The next morning, dawn had barely broken.
Beyond the long pavilion, beside the ancient road.
The Left Prime Minister wore a scholar's azure robe, with several carriages following behind him, looking as though he were moving away.
Besides the Left Prime Minister's family, there was another unexpected guest present.
The Right Prime Minister!
The Left Prime Minister's expression was complicated.
He and the Right Prime Minister had battled each other for a lifetime.
He had never expected that, when he was leaving the capital, the one coming to see him off would be his sworn rival.
Meanwhile, none of his former subordinates had come.
Truly, before the man had even left, the tea had already gone cold.
"What, Brother Mobai? Are you surprised to see me?" The Right Prime Minister laughed, his voice hearty.
"I am indeed surprised. I never thought Brother Jingxing would be the one to see me off in the end." The Left Prime Minister's tone was rather complex.
"We have served as officials together for decades. Though you and I have contended against one another, it was all for state affairs, not personal grudges."
"Now that Brother Mobai is leaving the capital today, I naturally had to come see you off."
The Right Prime Minister sighed with feeling. He held considerable admiration for this opponent who had suppressed him his entire life.
"After I leave, how does His Majesty intend to deal with the position of Left Prime Minister?"
"His Majesty has already appointed me to concurrently serve as Left Prime Minister."
Hearing this, the Left Prime Minister froze for a moment.
He had not expected Emperor Yuanchu to make such an arrangement.
To have Lu Jingxing hold both prime ministerial positions at once.
That truly meant wielding power over both court and country.
Emperor Yuanchu's arrangement was nothing more than an attempt to have the Right Prime Minister suppress the Crown Prince's faction.
The Crown Prince would likely...
Forget it!
What did that have to do with someone like him, who was about to leave the capital?
The Left Prime Minister could not help but give a self-mocking laugh.
"That is good as well!"
"With Brother Jingxing presiding over the court, the court will not fall into chaos."
The two exchanged pleasantries.
They had fought for a lifetime, each wishing to bring the other down.
Yet when the curtain was falling, they instead cherished one another as kindred spirits.
"This journey concerns National Destiny and the people's livelihood. I hope Brother Mobai has fair winds all the way and achieves success the moment he arrives."
"May your auspicious words come true!"
The Eastern Palace.
Over the past few days, everyone in the Eastern Palace had learned that the Crown Prince was in a foul mood.
Several maidservants had already been beaten to death with clubs.
Even the Crown Princess's attempts at persuasion had been futile.
The eunuchs and maidservants even walked softly, afraid of provoking His Highness the Crown Prince.
Inside the study.
The atmosphere was so solemn it seemed water could be wrung from it.
Bang!
A loud crash rang out from within the study.
The Crown Prince's palm slammed heavily onto the desk, his face twisting somewhat with rage.
"A single strange treasure, as a congratulatory gift for Ninth Brother's elevation to prince?"
"If Ninth Brother had not tinkered out Sacred Emperor Rice, would the Left Prime Minister have left the capital?"
"And I still have to send Ninth Brother a gift? Outrageous!"
The Crown Prince's roar erupted through the study.
His questioning was laced with intense fury.
Even the tabby cat ordinarily so dearly favored hid in the corner by the bookshelves, trembling all over.
Eastern Palace Chief Scribe Zhou Rong wore a bitter expression.
Of course, he understood the anger and dissatisfaction in the Crown Prince's heart at this moment.
The Sacred Emperor Rice grown by the Ninth Prince had led to the Left Prime Minister leaving the capital.
Perhaps that had not been the Ninth Prince's intention.
But the reality was that all of this had been caused by the Ninth Prince.
The Crown Prince had lost an arm, so naturally he bore ten thousand grievances against the Ninth Prince.
Yet some things had to be done for appearances' sake, whether one wished to or not.
The Ninth Prince had been elevated to prince. As the eldest brother, how could the Crown Prince possibly not send a congratulatory gift?
If he did not, it would certainly invite criticism.
Then rumors such as "the Crown Prince lacks the tolerance to accommodate others; he cannot even tolerate his own younger brother" would likely spread throughout the capital again.
"Your Highness, the Second Prince has already sent a congratulatory gift."
"If you do not send one, would that not be pushing the Ninth Prince toward the Second Prince?"
Zhou Rong earnestly and tirelessly tried to persuade him.
Yet the Crown Prince went his own way, showing no sign of yielding.
"Hmph—so what if I push him to Second Brother?"
"Among my civil officials and military generals are countless capable people. Would I lack one Prince of Dongdai Commandery?"
"Your Highness, absolutely not!" Zhou Rong was so anxious he spun in circles. "Sacred Emperor Rice concerns tremendous interests. We must fight for it."
"This subordinate knows that Your Highness bears considerable resentment toward the Ninth Prince, but if one cannot endure a small matter, one will disrupt a great plan."
"I implore Your Highness to think thrice."
The more earnestly Zhou Rong spoke, the more suffocated the Crown Prince felt inside.
Just then, a servant reported from outside the room.
"Reporting to Your Highness, Mister Wu has returned."
Upon hearing the words Mister Wu, the furrow between the Crown Prince's brows instantly eased.
"Bring him in at once!"
As the Crown Prince's words fell, a middle-aged scholar entered.
The Crown Prince hurriedly rose and went to greet him.
Seeing how highly the Crown Prince regarded Mister Wu, Zhou Rong's heart sank.
"Your Highness, after this old man completed the arrangements in Jiangnan, I heard of the Sacred Emperor Rice matter and hastened back to the capital..."
Before Mister Wu could finish, the Crown Prince's face darkened, clouds gathering thickly upon it.
"Mister Wu, have you also come to persuade me to win over Ninth Brother?"
"Not at all!"
"Quite the opposite. This old man believes that winning over the Ninth Prince is the worst possible strategy."
Mister Wu's words had not yet moved the Crown Prince, but Zhou Rong beside him could no longer endure it.
"Utter nonsense."
"Who does not know that the Seed Selection Department has now become a fragrant bun everyone wants to snatch?"
"If we can win over the Ninth Prince, he will certainly become Your Highness's support."
Zhou Rong spoke with righteous severity, his attitude resolute.
Even the Crown Prince felt Zhou Rong had a point.
It was simply that he could not swallow the anger of the Left Prime Minister leaving the capital.
Mister Wu remained composed and unruffled, speaking lightly.
"Your Highness, Chief Scribe Zhou knows only one side, not the other."
"Oh? What insightful view does Mister Wu have?"
"Great Qian's Seventy-Two Commanderies have a population in the tens of millions, and there are also many secret realms where the land is vast and the people sparse."
"Your Highness, how much Sacred Emperor Rice do you think would be needed to satisfy everyone under heaven?"
After thinking it over carefully, the Crown Prince spoke.
"Mister Wu, you mean that the quantity of Sacred Emperor Rice will be limited in the short term, unable to satisfy everyone."
"Precisely!"
"With Sacred Emperor Rice limited and wolves many while meat is scarce, the matter of distribution becomes a scalding hot potato."
"The imperial clan's descendants, the civil and military officials of the entire court, the Ten Great Dao Courts, meritorious nobles, and military generals—which one of them is easy to deal with?"
"If the Second Prince wishes to win them over, then let him."
"If he handles it poorly even once, the result will be betrayal and desertion on all sides."
Mister Wu's remarks completely untied the knot in the Crown Prince's heart.
The delight in his heart was like Zhu Bajie eating a ginseng fruit.
"Wonderful!"
"Wonderful!"
"One sentence from you is worth ten years of reading!"
Seeing the Crown Prince persuaded by Mister Wu, Zhou Rong became utterly anxious, his heart flooding with endless melancholy and worry.
Sacred Emperor Rice might be scarce now, with wolves many and meat scarce, but what about later?
Could wolves and meat remain mismatched forever?
Such words would bring disaster upon the nation and its people!
"Your Highness..."
Zhou Rong still wished to persuade him, but the Crown Prince had long since lost the patience to listen.
He waved a hand and said to Zhou Rong.
"Chief Scribe Zhou, Mister Wu and I have important matters to discuss."
"Go to the treasury and take one thousand taels of silver to Ninth Brother. Let it count as a token of goodwill from me, his elder brother."
Zhou Rong's expression stiffened, and his eyes dimmed.
His heart was filled with indescribable bitterness.
One thousand taels of silver?
That was far too shabby!
Was this dismissing a beggar?
With such an obvious slap-in-the-face attitude, sending one thousand taels would be worse than sending nothing at all.
"This minister obeys the decree!"
Zhou Rong cupped his hands, sighed, and withdrew from the study.
One hour later.
Mister Wu left the prince's residence, only to discover Zhou Rong waiting for him by the rear gate.
"Chief Scribe Zhou, may I ask what instruction you have for me?" Mister Wu asked with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
"Wu, you treacherous flatterers rely on nothing but the art of fawning to blind His Highness."
"If you refuse to repent, then one day, with Heaven's justice bright and clear, retribution will surely befall you!"
Hearing Zhou Rong's righteous rebuke, Mister Wu paid it no heed and curled his lips in a disdainful smile.
"Tch!"
Only Zhou Rong remained, his face livid.
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