze shook his head, "I’m afraid the Crown Prince won’t be able to sleep tonight."
"Then bring more guards with you. We don’t know how chaotic things might be outside," the Lady instructed.
Shu Xingze nodded.
Inside the Eastern Palace, Yan Huisheng indeed had not rested. The lights in the study were bright and many people were still coming in and going out.
When Su Xingze arrived, it was already past the middle of the night. He ran into Xie Lin who was coming out of the palace. Upon seeing him, Xie Lin immediately called out to him, "Brother Xingze."
Su Xingze nodded, "What’s this?"
Xie Lin held a stack of case files and sighed, "Now I understand. The Ministry of Justice is no place for people. Since I took office, I’ve been endlessly busy and I haven’t slept well in over ten days."
While talking, he yawned, "The fourth prince has arrested many people, and the prison is bursting at its seams. They say that they won’t be able to finish detaining people tonight and will have to process a batch tomorrow – both to clear up the cell space and continue to take in more people."
Su Xingze nodded knowingly, "Then you should quickly get back to work!"
While Xie Lin was indeed busy, he still had time for a brief chat. He leaned in towards Su Xingze and said in a hushed voice, "Brother Xingze, have you received a letter from Lady Seven? What’s the situation in Nanping now?"
Su Xingze shook his head, "Seventh sister didn’t write home. I am even less aware of the situation than the Crown Prince."
Upon hearing his response, Xie Lin realized that this was the kind of thing Su Rong would do, given her professed dislike for writing letters. He took a look around to make sure no one was nearby, then whispered, "I heard some information, but I’m not sure if it’s accurate. I heard that the Nanchu King is ill."
"Where did you hear this news from?" Su Xingze asked.
Xie Lin didn’t answer, "Ah, it doesn’t matter where I heard of it. In any case, there’s a rumor going around. I thought I should tell you, there might be some truth to it. If the Nanchu King really is ill, Lady Seven needs to hurry to Nanchu."
Su Xingze pressed his lips together, he knew that the Rui’an King’s Residence had its sources of information in government circles; and Xie Lin, as a young prince, just didn’t want to tell him. This source of information was crucial to the Rui’an King’s Residence’s place in the court. He nodded, "Thank you. I will find a way to relay this news to my seventh sister."
That was exactly what Xie Lin had meant. he stepped back, waved, "Brother Xingze, I have to go now," then climbed into a horse-drawn carriage and rode off.
Su Xingze watched him leave and then entered the Eastern Palace.
By the time he arrived, there were not many people left in the prince’s study. A large stack of documents piled up on Yan Huisheng’s desk. With the emperor seriously ill, all the documents had been redirected to the Eastern Palace. The Crown Prince was so overwhelmed with work that it felt suffocating.
When Yan Huisheng saw that Su Xingze had arrived, he smiled, "I knew you wouldn’t be able to sit still."
Su Xingze sighed, "Your Highness, whilst others who entered the civil service via the Imperial Examination are so busy they can barely keep their feet on the ground, I feel ashamed for having so much free time. Therefore, I came to ask for an assignment."
"You want to lead troops?" Yan Huisheng asked.
Su Xingze nodded and shook his head, "Although I have read some military books, I have no experience in leading troops into battle. I’m not planning to give up my pen for a sword. I just thought that, Your Highness, if you decide who will lead the troops to face Zhang Ping in battle, I volunteer to become the army inspector."
Yan Huisheng laughed, "Even if you hadn’t asked, I had intended to assign you this role. You are the perfect candidate."
Su Xingze let out a sigh of relief, "It seems I have made a wasted trip."
"Your trip wasn’t in vain." Yan Huisheng pointed to a pile of tasks, "Since you’re here, you can help me with some of my work. I plan to appoint the duke as the chief general and his son Zhou Wei as the Vice General. You will be the military inspector. The day after tomorrow, you will lead 180,000 troops to Longxi County."
Su Xingze was surprised, "180,000 troops?"
"Yes, initially I planned to dispatch 150,000 troops, but I figured that the 150,000 soldiers would still be greatly outnumbered by Zhang Ping’s 200,000 troops, especially since our Jinglu troops greatly lack experience in combat. I’m afraid that compared to Zhang Mao’s highly trained veteran soldiers, we would find it challenging to face them, let alone with such a significant disadvantage in numbers. Even if the old duke were to lead our troops, it would still be difficult. Hence, the Duke Residence will provide 100,000 soldiers and an additional 80,000 soldiers will be summoned from Jinglu, leaving 20,000 soldiers in the capital, which is sufficient."
Su Xingze nodded, "Your Highness’ consideration is very prudent."
The following morning, the emperor was unable to hold court due to illness. A royal decree was issued, appointing the crown prince to attend the morning court on his behalf.
Ordinarily, all the civil and military officials attended the morning court. However, now, almost half the court officials had been deposed following the downfall of the first and second princes. After the downfall of the first prince, a few replacements were appointed, but within a short period of time, the second prince also fell. As the second prince’s downfall took place so rapidly, court officials were sparse at the morning court. The sparse and untidy turnout made the court seem desolate.
The first thing Yan Huisheng did at morning court was appoint several dozen replacement officials. Before the court officials could react, he announced the emperor’s decree to dispatch troops, with the old duke being appointed as the chief general, Prince Zhou Wei as the vice general, and Su Xingze as the military inspector. The following morning, they would lead 180,000 troops to Longxi County, to put down Zhang Ping’s rebellion.
None of the court officials raised objections. After the morning court, the Crown Prince proceeded to the Council Hall, while a neutral elder from the court went to the Imperial Living Quarters to request an audience with the emperor.
Although the emperor was worried, after hearing what the Imperial Doctor and Yan Huisheng said, he could not afford to neglect his own life. There was nothing wrong with the king cherishing his own life. So he lay in bed, recuperating. He forcibly compelled himself to focus on his recovery despite his anxiety about other matters.
When the Emperor heard that the elder wanted to see him, he just finished drinking his medical soup. He waved his hand, asking to let him in.
The elder walked into the Imperial Living Quarters and, upon seeing the emperor’s condition, breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the emperor was still able to see him. It didn’t seem as if the Crown Prince had confined him. This reassured the elder. He paid his respects to the emperor and delicately complained about the Crown Prince directly appointing several dozen officials at morning court. This was the first time that such appointments had been made without discussions at the three departments and six ministries. The Crown Prince’s bold move shocked many.
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