The Second Prince sensed the sarcasm in the Crown Prince's tone and said with a breath held in his chest, "My Royal Brother, please forgive me."
The Crown Prince raised his hand, motioned the Second Prince to sit down, and handed him a cup of tea.
"Song Zan and Song Hongshen are just like an old fox and a young fox. This father and son duo is not easy to deal with."
The second prince had never suffered such humiliation, and his hatred for the Song family reached its peak.
Seeing that the prince looked like he was watching the fun, he became even more angry.
He was born into a poor family. His mother was a noble lady from Xiyue, but she was not favored by the emperor.
When he was young, the Great Zhou and Western Yue were at loggerheads, and he was implicated as well.
It was also from that time that he learned to be humble and to plan step by step.
At this moment, he was humbly accepting the tea handed to him by the prince, smiling apologetically. However, he had a plan in his mind, and in a flash, he had figured out what to do.
"Your Majesty, do you think the Song family doesn't like me? It seems to me that the Song family humiliated me because of you, Your Majesty."
The Crown Prince's hand on making tea suddenly stopped, and he looked up at the Second Prince, "What do you mean?"
The Second Prince chuckled, "Your Majesty, I know the personalities of the Song family father and son. If they truly didn't want to accept the marriage, they would have simply politely declined."
"There's only one possibility for them to tease me like this: they've noticed the relationship between us. The Song family is angry that I schemed for Song Wanwan's marriage for my brother. So they're trying to teach me a lesson. Isn't this a slap in the face from afar? It looks like I'm being embarrassed, but in reality, it's a slap on my brother's face."
The Crown Prince pondered the Second Prince's words. This incident was indeed unlike the Song family's usual style of doing things. Unless, as the Second Prince said, the Song family's father and son knew something inside.
Thinking of this, the prince's face turned unhappy.
The Second Prince took the opportunity to continue, "My Royal Brother wants to ascend the throne. I don't think the Third Prince is the biggest stumbling block right now. The biggest obstacle is the Song family."
The Crown Prince remained silent for a moment, and the Second Prince spoke again, "Right now, there are far more people in the court who support my brother than the Third Prince. If this continues, the Third Prince will never achieve anything significant."
"However, the neutral faction headed by the Song and Shen families has become an obstacle to the emperor's ascension to the throne."
"They didn't support the Third Brother, but it seems they don't support the Emperor either. Especially since the Song family is the leader of the military, and they control the Five Cities Military Command and the Western Hills Camp."
"If the Song family suddenly turns against us and supports the third brother or an underage prince to take the throne, my brother's position as crown prince will be in jeopardy."
The Crown Prince knew that the Second Prince's words were not an exaggeration.
The conflict between the Song family and his mother has been going on for a long time. In the past few years, he has been trying to ease the relationship with the Song family, but it has been of no use.
Since the Song family cannot be used by him, it will become a problem in the long run.
"Royal brother, do you mean that we should attack the Song family first?"
None of the aristocratic families that have been able to gain a foothold in the court and stand firm for a hundred years are easy to deal with.
The prince is still haunted by the last time he tried to take action against the Shen family but ended up destroying the entire Li family.
The second prince was good at observing people's expressions. Just by looking at the prince's face, he could guess what he was thinking.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "Actually, compared to the Song family, the Shen family is not a concern. No matter how much the civil officials make trouble, they are just talking. They are nothing compared to the generals who have military power. They are the ones we should win over."
"If you can't win over the Song family like we did, you have to cut off your relationship with them."
The prince frowned, feeling that what he said made sense, but he was confused for a moment.
He also wooed the Song family because he couldn't eliminate them. The Song family was too powerful and deeply entrenched. His father, because of the late empress, was particularly partial to the Song family.
If you want to completely eradicate the Song and Shen families, you need a thorough plan. If you are not careful, you will easily be kicked back.
"Does your royal brother have any ideas?" asked the prince.
The Second Prince smiled and said, "Royal brother, what if the Rong family could replace the Song family? Then the Five Cities Military Command, the Xishan Camp, and even the Fujian Navy would all be under my control."
"The Duke of Wei is still fighting in Qianzhou, so there's no need to worry. The Western Frontier army is mine, so it's all in my brother's hands. Only the Northern Frontier, the Northwest, and Liaodong remain, and we need to deploy defenses against the Tartars in these areas."
"When the time comes, my brother, if you want to accomplish something, won't it be easy?"
It is said that a strong mother makes a weak son. The Crown Prince has always had the help of a virtuous concubine since he was young, so in terms of scheming and cunning, he is far behind the Second Prince.
After hearing what the Second Prince said, the Crown Prince was moved. He put down the teapot and asked, "Then how can we let the Rong family take over?"
He thought to himself, the Rong family is discussing marriage with the second son. If the power of the Song family falls into the hands of the Rong family, wouldn't it be equivalent to falling into his hands?
If this move is made well, there is no need to worry about not achieving great things.
But the prince never expected that the chess game was set up by the second prince, and he was just a chess piece.
Seeing that the Crown Prince took it to heart, the Second Prince added, "The Song family is where it is today, all thanks to the favor of our father."
"And the reason why Father treats the Song family this way is largely due to the late Queen."
"Brother, think about it, the Empress Chen is the most favored one in the harem now. She has almost replaced the late Empress's position in Father's heart. Isn't now the best time to get rid of the Song family?"
The prince hesitated, "The Empress Chen...is just a substitute for the late Empress."
The Second Prince scoffed. "A substitute? If someone asks Father who Song Zining is when the Empress Chen is in bed tonight, do you think he'll be able to answer? I'm afraid he'll have forgotten it all."
"We are all men. Do you really believe that our father loves us so deeply?"
The prince thought about it and realized that this was the truth. The late queen was dead, so how could he compete for favor with a living person?
The Second Prince added, "Actually, it's easy to attack anyone. All we have to do is make them lose their favor."
"As long as the emperor dislikes the Song family, it will be easier for us to take action."
The Crown Prince was a little unable to keep up with the Second Prince's ideas and was almost being led by him.
"Your Majesty, Father, despises the Song family? How is that possible? Song Zan often glares at your Majesty, but you never hear him say anything."
The second prince had an unfathomable smile on his face.
"That was in the past."
"It's different now. The one in the palace is the best weapon to deal with the Song family."
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