Luoyang, the capital.

June is already late, and the climate is much better than before, and it is no longer as hot as half a month ago. However, this also causes the summer cicadas all over the city to become more and more unscrupulous, constantly roaring on the trees, grabbing the tail of the summer, and playing the final elegy for their soon-to-disappearance.

Generally, people can only turn a deaf ear to this, but for the residences of many powerful and high-ranking officials in the capital, such noise must be eliminated immediately. The East Palace where the prince is located is naturally no exception. Even at this time, it was the hottest time at noon, there were still more than a dozen servants holding net bags and sticking poles in the gardens everywhere, looking for the cicada that escaped the net. As long as there was a little movement, hurry up and start, which would disturb you to the Prince's Highness who was on lunch break.

However, the prince obviously couldn't sleep well on this afternoon. Although there was no cicada chirping in the garden, someone still came to disturb him. The minister of the Ministry of Rites, Lord Xia, and Lord Feng, the prince's young tutor, who did not dare to be perfunctory, were both the mainstays of the prince's party, and the prince's prince must be respectful.

So shortly after they entered the Eastern Palace, the prince was called up, with a hint of dissatisfaction and confusion on his face. He met the two in his study. As he entered the door and sat down, he picked up the iced sour plum soup he had just sent to refresh the heat. He asked directly: "The two teachers suddenly came to see me, but is there anything big happening?"

"Your Highness knows that something big happened in Huguang again." Shangshu Xia didn't have the intention to beat around the bush and said straight, "Just earlier today, six hundred miles there were rushed into the capital and presented it to His Majesty. This time, the Huguang resettlement and search service was sent by Li Ling, a member of the Huguang resettlement and search for local disasters and related matters."

When the prince heard this, he felt a little excited: "What is he writing in the newspaper?" Now he has regarded Li Ling as one of the biggest enemies, because it was him who made a big mistake and actually pushed his biggest opponent into the position.

Yes, in the past few months, King Ying Sun Bi, who had just been crowned as the king, has become his biggest opponent. With the acquiescent and even promotion of his father, he has received support from hundreds of officials of all sizes and big and small in the court. Now, in terms of strength, it may not be comparable to himself and the previous King Yong, but in terms of influence, it is no less. Many officials who have been unsuccessful for many years have the intention to rely on King Ying, and even the Political Affairs Hall has cooperated with him.

Of course, the prince knew that this was the emperor who did not want to see his family dominant, deliberately put it in to fight with him and divide his power and influence in the court. But this still made him feel pressure and threatened, after all, there was a lesson from King Yong.

Of course, he did not dare to blame all this on his father, and he didn't even dare to think about it in his heart. So Li Ling, who took the handle on that day and pushed Sun Bi to the position of prince to show his kindness, became his biggest thorn in his side. What's more, the fact that the Huguang he went to this time was related to him, which made him even more uneasy. Then, now, he heard such a shocking news.

But in the end, Xia Shangshu shook his head: "There has not been news from the palace yet. But just after that, the two prime ministers of the Political Affairs Hall were summoned by His Majesty and discussed for a long time. Just now, the palace even sent people to several yamen such as the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works. Judging from the situation, it seemed that they were going to get people..."

Lord Feng also added: "If I am not guessing correctly, I am afraid that this is Your Majesty's order to take Li Wanhai, the doctor of the Ministry of Works, and Si Wenbin, the Ministry of Revenue...." He reported the names of more than ten officials, all of whom were the backbone of the prince's party, and the officials sent to the local disaster relief after the Huguang disaster. In the end, his face became even more ugly, "I'm afraid these people were caught by Li Ling in Huguang, and then reported to His Majesty, and they were severely punished."

The prince's face changed suddenly. Although he had thought that such a thing would happen, he did not expect it to come so quickly and so simply.

In the past, when he fought with King Yong, he had many faults in taking the other party's handles and mistakes. However, many times, before knowing that these handles could not cause a fatal blow to the other party, they would choose to hold back first, or find a better opportunity to throw out these things, or use them as bargaining chips for mutual compromise and exchange. How could this time, just say nothing, just start working?

Also, he had already sent someone to Huguang to go to Huguang later. Even if he couldn't find an opportunity to get rid of Li Ling, the enemy, he should destroy his actions. Why did he let the other party find out the matter in just a few months? Even those officials who had returned to Beijing were implicated?

Just as he was frightened and annoyed, Secretary Xia said again: "Your Highness, I hope you will tell me the truth. How deeply do you involve in the matter in Huguang?" As he said that, he and Lord Feng looked at the prince solemnly at the same time, waiting for his answer.

The prince was stunned again, his eyes drooped, and he wanted to avoid their scrutiny. But soon, he had to raise his eyes and stuttered: "I... they did get a lot of benefits in this trip to Huguang, and some of them were sent to me..."

"Your Highness...Your Highness, you are confused! You are the crown prince and the future lord of the world. How can you do such a thing? Gold, silver and wealth are good things for anyone, but only to you, you are an ordinary object. There are not more, but less, and less.

"No, not just that, this is still a harm to people, especially when it comes from the wrong way, it will cause great damage to your reputation. Let Your Majesty, let all the officials and subjects in the court look down on you! Your Majesty, how can you be so confused!"

Shangshu Xia was really anxious now, his tone was much more intense than usual, almost roaring. Although Lord Feng had never spoken, he could also see that his thoughts were consistent with Shangshu Xia, and he was also anxious and angry.

The prince opened his mouth and did not really say what he said in his heart - what can he do? Didn’t he know that gold, silver and wealth are just tools to him and have no other use?

But the problem is that not everyone thinks so, especially those officials who surrender to the public just to get benefits from him. If the prince, as the prince, cannot make them promoted or make them rich, and also let them do this or that from time to time, even the loyal subordinates will rebel and leave at some point.

That's why the God of Wealth was able to get money for him to operate outside. However, the disaster last year, coupled with a series of earlier changes, the God of Wealth could provide him with much less help.

Now, it is time for him and Sun Bi to compete head-on to become fierce. Once there is an omission, the consequences will be unpredictable. Therefore, he has only one choice. He can seek property through some people who are eager to make money, and he will take half of it to maintain the current situation.

Although this is a huge hidden danger, he can only do this. If he hadn't been so thirsty that he could have no choice but to drink poison to quench his thirst?

It seemed that he thought of the helplessness of the prince, and their faces calmed down a little: "Your Highness, it is useless to regret and pursue the matter now. You can only think of dealing with the next crisis first. Obviously, if Li Ling dares to send the report directly to the palace and present it to His Majesty, there must be conclusive evidence. Now it seems that these people will definitely not be able to be protected. The key is that Your Highness must not be implicated by them."

"They are people from the Eastern Palace, which is well known to everyone. How can I not be implicated by them?" the prince said with a confused look on his face.

"Then I can only explain to Your Majesty that Your Highness was kept in the dark by them." Lord Feng sighed and said, "I believe they are very clear about this. If he falls, the prince can take care of them and his family, but once the prince has something to do, they will be finished. But..." At this point, he looked at Shangshu Xia again, and he had to say the following words.

Shangshu Xia's expression was even more serious: "But in this way, there was less high-ranking officials who could take on this matter. After all, no one nodded behind him. These people could not be so bold. Since it was not Your Highness, we could only take a person with enough status to take responsibility." After saying that, he stood up suddenly and bowed solemnly, "Your Highness, I think that only the second-rank minister of the second rank can take responsibility for this, so I would like to ask Your Highness, you will blame me for your crime in front of Your Highness!"

This is the real purpose of the two of them rushing to meet the prince at this time, to recite all their sins for him!

But these words made the prince confused: "Master Xia, why bother with you?"

"Your Highness, there is no other way. In order not to affect your reputation, what if I lose my life? Old Secretary Zhang had once held the blame for Your Highness, and today I, as the successor, are willing to take responsibility for Your Highness."

The prince was silent and wanted to refuse, but other than that, he could not think of a better way to save himself, and his selfish nature made him choose to sacrifice others.

"Your Highness, after I leave, I am afraid I will not be able to assist you for a long time. I hope you will be careful in the future and not make such mistakes again. Also, no matter big or small matters in the future, I hope your Highness can discuss with Lord Feng and others more, so that you will not be deceived by some villains and make wrong decisions. In this way, even if I die because of this, I can rest in peace." As he said that, Shangshu Xia suddenly bowed down, kowtowed to the prince a few times, then quickly stood up and left the study without looking back.
Chapter completed!