bestfiction Chapter 201 Power Confrontation
Chapter 201 Power Confrontation
"Third sister, it's not easy for you to be the Crown Princess." The niece looked at the hurried third sister and shook her head helplessly.
The Third Young Lady was reading reports from various places: "What's the big deal? Someone has to help His Highness share the burden."
Ever since she was appointed Crown Princess, she began to assist Mo Yunchen in handling government affairs. Not only did she have to deal with harem affairs, she also had to help review memorials, working day and night.
"Hey, look at this." The niece handed over a secret report.
The third young lady took it and looked at it, her brows immediately frowned: several princes in the south seemed to be secretly colluding, and they also sent people to and from the capital frequently.
"These people," the Third Miss sneered, "seem to be unable to sit still any longer."
"Should we tell the prince?" asked the niece.
"Don't worry," Miss San thought, "let's check it out again."
At this moment, my cousin came running over: "Oh no! I just received news that the food supply route to the south has been blocked!"
"What?" The third young lady and her niece exclaimed at the same time.
It turned out that a fleet carrying military supplies had been attacked by unknown individuals, and a large amount of food and fodder had been looted. If word of this reached the border troops, it would surely have caused a mutiny.
"How dare you!" A cold light flashed in the eyes of the Third Miss. "It seems someone wants to force us to take action."
"This matter must be reported to the prince immediately," said the niece.
"No," the Third Miss shook her head. "Reporting it now would only alert the enemy. Do you remember the strategy we used to deal with those ministers?"
The niece and cousin looked at each other and smiled knowingly: Is it time to "understand the people's sentiments" again?
"But this time is different," the Third Miss lowered her voice, "We're going to let them reveal their true colors themselves."
Soon, a plan was formulated. The Third Miss first secretly investigated the princes' contacts in the capital, and then took the opportunity to spread the news: the court was sending a special envoy to the south of the Yangtze River to "understand the people's sentiments."
Sure enough, as soon as the news came out, those people reacted immediately.
"Reporting to the Crown Princess," the spy hurried over, "Several envoys from the vassal kings gathered overnight, apparently to discuss countermeasures."
The third lady sneered: "You've taken the bait."
She immediately ordered people to secretly monitor the envoys, and indeed found more clues: it turned out that these princes were not only colluding with each other, but were also related to the previous imperial concubine's party!
"No wonder," the niece suddenly realized, "after the imperial concubine fell, they couldn't hold back anymore."
"That's not all," my cousin added. "I found out they were secretly stockpiling weapons. It seems like they had planned this all along."
The Third Miss pondered for a moment and said, "It seems it's time to let the Crown Prince know."
That night, in the imperial study.
"You mean," Mo Yunchen said after listening to the Third Miss's report, "how dare these princes collude and cause chaos?"
"It's more than just collusion," the Third Miss said, "they've already started taking action. They were responsible for the interception of the southern food supply route."
A cold light flashed in Mo Yunchen's eyes: "How brave!"
"But I have already traced their network of contacts," the Third Lady continued. "With just one order from His Highness, we can capture them all."
"No," Mo Yunchen said suddenly, "I have a better idea."
He told his plan: not to arrest them directly, but to let these princes fight each other!
The third lady's eyes lit up: "Your Highness means..."
"Since they want to rebel," Mo Yunchen sneered, "let them fight among themselves first."
The plan was quickly put into action. The imperial court first secretly spread the news that a certain prince was trying to seize the position of leader. Once this news came out, the other princes immediately became restless.
Sure enough, within a few days, several princes began to fight openly and secretly among themselves. Some sent people to secretly sabotage each other's food supply, while others spread rumors that the other side was planning a rebellion.
"It seems these people have been at odds with each other for a long time," the Third Miss said with a smile as she read the secret report. "Now they're just looking for an excuse to fall out."
"Stupid," Mo Yunchen sneered, "Do they think I don't know what they are thinking?"
As he was speaking, another secret report was delivered: the largest vassal king in the south actually secretly sent people to Beijing, saying that he would present evidence of other vassal kings' rebellion!
"Interesting," Mo Yunchen said after reading the secret report, "They've started to expose each other."
"This saves us a lot of trouble," said the Third Miss, "but I don't think it's time to close the net yet."
“Oh? Why?”
"Since they're going to expose each other, we might as well let them make a bigger fuss. Once they've given us all the evidence, it won't be too late for us to take action."
Mo Yunchen glanced at her approvingly: "Your idea is good."
The imperial court remained silent, gathering evidence in secret, while the princes, in order to show their loyalty, revealed the secrets of their allies.
"These people," Miss San looked at the growing evidence, "are really good at biting people."
"How stupid," Mo Yunchen sneered, "Do they think they can protect themselves this way?"
When the evidence was almost collected, Mo Yunchen finally gave the order: Send troops to suppress it!
This operation was carried out without anyone noticing. By the time the princes realized what was happening, the imperial army was already at the gates of the city.
The most ironic thing is that they couldn't even find reinforcements - because their allies had already been bitten out by themselves!
"This is the consequence of betrayal," the Third Miss said, looking at the arrest list. "They should have expected this to happen."
"Indeed," Mo Yunchen said, "but this time it's all thanks to you. If you hadn't discovered the clues early, I'm afraid it would be difficult to deal with them when they really rebelled."
The Third Miss shook her head: "This is what I should do. Besides, I have my niece and cousin to help..."
"Speaking of them," Mo Yunchen suddenly said, "I think it's time to give them a formal identity."
"What's the meaning?"
"What do you think about letting them join the six departments?"
The third lady was stunned: "This..."
"What?" Mo Yunchen said with a smile, "Are you still not confident in their abilities?"
"No," the Third Miss explained, "it's just that there has never been a female official in the court..."
"Then let's start from now," Mo Yunchen said, "It's a good opportunity to use the merits of suppressing the rebellion to give them a suitable position."
The third young lady felt warm in her heart: This is the prince's intention. He knew that these two companions were the ones he cared about most, so he made special plans for them.
"Thank you, Your Highness," she said sincerely, "I just don't know if they are willing..."
"Why don't you just ask and find out?"
That night, the third young lady told the news to her niece and cousin.
"What? Let us become officials?" The niece was surprised. "Isn't this... this against the rules?"
"Yes," my cousin also said, "there has never been a female official in the court..."
"Rules are made by people," the Third Miss said with a smile, "Since the Crown Prince said it's okay, there must be a reason for it."
The two looked at each other and saw excitement in each other's eyes: This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
“But…” the niece suddenly said, “Can we really do it?”
"Your ability in investigating and solving cases may not be matched by those ministers in the court," the Third Miss encouraged. "Besides, don't you still have me?"
"Then..." My cousin's eyes sparkled, "When will we take office?"
"Don't worry," the Third Miss said with a smile, "We still have to wait for the Crown Prince to make arrangements. But before that, you have to prepare well."
In this way, the three of them began to prepare in secret. Every night, the third lady would tell them about the important events in the court, so that they could familiarize themselves with the government in advance.
"These ministers," the third young lady said, "are one thing on the surface, and another behind the scenes. You must be more careful in the future when you are in the court."
"We know," the niece said seriously, "and we will definitely not embarrass you."
Looking at the two people's serious expressions, the third lady sighed in her heart: This is fate. When we first met in the general's mansion, who could have thought that we would serve in the court together today?
"By the way," my cousin suddenly asked, "what kind of court attire do you think we should wear? We can't wear women's clothes anymore, right?"
The three of them imagined the scene and couldn't help laughing.
"Well..." Miss San blinked, "I'll go ask the prince."
That night, she told Mo Yunchen about this problem.
"Is that even a question?" Mo Yunchen laughed. "Of course, court robes are distributed according to official rank. But..." He paused, "We can make some slight changes to make it more convenient for them to wear."
The third lady felt warm in her heart: The prince is so thoughtful.
"What's wrong?" Mo Yunchen looked at her in a daze, "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing," the Third Miss said with a smile, "I just think it's great to have His Highness."
Mo Yunchen rarely showed a gentle expression: "Silly girl, this is what you deserve."
Seeing the prince's serious look, the third lady was deeply moved: this seemingly indifferent person was actually thinking about herself everywhere.
"By the way," Mo Yunchen suddenly said, "I've had someone test your new formation."
"Oh?" Miss San became interested. "How's the effect?"
"Not bad," Mo Yunchen nodded, "but it still needs improvement. For example, here..."
In this way, the two began to discuss military affairs again. To others, this might seem strange: a newlywed couple, instead of talking about personal matters, discussed such serious topics.
But only they knew that it was this kind of tacit communication that was the most tender moment, because at this moment, they were not only ruler and subject, but also husband and wife, and like-minded partners.
This kind of feeling is the most precious.