Chapter 136 Undercurrent

Also because half of the officials in the court opposed it, the decree to confer the title of Imperial Noble Consort on Concubine Ru was shelved.

Emperor Qian could only say that he would discuss it later, but he had already begun to fear the Second Prince.

I am still in my prime and it is still a long time before I abdicate. The Second Prince is so eager to jump out, and half of the officials support him. Then what is the point of me as the emperor?

The imperial power is yours only if you are willing to give it to yourself. If you seize it directly without his consent, it means you have evil intentions. If you have coveted the throne for so long, does that mean you don't take him, your father, seriously?

If the Second Prince is given more time, the entire court might be infiltrated by him. I cannot let this continue.

The second prince won this court dispute.

The Minister of Justice also knew that the Second Prince had shown his talent, and immediately reminded him not to show off in the recent period.

But the Second Prince wouldn't listen at this moment. He had saved his father's life, and his father would never blame him no matter what.

There was a flash of satisfaction in the Second Prince's eyes, and the corners of his mouth raised high. Half of the officials in the court were his own people. He was able to successfully stop his father today, and in the future more officials would submit to him. How could he not be pleased?

The fourth younger brother has no chance of becoming emperor, and the fifth younger brother also supports him, so he will definitely take the position of crown prince.

Little did they know that after today's incident, the Second Prince had truly angered the Emperor.

The news from the court also reached Lu Zhanxing's ears. Although Lu Zhanxing didn't know where the secret guard got the news, he also didn't know who in the court was his brother's man.

But he could probably guess that it was his brother's arrangement before he left, to ensure that the affairs of the court could be heard by him so that he would not be clueless.

In the study, after Lu Zhanxing burned the letter, he said to Mu Qingli, "The Second Prince may also need to be immersed in it for a while."

Mu Qingli also looked relieved: "It would be great if I could spare more time for the prince."

As long as the three parties are on the same starting line, Prince Lu will have more time to develop.

This is destined to be a long plan and cannot be completed in one or two years.

Sure enough, within two days, news came that Imperial Concubine Shu had punished the dancing beauty by making her kneel, causing her to have a miscarriage. His Majesty was furious and directly demoted Imperial Concubine Shu from her position as Imperial Concubine and punished her by confinement to her house for three months.

In order to appease Wu Meiren, Emperor Qian directly promoted her to the rank of noble lady.

Concubine Xian and Concubine Yu went to visit Concubine Wu who was in confinement after her birth, and all three of them understood each other's identities.

Wu Guiren said helplessly: "I happened to have my period that day, but His Majesty mistakenly thought I had a miscarriage, and he was furious and punished Shu Guifei."

Even she looked confused. She had miscarried for no apparent reason and is now starting to recuperate after giving birth.

Xian Fei and Yu Guiren looked at each other and smiled. Xian Fei said, "Since His Majesty said you had an abortion, then you should have an abortion. After all, it's a good thing that you have been promoted to a higher position."

She knew something about what happened in the court. His Majesty was just trying to suppress the arrogance of the Second Prince and Concubine Shu, but was caught up by Concubine Wu.

Concubine Yu also laughed: "You are lucky. You have been promoted to Concubine within two months of entering the palace. Look at me. I still have to rely on Concubine Xian."

"That's good, but I've probably offended Concubine Shu. Sister Concubine Xian, you must protect me!" Concubine Wu couldn't help but smile and ask for shelter.

She was very lucky that she had three sisters in the palace to help her, otherwise if she came in alone as a dancer, she would not be able to compete with the women in the palace.

Shu Guifei was demoted to Shu Fei again and was under house arrest. This made the Second Prince realize that he had been too complacent during this period and he regretted not listening to his father-in-law.

Wasn’t my mother’s demotion a warning from my father to me?

But before he could recover, several officials from his faction were found to have committed corruption, bribery, abuse of power, forming cliques and engaging in private business and were dismissed from their posts.

Another case was that the son of the Minister of Justice of his wife's family abused his power to bully others and forcibly abducted women, which was also exposed.

Emperor Qian was furious and fined the Minister of Justice three months' salary and gave him a severe scolding.

The Second Prince was severely wounded and lost several high-ranking officials. His power was greatly weakened. He no longer dared to jump around in the court and began to keep a low profile.

More importantly, Emperor Qian also became suspicious of the Second Prince. This was the most fatal and terrifying blow to the Second Prince!

The fourth prince, who joined the Ministry of Personnel, was very satisfied. Although his mother was not conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort, he was able to join the Ministry of Personnel as he wished, and his second elder brother was temporarily suppressed.

After that, everything in the court was calm, but the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince were still competing secretly. However, neither of them dared to show it in public and could only fight in secret.

On the contrary, the Fifth Prince thrived in the Ministry of War and never participated in court disputes. Instead, he gained even more favor from Emperor Qian.

This was exactly what Lord Wei wanted to see. He allowed the other two factions to fight each other, and did not forget to secretly inform Prime Minister Su to not interfere in their affairs. He specifically mentioned that the Duke of Anguo's Mansion should support the Fifth Prince.

This made Prime Minister Su speechless. He originally thought that Lu Zhanyan was supporting the second prince, but he didn't expect that he had already had connections with Lord Wei.

He couldn't help but sigh inwardly at Lu Zhanyan's meticulous mind. The Second Prince did not stand up in time to speak for Lu Zhanyan during the autumn hunt, which led to Lu Zhanyan secretly abandoning the Second Prince and turning to the less prominent Fifth Prince.

No wonder the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince were fighting so fiercely, while the Fifth Prince was safely serving in the Ministry of War.

After much deliberation, he felt that it was not impossible to support the Fifth Prince. After all, the Fourth Prince had already lost the qualification to seize the throne. Although the Second Prince was powerful in the court, the combined forces of Wei Ge Lao, the Minister of War, and his own three major forces were not inferior to the Second Prince.

As a result, the Prime Minister's Office also adopted a royalist attitude, which made Emperor Qian very satisfied.

Previously, he supported Su Chongwen as prime minister, not necessarily to restrain the cabinet, and the current situation is just right.

Although the court seemed calm, there were actually turbulent waves in secret. As long as it was not brought to light and did not touch upon his authority, Emperor Qian would turn a blind eye.

No matter how the court was turbulent, it did not affect the marriage of Princess Dayan and the second son of Marquis Xuanping, now Marquis Ningyuan, Zhao Ningxiu, at the end of March.

Yan Xiao has been staying in the capital, but he often hangs out with some noblemen. If Lu Zhanxing had not had to stay in the mansion to take care of Duke Anguo, he would have gone to find Lu Zhanxing who had the same interests as him.

Although he did wait until his sister got married before leaving, he was secretly trying to find out the news about Daqian.

As a member of the royal family, how could there really be a fool?

He had gained a lot from hanging around these noblemen over the past six months. He had also figured out several major forces. The three princes in the court were all vying for power. The Anguo Mansion, which had been prosperous for many years, had also become much more low-key due to Lu Zhen's death in battle.

Now the old Duke is dying, and the Duke An’s Mansion is likely to decline.

He felt a little sad, but when he saw Lu Zhanxing coming to Ningyuanhou Mansion to attend his sister's wedding banquet, he still happily greeted him.

"Mr. Lu, you have been staying in the Anguo Mansion and rarely come out. I thought you would not come this time."

The handsome Yan Xiao greeted Lu Zhanxing with a smile.

"How could that be? This is a happy event for the establishment of a friendly relationship between the two countries, so of course we have to come to congratulate." Lu Zhanxing responded with a smile.

The wedding of the Princess of Yan and the Marquis of Ningyuan was naturally a very lively one. After all, it was a friendly relationship between the two countries. Although the Emperor and Empress had not arrived, there were many generous rewards.

Most of the officials in the court came, and the Xuanping Marquis's Mansion was considered to have regained the emperor's favor because the second son, Ningyuan Marquis, married Princess Dayan.

Lu Zhanxing was Zhao Ningxiu's matchmaker. Although Xuanping Hou and others did not show it on the surface and welcomed everyone warmly, the two parties had already nodded in understanding tacitly.

Naturally, this relationship cannot be made public. Lu Zhanxing saw many familiar faces at the banquet.

Sun Qiming actually came as well. When he saw Lu Zhanxing, there was a hint of resentment in his eyes. At the dinner table, Sun Qiming did not force the groom to drink, but specifically targeted Lu Zhanxing.