Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

East Palace Hall.

The prince's face was extremely gloomy.

I thought that since Chu Ning went to the front line, he could spend some time in peace in the court and take the opportunity to bribe some ministers to increase his strength.

But he never expected that even if Chu Ning went to the front line, trouble would still come to him.

Moreover, if this matter is not handled properly, not only will the ministers in the court have opinions, but the emperor will also be unable to explain himself.

This is really the case of the one sitting in the East Palace and the pot coming from the sky!

Seeing Liu Shouren and Deng Hongwen take the initiative to stand up and speak for Chu Ning, he couldn't help but glare at them fiercely.

"You two have always had a good relationship with the King of Chu. I am not surprised that you are speaking for him."

The prince said coldly: "I don't deny that the King of Chu did have merit this time, but it is also a fact that he disobeyed the orders of the emperor. If we don't deal with it, how can we convince people?

That was the order of the emperor, and Chu Ning openly disobeyed it. If this trend continues, everyone in the court will follow suit, and won't the court be in chaos?"

This matter cannot be let go like this, otherwise where would be the dignity of him as the crown prince?

Moreover, if such a good opportunity is missed, it will be difficult to cause trouble for Chu Ning in the future.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shouren exchanged glances with Deng Hongwen, and then said in a deep voice, "I am only expressing my thoughts. The specific handling of the matter will be decided by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Deng Hongwen also said sternly, "How the Crown Prince decides to deal with this is up to you, but this is a serious matter. I wonder what the Grand Tutor and the Prime Minister think of this matter?"

The two of them knew that they could not convince the prince, so they could only focus on the prime minister and the tutor.

The corner of Taifu's mouth twitched.

Deng Hongwen is really cunning. He wants to drag him into the water at this time.

This matter was clearly a dispute between the Crown Prince and the King of Chu, and he didn't want to get involved.

No matter who he offends, it will do him no good.

The Grand Tutor narrowed his eyes, a gleam of light flashed across his eyes, and without waiting for the Crown Prince to ask, he took the initiative to step forward and said with a smile:

"Your Highness, the Prince of Chu did violate the order of His Majesty. This is an indisputable fact. If you want to punish him, I believe that no civil or military official in the court will object."

The prince's eyes lit up.

If this matter has the support of the Grand Tutor, it will definitely be a safe bet!

But the Grand Tutor suddenly changed the subject: "However, Your Highness the King of Chu killed 80,000 Yan troops in this battle, and did not use any troops from our dynasty, which greatly relieved the pressure on our front line and also made the general not worry about being attacked from both sides.

If such a great achievement is not rewarded, it will surely be disheartening if word gets out.”

The prince, who was originally very excited, was suddenly dumbfounded.

But then the prince reacted.

The old fox, Taifu, is practicing Tai Chi with him!

On the one hand, since Chu Ning disobeyed the emperor's order, he could be left to deal with it as he pleased.

On the other hand, it was said that Chu Ning had made great contributions and must be rewarded.

After all, it's still all put the blame on him.

The prince looked at the tutor with dissatisfaction and said indifferently: "Taifu said it very well, don't say it next time."

The Taifu was not angry. He bowed and returned to the train.

Then, the prince looked at Prime Minister Yang Wende.

"Mr. Prime Minister, what do you think about this matter?"

The prime minister who was named knew that he could not escape, so he had to bite the bullet and stand up, smiling awkwardly:

"Your Highness, the King of Chu has both merits and faults. Our dynasty clearly distinguishes between rewards and punishments. We must punish the King of Chu and reward him as well."

These words almost made the prince explode with anger!

If I wanted to reward Chu Ning, why would I ask you to come here?

It's fine that the Grand Tutor is practicing Tai Chi, but the Prime Minister, this old fox, actually also plays this trick.

The exasperated prince snorted coldly: "If it is a punishment, disobeying the emperor's name is a capital crime. Is the Prime Minister asking me to kill my eighteenth brother?"

This old guy won't give in unless you give him some strength.

The Prime Minister seemed to have anticipated this and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, you are too kind. Your Highness the King of Chu went to the Great Zhou to fight against the Yan army and did not deliberately disobey the emperor's order.

This battle was a great victory. If Your Highness punishes His Highness the King of Chu at this moment, it will not only discourage the soldiers in the army, but also lose the support of the people.

However, this matter still needs to be explained. Your Highness, please decide how to do it."

You are the prince, you have the final say, you can kill him if you want, and he, the prime minister, has no objection anyway.

In a word: He won’t wade into this muddy water!

Upon hearing this, the prince's face turned completely ugly.

The Prime Minister didn't want to get involved, and the Grand Tutor was playing Tai Chi and pretending to be crazy. Without these two people speaking, no other minister in the court dared to make a decision easily.

Among the officials of the six ministries, the Minister of War was not in the capital, and the Minister of Works He Peng was called by the emperor to repair the mausoleum.

The Minister of Personnel has always been the emperor's man. As long as the Grand Tutor and the Prime Minister have not made a decision, this person will never stand up to support him.

The remaining Minister of Revenue Liu Shouren and Minister of Rites Deng Hongwen were both Chu Ning's men.

Although he could ask the Minister of Justice Ling Haoran to take the lead, the Minister of Justice alone could not decide anything.

Thinking of this, a flash of anger appeared in the prince's eyes.

Normally, when he was the regent and handled government affairs, he did not realize that his strength was so weak.

But now looking back, the ministers in the court are either Chu Ning's people, or the emperor's people, or they are pretending to be crazy and stupid and dare not offend Chu Ning.

He, the prince regent, is even worse than Chu Ning who is not in Kyoto!

The prince became more and more angry the more he thought about it. He clenched his hands, took a deep breath, and prepared to punish Chu Ning by force.

But at this moment, Ling Haoran, the Minister of Justice, sighed, stepped out of the line, and saluted:

"Your Highness, this matter is of great importance. You should not rashly convict the King of Chu. In my humble opinion, the merits and demerits of this matter can be offset."

The prince narrowed his eyes and a hint of hesitation flashed across his face.

If we miss the plan to punish Chu Ning this time, it will be difficult to have such an opportunity again in the future.

However, Chu Ning's contribution this time was too great. If he were to be rewarded, it would probably endanger his position.

Offsetting the merits and demerits is a good suggestion. At least it can make Chu Ning's trip in vain.

What's more, many ministers in the court do not dare to punish Chu Ning. If they really want to punish Chu Ning by force, all the responsibility will be on him alone.

Thinking of this, the prince took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Lord Ling's suggestion is good, the merits and demerits offset each other!"

The prince gritted his teeth and said coldly: "However, Chu Ning has gone too far this time and actually disobeyed the order of the emperor. I will write a letter to reprimand him personally!

In addition, the Yan army on the front line has already launched an attack, and Chu Ning must be urged to rush to the front line immediately to help the general! "

Since Chu Ning cannot be punished, a verbal reprimand will do.

In short, this anger must be vented!

As for urging Chu Ning to go to the front line, of course it was because he wanted Chu Ning to die there as soon as possible.

Although the general on the front line blocked several attacks of the Yan army, the Yan general Le Yi was too powerful, and the general had sent people back for help!

In this battle, as long as Chu Ning goes there, he will most likely die there!