Two days passed in the blink of an eye, and rumors began to spread again, rumors about the prince's conspiracy, saying that the prince didn't want the emperor to wake up, and that the prince didn't take good care of the emperor.
What all the rumors implied was that the prince was on the verge of assassinating the emperor to ensure his own succession to the throne.
At the morning court today, Zhou Shuren looked at the crown prince above him. Well, this was the real crown prince. The composure engraved in his bones was something not everyone could act out. And also, today, only the real crown prince himself had to deal with the affairs of state.
The war in the south had been going on for a long time. Yesterday, the troops were urgently sent to the capital. The fighting in the south started again, and this time they took the initiative to attack.
The prince asked in a deep voice: "Do you have any ideas, my lords?"
Li Zhao stepped forward and said, "The foreign tribes in the south are too bullying. I request an order to send more troops to destroy them in one fell swoop."
Then several other adults seconded the proposal, saying that the war had been dragging on, not only was it consuming too much food and supplies, but the constant harassment was also too annoying.
The prince calmly watched the ministers who were most active in requesting for reinforcement of troops. It was impossible to increase troops because the garrisons of each state were now strictly guarding each state. Only the troops in the capital could be mobilized, and too many troops were already tied up in the south.
The prince was silent. The navy had been increasing this year, but the army had not. "I know."
Li Zhao and others shut their mouths, and then some other things came up. The prince handled them skillfully, and the morning court ended quickly.
The Crown Prince left behind the Minister of War and Zhou Shuren, and several princes also stayed. Among the princes, only Zhang Yang left.
Zhang Yang could feel the ministers' gazes on him. Zhang Yang thought he didn't care and that they overestimated him, but he still cared very much. He strode away. It would be soon. He could wait.
In the Zheng Palace, the Crown Prince asked the King of Qi and others, "What do you think of the war in the south?"
The King of Qi frowned, "Strange, they have been confronting each other for a long time and then suddenly attacked. I think it is strange."
The prince also thought so. The Zhang family was constantly making moves, so they might have connections with the ethnic minorities in the south, diverting the court's attention and giving them an opportunity to take advantage of it.
The prince looked at King Liang, who was silent for a moment, "Troops."
If more troops were to be sent, it would be necessary to mobilize troops near the capital. The states have already made arrangements, so mobilizing troops is impossible.
The King of Chu looked at the King of Qi, well, for real this time, with his eyes narrowed. What was the second brother doing
Li Zhao frowned, "Your Highness, what about the war in the south?"
The prince took the pen and wrote a single word in large strokes, then held it up for everyone to see.
Zhou Shuren's pupils shrank slightly. Fire, he was going to set a fire. This guy was really cruel. The aliens were hiding in the woods. A fire attack was bound to cause countless casualties.
The King of Qi and others looked at the Crown Prince and saw that his face was calm, as if he didn't know how many lives his orders would take.
The prince put down the paper and said, "The previous dynasty never conquered the south. They have been harassing us for hundreds of years and it is getting worse and worse. I will never tolerate it."
Zhou Shuren felt in his heart that an emperor who was ambitious and wanted to expand his territory must be cruel, and the prince's words had already made up his mind.
Zhou Shuren thought again, not everyone can become the emperor and expand the territory. The princes in the room, including the Prince of Qi, are not as sharp as the crown prince.
In fact, several princes would have been good heirs, but unfortunately, they were born in the same era.
The prince continued, "But it looks like they are going to mobilize troops again."
Li Zhao also gradually understood what the emperor and the prince were going to do, "I obey your orders."
The prince then said to Zhou Shuren, "Master Zhou, please prepare enough food and fodder."
Zhou Shuren, "I accept your order."
Afterwards, Zhou Shuren and Li Zhao left together. Li Zhao waited until there was no one around him before he asked, "Do you know where to send the food and fodder I asked you to prepare?"
Zhou Shuren was also thinking about it. If the mobilization of troops was fake, then who was the food and grass prepared for? "I don't know."
Li Zhao, "I thought you knew everything!"
Zhou Shuren, "...Really, if you weren't of a higher rank than me."
"You want to beat me?"
Zhou Shuren looked at Li Zhao's height and physique, and said, "No."
Li Zhao was speechless, "Navy, there is a war at sea recently."
He covered it up with the help of the navy, otherwise the constant mobilization of the navy would have been discovered long ago.
Zhou Shuren's heart moved. Yang Wen hadn't come back yet. He was probably still at sea. He also had a feeling that Rong Chuan should be there too. "Thank you."
Li Zhao, "No need to thank me, you'll know it sooner or later anyway."
From the fact that the prince kept Zhou Shuren here today, the prince had no intention of hiding anything from Zhou Shuren. It can be seen that in the prince's heart, Zhou Shuren has a very high status. A new emperor chooses new ministers, and he is a wise man. Zhou Shuren can be promoted, but he cannot. He also needs to prepare for transfer, and the Ministry of War must be controlled by the prince.
The current crown prince, the quasi-emperor, the emperor is doing well. Thinking of having met the emperor yesterday, Li Zhao stroked his beard, grinned, and left quickly.
Zhou Shuren stared at Li Zhao's legs with a wooden face. He couldn't catch up with him, and he suspected that Li Zhao did it on purpose.
At the Zhou Mansion, tomorrow is the day Rong Enqing will be beheaded. Yao Yao still got to know the news. Zhulan stared at the maid kneeling on the ground with an expressionless face.
The doctor was doing acupuncture in the room. When Yao Yao heard the news, she fainted and had bleeding. Fortunately, Zhulan was cautious and feared that there would be chaos recently, so she invited the doctor to live in the house.
Now Yao Yao's condition has stabilized, the bleeding has stopped, and the doctor is still giving her acupuncture.
Xue Han sat next to her mother and said, "Tell me, who ordered you to do this?"
Zhulan was also puzzled. She was in control of the entire mansion and had people watching the maids and servants brought by Yao Yao, yet she was still able to get the news.
The girl knelt tremblingly, "No, no one ordered me to do it. I heard it, too. Yes, I heard people talking about it."
Xue Han slammed the table. "The servants in the Zhou Mansion never discuss things. Tell me, who ordered you to do this?"
The girl didn't want to die, so she kept her mouth shut and kept saying that no one told her to do it.
Zhulan signaled Butler Ding to take people down. It would be a miracle if the information could be found out so easily. She didn't believe that there would be any mistakes in the courtyard under her control. She must know how the information was transmitted.
After waiting for a while, the doctor came out with sweat on his forehead. "The fetus is stable now. The pregnant woman needs to recuperate in bed and must continue to take the medicine to preserve the fetus."
Zhulan wrote down everything and asked Mrs. Song to send the doctor to rest. She went in to see Yao Yao, who had already woken up and was crying.
Zhu Lan sighed, motioned for everyone in the room to leave, and leaned close to Yao Yao's ear and said, "It's fake. Rong Enqing is fine. The person in the prison is a substitute. Just keep it to yourself, and don't tell anyone."
Yao Yao's lifeless eyes brightened up, she cried out, then quickly slowed down her breathing and nodded. She would definitely not tell anyone.
Zhulan put a pillow under Yao Yao and said, "You are pregnant. You should think more about the child and take good care of him."
Yao Yao's heart lighted up again, "Yeah."