Chapter 58: The Scapegoat Princess Consort is Sentenced to Death (58)

In the borderlands of Jibei, Liao City, the Prince of Ji's Mansion.

Prince of Ji, Zhu An, having received both the confidential message from his trusted aides in the capital and the formal imperial decree from the court, had now summoned all his trusted strategists and advisors to deliberate on the matter.

"Your Highness, in my view, there is no need for hesitation at all."

"At worst, we can just wait a couple of days. If there are any genuine changes in the capital, the trusted confidants you planted there will surely find a way to send another letter posthaste," Yao Hong, one of the strategists, said quite directly.

Besides, the imperial decree did not explicitly demand that they must reach the capital within a specified number of days. Delaying for two or three days under the pretext of encountering torrential rain or some natural disaster on the road was entirely normal and reasonable.

The empire was vast; how could one not encounter a bit of wind and rain along the way?

"I understand. Your Highness, what you are worried about is that certain matters in the capital may have already been settled long ago, that the candidate for the new crown prince has already been chosen from among the imperial princes or grandsons who have not yet been enfeoffed, and that the imperial decree was actually drafted by this new crown prince."

"The purpose of this is to lure the regional princes into the capital."

"And then annihilate them all in one fell swoop, directly abolishing the vassal principalities?"

Another strategist, Xun Huai, instantly understood what their Prince was truly worried about and blurted it out immediately.

After all, the Prince of Ji had ruled this territory for a decade.

He was not so timid that certain words could not be spoken aloud.

"I have also often suspected whether I am being overly cautious and careful, but the discrepancy between these two pieces of information is far too great, leaving me no choice but to think deeply. One piece of information states that the eldest brother was assassinated and killed, that Imperial Father vomited blood and suffered a stroke, and even vaguely hints that he is on the verge of death, urging me to make preparations early."

"As for the other imperial decree, although it likewise mentions the assassination and death of the eldest brother, it says not a single word about Imperial Father vomiting blood or suffering a stroke, merely summoning all regional princes to enter the capital immediately."

"It even tells us to prepare ourselves well."

"And that a candidate for the new crown prince will be chosen from among us."

The Prince of Ji, Zhu An, said with considerable inner conflict, "Analyzing these two pieces of information, the news of the eldest brother's assassination should be true, without any doubt. But the content that follows is very much open to debate. Logically speaking, I should place absolute trust in the information transmitted by my confidant. Moreover, Imperial Father vomited blood a few years ago and showed some early warning signs of a stroke."

"Therefore, receiving the news of the eldest brother's assassination this time."

"It is entirely possible that he suffered a stroke brought on by the shock."

"However, if that is the case, the subsequent imperial decree from the court becomes extremely suspicious. Although the decree does not explicitly state the condition of Imperial Father, the meaning conveyed between the lines undoubtedly implies that Imperial Father is in excellent health, and is even prepared to personally assess us and select one among us vassal princes to become the new crown prince."

"This is highly abnormal."

"And it hardly sounds like a decision Imperial Father would make."

"If we were to be chosen as crown prince based on our performance, then it would undoubtedly be a selection of the virtuous and capable. Yet Imperial Father's guiding principle has always been the strict primogeniture system. Those of us of younger age have virtually no possibility of being selected, and since Second Brother has no problematic issues, given Imperial Father's original personality, he should either directly designate Second Brother to return to the capital and make him the new crown prince, or directly designate the eldest brother's eldest son as the imperial grandson."

"There is simply no reason to summon all the vassal princes to the capital!"

"Your Highness, please forgive your subject for speaking with disrespect, but among the common folk, if a father is already critically ill and the physicians' treatments are helpless, while at the same time the sons and grandsons are all away in distant places, they are bound to be notified in advance so the sons and grandsons can hurry back urgently—it's just that some will state it outright, while others may not speak of it so plainly."

Another strategist spoke in a manner that was both veiled and blunt.

The meaning was nothing more than the possibility that the reigning Emperor was indeed critically ill and nearing death, and that summoning them back to the capital to compete for the position of crown prince was false, while returning to mourn the dead was the real truth.

Perhaps this imperial decree was issued by the new crown prince.

Who wished to take advantage of this opportunity to carry out the abolition of the vassal principalities right before the imperial bier.

Hearing this, the Prince of Ji turned black in the face, and the others present also felt that this conjecture might be the closest to the truth.

One cannot entirely blame them for indulging in conspiracy theories.

The crucial point was that they genuinely encountered conspiracies on a regular basis.

Furthermore, they did not believe the Emperor of Tianwu would engage in such fishing enforcement tactics; that simply wasn't the Emperor of Tianwu's personality. Unfortunately, while they were usually very accurate in judging people and fathoming human hearts, an unimaginable variable named Ding Shui had emerged.

They had thought along the wrong lines, which could only be described as a miscalculation not of their own making.

Because the majority of people—most importantly the Prince of Ji—felt that this possibility was the greatest, they naturally used it as their basic guiding principle and began discussing how to respond.

In the end, they decided to travel slowly toward the capital, sending out scouts along the way to gather intelligence, determined to ascertain the true situation in the capital before proceeding further.

Should they discover any danger, they would retreat promptly.

At the same time, regional princes in other locations were also holding small meetings, some hurried and some leisurely, to discuss the matter. Some, however, did not think too deeply into it and simply packed their belongings upon receiving the decree to return to the capital.

Others thought far too much.

And were pondering whether bringing an army back to the capital would be safer.

Regardless of the approach, there had yet to be any news circulating about the demise of their old father, the Emperor of Tianwu. This imperial decree had been issued to them in the name of their old father and in the name of the imperial court. Whether out of loyalty to the court or filial piety toward their biological father, they could not directly refuse or disobey, no matter how many misgivings and worries they harbored in their hearts.

In the end, the various vassal princes set out on their journeys.

Some departed earlier, some later; some brought a larger retinue, some traveled light, while others returned entirely alone accompanied only by their personal guards.

Some even brought their wives and children back with them.

Two days later, the confidants of the vassal princes who still remained in the capital, as well as their fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law, dispatched men one after another to bring the latest intelligence to those anxious and guarded princes. This finally dispelled the misgivings of some over-thinking princes, causing them to abandon their previous dawdling reluctance to return and instead whip their horses into a gallop to rush back.

Earlier, they had worried there was something wrong with the decree, that the position of crown prince had actually already been decided, and that this return to the capital held perils for them, which was why they kept dragging their feet.

Not daring to hurry back to the capital at maximum speed.

Yet as more and more fresh news arrived, every piece of it indicated that they had truly overthought the situation; the Emperor of Tianwu was indeed fine, and he indeed intended to summon them back to the capital to deliberate on the new crown prince.

That being the case, the princes naturally dared not delay any longer.

Some even simply abandoned their carriages, took a few personal guards, and galloped back at full speed, figuring that returning early would also demonstrate that they harbored no doubts whatsoever toward the imperial edict.

And would boost their biological father's favorable impression of them.

Consequently, in less than half a month, all the regional princes who had been away rushed back. As soon as everyone had arrived, Ding Shui immediately summoned them to the Zichen Palace and cut straight to the point:

"A nation cannot go for a single day without a ruler, nor can it long remain without an heir apparent, otherwise the foundation of the state will be unstable. I have already decided to select a new heir apparent from among you. I imagine you are all quite clear on this, so I will not say much more. Now, let me explain the method I am using to choose the heir apparent this time."

"Your eldest brother's death remains shrouded in mystery to this day."

"Therefore, whoever is the first to investigate the assassin and the mastermind behind your eldest brother's assassination, and resolves them completely,"

"That person shall be the new heir apparent."

"Those willing to contend for the position of heir apparent, step forward. Those who are unwilling may wait in the capital for the time being, or you may assist whichever brother you wish in his bid for the position. Make your choice."

In truth, Ding Shui had already investigated the mastermind behind the crown prince's death long ago, but had simply refrained from acting on it.

Now was the perfect moment to use it as a test.

Only those who dared to take action against those parties, and even annihilate them, were truly qualified to become the new crown prince.

Otherwise, having a mere mascot of a puppet emperor might be a good thing for the officials.

But for the common people, it would be a disaster.

"Imperial Father, after the eldest brother's passing, the second brother is the legitimate eldest son and ought by rights to succeed the throne. As for investigating the murderers who killed the eldest brother, we brothers are all duty-bound!"

The Prince of Chu stepped forward first, offering a bow and speaking.

It was not that he truly harbored no ambitions for the throne; rather, he primarily wished to use this to test whether what his Imperial Father said was genuine.

Which member of the imperial family did not have several hundred tricks up their sleeve?

Anyone who was truly pure and naive would have been chewed up and spat out long ago.

"Spare me this flattery of your second brother. While the eldest was still alive, we naturally had to follow the primogeniture system to let him succeed. Moreover, I have cultivated him for over a decade; he possesses sufficient qualifications and ability to handle the role of emperor well."

"As for you lot, I never intended to groom you in the direction of an emperor. But now that the eldest has met with an accident, and I no longer have ten-odd years to slowly cultivate you,"

"I can only use this method to assess your capabilities."

"If you genuinely support your second brother in becoming the crown prince,"

"Then do not participate in the competition, and simply assist him."

Ding Shui evidently did not care much for those with excessive scheming, yet did not speak in absolute terms either—after all, having a cunning mind prevented one from being hoodwinked and manipulated by officials, provided it was used in the right place:

"Very well, let this be an exception. Furthermore, remember: compete among yourselves as much as you like, but under no circumstances are you to engage in internal strife."

"And do not resort to any despicable, underhanded tricks either."

"I will be supervising you at all times!"

Although the Third Prince, the Prince of Chu, was left somewhat humiliated by Ding Shui's remarks, he was ultimately unwilling to give up his ambition to seize the throne. After hesitating for a moment, he stepped forward under the sneering gaze of the Prince of Wei. Seeing this, the other princes with competitive aspirations also walked out one after another, and in the end, six princes stood forward.

"Very well, then it shall be the six of you."

"As for the rest of you, those willing to stay in your mansions and watch the spectacle may do so, and those willing to help may offer assistance. To ensure fairness, I will not assign manpower to you."

"You must manage on your own."

"In addition, keep one thing in mind: I require evidence that is detailed, factual, lawful, and compliant. Torture to extract confessions is strictly forbidden. Investigative capability is one thing, but the process of investigation is even more crucial. After all, the position I am choosing for is not that of Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, but the position of Crown Prince."

"The future Emperor."

"That is all. I am tired, you are all dismissed!"

At the very end, Ding Shui offered a special word of caution before dismissing them. As for whether they would grasp the meaning or not,

That would depend entirely on their individual comprehension.

Immediately afterward, the dozen or so princes present bowed and withdrew one after another. As they returned to their respective princely mansions in the capital and busied themselves, Ding Shui's method of selecting the new crown prince gradually spread throughout the city, whereupon the civil officials could no longer sit still.

They felt that choosing a crown prince in such a manner was far too frivolous.

And submitted memorial after memorial in opposition.

Criticisms poured forth: how it violated ritual, disregarded the rites of Zhou, took the lead in destroying the patriarchal clan system of primogeniture inheritance, and easily set a bad precedent for future generations and descendants, planting the seeds of disaster. However, Ding Shui completely ignored their idle chatter. It mattered not; an established decision would hardly be shaken by such means.

As for their original plan to smear the Prince of Wei,

It naturally came to nothing.

After all, smearing the Prince of Wei was done precisely in the hope that the reigning Emperor would not adopt the approach of selecting the virtuous and capable when appointing a crown prince. By discrediting the character of the current legitimate eldest son, the Prince of Wei, they hoped to push the late crown prince's legitimate eldest son to the forefront—thus upholding both the clan system and their own interests.

Yet now the Emperor of Tianwu had explicitly stated that he intended to use the method of selecting the virtuous and capable to pick the new crown prince.

Smearing the Prince of Wei any further was completely meaningless.

Consequently, the related plan directly aborted.

Yet they were clearly unwilling to accept failure just like that, so many civil officials quickly began plotting a new, venomous scheme in private. That was to devise a way to sow discord among the six princes participating in the crown prince competition, ideally causing them to slaughter one another, resulting in the death of one or two princes.

In that way, they would have irrefutable and blood-stained ironclad proof to demonstrate that their previous memorials were entirely correct.

Selecting the virtuous and capable was indeed improper.

It would lead to fraternal strife and leave behind enduring calamities.

Ding Shui was fully aware of their plot, but made no effort to stop it. After all, she was not truly the Emperor of Tianwu; the Emperor of Tianwu might indeed have been reluctant to see his sons engage in mutual strife or resort to fatal blows.

To Ding Shui, however, such matters were of little consequence.

After all, a benevolent person cannot make a good emperor.

Ordinary commoners will not enjoy a better life simply because their emperor is benevolent, for the emperor's benevolence cannot radiate outward to touch the common folk; only those close to the emperor can feel and enjoy the benefits of his kindness.

For the ordinary people far away from the emperor,

They must rely on the benevolence of officials and gentry.

Otherwise, they must hope the emperor employs forceful means and resolute determination to deal with the gentry and powerful clans, wresting wealth and resources from their hands to distribute to the populace so that people might live a slightly better life.

If the emperor is merely benevolent, that is known as the Sage Emperor ruling through inaction by hanging his hands in reverence; how well the common people live is anyone's guess.

At any rate, officials and gentry will certainly lead very comfortable lives.

Under Ding Shui's turned-a-blind-eye indulgence, many civil officials began secretly contacting the six vassal princes competing for the throne—some sincerely wishing to help in exchange for the merits of a foundational founding subject, while others simply wanted to get involved and stir up trouble.

Military generals and nobility of merit were likewise not idle; they primarily favored those related to them by marriage among the imperial princes, siding with kinship over righteousness.

In short, more than eighty percent of the central court's personnel.

Basically participated in the affair.

And thus, a new competition tournament for the heir apparent, centered around the six regional princes, officially commenced on the eighteenth day following the demise of the late crown prince, Zhu Quan.

As for Ding Shui, she took advantage of the moment when everyone's attention was focused on this matter and the six princes.

To press forward with sorting out and adjusting rubbish policies.

For instance, the permanence of household registration.

Military households remained military households forever; the son was a military household, and the grandson would likewise be one. Artisan households remained artisan households forever, and medical households remained medical households. Wanting to change was as difficult as ascending to heaven. The only relatively free category was civilian households, because civilians could become officials through the imperial examinations, or shift to various other household categories.

Yet wanting to transfer back was not nearly so easy.

Regardless of whether one possessed any talent or not, simply because one's father practiced a certain trade, the son was forced to continue it, making career changes exceptionally difficult.

Any emperor with even a modicum of foresight would strive to break down class ossification; the Emperor of Tianwu, however, felt the rate of class ossification was not fast enough and artificially accelerated its progress. It was only because he killed officials so numerously and swiftly that this flaw was mitigated.

The reason class ossification was not all that rapid in the current dynasty.

Was entirely thanks to him killing so many, and killing so quickly!

Which barely managed to compensate for the shortcomings in policy.

Take another example: supporting the imperial clan using state finances. Regardless of how many generations had passed, as long as one's bloodline still counted as part of the imperial family, one was entitled at the very least to a noble title and a stipend.

A textbook ultimate move that would drag down state finances in the middle and later periods.

There were simply too many problematic policies.

Yet Ding Shui did not attempt to reach the heavens in a single bound; she still considered matters based on reality, making only appropriate changes suited to the current era. For instance, abolishing the humble status registries, allowing commoners to freely change professions, and stipulating that imperial clan privileges and inherited titles could only be passed down for five generations—after which all descendants would revert to commoners, and furthermore had to pass examinations in order to successfully inherit a title.

For example, having the gentry and scholars pay grain tax and fulfill official corvée on equal terms.

Equalizing land tax based on head count, absorbing wastage fees into the public treasury...

In a feudal agricultural era, many of the Yongzheng Emperor's policies were already quite impressive, bordering on top-tier governance.

It was entirely natural for Ding Shui to draw inspiration from them.

Naturally, so as not to disrupt the process of the crown prince competition, Ding Shui merely wrote down these plans; their specific implementation would have to wait until the crown prince was chosen.

Whether the crown prince would execute them or she would do so herself,

She had not yet decided.

...

Meanwhile, the conspiracies of those civil officials did bear some fruit; the various princes maintained a veneer of harmony while fighting quite fiercely behind the scenes. Fortunately, they also understood that if they were to actively plot to kill one another at this stage, there would be absolute zero benefit—most likely resulting in the snipe and the clam grappling while the fisherman reaped the profit.

Benefiting the other princes who neither took action nor died.

Therefore, while they fought in private, they ultimately maintained a bottom line.

Not daring to truly take the life of any brother.

Consequently, after half a month, it was actually the scheming civil officials who grew restless, pondering whether to push matters a step further: since those timid princes lacked the guts to commit murder themselves, they would simply do the killing for them.

They were far too skilled at framing others and shifting the blame.

In addition, certain local forces and White Lotus cultists who had orchestrated and participated in the assassination of the crown prince could no longer sit still.

Because they were on the verge of total exposure.

During his inspection tour of the realm, the late crown prince had gone about arresting and striking down numerous local bullies, tyrants, and corrupt officials, employing methods far more benevolent than those of his Imperial Father. The Emperor of Tianwu directly practiced uprooting by the roots; the crown prince, however, favored confiscating property and exiling, or merely confiscating property and stripping official rank. As the saying goes, blocking someone's path to wealth is akin to murdering their parents. Had he practiced uprooting by the roots like his father the Emperor of Tianwu, it would have been one thing.

With everyone dead, naturally no one would seek revenge.

Yet he did not exterminate them root and branch; some accepted their fate with resignation or even felt a sense of fortune, while others harbored burning resentment and desired a scorched-earth vengeance.

Some lacked sufficient capability on their own, and therefore secretly contacted rebel factions or professional millennium-long rebellion syndicates such as the White Lotus Sect. More extreme still were those who dug up their own ancestral tombs in the dead of night to raise funds to stir up trouble and exact revenge. Coupled with the fact that many officials lived in terror lest the crown prince continue his investigation and implicate them, they desperately wished for the crown prince to return quickly and deliberately indulged the chaos in hopes that the targeted crown prince would hurry back.

Initially, they had not intended to blow the matter out of such proportions.

They merely wanted the crown prince to return injured.

However, complications arose during the process: someone administered poison, and the crown prince, in a state of panic, fell into the river; as ill luck would have it, he subsequently developed a pulmonary infection, which directly carried him off in one fell swoop.

If one truly investigated the ultimate culprit, the Emperor of Tianwu himself had actually contributed a share. Indeed, the Emperor of Tianwu had always been aware of these machinations and had deliberately permitted them. For he felt the crown prince was far too soft-hearted and needed to suffer a lesson to understand the vital importance of uprooting threats entirely.

He had believed that by holding the macro-situation in his own hands, nothing would go wrong.

Yet subsequently, accidents piled upon accidents, and the crown prince was directly dispatched after merely falling into the water and being poisoned. This was the fundamental reason why the Emperor of Tianwu vomited blood and suffered a stroke upon receiving the news—it was his arrogant belief that he could control the entire situation.

That had cost him the eldest son he had painstakingly cultivated for over a decade.

Remorse, grief, and surging fury intertwined together; it would have been a miracle had he not suffered a stroke.

Naturally, these were digressions.

Ding Shui had learned these obscure details only after perusing the memories of the Emperor of Tianwu. The primary reason why the local factions and White Lotus members who orchestrated the crown prince's assassination grew so anxious was that the six princes were pursuing them far too relentlessly. Even after locating the actual perpetrators, they refused to let up and continued digging deeper; if they kept digging like this, half of the officialdom in the Southwest would likely be rooted out entirely.

Furthermore, the White Lotus Sect had suffered heavy losses as a result.

Dozens of hideouts had been smashed, numerous covert nails planted in the officialdom pulled out, and even several underground money shops and brothels they used to amass wealth had been discovered and dismantled. To put it mildly, in order to perfectly execute the task assigned to them by Ding Shui and successfully secure the position of new heir apparent, the various princes were truly working exceptionally hard.

Their in-laws and aristocratic relatives.

Had also exerted tremendous effort toward this end.

The Southwest officialdom, which found itself in mortal peril, and the severely battered White Lotus Sect had long since panicked to the point of jumping up and down. They had already begun discussing whether they should hastily manufacture a peasant uprising to temporarily divert attention, and if possible, completely erase the remaining clues along the way.

Otherwise, they simply could not hold out.

If they did not resist now, they feared they would lose the capacity to resist altogether.

Faced with these circumstances, Ding Shui even felt a brief moment of hesitation as to whether she should intervene herself. For she was genuinely worried that those six princes might struggle to control such a dangerous situation, and Ding Shui had no desire to repeat the Emperor of Tianwu's arrogant "playing with fire" misadventure of believing he could control everything.

Consequently, Ding Shui began deploying her forces across the board.

Dispatching all members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the secret agents to stake out key strongholds of the Southwest and the White Lotus Sect, ready to launch decapitation strikes should the situation spiral out of control, followed by the immediate mobilization of local garrison troops to suppress the unrest and reduce the fallout to an absolute minimum.

As the year drew to a close and the New Year approached.

The Southwest officials and the White Lotus Sect formally joined forces. Certain civil officials, perceiving this trend, seized the opportunity to move against the two princes they deemed weakest.

Executing their frame-up scheme.

Meanwhile, Ding Shui kept a tense and constant watch over developments.

On the third day of the first month, the Prince of Chu hosted a banquet inviting several key Southwest officials, attempting to stage a Hongmen Banquet to annihilate them in one fell swoop. The plot was exposed, however, and the moment he smashed his wine cup, a thousand White Lotus zealots surged forth attempting to kill him in counter-attack.

While Ding Shui dispatched men to rescue him in the nick of time.

This also signaled his failure in the competition for the crown.

Naturally, this was only temporary; if the other five princes fared no better than him, there remained a possibility of competition.

Subsequently, Ding Shui successively rescued two other princes who had nearly been assassinated by operatives sent by the civil officials, as well as the Prince of Gui, who had allied with his father-in-law to secretly mobilize three thousand troops in an attempt to fight the White Lotus Sect head-on. Only the Prince of Ji and the Prince of Qian fared relatively well; the former secured most of the officials by contacting minor Southwest functionaries and promising them rewards, while the latter wiped out half of the White Lotus leadership through poison and other means.

Coupled with Ding Shui's timely dispatch of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The situation was finally stabilized.

And those who ought to be arrested were all rounded up and brought to justice.