Framing

The new emperor gave him a question.

This is actually a very standard question.

However, if the new emperor is deliberately trying to make things difficult for people, this question will not be a multiple-choice question, but will become any question, where choosing left or right will result in a wrong answer.

"Left is the place of honor; a person of high status will naturally step in with their left foot!"

Zhang Xuezhou didn't make a simple choice, but instead gave the new emperor a choice in return.

If the other party is willing to consider themselves inferior and insists on stepping over the threshold with their right foot, then there's nothing he can do.

That's an interesting answer!

The new emperor believed that Zhang Xuezhou was eloquent and would come up with some bad ideas.

When he came to visit again, this guy was exactly the same as always.

This answer satisfied him.

The new emperor pondered for two seconds, then lifted his left foot and stepped over the threshold.

"I've heard you can tell fortunes?" the new emperor asked.

"Is this the second question in the bachelor's entrance exam this month?" Zhang Xuezhou asked in a low voice.

Zhang Xuezhou's question truly stumped the new emperor.

The Empress Dowager and the new emperor discussed many things, and the new emperor also attended the palace banquet.

He vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

Like a swift before a storm, the new emperor felt a whirlwind sweeping towards him.

A single move can have far-reaching consequences; if one part is disturbed, a series of chain reactions will occur.

As the eye of the storm, the new emperor felt he was in serious trouble.

Even though he had his uncle Tian Fen use falsehoods to deceive the King of Huainan, and prepared for the King of King of Huainan to immediately begin the journey to worship Emperor Gaozu after entering Chang'an City for an audience, he still felt uneasy.

The new emperor felt he had overlooked something.

But the affairs within the palace are far more complex than any outsider could possibly know.

The new emperor turned his attention to physiognomy, a method for predicting the unknown.

He was now faced with the question of whether to step with his left or right foot first; whichever he stepped with, the new emperor could make a mistake.

Zhang Xuezhou's response was good, but the new emperor felt it was still slightly lacking, making it difficult for him to find a direction he needed to emulate.

"Let's solve the second problem," the new emperor finally nodded in agreement.

"How many questions do I have to answer in total?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"One question per month, twelve questions per year. If you answer enough questions today, you won't need to answer any more questions for the following months," the new emperor said simply and clearly.

"I know a little bit," Zhang Xuezhou admitted. "I just casually learned a tiny bit of physiognomy, and I even came under your wing. You won't burn me alive according to Qin dynasty regulations, will you?"

"Won't!"

The new emperor shook his head.

He followed Zhang Xuezhou, his gaze sweeping over the men and women fighting in the kitchen, realizing that Zhang Xuezhou's place was not a peaceful place either.

As Zhang Xuezhou entered the reception hall, he accepted the clear water that Zhang Xuezhou was offering to the guests.

After drinking a bowl of water, the new emperor felt his heart grow cold.

"Then let's ask the third question!"

Seeing that Zhang Xuezhou had diligently refilled the water and brought it over, the new emperor quickly moved on to the question-and-answer session.

"If I asked you to tell my fortune, could you?" the new emperor asked.

"Seven-tenths of physiognomy is based on guesswork. I can tell fortunes, but whether it's true or not is another matter entirely," Zhang Xuezhou replied.

"Your skills are lacking!"

Zhang Xuezhou seemed to have answered, but then again, he didn't.

The new emperor received an answer, but it wasn't the answer he wanted.

If physiognomy has a 70% error rate, then the likelihood of him making a mistake if he believes in it is extremely high.

This made the new emperor reconsider his plan to ask Zhang Xuezhou to predict his future.

"The fourth question," the new emperor began, "This question goes back to the past of Qin Er Shi. If, after Emperor Qin's death, Qin Er Shi had not yet obtained the Serpent-Slaying Sword, nor forged an edict to order the death of Crown Prince Fusu, and if Crown Prince Fusu suddenly returned to Xianyang from the Northern Border, and even gained the loyalty of a large number of court officials, and could directly succeed to the throne, what do you think Qin Er Shi should have done to ensure his succession to the throne?"

"Prince Fusu is benevolent and righteous; he wouldn't kill Qin Er Shi," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Since Qin Er Shi can't become emperor, he can only slowly wait until Fusu dies, and then use means to seize the throne and become Qin San Shi!"

Your answer...

Qin Er Shi was not a new emperor, which made it difficult for a new emperor to choose a theme that perfectly suited his own personality.

He seemed to have figured out some key points, but he hadn't fully grasped them.

"What if Qin Er Shi couldn't wait even a moment longer and wanted to become emperor back then?" the new emperor asked, frowning.

"Then he can only become an emperor in the underworld... Haha, actually it's not entirely impossible!"

Seeing the new emperor's instantly changing expression, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the new emperor's questions were far too complicated.

If it weren't for the explanations of history given by Prefect Wen Weng and Dong Zhongshu, Zhang Xuezhou would have lacked understanding of the dynasties of a hundred years ago.

How could he possibly know the situation of the Qin Dynasty at that time, or what resources he could exploit?

He had never even been to Xianyang, so he wasn't even qualified to offer hindsight advice.

"If he had been too hasty, the only way Qin Er Shi could have ascended the throne at that time might have been through framing," Zhang Xuezhou said, spreading his hands. "If he could find some highly respected senior officials to support him, and obtain incriminating evidence against Crown Prince Fusu, Qin Er Shi could have tried to label Crown Prince Fusu a traitor and attribute the Emperor Qin's death to him, thus having a slight chance!"

"Framing Fusu with treason and assassination of the Emperor Qin?"

The new emperor took a deep breath.

He finally saw the situation clearly and figured out the key to breaking the deadlock.

The King of Huainan followed the old system when he came to Chang'an City to pay homage, and everything was done reasonably and in accordance with regulations.

If the relationship between the King of Huainan and the Empress Dowager remains stable, the Empress Dowager may favor the King of Huainan King of Huainan, and even allow him to enter the court to stabilize things if the court becomes turbulent again.

If the possibility of the King of Huainan taking over Weiyang Palace is to be avoided, besides preventing the King of Huainan from overstepping the rules, he also needs to solve the most important problem.

Only by thwarting the Empress Dowager's plans can the King of Huainan be eliminated.

'Frame-up' is a good way to deal with this.

The Empress Dowager disliked Emperor Jing and favored the Prince of Liang, feeling that she owed the Prince of Liang a great deal. The new emperor was determined to frame the King of Huainan to the Empress Dowager, causing her to make a misjudgment.

"The King of Huainan presented me with the 'Honglie' poem to create trouble for me and unsettle my mind, but little did he know that this was the true source of his troubles!"

The more skilled the King of Huainan was in divination, the more likely he was to be involved in the death of the King of Liang.

The new emperor didn't need to make a direct explanation. He simply took the "Honglie" to the Empress Dowager and kept praising the King of Huainan, occasionally mentioning that the King of Huainan could use magic to kill those who practiced magic thousands of miles away.

If too much is said, the Empress Dowager might make connections.

As long as he sees the Empress Dowager's expression change, or if she drives the new emperor out, the new emperor feels that things are almost certainly going to succeed.

If the Empress Dowager pretends to be deaf and dumb, the new emperor can only bring up the comparison between the Prince of Liang and the King of Huainan, and mention the possibility of a dispute between the two in terms of tactics.

He calmed himself down and realized that although he hadn't done anything about fortune-telling on this trip, he had thought things through clearly and had a general idea of how to break the deadlock.

This pleased the new emperor greatly.

"Come with me for a walk next spring," the new emperor said with satisfaction.

"Let's go for a walk?" Zhang Xuezhou blinked and said, "Just the two of us?"

"There should be several hundred people," the new emperor mused. "I'll bring along those who are close to me, so you can all get to know them!"

Thinking of Han Yan, who was forcibly placed in the Weiyang Palace to play the role of himself reading "Honglie" by candlelight, and Wei Qing, who defeated the number one swordsman in Huainan, and Zhang Xuezhou, who was now giving bad advice, the new emperor felt that he still had some capable people under his command.

If they were properly developed and given five to ten years to grow, the situation in the imperial court would be largely stabilized.