Shipin Dalizheng

Another thing is party strife.

He had heard Rong San say that Emperor Xuanning had not yet appointed a crown prince. Currently, there were six princes over the age of fifteen, two under the age of ten, and five princesses, so the royal heirs were quite abundant.

There are three known princes who have been crowned as kings, including Prince Rui who went to the Bo Mansion the day before yesterday to support the Jin family. It is obvious that Prince Rui is the most active among the princes who intend to compete for the throne. At least for now, Rong Tang has not personally felt the urgency of the other princes.

But as an emperor, would he be so proud as to jump up and down and openly win over ministers to support his own prince?

"Aunt, is King Rui's maternal family very powerful?"

"Why do you ask about King Rui?"

"Prince Rui is clearly the Jin family's backer, and Jin Shizhao undoubtedly supports Prince Rui. My nephew has only been in Beijing for a short time and has only a vague understanding of the court situation. I would appreciate your aunt's explanation."

Concubine Rong sneered, "Prince Rui is nothing to worry about. He can't become the crown prince."

“How come you see?”

"Let me tell you this, I've been with His Majesty for eighteen years and I still can't figure him out. He's neither tyrannical nor stupid, but I'm afraid of him."

Rong Tang's face was solemn. "How are you afraid? Are there any concubines in the palace who were abused to death?"

"Not really. Let me tell you a story. Perhaps you will understand something after listening to it. His Majesty is not the Queen Mother's biological son, but he forced the original legitimate prince to leave, became the Emperor of Dai Viet, and lived in peace with the Queen Mother."

"All these nephews know."

"The current Queen Wang is the Empress Dowager's niece. Do you know Queen Wang? She's the legitimate daughter of the Wang clan of Langya. If Nangong He hadn't refused to marry her, she wouldn't have been abandoned by the Wang family in favor of Your Majesty. If you could meet Queen Wang, you'd understand how remarkable Your Majesty's choice was... Never mind, you'll see her eventually. Your Majesty and Queen Wang get along very well. He made the Queen pregnant before favoring other concubines. Unfortunately, Queen Wang's first child was a princess, and then the second and third princes were born one after another. Two years later, Queen Wang became pregnant again, but unfortunately, her wish didn't go as she wished, and she was born a princess again. Then the fifth and sixth princes were born. Two years later, she became pregnant for the third time..."

"Or a princess?"

"See, you guessed it."

Concubine Rong smiled bitterly, "Your Majesty has always been gracious to Queen Wang, yet she's given birth to three princesses in a row. Furthermore, there are other daughters of high-ranking families in the palace, but as luck would have it, they either can't bear children or only give birth to princesses. Your Majesty's eight princes are all from humbler families. Two of them died during childbirth, and two committed misdeeds and were banished to the cold palace. Prince Rui's mother was only a concubine, constantly oppressed by the Queen. Given this situation, do you think Prince Rui has a chance of becoming the crown prince?"

Rong Tang had a strange expression on his face. Emperor Xuanning relied on the support of the aristocratic families to become emperor, but none of his sons were daughters of aristocratic families.

And those princes who are qualified to inherit the throne cannot rely on the power of their relatives, so it is hard to say who can compete for that position.

Prince Rui was so active probably because he felt that he was the eldest prince and the one with the best chance, but Queen Wang disliked him and the resistance he faced was not small.

The most important point is that none of the princes are daughters of aristocratic families. This is by no means a coincidence. The emperor is determined to break free from the constraints of the aristocratic families.

The aristocratic families want to continue to control the court, so will they set their sights on the princes?

E.g……

"Wouldn't it be true that if a prince married the daughter of a prominent family, he would receive strong support?"

Just like the old path that Emperor Xuanning took?

Concubine Rong smiled bitterly. "You've heard that several adult princes have also had this idea, but the only ones who can influence the court are those few families. They either don't have daughters of marriageable age or they've already been engaged. Until now, none of the princes have married a truly supportive wife. Prince Rui took a different approach and took in several concubines. He even managed to gain the support of some court officials."

Concubine Rong suddenly paused and said, "I've gone off topic. You're still young, why am I telling you all this? Your aunt and your mother only want to take back what's theirs and don't want to get involved in factional disputes. Your aunt doesn't have any princes either, so you just need to be careful and cautious in the future, and you won't have any problems living safely in the palace. You...you shouldn't get involved in this either. You're the only one left in our Rong family, and we can't afford to get hurt!"

After hearing this, Rong Tang already had some idea in his mind. Jin Shizhao was plotting to take over the Marquis's property, and Prince Rui had his eyes on the Rong family army. The two hit it off and wanted to swallow up the Marquis's Mansion of Jian'an.

Emperor Xuanning seemed reluctant to express his opinion on this. On the one hand, he was being watched by the censors. On the other hand, Jin Shizhao occupied the high ground of husband and father power. Those corrupt scholars and moralists would support him unconditionally without caring about right or wrong in order to defend the so-called moral principles.

"Aunt, what is the character of this Jingzhao prefect? ​​From what I hear from him, he seems to be biased towards our family."

Rong Fei hummed, seemingly unwilling to comment further. "He's a fairly fair official. I'm sure the verdict for this fight will be in your favor. But it won't be easy to punish Jin Yaoyang. In the end, he might just be punished with a period of reflection and some compensation."

Rong Tang frowned. "Aunt, don't you find it strange? Jin Shizhao was entangled and pulling in the Qinzheng Hall, and in the end he just defined today's incident as a gang fight, as if whoever was seriously injured was right. Even if we win in three days, we will just put the fight behind us. In the days to come, as long as Jin Yaoyang stays at home honestly and doesn't go out, we will never find fault with him again. After a period of time, the storm will subside, and their Jin family will still enjoy the wealth of the uncle's mansion. And because of the constraints of filial piety, I can't take the initiative to provoke them..."

Concubine Rong was covered in cold sweat. How could she have forgotten? People who come to the capital are the most forgetful. After a while, who will care about the occupation of the Bo Mansion?

The longer this matter goes on, the harder it will be to resolve. We have to find a way to take advantage of the fact that the two families are now in a big fight and the public is sympathetic to Rong Tang. We should strike while the iron is hot and defeat the Jin family in one fell swoop.

She looked at Rong Tang inquiringly, "Tang'er, tell your aunt, are you Rong Tang?"

Rong Tang suddenly smiled bitterly, "Aunt, you really stumped me. Actually, I'm not sure either."

Rong Fei's eyes sparkled, "What do you mean?"

"Aunt, put yourself in their shoes. You grew up into your teens, always deeply loved by your parents, never doubting your origins. Suddenly one day, a few strangers came and told you that you had other biological parents. Would you believe it?"

Concubine Rong remained silent, she didn't believe it.

"Actually, I didn't believe it either. But they held a testimony from a monk at the Jokhang Temple, saying that many years ago, my parents were childless and prayed for a child at the Jokhang Temple. It was Master Huici who personally gave me to my parents."

He fumbled around for a moment and pulled out his birth chart. "I've always kept this close to me, wanting to find a chance to confirm it. Is it real?"

Rong Fei took the specially made piece of cardboard and suddenly felt a lump in her throat. She was not sure whether Rong Tang was really that person, but this piece of horoscope was real.