Chapter 172: Hidden Murderous Intent

Standing by Zhu Gaoxu's side at this moment, he wordlessly revealed his own stance.

Zhu Di did not have it much easier than Zhu Gaoxu.

The enemies he faced were not merely those civil officials.

The Crown Prince, certain military generals, and even his own father, Zhu Yuanzhang, could all be his enemies.

The Crown Prince goes without saying; the reason the civil officials wanted to exhaust every effort to drive away Zhu Di and his son...

... was, in the final analysis, to stabilize the position of Zhu Biao.

Some military generals need not be mentioned either; Lan Yu was a relative by marriage to Zhu Biao, and the military generals under his command naturally leaned toward the Crown Prince Faction.

As for Zhu Yuanzhang, it was hard to say.

No one was clear on Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude.

Logically speaking, before Zhu Di entered the capital, there was no such thing as the Crown Prince Faction.

The entire court of civil and military officials had their hearts set on the Crown Prince.

But ever since Zhu Di entered the capital, Zhu Gaoxu's power had grown day by day.

Some ministers could not help but harbor some small ulterior motives in their hearts.

This was how the so-called Crown Prince Faction and the Zhu Di Faction came to be.

In truth, saying there was a Zhu Di Faction was giving Zhu Di too much credit.

All things considered, those truly leaning toward Zhu Di in this imperial court were merely Xu Da and a few other military generals.

And among these military generals, some still had to consider the factor of Lan Yu.

Therefore, those who could speak up for Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu were few and far between.

This was also one of the reasons why Zhu Biao had never taken Zhu Di seriously.

Of course, as the benevolent ruler in everyone's eyes, Zhu Biao certainly could not openly do anything to his own younger brother.

And the one who started all of this was precisely Zhu Yuanzhang.

Without Zhu Yuanzhang, these things would not have happened.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude was very ambiguous.

The Crown Prince Zhu Biao managed the various affairs of the court as usual.

But at the same time, he kept Zhu Di in the capital without letting him return.

Furthermore, he granted Zhu Gaoxu increasingly greater power.

All of this was impossible for people to understand.

So it was actually normal for some people to be anxious.

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu was about to lead troops to the North to suppress bandits...

... anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was a merit handed to him on a silver platter.

To put it bluntly, it was just going to the North to gild his resume.

Once back, it would depend on Zhu Yuanzhang's mood.

If he was in a good mood, a promotion of one or two ranks would be nothing.

If he was in a bad mood, he would not let his precious grandson make the trip for nothing.

But even so, Zhu Di still had to be extremely cautious.

This was actually where Zhu Yuanzhang's brilliance lay.

Zhu Yuanzhang heavily employed Zhu Gaoxu.

That indicated he valued Zhu Gaoxu.

It had no great connection to Zhu Di.

Whether it was promotion or the addition of power, it was all focused on Zhu Gaoxu.

To look at it deeply, it might mean he favored Zhu Di and wanted Zhu Di to be his successor.

But to look at it superficially, it was just that Lao Zhu liked his own grandson.

Moreover, if Zhu Di spoke up casually in the palace hall...

... not to mention whether it would arouse Zhu Biao's resentment and suspicion...

... Lao Zhu alone would be dissatisfied with him.

If things went poorly, it might even expose the foundation he had painstakingly built up.

By then, he feared everyone would know his intentions.

Even if Zhu Biao were benevolent and held real power, he would likely harbor murderous intent toward Zhu Di.

Therefore, Zhu Di could only endure and remain silent.

Yet, there was absolutely no problem with Xu Da taking action.

To put it plainly, Xu Da was Zhu Gaoxu's maternal grandfather.

You all bully my grandson like this; can't I, this old man, intervene if I find it unacceptable?

No one could find fault with this.

Even if Xu Da did not act, Zhu Biao might have spoken up to stop it.

After all, no matter what, Zhu Gaoxu was his nephew; whether it was to maintain his persona, to put on a show for Zhu Yuanzhang, or out of genuine benevolence...

... Zhu Biao would have interjected.

It was just that before it reached that point, the faction of Xu Da had already taken the lead.

It could be said that today's morning court was full of profound lessons.

The open and secret struggles of various factions, the psychological games between brothers, and the mutual probing between sovereign and subject.

One wrong step would mean losing one's head.

And the consequences were obvious; Li Hao was the example.

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu walked out of Fengtian Hall side by side.

Looking at the faint morning light, Zhu Di said softly to Zhu Gaoxu: "With such a big matter, why didn't you tell me? It made things so passive."

What Zhu Di said was correct.

From beginning to end, Zhu Gaoxu was actually at a disadvantage most of the time.

Every few words of counterattack actually had someone helping out.

Lao Zhu was even more indispensable.

One could tell just from Lao Zhu's attitude.

Whenever Zhu Gaoxu fell into a disadvantage, he was mostly silent.

Once Zhu Gaoxu gained the upper hand, although he didn't say much, he definitely had the intention of fanning the flames.

It was only because of Lao Zhu's protection and the assists from the faction of Xu Da that Zhu Gaoxu could walk out of Fengtian Hall looking relaxed.

Otherwise, if there had been no help from these people.

Even if Zhu Gaoxu had grown eight mouths, he would likely have had to shed a layer of skin to get out of there.

Zhu Gaoxu also understood his father's meaning.

He sighed and did not speak.

It had to be said that this imperial court was truly a Shura field where people were killed without blood being shed.

Before, he hadn't felt much, but now he had experienced it firsthand.

He finally knew why Zhu Di wanted to develop his own power so much.

Today he was the protagonist of the morning court session; one could only imagine how often these officials secretly schemed against his father on ordinary days.

To have no one in the court is equivalent to having no mouth.

One can only let the other side bully them.

But now Zhu Gaoxu also knew it was not the time; everything would have to wait until he returned from the North!

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