The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 202 The Emperor Heartlessly Abandons His Son

King Xing listened to this heartfelt advice, but remained unmoved. Instead, he angrily said:

"It sounds like you're thinking of me, but in the end, isn't it all for your own benefit? As a prince, if I can live a peaceful and stable life, I'll at least have the future of a prince. Why should I fight for these trivial things?"

Judging from what Prince Xing said, he seemed to have no interest in the throne.

Thinking about it, it's understandable. As a prince, he was already the most noble person in the world. He could enjoy a lifetime of wealth and honor without doing anything.

Unless you have great ambitions, why fight tooth and nail for a position that is neither here nor there? In the end, you might end up like those uncles mentioned earlier, getting nothing in the process.

These words clearly made the two people standing in front of them very uncomfortable. They were risking their families' futures and, although they also had their own plans, they were ultimately helping Prince Xing to seize the throne.

Now that the King of Xing has said this, it makes it seem as if they are really that selfish.

However, now that they're on King Xing's ship, they have no choice but to accept whatever happens.

The important thing now is to make sure that Xing Wang's words are not spread, or to prevent Xing Wang from saying them outside.

If their close relatives heard these words, they might be unhappy, but it wouldn't have much of an impact.

But if word gets out and those who were just about to pledge allegiance to King Xing hear it, they'll lose all interest in doing so.

Even those who previously came close to you might develop a desire to leave because of these words.

Thinking of this, Liu Shigui could only suppress his discomfort and offered his advice:

"Your Highness, the die is cast. You have already clashed with the Crown Prince. There is no way out for you or us."

Your Highness, please refrain from saying such things again, lest you alienate people.

Upon hearing this, King Xing snorted coldly, but did not utter any more sarcastic remarks.

When Liu Shigui and the other man saw that Prince Xing had finally stopped complaining, they exchanged a glance and both breathed a sigh of relief.

They hadn't expected their master to be so difficult to please.

Even Liu Shigui never expected that his once easygoing cousin would become so unpredictable.

However, the Liu family and the Prince of Xing share both prosperity and ruin.

No matter what kind of person the Prince of Xing is, the Liu family must support him to the end.

Now that he had finally managed to appease Prince Xing's temper, Liu Shigui quickly changed the subject and asked about serious matters.

"Your Highness, at today's court session, whose person was ultimately chosen as the imperial envoy?"

Getting down to business, even the previously resentful Prince Xing could only suppress his temper, take a deep breath, and then say:
"It doesn't belong to anyone; the imperial envoy had the Grand Secretary take it away."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shigui and the other man frowned involuntarily, and he asked incredulously:

"How could our meticulously planned scheme have been stolen by the Prime Minister's men? Didn't the impeachment of the Prime Minister have any effect?"

Upon hearing Liu Shigui's words, Prince Xing knew he had misunderstood and reminded him:

"It wasn't the Grand Secretary's people who became imperial envoys, but the Grand Secretary himself who became the imperial envoys."

"Ah, how could this be?" This news was clearly far beyond everyone's expectations, causing both of them to exclaim in surprise.

Liu Shigui said, "How could the Grand Secretary be reduced to a mere imperial envoy?"

His thinking is perfectly normal, because it reflects the thinking of most people.

Let alone those who weren't in court today, many of those who were in court today still can't understand this matter.

King Xing was clearly one of them, and he said:

"I don't understand why this is happening either. Could it be that the charges against him today are too serious, forcing the Grand Secretary to relinquish his position and compete for the post of Imperial Envoy?"

King Xing expressed his bewilderment, but for the other two, it was a bolt from the blue.

The official from the Prince of Xing's residence who had been silent until now said in surprise:
"Your Highness, has the Grand Secretary submitted his resignation?"

Prince Xing nodded and said, "Today in court, as arranged last night, several censors impeached the Grand Secretary. At first, the Grand Secretary tried his best to defend himself."

However, for some unknown reason, the Grand Secretary suddenly said he wanted to resign from his position. The Emperor tried to persuade him to stay for a while, but finally, seeing the Grand Secretary's firm attitude, he agreed to the Grand Secretary's resignation.

However, it was only through the recommendation of his fifth brother that he was appointed as the imperial envoy for disaster relief.

King Xing's words contained a lot of information, and the two men remained silent for a long time, clearly processing the information.

After a long while, Liu Shigui said, "This is a good thing. The departure of the Grand Secretary means that Lord Tang will be promoted to Grand Secretary. This is good news for the Prince."

The subordinate official, however, frowned, his face filled with worry. He carefully said:
"I'm afraid this matter isn't so simple?"

Liu Shigui asked suspiciously, "The Grand Secretary has already accepted the imperial envoy's assignment, what else could be so complicated?"

The official did not reply, but turned to look at King Xing.

Upon seeing this, Prince Xing sighed and said, "Lord Liu is right. This matter is not as simple as it seems. Although the Grand Secretary is about to leave office, his title of Grand Secretary has been retained by the Emperor."

Lord Liu, an official under the Prince of Xing's household, heard this and said with a wry smile:

"Sure enough."

Liu Shigui, still confused, couldn't help but say, "What's the difference? The Emperor only gave Lord Shen the title of Grand Secretary; the real power still lies with the Second Grand Secretary, Lord Tang."

Lord Liu shook his head and said, "In officialdom, legitimacy is paramount. Without this title, even if Lord Tang has great power, there are many things he cannot do."

Moreover, things can change quickly; once Lord Shen retires completely, who knows who will succeed him as Grand Secretary?

Liu Shigui now understood what was going on, but he still didn't understand, so he could only ask:

"Why would His Majesty do this? Is it because he is dissatisfied with Lord Tang?"

Upon hearing this, Lord Liu did not reply at first, but instead glanced at Prince Xing.

Upon seeing this, King Xing asked in confusion, "Could this matter be related to me?"

Lord Liu nodded and said, "It is indeed related to the Prince."

Prince Xing asked with a stern face, "Is there something wrong with it?"

Lord Liu said, "The reason His Majesty made this arrangement is because he was afraid that if Lord Tang became the Grand Secretary, he would join forces with the Prince and pose a threat to the Crown Prince. Therefore, he deliberately suppressed Lord Tang."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shigui became uneasy and anxiously asked:

"Isn't the Emperor dissatisfied with the Crown Prince? Why is he still defending the Crown Prince so much?"

Lord Liu said, "Because the Crown Prince is a matter of national importance, the Emperor must protect him."

Liu Shigui was even more anxious now, and he said:

"Since His Majesty values ​​the position of Crown Prince so much, why would he show dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince? Moreover, when our Prince stood up to compete with the Crown Prince, His Majesty tacitly approved of it." Upon hearing this, Lord Liu did not reply immediately, but looked at Prince Xing once again.

Upon seeing this, King Xing waved his hand and said, "Explain it to him clearly."

Liu Shigui had no idea what kind of riddle the two of them were playing, but since the Prince of Xing asked Liu Bingzhang to speak, he looked at Liu Bingzhang.

Lord Liu Bingzhang didn't waste any time and said directly:

"This is because the Emperor sent Prince Xing to compete for the throne in order to find a whetstone for the Crown Prince and thus train him."

This news was like a bolt from the blue for Liu Shigui.

He had always thought that the reason why Prince Xing was able to stand up and compete with the Crown Prince so easily was because the Emperor disliked the Crown Prince and had the intention of replacing him.

It now seems that Prince Xing is merely a whetstone for training the Crown Prince, and the Emperor's heart still belongs to the Crown Prince.

But if the emperor does this, where will he place Prince Xing?

Did the emperor not consider that as long as Prince Xing and the Crown Prince had argued, regardless of whether it was Prince Xing's original intention or not?

Once the crown prince ascends to the throne, he will certainly not tolerate the existence of the Prince of Xing.

The emperor is using the life of the Prince of Xing to train the crown prince.

Everyone says that there is no kinship in the royal family. Liu Shigui didn't quite understand this before, but now he finally does.

For the sake of the crown prince's growth, the emperor was even willing to abandon his own son. How ruthless!

Upon arriving here, Liu Shigui suddenly recalled the time when they first persuaded Prince Xing to come out and compete with the Crown Prince for the throne.

King Xing was unwilling from beginning to end, and even now he is full of complaints.

Thinking of this, Liu Shigui turned to Prince Xing and asked, "Your Highness, you had already thought of these things?"

King Xing nodded.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shigui deflated like a punctured balloon; the news was a huge blow to him. He said with a drooping face:
"Your Highness, since you know the reason, why do you still come out to fight?"

The Prince of Xing said irritably, "Didn't you force me to do this?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Shigui wanted to defend himself, but after careful consideration, he realized that they had indeed forced Prince Xing to do so.

They were overjoyed when they heard that the emperor had opinions about the crown prince.

An opportunity to wholeheartedly side with Prince Xing has arrived, and for some unknown reason, the Second Assistant Minister Tang also intends to pledge allegiance to Prince Xing.

This rekindled hope in the Liu family, and they then joined forces to persuade the Prince of Xing.

Finally, they even persuaded the Empress to put pressure on Prince Xing, which led to Prince Xing's confrontation with the Crown Prince.

Unexpectedly, all of this was just the emperor wanting to find a whetstone for the crown prince.

The more Liu Shigui thought about these things, the more sorrowful he felt. He said to Prince Xing:

"Your Highness, since you know the reason, why didn't you say it sooner? That way we wouldn't have forced you to fight."

If Prince Xing hadn't intervened, he could have lived a peaceful and wealthy life as a prince.

Thanks to their relationship with Prince Hexing, the Liu family could remain a respectable noble family for generations.

Now that things have come to this, the Liu family may not even be able to keep their current titles.

Looking at his heartbroken cousin, the Prince of Xing remained calm, his face expressionless, and said:

"It would have been no use for me to say it earlier; my mother and uncle already knew the truth."

The implication is that the Empress and the others knew the Emperor's intentions, yet they still resolutely let Prince Xing step forward, so whether Prince Xing spoke or not was irrelevant.

Liu Shigui asked in surprise again, "Father and Empress both know?"

King Xing nodded without replying.

Liu Shigui asked, puzzled, "Since they knew, why did they still let the prince go out and take the risk?"

Upon hearing this, Prince Xing said quietly, "Because this is the only chance my father has given me. If I choose to back down now, I will never have another chance to compete with the Crown Prince."

Liu Shigui still looked at Prince Xing with a puzzled expression.

Upon seeing this, Prince Xing continued to explain: "Father is not only looking for a whetstone for the Crown Prince, but also looking for a backup for him."

If the crown prince can withstand the test of his father, then his position as crown prince will be very secure. If the crown prince fails to withstand the test, the whetstone may well become the new crown prince.

If I do not accept this role as a whetstone, I will lose my chance to contend for the throne. Therefore, even though my mother and uncle know the truth, they still allow me to compete for it.

This explanation revealed more details to Liu Shigui, but it did nothing to improve his mood.

He said dejectedly, "Since Father and Mother both know this, why didn't anyone tell me?"

Liu Shigui previously thought that the Prince of Xing and the Crown Prince had a great chance of vying for the throne; he privately believed that it was at least a 50/50 chance.

Therefore, during this period, he was very proud and showed off to the other noble sons.

Now, suddenly telling him that Xing Wang's chances of winning are at most 19%, or even less than 10%, how can he accept this?

Seeing his appearance, the Prince of Xing felt no sympathy whatsoever, and simply said, "I thought my uncle would tell you, but I didn't expect him not to."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shigui fell silent and stood aside, seemingly lost in thought.

Seeing this, the Prince of Xing ignored him and turned to Liu Bingzhang, saying:
"Lord Liu, in your opinion, besides being wary of me, is there any other reason why the Emperor did not grant Lord Tang the title of Grand Secretary?"

Liu Bingzhang thought for a moment and said, "I can't say for sure about this matter right now. I estimate that we will have to wait until Grand Secretary Shen finishes his disaster relief work before we have a result."

Prince Xing asked thoughtfully, "Could it be that Lord Shen will return?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bingzhang shook his head and said, "Since the Grand Secretary has resigned, there is no possibility of him being reinstated. What I am worried about is that the Grand Secretary's departure will implicate the Second Grand Secretary, thus causing the Second Grand Secretary to also leave the Council of State."

"Are you telling the truth?" Prince Xing asked in surprise. "Father has only been on the throne for a year. How could he allow the chief minister and the second minister to leave office at the same time?"

Liu Bingzhang said, "Normally, if His Majesty wants the court to be stable, he would not let the two regents leave together. However, the current situation in the court is extraordinary."

At this point, Liu Bingzhang pointed to the sky and said, "In the current Council of State, all the regents were promoted by the Emperor Emeritus, and the chief minister and the second minister are the Emperor Emeritus's trusted ministers."

Therefore, if the emperor wanted to control the court, he had no choice but to disregard the stability of the court and send both the chief minister and the second chief minister out of the Council of State Affairs.

This is a golden opportunity, and therefore I believe His Majesty will not let it slip by easily.

King Xing never expected that the retired emperor would be involved.

It seems the situation is more complicated than I imagined.

(End of this chapter)