A Den of Filth!

Since September, Bian Prefecture had been hit by several bouts of rain. ReadingМ

Once the rain came, the weather turned noticeably cooler, and autumn seemed closer.

One day, Zhu Youning received a summons. After tidying himself up, he entered the palace to pay an audience with Zhu Wen.

He entered through the main gate of the imperial city and, guided by a eunuch, made his way to Jiaolan Hall.

As he entered the hall, Zhu Youning discovered that apart from Zhu Wen, who sat on the dragon throne, there was no one else inside.

Even Zhang Zhenniang, who had always served him, was nowhere to be seen.

"Your servant pays his respects to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years!" Zhu Youning saluted.

"Rise, nephew. You may dispense with the formalities."

This time, Zhu Wen, dressed in the emperor's robes, spoke with unexpected kindness.

Zhu Youning said, "Thank you, Your Majesty," and stood.

After gathering his thoughts for a moment, Zhu Wen spoke. "Youning, your uncle and I haven't had a proper talk in a long time."

What sort of game was this?

Zhu Youning was a little surprised. He raised his head slightly and glanced at Zhu Wen, then used his inner strength to sense the hall. Sure enough, only the two of them were inside.

"If Your Majesty wishes to talk, your servant will speak freely."

Zhu Wen nodded, pondered for a moment, then said, "I certainly don't like Third Brother, but you went a bit too far in what you did to him."

Zhu Youning immediately adopted an apologetic posture and cupped his hands. "Your servant acknowledges his mistake. I ask Your Majesty to punish me."

"No need for punishment." Zhu Wen lowered his voice and said gravely, "Do you think I don't know what outrageous things he's done? I merely turned a blind eye. But you brought the matter to light, disgracing the imperial house, so I had no choice but to deal with it."

Zhu Youning was stunned for a long while before replying, "Your servant acknowledges his mistake. I only felt that Third Brother truly shouldn't have done something so outrageous, and I acted impulsively. Still, no matter what, such conduct does indeed bring shame upon the state of Liang."

"Mm..." Zhu Wen drew out the sound, as if reminiscing. "When Liang and Jin were vying for supremacy, Li Ya'er gave me no end of trouble, and so I had a short temper. I even hit the mother and son. Unfortunately, Third Brother only remembers my temper..."

Li Ya'er was Prince of Jin Li Keyong's nickname, and the Shatuo troops under his command were also called the Crow Army. Both Li Keyong and his Shatuo soldiers had once driven Zhu Wen into dire straits.

However, Zhu Youning didn't know what Zhu Wen was getting at.

Was he trying to excuse what he'd done to Zhu Youzhen and his mother?

Or was he saying that his bad temper was beyond his control?

Zhu Youning thought it over and decided neither was the case. He was the emperor. He could say whatever he liked and didn't need to care how others saw him.

Zhu Youning asked tentatively, "Your Majesty, now that Great Liang has been established and its strength far surpasses Jin's, why not press our advantage and take Taiyuan?"

"Jin must be dealt with, but with Lu Prefecture standing as its gateway, I can't take it even if I want to." Zhu Wen frowned.

Zhu Youning said, "Then why not try another approach and attack Wu State first?"

"Sound reasoning."

Zhu Wen actually agreed with Zhu Youning's tentative suggestion. But what he said next took Zhu Youning by surprise.

"But before we can expand our territory, we must first settle matters at home. Great Liang is beset by internal and external troubles. Wang Shifan is still alive, and those surrendered soldiers in Pinglu are difficult to bring under our command. On top of that, many unruly refugees have fled to Pinglu. That place really is a den of filth!"

He glanced at Zhu Youning, then lowered his voice. "The reason Li Zhen hasn't returned to Bian Prefecture is that he's dealing with this. If he can't handle it properly, I'm afraid we'll have to fight another war!"

"It's that serious?"

Zhu Youning deliberately put on a look of surprise while trying to gauge Zhu Wen's intentions.

He didn't believe the situation in Pinglu had become so dire. But Zhu Wen had shifted the conversation to Pinglu for a reason; he wouldn't have brought it up out of nowhere.

He had more or less guessed what Zhu Wen wanted to say.

Sure enough, Zhu Wen spoke again at last. "There's only Jing Xiang at court, and I can't bring myself to let him go. I plan to recall Li Zhen to court and send you to Pinglu to take charge, rein in those unruly soldiers and refugees. You're someone close to me. I've watched you grow up. Though we aren't father and son by blood, we're as close as father and son. I can only feel at ease entrusting this matter to you. As for the post of Commander of the Left and Right Longxiang Army, it can go to Wang Yanzhang, the former Left Longxiang Army Commander."

Hearing this, what could Zhu Youning say? He could only cup his hands and reply, "Your servant obeys."

"Mm." Zhu Wen nodded, speaking as if confiding in him. "You've gone a little too far lately. You and I are as close as father and son, and it's not as though I couldn't give you the position of crown prince. It's just that the position would suit your second brother or your eldest brother better."

Then Zhu Wen looked at Zhu Youning and said earnestly, "You won't resent me, will you, nephew?"

Zhu Youning could clearly hear what Zhu Wen was hinting at.

Zhu Wen had paused after mentioning "second brother" before adding "or." That showed he had only tacked on the latter words at the last moment. Zhu Wen's preference was clearly for Zhu Youwen.

Otherwise, he would normally have mentioned the eldest before the second.

But Zhu Youning pretended not to notice and shook his head, answering without hesitation, "Everything Your Majesty does is for the sake of making Great Liang prosperous and strong and ensuring its lasting peace. How could I resent you?"

As he said this, Zhu Youning's mind churned with thoughts.

He knew Zhu Wen might not be as incompetent and foolish as he seemed, but he hadn't expected him to see things so clearly. Zhu Wen had neglected state affairs for years and acted so incompetently and outrageously. Had it all been an act?

But why?

Zhu Youning once again tried to read Zhu Wen's state of mind.

At that moment, a figure suddenly came to mind: the Jiajing Emperor of the Ming dynasty. Perhaps Zhu Wen wasn't stupid; he had simply devoted all his intelligence and grand ambitions to figuring out how to enjoy life as emperor to the fullest.

Unfortunately, there was one thing Zhu Wen had gotten wrong.

Zhu Youning truly didn't want to be crown prince.

With Yuan Tiangang secretly eyeing Liang State, becoming its crown prince now would be like becoming the target of every arrow.

Being sent out of Bian Prefecture to govern a military province was far better than being crown prince!

Still, Zhu Youning thought he ought to show some dissatisfaction. That would make his reaction seem genuine. If he acted too calm, Zhu Wen might suspect he harbored resentment.

After all, being sent away from Bian Prefecture meant being removed from the center of power in Great Liang. For a high-ranking imperial guard commander, it was as good as a demotion. Anyone in his place would be unhappy.

"Since this is Your Majesty's decree, your servant will make preparations to head to Pinglu. However, if I go alone, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep those unruly people in line."

Zhu Wen said, "Take two armies from the Right Wing of the Longxiang Army with you. There are only five thousand men, but they're all elite. In addition, you'll command the original garrison troops across Pinglu's prefectures. Once you've whipped them into shape, they'll be useful. There are about a hundred thousand of them, so even if the unruly people rebel, you'll have more than enough to put them down."

"Your servant obeys." Zhu Youning bowed again, then ventured, "Your servant has one more humble request. I'm heading to Pinglu, where everything is unfamiliar, and those garrison troops probably won't obey me. I need a good general to keep them in line. The surrendered general Liu Xun was Pinglu's foremost warrior and is well known there. Most of the soldiers respect and fear him. I boldly ask Your Majesty to grant me Liu Xun."

Zhu Wen had thought Zhu Youning would make an outrageous demand. He hadn't expected him to ask for something so small, and immediately swept a hand through the air.

"I thought it was something serious. You only want a man? Granted!"