Chapter 309

Wu Dashou was dismissed as Prime Minister and retired, shocking the world!

Li Liangcheng's position didn't move, and he was also conferred the title of Grand Tutor.

The signal transmitted was very obvious: the old Emperor felt temporarily indebted to the deposed Crown Prince, so he made up for it through this move. At the same time, it was also a warning to certain people, such as certain Princes, certain Imperial Princes, not to have any ulterior motives. Don't think that just because the Crown Prince was deposed, you have a chance.

The old Emperor's real purpose in deposing the Crown Prince was that he didn't want the imperial power to be constrained. He couldn't jump into the same pit a second time, and wouldn't appoint another Crown Prince to constrain himself.

Yet many people couldn't see it clearly, always feeling that they had a chance.

This broken ship of the Loyal Prince, except for those who were already on the ship, no one got on. Even those who were originally on the ship were trying every means to get off.

If one couldn't get off the ship, what to do? Then one could only go all the way to the dark.

Before the mutiny, the opportunity was missed, and now that the old Emperor released goodwill, one must seize the opportunity.

How to seize it?

Be a pure filial son without power!

His Highness the Loyal Prince listened to the advice of his subordinates and began to study Daoist scriptures, learn to write Qingci, try to contact some Daoist priests, and even cleared out a courtyard in the mansion, converting it into the appearance of a Daoist temple. He also required the Princess Consort to follow him in learning Daoist culture.

This tossing, the outside world had mixed reviews, most people kept the intention of watching a good show, believing that the Loyal Prince had not given up his thieving heart, vainly attempting to make a comeback, purely daydreaming.

Yet the old Emperor was very fond of this set.

The old Emperor was so smart, couldn't he see through that the Loyal Prince was currying favor with him?

The old Emperor certainly knew that the Loyal Prince was currying favor with him. Countless people were currying favor with him every day, and the Loyal Prince's currying favor made him exceptionally satisfied.

Privately, he even said to Qiu Defu: "The third one finally opened up, not wasting my painstaking efforts."

"Your Majesty has worked hard."

"The world scolds me for being muddled and shouldn't have deposed the Crown Prince. However, the third one sat in the Crown Prince's position for too long, so long that everything was taken for granted. I am very worried. Handing the world to the third one, I don't know what kind of fool the third one will be bewitched into by that group of court officials. At his age, he should suffer some bitterness, so that he knows the sinister nature of the human heart, and don't listen to everything from those below."

"His Highness the Loyal Prince will certainly be able to realize your painstaking efforts."

"If he doesn't hate me, I'll be satisfied." The old Emperor was like a loving old father, as if the deposed Crown Prince affair was a last resort, just to let the Loyal Prince suffer some bitterness, not really taking away the Loyal Prince's chance to inherit the throne.

This behavior of his was typical of sticking gold on his face, a typical performance of being both a whore and building a memorial arch.

Qiu Defu naturally understood the old Emperor's knot, not convinced of being scolded by the world, wanting to use the Loyal Prince's belief in Daoism to slap the world's face and reverse the direction of public opinion.

However, the world, mainly scholars and court officials, simply didn't buy his set. Everyone was a thousand-year-old fox, don't play Liaozhai, who didn't know who!

In terms of intelligence, those ministers in the court were all academic gods, standing out from thousands of competitors. Every move of the old Emperor could be interpreted into 108 concepts in an instant, and there was always one concept that could accurately hit the old Emperor's mind.

The old Emperor was extremely shameless, yet extremely wanted face.

While he did all the evil things, he also wanted to whitewash the peace and didn't allow people to discuss or evaluate.

Alas, this time the deposed Crown Prince affair had too far-reaching an impact, and couldn't block the mouths of the world. The old Emperor was anxious and began to find ways to find compensation, like a paperhanger trying to muddle through the face, and those below could only cooperate.

Not cooperate?

Fine.

Either go to the Imperial Prison or go to the Heavenly Prison. There was always one suitable for this group of officials with hard bones.

Officials whose bones weren't that hard couldn't escape the disaster of prison either.

Zhang Wenf, the second young master of the Zhang Zhang Yushi's family, a good friend of Master Ye, the cousin of the eldest young mistress of the Marquis mansion, had obtained a post in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices through connections the year before last, and was recently reported for forcing good people into slavery and indulging slaves in committing crimes.

Logically speaking, this type of case would generally be suppressed in the first stage and end up with nothing. However, it happened to encounter the major event of the deposed Crown Prince that was hard to encounter in a hundred years, and his father, Zhang Yushi, had offended many people in the past, so naturally, someone wanted to use the case to clean up the Zhang family. Thus, they dug up the corruption of Zhang Wenf during his tenure.

Corruption was corruption; how many officials didn't corrupt?

But the corruption involved the Eastern Palace, so that was terrible. Small cases had to be handled as big cases, with the Ministry of Justice personally supervising, and finally, Zhang Wenf was invited by the agents of the Six Sects to drink tea, and unsurprisingly was locked in the Heavenly Prison.

Master Ye learned that his good friend was locked in the Heavenly Prison, so he took two or three friends and went to the Heavenly Prison to visit in person.

Before coming, he also sent someone to greet Chen Guanlou. Thinking that everyone was barely a relative relationship, he wanted to ask Chen Guanlou for some convenience.

Chen Guanlou didn't mind giving people convenience, but he didn't like Master Ye. It wasn't easy to make things difficult openly, so he ordered Xiao Jin to handle everything according to the rules.

The implication was: take money and do things!

As soon as Master Ye entered the Heavenly Prison, he was met with a head-on blow: no money, no entry. If you want to visit, you must give money.

Suddenly, he was furious.

He had made a guarantee in front of his friends, saying that the Heavenly Prison had already been taken care of. Who could have imagined that Chen Guanlou would not give face, calling a prison guard to humiliate him.

Master Ye was so angry that he almost flicked his sleeves and left.

With his temper, if he encountered such an unseeing person in his hometown, one word of order would make the other unable to mix in the village.

But this place was the capital, where even a gatekeeper grandfather might have several wealthy relatives. Not to mention Chen Guanlou was surnamed Chen, the Chen of the Marquis mansion.

Over the years, Master Ye had been in the capital, relying on the power of the Marquis mansion, mixing well, having fame when he wanted fame, official position when he wanted official position, and future when he wanted future.

He couldn't tear his face with Chen Guanlou in front of outsiders. He could not give Chen Guanlou face, but he could not not give the Marquis mansion face, could not not give the Chen clan face.

In short, he had to swallow this breath.

Carrying a depression, he admitted defeat and handed over the money, and met Zhang Wenf as he wished.

Zhang Wenf, the second young master Zhang, had never suffered this bitterness. Having been locked up for only a few days, he had already lost a big circle, looking haggard, his clothes smelling sour, indescribably embarrassed and miserable.

When both sides met, they were all a bit impulsive, saying some taboo words. The prison guards knew Master Ye's background, so they turned a blind eye and didn't care.

If they really cared, reported it directly, these young masters would all have to drink a pot.

Master Ye made a big promise that he would definitely help Zhang Wenf get out. He didn't have the ability, but there was the Marquis mansion! With the signboard of the Marquis mansion, he thought it would certainly be effective.

After Master Ye returned to the Marquis mansion, he met his cousin, the eldest young mistress Lu Shi, hoping that Lu Shi could think of a way to help Zhang Wenf. By the way, he complained about Chen Guanlou, saying that Chen Guanlou didn't give him face, played with him, and made him unable to get off the stage in public.

Looking down on him was looking down on Lu Shi, looking down on the eldest branch.

Chen Guanlou ate by the eldest branch, but backstabbed the relatives of the eldest branch; this was a proper two-five boy, born with anti-bones.