After the eldest princess officially left Kyoto, an extremely realistic problem remained in front of many people.
That is, who will be in charge of the royal inner treasury?
Although the palace decree did not specify what mistakes the eldest princess had committed, many smart people in the capital knew that the real reason why the eldest princess was demoted and returned to the fiefdom of Xinyang was because she took action against the illegitimate son of the Fan family. Her purpose was to Continue to hold the actual power of the inner treasury.
The inner treasure is so important that the eldest princess even made such a move as the Niulan Street assassination.
People at the top of Kyoto thought that His Majesty would take back the inner treasury. However, as the news of the engagement between the Prince of the East Palace and the Princess of the Lin family spread from the palace, many people could not guess His Majesty's true intention. Could it be that he wanted to take back the inner treasury from his left hand? Move to the right hand?
Various rumors are swirling in the dust, and people are carefully speculating on His Majesty's true intentions.
The illegitimate son of the Fan family gradually began to be forgotten by the people in Beijing.
The reason why Fan Xian was able to attract so many people's attention after entering the capital was naturally not because of his identity, but because of the oral marriage between him and the princess. Many people did not believe that His Majesty would treat the inner treasury as important. The place is given to people with foreign surnames.
This marriage was eventually transferred to the East Palace, which confirmed this point.
At this time, Mr. Fan was still looking for the girl with chicken legs that he had longed for, but what he didn't know was that the girl with chicken legs at this time had forgotten his existence. Lin Wan'er's complexion, which was gradually recovering, could be said to be completely different from the past. .
The originally slightly pale white cheeks were filled with visible rosiness, and the big watery eyes looked much brighter. Lin Wan'er did not expect that the tuberculosis that had been lingering for many years was gradually showing signs of improvement. These days, even every day The cough I had every day has disappeared, but I still cough habitually and quietly occasionally.
"Princess Princess!"
"Thank God, your condition has finally seen the light of recovery."
"I don't know where your Highness the Prince got the recipe from. This magical medicinal diet is so effective. It will probably take another twenty days for you to get completely better. By then, you will be able to marry into the Prince's house with all your glory."
The old grandma looked excited.
The eldest princess usually paid very little attention to Lin Wan'er. It can be said that this old nanny watched Lin Wan'er grow up and naturally knew that this princess was the best person in the world. However, it was a pity that she had been plagued by illness since she was a child. Over the years, His body became increasingly weak.
Lin Wan'er was equally happy.
She used to feel that she wouldn't live for many years, so she tried not to think too much about her body, but there must be regrets in her heart. After all, she had not fully enjoyed the fun of life. Although she had parents, there seemed to be no difference between them and not. .
To this day, she knows that she can live like a normal person, and she can't help but feel joy in her heart.
Of course, the more important reason is that Lu Ze has come to the Royal Villa more frequently in recent times. He treated this brother Cheng Qian who grew up with him. Previously, Lin Wan'er only treated him as an elder brother. He just knew that the two of them were going to After getting married and having children one day, she was still very shy.
During this time, the relationship between the two people heated up rapidly.
Lu Ze has successfully changed his image in Wan'er's heart. Not only is the relationship like in the past, now that the marriage is finally confirmed, Lu Ze will treat Wan'er well. As for the young master of the Fan family, All I can say is stay where it is cool.
Poor Fan Xian still doesn't know that the chicken-leg girl he misses has terminated his engagement.
He even forgot about his existence.
...
The marriage between Lu Ze and Wan'er caused a stir in the capital.
But it was the second prince Li Chengze who was really extremely uneasy about this marriage.
When the eldest princess left Kyoto, the princelings headed by Lu Ze had no reaction. On the contrary, the second prince felt very uneasy. He was the only one who knew about this uneasiness.
Because there is a common interest relationship between him and Li Yunrui, and the source of this interest is naturally the royal treasury.
Through smuggling, with Northern Qi as the fulcrum, the two people continued to transfer the benefits of the inner treasury into their own pockets.
If we describe it in the terms of later generations, this is a bit similar to another level of money laundering. A steady stream of money flows into the pockets of Li Yunrui and Li Chengze. Northern Qi is very happy to cooperate with the smuggling, and there are huge benefits to be reaped. , and secondly, you can use this to cause civil strife in Nanqing, why not?
So after Li Yunrui left Kyoto, it was His Highness the Second Prince who was really panicked.
Li Chengze usually seems to be neither fighting nor fighting, and his indifferent attitude has attracted many people to join him. Even Ye Ling'er of the Ye family is secretly attracted to him. The second child's image construction is undoubtedly better than before. The prince is much stronger.
Li Chengze met the eldest princess before she left.
It's just a pity that Li Yunrui already has some signs of being unable to protect herself. She herself doesn't know whether the inner treasury can intervene in the future. This makes the second prince's face gloomy in the past few days. He doesn't know why his father promised Wan'er to the prince. what for.
He had spent a lot of effort to win over the illegitimate son of the Fan family a few days ago, and he even suffered a lot for it.
Then I turned around and discovered that the royal inner treasury was actually in the hands of the prince.
"Is it possible that my father is determined to hand the royal treasury into the hands of the prince?"
"Even drove away the eldest princess for this?"
In the dark room of the second prince's residence, Li Chengze's face was illuminated by a few candles, and his face was a little uncertain.
In the beginning, the second prince, like his mother, Concubine Shu, lived a carefree and unconcerned life in the palace. He had no hobbies except studying. At that time, the second prince's ideal was to be a The idle prince strives to develop academically, thinking that he can become a bright flower shining in Nanqing's literary world in the future.
It's just that Emperor Qing didn't intend for the second prince to lead such an idle and indifferent life.
At that time, the prince Li Chengqian, who had lived in the East Palace for two and a half years, had already shown his love for Fengyue. Emperor Qing, who was very unhappy, pulled the second prince to the stage and polished him into a whetstone for the prince.
To this day, Li Chengze seems to have been raised as a member of the royal family who is hot on the outside but cold on the inside.
He even dared to use the huge profits from the inner treasury to create a private army, and he was surrounded by many famous masters in the world. In Kyoto, he could fight against the prince's side without losing any.
A cold smile appeared on the corner of Li Chengze's mouth, and his eyes showed a bit of ridicule.
"Father."
"From the time I was twelve years old, you said that I was both virtuous and virtuous, and it would be unfair to be a prince in the future. When I was thirteen years old, you made me king. When I was fourteen years old, you built a house outside the palace. On the surface, You kicked me out of the palace, but actually gave me the opportunity to freely serve the ministers; when I was fifteen, you allowed me to enter the imperial study to observe the affairs of the government..."
Li Chengze clenched his fists tightly, veins popped out on the back of his hands, and he could only be heard laughing crazily.
"Since you let me fight and rob, then I will fight and rob."
"The sky in Qingguo should have been in chaos long ago!"
...
Since the last time he met Chen Pingping in Chenyuan, Lu Ze has not had much contact with the director of the Supervisory Yuan, but he believes that Chen Pingping has begun to investigate the events of the year more deeply. The dean who had received thousands of holy scrolls would eventually turn against Emperor Qing because of that woman.
In the original work, Chen Pingping had a very miserable ending, and was eventually executed by Ling Chi on the order of the angry Emperor Qing.
As a lonely man, what Emperor Qing hates most is betrayal. The principles of his actions do not include any emotion in them. They are all based on profit. Otherwise, he would not have killed Ye Qingmei who had just given birth to a child. .
Soon, the father-son family banquet in the palace came again, but this time there was an extra person.
Fan Xian.
When Lu Ze and Li Chengze arrived at the small garden in the palace, the two of them didn't say much. The second prince before would deliberately talk to Lu Ze, but today he seemed to have lost his previous temperament and sat alone by the lake. on the bench.
Soon, Hou
The father-in-law arrived with another protagonist of this family dinner.
Lu Ze looked normal, while Li Chengze turned his head slightly surprised, wondering why there were outsiders coming to this family banquet.
"Master Fan is having dinner with your two highnesses today."
Eunuch Hou sent Fan Xian in and left quickly.
Li Chengze went to greet Mr. Fan with a smile on his face. Although the royal treasury was unlikely to be in the hands of Fan Xian again, he was the illegitimate son of Uncle Si Nan after all. Few ministers in the court knew that Fan Jian was related to the royal family. extremely close relationship.
The old lady Fan who lived far away in Danzhou was Emperor Qing's wet nurse.
Fan Jian grew up with the eldest son, who is now Emperor Qing, in Prince Cheng's Palace. Therefore, the relationship between the Fan family and Prince Jing's Palace was irreversible. Naturally, the second prince wanted to bring the Minister of Household Affairs into his own boat. So his attitude toward Fan Xian at the moment was quite warm.
Lu Ze just nodded slightly towards Fan Xian as a greeting.
Lu Ze had no intention of recruiting Mr. Fan.
Because Lu Ze knew that people like Fan Xian were not the kind of people he could recruit. Although he came to Beijing from a place like Danzhou, Fan Xian's arrogance made him not take the so-called royal bloodline seriously. .
In addition, Lu Ze had some troubles with Fan Xian before, so Lu Ze didn't have the heart to treat Fan Xian warmly.
Soon, Emperor Qing, who was wearing a pale dark robe, came to the pavilion. There was no one waiting around him. Emperor Qing's majestic eyes scanned the three of Lu Ze and finally landed on Fan Xian. His expression seemed a little incomprehensible.
"Today, I am not here."
"You three brothers, let's have a good meal together."
After Emperor Qing finished speaking, he turned and left.
Li Chengze and Fan Xian did not notice the keyword "Brothers" in Emperor Qing's mouth at this moment. They were just a little confused about today's meal. Lu Ze directly picked up the bowl and ate quickly, ignoring the lively chatter around him. Two people.
Fan Xian would look at Lu Ze from time to time.
Ever since he entered the capital, he had been in trouble one after another. Mr. Fan was filled with doubts and finally set his sights on Lu Ze.
Especially the violent beating of Guo Baokun on Niulan Street that day. The sudden appearance of witnesses at that time disrupted all Fan Xian's plans. All the things he had prepared in advance were useless. In the end, it was only his father Fan Jian who took action. Adults pay to keep safe.
Fan Xian felt extremely unhappy.
But he still attaches great importance to this enemy in the darkness.
Before entering the palace, Fan Jian reminded Fan Xian that this time the two princes would probably recruit him in person. Although the marriage with the Lin family fell through, Chen Pingping's plan could be implemented. She would lose the inner treasury, but gain the Overwatch Council.
What surprised Fan Xian was that when the Crown Prince saw him, he just nodded slightly and said hello without saying much.
Fan Xian thought to himself, could it be that the prince had confirmed that the Fan family had boarded the boat with the second prince?
But in fact, Lu Ze didn't think much of Fan Xian at all. Compared to Fan Xian, Lu Ze was more interested in smart people in the court like Fan Jian and Chen Pingping, and he really had no interest in Fan Xian.
In terms of status, you are the emperor's illegitimate son, and I am the emperor's legitimate son and the crown prince of the East Palace.
In terms of background, there is a robot Wu Zhu behind you, but my silly girl is even more perverted.
Of course, the most important reason is that Lu Ze knows that people like Fan Xian cannot be won over by profit, so why bother asking for trouble.
Lu Ze had no intention of talking to Fan Xian, but the latter took the initiative to speak: "His Royal Highness, I heard that your engagement with that princess has been concluded? Then I must congratulate Your Highness on the beautiful woman you have embraced."
At this moment, Lu Ze finally became a little unable to help laughing.
Fan Xian is actually happy that he took over the marriage he didn't want?
"Thank you."
"Wan'er and I are scheduled to get married in October. We will send someone to send invitations to Fan's house then. Mr. Fan, don't forget to come and have a wedding drink."
Fan Xian cupped his hands and chuckled: "Easy to say!"
Second Prince
Li Chengze's expression was not very good, because he didn't know whether the ownership of the inner treasury would fall on the prince. If Emperor Qing really handed over the inner treasury officially to the prince, then it can only be said that this marriage is definitely worth it.
Fan Xian took the initiative to talk to Lu Ze.
He really wanted to understand Lu Ze's behavior and manner of speaking, and he obviously regarded Lu Ze as his real opponent in his heart. The result of beating Guo Baokun that time was not good, and it did not make Fan Xian vomit. He was so angry that the person he really wanted to beat was the Crown Prince in front of him who was talking and laughing freely and had a great temperament!
Before the family banquet was over, Lu Ze stood up and prepared to leave.
"Your Highness is leaving?"
Fan Xian asked very inappropriately.
Lu Ze didn't care about his rudeness and smiled: "Today we made an appointment to go to the Qing Temple with Wan'er. In the past, my father took Wan'er there, and every time there were guards at the Qing Temple. It’s dense and safe, but it lacks the smoke and smoke of burning incense.”
Lu Ze left quickly.
But Fan Xian was petrified on the spot.
Li Chengze noticed something strange about Fan Xian and asked, "What's wrong?"
Fan Xian murmured to himself: "Your Highness, this...does this princess often go to the Qing Temple?"
Li Chengze nodded: "Wan'er's health is not good, and she is well enough to go out on weekdays. Only when my father has free time will he take her out to visit the Qing Temple."
Fan Xian froze on the spot.
"No..."
"impossible..."
