Chapter 213 No heirs
When Su Fengzhang returned home, the oil lamp in the front hall was still on. He walked over and saw Su Zhaoshi and Su Huihui talking and embroidering under the oil lamp.
"Mom, Huihui." Su Fengzhang knew they were waiting for him to come back. He sighed helplessly and walked over. "Didn't I tell them not to wait for me? I don't know when I'll be back."
Su Zhaoshi put away her embroidery and said with a smile, "Mother is old and sleeps less. I can't fall asleep inside anyway, so I'll just wait for you here. Huihui, you're a well-behaved child, come and keep me company."
"Where's Aneng? Is he asleep?"
"Aneng wanted to stay with me, but Mom thought children couldn't miss out on sleep, so she finally let him go to bed first."
Su Fengzhang sighed, knowing their worries, and consoled them, "The Crown Prince was deposed and imprisoned in the Eastern Palace today. We finally have an answer to this matter."
Su Zhaoshi looked terrified after hearing this: "The Crown Prince is the Emperor's eldest son. I didn't expect him to be deposed so easily."
Su Huihui said, "The Crown Prince is a man without moral integrity. He dared to treat my second brother like that. He deserves to be deposed now."
Su Zhaoshi also felt the same way: "That's exactly what's going on. Even a prince can't do whatever he wants. Ultimately, people need to be reasonable."
After saying this, Su Zhao hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "The Crown Prince has just been deposed. Why would Prince Rong want you over? He can't even wait until tomorrow."
Su Fengzhang naturally wouldn't tell the truth, he just said: "The prince and I are quite friendly, so he specifically gave me a few instructions."
Su Zhaoshi didn't ask any more questions, but simply said, "Speaking of which, when you went to Yunzhou, Prince Rong's Mansion sent us an invitation to a banquet, but I was worried about you at the time and was afraid that going out would cause you trouble, so I declined everything."
Su Fengzhang hesitated for a moment, then quickly said, "If it's an invitation from Prince Rong's Mansion, then there's no problem going there."
He even joked, "The ladies who can go to the palace must all be from good families. It would be good for you to see more of them."
Su Zhaoshi also thought of this. She glanced at Su Huihui and said, "You should look around more. You don't seek wealth, but a peaceful home and a chance to improve yourself."
Su Huihui was still a girl after all, and her cheeks turned red when she was teased like this. She said, "Mom, Second Brother, you just know how to make fun of me."
Su Zhaoshi smiled and said, "Girls are different from boys, so they naturally have to look at each other carefully."
Su Fengzhang and Su Huihui sent Su Zhaoshi back to the main house together. Then Su Fengzhang turned around and sent Su Huihui away. The latter smiled and said, "Second brother, it's in your own home. I can go back by myself."
Su Fengzhang still sent her back and said with a smile: "It's getting dark now. What if you fall if you go back alone? It's only a few steps away. It won't waste much time."
"Huihui, I've mentioned your marriage to mother. When the time comes, I don't ask for a wealthy family. I just hope that the person will respect, love, and treat you well." Reaching out and stroking his sister's hair, he smiled and said, "As long as you live a happy life, your second brother will be happy too."
Su Huihui lowered her head and said nothing. After a while, she asked, "With my second brother here, who can not respect me?"
Su Fengzhang was helpless and said, "Sincerity or falsehood is something that will last a lifetime, and it will be different in the end."
Su Huihui nodded and said, "That's true."
If there is no love in your heart and you cannot be the master of the household after marriage, then what is the difference between getting married and not getting married.
Su Fengzhang wanted to spend more time with his family, but after the crown prince was deposed, the court not only did not quiet down, but became extremely noisy.
Yes, the previous crown prince is gone, so who will be the crown prince in the future is worth discussing.
Now the emperor has only three living princes, of whom only the fourth and fifth princes are adults. Before the Yunzhou incident, the fourth prince had a good reputation among literati and had always been a wise king who was respectful to the wise and humble.
But the Fourth Prince of Yunzhou was not only a great disappointment, but he also lost an ear, which made people hesitant for a while.
The Fourth Prince was once highly favored and was even able to trip up the Crown Prince in person. However, it was unknown when the Emperor's most beloved Prince began to fall out of favor.
Everyone knows that the one His Majesty favors now is the Fifth Prince, who was once mediocre and had no sense of existence.
The fifth prince is not only favored, but also commands a large number of troops. He and the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, He Jun, have been close friends since childhood. Although Song Wei is still the Minister of War now, since the battle of Yunzhou, Song Wei has lost the emperor's favor and his position in the Ministry of War has plummeted.
However, the Fifth Prince had a fatal weakness. All the civil and military officials had a consensus that he not only had a homosexual tendency, but also had not married for many years, let alone had children. Compared to the Fourth Prince who already had three sons, it was a sin for him to have no heir.
Apart from these two princes, the only one still alive is the Ninth Prince born to Concubine Yu. However, the Ninth Prince is just one year old, and it is still unknown whether he can grow up. The risk is too great.
The situation was at a stalemate, so that although the court was calm on the surface, there were undercurrents underneath.
The rumors continued, and Su Fengzhang could not find peace even in the Ministry of Revenue.
Minister Xu didn't know if he had taken the wrong medicine, but now he kept him by his side all day long, bypassing Lord Ding, as if he was training him as his successor.
If not everyone knew that Minister Xu was the Fourth Prince's maternal grandfather, they would never turn against him. They would probably think that he was going to change sides and support the Fifth Prince.
Seeing this attitude, Su Fengzhang thought that there was a trap waiting for him. Who would have thought that a month later, Minister Xu was still the same, teaching him wholeheartedly.
And it wasn't just the superficial ones. The problems accumulated in the Ministry of Revenue over the years were also pointed out one by one, so much so that Su Fengzhang began to suspect whether the Fifth Prince had given this person some kind of magic potion.
Of course, there is no such thing as a magic potion. Minister Xu said this, and the people under the Fourth Prince were also frightened.
Lord Ding was the first to lose his patience, and soon he asked in front of Minister Xu.
Minister Xu was reluctant to explain his direct lineage, so he simply said, "Just remember, this will only benefit His Highness and not harm him."
Lord Ding became more and more confused, but was privately very dissatisfied. He thought to himself that he had served under the Fourth Prince for many years, but now Minister Xu wanted to train a man who was incompetent. How could he deal with this?
If Minister Xu knew what this person was thinking, he would probably be extremely helpless. It was not that he was willing to hand over the Ministry of Revenue to Su Fengzhang, but that the person in a high position had already hinted at it in both explicit and implicit ways.
Minister Xu could certainly hold on to it and not hand it over, but now that Concubine Xu has fallen out of favor and the Fourth Prince is no longer favored by the Emperor, it would not be good if something happened to him again.
Su Fengzhang was naturally unwilling to accept the handover of the Ministry of Revenue, but as the Fourth Prince said, if the Emperor wanted to drag the Fifth Prince into a competition with him, then it would not be a problem no matter how prominent the Fifth Prince was now.
As long as they have that handle, it doesn't matter if we endure the anger for a while. Just think of it as letting Your Majesty slap us a few times to calm down.
As for the future, as long as the Fourth Prince ascends the throne, not only will he be in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, but the entire Great Zhou will be under his control.
On the one hand, it was the emperor's coercion, and on the other hand, he wanted to show goodwill to the fifth prince, so Minister Xu had no choice but to do such a helpless thing.
The only thing that Minister Xu did not expect was that even though he gave it so boldly, Su Fengzhang actually had the courage to accept it all, not even afraid of becoming fat and dying from eating it all in one bite.
What Minister Xu didn't know was that his action was exactly what Su Fengzhang wanted. If Minister Xu hadn't handed over the important matters of the Ministry of Revenue to him one after another, his original plan would have been difficult to implement.
Now, after he has sorted out the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue and avoided the implementation of Minister Xu, it will have an unexpected effect.
Su Fengzhang was only happy about the increasingly busy official duties of the Ministry of Revenue, but the rumors outside only brought him trouble.
What made Su Fengzhang most helpless was that He Tang suddenly came to his house one day, hesitating for a long time, and even drank three cups of tea without saying anything.
Su Fengzhang was worried for him, so after pouring him another cup of tea, he took the initiative to ask, "Brother He, what exactly brought you here to visit? Is there anything we can't just talk about? You're hesitating like this, and I'm starting to think you're wrong."
He Tang chuckled and said, "Brother Su, let me tell you first, please don't be angry when you hear it."
Su Fengzhang assured: "When have I ever been angry with you?"
I have to say that although He Tang looks noisy, he is actually a very sensible person. He is cheerful and generous, and has no greed for profit. He is a very easy friend to get along with.
He Tang then said, "Brother Su, it's hard for me to bring this up. The thing is, a few adults I knew before have been talking to me every day these past few days, and they want me to bring you a message."
Su Fengzhang raised his eyebrows.
He Tang touched his nose, his cheeks flushed before he could say anything. "You are in a high position now, and you are a close confidant of Prince Cheng. They dare not come to disturb you, so they can only come to me to deliver the message."
"You know me, sometimes I can't save face. I agreed to it when I was drunk that day, so I had to come to your house. But I was just delivering a message, I didn't mean any of that."
The more he did this, the more curious Su Fengzhang became. He asked, "What exactly do you want to say?"
He Tang didn't even dare to look up at him. He mustered up the courage and said, "It's like this. Those gentlemen want you to persuade Prince Cheng. Everything else is fine. He can have any big guy he likes, but he can't be childless after all."
"What?" Su Fengzhang asked in surprise.
He Tang simply continued, "That's what they mean. They want you to persuade Prince Cheng to marry. If not, taking a concubine is fine. It would be best if the good news comes next month, and a son or grandson is born tomorrow."
After saying this, He Tang slapped his lips and said, "I scolded them for meddling in other people's business. It's Prince Cheng's own business if he doesn't want to marry and have children. Why are they, as ministers, meddling in other people's business?"
Su Fengzhang finally understood what had happened. He couldn't help laughing and said helplessly, "This is really not something I can persuade."
In fact, He Tang also suspected in his heart whether there was something that Su Fengzhang and Prince Cheng could not say. After all, one of them did not marry a princess, and the other did not marry a wife. They were clearly outstanding guys. Why did they have to be like this?
But he was Su Fengzhang's good friend, so naturally he spoke for Su Fengzhang wholeheartedly. If anyone slandered Su Fengzhang in front of him, He Tang would get angry and scold them.
After saying this, He Tang said in a desperate tone, "That's what I meant. I've brought this up. Please don't be angry with me. This is really not what I meant."
Su Fengzhang patted his shoulder and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll pass this message to the prince."
Who knew that when He Tang heard this, his expression became even more strange: "Are you really going to tell him?"
Su Fengzhang raised his eyebrows and smiled: "What's there to be ashamed of?"
He Tang had a lot to say, but he didn't say anything else.
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