Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 103: Thinking of Xiang Yu

Early the next morning, Zhu Houzhao came to find Chen Ce.

Chen Ce looked at Zhu Houzhao in surprise and asked, "Why are you here so early in the morning? Is there any new progress with Wang Yue?"

Zhu Houzhao mysteriously pulled Chen Ce into the central hall and asked Liu Jin to guard outside to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.

"Little brother, I heard it, but it's just what I heard. It may not count."

Chen Ce knew that this must be what Emperor Hongzhi said to Zhu Houzhao, so he nodded seriously and said, "Well, tell me about it."

Zhu Houzhao said: "General Wang should be fine. Now the testimonies of both parties are vague and there is no substantial evidence."

"Those civil servants might just want to drag it out like this so that General Wang can't return to the Northwest."

Chen Ce was stunned for a moment, then thought about Zhu Houzhao's words carefully, and found that they made some sense. He looked up at Zhu Houzhao in astonishment.

Seeing Chen Ce was so smart that he was shocked by him, Zhu Houzhao felt extremely satisfied and said proudly: "What do you think? Am I awesome?"

Chen Ce nodded, then asked, "So are we going to keep dragging it on like this?"

Zhu Houzhao shook his head and said, "In my opinion, we need an opportunity to allow Wang Yue to return to the northwest."

"Let me test you. Do you know what kind of opportunity is needed to allow General Wang to return to the northwest?"

What do you mean?
Chen Ce was thinking quickly.

Is this what Zhu Houzhao meant? Not likely.

That is what Emperor Hongzhi meant!
In other words, Emperor Hongzhi never wanted to deal with this matter from the beginning to the end. He didn't want to offend anyone and just wanted to drag it on, creating an opportunity for Wang Yue to return to the northwest?
But how long will this drag on?
Also, Wang Yue came this time with determination. If Emperor Hongzhi did not give him a result, given his stubborn character, could he return to the northwest so easily?

He didn't care about his own life and death, otherwise he wouldn't have intervened and forced Emperor Hongzhi to come to a conclusion on the matter.

Now Emperor Hongzhi is still trying to smooth things over. Will Wang Yue be satisfied?

"Then this case..."

Chen Ce looked at Zhu Houzhao with a serious expression.

Zhu Houzhao shook his head and said, "We'll find a way to supply General Wang's men later. Anyway, it won't work this time."

Hey.

Although Chen Ce had thought of this a long time ago, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he heard the result.

Emperor Hongzhi was indeed still thinking about striking a balance, balancing the respective interests of Wang Yue and the civil service group.

If we consider it from the perspective of the emperor alone, there is nothing wrong with this, but we cannot say that Emperor Hongzhi was wrong. Murder requires evidence, and if we cannot find any evidence, on what grounds can he reward Wang Yue's subordinates?

There are breakthroughs now, such as the Inspector General of the Censorate who is in charge of the Northwest investigation and the Minister of Personnel Tu Yu, but if the two bureaucrats at the ministry level are arrested and the interrogation continues, the matter will undoubtedly become more and more involved.

Emperor Hongzhi would definitely not be willing to do so, nor did he want to do so, so he could only continue to drag it out, waiting for an opportunity in the northwest to release Wang Yue back to the northwest. This time, he could just pretend that nothing had happened, and both sides would neither win nor lose.

This is the best outcome, as long as the old man can go to the northwest alive.

"Little brother, can you think of any opportunity?" Zhu Houzhao asked Chen Ce with his head tilted.

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "I don't know either. It seems we can only wait. But it's fine as long as General Wang is okay."

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "I've already told you, with me here, nothing will happen to him, just rest assured."

"Okay, I have something else to do. Don't tell anyone else about these things. Just keep them in your mind. I came here this time just to reassure you."

Chen Ce nodded and saw Zhu Houzhao off.

After Zhu Houzhao left, Chen Ce sat in the central hall and thought, there are two solutions, either open the gate to let the Turpan and Tatars in, artificially create an opportunity in the northwest, but the old man would definitely not agree.

Either let the Northwestern soldiers take the initiative to fight a defeated battle, causing the situation in the Northwest to fall into a shaky situation, and then let the old man clean up the mess.

But according to the old man's temper, he might not agree to let his soldiers do such a shameful thing. Chen Ce rubbed his head, it seemed that there was no better way.

We have to find a way to meet the old man, and let him choose which method to use.

Chen Ce made an appointment with Li Zhen at noon that day. Li Zhen seemed a little embarrassed when he heard that Chen Ce was going to the imperial prison, but he still gritted his teeth and said, "I will send you a set of small flag clothes at night, and you can sneak in with me. There will be fewer Jinyiwei at that time, but you should not stay too long."

Chen Ce bowed and said, "Thank you very much."

At night, Chen Ce changed into the service of a small flag of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and followed Li Zhen into the imperial prison. When he saw Wang Yue again, Chen Ce was stunned.

After only a few days of not seeing each other, Wang Yue had become visibly older, and his eyes had become cloudy. Only when he saw Chen Ce did his eyes gradually brighten.

"Chun Jian, why are you here?"

Chen Ce said, "Old man, to make it short, the Crown Prince has heard the news that you will be fine, and the Emperor is handling the matter calmly."

Wang Yue nodded calmly, but his eyelids drooped slightly.

Chen Ce continued, "According to the emperor's intention, you can return when an opportunity arises in the northwest."

"I've thought of two solutions..."

Before Chen Ce could finish his words, he was interrupted by Wang Yue. Wang Yue looked up at Chen Ce and said, "Chun Jian, when you have time, please come to my house. I have told my wife to give you something."

Chen Ce nodded and said, "Okay, let's not rush this matter. Please listen to me. I shouldn't stay in here for too long."

"There are two ways. The first is to open the gate and let the Turpans and Tatars in."

"The second is to let the Northwest soldiers take the initiative to fight a losing battle."

"Then the opportunity for the Northwest will come out. The emperor can use these two excuses to release you back to the Northwest, and the case will be over."

After listening to this, Wang Yue smiled slightly and said, "Then let's go with the second one."

"You should send the half wolf head with a letter to the innkeeper at Hami. He will contact you after seeing it."

"Don't send the letter today. Send it the day after tomorrow. The day after tomorrow."

Chen Ce asked in confusion: "Why do we have to wait until the day after tomorrow?"

Wang Yue said: "Just in case."

What's the best case scenario? Chen Ce still didn't understand Wang Yue's considerations, but he nodded and said, "Okay! Then the day after tomorrow!"

Wang Yue grabbed Chen Ce, and Chen Ce turned his head suspiciously and asked in confusion: "Old man, what's the matter?"

Wang Yue looked at Chen Ce seriously, sizing him up and down, and suddenly smiled with relief, saying, "I was not wrong, Chun Jian, teach the prince well, don't let him learn from his father, you must teach him well."

"what?"

Chen Ce nodded and said, "Let's talk about this slowly later. There will be many opportunities."

"Ah."

Looking at Chen Ce's excited back as he left, Wang Yue's smile gradually froze, and then he sat blankly on the straw mat with a dull expression, his eyes gradually dimming.

The little bit of hope in his heart was now completely shattered. He had long expected that the current emperor would handle it this way.

After all... he is no longer the late emperor who could always protect him.

"Life is a hero, and death is a ghost. I think about Xiang Yu and refuse to cross Jiangdong."

Wang Yue murmured.

(End of this chapter)