56Chapter 56 Emperor Jing goes fishing, and Prince Liang takes the bait
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Chen Yun simply smiled faintly.
He looked at Chen Xi and explained, "What happened today is what His Majesty wants to see, and it's what they all want to see."
"Otherwise, how could His Majesty have summoned you and me into the palace to participate in this family banquet?"
"The purpose is merely for me to play the 'bad cop' in this dispute over the throne, to deal with the pressure from the Prince of Liang and the Empress Dowager.
So, His Majesty will not be wary of me."
"As for the Empress Dowager?"
Chen Yun smiled faintly, "The Empress Dowager probably wants to see the current situation even more than I do, doesn't she?"
"Although the Empress Dowager dotes on the Prince of Liang, her youngest son, she actually knows in her heart that her prosperity and status all come from Emperor Jing, who is now the Emperor.
Unless the Empress Dowager can be certain that the successor to the throne will definitely be the Prince of Liang and not His Majesty's child, she will absolutely not want to completely offend His Majesty."
"And in such a situation, with a 'me' acting as a buffer, creating conflict with her, and thereby alleviating the conflict between the Empress Dowager and His Majesty, serving as a battleground for the two of them, the Empress Dowager will only be happy."
He stroked his chin and said, "In my opinion, the Empress Dowager should be smashing things in Weiyang Palace in a fit of rage right now, but once she finishes smashing things and vents all her anger, rationality will return, and she will understand what I just said."
At this point, Chen Yun sighed again, "Of course, although the Empress Dowager will understand the issues involved, she will definitely hold a grudge against our Chen clan.
After all, this is not contradictory."
He scoffed, "Let her hold a grudge if she wants to.
She's just a widow who has lived deep in the palace for a long time.
Is the Chen clan afraid of her?"
Chen Xi frowned slightly.
Although he was intelligent and had memories of history, he was actually very cautious at this moment: "But Father, we didn't need to offend the Empress Dowager in the first place."
"Why did you insist on doing this?"
"Your son truly doesn't understand."
Chen Yun looked at Chen Xi and said word by word, "Because if we don't offend the Empress Dowager, we will offend His Majesty!"
"His Majesty is different from The Late Emperor.
From what happened after he first ascended the throne, it can be seen that this Emperor is even narrower-minded than The Late Emperor.
In this situation, if we don't help him, he will hold it against us!"
"Comparatively speaking, offending the Empress Dowager yields greater benefits, doesn't it?"
Chen Xi was speechless, but after a moment, he shook his head: "Upon careful consideration, Father is indeed right.
That is the logic."
As for offending neither?
There has never been such a good thing in this world.
"When does His Majesty think the rebellion of the vassal kings will likely break out?"
After a moment of thought, Chen Yun said, "His Majesty possesses the Emissaries in Embroidered Uniforms, and his eyes and ears observe all directions.
The reason he yielded so much at the banquet today was probably because he discovered something."
"Otherwise, given His Majesty's character, he would never yield."
.... .....
Chen Yun was right.
At this moment, in Weiyang Palace, Emperor Jing wore a somewhat wistful expression.
He looked at Chao Cuo in front of him and sighed softly, "You, you are too reckless.
How can you talk about reducing the power of the vassal states in front of all the court officials?"
"When the various kings hear of this, there will surely be unrest, and My arrangements have not yet been completed."
Chao Cuo knelt there, a look of remorse on his face.
"Your Majesty, if it truly doesn't work, then push me out and have me killed!
Use this to quell the anger of the various kings and show that Your Majesty never had any intention of reducing the power of the vassal states!"
Emperor Jing's expression flickered.
In fact, if it weren't for the Chen clan, he probably would have done so, after all, it's just killing one Chao Cuo, what's the big deal?
If it could buy some time, or more clearly show his identity as a "victim," he would naturally be willing.
Are there not other learned people in this world who know how to flatter the Emperor's will, besides Chao Cuo?
It's just that now with the Chen clan, and knowing that the one from the Chen clan has the great power of Chen Xi, the ancestor of the Chen clan, there is no need to retreat so much—because he believes that the Chen clan will definitely handle these matters well.
He was quite confident in the Chen clan regarding such matters.
Of course, although he thought so, Emperor Jing could not directly say it, after all, he still had to win people's hearts—since he didn't even need to kill Chao Cuo, he naturally had to show his "tolerance and reliability."
Only then could he make his subjects submit from the bottom of their hearts.
"No need."
Emperor Jing looked at Chao Cuo and said, "If the various kings want Me to do something, and I do it, then what do they need Me for?
The dignity of the Emperor in the court would be lost completely."
"Let Me see what methods they have!"
.... ...
Second year of Emperor Jing, fifth month of summer.
Chao Cuo's words spread throughout the land, and many local vassal kings were very displeased about it.
Of course, they didn't dare to speak too clearly, they could only subtly submit memorials to express their dissatisfaction, and all of this was under the Emperor's control.
He appeased the various vassal kings on one hand, and on the other, he seized the time to fish.
After a certain "drunkenness," he subtly revealed his true feelings in front of the Empress Dowager—it was a very peaceful night.
The Empress Dowager, seeing the urgency in the Prince of Liang's heart, was also somewhat troubled, so she summoned Emperor Jing to Weiyang Palace, preparing to tentatively ask him, but who knew she would see a drunken son.
And from the mouth of "Emperor Jing," he was actually not satisfied with his several heirs, so he wanted to imitate Emperor Hui's abdication to Emperor Wen back then and pass the throne to his younger brother, the Prince of Liang.
However, the resistance from the court was simply too great!
The Guandu Marquis, the Wen Marquis, the Marquis of Jiang, and many other court officials all disagreed, stating that Emperor Hui's reason for abdicating to The Late Emperor back then was partly because Emperor Hui had no successor, meaning he had no son.
In such a situation, he naturally could not pass the throne to an outsider.
And The Late Emperor's performance in his fiefdom at that time was also very outstanding; the state of Dai was the most peaceful place in the entire land.
Only then did it fall to The Late Emperor, the older brother, to succeed to the throne after his younger brother.
But what was the Prince of Liang?
Did he contribute to the world?
Did he contribute to the court?
Did he have a reputation for virtue?
In Emperor Jing's drunken lament, he vaguely revealed one thing—that he had children was actually not a big deal, as long as he said that none of his children could inherit the throne.
But... the Prince of Liang's current conduct couldn't suppress the masses!
A series of laments left the Empress Dowager unable to refute a single word, after all, it was the truth!
... ....
In the Empress Dowager's Weiyang Palace, the lights were bright.
The Prince of Liang's expression was filled with inexplicable shock.
He carefully looked at the Empress Dowager and said, "Mother, you're not lying to me, are you?"
"Did Imperial Brother really say that?"