Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 337 Wolves Tearing Each Other Apart
Pei Qingyan really couldn't imagine what the Prince of Jin was doing. Did he really think that his father was about to die and he would take the throne?

Let's not even talk about how easy it is for a Super Item to die. Even if it really were going to die, why are you in such a hurry? You can wait until the death is confirmed before you go online!

Princess Chaohuang Gu Yitang is still in exile, and Prince Qi Gu Yiheng is still a commoner. The other princes are either minors or have just come of age. If the emperor really dies, what can others use to compete with you, Gu Yicheng? The ministers can only recommend you, and the royal elders will most likely only choose you. Even if the imperial advisor has objections, it's beyond his reach. You can sit back and relax.

The proper course of action is to help stabilize public sentiment. Even if someone wants to push you to the top, you should quickly silence them and take advantage of this opportunity to gain a lot of prestige to demonstrate your impartiality.

Why are you in such a hurry to do this? Are you courting death?
Little did they know that Gu Yicheng was quite wronged; though he was foolish, he wasn't really that stupid. Sheng Qingfeng discovered that the person who fueled the rumors in the Prince of Jin's mansion was actually a traitor bribed by Long Qinghuang, not someone Gu Yicheng ordered. Meanwhile, Xiao Ting publicly defended the Prince of Jin and accused Pei Qingyan of trying to seize power, which was Xiao Ting's own deliberate act.

Of course, flies don't land on eggs without cracks. The reason why all parties jumped out to cause trouble is simply because Gu Yicheng himself didn't do a good job.

He did hesitate a bit, encouraged by some people.

"Your Highness, please do not hesitate. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. This is by no means an overstepping of authority, but rather a golden opportunity to demonstrate Your Highness's governing abilities. Your Highness, think about it. His Majesty has not yet established a Crown Prince because he is still observing the situation. Otherwise, with Princess Chaohuang missing, Prince Qi deposed, and you being the only adult prince, why hasn't a Crown Prince been established yet? I've heard that His Majesty is very fond of Prince Chu..."

"His Majesty's cultivation is exceptional, and his lifespan is long. Waiting another ten or twenty years is nothing to him. Those underage princes will have plenty of room to grow. For example, Prince Wu seems to have shown remarkable talent in cultivation these past two years..."

"At this moment, Your Highness seems to have no opponents left, but who knows what the future holds? Princess Chaohuang and Prince Qi are long gone; Your Highness should look to the future."

"Now is the perfect time to seize the opportunity and demonstrate to His Majesty and the court that Your Highness is capable of stabilizing the situation and leading the people. His Majesty sees this clearly, and who else but you would succeed him?"

To be honest, there was a certain amount of twisted logic in each of their sentences, which quite appealed to Gu Yicheng.

Of course, not everyone around him was a malicious jester. There were still wise men who were truly loyal to him, who refuted him, saying, "What nonsense are you spouting? Even if Your Highness were the Crown Prince, let alone if you were not yet the Crown Prince, taking advantage of the chaos to do such a presumptuous thing would offend the Emperor! Your Highness must not listen to their nonsense!"

"You're the one spouting nonsense! If that's the case, then why don't you come up with a way to help His Highness become the Crown Prince?"

"you……"

"Could it be that they're saying they'll wait until the princes grow up in ten years? Your Highness, I think this person was sent by another faction to stall you..."

Well, the real undercover agent is accusing someone else of being an undercover agent, but Gu Yicheng finds both sides to be reasonable, making it difficult for him to make a decision.

If he keeps wavering and doesn't have a decisive attitude, then he can't blame other people for stirring things up.

For example, a certain enchantress advised her father at home: "Since the Prince of Jin is so eager to ascend the throne, let him ascend. What does it have to do with us?"

Pei Qingyan: "..."

That's actually true. If you, Gu Yicheng, want to die, then go ahead and die. What does it have to do with the Pei family of Hedong?
Of course, being so directly manipulated by the Prince of Jin would inevitably lead the emperor to believe that Pei Qingyan was useless. But if the old fox really wanted to absolve himself of all responsibility, it would be too easy for him…

The question is whether it's necessary to do this.

Pei Chuyun urged again, "I heard that the Prince of Jin's men provoked Father in court today, and even made sarcastic remarks, saying that Father wants to seize power. Then let's not try to seize it, let them do it."

Pei Qingyan chuckled: "You... you're talking like a child. It's not that simple. His Majesty entrusted me with this important task, hoping that I would stabilize the court and the country, not that he would see me lose control and quit. If I were to quit just because someone provoked me, I wouldn't get any credit in front of His Majesty."

Pei Chuyun smiled and said, "Father, are you really afraid you won't get the short end of the stick?"

“I’m not afraid,” Pei Qingyan said leisurely. “As long as we don’t commit treason, Gu Zhanting will still have to use us. It’s just a matter of whether it’s necessary to do so.”

This is the source of confidence for a family with a thousand-year history.

Pei Chuyun further encouraged, "Then let's just quit."

Pei Qingyan glanced at her: "You really want to trick Prince Jin?"

"He looked at me with lustful eyes, and he even wanted to arrange a marriage between us before. Father, you really didn't know?"

"Heh... He only dares to have the intention. If he actually dares to propose it, Father will dare to refute it. And unless His Majesty has already made up his mind to let him succeed to the throne, His Majesty will not allow an ordinary prince to marry a woman from the Pei family. That would be a real thorn in the side for the Crown Prince."

"Ugh, no matter what, can't I just say I hate him?"

“Alright.” Pei Qingyan didn’t really care whether he tricked Prince Jin or not. Seeing that his daughter wanted to trick him, he leisurely asked, “What does Yu’er think?”

Pei Yu had been watching with a smile for a while, and seeing this, she said, "I don't like Gu Yicheng either."

Seeing that his son was now addressing him by his given name, it was clear that he had been harboring resentment for quite some time. Pei Qingyan nodded: "If you really want to trick him, I have my own methods. It's very simple. Just wait and see. However..."

Pei Chuyun asked curiously, "What?"

"You don't care that someone else might benefit from this?"

Pei Qingyan's deep gaze fell on his daughter's face. Of course, he could see what kind of relationship his daughter had with Shen Tang; in theory, they were mortal enemies. But these things are strange. In the same kind of relationship, some people might wish the other dead, while others might side with the other in external affairs, viewing it as an internal conflict.

Pei Qingyan didn't know what her daughter was thinking, so this question was a direct inquiry.

Pei Chuyun asked, "Could you give it to Shen Tang for free?"

Pei Qingyan retorted, "What if we could?" Pei Chuyun pouted resentfully, "Then let her have it easy. She's lucky."

Pei Qingyan understood and shook his head with a smile: "I'm afraid others will benefit... but if Shen Tang knows how to handle things, she will have her own advantages. When the advantages accumulate to a certain point, she may be able to break free from her cocoon."

When Lu Xingzhou planned to "give it a try," he probably never imagined things would turn out this way... Gu Yicheng may be foolish, but he's not beyond redemption, and it wasn't certain he would succeed anyway. However, he was surrounded by wolves; there were too many people who didn't want him to have a good time for various reasons... When even Prime Minister Pei Qingyan got involved, his fate seemed sealed.

The next morning, as soon as Gu Yicheng woke up, the rumors outside had already settled on the fact that Gu Zhanting had really died. No one was talking about being surrounded anymore; everyone was discussing who would succeed him.

In the streets and alleys, among the common people, the one who received the most praise was indeed Gu Yicheng.

“This is what the people want.” Xiao Ting said leisurely, “Your Highness, I saw that Pei Qingyan didn’t want to handle affairs yesterday. Why don’t you go to the court and take on this heavy responsibility? When His Majesty returns and sees Your Highness’s decisive command and the peaceful court, he will surely have a better understanding of the situation.”

Gu Yicheng wasn't completely stupid; he was genuinely eager to try, but he politely declined, saying, "No, no. You should go to the court meeting; it's not appropriate for me."

Hearing that your father was falsely accused of dying, you showed no anger, not even a pretense of anger. Instead, this attitude... do you really want your father to never come back? Xiao Ting saw that he was genuinely moved and sneered inwardly. He bid farewell to Gu Yicheng and went to the court on his own.

Upon arriving at the imperial court, they were astonished to find that a quarrel had already broken out before the regular meeting had even begun.

The speaker was Lu Jingzhong, a first-class marquis, the emperor's brother-in-law, the empress's elder brother, and the maternal uncle of the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Qi: "Now rumors are everywhere, and the whole city is in turmoil. Prime Minister Pei cannot escape the blame."

Pei Qingyan said coldly, "Why can't the rumors be stopped? Minister Lu should know the situation better than I do. Isn't this exactly what you want?"

The implication is that the rumors were fabricated by the Prince of Jin himself, and that Lu Jingzhong might have even been involved as a driving force behind them.

Xiao Ting was somewhat surprised by these few words. These two could be considered to be from close families for generations, with complex kinship ties across generations. They might even have bloodlines flowing through each other's veins several generations back. Therefore, even if there were conflicts, they rarely confronted each other directly. Especially Pei Qingyan, whose good upbringing made it rare for him to use such sharp words to argue with someone. He seemed genuinely angry. Xiao Ting wondered what topic had led to this.

Of course, it was Pei Qingyan's intention. He simply found a pretext to stab Lu Jingzhong in the back, and Lu Jingzhong naturally retorted that Pei Qingyan had been doing a poor job these past few days.

In Lu Jingzhong's eyes, this was just an ordinary argument, but Pei Qingyan's reply was so unexpected that it stunned Lu Jingzhong, who secretly thought, "What does Prime Minister Pei mean by this?"

"The truth is nothing; whatever you think it means, that's what it means."

Pei Qingyan told his children that it was very simple, and indeed it was very simple.

Lu Xingzhou felt it was unlikely that the Prince of Jin would be that foolish, so he could only give it a try. However, for the seasoned veteran, he didn't need the Prince of Jin to actually do anything; just having some clues was enough.

He only needs to expose the truth at the right time, letting everyone know the situation, and plenty of people will be watching Prince Jin's movements. When Gu Zhanting returns, impeachment memorials will flood the Imperial Study like snowflakes; there will be no need for him to actually do anything.
Lu Jingzhong understood, his face turning pale, and he was speechless for a moment. He didn't know what Gu Yicheng had done to offend Pei Qingyan, that Pei Qingyan was actually aiming to make sure he couldn't recover!

As for the current chaos, it would be too easy to clean up.

Seeing Lu Jingzhong's expression change, Pei Qingyan coldly continued, "The current chaotic situation requires an iron fist to quell it. Unfortunately, I am not an elder of the imperial family and it is difficult for me to use any iron fist. I am unworthy of His Majesty's trust. Fortunately, a royal elder recently went out of seclusion on business and has not yet gone into seclusion. I have invited him to take charge."

Before he could finish speaking, a figure flashed by; it was Gu Shaoli.

Gu Shaoli was already on the verge of death, and originally had no time to concern himself with such trivial matters. Most elders in seclusion were like this; unless it was a major incident like being struck on the head, it wouldn't disturb these people in their closed-door cultivation. However, Gu Shaoli had come out earlier to try and communicate with Ji Wenchuan about the Bone Dragon, so he hadn't returned to seclusion yet. Gu Zhanting had also entrusted him with a task before leaving, asking him to oversee things for a while.

When Pei Qingyan came to visit, Gu Shaoli was extremely surprised. He thought that Gu Zhanting couldn't possibly be in trouble, so what were they panicking about? With such low abilities, how could the Pei family of Hedong become prime ministers?

As a result, Pei Qingyan suggested that the chaos might originate from the imperial heirs... Gu Shaoli looked incredulous and secretly took a look at Gu Yicheng. Gu Yicheng's performance, in Chaopin's eyes, was as dazzling as a firefly in the dark.

Gu Shaoli's eyes revealed clear disappointment. He shook his head and returned to the Hall of State Affairs without saying a word to Gu Yicheng.

“Prime Minister Pei’s confidence comes from the Emperor. The Emperor is not here, but I am not dead yet.” Gu Shaoli sat in the corner with his eyes closed: “Do what you should do. If anyone dares to object, I will deal with them.”

The news reached the Demon Suppression Division.

Sheng Qingfeng smiled and pointed to several names on the case file: "Go, bring these people who spread rumors back to me."

“But…but they are people from the Prince of Jin’s mansion.”

"They're arresting people from the Prince of Jin's residence. Are they going to arrest Imperial Censor Xiao? You idiot."

The subordinate was scolded and retreated meekly, then went to arrest the person.

Sheng Qingfeng scolded his subordinates away, then his gaze fell on those names again, and he muttered to himself, "Actually, these people may not necessarily be the Prince of Jin's men."

When the Demon Suppression Division wants to investigate someone, they might even dig up what kind of underwear a three-year-old was wearing.

These people have been in Prince Jin's residence for years, yet their past social networks all subtly point to another prince.

The deposed King of Qi, relegated to his home.

"Lu Xingzhou probably didn't expect that he would only make a cut on Prince Jin, and the sharks from all directions would come smelling the fishy smell and bite him in such a tacit manner. Prince Jin is truly fortunate to have such a lineup."

"Qi Tuizhi is quite clever, isn't he? He sensed something was wrong and ran away, completely avoiding involvement. Not bad, not bad, maybe your name will still be on the next rookie list."

(End of this chapter)