Chapter 670: Everything Is Under Control

Sure enough, after the imperial edict was read out, the expressions of the ministers below all changed.

The listless mood was swept away, excitement written across their faces, while they cast wary glances at one another.

For these senior ministers, what the Emperor offered was genuinely enticing. Whether it was writing books and establishing doctrines or leaving a name in history, these were all posthumous reputations. Having studied for so many years, who wouldn't want to leave a name for posterity?

They couldn't possibly be indifferent to such things. After the Emperor offered so many benefits, it was hard not to feel stirred inside.

Zhu Youxiao watched their reactions, a smile spreading across his face.

He had done this partly to ease their burden and partly to shift the atmosphere. Judging from the current situation, his plan had succeeded.

With the edict read, the morning court came to an end.

There was nothing else to do this morning—just that one matter. Zhu Youxiao had worn the ceremonial court robes to emphasize the formality, but the moment he returned behind the scenes, he stripped them off immediately. That set of clothes was no ordinary weight; wearing it was utterly exhausting.

After returning to the inner palace, Zhu Youxiao went straight to rest.

All was well in the capital, but in Hanseong of Joseon, the winds were stirring and clouds were gathering.

Over the past six months, no shortage of incidents had occurred in Joseon. The court struggles had grown extremely fierce—the young Turks faction and the elders faction going back and forth—while the relationship between Queen Inmok and the King of Joseon had plummeted to the freezing point.

Because the eldest Crown Prince had not returned, rumors spread within Joseon that the Ming Emperor intended to marry a Princess to the Joseon Crown Prince and keep the eldest Crown Prince in Ming. Under such circumstances, the King of Joseon's sons naturally stirred at the scent of opportunity.

Over these past few months, chaos upon chaos had piled up—snatching and scrambling, doing anything at all. The various factions had begun choosing their own supporters, and everything fell into disarray at once. It could truly be said that one side sang and another took the stage, with not a single moment of respite.

The Ming embassy.

Zhang Yu sat in a chair sipping tea, his eyes slightly narrowed.

Song Xiang massaged his shoulders from behind.

The two sat there quietly, neither speaking a word.

After a long moment, Zhang Yu set down his teacup and said, "You've been tired all day too. No need to keep doing this."

As he spoke, he reached out, took Song Xiang's hand, and drew her around to face him.

Song Xiang smiled, letting Zhang Yu pull her along as she sat down directly before him, saying with a laugh, "Seeing you so weighed down with worries—how could I not feel for you? Our plan has been going smoothly all along. No need to keep your brows knit tight every day."

Zhang Yu looked at Song Xiang and sighed. "Don't I wish that were so? But right now things are at a critical juncture—not a single mistake can be made. If even the slightest error occurs, matters will become troublesome."

Just then, a man walked in from outside.

It was none other than Chen Facai.

Chen Facai had grown a bit plumper, his eyes slightly narrowed, a smile on his face as he approached Zhang Yu and said, "Lord Zhang."

"Please, have a seat, Lord Chen." Zhang Yu made a gesture of invitation, smiling.

Hearing this, Chen Facai nodded and sat down across from Zhang Yu.

"Lord Chen, what brings you here today?" Zhang Yu looked at Chen Facai and asked.

"Park Jeong-yang is getting a bit hard to control." Chen Facai said.

Zhang Yu was taken aback.

This was something he hadn't anticipated.

Glancing at Chen Facai, Zhang Yu asked, "How could that be? Hasn't he been obedient all these past six months? Did he say something to you?"

"He does put his heart into the work, but I can't hold him down anymore." Chen Facai sighed and spread his hands.

Zhang Yu was about to ask more when Song Xiang reached out and patted him, saying, "Whenever it comes to matters like this, you just can't snap out of it. That brain of yours is a real blockhead."

"Think about it—besides working for us, what else does Park Jeong-yang want? Isn't there still Miss Qingqing?"

"Back then, you promised to marry Miss Qingqing to him. Now six months have already passed—how could Park Jeong-yang not be anxious? If he waits another six months, Park Jeong-yang might not even be of any use anymore."

Zhang Yu shot Song Xiang a glare and said, "Don't talk nonsense."

Beside them, Chen Facai was flushed red by Song Xiang's words.

Though this Song Xiang was Lord Zhang Yu's concubine, everyone knew this woman's status was extraordinary, and her abilities even more so.

Half a year ago, the two hadn't been in such a relationship, yet now they had ended up together.

How the two had gotten together, no one knew. But everyone had known from the start that the two would eventually end up together, and the outcome had proven everyone's speculation right.

Zhang Yu looked at Song Xiang with some helplessness.

The two getting together had been this woman's doing.

On a dark, windy night, he had somehow muddle-headedly ended up in Song Xiang's bed. The very next morning, he was demanded to take responsibility—it was utterly baffling.

He had no idea how it had even happened. Zhang Yu strongly suspected he had been drugged back then, but there was no evidence.

Song Xiang shot Zhang Yu a glare and said, "What are you looking at me for? If you don't believe me, ask Lord Chen—see if what I said is right or not."

Zhang Yu was startled, then turned his head to look at Chen Facai.

There sat Chen Facai, helplessly rubbing his hands together, looking at Zhang Yu with a helpless expression, opening his mouth again and again but never producing a sound.

Understood. Though he hadn't spoken, judging by his demeanor alone, Song Xiang was right.

Zhang Yu looked helplessly at Chen Facai and said, "It's because of this?"

"What else could it be?" Chen Facai sighed. "I've run out of options. These six months he's tried every conceivable way to marry Qingqing, but I can't give her to him! This matter, I trust Lord Zhang can understand as well, so Lord Zhang, you need to help me think of a way."

Zhang Yu also wore an awkward expression. He glanced at Song Xiang, feeling quite helpless.

What had his persona originally been?

Wise and aloof, unmatched in intelligence. But after the things Song Xiang had done, all those personas of his had vanished in an instant.

Looking helplessly at Chen Facai, Zhang Yu said, "What can I do? I have no way either!"

"Lord Zhang, you can't be like this." Chen Facai stood up and looked at Zhang Yu. "Back then, you promised me you'd resolve this matter and absolutely wouldn't let Qingqing marry Park Jeong-yang. Look at the situation now—if you don't resolve it, don't blame me for turning my back on you."

"Don't rush." Zhang Yu frowned as he looked at Chen Facai.

He actually did have a way—he had merely been testing Chen Facai just now, wanting to drag the matter out a bit longer.

He hadn't expected Chen Facai to turn hostile at this moment. This state of affairs wasn't right! It seemed he was truly anxious now—it couldn't be delayed any longer.

"Fine then, let's deal with him." Zhang Yu nodded, looking at Chen Facai. "Let's do it now, within these two days, and handle this matter cleanly and thoroughly—absolutely no trouble for Lord Chen."

"May I ask how Lord Zhang intends to handle it?" Chen Facai looked at Zhang Yu, wariness written across his face.

Zhang Yu's words sounded very pleasant, but Chen Facai truly couldn't bring himself to believe them.

The man before him was simply too cunning; dealing with him required caution, caution, and more caution. Although he had never done anything to betray his own people from start to finish, that didn't mean one shouldn't be on guard against him.

Chen Facai was very careful. After all, this matter was of utmost importance—not a single mistake could be made.

"Then what else can we do? Just kill him." Zhang Yu spread his hands with an air of utter matter-of-factness and said, "Wasn't this what we agreed on back then? Miss Qingqing can't marry him, and afterward we were going to kill him anyway. So let's just do what was agreed—we'll act right away. What's there left to discuss?"

Chen Facai looked at Zhang Yu and asked, "We really have to do it?"

"What else?" Zhang Yu said with a smile. "This way, we can solve this matter once and for all. When a man dies, it's like a lamp going out—no problems left at all. If you can't solve the problem, then solve the person who raised the problem."

It was Chen Facai who hesitated instead. He looked at Zhang Yu with concern and asked, "But won't this mess things up? Lord Zhang, you must not act rashly! If things really do go wrong, none of us can bear that responsibility."

Zhang Yu looked at Chen Facai and said, "Lord Chen, why hasn't your mind turned the corner yet?"

"We are men of the Great Ming. How could we ever wrong ourselves to do such a thing? Everything is built on the foundation of never wronging ourselves—there's nothing about this that can't be done."

Zhang Yu patted Chen Facai on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Besides, it's not like we're going to kill him ourselves. We have plenty of options. Letting him die of illness on his own is also a very simple matter. But I don't want to do it that way."

"Then what do you want to do?" Chen Facai asked Zhang Yu warily.

"I plan to make him kill himself." Zhang Yu looked at Chen Facai, a smile spreading across his face as he said, "The kind of suicide full of holes—the kind where anyone who looks at it knows it was murder, except they must be made to believe it was suicide."

Chen Facai was completely dumbfounded. He said helplessly, "What do you mean?"

"I mean we disguise his murder as a suicide—the kind any sharp-eyed person can tell is murder, but we forcibly declare it a suicide." Zhang Yu said with a smile.

"How could that possibly be done?" Chen Facai was utterly shocked.

"Why couldn't it be done?" Zhang Yu said with a smile. "Just wait and see. Go back and tell your girl—our Great Ming has always kept its word; we don't do the kind of thing where you kill the donkey after it's done the grinding. Go back and prepare properly. You can enter the bridal chamber now."

Chen Facai looked at Zhang Yu and said helplessly, "Then I thank Lord Zhang. I'll await your good news. If there's any place where I can be of use, please don't hesitate to command me, Lord Zhang."

Zhang Yu nodded, stood up, and made a gesture of invitation.

"Then I'll take my leave." Chen Facai bowed respectfully, turned around, and walked out.

His steps were very firm—clearly, receiving the good news had made his stride light and quick.

Watching Chen Facai's departing back, Zhang Yu let out a helpless sigh and said, "What a mess this all is."

Song Xiang shot him a glare and said, "This is what's called the affairs of men and women. I don't care about anything else, but you'd better handle this properly—don't let anything go wrong."

Glancing at Song Xiang, Zhang Yu said helplessly, "What have I ever failed to handle properly? When have I ever made a mistake?"

"Isn't it just that I'm worried you might not be confident since you're suddenly putting the plan into action?" Song Xiang said with a coquettish pout.

"Enough—it was already planned long ago, anyway. We're just choosing to execute a different plan. Execute Plan Jia-4. I believe your plan will go very smoothly."

"Alright, then I'll go make the arrangements." Song Xiang nodded and said.

A completely bewildered Chen Facai returned home. Seeing Qingqing waiting anxiously, he hurried over, reached out, and took her hand, saying, "Why are you still here waiting for me?"

"I was just so worried!" Qingqing said quickly. "How did it go?"

"They've agreed over there. They'll act soon to make Park Jeong-yang die. It's just that there are some things I didn't quite understand." Chen Facai looked at Qingqing and said, "You can help me think it through."

Chen Facai didn't hide anything—he told Qingqing everything that had happened.

After thinking it over, Qingqing said, "Actually, it's quite simple. They'll find someone to poison Park Jeong-yang, or kill him in a way that any sharp-eyed person can tell is murder, and then fake a suicide scene so people have grounds to say Park Jeong-yang killed himself."

"As for how to make others accept it, that's even simpler. As long as they pin the murderer's label on someone no one dares to offend, then even if it's murder, it can only be made into a suicide. If nothing unexpected happens, they've already completed the entire plan."

After hearing this, Chen Facai's face darkened. It was a long while before he let out a sigh and said, "This Lord Zhang is becoming more and more terrifying. You don't understand—it's not that they'd already made the plan; it's that they'd made all sorts of plans even earlier. Given the nature of those students at the Staff Office and the Imperial Academy, they'd already calculated everything long ago."

"I know they have a very famous deduction course. Everyone is divided into two sides—one side is responsible for implementing the plan, the other side is responsible for cracking it. The two sides go back and forth battling, searching for holes in the entire plan, and providing various contingency plans based on different scenarios. In plain terms, no matter which direction the whole affair turns, they'll have a corresponding plan to deal with it."

"Under such planning, they ensure the entire matter proceeds exactly as they've designed it. These people are all extremely terrifying. Those who can hold a post in the Staff Office are already terrifying enough; those who can participate in plan formulation are even more so. Lord Zhang Yu is among the best of them."

"I think he had already guessed this situation would arise before he even formulated the plan, so he was prepared long in advance."

Qingqing looked at the somewhat dejected Chen Facai and said, "These people are such a great threat—doesn't Your Majesty worry about them?"

"Your Majesty?" Chen Facai said with a bitter smile. "His Majesty is more accustomed to using cannons to solve problems."