Liu Shan was undoubtedly curious as to the Seventh Prince’s new favourite, yet had no intention of inquiring in his current mood. Calming his heart and picking up a goblet; just as he was about to open his mouth to complain about Jing Wen, Lai Song entered the room and spoke, “Your Highness, this subordinate has a matter to report.”
The Seventh Prince’s brows furrowed. After dismissing the guards, he inquired, “What is the situation?”
Lai Song glanced at Liu Shan, unapproving of his presence. Still, since the Seventh Prince did not dismiss the person, he spoke regardless, hiding the indignation in his heart. “The Crown Prince has reached the border of the Lingnan. The entire journey had been without troubles, yet during the final stretch of his journey, he was attacked by the Southern Wu rebels, killing six of his guard.”
The Seventh Prince was overjoyed to hear Zhang Kuo had been nearly assassinated, yet put on a pretence of concern. “Those rebels, they have such gal! Lai Song, what do you think we should do? Should I write to Imperial father to deal with the Southern Wu once and for all?”
Lai Song rotated a pair of walnuts in his hands as he said respectfully, “Your Highness, the Southern Wu rebel is far stronger in Lingnan, and with many secret supporters among the merchants, their numbers are inflated and well trained. Moreover, their forces are scattered and difficult to deal with. It would be impossible to deal with them through a single edict from His Majesty.”
The Seventh Prince squinted his eyes as he mulled this matter over for a long moment. He made away with the pretence as he said, “It is clear that Imperial Father had sent my brother to resolve the situation in Lingnan… why did Imperial Father not send me instead!”
Lai Song took a step back away from the enraged Seventh Prince before he said, “Your Highness, this is actually a great opportunity for us?”
The Seventh Prince’s rage was quickly replaced with excitement as he inquired, “What does loyal steward have in mind?”
Lai Song said, “Your Highness, why not aid the Southern Wu rebels, thus ruining the Crown Prince’s reputation in the eyes of his majesty? Not days ago, you captured all of the Southern Wu rebels in Zhili; it’s impossible for anyone to suspect Your Highness.”
“Additionally, even if failure at containing the rebels caused them to gather strength and field a proper army, it would only concern the Crown Prince and the Thirteenth Prince, who is related General Xiahou Yingjie (英杰) stationed there, thereby reducing the strength of their armies. And since Your Highness would not be interacting with those Southern Wu rebels at all, merely giving them a helping hand, all the benefits would be for yours to reap without any repercussion.”
The Seventh Prince was hesitant in accepting this proposal. No matter what, he was still a prince of the Great Zhu, how could he aid the rebels? Yet the benefits of discrediting the Crown Prince was simply too irresistible. After an unknown amount of time, he eventually said, “What do you propose we do?”
Lai Song smiled, the meat on his face jiggling like waves upon the ocean as he did so. “Your Highness, we simply need to force the Crown Prince to make a return to the capital. Those in Lingnan still supporting the Empire had been anticipating his presence with great enthusiasm - if those expectations were betrayed, the people would surely riot, or at the very least, grew distant towards the Empire’s effort to integrate the South. Afterwards, any future action taken by the Crown Prince would be inefficient, akin to an egg smashing against a mountain.”
The Seventh Prince thought Lai Song’s proposal was exceptional, yet he was doubtful as to what could possibly force the Crown Prince to return. The Crown Prince was undoubtedly aware of the severity the Emperor had placed on resolving the Southern Wu problem even more so than he and Lai Song did.
At this moment, Liu Shan spoke up. “Zhang Ming, I believe there is something capable of forcing the Crown Prince back to Lin’an.”
The Seventh Prince glanced at Liu Shan. Smiling, he inquired, “Do tell. If your suggestion is suitable, I will send one of the girls to your manor.”
Liu Shan placed down the goblet and rose to his feet. “Jing Wen has been the study mate of the Crown Prince since they were infants. If he were to… abruptly die, the Crown Prince would have to return. Additionally, Jing Wen currently lacks any capable bodyguards, and his martial capability has long been ruined. Killing him would be a simple matter.”
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The Seventh Prince’s brows furrowed as he said, “Jing Wen is a favourite of Imperial Father and related to the imperial family by blood. Although I have no qualms in killing him, my reputation in the eyes of Imperial Father would decrease countless more folds than Zhang Kuo returning from Southern Wu.”
Seeing Liu Shan unable to come up with anything, Lai Song said, “What Your Highness said can simply be resolved through a scapegoat.”
The Seventh Prince’s eyes widened, and his eyebrows rose. “You’re saying …”
With a sly smile, Lai Song replied, “Coincidentally, His Majesty has arranged for Jing Wen several marriage candidates. Though most of the influential young masters in the capital has already been married, the scion of the Yang (杨) Family has been hopelessly pursuing Lady Xiahou Jie, refusing to wed anyone else. After Jing Wen and Xiahou Jie meet, Your Highness can spread rumours that they hold mutual affection towards each other, attracting the jealousy of Yang Heng (杨恒).”
Speaking to here, the Seventh Prince was largely convinced, but quickly worded his final doubt, “These rumours are no different from chasing the wind and clutching at shadows (捕风捉影 - based on groundless assumptions). As long as Jing Wen explains himself to Yang Heng, the chance of a conflict, much less murder, would be extremely low.”
Lai Song laughed confidently, explaining, “Your Highness, please be at ease. As Yang Heng goes to interrogate Jing Wen, we can dispatch assassins to secret follow behind. Once he receives a satisfying explanation and leaves, we will act and swiftly kill Jing Wen. Since the Yang family has close ties with the Xiahou family, once His Majesty learns of this, he would no doubt flavour the Thirteen Prince less due to his connection.
Listening to this point, Zhang Ming’s eyes began to tear with excitement, and he was unable to speak a word. Seeing this, Lai Song added, “Your Highness, your disposition makes you naturally fated to sit upon the dragon throne. Whether it be the current Crown Prince or that Consort Li, none are sufficient from preventing the fate of Your Highness.”
“As for Jing Wen, he can only blame fate for being unkind.”
---
Once the discussions of these affirms had been finished, Liu Shan stayed around for a while longer, before departing with one of the girls from Anxi. Returning to his study room, the Seventh Prince looked at a man covered in an air of gloom and asked, “Shen Yan (沈咽), did that Fang Hui go anywhere? Has he communicated with anyone?”
Shen Yan dropped on one knee as he respectfully answered, “Reporting to Your Imperial Highness, Fang Hui caroused with the guards for some time. Other than that, they are no occasions of interactions except…”
At this point, Shen Yan’s eyebrows drooped as he continued, “The person had frequent secret meetings with Biyu (碧玉), one of Your Highnesses’ maids.”
The Seventh Prince’s heart lightened. While Fang Hui’s reasoning as to how he acquired the Southern Wu rebels’ bases was proper, it was natural for him to become suspicious of this weasel’s true allegiances. As such, although he had granted Fang Hui the role of a gatekeeper, it was far from the main entrance into Hongtian Palace, in an insignificant passage seldomly travelled. In short, Fang Hui was placed in the sidelines, eventualy falling into obscurity.
Unexpectedly, Fang Hui was humorous and witty, an expert of romance as gifted at gab. As an individual suffocated continuously by the pressures of both the Crown Prince and Thirteenth Prince, the Seventh Prince undoubtedly would like someone to keep company and talk with.
Still, it was impossible for the Seventh Prince to keep a random individual by his side.
For this purpose, the Seventh Prince had intentionally created multiple opportunities for Fang Hui to eavesdrop on him; just then, when Shen Yan had come to report, if Fang Hui was a spy, he would undoubtedly have exhausted all methods to eavesdrop, yet he made no attempt of it. Instead, Fang Hui occupied himself either with ingratiating himself among the other guards or engaging in an illicit relationship with one of the household maids that could get him beaten to death.
Simply put, if Fang Hui was a spy, he would be the greatest fool in history. A terrible spy.
Pleased with Fang Hui’s innocence, the Seventh Prince thought that this Fang Hui would be allowed to enter his personal entourage. Although the man was neither exceptionally skilled at martial arts nor capable at scheming, he was loyal and amusing, far better than some of the Seventh Princes other servants, such as Lai Song or Shen Yan.
As for having an illicit relationship, while the Seventh Prince was somewhat dissatisfied with the matter, he did not place any importance upon it. The number of maids in his household was in the hundred, and most have not even seen his face. Although Biyu’s appearance was not bad, it was still just mediocre, far in comparison to the girls from Anxi - he would not be so petty.
---
Within the inner gardens of Hongtian Palace, Fang Hui was whispering honeyed words while embracing a young maiden. His actions while fondling her was not swiftly, so as to not startle the inexperienced maid; unconsciously, the two began to roam towards an artificial mountain in this heat.
As Fang Hui was about to undress, he suddenly heard the sound of light footsteps. His lustful heart immediately extinguishing as he promptly tied his and the serving girl’s clothes. After some time, Fang Hui could hear no more activities and thus stretched out his head from behind the artificial mountain. Abruptly, he gave off a terrified yelp as he caught sight of Shen Yan, calmly standing at the other face of the hill.
As though Fang Hui’s entire body was soaked with cold water, he became clear-headed as once, kneeling down, Fang Hui pleaded, “Shen
, the proprietor of this relationship was me. It does not implicate Biyu.”
Shen Yan was slightly surprised, but still coldly reprimanded, “You dare engage in an illicit relationship with one of His Highness’s maids. Let’s see how His Highness will deal with this once he sees you.”
Hearing ‘His Highness’, Fang Hui’s complexions immediately waned in fright. Biting his teeth, he persisted. “This little one is no more than a weasel from Jianghu, unskilled and unworthy of life. Yet Biyu is still young; I beg Shen
to spare her afterwards.”
At this point, the edge of Shen Yan’s mouth curved to form a smile. “Do not worry, His Highness’s mood is marvellous at the moment, he would not mind such a small matter. In fact, I had come here to summon you to his presence… however, you still mustn’t repeat the crime, or else, regardless of His Highness’s mood, I will flay you.”
Fang Hui was filled with once upon hearing this, thanking whatever matter that caused the Seventh Prince to become joyous at this moment.
Naturally, Fang Hui was unaware that the reason the Seventh Prince was jubilant at this moment was entirely related to Jing Wen. That includes both the plot against the Crown Prince, and his presence here in the Seventh Prince’s household.