HLnovel Chapter 188 Forced by Circumstances
Chapter 188 Forced by Circumstances
Chapter 188 188 Forced by Necessity
No one expected that the situation would take such a dramatic turn in just a few words, and the person investigating the Ronghualou case would suddenly change hands.
Chunyu Yang stood there in a posture of "apologizing," and the emperor did not ask him to get up, but he stubbornly refused to get up.
He didn't believe that changing the person would speed up the process of eliminating Ronghua Tower. Zhong Ping had been lurking and planning for so long, but he had only eliminated a branch of Ronghua Tower. The assassin named "Ji Linchuan", the man disguised as a musician, and the "Lord" who refused to show himself in the carriage were still nowhere to be found. With Chunyu Jing's skills, if he encountered one of them, he would probably only be destined to die.
But even though he was filled with resentment and unwillingness, the emperor's decree had already been issued, what could he do? Disobey the decree?
Unseen by anyone, Chunyu Yang's lowered face was taut, making his expression even colder and more stern.
"Alright, Third Prince, get up. I don't really want you to completely relinquish your duties. Fourth Prince is new to this position and there are bound to be many things he doesn't understand. He'll need your guidance." The Emperor knew that his actions seemed to show a lack of trust in Chunyu Yang and that he feared Chunyu Yang might harbor resentment, so he quickly softened his tone.
"It seems you two brothers have never worked together before, so let's treat this as an opportunity to cooperate."
After hearing this, Chunyu Jing smiled and said to Chunyu Yang, "My younger brother has little experience with the affairs of the martial world, so there are indeed many things he doesn't understand. I hope that my third brother will not hesitate to teach him."
Chunyu Yang finally straightened up and responded with an extremely indifferent "Hmm".
On the other side, at the Dongxu Prince's Mansion.
"What did you say?"
An orange fell to the ground with a "thud" and rolled into the corner of the room. Chunyu Shan's hand was still in the position of holding the orange as he stared dumbfounded at the eunuch Li Decai standing in the center of the front hall.
"Eunuch Li, what did you just say? Say it again?"
"His Majesty has decreed that Your Highness, the Sixth Prince, shall be in charge of all matters related to this year's autumn hunt in Xingzhou. I request that Your Highness make a trip to the palace to discuss the details with His Majesty and the Left Chancellor." Li Decai patiently repeated what he had just said.
Chunyu Shan's eyes rolled back, as if he had fainted from shock. The maidservant standing nearby was startled and rushed forward to support him, calling out:
"Your Highness, Your Highness, are you alright?"
Li Decai coughed twice and said, "Sixth Prince, His Majesty said that whether you are faking illness or pretending to be injured, you must be carried to the palace."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chunyu Shan sprang up from his chair, slammed his folding fan into his palm, and looked ready to die.
"Fine, let's go. It's just hunting, what's so difficult about that? I'll head to the palace right now!"
Li Decai beamed: "Sixth Prince, please."
When Chunyu Shan arrived at the Imperial Study, the Emperor was discussing the drought in Shu Prefecture with Chunyu Jing, while his third brother and the Left Chancellor stood to the side, one silent and the other composed, creating a rather strange atmosphere.
However, seeing that Chunyu Yang was also present, Chunyu Shan felt somewhat relieved. He nodded to his third brother, then stepped forward and addressed the emperor:
"My son, I will meet my father."
The emperor and Chunyu Jing turned around together, and the emperor said, "You've finally decided to step into my imperial study."
Chunyu Shan didn't mention the autumn hunt, only standing there smiling with his eyes crinkled. The emperor knew his son was extremely shrewd, and getting him to personally handle the matter was extremely difficult, so he could only take the initiative and say:
"Li Decai has already told you, hasn't he? I want you to be fully in charge of this autumn hunt."
Chunyu Shan sighed, "Father, you know perfectly well that I am not capable of managing things, yet you still want me to take over. Aren't you afraid that I will mess things up?"
"You dare!" the emperor roared, his beard bristling and eyes wide. "The autumn hunt is a major event, a prayer to the heavens for blessings and a crucial step in maintaining the balance between the Central Plains and the North! If you dare to only care about having fun and ruin the whole thing, you can forget about ever returning to the capital!"
"Yes, yes, your son will do his utmost to not disappoint Father Emperor," Chunyu Shan sighed and said perfunctorily.
"To prevent any mishaps on your journey, I have assigned the Left Chancellor to assist you during this autumn hunt. If you have any questions or need any assistance, please feel free to contact the Left Chancellor," the Emperor said.
Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Gongsun cupped his hands in a salute to Chunyu Shan and said with a smile, "It is a great honor for me to work with the Sixth Prince."
Chunyu Shan quickly replied, "The Left Prime Minister is upright and capable, with students all over the world, and they are all outstanding individuals. It would be an honor for me to have the Left Prime Minister's guidance."
"Alright, whatever you have to say, you can discuss it in private when you get back. I'm really tired. You may all leave," the emperor said, his face full of weariness.
After leaving the imperial study, Prime Minister Gongsun and Chunyu Shan agreed on a time for a detailed discussion, and then he left first. Chunyu Shan, who was wary of Chunyu Jing, naturally went to be with Chunyu Yang.
“Third Brother, how about we arrange a place tomorrow to have a good chat about the ‘Ronghua Tower’?” Chunyu Jing’s gaze swept lightly over the two of them as he asked Chunyu Yang with a smile.
"Find me at Guanhai Tower at 7 PM tomorrow," Chunyu Yang said in a deep voice.
Chunyu Jing nodded: "Okay, see you tomorrow."
Watching Chunyu Jing leave, Chunyu Shan finally couldn't contain his curiosity and grabbed Chunyu Yang, asking:
"Third brother, what exactly happened today? Why did Father suddenly decide to entrust the autumn hunt to me? This task should have been handled by the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince was unavailable, Fourth brother, who is in charge of the Ministry of Rites, would have been the right person to handle it. Why did he choose me? And what is this 'Ronghua Tower' that Fourth brother mentioned? What does it have to do with you?"
His questions came out one after another like beans being poured out. Anyone else would have become impatient long ago, but Chunyu Yang was exceptionally calm and patiently explained to him:
"This morning at court, the Emperor brought up evidence that the Crown Prince had embezzled funds from the river embankments in Yunzhou, Yingzhou, and Cangzhou two years ago, deliberately inflated rice prices to profit from natural disasters, and embezzled 40 million taels of gold for the construction of the Qionglin Garden. In front of all the officials, the Emperor reprimanded him and punished him by confining him to the Eastern Palace for a month. He also demoted Lord Fan to the position of Director of the Water Conservancy Department of the Ministry of Works."
Chunyu Shan was startled: "How could this be?"
“With the Crown Prince under house arrest, he naturally can no longer be in charge of this year’s autumn hunt. I originally thought that Father would naturally hand this matter over to my fourth brother, but I didn’t expect him to specifically ask you to handle it.” Chunyu Yangdao frowned. “And the ‘Ronghua Tower’ case, which was originally my responsibility, was only one step away from being completely eradicated, but inexplicably, at this critical juncture, Father transferred it to my fourth brother.”
Upon hearing this, Chunyu Shan immediately understood the emperor's intentions perfectly.
Although the court is now filled with factions, each serving their own master, this situation was actually created by the emperor himself. Back then, in order to make the crown prince feel threatened and prevent him from becoming complacent and losing himself, he intentionally supported Chunyu Jing to counter him. However, he did not expect that Chunyu Jing was indeed very capable, and in just a few years, he began to overshadow the crown prince.
This time, the Crown Prince's unearthed misconduct has likely eroded his prestige among the people and officials. The most direct beneficiary is undoubtedly Chunyu Jing, but the Emperor certainly doesn't want Chunyu Jing to wield too much power. Therefore, he's dragged this idle prince into the spotlight for a while. However, fearing Chunyu Jing might sense this intention and harbor resentment, the Emperor has also arranged a task for him from his third brother as a consolation prize.
Tsk, they all think they can turn the world upside down, but in the end, they're just pawns in the emperor's hands. It's pitiful that he wanted to stay away from all the intrigue and backstabbing in the palace, but in the end, he was still forced to get involved.
Ugh……
Chunyu Shan was about to lament to his third brother about how difficult it was to be a royal son when he looked up and saw Qiu Lu, the head maid of Consort Zhuang, standing not far ahead behind a corner, looking at them expectantly.
Chunyu Yang naturally noticed Qiu Lu as well. He turned and walked towards her, asking:
"Did Mother send you? Is there something important you need?"
Qiu Lu performed the palace etiquette towards the two of them, and said with a slight smile:
"Her Majesty has instructed that after the morning court session, the Third Prince should come to her residence."