Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 781 Vicious
The King of Qin tried hard to control his emotions so as not to give anyone away. He looked away from the memorial and slowly moved his feet, about to leave, when at that moment, a cold hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.

The knuckles of the hand protruded, and the palm seemed devoid of any warmth, giving it a lifeless appearance.

The King of Qin's hair stood on end. Suppressing his panic and disgust, he hurriedly bowed: "Your Majesty..."

The hand loosened its grip, and the King of Qin immediately stepped forward and placed the hand back under the covers.

"Is there anything else Your Majesty can do for me?" King Qin asked respectfully, then looked up to understand the Emperor's meaning.

The official glanced to the side, and the King of Qin's heart sank, for there lay the memorial from Srivijaya.

The official took a breath, gathering some strength before saying, "What...do you...think?"

The King of Qin pretended to have just noticed it, turning his head to look at it several times before saying, "If we want maritime trade to prosper, we must wipe out those pirates."

"Since the three Buddhas have come to petition for our alliance, we should take this opportunity to work with them to thoroughly regulate the shipping lanes and deploy troops to control the surrounding seas." This was something Wang Yan had been advocating, and the Emperor naturally approved of it; otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths. At this moment, he had to follow the Emperor's wishes.

The emperor did not respond for a long time, and the King of Qin remained bowed, not daring to relax his guard in the slightest.

After a long while, the Emperor's weak voice rang out again: "Who... should we send?"

The King of Qin said, "Your Majesty, I believe that sending officials from Fuzhou and Quanzhou, especially those recently appointed by the court, would be beneficial. Firstly, they did not collude with Xie Yizhi and his ilk for personal gain, and secondly, it would make it easier for them to better manage maritime transport in the future."

The Emperor fell silent again. This time, the King of Qin cautiously raised his head to look. He saw that the Emperor had his eyes closed, but one corner of his mouth was uncontrollably crooked, and saliva was almost dripping down his chin. Fortunately, the palace servants attending him noticed and wiped it away with a soft handkerchief.

The King of Qin had previously thought that the Emperor's illness might not be so serious, but after seeing this scene, he had no doubts left. If the Emperor were capable of self-control, he would never have shown such a side of himself in front of others.

A monarch is unwilling to tell others that he is failing, especially the one who is about to inherit the throne.

"The candidate...reported to...the Central Secretariat...and...me...to review."

After the emperor finished speaking haltingly, the King of Qin replied, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will certainly consider this carefully."

The Emperor fell silent, and after a long while, a soft snore could be heard. The eunuch Jiang beside him whispered to the Prince of Qin, "Your Highness, the Emperor is tired..."

The King of Qin nodded, retreated step by step, and finally walked out of the hall.

A cold wind blew in his face, sending a chill down the spine of the King of Qin. The man in the hall was about to die, and the air was thick with the stench of decay, making it hard to breathe.

That person's death is not the main issue; it involves the lives of many others.

As the King of Qin left the palace and sat in his sedan chair, his face was already terribly gloomy. Just as the sedan chair was about to be carried away, a voice said, "Father."

The King of Qin lifted the curtain and saw his eldest son.

The Prince of Huai was dressed in official robes, clearly preparing to enter the palace.

The King of Qin asked, "Going to the palace to be on duty?" He had just left the palace this morning and was supposed to return the day after tomorrow, so why had he come here so soon?
The Prince of Huai responded, "The government just sent word that I must enter the palace immediately."

The King of Qin nodded: "Go, but be careful."

The Prince of Huai bowed to the Prince of Qin and hurried towards the palace gate. Entering the palace at such a time clearly indicated that he had gained the Emperor's trust. In contrast, his father was not kept in the Funing Palace.

The King of Qin pondered the events of the day, and by the time he came to his senses, he had already stepped into the main house of the royal palace.

Jiang Zhenru was waiting there when she saw the King of Qin return, and she personally helped him change his clothes.

After recognizing the person in front of him, the King of Qin immediately frowned: "Nonsense! Why aren't you lying in your room? What are you doing here? Do you think you're the only one in the manor who can serve you?"

Jiang Zhenru was wearing a headband and looked much better than when she had just given birth.

“At a time like this, how can I care about these things?” Jiang Zhenru looked at the Prince of Qin. “As soon as Your Highness enters the palace, my heart is in my throat. I can’t sit down, let alone lie down.”

The King of Qin pulled Jiang Zhenru into the inner room and had her lie down on the soft couch before saying, "You can't do anything reckless."

"I just want to say a few words to Your Highness," Jiang Zhenru said, clinging to the Prince's arm. Seeing that there was no one else in the room, she lowered her voice. "Xie Shi has been imprisoned."

The King of Qin had already suspected this while he was in the palace; if everything went smoothly, this was the outcome for Lady Xie.

Jiang Zhenru said, "I told you long ago that my sister-in-law would definitely be able to make this happen."

Over the years, whenever the Prince's Mansion had any problems, it was always the Jiang family who helped. After Jiang Ruming passed away, his wife even came to the capital to help the Prince's Mansion. To put it bluntly, if anything went wrong, the Jiang family was willing to stand in front of the Prince's Mansion. The Prince of Qin felt a little guilty. He took Jiang Zhenru's hand and said that if he were to inherit the throne in the future, he would definitely make amends to the Jiang family.

"Something happened in the Funing Palace just now," the Prince of Qin said, sitting down and mentioning the Emperor's illness. "The Emperor entrusted all affairs to Wang Bingchen, and even the Empress was not able to stay."

Jiang Zhenru looked as if she had expected this: "Judging from this, the Wang family father and son will definitely interfere in whoever inherits the throne in the future. But neither Wang Bingchen nor Wang Yan has ever revealed anything to the prince."

Not only that, the King of Qin could also sense the distance that the Wang family father and son had shown him in their daily lives. Therefore, he had to take control of the Wang family father and son before the Emperor died, so that he could have everything under his control.

Thinking of this, the King of Qin looked at Jiang Zhenru and asked, "Has any news been sent back from Fujian?"

Jiang Zhenru nodded and said, "Those merchants behind Xia Mengxian will all be willing to do things according to the Prince's orders in the future. When the Prince ascends the throne, officials will be allowed to restrain them. If the Prince is still not at ease, he can select a few trusted confidants to go to Fujian. Those people are just greedy for some money, how could they cause any big trouble?"

"The Wang family is clinging to this matter because they are envious of these profits. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sold all their ships to Xie Yuyan."

The King of Qin found this reasonable and nodded: "The Wang family father and son are quite capable. They managed to get Srivijaya to send a memorial, requesting to join forces with Daliang to deal with those people."

Jiang Zhenru was taken aback: "The Wang family father and son are doing this at this time, could it be that they are after us? If they really catch them, the Wang family's manipulation of those merchants will be exposed. Your Highness must not let the Wang family father and son succeed."

The King of Qin said, “Once His Majesty has made a decision, this matter cannot be stopped. However, the final outcome depends on who controls it. His Majesty has asked me and the Secretariat to recommend candidates. If our people are sent, then there is naturally nothing to worry about.”

Jiang Zhenru understood.

“Therefore,” said the King of Qin, “we must now take action against the royal family.”

Jiang Zhenru's eyes lit up. Xie was in jail, wasn't this a good opportunity?
“Wang Yan is determined to marry Xie, which shows how deeply he loves her,” Jiang Zhenru said with a smile. “Xie is being tortured in prison… Do you think Wang Yan is worried?”

(End of this chapter)