Chapter 140 Burnt Ends: Performance
While Situ and Gan Qingjia waltzed their days away in romance, Xue Yiqi was stuck in the investigation of the a.s.sa.s.sination in a.s.sistance of the Eighth Prince. He watched as the prince threw tantrum after tantrum, not able to make any headway on the case, but had his own orders and could only feed him the information when the time was right.
“Why am I even paying you to work for me? Useless imbeciles! Is there even anything that you know?” The Eighth Prince raged at his followers in his residence. The men in his antechamber bowed their heads quietly, for fear of attracting the n.o.ble"s wrath.
An attendant approached the antechamber, keeping his gaze averted from the prince"s contorted face. “Your Highness, a.s.sistant General Xue is requesting to meet you.”
“a.s.sistant General Xue? Who"s that?” The Eighth Prince frowned, irritated. “Can"t you see that I"m busy right now? No.”
One of his advisors reminded the prince as gently as he could. “Your Highness, a.s.sistant General Xue is the son of the Defender-in-Chief of the kingdom. He is a.s.signed to aid you in the investigation by Imperial decree.”
“Xue Yiqi?” The frown deepened. “Isn"t he just a Lieutenant? Why is he promoted so quickly?”
The advisor reminded again. “He has already been promoted for a month.”
The Eighth Prince glared at the advisor, but turned to the attendant. “Send him in.”
The attendant left and soon returned with Xue Yiqi behind him. Along with Xue Yiqi were a few of his soldiers, each holding a man bounded by chains.
“Your Highness.” Xue Yiqi bowed to the Eighth Prince and glanced around the room.
The prince forced a smile. “a.s.sistant General Xue, who are these people?”
“They are the a.s.sa.s.sins who"d attempted to take the life of the General of the Left of the Northern Army. They might be of use to you in the investigation.”
The eyes of the Eighth Prince lit up immediately and took a few steps towards Xue Yiqi. “I am immensely grateful for your help, a.s.sistant General Xue!”
Xue Yiqi bowed humbly. “It is my duty.” He took another look around the room, taking in the advisors of the Eighth Prince with their bowed heads. “You seem occupied, your Highness. If that is the case, I shall take my leave for now.”
The Eighth Prince smiled as he walked Xue Yiqi to the entrance of the antechamber. “Sorry for the trouble this has caused to you, a.s.sistant General Xue. I do have matters to discuss with my advisors, and I shall not keep you any longer.”
“No problem.” Xue Yiqi smiled and left the residence, taking note of the layout of the prince"s residence on his way out.
As soon as Xue Yiqi was gone, the Eighth Prince turned towards his attendant and gestured towards the a.s.sa.s.sins. “Bring them away. Make sure you get the information you need. By any means necessary.”
“Yes, your Highness.”
The prince resumed his meeting with his advisors, and it was not long before the attendant returned with news.
“Your Highness, I have uncovered the mastermind.”
“Who is it?” The Eighth Prince was eager to prove himself before the Emperor.
“I threatened the a.s.sa.s.sins with the lives of the families, and they finally spilt the beans.” He paused for a moment. “They were under the orders of the Heir.”
The Eighth Prince was stunned for a second, then roared in laughter. “The Heavens are smiling upon me! Surely Father will not be able to protect the Heir again like he did the other time. Haha, my Heir, you must be very desperate for you to attempt an a.s.sa.s.sination on Father"s prized Generals!”
The advisors smiled as well.
“Let"s go and relay the news to Father. Now that the Senior General Situ is in Chang"an, there is no way for Father to protect the Heir again.”
An advisor stepped forward and stopped the prince. “Your Highness, I have something to say.”
“What is it?”
“Although we are in possession of both the witness and the evidence, it will not be enough to bring the Heir down in one blow. If we report this to his Majesty right now, he might a.s.sume that it is merely your attempt to suppress the Heir. The plan might backfire on us.”
The Eighth Prince frowned.
The advisor continued. “Moreover, I"d heard the news that his Majesty is already considering to find a replacement for General Situ, seeing as how he has not been able to recover from his injuries as of yet. Not even the Senior General Situ will be able to stop it. Why don"t we make good use of this chance to fight for the position?”
The room descended into silence as he considered his options.
Meanwhile, the Heir continued his attempts on finding out the real situation with Situ. “So what is it: has he recovered or not?”
His advisor stuttered. “I apologise for my inability to find out the truth, your Highness. The security around the residence is too tight; it is rather hard for our men to infiltrate successfully.”
The Heir glared at the advisor, his smile cruel. “Forget about his condition then. Just do it.”
Meanwhile, the First Prince was having his first private meeting with the Emperor, summoned to meet in the study.
“Come over here, Ran"er.” The Emperor waved the prince closer from his seat from behind the study table, a smile on his face.
The First Prince approached with small steps. “Father, you summoned for me?”
“No need to be so polite.” The ageing Emperor smiled genially, waving a bamboo slat in his hands. “Governor Chen had told me that you were the one who"d come up with this method of flood prevention?”
The First Prince bowed. “The Governor is too humble. All I did was to suggest some minor ideas.”
“What you suggested is the key to the whole plan.” The Emperor exclaimed, motioning for the First Prince to come closer to him. “I"m glad that you are concerned about the lives of the people.”
The Emperor continued. “Floods have plagued the lands of the South every summer, causing much destruction to the lives and lands of the people. Do you have any ideas what we can do to for flood-prevention this year?”
“I"ve experimented with a few measures in the years I"ve been in the Yi province. If you don"t mind my perhaps foolish ideas, I can explain a few of them to you, Father.”
The Emperor"s face fell for a moment, but he quickly recovered. “Please do; there is no way I will make fun of you for sharing your ideas.”
The First Prince explained his ideas in a slow manner. “In my opinion, the problem of floods have to be solved from the root of the problems. We can separate the waters coming from the Yellow River from the seawater, and a.s.sign the governors of each city along the flow to monitor the rising levels carefully every month, to better antic.i.p.ate the start of the floods. Next, right before the arrival of the months p.r.o.ne to flooding, we can send officials to check all provinces and cities along the river to ensure that the proper flood barriers have been put in place and that they are all reinforced. That makes two measures.”
“Of course, there are accidents in every prevention measure. When the water levels become dangerous each year, the governors in each region should convene to discuss the flood-relief efforts in antic.i.p.ation of the damage caused. Only then can we minimalize the potential damage done by the floods of the South.”
The Emperor was silent for a long while.
The First Prince was calm. “Father, did I say anything wrong?”
The Emperor sighed. “You may not be ambitious, but your sense of morality is very good. Though I have not had the chance to guide you along, you are now a fine young man. Zhaoren must be pleased to see how you have turned out, watching over you from the heavens.”
The First Prince bowed his head. “I have always held the teachings of Mother close to my heart. All I want to do is to help you with any problems that may be weighing on your mind; it is enough for me to be allowed to return to Chang"an and a.s.sist in you in such small matters.”
The Emperor was touched, but a glint flashed in his eyes. “Your proposal is well thought indeed; it shall be put into action.” The Emperor set the bamboo slat back on the table and smiled. “You have done well this time. Tell me, what reward do you desire?”
The First Prince bowed. “It is my honour to be of a.s.sistance to you, Father. How can I think of asking for a reward from you? Your acceptance itself is the greatest reward already.”
The Emperor nodded, satisfied. He asked offhandedly, “I"ve been troubled with the candidate to take over General Situ"s role in the Northern Army. After all, news of his injuries has spread to the neighbouring kingdoms, their armies stirring as we speak. Do you have any suggestions?”
“In my humble opinion, the Northern Army belongs to you and you alone, Father. No one else should have any say in the position; whoever you send will be the most suitable person.”
The Emperor smiled.
The First Prince continued. “The Northern Army is currently 800,000 strong, and such a ferocious army will require a truly skilled and experienced commander, so that they may live up to your standards. Though many rumours have been flying around these days regarding the position, I"m sure that Father already has your own person in mind.”
“Haha!” The Emperor laughed. “Your words have hit the nail on the head.”
The Imperial Attendants smiled as well, but the First Prince did not seem honoured by the Emperor"s commends.
An Imperial Decree was soon issued, ordering the General of the Right of the Northern Army, Cheng s.h.i.+fei, to jointly command the Northern Army with the General of the Left, stationed in Yunzhong Pa.s.s. The news reached the Heir, steeling his resolve to execute his plans.