Taiji Hall.
Emperor Wuzhao Chen Qing stood before the open window, gazing at the endless drizzle outside with neither joy nor sorrow.
The rain felt far too oppressive, as if it were reflecting the current state of the Tianchen Dynasty.
Behind him, a white-haired eunuch in a purple-gold long robe bowed and looked up, saying, “His Majesty’s judgment of people is indeed accurate. Even though the Ninth Prince has weathered wind and rain all along this journey, he has still been able to handle everything with ease.”
Chen Qing turned around and looked at Yu Chenghua, who had been by his side for fifty years, with a faint, unreadable smile. He said bluntly, “I knew nothing about him for those twenty years, so how could I have seen him clearly? Having him return was actually the Ancestor’s instruction.”
“Back then, Luo Xue schemed against me to the utmost, but she could never have calculated that twenty years later, I would actually stake Tianchen’s dragon fortune on the son born to me and her.”
Hearing this, Yu Chenghua’s deeply wrinkled eyes suddenly sharpened.
Did His Majesty mean to let the Ninth Prince Chen Chu rise from behind and take the position of Crown Prince!
He did not dare say a word.
In matters like this, whatever His Majesty said, he would listen to. He could not ask a single question beyond that.
“Your Majesty, the identity of the woman who deployed the Yinming Fire Poison along the route has been investigated. Her name is Su Ru. She was originally the closed-door disciple of the Sect Leader of the Poison God Sect of the Eastern Abyss, and not long ago she stole the Yinming Fire Poison and defected from the Poison God Sect.”
“This old servant believes the theft was probably just a pretext for the Poison God Sect to wash its hands of the blame.”
Who did the Poison God Sect listen to the most? Of course, Eastern Abyss Frontier Marshal Bai Buyi. Bai Buyi was also Princess Consort Yong’s biological father.
Following this line of clues, the answer was obvious.
But…
Was the truth really that simple?
Chen Qing shook his head slowly.
A clumsy attempt to deceive oneself. Even if his sixth son Chen Yu and Princess Consort Yong had gone mad in their struggle for the throne, biting anyone they could, Bai Buyi would not join their nonsense.
“Didn’t Chen Chu already capture the woman who administered the poison? As for the truth, let whatever he extracts from her interrogation be the truth.”
Yu Chenghua was quite surprised. Did that not mean that whatever truth the Ninth Prince wanted would become the truth? Even twisting right and wrong would not matter.
He truly had never expected that His Majesty, who had shown no concern for the Ninth Prince’s life or death for twenty years, would bestow such imperial favor on him the moment he returned.
Could it be that His Majesty truly intended to pass the throne to the Ninth Prince?
But just based on the Ninth Prince’s birth mother, no one in the world would agree to that!
Without dwelling on it too much, he then said, “There is another matter. The Dukes of Cheng and Wu have both come to this old servant, hoping I would arrange marriages for their respective legitimate grandsons.”
“Arrange marriages?”
Chen Qing thought for a moment and immediately guessed who they had their eye on.
He could not help but laugh. “I truly never expected this. The whole world knows that the eldest girl of Duke Xu’s estate is the notorious demoness of our Tianchen army… one who kills without blinking, loves stir-fried human liver, and uses human heads as wine jugs. And yet she has become such a hot commodity. Only…”
“Xu Zhaoyue was, after all, the Consort of the Imperial Grandson that my Crown Prince had chosen for Fengyi before his death. By doing this, aren’t they showing me too little respect?”
Yu Chenghua said honestly, “The fault lies only with the Imperial Grandson for being too useless. And Duke Xu, ignoring all of his younger descendants, uniquely established Xu Zhaoyue as the Young Commander. Whoever marries Young Commander Xu is essentially marrying the Flying Flower Army. Forgive this old servant for speaking bluntly… it is not just that Young Commander Xu has a bad reputation; even if Young Commander Xu were a pig, many people would still like her.”
Chen Qing did not mind and merely teased, “If Duke Xu found out you compared his precious eldest granddaughter to a pig, he would definitely come looking for a fight.”
Yu Chenghua said cheerfully, “Even at his peak, Duke Xu could not beat this old servant.”
That was indeed the truth.
Or rather, within the entire imperial city, the only one who could claim to firmly suppress Yu Chenghua nowadays was Zhuge Changsheng.
Thinking of that man gave Chen Qing a headache.
He had already granted him the position of Imperial Preceptor, the highest rank a subject could reach, yet he still stubbornly insisted on being an imperial tutor.
What on earth was he thinking?
He would not worry about it for now.
Everything could be dealt with after Chen Chu entered the imperial city.
His thoughts drifted back.
“Fengyi is no longer suitable for Xu Zhaoyue. I already have someone in mind for her husband.”
As he spoke, Chen Qing changed the subject and asked, “When will Chen Chu arrive?”
Yu Chenghua replied, “He should be here by midnight. Does Your Majesty wish to see the Ninth Prince tonight?”
Chen Qing rejected the idea. “There is no rush for now. Go and deliver a message: have him attend the morning court tomorrow. He must be present!”
“Yes!”
At midnight, the three thousand soldiers set up camp at Ten Mile Slope outside the imperial city.
Chen Chu also ordered the carriage to stop, preparing to spend the night there.
After nearly a month of exhausting travel, Xu Zhaoxing had long since missed the warm, soft bed at home. She voiced her displeasure. “We could be inside the city in at most half an hour. Why stay here overnight and feed the mosquitoes?”
Chen Chu said lazily, “There is no place for me to stay in the imperial city. Why should I rush to go in?”
That did make sense.
“We could stay at an inn!”
“Too troublesome.”
Xu Zhaoxing was speechless.
She did want to return on her own, but the key issue was that she could not get through the city gates.
At that moment, a dark figure in the distance strode through the night, swift as a gale and fast as lightning.
“Enemy attack!!”
Liu Chuang immediately led his men over.
“Master!”
“All of you, stand down! He is the palace’s only Grand Director, Eunuch Yu!”
After seeing who it was, Yu Fengcheng quickly stepped forward and sharply ordered Liu Chuang and the soldiers to retreat.
Even so, Liu Chuang did not budge and still had his blade drawn.
Only when Chen Chu casually said, “Stand down.”
“Yes!” did Liu Chuang finally lead his men away.
“I have long heard that the Northern Plains Iron Cavalry only recognize their master and not imperial authority. Today, this old servant has truly learned something.”
“For His Highness the Ninth Prince to gain their loyalty is Your Highness’s blessing.”
Yu Chenghua bowed and said, “This old servant, Yu Chenghua, pays respects to His Highness the Ninth Prince.”
It was clear that Yu Chenghua was not angry.
“Master!”
At the same time, Yu Fengcheng also bowed to Yu Chenghua, making their relationship clear.
“Grand Director Yu, there is no need for such formality.”
“Thank you, Your Highness the Ninth Prince.” Yu Chenghua straightened up, looked at Xu Zhaoxing, and said, “Miss Xu, this old servant has a few words I would like to speak privately with His Highness the Ninth Prince. Could you please excuse us?”
Yu Chenghua was polite, but that did not mean Xu Zhaoxing dared to be presumptuous before him. She hurriedly nodded. “Of course, of course!”
Yu Chenghua’s official rank was not high; His Majesty had broken precedent to promote him to the third rank. But who in the entire imperial city truly regarded him as merely a third-rank official?
Yu Chenghua’s true status was comparable to her grandfather the duke’s, and perhaps even above it.
After everyone had withdrawn a hundred meters, Yu Chenghua finally relayed Emperor Wuzhao Chen Qing’s instruction for Chen Chu to attend the morning court the next day.
Then he tactfully mentioned the matter of the mastermind behind Su Ru’s poisoning, hinting to Chen Chu that if he wanted a certain truth, he could have it, and if he wanted to frame someone, he could do that too. His Majesty would accept it all.
He then praised how much His Majesty cared for Chen Chu, before falling silent and observing Chen Chu’s expression.
That Emperor Wuzhao would show such concern for his cheap son, whom he had only seen once since birth, did not cause the slightest surprise on Chen Chu’s face.
Nor did he show any interest in who had ordered Su Ru to deploy the Yinming Fire Poison.
He asked calmly, “Right now, I am only interested in one thing: who was the culprit who injured Northern Plains Heir Fang Lingqiu at the Heavenly Palace? Could Grand Director Yu tell me?”