boyutpedia Chapter 644 Your Majesty should establish an heir as soon as possible
Chapter 644 Your Majesty should establish an heir as soon as possible
With the death of Grand Tutor He, the power dynamics in the court began to shift.
With Xiao Changshi deposed and Grand Tutor He, who was originally supposed to be related to him by marriage, also dead, the officials in the court who were good at reading the room had already quietly begun to side with Xiao Chang'an.
At the start of the morning court session, Gao Song, the son of Gao Yin, the Grand Secretary, who was also the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, suggested to the emperor that an heir be established.
Although his father, Gao Yin, was still in the position of Grand Secretary, he was already quite old. Grand Tutor He had already passed away, so his father's passing was probably only a few years away.
His daughter, Gao Ruyan, will marry Prince Jing next month. Even if Gao Song doesn't want to get involved in the political struggle, Su Heng is still the prime minister, and Su Heng has always supported the removal of the crown prince.
Having worked together in the same court for many years, Gao Song was well aware of Su Heng's methods.
If Su Heng intends to get the Crown Prince out of trouble, it's only a matter of time before he targets the Gao family.
He had to take his father's place in the family and protect his family. Since bystanders would inevitably be passively drawn into the political struggle sooner or later, he might as well take the initiative and put himself in a position that Su Heng could not shake.
"Your Majesty, now that the Crown Prince has been deposed, Your Majesty should establish a new heir as soon as possible to stabilize the people's hearts and prevent those who harbor rebellious thoughts from arising."
Su Heng scoffed coldly, "Is this to appease the people, or to appease you, Lord Gao? Does Lord Gao want to become the Crown Prince's father-in-law?"
Upon hearing this, everyone in the court felt a chill for Gao Song.
Su Heng's words were truly vicious; no matter how Gao Song responded, he would be put on the hot seat.
To everyone's surprise, Gao Song did not respond to his words. Instead, he bowed to the emperor before speaking: "Your Majesty, I was the top scholar in the imperial examination the year Your Majesty ascended the throne. I started as a fifth-rank registrar in the Ministry of Justice and have been in this position for twenty-one years. It is thanks to Your Majesty's promotion that I am where I am today. Your Majesty promoted me because you know that I can serve Da Ning, Your Majesty, and the people. No matter what happens in the future, this will never change."
After saying that, he looked at Su Heng and asked, "In Prime Minister Su's heart, is being the Crown Prince's father-in-law more important to you than being the Prime Minister of Da Ning?"
This statement clearly reveals Su Heng's ambition, which is no secret.
By saying this in public, Gao Song was essentially telling everyone that he did not want Prince Jing to inherit the throne because he still wanted to control the Crown Prince.
Even someone as eloquent as Su Heng was speechless at this moment, since he was the one who spoke first as the Crown Prince's father-in-law.
Even if he wasn't worried about the emperor killing him, he couldn't admit it, lest he give the future crown prince a reason to be implicated.
Su Heng coldly rebuked, "Lord Gao, stop making baseless accusations and false charges."
Over the years, Su Heng has offended too many people, both openly and secretly. In the past, people would take his status as the Crown Prince's father-in-law into account, but now that the Crown Prince has been deposed, as long as a new heir is chosen, Su Heng will no longer be a threat to them.
They would naturally prefer to help the new crown prince.
Many ministers in the court also began to suggest that Prince Jing, Xiao Chang'an, be made crown prince in order to appease the people.
Those who sided with Su Heng also began to object.
The Golden Palace was like a pot of boiling water, with waves of heat rolling in instantly.
Emperor Jingxuan, Xiao Ye, sat on the dragon throne, his gaze sweeping over the arguing crowd in the hall until they were red-faced and flushed, before he said in a deep voice, "The selection of an heir is a major matter, and I need to consider it carefully. This matter will be discussed another day. My ministers, please present your other matters first."
The emperor's words were like a bowl of cold water poured over a boiling pot, and the hall fell silent instantly.
As long as they don't install the person the other side wants to install, they still have a chance to fight for it, and there's no need to offend the emperor.
At this moment, Zhang Zhong, the Minister of Justice, reported: "Your Majesty, Minister Duan and I have interrogated all the captured spies, including Chu Yin. They confessed to some things piecemeal. However, there is only one thing they all deny: stealing the weapon blueprints from the Ministry of War. The blueprints that He Mazi, whom we captured in Xuzhou, had, after our screening, were old blueprints that the Ministry of War had discarded years ago and had long been sealed away. We don't know how they ended up in his possession. All the results show that Minister of War Li Yi did not collude with the Xiongnu spies."
As for whether the crime of dereliction of duty will be punished, that is up to the emperor to decide.
However, the emperor's attention was focused on the Xiongnu spies at that moment.
"Minister Zhang, have you finished interrogating that spy named Chu Yin? What did she confess?" As the emperor spoke, his gaze still drifted towards Su Heng.
Su Heng stood there with his head held high, letting the emperor look at him.
He knew that Chu Yin wouldn't say anything.
These are the words spoken by Hu Yanping, the Prince of Linchuan, with a smile.
Chu Yin would never betray him, no matter who else she might betray. That woman loved him so much.
Su Heng felt fortunate that Hu Yanping had sent a woman whose mind was filled with love and passion. If it had been a man, he would have confessed everything under torture in no time, just like his surviving subordinates.
Zhang Zhongdao said, "No, we've tried all 108 torture instruments in the prison. There's not a single patch of good skin left on her body, but she still hasn't said a word. Now, we're just waiting for His Majesty's orders."
Seeing the emperor's brow furrow, Zhang Zhong immediately explained, "Although Chu Yin didn't speak, her subordinates revealed everything they knew. I've written down everything they found in a memorial, which Your Majesty can review at any time."
The emperor's brows finally relaxed.
After deliberation by the emperor and others, it was determined that Li Yi had committed dereliction of duty and was demoted to the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, where he was to supervise the repair of the imperial mausoleum.
The position of Minister of War became vacant, and the entire court was abuzz with speculation about who would be appointed.
*
Inside Kunning Palace, Su Yunqing was taking a nap with her eyes closed. Two eunuchs, one fanning her and the other massaging her legs with two small hammers, were enjoying themselves immensely.
At this moment, Granny Cui hurried in and said, "Your Highness, Prime Minister Su has sent a letter."
Su Yunqing slowly opened her eyes, her phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, and took the letter handed to her by Granny Cui.
In the letter, Su Heng told her about the affairs of the court and urged her to quickly find a way to rescue the Crown Prince, otherwise Prince Jing would ascend the throne. A top-notch expert had come to Prince Jing's side, and none of his subordinates could get close to him. If this continued, everything would be over.
"Your Majesty, what did Prime Minister Su say?"
Su Yunqing handed the letter to Granny Cui, then closed her calm, unwavering phoenix eyes and said to Granny Cui, "Burn it after you've read it. If he writes again about something similar in the future, don't tell me, just burn it directly."
"Burned?" Granny Cui looked bewildered.
Now is precisely the time when Prime Minister Su needs to save the Crown Prince, so why is Your Majesty so indifferent, and doesn't even care about Prime Minister Su's suggestion to save the Crown Prince?
If she hadn't been by the Empress's side all day, she would have doubted whether the Empress in front of her was an imposter.
"Yes, it was burned." Su Yunqing repeated calmly, her tone unwavering.
When Granny Cui returned, Su Yunqing asked her, "Do you still remember what Yue'er said at Longhua Temple?"
Granny Cui nodded.
Su Yunqing recalled the day Su Lingyue told her those things with such determination and seriousness.
She gave birth to Yue'er and raised her; how could she not believe in Yue'er?
Although what she said seemed unbelievable, after observing for some time, she had discovered that the Crown Prince trusted his elder brother more than he trusted her, his mother.
If her brother were to take her and Yue'er's lives in the future, she would have no choice but to strike first and eliminate her brother.
But before that, he needed to use his elder brother to get rid of King Jing.
Everything was done without her having to do anything.
*
Zhang Zhong informed Xiao Yu of the events that occurred in court that day through Yan Qing.
"Your Majesty, what should we do next?"
Although Yan Qing didn't want Xiao Yu to be overworked and thought it was nice for him to spend his days being affectionate with the princess, he inexplicably felt that the current situation was gradually getting out of control and developing in a direction he didn't know.
Xiao Yu looked at him calmly and said slowly, "We don't need to do anything. Just do as I told you before. As long as we can clear the names of your parents and others, it doesn't matter who sits on the throne."
“But…” Yan Qing frowned.
He was still very worried. If he did nothing, how could he possibly bring up his father's past mistakes once Xiao Chang'an ascended the throne?
Or perhaps the prince had other instructions for Yunting?
With this thought, Yan Qing felt a sudden sense of clarity.
The prince is intelligent and not the type to follow the crowd; how could he not have made arrangements?
Yunting would be their leader in the future, so some plans could only be discussed among the leaders to prevent leaks.
Yan Qing smiled mysteriously at Xiao Yu, her eyes curving into two crescent moons: "I know, I'll do whatever Your Highness says."