Chapter 190 They all treat me like a fool
"Wang Zong?!"
The emperor was both shocked and furious. Hu Laosan was from the Six Doors, and Wang Zong was from the Ministry of Justice, yet they were both men of the Eighth Prince. How many people in the entire court were actually following the Eighth Prince?!
The emperor slammed his fist on the table: "Bring Wang Zong here immediately!"
Wang Zong arrived quickly and confessed to what he had done back then.
Wang Zong, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, was a classmate of Chen Zhi. The Wang family was a prominent family. After Wang Zong passed the imperial examination, the Wang family helped him a lot behind the scenes, so he went to the Ministry of Justice as soon as he entered the court. Within half a year, he became the son-in-law of the then Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. The sealed documents and some physical evidence that Chen Zhi found were stolen from Wang Zong's house.
Because Chen Zhi's family background was not good, he had little presence, and the department he worked in did insignificant things. He also usually acted quite timid, so Wang Zong never suspected him. When Chen Zhi came to him and said he wanted to take a post outside the capital, Wang Zong even helped him out, which allowed him to successfully reach Taohua County in Yuzhou. First, he rescued Li Luo, and later he used imprisonment to trap Zhu Yan in the brokerage firm.
Wang Zong said, "Your Majesty, I deeply regret being blinded by greed back then. Over the years, I have been thinking about how to make amends. Therefore, I have secretly collected a lot of evidence of the Eighth Prince's rebellion, as well as his several strongholds in Daliang. I also know that I have a list in my hand. Please take a look."
The emperor skimmed through the text, finally settling on one name: "Chen Liangjin?"
Young Master Chen stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the Eighth Prince did indeed send someone to contact me. Just yesterday, that woman came to my home and ordered me to obey his commands. I am a subject of the Great Liang, and I only obey the orders of the current Emperor, so—"
"So Lord Chen told Zhao Yunjing about the Eighth Prince's rebellion, and Zhao Yunjing informed me." The Crown Prince entered from outside, with the Seventeenth Prince beside him.
The two men immediately apologized: "Please forgive us, Father, for not informing you about the Eighth Prince beforehand. It was mainly because you have a deep affection for him, and we were worried that if you had known beforehand, you would have let him off the hook. Even if he doesn't draw his sword today, he will eventually do so in a few days or years. We don't know if we will still be as united as we are today, so we acted first and informed you later."
The Crown Prince knelt down: "Father, all of this was my idea. My seventeenth brother was threatened by me. If you want to punish someone, punish me alone!"
"As a general guarding the border, I returned to the capital without being summoned. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!" The seventeenth prince also knelt down.
From his own children to his own subjects, everyone knew in advance about the Eighth Prince's rebellion and cooperated in the performance. Only he was like a fool, knowing nothing and happily coming to drink the wedding wine!
Even if he knew beforehand, so what? Does he think that in the eyes of these ministers, he, the ruler of a nation, has absolutely no acting skills?!
The emperor was very sad. After returning to the palace, he locked himself in his study, refusing to eat, drink, or speak.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has arrived."
"Just say I'm too busy to review memorials—"
"You have time to attend your minister's wedding banquet, but no time to see me. I noticed there are no memorials on your desk. Does this mean you don't want to see your mother?"
The Empress Dowager entered dressed in casual clothes, with only a jade hairpin in her hair. Gone was her usual noble and aloof demeanor; instead, she appeared calm and gentle. She sat down next to the Emperor and handed him a segment of orange: "Our little Shi, you've worked hard all these years."
The emperor turned to look at his mother, and a lump formed in his throat: "Mother, they all think I'm a fool..."
“Our Xiao Shi is destined to become the emperor who will unify the seven kingdoms for all time. How could anyone think you're a fool? Your mother thinks you're very smart, your father thinks you're smart, and Zhao Yun Jing and the others must also think you're smart. Otherwise, why wouldn't he side with the Eighth Prince?”
The late emperor passed away suddenly without leaving a will. In fact, no one knew whether he had changed his mind at the last moment and wanted to pass the throne to the eighth prince. Regardless of whether the will in the eighth prince's possession was genuine or not, as long as he had real ability, this will definitely attract many talented people like Zhao Yunjing.
Since Lao Ba (Old Eight) contacted Chen Liangjin, he must have also sent someone to contact Zhao Yunjing. Yet both of them ultimately chose you. What does that mean? It means that our Xiao Shi is superior to Lao Ba and the others! This isn't just me bragging…”
Listening to the Empress Dowager's nagging, the Emperor slowly ate the half-orange. Only after finishing did he realize, "Mother, where did this orange come from? Why is it so sweet?"
"Oranges grown south of the Huai River are sweet oranges, but those grown north of the Huai River are bitter oranges. These oranges aren't called oranges, they're called sugar tangerines. They have thin skin, are juicy, and sweet. Ajiao had them planted in Lingnan. I heard they were cultivated after three or four years of improvement. Granny Li, bring in that basket of sugar tangerines!"
The mother and son sat on the steps and slowly finished the small basket of tangerines.
Looking at his fingers, which had turned slightly yellow from being peeled, the emperor's displeasure was largely soothed.
"Although these tangerines cannot fill our stomachs, they are not available in the other six countries. If they are planted on a large scale in Lingnan, they can be sold to other countries," the emperor pondered.
"The current state of Great Liang is still somewhat weaker than the other six states. If we can use trade to make the people of the other six states inseparable from Great Liang, then when we unify the world in the future, the people's backlash will not be so great."
"Jiang Wuyu and Old Madam Li arrived in Taohua County two and a half years ago. When Zhou Mujiao started improving the seeds four years ago, Jiang Wuyu and the others were still nowhere to be found. Zhou Mujiao went to Lingnan to grow fruit, certainly not for the purpose of forcing the emperor to abdicate today. It took three years to cultivate this sugar tangerine. Zhou Mujiao has a long-term vision, great ability, and patience. I even regret not letting such a woman marry into the royal family. When choosing a wife, one should choose a virtuous one. A woman like Zhou Mujiao is more than qualified to be the Crown Princess."
The Empress Dowager laughed. Just moments ago she had said she had been deceived and wanted to kill all those who had tricked her, but now she was regretting letting Zhou Mujiao get married. It seemed she had calmed down.
Now that she had calmed down, there was nothing more for her to do. She trusted that the emperor would handle the rest himself.
The Empress Dowager stood up: "Since the Emperor is going to review the memorials, I will go back first. Oh, Miss Zhou said that tangerines are delicious, but you shouldn't eat too many at once, and you should chew them slowly, otherwise the tangerine segments will block your throat, and it will be troublesome if you can't breathe."
The emperor ate a few pieces of orange peel, his mind filled with thoughts. Finally, he summoned someone and said, "Go, summon Chief Minister Su and the others to the palace. Tell them that I want to punish them for failing to report what they knew!"
The six Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet had not yet recovered from the shock of the Eighth Prince's rebellion, and now they were about to be punished by the Emperor. The six of them cursed Zhao Yunjing all the way.
Is Zhao Yun Jing really a lucky star? Or is he a jinx? If he's not a jinx, why have there been two coups since he arrived? And why have they been living peacefully in court for so many years, only to suddenly become universally disliked and unpopular after his arrival?
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