The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 548 The Crown Prince's Ambitions Are Great

Tong Guowei was incredibly shrewd; he could hear the Eighth Prince's every little scheme even with his eyes closed.

Prince Yu is a pillar of support for the Eighth Prince within the imperial clan. With him standing firmly there, how can the Crown Prince gain the upper hand in the imperial clan?

None of the doors!
But now, with just one word from the Crown Prince, Prince Yu is completely confined to his home and can't even leave the house!
This won't do!
We must speak out! We absolutely cannot let the Crown Prince imprison Prince Yu so easily! If this sets a precedent, what will happen in the future?

But here's the problem: Prince Yu's precious son, Qingliang, has irrefutable evidence of his crimes.

Even Longkodo came to report in person.

Tong Guowei originally thought that no matter how domineering the Crown Prince was, he should at least give some face to the imperial family.
He's such a smart person, how could he not know that taking a step back can lead to a brighter future?
Who knew that this crown prince would not play by the rules at all, and instead imprisoned Prince Yu.

He's so fierce!
Doesn't he consider the consequences?
When Emperor Qianxi returns, how should he explain things to His Majesty?
A series of thoughts surged through Tong Guowei's mind. After a while, he slowly spoke to the Eighth Prince: "Eighth Prince, it's not appropriate for our Southern Study to interfere in matters concerning the imperial clan."

The one who tied the knot must untie it!

“Prince Yu is a member of the imperial clan. If he wants to plead for someone, it should be the members of the imperial clan who should step forward to do so.”

Upon hearing this, the Eighth Prince immediately understood.

When the Southern Study went to plead for mercy, the Crown Prince could easily retort with the words, "Major political affairs must not be interfered with."

But what if all the relatives in the capital joined forces?

Could the Crown Prince possibly refuse all the imperial relatives?

If the Crown Prince still doesn't agree, the civil officials can cry at the Confucian Temple, and the members of the imperial clan can cry at the Imperial Ancestral Temple!
If things escalate to the point of crying at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, then when Emperor Qianxi returns, the Crown Prince will truly be in deep trouble.

Having grasped this point, the Eighth Prince said with admiration, "Prime Minister Tong's insight is profound; I have learned a great deal!"

“I’ll go find Yarjiang’a right now and have a word with him.”

As he spoke, the Eighth Prince turned and left.

Tong Guowei watched his retreating figure and sighed softly.

Zhang Ying calmly sipped his tea, not even bothering to lift his eyelids, as if all of this had nothing to do with him.

The Crown Prince's decision to have the Infantry Commander's Office and the Shuntian Prefecture manage the security of the capital was perfectly legitimate.

Arresting Qingliang is perfectly reasonable.

After all, the head manager of Yuqing Bank had his arm broken.

The crown prince has a legitimate reason for his actions!
However, since even Prince Yu was included, Zhang Ying felt that the Crown Prince had gone too far.

That's a prince consort!
Isn't the Crown Prince afraid of being held accountable by Emperor Qianxi when he returns, given how he treats the situation?

What exactly is he trying to do?

Could it be that his purpose in maintaining order in the capital was not solely due to the fact that his subordinates had been assaulted?

Is dealing with these thugs just a pretext?
"Prime Minister Tong, in my opinion, this matter is probably not simple!" Zhang Ying put down his teacup and said leisurely.

Tong Guowei said, "The Crown Prince wants to deal with the corrupt officials and scoundrels in the capital, and of course we can't stop him."

"Those local scoundrels and city foxes are so numerous that you can't hide them at all."

"However, behind these social rats and city foxes, there are gods. The Crown Prince is going to such great lengths, but I'm afraid his real intentions are not what they seem."

Hearing Tong Guowei's words, Zhang Ying narrowed her eyes, her mind clearing up a bit.

However, he didn't pay much attention to this.

The Zhang family has a long tradition of scholarship and high moral character, like a lotus flower in clear water, and has nothing to do with these corrupt officials and scoundrels.

So no matter how much this matter escalates, it won't affect him.

However, those powerful and wealthy people in the capital city probably won't have it so easy to get through this.

Thinking of this, his gaze turned to Tong Guowei.

This Prime Minister Tong was a very wealthy and powerful man, with eight sons and a string of grandsons like candied hawthorns, a large and lively family.

Even if his son, Longkodo, is handling the case, so what?

The world is a turbulent place, and it's inevitable that you'll get your shoes wet!

What are Tong Guowei's plans?

Just as he was pondering this, Tong Guowei happened to look over at him.

Their eyes met briefly in the air, and Tong Guowei smiled first: "Prime Minister Zhang, no matter what, the matter of confining Prince Yu is no small matter. Our Southern Study must report to the Emperor as soon as possible."

"This is no small matter."

Zhang Ying calmly replied, "Of course!"

"I'll have someone write a memorial right away."

There were many members of the imperial family in the capital.

From the time of Emperor Taizu, when the sons were no longer granted fiefdoms, the imperial relatives all lived together in the inner city.

Both Emperor Qianxi and Emperor Taizong both guarded against and utilized these members of the imperial clan.

In order to manage the imperial clan, the Imperial Clan Court was established.

The current head of the Imperial Clan Court is none other than Prince Yu.

The fact that Prince Yu is now under house arrest has shocked many members of the imperial clan.

They all thought that once Emperor Qianxi left the capital, few people in the capital would care about them anymore!

But right now, Prince Yu can be confined to a fold at will, and Qingliang can be arrested without warning, leaving many members of the imperial clan sweating profusely.
So, with the Emperor away, the Crown Prince is even more ruthless!
Many members of the imperial clan were close to the Eighth Prince.

After all, the Eighth Prince's wife was Prince An's niece.

Therefore, as soon as the Eighth Prince sought out Yarjianga, a group of members of the royal family immediately gathered around.

Prince An's sixth son, Sebli, was the first to jump out:
"Prince Yu is the head of the Imperial Clan Court. How can he be imprisoned without cause? Is there no justice left?"

"If even Prince Yu is in such a state, who knows what will happen to us? With the Emperor away on a distant expedition, is there any place left for us members of the imperial clan to stand in this world?" "We must go and plead for Prince Yu's life!"

As soon as these words were spoken, a chorus of agreement immediately followed: "That's right! It was said during the reign of Emperor Taizu that the imperial clan must unite!"

"Only when the royal family is of one mind can we preserve the throne of our Great Zhou."

"We cannot tolerate the Crown Prince's reckless behavior and his confinement of the Imperial Uncle!"

"Let's go, let's go to the palace and demand an explanation!"

……

Some people take the lead, some fan the flames, and some follow suit.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of members of the imperial clan joined the crowd petitioning for Prince Yu's life.

Some of them genuinely wanted to get people out of trouble; some were tied to Prince An's mansion; and some were close to Prince Yu.

Of course, some were simply dragged into it!

We're all members of the royal family, why aren't you participating?

Are you still a member of the royal family?!
Do you still have the heart to speak out for the sake of your ancestors' legacy?

If you don't help your own people now, who will help you in the future?

Once you're forced into it, you have no choice but to go, even if you don't want to.

However, there are also cunning individuals within the royal family who are adept at playing both sides.

Before we even set off, someone had already secretly reported the news to Yuqing Palace.

After all, he's been the crown prince for so many years, and there are plenty of people in the imperial clan who could have helped him.

Upon receiving the news, Zhou Bao ran all the way to Cining Palace.

Shen Ye was watching a play with the Empress Dowager.

Ever since reading "The Legend of the White Snake," the Empress Dowager has become fascinated with this novelty.

For the Empress Dowager, maintaining a drama troupe was not a big deal.

Both Emperor Qianxi and Crown Prince Shen Ye fully supported this all-female opera troupe in order to make the Empress Dowager's life more comfortable.

On stage at this moment, the play "Flirting Scholar" is being performed.

Shen Ye knew the Empress Dowager's preferences well, so this film, adapted from the movie "Flirting Scholar," quickly made viewers laugh non-stop.

"Your Highness, this script you wrote is hilarious!"

The Empress Dowager pointed to the platform and said with a smile, "However, Jingrong is not suitable to watch this; she'll probably laugh until her stomach hurts."

Shen Ye replied with a smile, "Grandmother, don't worry. I'll have someone put together a play that doesn't have such strong emotional fluctuations for her to watch later."

The Empress Dowager nodded and said, "It's good that you have this intention."

As they were talking, Zhou Bao quietly approached and delivered a message.

The Empress Dowager glanced at the palace maids and eunuchs serving around her, and they all silently retreated.

Once the surroundings quieted down, the Empress Dowager asked softly, "Crown Prince, I heard you've put Prince Yu under house arrest?"

Shen Ye bowed: "Grandmother, I am not imprisoning my uncle. I am just asking him to stay home these days to calm down and read some books, while waiting for Father's decision."

Shen Ye was not surprised that the Empress Dowager knew about this.

As the Empress Dowager was second only to the Qianxi Emperor in the palace, she naturally had her own sources of information.

There are many things that cannot be hidden from her.

"Whether it's confinement or studying behind closed doors, doing so is inevitably a bit abrupt. In any case, he is still your imperial uncle, and the imperial family will inevitably gossip about it."

Although the Empress Dowager's tone contained reproach, it showed even more concern for Shen Ye.

Shen Ye's smile remained unchanged as he calmly replied, "Grandmother, I considered all of these factors when I made this decision."

"It's not that I want to lay a hand on my uncle, but Qingliang from my uncle's family is really going too far."

"Some time ago, Qingliang took a counterfeit gold note to Yuqing Bank to exchange it. The bank's head manager saw that it was fake at a glance and refused to exchange it for him."

"But Qingliang, instead of repenting, even had someone break the head manager's arm. I'm not angry that he cheated me out of money, but that he provoked me like this!"

“If Qingliang is short of money, he can just tell his grandson. His grandson will never let him go home empty-handed.”

"But what about him? He insisted on being clever and went to Yuqing Bank with counterfeit gold notes. Isn't that just provoking his grandson?"

At this point, Shen Ye's face showed a hint of anger as he said, "Where is the Imperial Uncle? He knows about this matter."

"But instead of punishing Qingliang, he felt that his grandson was making a mountain out of a molehill and was too harsh on Qingliang."

"So although I don't want to offend my uncle, if I don't deal with this now, I won't have the face to continue serving as the Crown Prince Regent."

Shen Ye deliberately avoided mentioning the lives Qingliang had taken, and also didn't say how many families he had ruined.

Shen Ye only picked the most obvious one and talked about the grudge between herself and Qing Liang.

He knew that these words were the most effective with the Empress Dowager.

As expected, the Empress Dowager's face darkened upon hearing this.

Although Prince Yu was nominally her son, they were not close at all; Prince Yu had his own biological mother.

Emperor Qianxi's mother died early, and he always regarded her as his mother. Therefore, she was only Prince Yu's mother in name, and the two were not close.

As for Qingliang, he was just a grandson in name only. How could he compare to the Crown Prince who was always by his side to show filial piety?

Qingliang actually dared to bully the Crown Prince! This is outrageous!
She immediately said calmly, "Your Highness, go ahead and do it. If anything happens, I will speak with the Emperor later."

　The first update of the day is here! Please support me, everyone, and vote!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)