EMPEROR OF ZHONG YUAN

Chapter 21 Guesses and Assumptions

While Chief Minister Ci had been able to gauge His Majestys thoughts in the imperial study, he was still unable to truly understand why Lord of Ji had been given this crucial task and allowed to come back to the capital. In any case, Lord of Ji cannot return to his fief as it is still under Duans Zhi Pang armys control, however, he could still be given an official position in the ministries and have reason to stay in the capital for a few days. Even Chief Minister Ci had already thought of this, so why hadnt His Majesty thought of this? Unless it had something to do with the Office of State Affairs, or in particular the Ministry of War. Lord of Jis merit of escorting Commandery Princess Liangdong and setting a foundation for the Liang-Jin alliance is truly a grand merit that retorts rewards for at least three generations. With such merit, what will His Majesty do if not give Yin Chao the Ministry of War? Fathers words make sense. Maybe, Your Majesty has plans to make Lord of Ji the new minister of war so he can eventually take over the Office of State Affairs. After all, Lord of Ji is Her Majesty Empress little brother and has achieved great merit by setting a precedent for the Liang-Jin alliance. It isnt too outrageous that His Majesty is willing to give Lord of Ji a chance in this matter. Yongxin paused and said, Unless His Majesty has another idea. Chief Minister Ci was intrigued, Yongxin, what do you mean? Yongxin went on to explain, Father, you know why His Majesty didnt give His Highness Crown Prince control over the Office of State Affairs? Chief Minister Ci said with a knowing tone, His Majesty feared the connection between His Highness and Tianji Pavilion thus did not want Tianji Pavilion to have hands in the Office of State Affairs. His Majesty is a cautious and suspicious person, it is normal for him to act against Crown Prince because of this matter. Yongxin said, What if there is a greater reason behind His Majestys decision?

Chief Minister Ci said, We are only courtiers, we cant necessarily guess His Majestys thoughts. We can only make baseless assumptions. Yongxin, what is your guess? Yongxin spoke with deeper meaning, I have witnessed His Majestys attitude towards His Highness and Her Majesty and it is far from harsh. His Majestys attitude is affectionate and caring. With this consideration, why would His Majesty have such a tough attitude on His Highness? Chief Minister Ci said, I get what you mean, Yongxin. I have also seen His Majestys gentle and caring attitude towards both mother and son. But His Majesty is the Emperor before he is a father, it isnt unreasonable for His Majesty to be tough towards the Crown Prince. Crown Prince is the future of Great Jin and the Central Plains. But Yongxin, do you think His Majesty has a more sentimental reason for denying His Highness access to Office of State Affairs? Yongxin nodded, This is what I think. Through the decades, Ministers of War have always been highly considered for the position of Grand Minister. One, His Highness doesnt have military merits, so it would be unsatisfactory for His Highness to take this position. Two, those who have held the position of Grand Minister have always suffered great consequences. Should His Highness take the position, how can His Majesty guarantee that the same wont happen to His Highness Crown Prince? Chief Minister Ci nodded, Your words make sense. But Yongxin, do you think that His Majesty is playing a game of fish bait and fish hook? Yongxin agreed, This is exactly what I think. His Majesty wishes to use Lord of Ji as bait for those with bad intentions in the imperial court, and once they bite into the bait then they will be hooked and fished out. His Majesty is an ambitious man. His intention of using even his family members as pawns is not entirely unthinkable. Chief Minister Ci did not show any gesture, instead he silently drunk his tea and allowed himself to contemplate further about the current state of things.

News had quickly reached the Eastern Palace that His Majesty had issued a decree naming a Liang sect heiress as Crown Princes Imperial Concubine, and while Crown Princess was infuriated with this, she was also outwardly irresponsive and would only kneel in front of the Buddha statue in her room and hit the wooden bell amidst her prayers. The palace maids were surprised by Her Highness calm demeanor despite everything she had done to make sure she was Crown Princes only consort. Imperial Concubine Lin had already moved into the Eastern Palace and was settled in Changming Hall which was closest to His Highness Chongjing Hall. Her Highness sleeping room was Chongqing Hall and was farthest in the Eastern Palace, akin to the Cold Palace of the entire imperial palace where unruly consorts were discarded and forgotten. While this showed the purpose for Imperial Concubine Lin being brought into the Crown Princes harem, Lin Lang didnt pay any attention to this and just silently stayed in her room, isolated from everything that was going on there. Despite the maids cajoling her and pleading with her to eat something, Lin Lang grieved in silence and refused to eat. The maids had an inkling of the relationship between the deceased Gaoshang Xier and Lin Lang, so they didnt pester her and allowed her to wear white and grieve her lose. Lin Lang stayed in her room, and Ouyang Ying stayed in hers, for a whole day they did not meet with each other despite the rules that concubines should pay respects to the principal wife and treat her like their master. Lin Lang was raised in the free martial world; such rules were not necessarily known by her. This kind of strict and air-sucking tension, the maids felt like collapsing so they wouldnt have to deal with this. But what they didnt know was that this was the beginning.