lcionline Chapter 511 "Splash, splash" - Falling into the water
Chapter 511 "Splash, splash" - Falling into the water
Just as the Emperor and Jiang Xiaoqi had predicted, those who belonged to the Third Prince gradually became restless and began to surface one by one.
This allowed the emperor to make sure he got the money every time, and he recorded everything.
Of course, instead of letting anyone else get involved, he handed over this potentially offensive task to the Prince of Xuannan.
Prince Xuan Nan did not disappoint him; he swiftly located the suspect but did not imprison him, as he was waiting for more fish to surface.
The Prince of Xuannan happened to have the case files given to him by Jiang Xiaoqi, as well as a list of officials whom the Third Prince had once tried to win over.
Wouldn't that make things even easier? Those who haven't yet shown their faces but are on the list are also being targeted, just waiting for the right opportunity to wipe out the Third Prince's faction in one fell swoop.
This time, the emperor was ruthless and no longer had the kind of fatherly heart he had shown to the eldest prince.
After all, the emperor had seen Jiang Xiaoqi's case file; the assassinations in the First Prince's residence were all related to the Third Prince.
The eldest prince is just stupid, but the third prince is ruthless and evil.
The emperor didn't want a venomous snake by his side, so he could tolerate his eldest son's stupidity, but not his third son's ruthlessness.
After the Imperial Guards took over the gunpowder, no one knew where it was taken.
But the emperor wouldn't be as foolish as the third prince, leaving such a dangerous thing in the capital. What's the difference between that and sleeping with a bomb every day?
Within half a month, the Third Prince's men had been mostly identified, and the Prince of Xuannan asked the Emperor whether to close the net.
The emperor didn't dwell on the remaining one or two people, as they were either peripheral personnel with whom he had little contact or cowards who were afraid to step forward.
No rush. First, scoop up what you can with a net, and let the rest continue to struggle in the water.
When the pond is drained one day, all the fish, shrimp, turtles, and tortoises will reveal their true forms.
Since they are part of a clique, how can they remain untainted? What difference is there between having one foot wet and having one foot soaking in water?
The emperor waved his hand and ordered the net to be closed.
The Prince of Xuannan accepted the order and acted swiftly.
In an instant, the capital was filled with unease, and the Third Prince's cronies were captured one after another.
Those whose homes were confiscated were confiscated, and those who were imprisoned were imprisoned.
Everyone in the capital was on edge, fearing they would be caught in the typhoon's tail end.
The Third Prince had no sources of information at the Imperial Clan Court and was hoping to one day go out and properly explain his actions.
It's just some gunpowder, surely it's not a capital offense?
Little did they know that irrefutable evidence of the assassination attempt had already been delivered to the Imperial Clan Court and the Court of Judicial Review, and the Emperor ordered that the Prince of Xuannan personally conduct the trial.
Prince Xuannan was shocked by the completeness of the evidence provided by Jiang Xiaoqi. He realized that this had made things much easier for him. As long as the Third Prince cooperated, the case could be closed in no time.
It's easy to imagine that the Third Prince wouldn't readily confess. Even with the evidence presented to him, he remained tight-lipped and stubborn.
Just when the Prince of Xuannan was at his wit's end, the appearance of a brother and sister brought a turning point to the matter.
"Do you two really have a way to get the Third Prince to confess?"
"Yes, we were originally staying at the Third Prince's residence. We usually wrote poems and painted. The Third Prince was famous for his love of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, so we had more interactions with him."
However, sometimes the Third Prince would be inspired to write poetry, but he didn't like to write it himself, so the two of us would write it down for him.
"My lord, these are all poems written by the Third Prince. Please take a look and see if there's anything you can use."
The visitors were none other than Song Jinyang and Song Qingyu, a brother and sister. Ever since the Third Prince fell from grace, the two of them had been searching for a way to save themselves from this predicament.
They even went to the Fifth Prince's residence for help. After learning about what the two had done at the Third Prince's residence, the Fifth Prince asked them to find all of the Third Prince's poems over the years.
He seemed to know that the two of them would definitely make a backup.
As soon as the Third Prince got into trouble, the two of them thought about severing ties and even finding new partners.
The Fifth Prince was used to seeing people like this; although they had some talent, he didn't know how to use them.
If someone can betray the third brother today, he can betray him tomorrow. No one would feel comfortable working with someone like that.
However, it would be good to give him some money to make use of his resources, so that the third brother could never recover, and then I would have no rival left.
It was the Fifth Prince's idea to bring things to Prince Xuannan; otherwise, the Song siblings wouldn't even know where Prince Xuannan worked.
"Put your things down, and you can leave."
The Prince of Xuannan didn't take these two men seriously; they were just writers and poets, not comparable to the officials in the court.
The Song siblings were somewhat surprised; how could this be different from what the Fifth Prince had said?
They had already come up with their story, and they were sure they could crush the Third Prince.
This Prince Xuan Nan is such a boorish fellow, he didn't even give them a chance to speak.
And what about the hidden meaning in those poems? Could this rough-around-the-edges Prince Xuan Nan really see through it? The brother and sister expressed their doubts.
Having already been told to leave, the two couldn't very well stay, so they had no choice but to leave reluctantly.
"Heh, two more shameless scoundrels~"
The Prince of Xuan Nan couldn't help but sigh, "The Third Prince's judgment of people is really not very good."
Those who have been jumping around for the past two weeks are all hoping for a lucky break. If they can rescue the Third Prince, they will have accomplished a great feat.
How many of these people are truly worried about the Third Prince's situation? They're just worried about their own futures.
The Third Prince was quick to win people over, and he managed to recruit quite a few underlings, but the quality of his recruits was really not good.
And those so-called scholars, they were quite righteous when they learned that the Third Prince had been imprisoned in the Imperial Clan Court, but when they heard that it involved a large quantity of gunpowder, they all avoided him like the plague.
The proverb "a scholar is useless in everything" has been embodied once again.
The Prince of Xuannan scoffed at this. Although he couldn't condemn all of them, he simply couldn't like these hypocritical scholars.
If all scholars were like Jiang Zhuangyuan, the Great Zhou Dynasty wouldn't still be surrounded by wolves to this day. It may seem peaceful, but in reality, the crisis has never been far away.
Your Majesty, Your Majesty, do you know that the foundation of your Great Zhou Dynasty is not solid?
Judging from this situation, the emperor intends to "pacify the internal situation before resisting external threats," starting with his own son.
How can one allow another to sleep soundly in one's own bed? Not even one's own son.
After a moment of reflection, the Prince of Xuannan finally remembered to pick up the poems that the two men had sent him.
Although the Prince of Xuannan was more skilled in riding and archery, he was not illiterate and could at least tell the quality of a poem.
Upon reading just the first poem, the Prince of Xuannan sensed something was amiss.
Let's just call this a poem for now. How can a doggerel not be a poem?
Since the Third Prince has a good reputation among scholars, he shouldn't be a good-for-nothing.
Does this mean that the writing skills presented to the public are all ghostwritten? And that they only reveal their true colors in private?
No, no, poetry can be used as a substitute for calligraphy. The painting done on the spot at the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet last year is undeniable. The Empress Dowager still has that painting hanging in her palace and likes it very much.
Was it done on purpose? The Prince of Xuannan summoned his subordinates to investigate, but they still couldn't see any problem besides the poem being inappropriate.
"Alright, alright, put it away. Since you know there's a problem, why not just have a professional take a look? We're just wasting our time here."
The subordinates didn't seem curious about who the "professionals" were, or who else they were referring to.
In the capital, among the civil officials, only Prince Jiang was relatively close to him, though that was in private.
This matter is best left to Lord Jiang; he's sure to be able to spot the trickery in the poem!