To threaten someone by holding their family’s lives hostage is somewhat indecorous to discuss, yet it proves exceedingly effective.
A person who refuses to save even their closest kin, regardless of their loyalty, will be scorned by others.
For example, generals who command tens of thousands of troops always leave their families in the capital, a practice that has persisted through dynasties. If a general has no relatives or remains unmarried, the unpredictability of their career increases significantly. Officially, this is because the court values an official’s ability to manage his household, reflecting the ideal of self-cultivation, family management, national governance, and world peace. The notion being, how can one who doesn’t sweep his own house clean sweep the world clean? In reality, it stems from prejudice and superstition.
The prejudice needs no explanation; is a grown man without a wife or concubines not afflicted with some hidden ailment?
The superstition concerns fear that someone without family ties is recklessly bold and heedless of their own life.
Liu Dan faces ostracism in the court largely because he is alone, having declined offers from court officials to take their daughters as wives or concubines.
It’s not that he possesses an exceptionally noble or unique character; rather, his further advancement depends mainly on the emperor’s trust. Even indirectly related in-laws could automatically affiliate him with a certain faction in the court, forcing Liu Dan to decline all such offers.
In the eyes of civil officials, his refusal is seen as a proactive gesture of goodwill. Were it not for Liu Dan’s slight competence and substantial favor from the emperor, thoughts of marrying into such families wouldn’t even be entertained! To their astonishment, Liu Dan outright rejects such offers!
After declining seven or eight families, Liu Dan realizes that even if he truly finds a suitable match, marrying her becomes nearly impossible unless her family is willing to risk offending the court officials who had proposed the alliance.
Military officers in the Qi dynasty face suppression, and life is already challenging. Liu Dan becomes a hot potato in their eyes, touching whom could peel off a layer of skin, only worth considering for the advantages he might bring if one could endure the initial burn.
They hesitate, and Liu Dan immediately senses it.
The intention of the court officials is to suppress Liu Dan, letting this military man know the consequences of offending them. As long as Liu Dan bows his head, they are willing to turn a blind eye, easing off with just a bit of hassle. Yet Liu Dan, stubborn as an ox, simply walks away, refusing to marry!
For a military commander without a family in the capital, suspicion from the emperor is inevitable. Liu Dan, commanding merely a few thousand troops, is somewhat exempt, but any more significant and it becomes untenable. The court officials believe they have blocked Liu Dan’s career advancement with this unwritten rule.
At this moment, the Prime Minister of Wenyuan Pavilion, feeling disdain for Lu Zhang manipulating the crown prince by leveraging the families of the crown princess and the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace, falls silent upon further thought.
The eunuch’s words may have been unpleasant, but such actions are hardly uncommon.
When attempting to undermine political rivals, how does one bribe or persuade their aides and household servants? When money fails, such measures become necessary.
Servants born into the family are highly valued, and aides bringing their families to live in their master’s house is precisely to avoid such situations. Some, unscrupulously, even resort to kidnapping children as threats.
A figure like Prime Minister Zhang, of course, wouldn’t get his hands dirty, yet he tacitly allows his subordinates to do so.
As the emperor, Lu Zhang has numerous ways to control the crown prince, and indeed he does. The affairs of the crown princess and the chief eunuch of the Eastern Palace are hardly his most crucial move.
Past experiences have instilled a deep desire for control in Lu Zhang, so he utilizes every chess piece available, useful or not, indulging in the power to inflict misery through control over life and death.
Chen Cai usually flatters superficially, only sharing useful information under extreme pressure. Lu Zhang finds this unremarkable, as eunuchs are known for their greed, short-sightedness, fear of their families’ deaths, and eagerness to cling to the crown prince.
However—
At this moment, all Lu Zhang wishes is to have Chen Cai dragged away and beaten to death with clubs.
Not for the betrayal of a chess piece, but for Chen Cai’s mockingly strange smile.
Those beyond control, not tormented by power, must die…
“Lu Huan! Well done, you have truly surprised me!” Lu Zhang laughs in extreme anger,
Yet his body fails to sustain his pride, pausing only to cough up a mouthful of fresh blood.
“Your Majesty!”
The palace attendants inside the sleeping quarters cry out in alarm, their eyes anxiously fixed on the prince leading the coup.
Meng Qi, eavesdropping from the rooftop, is puzzled; just because an eunuch is uncontrollable, why would Lu Zhang vomit blood in anger? Could this be Lu Zhang’s strategy, feigning fainting to seize an opportunity to turn the tables?
Inside the palace, there was a cat. Meng Qi hesitated for a moment, then quietly, sticking close to the wall along the eaves, silently flipped through the window without making a sound.
Before landing, Meng Qi sensed someone ahead and quickly extended his hand, silencing the person by hitting their pressure point before they could make a sound.
Behind the curtain, Meng Qi and the Third Prince found themselves face to face.
A hiding spot, always inevitably awkward with its frequent, unintended discoverers.
Once the Third Prince realized what had happened, fear appeared in his eyes, as if he was about to faint, but his right hand hidden in his sleeve seemed unnaturally positioned.
Meng Qi immediately noticed the Third Prince was concealing a sharp weapon.
“Passing by, just watching the excitement,” Meng Qi threw out a sentence to calm the Third Prince’s nerves, thinking that without clarification, the Third Prince might jump to wild conclusions and cause a scene.
Meng Qi gently parted the curtain, creating a small gap to peek through at the situation inside the sleeping chamber.
Coincidentally, the attendants were supporting the emperor, pushed back by the imperial guards, with Lu Zhang facing this direction.
Meng Qi, not a physician unable to treat illnesses, had sharp eyes.
Lu Zhang’s limbs twitched occasionally, a result of the internal force Meng Qi had inflicted days ago, a technique he had devised in Qinghu Town.
It wouldn’t be fatal, just cause occasional flare-ups.
Seeing the extent of Lu Zhang’s twitching, Meng Qi was puzzled. According to his original intention, although it should be painful, without external force (of the same origin) stimulation, it shouldn’t be this severe.
This couldn’t be faked!
Feigning death is easy, pretending to have a disease flare-up is hard, let alone such difficult convulsions.
The royal physician nearly thought the emperor had a stroke.
So, anger exacerbates the chaos of internal energy, making the effects even more terrifying? Meng Qi pondered deeply.
Then, an imperial guard came in, reporting that the courtiers from Wenyuan’s faction had been brought over, and the Crown Prince slightly nodded. The ministers, who had been enduring the cold outside, were relieved and entered the sleeping chamber one after another.
The emperor’s sleeping chamber was spacious, but now it became crowded with the Crown Prince and a group of imperial guards entering, followed by the “escorted” high-ranking officials of second rank and above, making the entire palace very crowded.
Even secluded corners like behind the curtains were no longer safe, with more lights lit and people walking nearby.
Chief Steward Chen seized an opportunity to quietly inform the Crown Prince that someone was hiding behind the curtain, judging by the boots, probably the Third Prince.
The Crown Prince looked over but sensed something was amiss.
In a blink, indeed, there were only a pair of boots, with the light casting vague shadows.
“Who is there?”
The imperial guard noticed the anomaly and drew his sword to part the curtain.
“Stop!” Chen Cai hurriedly called out.
The Third Prince, facing the sword’s edge, trembled but did not scream.
Seeing him silent, everyone thought the Third Prince was too scared to speak, only the Crown Prince sensed something wrong and was about to speak when a stream of Qi from afar unlocked the Third Prince’s pressure points.
The Third Prince instinctively cried out, then frantically looked around.
The high-ranking officials from Wenyuan’s faction, seeing the Third Prince’s exceptionally cowardly and incompetent demeanor, felt uncomfortable.
It was now a matter of who could keep a straight face. Prime Minister Zhang could hold it together, while Prime Minister Jiang’s ears burned with embarrassment, regretting his support for such a prince to ascend the throne.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince,” Prime Minister Jiang greeted the Crown Prince with a trembling voice.
“Have someone help the old Prime Minister to his seat,” the Crown Prince instructed those around him.
In the blink of an eye, four eunuchs came, without explanation, separated Prime Minister Jiang from the group of officials, and “escorted” him to the side, offering him a round stool.
The remaining courtiers were also guided to different spots by the imperial guards and eunuchs.
By the time Prime Minister Zhang realized what was happening, none of his trusted associates remained by his side, only two courtiers he did not get along with.
Prime Minister Zhang initially signaled his side to come forward and question, but after this commotion, questioning was still possible, but making eye contacts and subtle signals were out of the question. Separated far from each other, and with people watching closely.
“Why would the Crown Prince commit such an unfilial and treacherous act?”
The first to challenge was the Minister of Rites, not one of Prime Minister Zhang’s men, but someone who felt bitter for not being able to support the Third Prince’s plot and couldn’t help but criticize based on the fundamental principles of Confucianism.
As the ministers entered, they scrutinized the Crown Prince.
Though dressed warmly, appearing frail and susceptible to cold, his complexion was acceptable (thanks to the nourishing jade), and he wasn’t coughing severely (thanks to Doctor Mo’s prescription, taken before leaving), all suggesting that the Crown Prince’s rumored critical illness might be false information intended to deceive the emperor and prepare for the coup.
Seeing Lu Zhang, suspected of having a stroke, the courtiers who had intended to stand with the emperor and support the Third Prince felt a heavy blow.
Prime Minister Zhang, though dismayed, remained calm, considering his next moves. Suddenly, he thought of Liu Dan… The affair with the military supplies in the northern border was handled meticulously, leaving no concrete evidence; even if investigated, only minor officials from the Ministry of Revenue or the Ministry of War could be implicated. The letter suspected to be in Liu Dan’s possession was inconsequential, with no header or signature, untraceable if denied adamantly.
The real issue lay in Qiuling County!
The Si family of Silang Mountain conducted business in Qiuling County, bribing local officials. Although their gold mining was secret, those bribed would face trouble.
Prime Minister Zhang had received tributes from his disciple knowing only of his merchant status. Though he had once taken arms in the last years of the Chen dynasty and received an official title from the Chu dynasty, those were trivial past matters. Now, seeking convenience in opening permissions for Yongzhou and Pingzhou requires thorough arrangements, right?
Upon learning of the Qiuling County incident, Prime Minister Zhang sensed trouble. Although the earthquake in Qiuling County wiped out those officials cleanly, Pingzhou Prefecture was still alive. Unfortunately, during the incident, a ledger from the Si family surfaced, encountered by Liu Dan. The ledger might contain records of bribes to Pingzhou Prefecture, including precious items already presented to Prime Minister Zhang.
The Si family was conspiring against the state!
If combined with the northern border military supply issue, many of Prime Minister Zhang’s followers would be eliminated, a significant blow. Fearing that Prime Minister Jiang and Jiang Zhengshi might seize the opportunity to force him into retirement,
Liu Dan had to die! With Liu Dan gone, the authenticity of the ledger could still be debated.
Prime Minister Zhang was in turmoil, barely paying attention to the Minister of Rites leading the accusations against the Crown Prince’s impiety and disorder.
To others, Prime Minister Zhang seemed merely worried, a normal reaction under the circumstances, while his old rival, Prime Minister Jiang, too distant to notice Zhang’s distress.
The Third Prince, shivering, scrambled to the Crown Prince.
Jiang Zhengshi, anxious, stood to prevent the Crown Prince from acting against the Third Prince but froze mid-step.
“Big brother, I won’t believe a word of what father said just now.”
The Third Prince, tears streaming, left the Crown Prince momentarily stunned, then remembered Lu Zhang’s previous provocations.
“I never took it seriously. Someone, take the Third Prince back.”
“No, big brother, I won’t leave!”
The Third Prince, as if wishing to cling to the Crown Prince’s legs, knelt and wailed.
The courtiers were embarrassed and somewhat angry.
Knowing the Third Prince’s timid nature, even banking on it, but facing such cowardice and incompetence firsthand was infuriating!
Lacking a manly spirit!
Lacking the demeanor of a prince!
How could such a prince be raised in the palace? Was this the result of being raised by women?
Unbeknownst to them, the Third Prince, while clinging to the Crown Prince’s leg, whispered quickly and softly,
“Big brother, the Master Meng you wanted is nearby, he was just here! Should I go find him for you immediately?”
“…”
The Crown Prince, without changing his expression, gently pressed the Third Prince’s head down.
It was best for this younger brother to stay put and avoid further trouble.
But the physician had left long ago, and Meng Qi was still in the palace?
Author’s Note:
Some have asked for the Crown Prince’s name, which is revealed in this chapter as Lu Huan.
Huan doesn’t imply duplicity; its meaning is akin to “benevolence,” pronounced the same as “ren.”
The character for Lu Min, pronounced the same as “min,” means “intelligent.” Don’t bother about whether the Second Prince is truly intelligent →_→
Regardless of Lu Zhang’s failings, he would not give his sons poor names.
Maybe the Second Prince was originally intelligent but with all the beating from Lu Zhang onto his head might have significantly drop his IQ