"Ji Xian, take half of the register of the Prime Minister's embezzlement and bribery to him for review." Qiao Qiu picked up the melon seeds, then realized that it was a bit slow to peel them by herself, so she called two more eunuchs over to peel them together.
"Yes." Ji Xian looked at her calm and composed demeanor, and saw that she had no desire to get up at all. He couldn't help but wonder if his master was just trying to scare the Prime Minister. Wouldn't this force the Prime Minister to take desperate measures?
After Ji Xian left, Qiao Qiu ate melon seeds and said, "Xiao Shunzi, go and invite the Second Prince."
"Yes." One of the eunuchs peeling melon seeds stood up.
Although Dongfang Wusheng ate for two hours, he was eating with court etiquette, slowly and deliberately. How could he possibly eat much?
After the banquet, he was summoned to the Imperial Study by his father and given a severe scolding. He has just come out now.
Just as he was about to leave the palace to treat himself to a good meal, he met the eunuchs from the Eastern Palace.
Upon hearing that it was Qiao Qiu who wanted to see him, Dongfang Wusheng immediately abandoned his plan to go outside the palace and turned to go to the East Palace.
Upon arriving at the East Palace, Dongfang Wusheng saw Qiao Qiu happily munching on a handful of melon seeds. Her posture was utterly devoid of all manners.
But even so, he deserves to die a beautiful death.
His movements were fluid and graceful, exuding elegance and charm.
Dongfang Wusheng grew increasingly envious of his elder brother's carefree lifestyle; that was true freedom to do whatever one wanted.
"Brother, what brings you here?" Dongfang Wusheng walked over, and several eunuchs peeling melon seeds stood up, bowed silently to him, and then continued peeling melon seeds.
"I invited you over to eat sunflower seeds together." Qiao Qiu felt that she might need a spoon. It seemed a bit troublesome to pour the seeds into her hand each time, so she might as well just peel them into the spoon and eat them in one bite.
Dongfang Wusheng sat down, not believing that summoning him was really that simple. "Brother, just say what you need to say, I can handle it."
“The important matters were already clarified in Jizhou, so what else is there to say?” Qiao Qiu looked at him and smiled.
That's certainly true; he's already made his stance on the throne, and it seems there's nothing else going on. But why does he still have this nagging feeling that something's not quite right?
Dongfang Wusheng looked completely bewildered, but he still joined Qiao Qiu in eating sunflower seeds.
Inside the Prime Minister's residence, the Prime Minister paced back and forth in the main hall, his face ashen with anger. He had already received the Crown Prince's warning; this was putting him in a difficult position!
"Prime Minister, you must take care of your health."
The officials summoned late at night looked at the prime minister with some concern.
The prime minister looked at them. The man, in his forties, had well-maintained skin, but it was still quite loose, though still fair and clean. However, his complexion was not good. "If we don't choose a good new master to support, we'll both be finished. What's the point of taking care of our health?"
One of the officials said, "Alas, Prime Minister, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but you shouldn't have gone against the Crown Prince in the first place. Now that the Crown Prince is at the height of his power, you've offended him again."
"That's right, that's right," the others echoed.
"Shut up, all of you!" The Prime Minister's face was extremely grim. "What kind of person is the Crown Prince? Do you think I would misjudge him? The Crown Prince is the most difficult of all the princes to deal with. If we support him, how much of what we old ministers say will he listen to in the future?"
“I don’t think so. The Crown Prince’s character is beyond reproach,” a thin minister argued.
"That's just how he appears on the surface. What high-ranking official would be so simple-minded?" The Prime Minister looked at the thin minister and asked, "Leaving aside the Crown Prince, don't you and I have a few lives on our hands?"
"This..." The thin minister was speechless. Not to mention him, even an honest official would have several lives on his hands.
"I originally thought Dongfang Wuye would be easy to control, but who knew that after studying with the Crown Prince for a few months, he has become too powerful and extremely intelligent, and he is not susceptible to my temptations at all." The Prime Minister did not give up the great opportunity he had now. He had to find someone to support as soon as possible so that he would have a chance to bring down the Crown Prince.
As they say, he has now thoroughly offended the Crown Prince; either the Crown Prince will bring him down, or he will bring down the Crown Prince.
Since the crown prince hasn't ascended the throne yet and he can't do anything to him, he'll first overthrow the crown prince and install someone who listens to him on the throne.
"In that case, the Third Prince is definitely not going to make it. What does the Prime Minister think of the Second Prince?" someone asked.
Without a second thought, the Prime Minister shook his head. “No, the Second Prince is the Crown Prince’s man. Today, although the Third Prince was the one who initiated the conversation with the Crown Prince at the Crown Prince’s banquet, you don’t know that the Second Prince was summoned to the Imperial Study by the Emperor after the banquet. After leaving the Imperial Study, he went straight to the East Palace. It is said that he did nothing at the East Palace except eat some snacks and have dinner there.”
"The two used to be at each other's throats, when did they ever have such leisure time? Their relationship has obviously improved a lot in the past few months, maybe the Second Prince has been won over by the Crown Prince."
"What do we do now?" the others asked worriedly. "The Fourth Prince is prudent and protects himself, and the Fifth Prince usually keeps a low profile and is quite ordinary among his brothers."
"Fourth Prince, the fact that the Fourth Prince is wise in protecting himself shows that he is not stupid and knows what it means to advance and retreat." A glint flashed in the Prime Minister's eyes.
Everyone else was just following the Prime Minister's lead, and whatever the Prime Minister said went. Now that the Fourth Prince had been chosen, everyone else gave their full support.
The content of their discussion reached Qiao Qiu's ears the next day.
Qiao Qiu scoffed, completely unconcerned.
Ji Xian then realized why his master had kept the Second Prince for so long yesterday; it turned out he had done it on purpose to impress the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister was indeed right; the Second Prince had indeed become one of the master's men.
"Master, what should we do next?" Ji Xian felt that the Fourth Prince was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
Qiao Qiu opened her fan and said, "Let's go see Father Emperor."
"yes."
...
Inside the Imperial Study.
The atmosphere was eerily quiet, the air pressure seemingly solidified, pressing down on Qiao Qiu, who stood with her head bowed in the center.
However, Qiao Qiu remained calm and composed, as if she had a protective shield that isolated the air pressure.
The Emperor's face was ashen as he looked at Qiao Qiu, his expression unreadable.
Qiao Qiu was waiting for him to speak. In any case, she had already told him what she needed to say. She had issued the imperial decree herself and was aware of it. She had to accept this daughter-in-law even if she had to kneel down.
"Dongfang Wuche!"
"Your subject is here."
This was the first time in Qiao Qiu's memory that the Emperor had called her by her full name, and his tone was filled with suppressed anger.
"You, how dare you!" The Emperor's face turned ashen with rage. "This is the crime of deceiving the Emperor!"
"Father, I have no choice in this matter. If I could, I would welcome her into the Eastern Palace openly and honestly." Qiao Qiu looked directly at the Emperor with piercing eyes.
The Emperor was so angry that his lips trembled. "She's a country girl, and a... she's a... how could she be worthy of you?!"
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