Chapter 1236 Internal Strife
Hearing his stammering words, Yuwen Cheng glanced at him sideways and laughed, "Are you worried that if I do this, all the benefits will end up going to the Crown Prince?"
Su Changjing hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, I am only acting out of indignation on behalf of the Prince of Qi."
"oh?"
"His Highness Prince Qi has devoted himself to the court and the Great Sheng Dynasty with great effort and merit, yet he has only received the empty title of General Who Guards the North. The limelight has been stolen by Prince Qin. If he works even harder and still doesn't get anything in return, then it truly is—the injustice of Heaven!"
Yuwen Cheng sneered.
He didn't like hearing these high-sounding words. If it were someone like Ji Hong, he would find them pedantic, but at least they would be sincere and not so disgusting. But Su Changjing had clearly betrayed his master, yet he still spoke so righteously, constantly mentioning "the court" and "Dasheng." Who couldn't see that he was only after his own position and salary?
However, Yuwen Cheng did not want to criticize him. After all, how many people in the world are not acting in their own self-interest?
So he laughed and said, "Don't worry, there are many things I like to do, but there's one thing I don't like—doing things for someone else's benefit."
Su Changjing's eyes lit up: "So, the Crown Prince's throne—"
Yuwen Cheng said, "But the Crown Prince must ascend the throne."
Su Changjing's eyes dimmed instantly, but he dared not show too much disappointment, otherwise he would truly be seen as sowing discord between his brothers. He only said in a low voice, "This, this is natural. However, Your Highness must have other plans, right?"
Seeing his cautious demeanor, Yuwen Cheng sneered inwardly and said, "The title of Crown Prince has long been decided, and although he has as many supporters as the Prince of Qin, he still has quite a few. If I were to compete for it, I would suddenly have two enemies. I have no interest in competing with both of my brothers. Even if I win, others may not know, but do you think I don't know myself?"
Hearing his young voice, yet hearing all his shrewd and calculating words, Su Changjing felt a chill in his heart for some reason, and his voice was slightly hoarse when he spoke: "...Yes, yes."
Yuwen Cheng said, "However, things will be much easier once the Crown Prince ascends the throne."
Su Changjing was taken aback: "Your Majesty, I don't understand."
Yuwen Cheng said, “Everyone calls the emperor ‘Long live the emperor,’ but from ancient times to the present, which emperor has ever truly lived to be ten thousand years old? Not even a hundred years old. Therefore, once an emperor becomes emperor, he must establish a crown prince. After the crown prince ascends the throne, he must also establish his own child as crown prince so that the throne can be passed down for thousands of generations. That is true ‘long live the emperor.’ The crown prince is the foundation of the country.”
"Yes, Your Highness is indeed insightful."
Yuwen Cheng glanced at him sideways: "But look at my imperial brother, do you think he's the kind of person who would want to have children with the Crown Princess?"
"...!"
Su Changjing widened his eyes slightly, as if he understood something.
Yuwen Cheng said, "They've been married for quite some time now, but the people I've placed in the Crown Prince's residence tell me that they almost never sleep in the same room. Today, when I went to the Crown Prince's residence to see them, my elder brother came out covered in sandalwood incense, yet said he hadn't been chanting Buddhist prayers. If he wasn't chanting, why was he still in his room, which only had a Buddhist shrine and was filled with sandalwood incense? What was he doing there?"
"..."
Su Changjing's eyes flickered, and he vaguely knew something, but even if he knew about the Crown Prince and Crown Princess's private bedroom affairs, he dared not speak easily, and only adopted a listening posture; Yuwen Cheng, of course, did not need his answer, and continued to sneer: "Isn't it just that you don't want to get along with people?"
"..."
"And in the Crown Prince's residence, who are the people he cannot dismiss but must avoid?"
"..."
"Isn't she his crown princess?"
Su Changjing said, "I see."
He thought for a moment, then said, "But why would the Crown Prince and Crown Princess act this way?"
Yuwen Cheng sneered, "I've long suspected it's strange that he'd bring back that woman—your sister-in-law. If the Crown Princess is truly an extraordinary person, even if she's like my second sister-in-law, skilled in both literature and martial arts, she'd be quite remarkable; it's just a pity..."
Hearing him ridicule Yu Mingyue, Su Changjing felt a surge of pleasure and couldn't help but shift his position in his seat. However, he didn't dare to get up and say anything more, and simply smiled and said, "Your Highness Prince Qi has keen insight."
Yuwen Cheng said, "If I'm not mistaken, my elder brother is now regretting it."
Su Changjing asked, "Do you regret marrying the Crown Princess?"
"..."
Yuwen Cheng did not respond immediately. Instead, he lowered his eyes and thought for a moment before saying, "No, he regrets abandoning Buddhism to enter the world."
"..."
"So he doesn't chant Buddha's name now because he's ashamed of abandoning Buddhism; he feels he's no longer worthy to chant Buddha's name."
At this point, he sneered and said, "My brother has always been like this. Once he does something, he does it. But he doesn't dwell on whether he did it or not. Instead, he gets entangled in his own thoughts after he has done it. He doesn't spend his mind and energy on the enemy, but on his own mind."
"..."
"As for my sister-in-law, although she often says nonsensical things, I once heard her say two words that are very appropriate for my brother."
"I don't know which two characters they are."
"Internal strife."
"Internal strife...?"
This unfamiliar term puzzled Su Changjing. Yuwen Cheng sneered, "To paraphrase an old monk chanting sutras, it means—too many inner demons."
Upon hearing this, Su Changjing pondered the two words again and began to understand their meaning. He couldn't help but sneer, thinking: "If Yu Mingyue could come up with these two words, then she's not entirely useless."
Perhaps realizing he'd rambled on, Yuwen Cheng waved his hand and said, "In short, given their current situation, I doubt they can have an heir. This makes things much simpler. Once my elder brother ascends the throne, I should, based on my role in supporting him, become the Crown Prince. At that time—"
Su Changjing was overjoyed and said, "Your Highness is wise!"
Yuwen Cheng smiled faintly, then straightened his expression. His young face still retained a hint of childishness, but a deeper, more menacing aura emanated from his eyes and his broken brows. He leaned slightly towards Su Changjing and said in a deep voice, "So now, our goal is to put the Crown Prince on the throne. To make the Crown Prince ascend the throne, we must eliminate my second brother and his forces. But as we've seen before, it's difficult for the Crown Prince and I combined to deal with him, especially now that he has taken down Liang Shide and Xiao Yuansui, and Ashina Zhuxie has retreated to the Turks. There is no one outside Chang'an who can stand against him."
"..."
"At this point, it is necessary for Father to take action."
"..."
“If Father doesn’t take action, we have to force him to; if Father is soft-hearted, we have to show him that being soft-hearted doesn’t do any good.”
"..."
"In short, this time, we must do it before he goes to Luoyang..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com