Shengshichun

Chapter 390 The Person Who Leaked the News
After Fu Zhen left the Qianqing Palace, he turned around and glared while no one was around.

After the conversation with Yang Yi last night, she had already noticed that Yang Yi was wavering. She was confident that she wanted to start with the emperor, asking him to lower his attitude and let Yang Yi convince himself to end the current predicament. But the emperor still had such an attitude. Wasn't he deliberately trying to make things awkward?

Pei Zhan came out soon after. Seeing him holding his breath, one could tell that he had no other options.

"I always feel that things are a little unusual." She said, "The emperor was not like this before. This time, he seems to be particularly twisted about this matter."

Pei Zhan glanced behind him and said in a low voice, "Of course it's not normal. Did you know that there was someone else in the hall just now?"

"There's someone else?" Fu Zhen was surprised. "Who else?"

"I didn't see it, but there was a noise in the innermost room earlier. I would never be wrong. There must be someone in there."

Fu Zhen crossed his arms, frowned and thought for a while before saying, "There are only a few people in the palace now, who else could it be? Could it be the queen?"

"There can be no one else except the Queen." Pei Zhan said meaningfully, "Didn't you notice that the Queen has not shown up since the background of the Prince of Yan was exposed?"

Fu Zhen hissed and straightened his back: "That's right. Not only that, since you came back from the northwest this time, the queen has not yet gone to see the prince. There is no news that she plans to come out to meet him.

"You mean, this is a trap set by the Emperor and the Empress?"

"What else could it be? No emperor would be at odds with the stability of his own government."

Pei Zhan's straightened waist also revealed his full confidence.

"But why did the emperor do this?"

Fu Zhen didn’t understand, “The Queen must be protecting His Highness. Since she also allowed the Emperor to do this, then the Emperor’s original intention must not be to embarrass His Highness.

"Then why did he go around in circles? He could have listened to my advice and talked to His Highness about what happened. His Highness is not an unreasonable person. Even if he doesn't forgive him, he won't ignore his responsibilities as a prince."

"Perhaps the Emperor's intention is elsewhere."

"How do you say this?"

Pei Zhan walked down the stairs and looked at the officials busy heading to the various government offices in the distance. "Do you remember what the prince told you last night?"

Fu Zhen immediately understood: "Are you talking about the incident in the northwest where the whereabouts of the prince were leaked?"

"That's right." Pei Zhan turned to her, "Your Highness said that the news must have leaked from their side. Based on the situation at the time, it does seem to have been leaked from Zhou Jun's side.

"Then do you believe that the emperor leaked this news?"

"Of course this is impossible!" Fu Zhen denied it outright, "If the emperor wanted to leak this news, he wanted to kill Your Highness, why would he go through so much trouble?
"Besides, I believe that even if the emperor has his own considerations and cannot treat his son wholeheartedly like a father of an ordinary family, he will definitely not be so cruel as to let his son be captured and tortured by the people of Dayue."

"That's right." Pei Zhan nodded. "Who was the person who leaked the news? If the emperor was not so cruel as to want to kill his own son, what would he do after he understood this?"

Fu Zhen suddenly realized: "So the emperor is fishing?"

Pei Zhan paced back and forth and said, “The emperor you and I saw before is very different from the emperor we have known in the past few decades.

"On the contrary, if this was fishing, it would be more in line with his temperament.

“For so many years, the Emperor and the Empress have been secretly searching for His Highness. So I can infer that he had no idea that His Highness had been captured by the Dayue people.

“If the letter that Your Highness sent to the Emperor back then had reached the Emperor’s hands, then the problem would be with the people he sent out.

“If the letter never reached the emperor, then there is something seriously wrong with the person who received it.

"Anyway, assuming that the emperor realized that the information was wrong after seeing Your Highness that night, he would definitely find a way to find out who caused the mistake.

"This is the reaction that most people have. The emperor will not let it go. So I guess that when he released that rumor earlier, it might not necessarily be to force His Highness to surrender, but it might be to let the person who did that thing back then come forward."

"That makes sense!" Fu Zhen nodded heavily. "The people who concealed the whereabouts of the prince must not have wanted him to return. Or the emperor had regretted it at that time, so I heard from my sister-in-law that on the morning after the accident, the emperor personally went around the city and outside the city with the queen to look for him.

"Regardless of whether he is sincere or not, at least in everyone's eyes, he still cares about this son. And because he cares about the queen, even if he really doesn't want this son, he won't do it so obviously.

"So, the person who is doing this secretly doesn't want His Highness, the emperor's only son, to return to the Zhou army camp!"

"Those who don't want His Highness to go back are probably those who don't want the Emperor to take power in the end." Pei Zhan continued her words, "You have also heard from my sister-in-law that at that time, there were many rebels from various places in the Zhou army. Although they had already surrendered to the Emperor, they might have ambitions in their hearts.

"Otherwise, no one would have assisted the tyrant and joined forces with the enemy to cause the Battle of Huzhou."

“Yes, those rebels all came with their own troops. Compared to our generals who have followed the emperor from the beginning, they are more likely to have other intentions.

"At that time, the emperor and empress had been married for many years, but they still only had one son, the eldest prince. As long as they killed the eldest prince, they could seize the emperor's power directly or wait for an opportunity after the emperor ascended the throne and have someone else give birth to a prince to inherit the throne. There would be too many opportunities to manipulate."

When Fu Zhen said this, his heart suddenly trembled: "The emperor and empress had a deep love for each other, but after he ascended the throne, several concubines entered the harem one after another.

"Logically speaking, these people could have completely disappeared. Who on earth tore this hole apart?"

In the past, the court was peaceful and everyone was united in facing external threats, and no one bothered to look into these things. Now that the conflict involves the imperial power, many hidden secrets of Yang Yi have been uncovered, and these details that had been ignored in the past have also emerged.

According to the emperor, since he has not given birth to another prince in the harem for so many years, it should not be the emperor's own idea to enrich the harem.

Although the queen is virtuous, there is no reason for her to deliberately recruit a few people into the palace to give herself things to do.

So this matter is more like going with the flow.

Up to now, the concubines in the palace have never exceeded their duties. I think the emperor and empress must have considered them carefully when selecting these people to enter the palace.

If the emperor could take them in, he could naturally take others in as well. However, the Northwest War broke out soon after, and I'm afraid these things were put on hold.

Now, coming back to the topic, who was it that proposed taking a concubine?

"More than 20 years have passed since the incident, and they have managed to open the door. It is probably not something that can be accomplished by the initiative of one or two people. It is too much effort to investigate now." If the emperor is really fishing, then I think the current situation is not bad. If those people are still in the court, they will definitely take advantage of the exposure of Prince Yan's background to take action. If no one has caused trouble during this period of time, it means that these people are no longer in the court, or have decided to restrain themselves.

"No matter what they think, as long as they behave themselves, then it will be smooth sailing for His Highness to return to the palace to be conferred the title.

“This bureau still looks good.”

Fu Zhen pondered: "There are several leaders of these small rebel groups in the court, who could have done it?

"If we can't find a specific target, how can we pay attention to their actions in secret?"

Hearing this, Pei Zhan took a deep breath and said, "It's also my fault that I reacted too late. Now I can only ask Guo Song and his men to move around the city and see if they can get any information."

Upon hearing this, Fu Zhen said, "Don't just let Guo Song and the others go. Let the second and seventh brothers and all the others take action, go up and down, visit more people, and invite them to dinner. It will be much faster!"

Pei Zhan said "hmm" and called her, "Then don't delay anything, let's go!"

The couple came up with an idea and quickly left the palace.

After returning home, he immediately sent people to contact the Liang, Cheng and Du families. On the one hand, he asked his fathers and elders who were the leaders of the rebel army who had surrendered to the Zhou army, and on the other hand, he began to socialize with each other.

On the night when Yang Yi returned to the capital, he asked He Zhao to deliver the local products for the queen to the palace. He was expecting his mother to come out to meet him. But He Zhao went to the palace early in the morning and came back with only various rewards from the queen. He did not say when he would come out to meet her.

I can't help feeling a little disappointed.

But when he thought that he was already in his thirties and should not be so worried, he let it go and continued to send a letter to the palace to pay his respects every day. He spent the rest of his time reading books, practicing martial arts, and living his own life.

I went to Wanbin Building twice and met Xie Zhang both times. I don't know what's wrong with this Censor Xie, but he was very friendly and cheerful every time he came in and saw me. He didn't seem as distant as he was at the beginning.

Yang Yi had been traveling among the people for many years and although he looked indifferent on the outside, he had actually developed an easy-going personality. After talking with Xie Zhang, he felt that this young man from an aristocratic family was very knowledgeable and upright, which was very much to his liking.

He then invited Xie Zhang to his house as a guest and asked him for advice on poetry and calligraphy.

It just so happened that after Xie Zhang knew his identity, he was also willing to deepen his understanding of him. After a few interactions, the two of them became more and more compatible.

On this day, the two of them met at Yang's house to drink tea and discuss poetry. Suddenly, someone from the palace came and gave Yang Yi two sets of clothes, saying that they were for him to wear on the Queen's birthday in a few days.

This arrangement was beyond Yang Yi's plan. He said, "It's the Queen's birthday, and there are only a few people in the court who are qualified to attend the banquet. How can I go?"

I don't know if the palace servant had been warned before coming here, so she didn't say anything, but just bent her waist as low as possible and said: "I am only following your orders, please forgive me, Your Highness."

Yang Yi didn't want to embarrass him, so he waved his hand and let him go.

But when he saw the brocade box in front of him, he frowned again.

Xie Zhang said: "The emperor's order cannot be disobeyed. Brother Yang, even if you obey the imperial decree and go to the palace for the banquet, what does that matter?"

Yang Yi stopped all of them from calling him His Highness, so Xie Zhang started to treat him as his brother.

Yang Yi looked at him and said, "If I go, I'll be tricked."

Xie Zhang smiled and said, "Otherwise, why do you think the emperor would do this?"

Yang Yi had an indifferent face.

Xie Zhang said: "In the future, the crown prince will definitely be you, Brother Yang. It can only be you. But if the emperor does not bring you to the world and announce your identity to the world, then even if more people believe that you are the prince, it will be useless.

"Only if your biological parents, the Emperor and the Empress, personally acknowledge you, will it be possible for you to legitimately inherit the throne no matter what happens in the future."

Yang Yi didn't say anything, but what he said was true and there was no way to refute it.

He was a prince who had been living in exile before the founding of the country and had never appeared in the court. If he did not enter the palace and the emperor did not explicitly acknowledge his status as a prince, there would indeed be trouble in the future.

After Fu Zhen analyzed those words that night, he was indeed seriously considering returning to the palace.

However, the current situation was not that urgent, so he did not rush to make a decision, but chose to live outside the palace first.

It was indeed a good time to announce his identity during the Queen's birthday.

But he always felt disgusted by the emperor leading him by the nose.

"Alright," Xie Zhang stood up, "No matter what, it's the Queen's birthday, and as a son, Brother Yang has to be there for her.

"The palace has sent some clothes. Since it's for my mother's birthday, Brother Yang should at least carefully select one or two gifts.

"It's still early, how about I go shopping with Brother Yang? Just now you mentioned some famous paintings and calligraphy, we can go to the calligraphy and painting studio to take a look."

Yang Yi didn't seem to have any reason to object.

Since he has already accepted the result of being named the crown prince in his heart, let's put aside the grudge between him and the emperor and spend a good birthday with his mother first.

The two men then rode out onto the street.

Xie Zhang was a frequent visitor to the calligraphy and painting studio. When he arrived at the place with ease, the shopkeeper had already come out to greet him.

Yang Yi followed him in and saw that the shop was already filled with many well-dressed distinguished guests. Paintings and calligraphy by famous artists from different periods were hung on the four walls, which showed that this place was indeed extraordinary.

The shopkeeper led them to a seat in the corner and brought out a few landscape paintings.

Yang Yi had just picked up a painting when he heard a very low voice talking from the side:

"...We will arrive in Beijing tomorrow night. I heard that we have made some progress. The man above not only likes osmanthus, but also appreciates the calligraphy and paintings of the former imperial tutor Fu Ziyu. When the time comes, as long as he takes this, he will be able to meet him and pay his respects to him."