Chapter 268: Catching a Thief (Part 1)
The emperor looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person speaking was Zhou Chang who was standing next to Princess Wanshou.
To be honest, the emperor didn't like this person.
At that time, he had not yet cultivated himself into an immortal. The Grand Tutor resigned from his post in front of him, walked away in anger, and humiliated him in front of all the court officials.
Even though many years have passed, the emperor could not forget the predicament he faced back then.
"Oh?" the emperor said calmly, "I only see this nephew once a year. How could he not come?"
Zhou Chang smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is indeed unable to come. It's not that he doesn't want to see Your Majesty, but he is forced to catch a thief."
Everyone looked surprised.
"Catch the thief?" the emperor asked. "Where is the thief?"
"They are bandits from Jingzhou," Zhou Chang said. "Last year, the Duke of Nanjun and his eldest son, Huan Ding, passed away. The incident sparked a disturbance that has yet to subside."
Upon hearing this, the emperor looked at the empress dowager.
"At today's banquet for the ministers, many people clamored for me to order an attack on Jingzhou. They said that the Huan family had violated human ethics, with brothers fighting each other, and this had aroused the anger of the whole country. Others said that Ajun was deliberately holding back his troops to oppose the court. I was just about to ask him what was wrong."
Without waiting for the empress dowager to reply, Zhou Chang said, "Your Majesty, this matter all stems from the Huan family's mistress reporting to Jiankang before the Lunar New Year, alleging that the Huan family's sixth son had killed the eldest son and usurped the position of patriarch. This is what people call a violation of human relations and a quarrel between brothers."
"If that's the case, why did Ah Jun deliberately hold his troops in place and obstruct the imperial court's attack on Jingzhou?"
"The Crown Prince believes this is a personal grudge, and there's no need for the court to mobilize forces. The Sixth Prince killed the First Prince, and that was his own fault. If that's the case, simply bringing the Sixth Prince of the Huan family to justice will resolve the feud, and there's no need to mobilize troops."
The emperor thought for a moment and said, "That is indeed the truth."
"Therefore, the Crown Prince, under the order of the Supreme Court, personally traveled to Jingzhou to capture the Sixth Prince and bring him back to the capital. However, Jingzhou is a long journey, and the Crown Prince was unable to return immediately to pay his respects to His Majesty. Feeling guilty, he went to Qingwei Terrace before leaving, fasted and chanted sutras for His Majesty, and even obtained a peace amulet, praying for His Majesty's health."
After he said that, he presented a peace amulet.
The emperor looked at the small amulet and was quite satisfied.
"Ajun has grown up and become sensible." He said to the Queen Mother with satisfaction, "This is the first time!"
The Queen Mother's expression showed no sign of joy or anger, and she just said "hmm".
Zhou Chang glanced at the people around him.
In this palace, it seemed that only the emperor and the concubine looked happy, while everyone else was more or less in shock.
Wang Hao said indifferently, "Your Majesty, if I heard correctly, the Grand Tutor just said that the Crown Prince went to Jingzhou to arrest Huan An?"
Zhou Chang looked at him and asked, "What objection does the Minister have?"
"Huan An now controls Jingzhou. How can we capture him?"
"That's the prince's business. Since he said so, we'll just wait for him to return."
Wang Hao sneered, "If we can't catch him by then, finding another excuse to avoid the fight would be the best strategy."
Zhou Chang was about to speak when the emperor suddenly said, "Wang Pushe, what you said is wrong."
Everyone looked over and saw the emperor playing with the amulet in his hand. He said, "Warfare is a waste of money and manpower, and I hate it the most. My second brother has only one son, and the Minister of Justice is his elder. Don't bully him."
Wang Han obviously did not expect the emperor's words.
He showed a look of panic and knelt down, saying, "I dare not!"
The emperor looked at the empress dowager again: "What do you think, mother?"
The Queen Mother smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you may not know that there are many reasons behind this matter. Huan's crime is not limited to this one..."
The emperor interrupted, "I know that Huan Yi was somewhat tyrannical and offended the Queen Mother. Now that Huan Yi is dead, the Queen Mother's anger should subside. The several major battles last year have exhausted the court's vitality, and we should not mobilize more troops. What do you think, the Queen Mother?"
These words have shut everyone up.
The Queen Mother could only say, "Your Majesty, make the wise decision."
The emperor smiled and looked at everyone: "When will the banquet begin? I am hungry."
The prince quickly stood up and said, "The banquet is ready. Please come to the palace and take a seat, father."
After saying this, he personally led the emperor and the empress dowager to Xianyang Palace.
Everyone regained their cheerful demeanor and gathered behind.
At the banquet, the lights were bright and the singing and music were lively.
The eunuchs filed in and presented the food and wine. Everyone took turns toasting the emperor, and laughter filled the air.
"Why is the concubine still here?" The emperor suddenly looked at Sun Wei behind the empress dowager.
Sun Wei didn't understand what was going on, so she quickly asked, "I dare not leave the table without your permission..."
"You are still in mourning, so it is not appropriate for you to feast," the emperor said. "Go back."
Sun Wei agreed, but couldn't help but look at the Queen Mother.
The Queen Mother looked at her, and after a moment, she nodded: "Go."
Sun Wei kowtowed to express his gratitude and left.
When walking out of the palace, Sun Wei still felt a little dazed.
A'ru was also a little bit unbelievable: "I didn't expect that the emperor would release the princess..."
Sun Wei winked at her, signaling her not to be presumptuous.
But she still couldn't help but quicken her pace, hoping to leave here as soon as possible.
On the night of the Lantern Festival, the palace was decorated with lanterns and colorful lights, creating a festive atmosphere. However, under the cover of darkness, the place was completely deserted, with no one to be seen.
Ah Ru suddenly said, "The people in the palace probably didn't know that the princess was coming back, so they probably didn't send a carriage. How am I supposed to get back?"
Sun Wei also came back to his senses.
In theory, even if there were no carriages and horses in the palace, there should be carriages and horses to pick up the guests.
But since she was released, no one has come to arrange these things. It's as if the people in charge have forgotten her.
"No problem," Sun smiled and said, "There are guards at the palace gate. Ask them to report to the palace."
The palace gate was not far away, so Sun Wei said goodbye to the eunuchs who led the way and asked Aju to give them some money as a reward.
They happily said auspicious words and said goodbye to Sun Wei.
"This is what Chinese New Year feels like," A'ru said with a smile. "It's better than being in that confined palace, cold and deserted, and so creepy."
She skipped beside Sun Wei and said, "Princess, do you remember? When we celebrated the New Year in Xunyang Palace last year, we thought it would be a quiet one, but unexpectedly, the prince came suddenly."
Sun Wei also smiled when she recalled that time.
The surprise and all those indescribable emotions at that time came to my mind again.
That was probably the most complete Chinese New Year they had ever experienced, even in their previous life.
Unfortunately, there probably won’t be any this year.
I’m afraid there won’t be any more...
"Even though the Crown Prince is gone this year, we can still have some fun." A'ru thought for a moment and said, "When we get back home, how about we call Cao Changshi and invite him to dine with us?"
Sun Wei thought about it and thought it was not bad.
As they were talking, the two had already walked out of the palace gate, and Aju suddenly stopped.
"Isn't that our carriage?" she asked in surprise, pointing ahead.
Sun Wei looked over and saw from afar a servant in front of the carriage holding a lantern, which did seem to have the name of the Prince of Yuzhang's Mansion on it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
