"Let me ask you: now that you have won His Majesty's favor and been made Prince Cheng, have you thought about taking another step upward on this return to the Capital?"
Zhou Cheng set down his teacup and glanced at her.
This woman only resembled a normal woman when she lost herself. Once her senses returned, she reverted to a political creature through and through.
He was not surprised, though, and merely said coolly:
"Any member of the imperial family with ambition wants to climb higher. If I could sit in that seat, naturally I would want to. But Father is still in his prime, nowhere near the time to step down. What use is eyeing it now?"
"How could it be useless?" Li Yunrui's brows tightened slightly. "If you don't mend the roof before the rain comes, what will you have left to compete with the Second Prince and the Crown Prince once all the influence at court has been carved up?"
"Compete? With the Second Prince? With the Crown Prince?"
Zhou Cheng merely held his teacup and shook his head.
"From beginning to end, who gets that seat depends solely on Father's will. Court influence, or anything else-fighting for it or not makes no difference."
Li Yunrui's thinking was entirely different from his.
"How could it make no difference? Only by entering the contest can you show His Majesty your abilities and make him see you in a different light. You're still young, so perhaps you don't know that His Majesty himself rose from humble beginnings. He fought for that seat! The Crown Prince's position as heir is not unchangeable!"
At her words, Zhou Cheng's expression did not shift in the slightest. He merely smiled faintly without speaking.
He knew far more than Li Yunrui about how Emperor Qing had risen to the throne.
While the Former Emperor was still alive, he had been nothing but an unfavored, down-and-out prince. In the order of succession, he had probably ranked just ahead of the dogs.
Had Ye Qingmei not acted decisively and used the Barrett to clear every obstacle for him, the Former Emperor could never have sat on the dragon throne, much less Emperor Qing, then Prince Cheng's heir, succeeded him afterward.
Perhaps people cared most about whatever they lacked.
To legitimize his rule and settle the historical problems left behind by the Former Emperor's accession, Emperor Qing had become almost obsessive about so-called "orthodoxy" and "rites and law" after taking the throne.
He had even established the precedent that "the Crown Prince is not ranked among the imperial princes."
In Emperor Qing's mind, there had only ever been one heir to the throne: the Crown Prince.
Whether the Second Prince, Zhou Cheng himself, Li Yunrui, or Fan Xian, they were all whetstones used to sharpen the Crown Prince.
Apart from Zhou Cheng, who had learned this early through the plot, no one else could even imagine it.
Zhou Cheng's composure stirred a fire in Li Yunrui's heart.
She forcibly suppressed her anger and tried to keep her voice calm and gentle.
"At this point, even if you won't do it for yourself, you should at least fight for your aunt."
"?"
Zhou Cheng gave her a strange look.
For her?
Heh...
Li Yunrui was beautiful, but her fantasies were even more beautiful. What an insatiably greedy woman!
Still, he was thoroughly satisfied in both body and spirit now and did not want to provoke her too much. She was a madwoman, after all. If he pushed her too far and she smashed the pot because it was already cracked, things would turn ugly.
He was actually quite possessive and had no desire for anyone else to tread the same path.
Not wanting to dwell on the subject, he changed it instead.
"Aunt, rather than worry about me, you should worry about yourself. Father already issued a verbal decree at the banquet. Presumably, Fan Xian will enter the Capital before long. Once Fan Xian marries Wan'er, will you hand over control of the Imperial Treasury's finances or not?"
Sure enough, the moment Fan Xian came up and her own interests were involved, Li Yunrui's attention immediately shifted.
She practically spoke through gritted teeth.
"Fan Xian has experts protecting him. I've sent assassins time and again, but none have succeeded. If Fan Xian enters the Capital, he'll be a major problem for both of us!"
Zhou Cheng raised an eyebrow.
"What are you saying, Aunt? How would Fan Xian entering the Capital be a problem for me?"
As they talked, Li Yunrui recovered some of her strength.
She braced herself on her arms and sat up, covering herself with her clothes, then said irritably:
"All the money and men you've asked me for over the years have gone through the Imperial Treasury's accounts, haven't they? If Fan Xian takes charge of it, why would he let you use the back door so easily?"
Zhou Cheng considered this briefly and nodded. That was true enough.
If Fan Xian took charge of the Imperial Treasury, his temperament meant he certainly would not do Zhou Cheng any favors.
But having the Imperial Treasury in Li Yunrui's hands was hardly convenient for him either.
He reckoned that whenever he withdrew a thousand taels of silver, the Imperial Treasury recorded ten thousand.
Still, he had never intended to repay the debt, so he did not care.
Zhou Cheng set down his teacup and asked, "Then what are you planning, Aunt?"
Li Yunrui fell silent for a moment, considered it, and said:
"I didn't expect His Majesty to issue a verbal decree outright today. If he had merely found some pretext to bring Fan Xian into the Capital, I would have had no shortage of ways to deal with him here.
"Now that His Majesty has openly issued his decree, every civil and military official at court knows about Fan Xian. If he enters the Capital alive, my hands will be tied instead."
"Then do you have anything in mind, Aunt?"
Zhou Cheng asked aloud, though he already knew the answer.
Sure enough, Li Yunrui lowered her head and hesitated briefly. When she looked up again, her gaze held a measure of relief.
"There are some things I needn't hide from you. I plan to use the Crown Prince's connections to requisition men from the Overwatch Council to assassinate Fan Xian. I will not allow him to enter the Capital alive."
At the mention of the Overwatch Council, Zhou Cheng thought, Just as expected.
He glanced at Li Yunrui as though looking at a pitiful Tom Cat.
This woman's logic was frighteningly simple.
The exalted Eldest Princess could not even imagine that Emperor Qing and Chen Pingping had long since calculated exactly what she would do based on her temperament.
They had even deliberately arranged for the pawn called Teng Zijing to be available for her use.
"What kind of look is that?"
"Nothing! I just thought of something amusing!"
Zhou Cheng waved a hand.
The plot unfolding in its normal sequence offered him every benefit and no harm. He had no reason to interfere deliberately.
Li Yunrui merely frowned without taking it too seriously and continued:
"I still won't feel reassured if I only send Overwatch Council assassins through the Crown Prince. The assassins I sent before already included seventh-rank experts. However strong the Council's assassins are, they'll be around that level too. To guard against any mishaps, I need you to help me, Cheng'er."
"Me?"
Zhou Cheng pointed at himself.
"Yes. I hear you have two eighth-rank experts at your side."
The moment Zhou Cheng heard that, he understood her intentions and cut her off.
"My dear aunt! Father assigned those two eighth-rank experts as guards for the trip to Great Eastern Mountain. In truth, they're His Majesty's eyes and ears.
"The moment I sent them to assassinate Fan Xian, a secret report would probably land on Father's desk.
"I'm not afraid of trouble, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to invite it for no reason. Don't drag me into disaster, Aunt!"
Li Yunrui frowned and glared at him.
"This won't work, that won't work! You don't even have anyone decent under your command, and you can't help with one little matter. What use are you to me?"
Zhou Cheng was not annoyed. He merely smiled.
"It's precisely because I'm useless that people can't easily use me!"
"You..."
Li Yunrui was too angry to speak.
The shamelessness of the man before her surpassed anything she had expected.
Listening to the negative notifications in his ears, worth fewer than ten points, Zhou Cheng abandoned the idea of continuing to fleece Li Yunrui.
Instead, he offered some reassurance.
"It's true that I have no one available, but I can at least help you come up with a few ideas, Aunt. As the saying goes, those caught in the game are lost in the fog, while those watching see clearly."
Without waiting for Li Yunrui to respond, he continued:
"You can continue arranging the assassination, Aunt. If it still fails, wait until Fan Xian enters the Capital.
"Once Fan Xian arrives, plenty of people will be watching him, and you certainly won't be the only one who wants him dead.
"You can quietly wait for others to deal with Fan Xian while finding a way to dissolve his engagement to Wan'er.
"Once the engagement is dissolved, Fan Xian will be nothing more than a bastard from the countryside. Presumably, not many people will keep watching him.
"Then sending experts from the Capital to eliminate him will surely be effortless!"
After hearing him out, Li Yunrui looked thoughtful.
"The idea isn't bad. But His Majesty personally arranged the engagement. How could it be so easy to dissolve?"
Zhou Cheng smiled.
"If nothing else works, go plead with the Empress Dowager, Aunt, and say a few bad words about Fan Xian. The Empress Dowager dotes on Wan'er more than anyone. Perhaps she'll step in and persuade His Majesty."
Li Yunrui rolled her eyes at him and sneered.
"The inner palace must not interfere in politics. Unless there is absolutely no other choice, I cannot involve the Empress Dowager. Besides, she might not be willing to help me with this."
Zhou Cheng nodded.
"Under normal circumstances, that's true. But if Wan'er is unwilling to marry Fan Xian and goes to plead with the Empress Dowager herself, there may be a sliver of hope."
The instant he finished speaking, Li Yunrui grabbed the pillow beside her and hurled it at him furiously.
She snapped:
"The engagement was His Majesty's decision. If Wan'er resists, she'll be slapping His Majesty in the face. Even if it's dissolved afterward, where would that leave her? You bastard, you're trying to harm Wan'er!"
Zhou Cheng casually caught the pillow.
Before you continue