Chapter 117 Strong Medicine
The prince was assassinated, and the emperor had to give him an explanation.
At the next morning court session, he found a random fault with the Second Prince and put him under house arrest with justification.
It only said house arrest, but did not say how long the house arrest would last.
The court officials who were part of the Second Prince's party were feeling uneasy, and as soon as the court session was dismissed, they all went to the Duke of Zhenguo to inquire.
After discussing matters for half the night yesterday, he had to force himself to get up early to attend the morning court today. Now the Duke of Zhenguo had to patiently appease these people.
After sending all these followers away, the Duke of Zhenguo felt so exhausted that he felt as if a layer of skin had fallen off.
He slumped in the large chair in his study, staring blankly at the ceiling beams.
The incident at the Queen's palace banquet yesterday was clearly a setup by someone, one to trap the Second Prince, and two to destroy the marriage.
After the palace banquet, the Queen Mother summoned Xiang Zheng, questioned him for more than an hour, and then gave him a message.
There is something wrong with the Crown Princess.
Let him thoroughly investigate this princess from Zhao Kingdom.
This person is definitely not that stupid princess.
This princess is deeply loved by the emperor and empress in Zhao Kingdom. There is no need for her to disguise herself, pretend to be a pig and eat the tiger, and pretend to be a straw bag.
The personalities don't match, the strategies don't match, and the skills don't match.
Apart from the same appearance, this is a completely different person.
The Duke of Zhenguo pulled his mouth and smiled bitterly. Another person? Could he be resurrected by borrowing a corpse?
But the Queen Mother was right, this Princess Zhao was too weird.
And the incident of the prince being assassinated yesterday...
Zhenguo Gong was thinking anxiously when the door of the study was pushed open and He Chao came in from outside.
He is gentle and elegant, with an extraordinary temperament. His long blue gown exudes the scholarly air and wisdom that is unique to a scholar.
The Duke of Zhenguo felt that He Chao was a man who could make people feel at ease just by looking at him, and he had the demeanor of a great scholar.
"You've come just in time. I have something to tell you."
The Duke of Zhenguo stood up and sat down, pointing to a chair on the side and motioning He Chao to sit down.
He Chao bowed and greeted, then sat down respectfully. He shook his legs and put on his robe, then slowly raised his eyes to look at the Duke of Zhenguo, "My Lord, do you want to tell me about the assassination of the Crown Prince?"
The Duke of Zhenguo laughed immediately, "Everyone says that you, He Chao, are extremely intelligent. This is more than just extraordinary. That's right, the prince was assassinated. What do you think?"
He Chao calmly analyzed, "It's just a self-made show."
The Duke of Zhenguo slammed the table and said, "That's right, but His Majesty believed the assassination. This morning, in front of all the civil and military officials in the court, he found a random excuse to put the Second Prince under house arrest!
What happened to the Second Prince at the palace banquet yesterday was clearly a frame-up. Your Majesty did not investigate the frame-up, but instead protected the Crown Prince!
Anyone with a discerning eye can figure out how to do this."
He Chao's expression remained unchanged, with a half-smile of obedience, "That's because the Crown Princess made a scene, and the Second Prince's wife didn't. It's said that crying children get candy.
The Crown Princess openly made a scene in front of the courtiers in the Imperial Study, which just dispelled the Emperor's doubts. The Emperor naturally took this as an act of insubordination and exploded. "
After a pause, He Chao said seriously, "But these are not problems. I have something important to report to the Duke."
The Duke of Zhenguo looked at him.
He Chao said: "Your Majesty wants to raise a private army."
The Duke of Zhenguo's expression suddenly changed, "What did you say?"
He Chao said: "Last night, His Majesty secretly summoned the commander of the Xishan Camp, Wang Yu, into the palace. After a half-hour secret talk in the imperial study, he was personally escorted out by the chief eunuch.
During this period, the chief eunuch went to the Internal Memorial Office to check the memorials from previous days.
According to the records, Wang Yu once submitted a memorial, but the memorial did not reach the emperor. Some people said that he met the Second Prince on the day he delivered the memorial.
When the Duke of Zhenguo heard this, he was so shocked and angry.
He Chao looked at his reaction and said, "Your Majesty openly confined the Second Prince today. I'm afraid it's not just because of the Crown Prince's matter, but mainly because of this."
The Duke of Zhenguo slammed the table in anger.
After his anger subsided a little, he was puzzled again, "How do you know that His Majesty wants to raise a private army?"
He Chao said: "The assassination of the crown prince made the emperor feel timid, which is human nature, so he summoned Wang Yu through a secret decree rather than a direct summons.
The secret decree meant that he didn't want the Duke to know.
So what is it that is related to this general but cannot be told to you?"
military power.
"He wants to train the Xishan Camp to become his own direct line?" The Duke of Zhenguo sneered, "What a foolish dream."
He Chao said, "The Duke knows that this is unrealistic, so Wang Yu must know it too. So I say, we should raise a private army and recruit new soldiers."
The Duke of Zhenguo narrowed his eyes, and a dangerous and sharp cold light flashed in his eyes, "Wang Yu is a member of the Su family army. He is not afraid that this person will rebel against him!"
He Chao said: "I was not with the Duke at the time, so I knew very little about General Su's incident. But after General Su's incident, the Emperor imprisoned so many people, arrested so many people, and killed so many people, but in the end he only kept three..."
He did not finish his words, leaving room for the Duke of Zhenguo to analyze independently.
Some things, once you figure them out yourself, are deeply rooted.
"You said that Your Majesty left them behind as a way out?"
"Yes, but at the beginning, His Majesty himself probably didn't figure out what the way out he wanted to leave was. It wasn't until the Crown Princess made a scene yesterday that His Majesty was completely awakened by her."
The Duke of Zhenguo suddenly remembered the Queen Mother's words.
There is something wrong with this Crown Princess.
He looked straight at He Chao, "What do you think, Crown Princess?"
He Chao said bluntly, "He is brave and resourceful, and he dares to act."
"Such a high evaluation?" The Duke of Zhenguo raised his eyebrows.
He Chao said: "Otherwise, why is it that since she came, the prince has been in power frequently, while we have been making mistakes frequently?"
He Chao stared at the Duke of Zhenguo without blinking.
The medicine he gave was strong but also dangerous. If the Duke of Zhenguo over-understood it, he would suffer the backlash.
Fortunately, after a moment of silence, the Duke of Zhenguo said, "The Queen Mother also thinks there is something wrong with her and asked me to investigate."
He Chao breathed a sigh of relief.
I just felt cold sweat soaking my back.
The Duke of Zhenguo rubbed his thumb and index finger together, "What do you think we should do?"
He Chao said, "At this time, His Majesty's heart has already leaned towards the Crown Prince and away from the Second Prince. The Duke cannot take action against the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess at this time, but he can praise them to death. Acknowledge the Crown Princess's ability, use the right opportunity to give her an important task, and then take advantage of the situation to defeat them in one fell swoop. This matter must be able to remove all of our people."
The Duke of Zhenguo sighed, "Such an opportunity is so hard to come by."
He Chao said: "Everything depends on human effort."
"Mr. He has a plan?"
He Chao smiled bitterly, "If I had a plan, I wouldn't keep it a secret. I just have an idea but no plan.
After all, this matter needs to be considered carefully, but the Duke should confirm the matter of His Majesty raising a private army as soon as possible. If it is true, once His Majesty succeeds, it will not be a good thing for His Majesty in the future. "
