Chapter 177
Xue Jin'an guessed that with the death of the eldest prince, the second prince would inevitably become arrogant, but he did not expect the second prince to become so arrogant that he could be described as insane.
In fact, the various things the Second Prince did after he became arrogant were initially told to Xue Jin'an by the Third Prince.
As mentioned before, ever since the Third Prince had a conflict with Consort Xian over the Eighth Prince, he has frequently climbed over the wall to Zhaoyang Palace to deliberately lure Fuling out to fight.
Fu Ling was a simpleton. In the first few times, the Third Prince succeeded in his schemes. Each time, she would use all her skills to delay until others appeared, and then immediately withdraw from the battle and disappear without a trace, disappearing as if she were afraid of being caught by the Third Prince.
She was originally well-rounded in all aspects of her skills, but ever since she met the Third Prince, a combat maniac, her lightness skill and hiding skills have improved by a lot, leaving her far behind in other aspects of her skills. She has become so powerful that even Xuan Shiyi feels threatened.
Therefore, the Third Prince was never able to stop Fuling from escaping.
The Third Prince had a lot to say about this, and complained to Xue Jin'an more than once: "Seventh Brother, why are you walking so fast? In the future, when you hear that I'm coming, drink a couple more cups of tea and eat more fruits in your room, and I'll come in to find you."
Fu Ling's request was completely the opposite. She was honest and kind-hearted. Although she was quite troubled by the Third Prince's actions, she believed that it was her duty to guard the safety of Zhaoyang Palace and did not complain to Xue Jin'an.
But the Third Prince's visits became more and more frequent, and each time it was the same old trick with different names. Fuling wasn't stupid; even if she was oblivious, she could tell that it was intentional. That time, Fuling got so angry that she really fought back and used a very beautiful double-sword style, leaving a bloody mark on the Third Prince's neck.
Fuling's dual-sword fighting style was truly unexpected, and her killing move came out of nowhere. The Third Prince was surprised and reacted a step too slowly. Fortunately, his martial arts skills were not as exaggerated as the Second Prince's literary talent, so he only suffered a shallow wound instead of having his head cut off by Fuling.
After the Third Prince was out of danger, he subconsciously touched the wound on his neck. Seeing the blood on his fingertips, he was not angry but delighted and shouted "Good!" "So you had such skills hidden. Let me test your abilities!"
The third prince intended to fight freely and was about to charge forward.
Fuling was stunned and dared not fight him anymore. She turned around and ran away immediately. She was really anxious and panicked. She immediately avoided him and refused to fight the Third Prince again. When she was pushed to the limit, she even threw away her weapon.
The Third Prince himself didn't take it seriously at all. He spoke to Xue Jin'an with a cheerful tone that day, without mentioning anything negative about Fuling.
Fuling couldn't help but keep this matter in mind. Later, whenever the Third Prince came, she would always subconsciously hesitate before making a move. This hesitation became longer and longer each time. Every time she drew her sword against the Third Prince, she was very careful and always felt restrained in the fight.
After that, it was always the Third Prince who got bored and was the first to call a halt.
The Third Prince was very dissatisfied. He even thought about it for once, wondering if Xue Jin'an had reprimanded her or if she didn't dare to take action because of her status as a prince. He didn't think there was anything wrong with his actions at all.
Xue Jin'an didn't have a particular attitude towards this matter, and still said the same thing as before, "If he kills him, it's on me."
However, although Fuling seemed simple-minded, she actually had a pure heart and would not take advantage of her martial arts skills to intentionally hurt people. She also knew that if the Third Prince really died by her hand, it would definitely bring trouble to Xue Jin'an. In the end, she did not really fight the Third Prince.
The Third Prince always had a keen intuition when it came to fighting, and he would often provoke Fu Ling with his words. Fu Ling would get so angry that she would turn around and run away every time.
Honestly, the reason the Third Prince is still alive is purely because his martial arts skills are too high.
Fuling was still troubled by this matter and had no intention of revealing it to Xue Jin'an. However, Lingzhi was a shrewd person and managed to find out the truth from her indirectly. She then jokingly gave Xue Jin'an her opinion.
"Fuling is a martial arts fanatic. She has been willing to put a lot of effort into martial arts since she was a child. To be honest, although we entered the school of Eunuch Lu in the same year, her martial arts skills are much better than mine. When we graduated, Eunuch Lu said that if we were to fight to the death, even the top masters in the martial arts world would be no more than equal."
Lingzhi paused, glanced at Xue Jin'an's expression, and continued, "Although Fuling is honest and straightforward, she is not without temper. We have learned techniques for killing, and if she accidentally gets angry one day and uses some of her strength, it may not be as simple as just drawing blood."
While the words were ostensibly meant to prevent Fuling from accidentally harming the Third Prince, they were actually pleading for Fuling's innocence.
Xue Jin'an knew that Lingzhi had deliberately spoken to him while the Third Prince was present, and that her true intentions were not what they seemed. He continued to sip his tea, pretending not to hear.
As expected, before the Third Prince could retort that he didn't care, Lingzhi poured him a full cup of tea, her face bearing a friendly smile, and spoke at a measured pace: "Besides, Your Highness is a noble prince, and I believe your martial arts style is quite upright. How could you possibly engage in such treacherous acts as a bandit? Of course, you are our prince's elder brother, and we know you have no such intentions, but... isn't this a weakness? If someone with ulterior motives were to sow discord, it would inevitably give others grounds for criticism, wouldn't it?"
“I think even if His Highness the Third Prince doesn’t care, he certainly doesn’t want to involve His Highness the Seventh Prince. Am I right?” Lingzhi knew that the Third Prince was a reckless brat, but he still had to give face to his own prince.
The Third Prince swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue, unable to speak.
In the end, he could only reluctantly say that from now on, he would not force Fuling to fight unless she was willing.
Of course, even though he made that promise, he still wouldn't give up and would often climb the wall, pretending that he had a bad memory and had forgotten the agreement. Unfortunately, Fuling had been instructed by Lingzhi to observe secretly, so this little trick could hardly fool her anymore.
The Third Prince often came to Zhaoyang Palace, and inevitably he would complain to Xue Jin'an about the Eighth Prince and Consort Xian. He would say how the Eighth Prince would try to make Consort Xian happy, and how he would try to please her and show his filial piety. He would also say that even his uncle Qian Dezhong, who was far away on the southwestern border, had written a letter saying that the Eighth Prince was a kind and gentle person.
"Pure kindness my foot! I underestimated him. He even managed to curry favor with my uncle. In a few days, I'm afraid all my relatives will become his relatives. Who will remember that I am his biological son then?" The Third Prince was furious every time he mentioned the Eighth Prince.
Recently, although the Third Prince still complains about the Eighth Prince, he mentions him much less often, as the Second Prince has taken over the conversation.
They talked about how impressive the Second Prince was in court today, and how he privately told the other princes to call him "Imperial Brother" from now on.
At this time, the Third Prince was complaining about some trivial matters in private, mostly about the nobles who followed the Second Prince and the other princes. He could be considered to have restrained himself. However, this restraint only lasted for less than a month before he began to act recklessly.
By the time Fu Lu's name appeared in the news, rumors were already circulating that the emperor would soon make the second prince the crown prince.
As the most well-informed place in the capital, Jiutianyi was naturally the first place to spread rumors. Fulu received the news in less than half a day, and Jiutianyi was already buzzing with it. Many people believed it to be true, while most were half-believing and half-doubting.
Xue Jin'an immediately ordered someone to investigate the source of the news and learned that it was actually spread by someone close to the Second Prince. If it were just this one sentence, Xue Jin'an would have thought that the Second Prince deliberately spread such rumors to create public opinion to push him to the position of Crown Prince. However, just two days later, news spread that the court officials were interested in the Second Prince and praised him for his benevolence, wisdom and the appearance of a wise ruler. They said that they would soon submit a memorial to the Emperor, requesting that the Crown Prince be established.
At first glance, the rumor seems harmless, but upon closer listening, one can discern its malicious intent. It incites the courtiers to pressure the emperor to appoint a crown prince, and even goes so far as to praise the second prince as a good emperor, bypassing the prince's status... This is clearly an attempt to provoke the emperor.
The emperor was far from being as tolerant and benevolent as he appeared, especially when the struggle for interests involved himself. He had used the eldest prince for many years, but when it came to killing him, he did not hesitate for a moment.
Not to mention that what an emperor fears most is having his power diminished. With an empress dowager already having seized power, how could he possibly elevate another crown prince? The emperor would inevitably be furious about this.
Unfortunately, the second prince was a good-for-nothing fool who didn't see anything wrong with these rumors. He thought they were the ministers and the people's approval of him and actually believed that he was about to become the crown prince.
One dares to speak, and the other dares to believe.
Sure enough, when an official with a muddled mind raised the issue of establishing a crown prince during the morning court session, the emperor flew into a rage, dismissing and demoting him on the spot. The second prince was also reprimanded for failing to present his memorial with both hands.
After the court session, Consort Min summoned the Second Prince to Yongchun Palace and gave him a good scolding. When she came out, her face was ugly, and there was a hint of anger floating around her.
Consort Min believed she had said everything, good and bad, even uttering the phrase "not fighting is fighting," dissecting and dissecting the political game into the Second Prince's mind. She thought her painstaking words would awaken the Second Prince and make him behave himself.
Xue Jin'an, however, was not optimistic.
Consort Min overlooked one thing, or rather, she was already used to cleaning up the messes of the Second Prince and didn't care what trouble he might cause. Therefore, she never suspected that the rumors were not instigated by the Second Prince himself, but were simply a result of his and his men going along with the trend.
The person who secretly set a trap for the Second Prince will not let him escape so easily.
Xue Jin'an quickly deduced that the person was none other than the heir of the Marquis of Dinghai.
Although the Marquis of Dinghai's heir was the Second Prince's study companion, he had a falling out with the Second Prince ever since his sister was almost tricked into becoming the Second Prince's wife. However, he was very flexible and adaptable. After the storm had passed, he apologized and made up with the Second Prince, pretending that nothing had happened. When the Second Prince was fighting with the First Prince, he even gave the Second Prince a lot of advice in private. He was the strategist of the Second Prince's party and was deeply trusted by the Second Prince.
However, according to Fu Lu's information and the account book left by the Fourth Prince, this person had already pledged allegiance to the First Prince. He was a spy planted by the First Prince in front of the Second Prince, and also a gift left by the First Prince to the Second Prince before his death.
The Second Prince secretly kept the news from those around him. Consort Min, being in the palace, was betrayed by her own son, and with others causing trouble, she naturally received the news much later.
Finally, on this day, the Second Prince ran into a brick wall: his own elder sister, the Eldest Princess.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
