Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 407 Audacious
"Old Cui?" Tian Ergeng noticed the change in Cui Chengxiu and looked at him.

Cui Chengxiu shook his head slightly and said with a wry smile, "It is natural for Prince Xin to succeed to the throne according to the ancestral system, but you and I have never dealt with Prince Xin. In recent years, Prince Xin has lived in seclusion in the palace and has never seen outsiders, let alone been close to anyone. I don't know what kind of personality Prince Xin has, and how he will treat us after he succeeds to the throne."

"Don't worry about that." Wei Zhongxian said, "Prince Xin is young but mature and a man of his own ideas. He has been staying at home in the palace for many years to avoid getting into trouble with foreign officials. It's good for a young man not to be arrogant or impatient."

"In addition, the emperor explained to our family today. The emperor promised that as long as our family works hard to ensure that Prince Xin ascends the throne and stabilizes the government, Prince Xin will treat us well."

As he spoke, Wei Zhongxian recounted what the Emperor Tianqi had said to him before. After listening to Wei Zhongxian's story, Cui Chengxiu and Tian Ergeng did feel a lot more at ease. But then again, for some reason, Cui Chengxiu always felt vaguely uneasy in his heart. After all, the Emperor Tianqi was the Emperor Tianqi, and Prince Xin was Prince Xin. Although they were brothers, they were two people after all.

As long as Emperor Tianqi was alive, these promises would naturally be valid, but once Emperor Tianqi passed away, it was unclear whether the new emperor would really keep his promises. More importantly, they had never dealt with Prince Xin, nor did they know what kind of person he was. This was the key.

Cui Chengxiu sighed. In the current situation, they could only take things one step at a time. They hoped that Prince Xin would keep his promise for the sake of Emperor Tianqi. As long as Prince Xin did not act recklessly, they would naturally support Prince Xin to succeed to the throne according to Emperor Tianqi's wishes, and help Prince Xin stabilize the government and smoothly transfer power.

It's a pity that Emperor Tianqi has no children. If he had children, there wouldn't be such trouble. Even if Emperor Tianqi left a baby, it would be fine. If there was a prince, how could the succession be discussed with Prince Xin? When the young prince succeeds to the throne, won't they have the final say in the court?
"It's not that there is no solution." Tian Ergeng suddenly said this.

As soon as these words came out, Wei Zhongxian and Cui Chengxiu subconsciously looked at him, only to see Tian Ergeng sneer and lower his voice and say: "The emperor intends to let Prince Xin succeed to the throne, it's nothing more than there is no royal heir. But if there is a royal heir, it will naturally be different."

"Royal heir? Where does the royal heir come from?" Wei Zhongxian didn't think of anything else for a moment and asked back subconsciously.

How could Wei Zhongxian not know the situation of the Emperor Tianqi's harem if others didn't know it? Ever since the Emperor Tianqi's three princes failed to survive, no one in his harem became pregnant. Originally, this matter was not urgent, because the Emperor Tianqi was young and had always been in good health. However, not long after the Wanggongchang explosion, the Emperor Tianqi fell ill because he fell into the water. After he fell ill, the Emperor Tianqi rarely went to the harem, let alone let his concubines have children.

Emperor Tianqi is already seriously ill, and it is even more impossible for him to have an heir. What does Tian Ergeng mean by suddenly saying this?
Tian Ergeng looked around and lowered his voice to express his idea. He told Wei Zhongxian and Cui Chengxiu that it was both easy and simple to have an heir to the throne, as it was nothing more than a baby.

Anyway, the palace was full of Wei Zhongxian's people, and Wei Zhongxian controlled everything in the palace. Taking advantage of the fact that Emperor Tianqi was seriously ill, he found a few pregnant women from the people and quietly brought them into the palace. As long as a boy was born in the next few days, wouldn't he be the legitimate prince? When Emperor Tianqi died, supporting this "prince" to ascend the throne would be better than Prince Xin.

When these words were spoken, the two were shocked. No one had expected that Tian Ergeng was so bold that he could think of such a thing.

Bringing a few pregnant women from the common people into the palace and using their children to impersonate the heir to the throne? This... this is simply outrageous. If such a thing were to leak out, it would not be too much to exterminate all of their clans.

All along, everyone only knew that Tian Ergeng was a vicious and reckless person. Since he became the commander of the Jinyiwei, countless Donglin Party members have died at his hands. But who would have known that Tian Ergeng was so bold that he even dared to pretend to be the heir to the throne? Most people would not even dare to think of such a thing.

"Are you crazy?" Cui Chengxiu's eyes widened. "Is it possible to do such a thing? Let's not talk about whether it can be done. Even if it is done, there is no wall that is impenetrable in this world. Once the news gets out, not only will you and I die without a burial place, but your family will also be doomed!"

"What's the big deal?" Tian Ergeng said nonchalantly, "As long as it's kept secret, the harem is under my control. Wouldn't it be easy to send a few women into the palace? Besides, how would an outsider know about the harem? If you don't tell me and I don't tell you, then I won't tell you either. When the child is born, we'll use the emperor's son as the heir. With my father as a witness, who can refute that?"

"As for those involved, it will be easier to deal with them. Don't forget that the East Factory is in my father's hands. I am in charge of the Jinyiwei. It will be as easy to kill a few mouths as to pinch a few ants. When the time comes, there will be no evidence, and everything will be settled, right?"

"It's not as simple as you think!" Cui Chengxiu shook his head in protest: "Kill a few people, silence a few mouths, do you think that's it? Although Dad controls the harem, Dad can't cover up everything. Let's not talk about others, just talk about the queen and the concubines in the harem. If there is such a big thing as the pregnancy of the prince, they would have known about it a long time ago. Now there was no news before, and suddenly the prince was born. Everyone knows that there must be something fishy. Can you hide it?"

"Simple!" Tian Ergeng said with a smile, "When the emperor dies, what kind of trouble can these women cause? Then we can select one of them and publicize to the public that the prince's biological mother is just an ordinary palace maid who died of dystocia after giving birth to the prince. We can choose an obedient concubine and say that the late emperor designated her as the adoptive mother before his death. We respect her as the empress dowager. With this arrangement, she will naturally help cover it up." "As for the others, it will be even easier. It is absolutely no problem to take care of a few women in the deep palace. We can find some of our own people to keep a close watch on them and prevent them from contacting the outside world. How can the news get out?"

"But what about the queen? Don't forget that ordinary concubines are fine, but can you keep the queen under control?"

"Empress..." Tian Ergeng touched his chin, his eyes turned and revealed a ferocious look: "If the Queen understands, then it's fine. You can be honored as the Empress Dowager and support the harem. If the Queen refuses, hmph, there are examples of Queens who died with the late emperor because they were too sad. Old Cui, what do you think?"

Cui Chengxiu was stunned by Tian Ergeng's words and didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Tian Ergeng was really too bold. He not only proposed the idea of ​​using someone else as a substitute, but also wanted to silence the queen. However, Cui Chengxiu was also somewhat tempted after being shocked. Just as Tian Ergeng said, it would be more reliable to support a baby to be the emperor than to let Prince Xin succeed to the throne. If this could be done, when the little emperor ascended the throne, all power would still be controlled by Wei Zhongxian. As Wei Zhongxian's godsons, they could still enjoy this power and wealth.

Even if the little emperor grows up and has his own ideas, it will take more than ten years for him to rule the country after he becomes an adult.

All of them are already old, especially Wei Zhongxian, who is nearly 60 years old. Cui Chengxiu is not much younger either. In a dozen years, he will be over 70 years old. It is hard to say whether he will still be alive by then.

Besides, who can tell what will happen in a decade? It is too far away. It is not too late to think about the future later. For now, we should get through the present first. This is the most practical thing.

"Dad, what do you think about this matter...?" Thinking of this, Cui Chengxiu couldn't help but look at Wei Zhongxian and asked this question tentatively.

"No!" Wei Zhongxian shook his head in objection. He felt that if this was done, he would be really sorry to Emperor Tianqi.

In Wei Zhongxian's heart, the status of Emperor Tianqi was different from that of others. He was Wei Zhongxian's master, and Wei Zhongxian also regarded Emperor Tianqi as his own child and relative. No matter how outsiders viewed him, Wei Zhongxian's loyalty to Emperor Tianqi was real. He absolutely did not want a foreign bastard to pretend to be the heir of Emperor Tianqi and ascend the throne.

It was just as Tian Ergeng said, if they really wanted to do this, it would be easy with their methods, and there was no difficulty at all. The same was true for the queen. Wei Zhongxian, who controlled the palace, didn't need to do anything to kill the queen silently. He only needed to give her a glance and someone would help him do it.

But would this be worthy of the Emperor Tianqi? Wei Zhongxian was already old, and he knew that he would only live for ten years at most. How would he face the Emperor Tianqi after his death? When the Emperor Tianqi asked him what was going on with this prince, how would he answer?

Wei Zhongxian was born in the market. Although he was a gangster, he was loyal in his heart. He would treat anyone who was good to him well, and would also give tit for tat to anyone who offended him.

It is said that those who are unfaithful are mostly scholars, and those who are righteous are mostly butchers. No matter how despicable Wei Zhongxian is, he will not do such an ungrateful and ungrateful thing. Moreover, Emperor Tianqi has already told him clearly and explained everything clearly. When Emperor Tianqi dies, it will be Prince Xin Zhu Youjian who will inherit the throne. As long as Wei Zhongxian follows the instructions of Emperor Tianqi and supports Prince Xin to ascend the throne and take his place firmly, he can still preserve his current wealth and power.

One is a known, promised result. The other is an unknown, extremely risky, and unworthy method of the late emperor. Is there any need to say what Wei Zhongxian will choose? Besides, no matter who ascends the throne, if he wants to control the government and get the real imperial power, he can't do without Wei Zhongxian. Over the years, Wei Zhongxian's eunuch party has spread all over the court and the country. How can it be so easy to shake it?

At this point, Wei Zhongxian rejected Tian Ergeng's suggestion without a second thought and firmly expressed his opposition. Seeing Wei Zhongxian's attitude, Tian Ergeng wanted to persuade him again, but Wei Zhongxian didn't listen to him at all. With his eyes wide open, he said that if he continued to have this idea, he would sever the father-son relationship with Tian Ergeng, and Tian Ergeng would never call him dad again.

(End of this chapter)