Chapter 325: Rebuke (Part 1)
When Sima Jun returned to health, Sun Wei had already been summoned to the palace.
Cao Song reported to Sima Jun, "I sent someone to gather information. Today, the Crown Prince is marrying the Crown Princess and will personally go to the Shangshu Mansion to greet her. Lu Ming was incredibly bold. He suddenly appeared during the Crown Prince's reception, nearly startling his horse. The Imperial Guards were determined to apprehend him, but he claimed to be the Princess's biological father. The Crown Prince ordered them not to harm him and sent him back to the Prince of Yuzhang's Palace. However, Lu Ming cried out that the Princess was a fake, and fearing he would be silenced, he refused to come to the palace."
This situation was worse than Sima Jun had imagined.
"Did many people hear it?"
"That's right," Cao Song said. "Although the onlookers were kept outside the wall of imperial guards, the accompanying royal family, imperial guards, and eunuchs all heard it. The Crown Prince was afraid that Lu Ming was talking nonsense, so he ordered the imperial guards to take him to the palace. Not long after, the princess was also invited to the palace."
"Who is here to ask for Madam?"
"It was the Prince's Guard Commander, who said he was following the Prince's orders."
After hearing this, Sima Jun was about to leave the house.
Cao Song quickly stopped him and said, "Prince, today is the Crown Prince's wedding. Why don't you wait until tomorrow?"
Sima Jun looked at him and asked, "What about Madam?"
Cao Song said, "From the way the visitor behaves, I know he is quite polite and wants to invite the princess to the palace to talk. He has no ill intentions."
Sima Jun didn't say anything, just said "prepare the horses" and left without looking back.
Even during the wedding, Sima Jun was able to enter and leave the Eastern Palace freely, but the prince was entertaining his ministers, so the eunuchs could only invite him to a side hall to wait.
"Where is the concubine now?" Sima Jun asked.
The eunuch just said he didn't know.
How could he not know? He just couldn't say it. Sima Jun didn't make things difficult for him and let him leave.
This wait lasted for two hours.
When the prince entered the side hall, he had already changed into his usual clothes. Aside from the red flush from drinking, he looked normal.
"Have you heard about the concubine?" The prince took the tea, took a sip, and asked directly.
"I heard about it."
"Do you know whether it's true or not?"
"Of course it's fake," Sima Jun said. "Lu Ming has been drinking for years and has long been unconscious. He spoke nonsense. Your Highness doesn't need to take it to heart."
The Crown Prince snorted coldly, "So many people heard it, and I'm just going to let it go without taking it to heart? The Chief of the Imperial Clan was here today. I was originally going to report it to the Queen Mother, but I used today's wedding as an excuse to suppress it. However, it can only be suppressed for one day. There are no secrets in Jiankang City. Tomorrow, what should be spread will be spread again."
"Your Highness's words should carry weight," Sima Jun said. "When the Concubine was first allowed into the palace, Your Highness had already made inquiries from various sources, and Lu Ming also insisted that she was his daughter. Your Highness is the witness, so how could anyone's words carry more weight than Your Highness's?"
"Are you putting me on the spot? If the people below make mistakes and investigate the wrong person, do I have to apologize along with them?"
"I have absolutely no such intention."
"Then what do you mean?" the prince scolded. "I know you treat the concubine as your own, but you are the prince of Yuzhang, not an ordinary family. You must do things according to rules and regulations, with reason and evidence, to convince others."
"I understand. This is something that happened in my house. Your Highness, please hand Lu Ming over to me and I will give you an explanation."
"It's too late," the prince said. "Today, when Lu Ming came to stop me, it happened to be Fang Mi's guard. Lu Ming was in his hands at that moment. If he insisted that Lu Ming was crazy, he could still get away with it. But the key is, he still holds a grudge against you. Do you remember how you quarreled with him that day?"
"I didn't say a word to him that day."
"You haven't said a word to him, but every single thing you've said has been a slap in his face. Now everyone says you believe he's unworthy of those 20,000 Northern Army soldiers. I've heard that, let alone him?" The Crown Prince said with a certain dismay, "Ziheng, Fang Mi's surname is Fang, and he's a close relative of the Wang family, but he doesn't necessarily rely on Wang Han for everything. It's already very difficult for you and me to find someone trustworthy in this huge court. Why do you go to such lengths to keep people at a distance?"
Sima Jun remained unmoved. "Your Highness, this is wrong. If he hadn't been attached to Wang Han, how could he have become the General of the Guard?"
"So according to you, everyone in the court is Wang Hao's man, and you are one too, right?"
Sima Jun stopped arguing with him and simply asked, "What do you want Fang Mi to do?"
"He wants the entire Beifu."
"Dream on." Sima Jun didn't even think about it.
"What do you mean by dreaming?" the prince demanded. "Now it is you who is asking for help. If I reply to him like this, the Concubine will be beyond help."
Sima Jun looked up at the Crown Prince and asked, "Your Highness, do you also think that I should hand over the Northern Palace to Fang Mi?"
"I said, Fang Mi is not an outsider."
"So, I'm an outsider?" Sima Jun asked. "Your Highness, are you worried about the Northern Palace being in my hands? Is it Fang Mi who wants the Northern Palace, or is it Your Highness who wants Fang Mi to be in charge of the Northern Palace?"
"How dare you!" the prince shouted angrily.
Sima Jun knelt down and said calmly, "I have long since told Your Highness that as long as the Northern Palace remains in my hands, it will be yours. But if it leaves my hands, nothing will be known. I wonder if Your Highness still remembers this?"
The prince sneered, "What a thing! Once it leaves your hands, nothing can be known. Are you the only one in the world who is truly loyal? I want to ask, are you truly loyal, or are you reluctant to give up the military power in your hands?"
Sima Jun felt a surge of anger rising in his heart, and he couldn't help but close his eyes and suppress it.
The prince continued, "Ever since you rose to fame in Yizhou, this court has been abuzz with talk. They say you're a master warrior, commanding a vast army, that no one in the world wants to be inferior to another, and that you'll one day replace me. But I never believed it!" He looked directly at Sima Jun, "But now, how can I not believe it? Your military power is unbreakable, yet even if I ask, I can't summon a single soldier? Sima Ziheng, what on earth are you planning to do?"
The prince's question echoed in the hall.
After a long while, Sima Jun bowed slowly.
"I am loyal to Your Highness, as the sun and the moon bear witness to." He said in a deep voice, "I defend this land for Your Highness; I hold this military power for Your Highness. Everything I have has always belonged to Your Highness. If Your Highness wishes to take it back, I will offer it with both hands."
The prince moved and looked back at him.
"If you had agreed earlier, we wouldn't have gotten to this point. Get up first."
Sima Jun remained motionless and continued, "I beg Your Highness to hold on to this Northern Governor's token firmly and not rely on anyone else. I trust Your Highness, but I absolutely do not trust Fang Mi."
The prince's face changed again.
Sima Jun continued, "Chu Yue is an old retainer of the Xie family. He can guard the Northern Palace for Your Highness, but he is also my close friend. If he remains in the Northern Palace, I will be suspected of abusing my power. I request Your Highness return Zhuo Jing to me."
After he said that, he bowed deeply.
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