Chapter 57: The Old Iron Tree's Blooming Failed
Before they knew it, Mingyue had been gone for more than half a month. Seventeen had never understood her own heart, and now that she was gone, she was even more lost.
But he couldn't find anyone to confide in, and he couldn't very well tell His Highness about it, could he?
The weather was getting hotter day by day, and people were wearing less and less clothing. Seventeen squatted at the door, tugging at the poor little grass.
"Little Seventeen".
"Your Highness."
Seventeen stood up and bowed. Long Zhaoming still had that lazy, smiling look on his face, waving his ornate fan.
"We've rested for quite a while now, and it's time for us to head back to Yejing."
Seventeen blinked: "Back to Yejing? Has His Majesty sent a message back?"
Long Zhaoming thought of the letter on his desk, then looked down at the bewildered Seventeen and sighed inwardly.
"Let's go inside and talk."
Seventeen understood; His Highness was about to tell him something very important.
"Your Highness, please have some tea."
Long Zhaoming took the tea and drank a sip, then said quietly, "Does Little Seventeen know about my plan with my brother?"
Upon hearing this, Seventeen tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying, "I can vaguely guess... that His Majesty intends to lure out the old party?"
"Yes, that group of people are like cockroaches hiding in the shadows, harmless but very annoying."
"This was the same plan when my elder brother was seriously ill."
Seventeen showed an expression of knowing this was true. Long Zhaoming smiled and continued, "The Zhou family used to be an invincible aristocratic family. Most of those standing in the morning court were surnamed Zhou. However, after the emperor ascended the throne, he ruthlessly eliminated many useless people from aristocratic families, which aroused their dissatisfaction."
Long Zhaoming lowered his eyes, looking at the tea leaves floating on the water.
"Since they are useless people, what right do they have to be dissatisfied? What right do people who are not for the people and the country have to stand in the court?"
Although Seventeen could vaguely guess some of the truth, she was still very angry when the truth was laid bare before her.
"Even someone as ignorant of court affairs as Little Seventeen can understand this principle, how could they not understand it? They are just... insatiable."
At this point, a fierce glint flashed in Long Zhaoming's eyes: "My brother has ruthlessly eliminated many members of the aristocratic families, so naturally they are not happy."
"Aristocratic families..."
"There are four prominent families: the Zhou family, the Wei family, the Xie family, and the Chen family."
Long Zhaoming explained to him in detail: "The Wei family is the faction of Wei Lifeng. However, the Wei family has always been at the bottom of the aristocratic families. Back then, His Majesty made an example of them."
Only then did Seventeen slowly recall what Brother Yue had told him that night.
Therefore, even if he hadn't discovered the Wei family's account books, His Majesty would have still taken action against them to deter the other three families.
"With the Wei family gone, only three families remain. The Chen family is quite shrewd; since His Majesty ascended the throne, many of them have voluntarily retired to their hometowns, leaving only a few younger and capable members in the palace."
The Chen family... Seventeen thought for a moment and remembered someone: "Is Chen Jing from the Chen family?"
Long Zhaoming nodded, a hint of approval in his eyes: "Yes, Chen Jing is the eldest son of the Chen family and the head of the Imperial Guard. It can be said that the Chen family has completely pledged allegiance to His Majesty, so there is no need to worry."
"What about the Zhou family and the Xie family..."
Seventeen thought for a moment, and realized that the concubine who had an affair with another man was from the Zhou family, the Xie family, Xie Qingyan.
"The Zhou family is the head of the aristocratic families. Back then, the Dowager Consort Ling was the eldest daughter of the Zhou family. After marrying into the palace, she was extremely favored and had an unparalleled style."
Long Zhaoming smiled. What did it matter how glorious she was? She was killed by her own greed.
"The Zhou family always believed that the son of the Dowager Consort Ling, the former Crown Prince, would ascend the throne. Once the former Crown Prince became emperor, the Zhou family would truly be..."
Before the rest of the conversation could finish, Seventeen already understood that the Zhou family's reach had gone too far.
"The Xie family has always kept a low profile. Although they have placed many people in the court, they are generally well-behaved. Originally, the Emperor did not take this family into consideration."
"But Xie Qingyan's appearance proves that the Xie family's ambition is no less than that of the Zhou family."
After finishing his cup of tea, Long Zhaoming poured himself another: "Ever since my brother ascended the throne, the Zhou family has been plotting to bring him down, and this is the one they chose."
He pointed to himself, his smile arrogant and mocking: "They have their eyes on me, but they don't know that my brother and I are of one mind. How could I possibly be tempted by them?"
Long Zhaoming secretly grumbled to himself. Following his elder brother, the emperor, he could enjoy a life of luxury and be the carefree Prince of Huainan. But if he really followed the Zhou family, not to mention whether he could win in the end, even if he did, he would be forced to bear that heavy responsibility. He didn't like this kind of restrained life.
“I thought they just wanted to find a puppet emperor so they could take power from behind, but they never trusted me and instead pushed me hard. I had doubts about this for a long time.”
Long Zhaoming frowned, his expression full of confusion. Seventeen, captivated by his words, hurriedly urged, "Why is that? Don't those stories say that these traitors like to manipulate puppet emperors?"
"Later I finally understood that they didn't want a puppet emperor; they wanted a wise ruler like my brother."
Seventeen looked bewildered. If they wanted a wise ruler, why target His Majesty? But then he realized: "They want a wise ruler who doesn't target the aristocratic families!"
"Little Seventeen is so smart!"
Long Zhaoming reached out and rubbed the fluffy head, secretly delighted. With his elder brother gone, it was a good opportunity for him.
Seventeen didn't mind having her head rubbed; she'd been used to it by Brother Yue so many times before.
"But the Zhou family lacks one thing, something indispensable for treason: soldiers."
Long Zhaoming spoke with intonation, and Seventeen listened attentively.
"Because the main power of the Zhou family is entrenched in Yejing, which is not a place where one can privately raise troops. My brother and I have always thought that they have privately raised troops, but we have never been able to find them. Now we realize that they have very few troops, but they are not in a hurry because I am here. It's only a matter of time."
"But Xie Qingyan brought a large number of soldiers. We thought they belonged to the Zhou family, but they are surnamed Xie. At this point, the truth came to light."
Long Zhaoming shook his fan mysteriously, and Seventeen anxiously tugged at his sleeve, asking, "What? What's the truth?"
"The Xie family has long harbored rebellious intentions, but they are not stupid. They are just hiding in the shadows, letting the Zhou family take the lead. If they win, they, as allied families, will naturally not fare too badly. If they lose, they can take advantage of the fact that the Emperor has just dealt with the Zhou family and seize the opportunity to attack!"
"What a wicked Xie family!" Seventeen slammed his fist on the table in anger. Why was everyone eyeing His Majesty's position? In his opinion, only His Majesty was worthy of that position! No one else was fit to sit there!
"However, on our previous trip back to Jiangnan from Yejing, we first destroyed the master of the Zhou family who intended to spread rumors that were detrimental to the Emperor, and then we unexpectedly seized the weapons that the Xie family had hoarded. This time, the two families can't sit still."
As Seventeen listened, he grew worried: "If that's the case, wouldn't it be even more dangerous if these two families joined forces?"
"Hey, Little Seventeen, have you forgotten? Our Emperor has been seriously ill for a long time and hasn't gotten better."
Long Zhaoming spoke slowly. Only then did he finally receive his elder brother's approval and tell Seventeen about the plan.
Thinking of the letter from his elder brother, Long Zhaoming felt a pang of jealousy. It said something about being afraid that the Seventeenth Prince would misunderstand... Wouldn't the Seventeenth Prince hate him if he were to be the one to solve the mystery?
In his opinion, the Zhou family is bad, the Xie family is bad, and the Emperor is even worse! He's full of wicked ideas!
Seventeen suddenly realized that it was no wonder he felt something was off when the news of His Majesty's serious illness came out!
"His Majesty has been seriously ill for a long time. The Xie family probably doesn't think that His Majesty did these things. In addition, His Highness is openly affiliated with the Zhou family, but the Zhou family doesn't trust His Highness. His Highness was completely unaware of the matter of the master back then. He stumbled upon it rashly, and the Zhou family had no way to explain themselves. However, they have a favor to ask of His Highness, so they won't blame His Highness. But the Xie family might not think so. They will think that His Majesty is too ill to make arrangements, and since His Highness personally wiped out the bandits and seized the weapons, the whereabouts of the weapons are quite obvious."
"That's right, Little Seventeen is indeed smart."
Long Zhaoming patted his head again and said with a smile, "Although I also intervened in the matter of the master, it is common knowledge that you and Mingyue were sent by His Majesty to monitor me. If you and Mingyue received some orders to lead me to uncover this matter, it would make sense and increase their suspicion of the emperor. However, the emperor is ill. With such a sudden illness, the Zhou family and the Xie family may suspect that something went wrong in the palace, and you are one of the people in the palace."
Seventeen, resting her chin on her hand, muttered to herself, "So they want to win me over... His Majesty actually planned everything from the very beginning. Was every step we took part in his plan...?"
As Long Zhaoming watched, he felt a little uneasy. If an ordinary person knew this, they would feel resentful, since no one likes their every action and every matter to be arranged for them.
Thinking of this, he cleared his throat and decided that he still had to do his best to save his brother's happiness, otherwise if that old iron tree failed to bloom, he would also be chopped into flower mud.
"Actually, it was out of necessity for my brother not to tell you about this matter. This matter is very complicated and far-reaching. If there is any mistake, it is easy to fail. Naturally, the fewer people who know about it, the better. Even Xiao Mowen doesn't know. He still thinks that you and Mingyue were sent by my brother to monitor me."
Long Zhaoming was speaking earnestly, but Seventeen didn't listen to a word. Finally, she slowly came to her senses and asked in confusion, "Huh?"
"What are you saying, Your Highness? I didn't mean to blame His Majesty."
Seventeen was bewildered. Why did things suddenly turn to this? When did he ever say he blamed His Majesty?
"As I said before, His Majesty's decision is naturally well thought out. We just need to carry it out. Whether His Majesty informs us or not, it will not affect our loyalty to His Majesty."
He blinked, somewhat confused by the complex thoughts of these people.
In fact, his own thoughts were very simple. His Majesty had saved him and given him a second life. Even if His Majesty was a tyrant and ordered him to kill everyone, he would not have any complaints.
Moreover, His Majesty is a wise ruler, and everything he does is for the sake of the Great Jing. And for the sake of the Great Jing, he is also for his own sake. Isn't he also a member of the Great Jing?
Seeing Seventeen tilting his head in confusion, Long Zhaoming nearly fainted. He knew it... he knew it!
The extent of Seventeen's unwavering loyalty far exceeded his expectations, but...
Long Zhaoming's eyes darted around. Seventeen was so loyal, but what his good elder brother wanted wasn't loyalty.
Seventeen looked at Long Zhaoming, who was sometimes angry and sometimes happy, with some concern: "Your Highness? Is Your Highness alright?"
"It's alright, it's alright, hahaha, little seventeen, let's go! I'll take you to eat something delicious and spicy! After we eat and drink, then—"
"Let's go!"
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