330 Recall (2)
Emperor Chong’an waved his hand to get him up and asked the eunuch to bring a chair for him to sit down and talk.
Lord Zhou was now the Grand Tutor. Although he sounded like an elder, he actually did not have any real power.
After all, he was old. If he really had to do other tasks, he would be too weak. He could only enter the palace often to give Emperor Chong’an advice.
Previously, he went to Xunyang City because there was no more suitable candidate than him. After returning, he fell seriously ill. Emperor Chong’an did not dare to put his body through so much stress again.
“Minister Zhou.” Emperor Chong’an pointed at the pile of memorials asking for the crown prince. “Which prince do you think I should appoint as the crown prince?”
Lord Zhou was deeply shocked. He guessed what Emperor Chong’an meant. After thinking for a moment, he knelt down and said, “I don’t think there’s a need to rush this matter. Only the Eldest Prince has achieved results among the princes, but the others are not bad either. Besides, it’s still unknown if he’s abducting girls…”
As he spoke, Lord Zhou observed Emperor Chong’an’s expression from the corner of his eye. Seeing that he was not angry, he continued, “I think…”
This conversation lasted until noon. Emperor Chong’an gave him lunch before getting someone to send Lord Zhou out of the palace.
The next morning, Emperor Chong’an issued two imperial edicts in a row, but it was not to appoint a crown prince.
Instead, he conferred the title of “Lord” on all the princes in one go and let them take on their own tasks.
Among them, the Eldest Prince was named Lord Jing and went to the Ministry of Public Works, the Second Prince was named Lord Xian and went to the Ministry of Personnel, the Third Prince was named Lord Rui and went to the Ministry of Rites, and the Fourth Prince was named Lord Shun went to the Ministry of Revenue.
This was interesting. The Eldest Prince had married Shen Ruyun because Shen Ruyun’s maternal grandfather was the Minister of Personnel. However, Emperor Chong’an had sent the Second Prince to the Ministry of Personnel.
Shen Ruyun’s biological father was in the Ministry of Rites where the Third Prince was.
Moreover, the Minister of Works was the son of Count Xuan Ping, who was also the Third Prince’s uncle. However, Emperor Chong’an arranged for the Eldest Prince to enter.
This arrangement had completely messed up the situation.
It was hard to say if they were running errands or supervising each other.
This move was indeed ruthless. How did the job go? Wouldn’t the ministers of the various departments have to report it?
Could they put in a good word for their opponents? Of course not.
However, this was not what surprised the ministers the most.
The other imperial edict really shocked the royal court.
“What? The legendary Young Master Shen who solved Xunyang’s problem by himself is Song Jingchen?” they thought.
“What? Prince Song went to Xunyang City because Emperor Chong’an gave him a secret decree to atone for his crimes?” they thought.
It was because the late emperor had visited Emperor Chong’an in his dreams and mentioned how difficult it had been for the old duke to accompany him in battle.
In order to reassure the late emperor, Emperor Chong’an gave him this opportunity.
Now that Crown Prince Song had protected Xunyang and made a contribution, he was going to be recalled?
The late emperor was the founding emperor of Great Xia. Regardless of whether this dream visit was true or not, the ministers did not dare to criticize him.
However, weren’t his legs crippled? Even if he recovered, even if Young Master Shen was Song Jingchen.
When Xunyang City was trapped, Emperor Chong’an didn’t seem to want to protect it.
Now he was claiming to be the one who sent Song Jingchen there. No matter how people looked at it, it seemed like he was snatching credit and making the citizens of Xunyang City transfer their gratitude towards Song Jingchen to him instead.
The courtiers only thought that Emperor Chong’an wanted to snatch the credit and win the hearts of the people, but they did not know that this was only one of his goals.
The Eldest Prince, who had vaguely guessed Emperor Chong’an’s other motive, secretly clenched his fists.
The secret letter in his sleeve that he was about to hand to Emperor Chong’an after the court session was basically a joke now.
After discussing with his advisor last night, he decided to report the matter of Young Master Shen being Song Jingchen to Emperor Chong’an. With Emperor Chong’an’s fear of the Song family, he would definitely get rid of him quickly.
At that time, if he added fuel to the fire, Song Jingchen would definitely die, and no one would know about the name list.
Who would have thought that…
Was Emperor Chong’an not afraid that Song Jingchen would expose him? He was naturally not afraid. If Song Jingchen wanted to return to the capital, he could only suffer in silence.
Emperor Chong’an had both fame and fortune, and he could even bring someone under his nose. Even the Second Prince, who was still sick, was not spared.
He wanted his sons to be wary of Song Jingchen, who represented the disinherited crown prince, while fighting for the throne.
He only needed to watch from the sidelines and reap the benefits.
These two imperial decrees directly made the ministers of the various factions dizzy from arguing and debating with each other.
