Zhao Mian had met Wei Changdu once when he was six years old. At that time, Wei Changdu was already a grown-up boy. Wei Changdu was the eldest son of the Beiyuan Empress. After him, Emperor Yuan got many princesses in succession, and then he had his second son, Wei Zhenfeng.
Wei Changdu's appearance should be more like his biological mother. He is not as handsome as Emperor Yuan and Wei Zhenfeng, but he has majestic features and a deep temperament. Zhao Mian's impression of Wei Changdu still remains on the prince of Wu who loved his younger brother twelve years ago.
Now, the 25-year-old youth no longer had the high spirits of the past, but was instead gloomy and reserved, with his words and deeds as formal as engravings. Perhaps because he had been too busy recently, the youth's eyebrows showed a bit of fatigue, and when he saw Wei Zhenfeng, he asked to have a private talk with him.
It was inconvenient for Zhao Mian to meet Wei Changdu, so he hid behind the door of the side hall and could barely hear the conversation between the two brothers.
Wei Zhenfeng's attitude towards Wei Changdu was similar to that towards Emperor Yuan. The general courtesy was there, but he was definitely not friendly. His lukewarm attitude was somewhat intriguing.
When the young prince confronted Wanhua, Menggu, Shaodeng and others, he was still able to handle the situation with ease and control the situation firmly while chatting and laughing. Wei Changdu, like these two people, was Wei Zhenfeng's enemy, but Wei Zhenfeng was cold in front of him and showed no emotion, which just proved that Emperor Yuan and Wei Changdu were special in Wei Zhenfeng's heart.
Because he once cared about them, Wei Zhenfeng couldn't treat them like insignificant enemies.
Wei Zhenfeng asked directly, "My Royal Brother, what brings you here so late at night?"
Wei Changdu looked around and said, "This is my first time visiting your house, won't you treat me to a glass of wine?"
Wei Zhenfeng said indifferently: "Brother, haven't you drunk enough at the palace banquet?"
Wei Changdu said: "I didn't drink with you."
"Forget about drinking, tea is fine." Wei Zhenfeng asked someone to bring the sobering tea prepared by Bai Yu. "My royal brother, now that you are sober, think carefully about whether you should come to my place in the middle of the night and... 'reminisce' with me?"
Wei Changdu lowered his head and stared at the tea bowl for a long while, then smiled softly: "Okay, then I will use tea instead of wine to toast you, my second brother. I wish you a happy life and good reputation, and everything goes well."
Wei Zhenfeng watched Wei Changdu drink up the sobering tea, and after a while, he drank his own share: "Now, can we talk about what happened?"
"Okay." Wei Changdu concealed his unnecessary emotions and said seriously, "I came here uninvited this time because of the death of Imperial Concubine Mei."
Wei Zhenfeng was not surprised: "Why, do you want to appeal for justice for your mother?"
Wei Changdu said calmly, "No, Imperial Concubine Mei did die at the hands of my mother. My mother is shallow-minded and easily believes in other people's slander. You have made great contributions in Lingzhou, and my father gave you the Fuxue Tower. She was deeply uneasy about this. Seeing Imperial Concubine Mei's constant favor in the harem, she was afraid that one day she would be replaced by Imperial Concubine and cause me to be deposed. Therefore, she was instigated by the palace maids around her to order someone to poison Imperial Concubine's tonic."
Wei Zhenfeng said coldly: "What exactly do you want to say, my brother?"
These were all matters that had been clarified two years ago. If Wei Changdu just wanted to say these things, he would not have had to make a special trip to the palace after the New Year's Eve banquet to ask for a private conversation with him.
Wei Changdu sighed, "It's my fault. There were so many things going on in the past that I didn't notice that my mother had been bewitched by a villain. By the time I found out, it was too late."
The eldest brother, the crown prince, referred to himself as "I" in front of his younger brother, which was a sign of weakness. Unfortunately, Wei Zhenfeng didn't buy it at all, and his expression was not disturbed at all: "It's meaningless for my brother to throw all the blame on the 'little man'."
Wei Changdu closed his eyes: "I know. I'm not trying to excuse her. I just want to tell you that when I found out that my mother was determined to poison the imperial concubine, I rushed to Fengyi Palace as soon as possible to stop my mother's foolish behavior. Unfortunately, I was a step too late. When I arrived at Fengyi Palace, the palace maid who was ordered to poison was already on the way to Changxia Palace. I immediately sent Hu Chun, the fastest eunuch around me, to chase her. However, the road was too dark at night, and Hu Chun ran too fast and accidentally sprained his foot. When he arrived at Changxia Palace, Imperial Concubine Mei had already..."
The anger in Wei Zhenfeng's eyes gradually emerged as Wei Changdu told the story: "My mother could have survived because of the prince's 'kindness', but unfortunately she was unlucky and ended up with a broken jade and a beautiful woman." Wei Zhenfeng's voice was suppressed and calm, "Is this what my brother meant?"
Wei Changdu said hoarsely, "I think you deserve to know the whole truth of what happened back then. Imperial Concubine Mei did not fight or compete in the harem, she kept to herself and had no support from her mother's family. I have no reason to kill her. Zhenfeng, I really want to save her, really."
Wei Changdu seemed to be overwhelmed by guilt and pain. Even though Zhao Mian couldn't see his face, just by hearing the trembling voice he knew that the Prince of Beiyuan must be showing a typical look of repentance.
If his younger brother Zhao Lin could also repent to this level, he would not have been punished so severely by his father and the prime minister after being caught skipping school.
But if you think about it carefully, did Wei Changdu go to the palace to talk to Wei Zhenfeng about this matter during the New Year's Day, was it really just to give Wei Zhenfeng the complete truth
Whether it was true or not, the episode he told did not affect the whole situation. With or without this episode, Concubine Mei would have died at the hands of the Queen. Wei Changdu chose the right time to tell Wei Zhenfeng that the only effect he could have was to gain some emotional leeway for himself and the Queen.
You see, my mother wanted to stop, and we tried to salvage the situation, but it didn't go as we wished, and we were very sad.
I hope Wei Zhenfeng can keep calm and not quarrel with Wei Changdu for the time being, and try to get more useful information from him.
Wei Zhenfeng did not disappoint Zhao Mian. He was silent for a long time, and when he spoke again, his tone was hard to tell whether he was happy or angry: "After my mother's accident, everyone in Fengyi Palace except the queen, including the palace maid who poisoned and the eunuch Hu Chun you mentioned, were ordered to be executed by my father. What you said has no human or physical evidence, so how can I know if you are making up a little story to deceive me because there is no evidence."
"I don't have any physical evidence, but I don't have any witnesses..." Wei Changdu hesitated, "Father knows about this."
Since Emperor Yuan had decided to keep Wei Changdu as the crown prince, he naturally wanted to portray him as someone who was completely unaware of the poisoning of the imperial concubine. Emperor Yuan had no reason and no need to tell Wei Zhenfeng the whole story of what happened that day.
Wei Changdu knew he was not welcome, so he stood up and said goodbye. Before leaving, he looked at Wei Zhenfeng and said, "In previous years, every fifteenth day of the first lunar month, your mother would personally make a lantern for you to pray for blessings. All she prayed for was peace. Since ancient times, abolishing the eldest and enthroning the youngest is a way to cause chaos. Don't put yourself in danger, second brother."
Wei Zhenfeng nodded calmly: "Well said, I appreciate your advice."
As soon as Wei Changdu left, Wei Zhenfeng's expression changed. He asked Zhao Mian who had walked out, "Did you hear everything he said?"
"Um."
"Very good." Wei Zhenfeng poured himself a cup of tea, "I don't need to explain to you why I will smash the tea bowl to the ground after drinking the tea later."
The temper of a young man was there, and Wei Zhenfeng was not as calm as he appeared, but he knew that he had to pretend in front of his brothers and elders who were more senior and experienced than him.
Zhao Mian asked: "Do you think what Wei Changdu said is true?"
"It's hard to say." Wei Zhenfeng said, "Let's assume that what he said is true. Do you think Hu Chun's fall and sprain was a coincidence or a human error?"
Zhao Mian couldn't make a judgment based on Wei Changdu's one-sided statement: "No matter what, I still think you need to personally investigate the truth of Concubine Mei's death."
"I personally investigated it two years ago." Wei Zhenfeng said in a deep voice, "After my mother passed away, Emperor Yuan kept the death a secret for more than a month. When I rushed back to Shengjing, all the evidence had been dealt with. But even so, I still found some clues. All the clues point to the queen. I don't think I made a mistake - I still said that my mother did die from the queen's poison. Otherwise, Wei Changdu should be busy trying to find ways to clear the queen's grievances and regain the emperor's favor, instead of coming to me and pretending to tell me the 'truth'."
Zhao Mian agreed: "Indeed."
There is no doubt that Queen Beiyuan poisoned Concubine Mei to death. The key to the problem now lies in the eunuch Wei Changdu sent to stop the poisoned maid - the premise is that Wei Changdu did not lie to them.
Wei Zhenfeng said: "Do you know what puzzles me the most?"
"What."
"Motive." Wei Zhenfeng said, "My mother is the daughter of a criminal, and my maternal grandfather's family was exiled to the Northern Territory for many years. Because my mother gave birth to me, they were able to return to Shengjing and barely live a good life. If I really want to seize the throne, my mother and my maternal grandfather's family will not help me. Whether it is Wei Changdu or my underage brothers, if their target is me, there is no need to go to great lengths to deal with my mother. As long as my mother is alive, what my maternal grandfather's family did back then will be my biggest stain. Therefore, I can only think of two possibilities, the harem fighting for favor and stupid people taking action - the motives of stupid people often deviate from common sense, and I can't understand."
Zhao Mian pondered and said, "Emperor Yuan has no motive to attack your mother?"
"It's hard to say. If he was afraid of me, wouldn't it be more direct to suppress me directly than to use the Queen to kill my mother?" Wei Zhenfeng thought about it for two years and still couldn't figure it out. "I was only sixteen years old at the time, I had nothing. He gave me Fuxue Tower and military power. Without these two things, how could I have my current position." Wei Zhenfeng curled his lips, "He has given me so much, and he still has no intention of taking it back until today. I don't see that he is afraid of me. On the contrary, I think he either wants to use me to balance the prince's party, or... He is tempting me."
No one in the world can resist the desire for power, and neither can he. In his opinion, nonsense like "I just wish for peace" is mostly the self-consolation of those who have accomplished nothing.
Wei Zhenfeng's inference was well-founded. Zhao Mian did not raise any objections after listening to it. He only added one point: "Except for stupid people, crazy people do not need motives to do things - look at Wan Huameng."
Wei Zhenfeng disagreed: "No matter how crazy Wan Huameng's actions were, he had a motive. As long as he was connected to Gu Ruzhang, his actions were reasonable."
Zhao Mian nodded and said, "You are right. Since you can't find the motive, it proves that your direction is wrong. Maybe the root cause of your mother's death has nothing to do with you? Regardless of whether you have conquered Lingzhou or not, or whether you have military power, your mother must die in the eyes of the murderer. There are many motives for killing, such as silencing her mouth, or using her death to suppress the queen..."
Wei Zhenfeng sneered: "Or maybe you just want to see me lose my loved ones, be heartbroken, and in agony."
"Since you can't understand, you should get to the bottom of it. Two years ago... no, three years ago, you were sixteen years old and you might not have found anything, but now you are nineteen." Zhao Mian said in a tone of an elder teaching a younger person, "Don't tell me you haven't made any progress in these three years."
Wei Zhenfeng said: "You don't need to tell me. Since there are new doubts, how can I let it go?"
Zhao Mian nodded with satisfaction. He glanced at the intact teacup on the table and said, "Didn't you say you were going to smash something to vent your anger? Why didn't you do that?"
Wei Zhenfeng shrugged, seeming to have returned to his normal state of mind: "I'm nineteen years old now, so I should restrain myself a little, lest His Royal Highness think that I'm not stable enough to handle important tasks."
Before they went back to their rooms, Zhao Mian couldn't help but ask Wei Zhenfeng a question he had always wanted to ask: "I remember that when you were young, you and Wei Changdu seemed to be much more harmonious than Zhao Lin and I. Why are you like this now?"
Wei Zhenfeng smiled, and said, not knowing whether it was true or not: "Because, I also want to be the emperor."
(End of this chapter)