Chapter 115: Licking Honey on the Edge of a Knife

In the Yugan Palace, the lights were bright. Emperor Kang Cheng took a pill and wrote furiously.

Wei Zili had a bitter face and waited tremblingly by the side. The emperor took too many pills. He had to take one pill every hour.

During the break, Emperor Kang Cheng drank a sip of ginseng tea and asked, "What has Song Mo been doing these two days?"

"Your Majesty, the fourth prince has been reading a lot. There is nothing unusual."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Kang Cheng snorted.

He picked up the pen again and wrote the names of the second prince, the third prince, the fourth prince and the eldest grandson, and then circled the fourth prince and the eldest grandson.

He stared at the names in the two circles. The heir must be established. Otherwise, if he kicks his legs, these princes and grandsons will have their brains beaten out of their heads, or directly trigger a dispute over the heir, which will cause turmoil in the court. What if several princes directly split Dali. Then he would be the sinner of the Song Dynasty, and he would have no face to see his ancestors.

Before his death, the emperor had told him and asked him to promise that when he was about to pass away, he must choose a successor and pass on the Song Dynasty.

The emperor had asserted that he was not a wise and heroic ruler, but just a ruler who maintained the status quo. He did not have any requirements for him. It was okay if he did not make any achievements during his reign, but he must be cautious about the inheritance.

He was still unconvinced at the time, and now it was time for him to fulfill his promise.

What if he wanted to establish his son? What if he wanted to establish his grandson? Who could stay and who must be taken away. These were all things he had to consider. The emperor had said that the dynasty was afraid of young rulers, and the previous dynasty's Taizong was inherited from an orphan and a widow. After thinking about it, Emperor Kang Cheng crossed out the item of the crown prince, leaving only the fourth son.

He began to select the people to be taken away, especially the officials who surrounded him and sought to follow the dragon, and he would rather kill them by mistake than let them go. As long as they would not cause too much unrest, he would take them away. But for the Xie family, who were sycophants and had deep roots, he had to reconsider. It was unrealistic to take the whole family away, so he took the troublemakers away.

But the more Kang Chengdi cut off the people, the more he felt something was wrong. He simply stopped writing, drank another half bowl of ginseng tea, picked up the list he wrote and looked at it carefully, and then laughed angrily.

"Go, bring Song Mo to me!"

"Yes!"

Wei Zili hurriedly asked his little apprentice to invite the fourth prince over. He didn't dare to leave the emperor now.

As soon as Song Mo entered the hall, a tea bowl fell at his feet, "Song Mo, do you know your crime?!"

Facing the furious Kang Chengdi, Song Mo knelt down, "Father!"

Wei Zili quickly cleared the scene, and after a while, only Kang Chengdi, Song Mo, and Wei Zili were left in the hall.

"Speak!"

"Your son has nothing to say."

"What a speechless person! You won't cry until you see the coffin, right?" Emperor Kang Cheng walked down the steps and walked around him, "Song Mo, you are only fourteen this year, right? I didn't expect you to be so capable that you killed the crown prince, the heir to the throne. Tell me, are you going to kill your father next?"

Song Mo was shocked, "Your son dare not."

"You are very courageous, what is there to be afraid of? After killing the crown prince, you also plotted against me! You are very proud of killing someone with a borrowed knife, right? Borrowing my hand to help you get rid of Xue Huaimin and others who hinder you, is my knife easy to use? Very proud, right? Are you so sure that I dare not kill you?"

He was so angry! What sin did he commit that made him suffer such a sin at the end! If he had any other choice, he would definitely kill this evil son...

But when he thought that the second and third princes were even more useless than him, he had to suppress his anger.

Even though he knew that he was using a knife to kill someone, he had to kill Xue Huaimin! He would not let go of any of the ministers who had come up with the idea and participated in the murder of the prince! But when it came to the turn of the Xie family, he hesitated.

Song Mo knelt there obediently, horrified. Did his father even notice this?

Before, when Xie Zhan told him that all they did might not be hidden from his father's eyes, he didn't quite believe it. Now he believed it, and at the same time he was relieved. He made the right move.

Sure enough, as a vested interest, he would definitely be suspected after the prince's death. He told himself not to be lucky, because his father was too smart.

Xue Huaimin's plan included the part of forcing the emperor to abdicate and killing his father.

At first, he and Xue Huaimin thought they could hide from his father's eyes, but in fact, all this was under his father's cold observation, right?

Good luck. Fortunately, Xie Zhan persuaded him in time. With his analysis and persuasion, he directly abandoned Xue Huaimin's previous plan to force the emperor to abdicate, and then activated Xie Zhan's plan to throw Xue Huaimin out to vent his father's anger.

Although doing so would bring out the mud, he and Xie Zhan felt that this was his crisis and his opportunity.

From the point of view that his father did not kill him immediately, they bet right. After his father's anger, he will definitely regain his reason and he will not cause unrest in Dali.

"Father, I have no choice. All I have done is to make the Dali Dynasty. Father, tell me fairly and impartially, is the prince more capable than me?"

"Because you think the prince is useless and not as good as you, so you want to kill him, right? Do you know that he is the prince, the heir, and also your elder brother!"

"I didn't want the prince's life, I just wanted him to stop being the crown prince." He looked embarrassed, implying that he had planned to do so, but now he just got out of it.

This was of course a lie.

"Father, believe me, if Dali is handed over to me, I will definitely be able to govern it well, and I will not be worse than the prince!" Song Mo expressed his determination.

Emperor Kang Cheng looked at him coldly, "You are indeed smarter than your brothers. Step down, I don't want to see you!"

Song Mo quietly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had passed this level. According to what they had agreed, his father considered Dali, as long as he behaved well when he got angry, nothing would happen.

Xie Zhan really calculated the emperor's heart.

Emperor Kang Cheng looked at him coldly as he walked out, and made several decisions in his mind.

Didn't you say you could do it? Don't you want to be constrained by others? Then I will arrange a few ministers of state to share power and check and balance each other. When you can overthrow them, you will become a qualified emperor.

Don't you want to seize the throne and cherish your reputation, and want the Qin family to take the blame for you? Then I will keep the Qin family! The Qin family is a good dog that guards the house, and they are docile and loyal. They must not be killed because of your selfishness.

Also, who is behind the fourth brother who is giving him advice? He is so cunning, but he didn't find out. He just checked the people of the fourth brother, and there is no one who is particularly suitable.

Emperor Kangcheng will help him. After all, he is his son and the heir to the next throne. However, as an emperor, Emperor Kangcheng is holding his breath. As a father, he must teach him a lesson. So that he knows that your father is still your father.

At night, two lanterns with white cranes spreading their wings were hung on both sides of the door of a flower building.

Xie Zhan soon knew that the matter was done. He won the bet!

He warmed a pot of wine, stood by the window, and quietly admired the beautiful moonlight.

Tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the full moon in the sky symbolizes all the beauty and perfection.

When Xie Zhan was in a good mood, he even poured a glass of wine to the heaven. Lu Songli, I won this round. And I will continue to win. You have no chance.

The smooth progress of the plan made him feel very good. He took a risky move. Otherwise, how could he come from behind?

He made this bet after careful consideration. Their Xie family just took sides. What's wrong? The so-called law does not hold everyone responsible. The prince was not killed by his conspiracy.

No one can match him in understanding Emperor Kang Cheng. If Emperor Kang Cheng had not already had Lu Desheng by his side, he would have been his favorite minister by now. Lu Desheng was just older than him and came out a few years earlier. If not for this, he believed that he would definitely be able to keep the emperor in his heart.

Xie Zhan drank the wine in the glass. Now Xue Huaimin is no longer a concern. If everything goes well, the new emperor will ascend the throne soon, and he will be the first person in the new emperor's team.

When Lv Songli found out that the new think tank of the Fourth Prince was Xie Zhan, she was not too surprised.

In this matter, her and Xie Zhan's reactions were very different.

Lv Songli was a coward, while Xie Zhan was licking honey on the edge of a knife. From this point of view, Xie Zhan was braver than her, dared to gamble and fight, and was more aggressive.

But he had no choice. If he did nothing, he had no advantage. If he wanted to catch up, he had to fight. He was also amazing, and let Xue Huaimin make a wedding dress for him.