Chapter 335: A Grand Gamble

"Exactly what you're thinking!"

Chen Chen Guanlou did not hold anything back, nor did he try to be mysterious; he admitted it openly and frankly.

"What exactly do you know?" Xie Changling was half-believing, half-doubting. Of course he knew Chen Chen Guanlou had the Hou Fu behind him, but he did not believe Chen Chen Guanlou had the ability to investigate matters inside the palace.

Things even he did not know—how could Chen Chen Guanlou have learned them?

It couldn't possibly be that someone from the Hou Fu had privately told him. What He Deheneng did Chen Chen Guanlou have to be Valued so highly? If the Hou Fu would even tell him such a secret, how could they tolerate him continuing to serve as a mere jailer in the Heaven Prison?

Logically, it simply did not hold up.

On one hand he suspected Chen Chen Guanlou was talking nonsense; on the other, he suspected the other man had another channel of information, and he even thought of the Zhong family. Zhong Zhong Susu had suddenly disappeared—could she be the source of his information?

A genius is a genius; with just a few faint clues, he was only one step away from the truth.

Unfortunately, no matter what, he never guessed that Zhong Zhong Susu was also a genius—a hidden prodigy who, at such a young age, had been taken as a closed-door disciple by a Grandmaster, and the Grandmaster had personally come to Jingcheng to fetch her. The Grandmaster's other identity turned out to be a consort of the late Emperor, and the old Emperor seemed to harbor an unspeakable feeling toward the Grandmaster.

The melodrama here truly came in basin after basin, and the secrets came one after another.

No matter how clever Xie Changling was, he did not write penny-dreadful novels and did not grasp the essence of melodrama, so naturally he could not guess the truth. That one step became an impassable chasm.

He was anxious!

If there truly was such a person who could stop the old Emperor from deposing the Crown Prince, yet because of the incompetence of officials like them, they had overlooked this person, he would hate himself to death, hate all his colleagues to death, especially Grand Tutor Zhuang.

"I don't know much, but it's enough to let you turn the tables. Unfortunately, it's all too late now!"

"How could you possibly know what's happening inside the palace? Surely you're lying to me."

"Lord Xie, would I bother to lie to you? What's the point of lying to you? Just to watch you make a fool of yourself? You and I have no grudge between us, there's no need. You'd agree, right?"

Xie Changling frowned in deep thought—the other man indeed had no reason to deceive him, unless someone behind the scenes had put him up to it. But, as far as he knew, the only one who could truly direct Chen Chen Guanlou was the First Branch of the Hou Fu, or more precisely, the Master of the First Branch of the Hou Fu.

The Master of the First Branch of the Hou Fu had even less reason to make things difficult for these Crown Prince's officials. After all, Zhongwangdian had already been deposed; everything was already settled, and there was basically no possibility of turning things around.

"Then tell me, where exactly did we go wrong? Who exactly can change Your Majesty's mind?"

"I can't say—my life is at stake. But I can tell you, there really is someone who can sway the outcome. Lord Xie, you don't actually need to blame yourself or agonize over it; it's all in the past already, what good would knowing do? You can't change Zhongwangdian's situation, and you'll only put yourself in danger."

Chen Chen Guanlou sincerely advised the other man. He actually felt a little regret—that he shouldn't have said so much. When talking with clever people, sometimes you really have to learn to keep your mouth shut. Clever people have sharp minds, are good at finding loopholes, at finding faint clues, and thereby getting close to the truth.

This is not good!

There's no way to have a pleasant chat anymore.

"Is it related to Zhong Zhong Susu's departure?"

"Lord Xie, Miss Zhong is just a young girl who has just turned sixteen."

"The person who took Zhong Zhong Susu away is indeed no simple matter. No wonder you can't get angry." Xie Changling grew more certain of his guess. "This person is the key figure you mentioned, am I right?"

Chen Chen Guanlou was left speechless; he did not deny it. He suspected that if he opened his mouth to deny it, the other man would guess even more from his words.

"Think whatever you want, I won't admit it anyway." Chen Chen Guanlou slightly raised an eyebrow and decisively took his leave.

"Chen the Jailer, if—I mean if—one day Zhongwangdian has a chance to turn things around, would you be willing to help?" Xie Changling suddenly asked this question.

Both sides were greatly astonished.

Xie Changling was very vexed—how could he have been so impulsive.

Chen Chen Guanlou, on the other hand, was thinking that the other man must be harboring ill intentions, wanting to get back at him. Isn't living good enough? He'd have to be crazy to take part in the struggle for the succession.

"Lord Xie thinks well of me—that's my honor. My answer is no."

"Why?"

"Why should I help?"

"I won't let you help for nothing; afterward you Will Surely Have Weight a generous reward. You only need to invite that key figure out…"

"I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't need any reward. Today, just pretend I never came. Lord Xie, look after yourself. Your head on your shoulders is actually not very secure."

Chen Chen Guanlou gave a cold snort and left, very displeased.

These officials are used to pressing their advantage, never considering whether it puts others in a difficult position.

He's a jailer, not a fanboy of the deposed Crown Prince, nor a chivalrous hero—what reason does he have to help?

He decided to put Xie Changling on his blacklist and for some time to come would pay no attention to this man.

……

After Wu Wu Dashou was dismissed from the position of Chancellor, the seat of Right Chancellor had remained vacant. Every official qualified to compete for this position racked their brains and deployed every trick in the book.

This was also one reason for the chaotic state of the court after the Crown Prince's deposition.

The court was in a mess, and naturally the provinces were not at peace. The old Emperor also realized things could not go on like this. The Right Chancellor candidate had to be decided as soon as possible, and every necessary measure taken to stabilize morale.

Fortunately, this year the weather had been fair, and Heaven opened its eyes and did not come to cause trouble. Spring plowing and summer harvest both went smoothly. Even the northwest, which always lacked water, had received several rains during the spring plowing at the beginning of the year.

Jiang Tu also had his eye on the position of Right Chancellor.

However, since the last time he had offered to share the old Emperor's burdens, the old Emperor had not been very pleased with him. For a full month, he had been unable to see the old Emperor.

In the past, this was unimaginable.

Jiang Tu was in a panic, worried that he had fallen out of favor.

After much thought, it was the scheming advisor under him who came up with an idea for him. A very crazy idea.

A high-stakes gamble!

A grand gamble!

Jiang Tu deliberated for over half a month and finally made up his mind.

He submitted a memorial, becoming the first to take the plunge, requesting the old Emperor to quickly establish a Crown Prince. And the best candidate for Crown Prince was Zhongwangdian!

Fortunately this memorial did not go through Zhengshitang, otherwise it would surely have caused an uproar in Yinqichaotang.

Jiang Tu personally entered the palace, went to Taiji Palace, and asked the eunuchs of Taiji Palace to deliver his memorial to the old Emperor and place it on top.

The eunuchs of Taiji Palace were not a monolithic block. There were always people willing to run errands for Jiang Tu for the sake of power or money. A mere memorial was no big deal—once the money was in place, the matter was smoothly handled.

After all, Qiu Qiu Defu could not be by the old Emperor's side every single moment; there were so many matters to attend to, and the time Qiu Qiu Defu could actually stay by the old Emperor's side was not that much. This gave other eunuchs an opportunity to slip through the cracks.

When the old Emperor saw Jiang Tu's memorial, he had wanted to throw it straight into the alchemy furnace as firewood—this bastard, daring to share his burdens for him, seeking death!

Wanting to or not, the old Emperor still opened the memorial. He wanted to see what this cur had to say.