Chu Lingxuan also said that he had been to Shaanxi Province and Shuxi Province before, and met with the military and local administrative heads of these two provinces on behalf of the Ninth Prince and the Chu family.
Because more than two months ago, Wang Guojiu said that his father was seriously ill and might not live long. Queen Wang burst into tears when she heard about it. Although the emperor hoped that the cruel old man would die soon, he still gave a lot of good medicine and granted leave to the brothers of the Wang family. The brothers took their wives and children back to Nanzhong Province to visit their father, saying that if the father survived, they would come back after the New Year. If the father passed away, they would have to stay at home to observe the mourning. In the Wang family in the capital, there was only one legitimate son and some children from the clan left.
The Ninth Prince and the Chu family felt that the Second Prince and Wang Guojiu's group were extremely abnormal, and they also began to make secret arrangements.
Before Chu Lingxuan returned to Dingzhou Prefecture from the south, he first went to the capital, met Lord Chu and the third master, and learned something that shocked and happy him.
I heard from Lord Chu that in the middle of the twelfth lunar month, the Emperor privately told the Ninth Prince, Lord Chu, and a few of his confidants that even though the time was not yet ripe, he would still appoint the Ninth Prince as Crown Prince after the New Year.
Because the emperor's health is already very poor, he started coughing up blood a few days ago, and he doesn't know how long he can live. He wants to hand over power to this son during his lifetime, and then bring down the second prince's maternal family, the Wang family, the Yue family, the Zhao family, and the third prince's maternal family, the Sun family. Especially the Wang family, whose power in the army is intertwined and complex, must be eradicated. The evidence of their crimes has been found, and they will take action when the Wang family returns.
But the emperor was kind and could not bear to be cruel to the second and third princes, and asked the ninth prince to treat the two brothers well in the future. He said that the two men had lost their support and could not cause any big trouble, so he let them go.
This matter was kept absolutely secret and only the Emperor, the Ninth Prince, Lord Chu, Lord Chu III, and a few other of the Emperor's most trusted confidants knew about it.
The Chu family was overjoyed to know the truth. After enduring for so many years, they were finally going to succeed. Although the main branch of the Wang family had gone to Nanzhong Province, the second prince was in the capital, so they did not dare to act rashly.
The reason why Chu Lingxuan could tell Chen Afu this top secret was because the Chu family had already regarded Chen Afu as the core member of the family and had never hidden any important matters from her.
Chen Ahfu was also very happy when she heard about this. She was afraid that she would get carried away and someone would hear her laughter, so she covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
But Chu Lingxuan changed the subject and mentioned another bad thing. More than half a month ago, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth lunar month of the previous year, the second prince told the emperor that he had a dream in which the late emperor came to him and said that he learned from heaven that the emperor was not in good health and was very worried about him, and he even cried.
The second prince cried bitterly and said that as a grandson and son, he was unfilial for making his grandfather's spirit restless and his father suffer from illness. He wanted to go to Baoguo Temple to burn incense and eat vegetarian food for a month, so that his grandfather's spirit could rest in peace and his father could recover. Long live his grandfather...
The emperor thought that if you think about something during the day, you will dream about it at night. His second son must be worried about his health, so he dreamed of the late emperor. Seeing his second son like this, the emperor was relieved and moved, and even felt a little guilty and felt sorry for him. Not only did he approve his request, he also praised the second prince for his filial piety.
The emperor was so moved that he was a little confused. Before the second prince left, he actually said, "Father knows that you are a loyal and good child, but...ah, go."
The Ninth Prince was also present at the time. The Emperor's words made the Ninth Prince's heart "jump". Although he did not say it explicitly, his meaning was very clear. He saw that the Second Prince's body also trembled, and disappeared in an instant. He knelt down and kowtowed to the Emperor again, and said with emotion, "Thank you, Father, for your kindness to me. I will always remember it in my heart."
Early in the morning on the fifteenth day, the second prince went to Baoguo Temple on the outskirts of Beijing with his entourage.
The Ninth Prince, Lord Chu, and the Third Master all thought that the Second Prince's behavior was unusual, but they didn't know what tricks he was playing, so they could only pay attention to his movements.
Three days ago, that is, on the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month, Chu Lingxuan suddenly received a letter from Lord Chu, saying that the second prince had escaped by hiding something from the victim, and the person who went to Baoguo Temple to eat vegetarian food and burn incense was the second prince's substitute.
Lord Chu and his men analyzed that the second prince was likely to have gone to Nanzhong Province. Because Dingzhou was the only way to go south from the capital, he would not dare to take this route and must have taken a detour through Jiaodong and then went south.
The second prince is the eldest among the living princes, and he is also the son of the Empress, so he is legitimately the heir. If the Emperor announces the Ninth Prince as the Crown Prince, the Second Prince and the Wang family will probably rebel in the name of "clearing the court of the emperor" by claiming that "the seriously ill Emperor was bewitched or held hostage by the Ninth Prince"...
Chu Lingxuan slammed his fist on the table and whispered, "The Second Prince must have figured out that he was out of trouble by the night of the 30th. Plus, everyone was off their guard during the New Year, so he sent someone to kidnap my mother at this time."
There was so much information that Chen Afu couldn't digest it for a moment and he stood there in a daze.
Chu Lingxuan was suspicious again, "The emperor's idea should not have been revealed by someone who knew the inside story, but was calculated by the experts around the second prince. Perhaps, they had already calculated it, so they let Wang Guozhang go to Nanzhong Province first, and then brought many of his sons and daughters with him, and put Yang Qing in that key position. They should be making preparations for both situations. If the second prince is named the crown prince, it would be better. If not, they will support the second prince to rebel. Therefore, the brothers of the Wang family all went with their families, and then the second prince went..."
Chen Ahfu recovered. Of course, she couldn't say that the second prince was a reborn person. She knew that the emperor would appoint the ninth prince as the crown prince after the New Year, and then find an opportunity to destroy the Wang family next year. He did this in a desperate attempt. So she said, "It would be better if we kidnapped the second prince on the road. If we let the tiger go back to the mountains, it will be difficult to deal with it in the future."
Chu Lingxuan shook his head and said, "It's not entirely a bad thing for the Second Prince to go to Nanzhong Province. The Emperor is kind and has always felt that the Second Prince is kind, filial, and respectful to his brothers. Even when he was young, he thought that it was because the Empress didn't teach him well and that the Wang family had instilled bad things in him. As the Second Prince grew up, those bad habits disappeared. The Second Prince returned to Nanzhong to rebel, and only then would he have a legitimate reason to root out the rebellion. Nanzhong Province alone would not be able to cause a big stir. When the three sides attack, we will be able to catch the turtle in the middle..." He added, "This is the general situation, so don't worry about it."
Since they had their concerns, Chen Ahfu certainly did not worry about it. He also told him about Lechen's resettlement.
Chu Lingxuan nodded and sighed, "My mother is kindhearted. She is very sad because Uncle Luo and I were injured and several brothers died. I am busy now and don't have time to comfort her. You should let Yu Ge'er and Ming Ge'er accompany her tomorrow."
Chen Afu nodded, and watched him fall into a sleep as soon as he lay down.
Chen Ahfu gently wiped his slightly wrinkled brows when he fell asleep. When he felt that his brows seemed to be smoothed out and his breathing became regular, he got up, blew out the candle, and went back to the bedroom to rest.
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