The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 517: struggling
Chapter 517: Difficulties
He guessed that perhaps the Ninth Prince of Dayan was the one who spread the letter in order to disrupt the court in Dadu.
Let him use this letter to win over the left prime minister Li Mao and gain the capital to fight with the prince.
But the Ninth Prince of Dayan didn’t know that the Left Prime Minister Li Mao was originally his second brother’s man. Although he has not expressed his position openly, he is his man secretly.
Even so, Prince Liang still expressed his sincere gratitude to the Ninth Prince of Dayan.
Prince Liang sat on the couch by the window, reading the letter over and over again. He couldn’t help but recall what his second brother had said to Du Zhiwei: Li Mao was a man with a sweet mouth and a sharp heart, and he was very slick. If he wanted to use this man… he would have to use both kindness and force to get a firm hold on Li Mao’s handle.
In the past, Prince Liang had never known how his second brother got hold of Li Mao’s handle. It seems… it should be a handwritten letter from Li Mao.
He believed that Li Mao must have written more than one letter to his second brother, and there must be more fatal ones, but where were these letters?
King Liang thought of Du Zhiwei again. If Du Zhiwei were still there, he wouldn’t have to face such a difficult situation.
Prince Liang stared at the flickering candlelight in the glass lamp, lowered his eyes to stare at the letter in his hand, rubbed his thumb for a moment, and suddenly called out: “Hongqiao!”
Hong Qiao came in and saluted to King Liang behind the screen: “Your Highness!”
“Come here…” After making up his mind, King Liang stared at Hongqiao who came in to pay her respects behind the screen, and said, “Hongqiao, you are the only one I can trust around me now!”
When Hongqiao heard this, she looked up with red eyes, and hurriedly knelt down and said to King Liang: “If your highness has an order, Hongqiao will do her best to complete it even if she dies without a burial place!”
“I just thought of Du Zhiwei and Tong Ji, and felt emotional! Hongqiao… without them, you must not get into trouble again!” King Liang said.
Hongqiao kowtowed hurriedly, her throat choked with sores and she couldn’t utter a word.
King Liang handed the letter to Hong Qiao and said, “Let me copy it. Do you have the confidence to make a new letter look old like this?”
Hongqiao touched the letter paper, sniffed the scent on it, and nodded: “I dare not say that it can be 100% similar, but I will definitely achieve 80%!”
“Eight points is enough! Go find some paper of the same quality and I’ll write it… and you do it.” King Liang asked again, “How long will it take?”
Hong Qiao lowered her eyes and carefully read the letter in her hand, then said, “At least three hours.”
“Okay! Go do it!”
·
Left Prime Minister Li Mao had not slept all night. He put on his official uniform and went to the palace early in the morning with the letter handed over by the housekeeper last night. He asked to see the emperor before the morning court and presented the letter tremblingly.
“Your Majesty knows! When I discovered that the Second Prince was acting incorrectly but I had no evidence, I had no choice but to become his disciple, hoping to investigate for Your Majesty. Who knew that by the time I found out that the Second Prince was planning a rebellion, it was already too late. It was thanks to my quick reaction that I was able to rescue you in time! But this letter… I don’t know who got it, and it was copied and distributed in the capital. I… am really terrified.” Li Mao knelt down and bowed to the emperor.
The emperor looked up at Li Mao, then his gloomy gaze fell back on the letter. The only thing that could be seen in the letter was Li Mao’s flattery of the Second Prince, saying that the Second Prince would ascend the throne in the future, that he would be more outstanding than the legitimate son, Prince Xin, and that he would even be wiser than the emperor. Apart from that, there was indeed nothing inappropriate.
Li Mao usually flattered the emperor. Not only did this letter seem to be written by Li Mao, but Li Mao also acknowledged it openly.
If Li Mao really just wanted to gain the trust of the second prince, it would be understandable.
“The Second Prince… is he wiser than me?” the emperor said in a cold voice.
Li Mao kowtowed immediately: “Your Majesty! I just said those nonsense to gain the Second Prince’s trust! Your Majesty is a great sage. Although the Second Prince is the son of the Emperor, he has the heart to rebel… How can such an unfaithful and unfilial person be compared with Your Majesty!”
The emperor stroked the letter paper with his fingers and stared at Li Mao. In the past, he had flattered the second prince in order to gain his trust. Now, wasn’t he flattering him in order to gain the trust of the emperor?
The emperor squinted his eyes and stared at Li Mao who was kneeling in the hall, even a little doubtful… Was Li Mao just waiting for the second prince to rebel? If the second prince won, it would be his merit of following the emperor; if the second prince did not win, it would be his merit of saving the emperor. No matter what, he would be invincible.
Later, Li Mao saw that the Second Prince’s rebellion was about to fail, so he switched sides and saved the emperor!
However, Li Mao had been loyal over the years, so the emperor gave up the idea.
Now when he reads this letter, he recalled that Li Mao had claimed that he discovered that the Second Prince seemed to be planning a rebellion, so he approached the Second Prince and then reported him. In the meantime… Li Mao kept it a secret and did not reveal a single word to him, the emperor.
If he had said it earlier, he, the emperor, would have been prepared and would not have been forced into a situation where he was almost beheaded.
The emperor’s eyes became more gloomy, but he didn’t show it at all: “I know, you go!”
“Yes!” Li Mao didn’t dare to look up and left the hall in an orderly manner. He felt the coolness crawling up his ankles like a thin snake.
He knew that if he came to confess to the emperor today, this suspicious emperor might become suspicious of him, but if he did not come to plead his case… the emperor would be even more suspicious of him.
He has already informed the emperor, but the emperor has not told him how to deal with the matter. If the censor reports it later, should he admit it… or not?
Before Li Mao could figure it out, the emperor’s headache came back. Gao Demao hurriedly sent someone to invite Miss Lu into the palace. The emperor had not yet attended court. While Li Mao breathed a sigh of relief, he also learned that the censor’s memorial had been submitted.
Li Mao’s son Li Mingrui rode in the same carriage with his father back to the palace. On the way, he lowered his voice and told Li Mao: “Father, on the way to the morning court today, Hongqiao, who was beside the King of Liang, came to find me and told me not to worry… The King of Liang has obtained all of your letters.”
Li Mao’s heart skipped a beat: “Did Prince Liang get all of them?”
Where is the letter from the Princess Zhenguo? How did the King of Liang get it?
Li Mao frowned, feeling overwhelmed as everyone said they had letters that could embezzle him.
As for Princess Zhenguo, she has never actually taken out the letter.
But Prince Liang was the Second Prince’s closest brother, so if it were with him… there is some possibility.
“Is this true or false?”
“I’m not sure yet. I will go to Prince Liang’s mansion in person to confirm this matter later! If all the letters are really obtained by Prince Liang, I will find a way to destroy them! I won’t let my father have any worries.” Li Mingrui bowed to Li Mao.
Although Li Mao did not quite believe that Prince Liang could get those letters from Princess Zhenguo, there was always a chance of something happening, so he still let Li Mingrui go and confirm it clearly before he could feel at ease.
The third update! Keep rolling around and asking for monthly tickets!