Chapter 584
Chapter 584
Crown Prince Ning Yi, visiting the study of Prime Minister Zhu Hongzhu, seemed somewhat somber. The two men appeared to be having a silent conversation. An endless torrent of resentment surged within Ning Yi.
*Why? Why does Father treat me this way?*
Years ago, when Jiangli was destroyed, Ning Yuanxian had been like a terrified dog on the verge of losing its home. To curry favor with the Zhu Clan, he had deposed his own wife from her position as Queen and elevated a woman from the Zhu Clan, who was essentially a concubine, to the throne.
*Have you forgotten those disgraceful days? With what face do you act so triumphant now?*
Of course, the Crown Prince did not say these words aloud, but his expression betrayed his thoughts. Zhu Hongzhu simply watched Crown Prince Ning Yi with a gentle gaze. He already knew the purpose of the Crown Prince’s visit: to ask him to apply pressure on Ning Yuanxian through the court at Yanjing. Crown Prince Ning Yi’s ascension to the throne was not only the will of the Zhu Clan but also the will of the Great Yan Dynasty. The Emperor wanted the successor of a vassal kingdom to be a civil monarch, not a military one. To put it more realistically, the Emperor wanted someone he could control to be the next King of Yue. In some ways, Zhu Hongzhu was like a spokesperson for the Great Yan Dynasty. It was because of Jiangli's fall that the Zhu Clan was able to become the undisputed leader of the civil officials in the State of Yue. The destruction of Jiangli had truly had a profound impact on the world.
Prime Minister Zhu Hongzhu spoke.
“The time is not yet right! His Highness has shown no intention of replacing the Crown Prince, and people are quick to forget. The scene today was certainly shocking, but what Your Highness must do now is diminish its impact so that within two months at most, everyone will have forgotten about it.”
Crown Prince Ning Yi said, “But Ning Zheng’s reputation has soared. From now on, whenever people speak of him, won’t they think that the Mandate of Heaven is with him?”
“Reputation is not something that can be easily overshadowed by the appearance of someone new. Your Highness is the Crown Prince; even if Ning Zheng’s influence grows, you must never try to suppress him with your own reputation. To do so would appear undignified. From now on, Your Highness must focus on two things. The first is the war with the Southern Ou Kingdom! The so-called Heaven-Worshipping Ceremony is, in reality, all a sham. If the ritual goes wrong, it can be used as a pretext to attack the monarch. But it yields no tangible gains, so no matter how perfect the performance, it is ultimately meaningless.”
“In contrast, the war with the Southern Ou Kingdom is tangible. The State of Yue cannot lose that war; we must win. If we win, Your Highness will reap the greatest fruits of victory. This is a war that could tip the scales of the nation. A victory here would earn you ten times the prestige gained from the Heaven-Worshipping Ceremony.”
The Crown Prince was exceptionally intelligent. Upon hearing Zhu Hongzhu’s words, he immediately understood the unspoken meaning.
“Grandfather means that I should rush to the Southern Ou Kingdom at the opportune moment and station myself there?”
Crown Prince Ning Yi and Zhu Hongzhu shared no blood relation. He was merely the adopted son of Queen Zhu. Thus, even if he were the Queen's biological child, it would be appropriate to call him maternal grandfather.
“Precisely. The moment victory in the war is certain, Your Highness should go there and station yourself to harvest the fruits of that victory.”
“But His Highness is already full of prejudice against me. He will not want me to sit back and enjoy the rewards when victory in the Southern Ou battlefield is at hand.”
“What if the situation changes to one where Your Highness’s presence is indispensable? What if your absence from the battlefield would affect the tide of the war or its outcome?”
“Grandfather, are you referring to Nangong Ao?”
Zhu Hongzhu nodded silently. Currently, two people were stationed on the Southern Ou battlefield: Grand General Zhu Lin and Princess Ning Luo. However, if the Marquis of Zhenbei, Nangong Ao, were to enter the fray, his reputation would be no less than Zhu Lin’s. Zhu Lin, needless to say, was a pillar of the Crown Prince’s faction. Nangong Ao had yet to align with anyone, so he could be considered the King’s man. He had risen to his position during the purge of Ning Yuanwu’s direct faction.
“His Highness may be willful, but he always prioritizes the greater good. At a critical moment, if Zhu Lin and Nangong Ao speak with one voice, he will have to compromise for the sake of the war.”
“I have hinted to Nangong Ao several times that he should side with me, but he has not budged.”
That was only natural. Nangong Ao was already at the pinnacle of his career. The top position in the Privy Council would forever belong to Bian Wu, and Nangong Ao had no hope of attaining it, nor of being promoted to Duke. But in a way, Nangong Ao had already reached the top. The only further advancement he could hope for was his position as the Crown Prince’s Junior Tutor being elevated to Grand Tutor, which was meaningless. Therefore, he had no desire to take sides, ignoring the attempts of both the Crown Prince and the Third Prince to recruit him. Of course, he held the likes of the Fifth Prince, Ning Zheng, in even lower regard.
“Nangong Ao will speak at the critical moment.”
Hearing this, the Crown Prince was not only startled but also filled with immense joy. For Zhu Hongzhu to say this meant he was absolutely certain, which proved that the Zhu Clan had Nangong Ao under their control.
“Second, you must not allow Ning Zheng to grow any stronger. To be precise, you must not allow Shen Lang to grow any stronger.”
“Grandfather, can we mobilize the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion to capture Shen Lang?”
Zhu Hongzhu shook his head.
“No.”
Mobilizing any organization required payment, and some organizations charged an exorbitant price. For instance, for a million yuan, you could buy a graduate degree from an ordinary university, but Cambridge or Oxford would never accept your million yuan. They might consider it for ten million dollars. Besides, wouldn't it be shameful to mobilize the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion for a mere Shen Lang?
“What about Fudao Mountain? Hasn’t Shen Lang recently been provoking their limits?”
“Fudao Mountain's sphere of influence is not the State of Yue, and while Shen Lang’s actions were provocative, they did not cross their line.”
*Then are we supposed to just let Shen Lang do as he pleases?*
Zhu Hongzhu smiled and sipped his tea.
“Haven’t you already taken action to strike at Shen Lang?”
Crown Prince Ning Yi nodded.
“But we can only cut off the roots of the Nirvana Army. That doesn’t seem to be enough.”
“The military is Ning Qi’s domain. It would be best to discuss certain matters with him. At the very least, you and the Third Prince share a common goal in striking down Shen Lang and Ning Zheng.”
***
Crown Prince Ning Yi, of course, did not go to meet the Third Prince, Ning Qi, himself. Instead, a meeting took place between Zhuo Wan and Xue Xue. On the surface, Zhuo Wan was the Crown Prince’s mistress, but behind her was the Hidden Yuan Society; one could even say she was one of Princess Ning Han’s people. Of course, Ning Han had never acknowledged this while she was alive. However, Zhuo Wan could not represent the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion; at best, she was one of Princess Ning Han’s intermediaries.
Xue Xue, on the other hand, was not only a direct disciple of Yan Nanfei but also the daughter of Xue Che and the second wife of the Third Prince, Ning Qi. Furthermore, Fudao Mountain loomed faintly in her background. Otherwise, how could Yan Nanfei have obtained the Guchong poison to use on the Sword King’s wife back then? When these two women met, they inwardly looked down on each other but maintained an air of courtesy.
“Zhuo Wan of the Crown Prince’s estate has come to see younger sister Xue.”
“Xue Xue of the Tianyue Command has come to see elder sister Zhuo.”
Then, the two fell silent. After a long moment, Zhuo Wan spoke first.
“His Highness the Crown Prince’s intention is to split the three thousand or so imbeciles in half.”
The "imbeciles" she referred to were the people with blank bloodlines, the ones Shen Lang intended to form into his second Nirvana Army. Shen Lang called them people with blank bloodlines, which was a rather dignified term. In contrast, they called them imbeciles at every turn, their words dripping with contempt and condescension. Xue Xue countered.
“That’s unfair. After we seize those imbeciles, we will have to ask Fudao Mountain to alter their bloodlines and turn them into an elite army. Therefore, the Third Prince should get one-third, and His Highness the Crown Prince should also get one-third.”
“Does Fudao Mountain have a method to alter their bloodlines? Even if they do, would they be willing to give it to you?”
“You need not worry about that.”
“Besides, even if you learned how to alter the imbeciles’ bloodlines, would you tell us? You have Fudao Mountain, and we have the Ends of the Earth Sea Pavilion. I don’t think we need to ask you to alter the bloodlines for us.”
“Shen Lang’s Black Mirror Division and Heavenly Path Society are sending a large number of elite warriors to escort the three thousand imbeciles, and they are taking an extremely secret route. To investigate and monitor their movements, we will need my Xue Clan and the Blackwater Terrace.”
Zhuo Wan sneered at Xue Xue’s words.
“The Nirvana Army may belong to Shen Lang and Ning Zheng, but ultimately, it is His Highness’s army. What’s the point of investigating their movements? The Blackwater Terrace might leak the information to you, but do you really think they would mobilize experts to seize the imbeciles? And when they are seized, can the people of the South Sea Sword Sect make a move? Or will the Blackwater Terrace act directly?”
Xue Xue fell silent. Both the Blackwater Terrace and the South Sea Sword Sect were the King’s direct confidants. For now, at least, they dared not cross certain lines.
“The only organization that dares to snatch the seeds of Shen Lang’s second Nirvana Army is the Hidden Yuan Society. Therefore, it is best that we split the three thousand or so imbeciles fifty-fifty once we have them!”
Just as Zhuo Wan said, the Hidden Yuan Society was a powerful force, and its relationship with the King had begun to sour. They were indeed capable of such an act. Xue Xue remained silent for a moment before nodding.
“Very well. Fifty-fifty it is!”
It seemed the saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" was true. This would be the first time the Crown Prince and the Third Prince had joined forces.
***
Time flew by, and another ten days or so passed. The effects of the Golden Dragon's Blood that Shen Lang had sold began to fade, and more and more people realized they had been deceived. Of course, at first, they thought it was because they had been with women. The potion’s effects were so potent that even someone like Ning Zheng couldn’t help but seek out his wife multiple times after drinking it. And what kind of people were these young nobles? They were not men who could easily restrain their desires. However, some of them had genuinely restrained themselves and not touched a woman, only to find the effects of the Golden Dragon’s Blood steadily diminishing. After secretly conferring with one another, they all realized they had been thoroughly swindled. In an instant, they erupted in complete fury.
*That bastard Shen Lang! Not only did you insult our dignity, you insulted our intelligence and took our money! How dare you?*
But they could only curse him in their hearts; they couldn't storm his residence. If it became public that they had bought the dragon’s blood, wouldn’t they be bringing trouble upon themselves? The Crown Prince and the Third Prince had declared that anyone who gave money to Shen Lang would be suppressed, regardless of who they were. So, despite being victims, they couldn't even voice their grievances and could only curse Shen Lang in private.
But yesterday, new word came from the estates of the Crown Prince and the Third Prince. Anyone who had given money to Shen Lang would have their past transgressions forgiven; their future conduct would be what mattered from now on. Everyone understood the hidden meaning. This was an incitement for all who had been deceived by Shen Lang to go and cause a disturbance at his home. Soon, a thousand young nobles, having gathered their friends, assembled a force of several thousand people and marched on the Marquis of Changping’s estate.