Chapter 144: Waiting for Someone to Croak

Regarding this answer, Zhu Di was not particularly surprised.

Being in the imperial family, he could say that such matters were within reason and expected.

It was just that he had never thought in that direction before; now that he thought about it, such a possibility indeed existed.

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu had also finished his meal.

After ladling a bowl of hot soup and drinking it slowly, Zhu Gaoxu patted his stomach with satisfaction and let out a burp.

Zhu Di looked at his son's unpromising appearance and shook his head secretly.

He was born into the imperial family, after all; why was this little brat so unrefined?

Zhu Gaoxu did not care about this; as long as he was comfortable, that was all that mattered.

After being well-fed and satisfied, Zhu Gaoxu continued, "I presume Father has also figured it out; in fact, the Civil Official Group began laying their plans ten years ago."

"It is just that the imperial court was unstable at the time and there were foreign enemies everywhere, so no one noticed for a while; and even if someone had noticed, they would not have had the time to deal with them."

Zhu Di nodded; after being told this by Zhu Gaoxu, he felt more and more that it was possible.

Zhu Gaoxu followed up on his words and continued, "The civil officials laid such a massive trap, which could be said to have consumed over ten years, just to kill off Chang Shi?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di suddenly thought of something, and his eyes widened abruptly.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "I imagine Father has also realized it: Xiongying will not live much longer."

Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Zhu Di's forehead.

Although he was no stranger to such things, he had never expected it to be so insidious, with a layout spanning nearly ten years.

Yet Zhu Gaoxu did not stop there.

"Once Xiongying is gone, Lan Yu's attitude toward Zhu Biao should not change much, but other ministers in the court, especially the military generals, will definitely be shaken. After all, Imperial Grandfather previously stated that the eldest legitimate son of the Imperial Crown Prince shall be the Imperial Grandson, and the younger legitimate sons and concubine-born sons shall all be enfeoffed as Princes at the age of ten."

"Now that Xiongying is gone, who is the eldest legitimate son of the Imperial Crown Prince?"

"And if Lan Yu finds out about this, what will the result be? If the mass of military generals finds out, what will the result be?"

Hearing these words, Zhu Di was suddenly enlightened.

It was clear that the civil officials had no intention of leaving a way out for the military generals with this move.

When the time came, the military generals would have to fight back even if they did not want to.

This was no longer a question of supporting who would be emperor; this was fundamentally shaking the foundation of the military generals.

Previously, the Imperial Grandson was the grandson of Chang Yuchun; although Chang Yuchun was dead, he was still considered part of the military faction.

Now, just because they wanted to seize power for themselves, they had actually blocked the future path of the military generals; this was something that even an uncle or an aunt could not tolerate.

To put his father at ease, Zhu Gaoxu immediately said, "Xiongying is not far from death; it is a matter of these next year or two. In these next two years, we can slowly manage local officials. We don't ask for high ranks, but we must cast our net wide. The South is definitely out, but the North has great advantages. Not only do you already have influence in the North, but those civil officials are effectively blind there; the North is our home turf."

After finishing, Zhu Gaoxu did not forget to instruct, "But don't make any big moves. Take it slow; there is plenty of time anyway. In fact, we can just wait and do nothing. Once Xiongying dies, the smart military generals will naturally realize it, and for the ones who aren't smart, we can help them become smart, can't we?"

Hearing his son's words, Zhu Di nodded.

He could not help but think to himself that it was fortunate this was his own son; if he were an enemy on the other side, he really might not be able to handle him.

It was likely that with his son being like this, no one would want to be his enemy...

Fortunately, among all the civil and military officials in the court, those who could see this point, including himself and his father Zhu Yuanzhang, did not add up to more than a handful.

Having said so much, Zhu Gaoxu felt that he was becoming increasingly long-winded.

Zhu Gaoxu blamed all of this on having stayed in the Military Camp for too long, where he was surrounded by Embroidered Uniform Guards and could not say many things; today, having finally seen his father, he was certainly going to take the opportunity to speak his mind.

Having said what needed to be said, Zhu Gaoxu, now full and satisfied, immediately proposed to take his leave.

Seeing this, Zhu Di nodded and said, "Stay at home for these two days. If there is anything, come find your father again."

Zhu Gaoxu nodded and walked out of the Study.

Arriving at the front hall, he indeed saw Li Quan chatting and laughing with Wang Guanjia in the courtyard.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu walked not far from the two and gave a light cough, interrupting their conversation.

Upon hearing Zhu Gaoxu's voice, the two hurriedly came over to pay their respects to Zhu Gaoxu.

Afterward, Wang Guanjia, clearly knowing that Li Quan and Zhu Gaoxu had matters to discuss, tactfully stated that there were still things to attend to in the Wangfu and took his leave.

After Wang Guanjia had walked far away, Zhu Gaoxu teased, "It seems our Manager Li has quite a few acquaintances in the Wangfu now."

Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's banter, Li Quan smiled and said, "It is all thanks to you, Master. If I hadn't followed you, I wouldn't have risen in status. If it were before, I fear I wouldn't have been able to enter this Wangfu once a year, let alone have someone to chat with."

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu shook his head with a smile. After looking left and right to ensure no one was around, he said to Li Quan, "Alright, this is not the place to talk. Accompany me back to my bedroom to discuss matters."

wap.