Chapter 124 Joining Forces Hopefully, when the time comes, Prime Minister Zhuang won't forget today…
The Fourth Prince.
The fourth prince was involved in her father's death.
Li Yang looked at Zhuang Ziyang and saw that the other was also pondering the truth of those words. That's why his father's body appeared at the Zhuang residence's gate at that time. That was precisely when his grandfather had repeatedly refused the Fourth Prince's invitations.
But if the Fourth Prince had her father as a trump card, he had never mentioned it to his grandfather. If the Fourth Prince used her father as a bargaining chip, she and her mother would probably risk their lives to beg their grandfather to save their father.
“Master Fei.” Li Yang blurted out, then suddenly slapped his forehead and changed his address to ‘Second Prince’. He then voiced his doubts, “So, if it was the Fourth Prince who did it, why didn’t he use Father as a bargaining chip to make a deal with Grandfather?”
Hearing her say this, everyone seemed to agree. Li Zhen nodded and said, "Zhao Zhao is right. This is exactly what I can't understand. However, Li Zhao usually acts erratically and doesn't follow common sense most of the time."
Zhuang Ziyang nodded slowly, his gaze still fixed downwards, as if deep in thought. After a long while, he said, "Your Highness, you have come here for this very matter?"
"Prime Minister Zhuang," Li Zhen bowed respectfully to Zhuang Ziyang, "Lang Ge and I grew up together since childhood. Outsiders only see us as master and servant, but Sister Shutong should know that," he said, turning to Zhuang Shutong, who was weeping with her face covered by a handkerchief, "this time, Lang Ge died tragically, and I believe that you share the same goal as me, Zhuang Ge."
The Second Prince and his father are actually as close as brothers!?!
Li Yang felt a headache coming on from the constant stream of news he had received in the past hour.
She only understood that the Second Prince wanted to join forces with his grandfather to avenge his father.
She wanted to avenge her father, of course.
But looking at his grandfather's uncertain expression, it seemed that he had not yet made up his mind.
Li Yang swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue and stared intently at his grandfather.
Zhuang Ziyang: "Shared goals? Second Prince, the most important thing for the Zhuang family right now is not to be enemies with the Fourth Prince."
"That's right!" Li Yang slapped her forehead; she had almost forgotten about Chen Junbai. Her grandfather was right; the most urgent task was naturally to rescue Chen Junbai.
Li Zhen: "Prime Minister Zhuang, what do you mean by that?"
Zhuang Ziyang: "How could the Second Prince not know that Zhuang Rong is about to set off for the Southern Frontier, where there is a great miasma in September? How to lead the troops, how to overcome the miasma, and how to return victorious are the most important matters for the Zhuang family right now."
Li Yang was stunned. She thought her grandfather would say that Chen Junbo's case was the most important thing right now, but she didn't expect her grandfather to talk about her uncle's expedition. But what her maternal grandfather said was not wrong. Her uncle was going to the southern border in ten days. If he couldn't solve the problem of miasma, going there would be suicide.
Li Yang still felt a pang of sadness. In his grandfather's eyes, Chen Junbo's life or death was actually second in importance. He also felt a sense of self-reproach, realizing that in his heart, the lives of his uncle and the 100,000-strong army were second.
Li Zhen said, "Prime Minister Zhuang, I was prepared for this matter long ago. When I learned that the war in the southern border was critical, I sent people to Jiangxi to collect medicinal herbs to combat the miasma. However, we are short of funds now, and the problem of transporting them to the southern border has not yet been resolved."
Li Yang hurriedly said, "The Chen family has merchant ships and carriage fleets, which can be responsible for transporting medicinal herbs. The Chen family also has silver, but it has been withheld."
Zhuang Ziyang then said, "This General Manager Chen is my Zhuang family's son-in-law. He is still in prison, and his fate is unknown. I believe Your Highness has also heard about this."
Hearing his grandfather say this, how could Li Yang still not understand? It turned out that his grandfather was gradually forcing the Second Prince to agree to help the Zhuang family rescue Chen Junbai. Thinking of this, Li Yang felt a pang of sadness at his earlier assumption that his grandfather had given up.
Her family loved her so much, and therefore loved Chen Junbo, and yet she had made such a guess.
Thinking of this, tears streamed down Li Yang's face.
Seeing this, Li Zhen assumed that Li Yang was crying because she was saddened by her husband's arrest. Upon seeing this, he frowned, seemingly somewhat annoyed.
After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Prime Minister Zhuang, you know that this case is personally overseen by the Emperor."
The implication was that he was powerless to help.
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Ziyang replied without hesitation, "I am very grateful to the Second Prince for coming today to inform me of the cause of my death. However, my beloved has passed away, and the Zhuang family is currently facing numerous difficulties. I am afraid that we are willing but unable to investigate this matter thoroughly."
Li Zhen immediately understood that Zhuang Ziyang meant that if he didn't save Chen Junbo, Chen Junbo wouldn't cooperate with him to bring down the fourth brother.
However, when Li Zhen heard this, it carried another meaning: if he could handle the matter of Chen Junbai, Prime Minister Zhuang might become his ally.
Thinking of the grand undertaking, and of the tragic state of Li Lang that Xuan Ying had reported to him, Li Zhen felt his heart pounding in his chest. "Prime Minister Zhuang, the Southern Frontier Campaign is not only a matter for the Zhuang family, but also a major event for the dynasty. How can I sit idly by? Moreover, the salt tax accounts for half of the nation's tax burden, and the salt tax in Lianghuai accounts for half of that. In this salt license case, who is the man and who is the woman is the lifeblood of the nation."
Zhuang Ziyang only looked at Li Zhen and did not respond.
Seeing this, Li Zhen bowed and said, "I hope that when the time comes, Prime Minister Zhuang will not forget what he said today and will avenge Lang Ge."
Zhuang Ziyang smiled slightly and bowed his head slightly in agreement.
Seeing this, Li Zhen did not linger and left.
No sooner had he left than Zhuang Rong raised his loud voice, "Dad, what does this mean?"
The three people inside the room each glanced at him. Such a grand drama was so straightforward; perhaps only this General Zhennan hadn't understood it.
Li Yang couldn't help but squint at him, thinking to himself, "Is it really okay for my uncle to go to war like this?"
Zhuang Shutong seemed to understand what she was thinking, and took her hand to look at it, saying, "Don't look at your uncle like this. He's a genius strategist on the battlefield. If you want to talk about it, he probably fell from a tree when he was a child and broke a nerve in his brain."
Li Yang curled her lip at this unsolicited answer; she simply couldn't understand it.
That evening, Li Yang sneaked into her mother's room again. The two of them lay in bed, neither of them able to fall asleep.
"Mother, what's the story behind the Second Prince saying today that Father and he are like brothers?" Li Yang asked leisurely about what happened during the day.
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Shutong seemed to smile. "Your father has been the Second Prince's study companion since childhood, but he prefers martial arts and always slacks off when it comes to writing documents, which gives the teacher a lot of headaches."
Later, when the Second Prince was granted a separate residence, your father became his chief bodyguard. In fact, the Second Prince also had a secret bodyguard unit called Xuanjia. Everyone in the unit had the character "Xuan" in their names. This bodyguard unit was created by your father back then, so they all called your father "Brother Lang".
Actually, the happiest people in the world are not the richest and most noble families. Look at the Second Prince, he is the child of the richest family in the world, but he is not happy. So for so many years, your father has been his only friend.
Their bond was stronger than that of brothers, stronger than that of family.
As she spoke, Zhuang Shutong raised her hand to wipe away the tears that were dripping from the corners of her eyes. "Actually, the Second Prince already knew about it when your father and I left the capital."
Upon hearing this, Li Yang sat bolt upright, exclaiming, "Huh?!"
“Yes, your father said he saw the shadow guards.” Zhuang Shutong smiled slightly and said, “But he just let us go. After we left the capital, your father never saw the shadow guards again.”
After listening to her parents' stories, she became lost in her own memories as her mother recounted them. "Mother, Father and the Second Prince had such a good relationship. How did you and Father meet?"
"Back then, your mother was the number one figure in the capital, okay!" Zhuang Shutong's tone suddenly became smug. "Your mother excelled in everything from music and chess to calligraphy and painting, and she was also so beautiful. In the circle of legitimate daughters in the capital, who could surpass me?"
Hearing her mother boast like this, Li Yang chuckled. Although she also thought her mother was the best mother in the world, she still found it somewhat unheard of to hear her mother boast like this.
“But Zhaozhao, you must remember, you must not be too prominent.” Zhuang Shutong sighed. “Back then, I didn’t understand this principle. So, the capital was famous for a time, and later the Emperor wanted to marry me off to the eldest prince.”
When your maternal grandparents and I entered the palace as children, I got to know all the princes, and that's when I met your father. While the princes chatted and talked, your father stood beside the second prince without saying a word. But his eyes, as he looked around, could resolve many dangers, which made people feel very at ease.
Once, Mother offended the daughter of the Minister's family by showing off. She was tricked into almost crashing into the artificial hill when she came out of the pavilion. It was your father who pulled Mother away, thus preventing her from being disfigured.
Later, over time, she developed feelings for your father. However, the news of this arranged marriage came suddenly. Your maternal grandfather absolutely disapproved of the eldest prince, and your mother was unwilling to obey your grandfather and marry into your cousin's family. Having no other choice, she ran away to Songshan Town.
Li Yang listened with great interest, "Mother, do you think it's true or false that the Second Prince said today that Father's death was related to the Fourth Prince?"
Upon hearing about Li Lang's situation, Zhuang Shutong felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. She sniffed and said, "Zhaozhao, your father said that the Second Prince is his friend. Your father believes in the Second Prince, so your mother believes in him too."
After listening, Li Yang pondered for a moment, "Then Zhao Zhao believes it too."
As the mother and daughter chatted, the conversation turned to the Fourth Prince.
"Mother, if it's true, why would the Fourth Prince want to harm my father?"
Li Yang's problem made the atmosphere of the conversation between the mother and daughter as cold as ice.
"The Fourth Prince's mother is Consort Li. Back then, when the princes were playing, none of them liked to play with him. This was because whenever the Fourth Prince lost a game of chess, he would rely on his mother's favor to cheat and beat and scold the other princes. If someone else got a good item, he would always snatch it away."
Zhuang Shutong seemed quite annoyed with the Fourth Prince. "But as for why he wanted to murder your father, I don't know. Your father was with the Second Prince when he was young, so perhaps he had some conflicts with the Fourth Prince."
The two got sleepy from talking and fell asleep.
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