Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 320 Fan Zhong: Grand Secretary Yang, who can control the Crown Prince of Han when he causes trouble?!

Although Yu Qian and the others didn't know what Yang Shiqi's so-called imperial edict was, they could tell from the expressions on Empress Dowager Zhang's and Yang Shiqi's faces that things were not simple! Moreover, the so-called imperial edict naturally involved the late emperors, and through Yang Shiqi's words, Yu Qian and the others knew that the so-called imperial edict involved the two late emperors, Emperor Taizong and Emperor Renzong! At this moment, Yu Qian and the others knew that the situation had become even more complicated!

"Grand Secretary Yang! You know I wasn't talking about that!" But clearly, not everyone agreed with Yang Shiqi's statement. For example, Fan Zhong was very dissatisfied with Yang Shiqi's attempt to change the subject, after all, a catastrophe was imminent! Immediately, Fan Zhong directly refuted Yang Shiqi's words.

"General Fan, the Empress Dowager is here, do not be presumptuous!" Yu Qian was somewhat surprised to see Fan Zhong targeting Yang Shiqi again, and his heart skipped a beat. However, he still reminded Fan Zhong not to be presumptuous in front of the Empress Dowager and to pay attention to etiquette.

In reality, Yu Qian was reminding Fan Zhong that with the Empress Dowager present, he should make things clear and explain the cause and effect of the matter that the two of them were avoiding. But clearly, Yu Qian was overthinking it; Fan Zhong was too anxious to pay any attention to him.

"Your Majesty, this matter is of utmost importance. If it is not handled properly, it could lead to a catastrophic disaster!"
Rong Fanzhong has gone too far.

Afterwards, Fan Zhong apologized to the Empress Dowager again! He accepted any punishment. Fan Zhong seemed to realize his neglect of Empress Dowager Zhang, so he solemnly kowtowed to her to show his attitude.

At this moment, Empress Dowager Zhang knew that there must be something extremely serious that even she, the Empress Dowager, was unaware of! And this matter was known only to Fan Zhong and Yang Shiqi, two of Emperor Taizong's most trusted confidants! Because the imperial edict that Yang Shiqi mentioned originated from Emperor Taizong himself!

Empress Dowager Zhang then remained silent, turning her gaze to Yang Shiqi and awaiting his explanation.

At this moment, Yang Shiqi frowned, lost in thought, clearly pondering something. Yu Qian keenly sensed that for a Grand Secretary to lose his composure in front of the Empress Dowager, things were about to escalate into a major crisis!
"Grand Secretary Yang, with the death of the Prince of Han, I have already failed Emperor Taizong's trust. I offer my death as a small token of my remorse to Emperor Taizong, and I beg the Prince of Han's forgiveness."

However, if the Crown Prince of Han uses this as an excuse to break the agreement with Emperor Taizong and Emperor Renzong not to raise troops, and directly causes trouble, what should be done?
"Tell me, who in the world can subdue him?" Faced with everyone's questioning gazes, Fan Zhong kowtowed to Empress Dowager Zhang to apologize, then turned his gaze to Yang Shiqi again. He then uttered words that left everyone in the room speechless.

So much so that Empress Dowager Zhang covered her mouth with a handkerchief in surprise, trying not to make a sound out of her discomfiture.

Fan Zhong's words caused widespread panic and speculation. Two crucial pieces of information were then gleaned from them.

In particular, the phrase "failed to live up to Emperor Taizong's entrustment" clearly tells everyone in the room that I, Fan Zhong, am acting on Emperor Taizong's dying wish to protect the life of Prince Han and even his family!
Fan Zhong's next statement, that the Crown Prince of Han had broken his promise not to rebel, sparked endless speculation among everyone in the room. They now realized that the Crown Prince of Han had made an agreement with both Emperor Taizong and Emperor Renzong that he would not rebel. It now seemed that one of the conditions of the Crown Prince's agreement with the two late emperors was that the emperors would protect the personal safety of the Han royal family!
At this moment, the Prince of Han was dead, burned to death by the Xuande Emperor, and the court was spreading this news wantonly, making it widely known. This had clearly given the Crown Prince of Han a pretext to rebel! Seeing Fan Zhong blurt out these words in his desperation, General Fan, Yang Shiqi, snapped out of his daze and felt a headache coming on. However, Yang Shiqi still advised Fan Zhong to say less, to avoid letting anyone with ulterior motives overhear. After all, in Yang Shiqi's view, some things were simply inappropriate to say, lest they cause panic in the court and unrest throughout the land!

Yu Qian had long been fed up with Fan Zhong and Yang Shiqi's cryptic exchanges, so he decided to try and probe Fan Zhong to see if he could get a breakthrough and uncover the truth. Yu Qian wasn't sure if Fan Zhong would tell him, but he was certain that trying wouldn't hurt!

"General Fan, with the death of the Prince of Han, the court naturally has to give an explanation to the people. However, isn't what you're saying a bit alarmist?"

The Crown Prince of Han is far away in Yunnan, at most in charge of a single prefecture; the Emperor recently sent so many warships as a sign of favor; if the court were to allow the Crown Prince of Han to succeed to the throne as King of Han as soon as possible, and provide some compensation to the King of Han's residence, it would surely appease the Crown Prince of Han.

The Crown Prince of Han wouldn't just send cavalry directly!
Moreover, the imperial court has not yet investigated the matter of Prince Han's rebellion. Yu Qian was unaware of the reasons behind Fan Zhong's stubbornness. However, in Yu Qian's view, as long as the Prince of Han's residence was given sufficient compensation and the Crown Prince of Han was allowed to ascend the throne as soon as possible, there shouldn't be too many problems. After all, the Prince of Han's residence was only one prefecture at most; even if they rebelled, facing the imperial court's million-strong army, it wouldn't cause much unrest!

It must be said that Yu Qian was indeed astute, quickly devising a practical solution. If Zhu Zhanhe truly didn't possess a crocodile dragon, then there might really be no way to resolve the situation, and he would have to accept the outcome. However, Yu Qian clearly didn't know that the Crown Prince of Han possessed a terrifying crocodile dragon!

"What does Grand Secretary Yang think?" Empress Dowager Zhang agreed with Yu Qian's suggestion. After all, she was unaware of the existence of the alligator dragon, so she turned her gaze to Yang Shiqi and asked Yu Qian if his method was feasible.

Yang Shiqi ignored Yu Qian's words, silently pondering his strategy while unconsciously twirling a brass ring on his hand.

"Grand Secretary Yang, everyone is waiting for your reply~" Seeing Yang Shiqi lower his head in thought again, everyone had a bad feeling. Seeing this, Fan Zhong said to Yang Shiqi with a sarcastic tone, urging him to reply to everyone.

Everyone present was a shrewd individual; they could easily discern the sarcasm in Fan Zhong's words. However, at this moment, they were more concerned about Yang Shiqi's stance. Yang Shiqi's silence left them utterly at a loss for what to do!
"Grand Secretary Yang!" Yu Qian, an impatient man, urged Yang Shiqi on, noticing his silence.

"Your Majesty, this matter requires careful consideration." After a moment of contemplation, Yang Shiqi spoke, but his words sent a chill down everyone's spine. From his reply, it was clear that Yang Shiqi disagreed with Yu Qian's seemingly sound suggestion, or rather, he didn't think highly of Yu Qian's method!
"Grand Secretary Yang! Speak up if you have anything to say, and let's all work together to find a solution!" Seeing Yang Shiqi's silence and Fan Zhong kneeling on the ground beside him, Yu Qian, an impatient man, spoke up again. He was anxious to know the whole story behind Yang Shiqi's concealment, so he could help him come up with a solution.

Furthermore, in Yu Qian's view, Yang Shiqi did not give up even under such perilous circumstances in Yumu River, and still tried his best to support the Xuande Emperor's family, who were still the Crown Prince at the time. Now that the Crown Prince of Han only has a prefecture, what is there to be afraid of?! At worst, we can just fight another battle!
(End of this chapter)