C78

It was already a quarter to ten when Prince Jin entered the Imperial Study. He raised his head to look at the golden words on the signboard, and couldn't help but narrow his eyes under the intense sunlight. This was the first time Royal Father took the initiative to call him over to the Imperial Study.

When exactly did he want to ascend the throne? He lowered his head and thought, probably when he met Yu Zhu. That day, like the rain, Royal Father invited the crown prince and him to the imperial garden to admire the flowers. As the father and son exchanged cups to chat, a pretty and pretty dancer wearing a watery red dress slowly walked under the cherry tree. She stretched her waist and lightly waved her sleeves.

Afterwards, he had specially found out the identity of the dancer. Her name was actually Yu Zhu, and at the age of sixteen, she had followed the master outside the palace for many years. Unexpectedly, the crown prince had forcefully chosen her to join the Eastern Palace to become his concubine. He was angry at her for going to the Eastern Palace to reason, but was reprimanded by the Royal Father because of his low status.

The crown prince had been toying with Yu Zhu for less than two months before he was tired of playing with him and chased him out of the Eastern Palace. Yu Zhu was ashamed that she was unclean and had no face to see Yue Yang again. In order to prevent this matter from turning into a scandal in the palace, Noble Consort Kang secretly sent people to settle this matter, leaving Yu Zhu's body as a whole and buried him well.

He knew from that time onwards that in order to protect the people he loved, he must have supreme power, and within the palace, other than the Emperor, it was the crown prince who was the ruler. He must become a prince that was even stronger than the crown prince, in order to win the favor of the Royal Father s and replace them with the crown prince of the Eastern Palace.

The so called crown prince was only an ordinary person who did not know anything, relying on the fact that his mother was a Empress Chen to enter the main Eastern Palace. Gradually, he stood out amongst the other princes, displaying a talent that was a hundred times stronger than the Crown Prince.

However, things did not go as smoothly as he had imagined. When he returned to the palace, he knew that Prince Duan was extremely talented, and after a round of study, he became even more powerful. Moreover, his mother was the Mrs. Heyi's most beloved Mrs. Heyi, and this was a much more advantageous backer than the Empress Chen.

As a result, he lost his initial advantage and fought with the Three Tigers, instead of retreating to fight with them in the martial arts world. Thus, he acted as if he had no interest in the throne, and pretended to stand on the side of the Prince Duan to deal with the crown prince together with him.

It was a pity that his scheme had been seen through. His former allies were now going against him.

Prince Jin let out a light sigh, his expression relaxed.

Royal Father sat atop the Dragon Throne, a calm expression on his face, as if he was brewing a storm. A sapphire blue figure stood beside him, awaiting his arrival. He didn't even need to look carefully to know that it was the Prince Duan.

Prince Jin walked to his seat and bowed respectfully: "This son greets Royal Father."

"En," The emperor slightly nodded, "Stand up."

Prince Jin stood up, and a trace of a smile appeared on his face. He looked at Chu Zongge and slowly said: "Hello, Royal Brother."

Chu Zongge smiled and nodded, "Prince Jin is really fast, the moment this elder went out to announce the news, your underling arrived."

Prince Jin lowered his eyelids, "Royal Father's orders to me to move faster, how is it like Royal Brother is in the palace, is able to accompany Royal Father around the edges."

The emperor leisurely interrupted their conversation. "I have something to discuss with you. I've just read about the famine in Subei and have a lot of things to take care of, so I'll cut to the chase."

Prince Jin was startled, "The famine in Subei?"

The emperor nodded and shot him a sidelong glance. "This matter has been a headache for Zhen for a long time. Why don't you know about it?"

Chu Zongge secretly laughed with his mouth covered: "Prince Jin often goes out of the palace to play, so I'm not very clear about these current affairs."

Prince Jin was startled: "If I knew about this, wouldn't this matter have been resolved long ago?"

The emperor looked at him, puzzled. "This paper just came up, how did you solve it?"

Prince Jin glanced at Chu Zongge indifferently, as if he was at a loss. "Uncle donated a hundred boxes of gold and a hundred boxes of silver to the Subei, haven't you settled it yet?"

The emperor was stunned for a moment. He still wanted to ask something, but the eunuch serving in front of the imperial palace suddenly delivered a paper roll and said, "Your majesty, this is the paper slip that the Subei has recently sent over."

Chu Zongge and Prince Jin looked at each other quickly but he saw a smile hidden in the depths of his eyes.

The emperor flipped open a few pages, and the eunuch replied with a face full of joy: "The officials sent by the Subei said that the richest man in the capital, Kang Zhiming, had given a lot of money to the victims of the disaster, and also sent many carts of food and fodder to alleviate the disaster and quell the anger of the people."

Chu Zongge's gaze immediately dimmed. A few days ago, he had all sorts of thoughts, but he had forgotten that the Prince Jin had the backing of the richest man in the capital.

The Emperor threw the imperial report on the table, rubbed his brow, and waved the excited eunuch out.

"Very well," the Emperor said, taking a deep breath. "Your uncle has solved a problem for me."

The Prince Jin said with a smile, "Uncle has always been a kind and sincere person.

"Your uncle is also very concerned about national affairs," the emperor said expressionlessly. "Your mother seems to be more concerned about it."

"mother often says that the harem is not allowed to interfere, but it is also often controlled by the heart, and hopes to share the worries of Royal Father," Prince Jin's gentle face did not reveal even the slightest flaw, "The famine in Subei has already been eliminated, and this is also the little kindness the Kang family of mother holds towards the imperial government."

"That's right," the Emperor nodded his head vigorously. "The Prince Jin truly harbors the world in their hearts."

"Prince Jin smiled and turned to look at Chu Zongge," Royal Brother has been accompanied by for such a long time, it should be because of this matter.

Chu Zongge silently stared at him for a moment, and said secretly: "Prince Jin is truly concerned about my body."

"That's only natural," Prince Jin laughed, "Royal Brother is also very concerned about me." He then respectfully nodded and said: "I wonder what urgent matter this Royal Father has summoned me here for?"

The emperor looked at Chu Zongge who had a stiff expression and said with an extremely unhappy tone, "I haven't seen you for a long time, I want to ask you to come play a few games of chess."

The corner of Prince Jin's lips curled up as he said with a faint smile: "This son has not seen Royal Father for a long time as well. I will definitely go all out in the chess game later."

Chu Zongge closed his eyes in frustration. He took a step back and bowed, "Since the famine has been resolved, then I will take my leave first."

Xue Ronghua opened her eyes wide in disbelief, "What? The Emperor calling the Prince Jin into the study did not succeed? "

The Noble Consort Kang is Kang Zhiming's younger sister, and is also an important stepping stone for Kang Zhiming to befriend the nobles of the royal family. Now that Kang Zhiming's nephew is in trouble, not to mention a hundred boxes of gold, it doesn't matter if he emptied out half of his treasury or not. Moreover, it's unknown whether or not the money given to him by the Subei is even worth a tenth of his own. "

Xue Ronghua looked at him in shock, "I am not surprised that Noble Consort Kang has so much money, but rather that Prince Jin actually knows what we are doing and is on guard.

Chu Zongge pondered for a moment, then said: "Everything I discussed with the Emperor was done at the Luan Feng Palace, there are no other people there."

"Could it be that Xue Liuhua told him?"

Chu Zongge immediately shook his head, "The Emperor has almost sealed Imperial Concubine Hua's palace away, so how would he have the chance to come in contact with the Prince Jin?"

Xue Ronghua's eyes flashed, "I originally thought that Prince Jin sent Xue Liuhua to the Sovereign King because he wanted to throw away this trouble and also wanted to arrange for her to blow our pillow breeze beside the Emperor's ear. Could it be that he really wanted to use Xue Liuhua as his spy and place him by the Emperor's side?"

"I spent a lot of effort to make the emperor think that Prince Jin sent Xue Liuhua to the palace so that he could plant spies by his side and use this to sow discord between them. The emperor does indeed believe it, but I also do not understand if the Prince Jin is really planning to plant spies."

"This Prince Jin is really troublesome," Xue Ronghua said with a headache as she held her forehead.

"To be able to contend with the Crown Prince for so long, I think that he and the Noble Consort Kang are not simple characters," Chu Zongge said as he narrowed his eyes, "I had underestimated my enemy too much, and thought that I could take this opportunity to strike a blow just because I separated him from the emperor. But who would have thought that he would move in with a relative to save his.

Seeing that his face was filled with indignation, Xue Ronghua comforted him with a soft voice: "Don't be anxious, Prince Jin is a cunning fox after all, no one can guard against him."

Chu Zongge lowered his head and laughed, then said gently: "However, I still get some other things."

Xue Ronghua was startled, "Didn't we not succeed in discussing anything?"

Chu Zongge shook his index finger, and with a profound smile, he said, "Indeed, nothing was negotiated, but I can also tell that Prince Jin will definitely not become the next ruler."

"The Prince Jin has extraordinary talent, why are you so sure?"

"He is an iron ore that is in my way of seizing the throne, but he can be moved," Chu Zongge said with a shallow smile. "The Emperor became suspicious with just a slight provocation from me, and his reaction to the famine that the Prince Jin was in the midst of talking showed how much he disliked the Prince Jin."

Xue Ronghua was puzzled: "In the past, did Prince Jin frequently come and go through the Imperial Study to play chess with the Emperor?"

"Besides the crown prince, the emperor will not actively request for any other princes to head to the Imperial Study," Chu Zongge said, "The Prince Jin himself borrowed the name of paying respects to the crown prince to deliberately get close to the emperor."

"Prince Jin truly lacks the magnanimity that a ruler needs. Perhaps it is not suitable for him to be the ruler, but why would the emperor not like him?"

Chu Zongge's gaze shifted to the complicated pattern on her sleeve. "Imperial Concubine Hua was just in time to get the favor of the emperor. I'm afraid the emperor is blaming his own loving consort for coming into contact with his too many times outside the palace."

Xue Ronghua was startled, and couldn't help but laugh while covering her mouth: "Your majesty, the vinegar you're eating is strange, Xue Liuhua was originally prepared it for Prince Jin, how could I not come into contact with it."

Chu Zongge faintly sighed, he looked at her with shining eyes, and said: "Maybe this is what you call possessiveness. In the past, when I saw Prince Jin staring at you, I didn't feel comfortable too."

Xue Ronghua looked at him blankly, her cheeks flushed red: "Since I'm already your quasi wangfei, naturally I can't interact too much with the man beside me."

Chu Zongge gently held both of her hands, which were as white as jade, and softly said: "I understand, when do you plan to make me call you Madam in name?"

Xue Ronghua anxiously took her hand out, but was held even tighter: "The matters of Prince Jin have not been resolved, what are you so anxious about … Hurry up and let go of my hand. "

"I don't want to," Chu Zongge said as he slowly rubbed his fingers across her middle finger.