Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 679: Chapter 333 Assassination of Prince Chu

In the Eastern Palace, upon learning that the Emperor had sent Prince Chu to Peng City, the Crown Prince was very displeased, his face extremely sullen.

"Father has actually sent the fourth to Peng City, what is Father trying to do?" After saying this, the Crown Prince’s expression changed suddenly, "Could it be that Father intends to create a diversion? On the surface, it appears that the fourth is going to Peng City, but in reality, he might be going to Jinling or Suzhou?"

"It’s possible," speculated Lord Wei, "However, I think Father mainly dispatched the fourth to Peng City to investigate the matter of the copper coins."

Mentioning the issue of the copper coins made the Crown Prince somewhat uneasy. He asked worriedly, "Eighth Brother, there’s no problem with the copper coins, is there?"

"Rest assured, Brother, our people did it flawlessly. There won’t be any trace leading back to us." The problem with the copper coins in Peng City was because the Crown Prince and his associates had secretly tampered with them, reducing the amount of copper in each coin.

The more the Crown Prince thought about it, the more worried he became, and his expression turned increasingly grave.

"The fourth is not an ordinary person. If Father sent him to Peng City to investigate this matter, he will definitely uncover something." Initially worried about the matters in Jinling, the Crown Prince was now more concerned about the copper coins. "With the fourth’s abilities, there’s no way he wouldn’t find anything at all."

Lord Wei felt the Crown Prince’s words were quite reasonable, and his expression also became solemn.

"The fourth is deceitful and cunning; he might really find something."

"We mustn’t let the fourth uncover anything," the Crown Prince said, his expression turning sinister.

Seeing the Crown Prince like this, Lord Wei instantly understood his intent.

"Brother, do you mean to take this opportunity to get rid of the fourth?"

The Crown Prince nodded slightly and then asked, "What do you think?"

"That is indeed a good idea," Lord Wei agreed. "The fourth going to Peng City is a perfect opportunity. We can take advantage of it to eliminate him and then lay the blame on others, so Father won’t find out anything suspicious."

Seeing that Lord Wei understood his intention, the Crown Prince smiled and said, "That’s exactly what I mean."

Lord Wei flattered the Crown Prince, saying, "How wise you are, Brother."

The Crown Prince was very pleased by the compliment. He said with a broad smile, "As long as the fourth leaves the capital, we will have a thousand opportunities to dispose of him."

Lord Wei inquired, "Brother, do you intend to eliminate him on his way to Peng City or wait until he reaches Xuzhou?"

The Crown Prince hadn’t considered this. He pondered for a moment and then asked Lord Wei, "What do you think?"

"If we eliminate him on the way to Peng City, Father will surely be suspicious of you. But if we wait until he reaches Peng City, then there’ll be many suspects."

The Crown Prince thought Lord Wei’s analysis was correct, "Then we’ll wait until the fourth reaches Peng City before we eliminate him."

"Brother, we must be wary of Prince Dai," Lord Wei reminded the Crown Prince, "Just as we want to take this chance to eliminate the fourth, Prince Dai and his associates might have the same idea and may even frame us."

"You’re right; we must guard against Prince Dai." Mentioning Prince Dai made the Crown Prince immediately vigilant, "Eighth Brother, we could also frame Prince Dai and his associates."

After some thought, Lord Wei said, "Brother, we could have someone assassinate the fourth on his way to Peng City, and then frame Prince Dai. What do you think?"

The Crown Prince smiled and said, "That’s what I was thinking. How do you suggest we frame Prince Dai?"

"Brother, we need to discuss this with Duke Zhen," Lord Wei said. "With Duke Zhen’s means, not only can we eliminate the fourth, but we can also blame Prince Dai and Marquis Xuanping."

The Crown Prince ordered Lv Cong, who was standing beside him, "Go and invite Uncle here."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Before Duke Zhen arrived at the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince had already discussed many ways to frame Prince Dai with Lord Wei.

When Duke Zhen arrived and heard what the Crown Prince and Lord Wei had to say, he smiled and said, "I actually had this plan in mind."

Hearing Duke Zhen say this, Lord Wei wasn’t surprised at all. He had already guessed that with Duke Zhen’s temperament and methods, he would not miss the opportunity to eliminate Prince Chu.

"I will arrange everything; Your Highness should not worry."

The Crown Prince was reassured upon hearing this.

"Uncle, Father has already learned about the copper coins. Should we pause our activities for a while?"

"I’ve already informed our people over there to pause for the time being and wait until Prince Chu is dealt with before proceeding." After saying this, Duke Zhen’s expression suddenly turned solemn. "How did the matter of the copper coins leak?" The copper coins had been handled extremely cautiously, and no one had discovered it before. Why was it recently detected and even known to the Emperor?

The Crown Prince shook his head and said, "I don’t know. I’ve been wondering about this too. We had done everything with great care before, and no one discovered it." The issue with the copper coins wasn’t recent; the Crown Prince and his associates had started tampering with them last year.

Lord Wei speculated, "From what I know, the copper coins emerging recently from Peng City are much inferior to before. Previously, the coins could completely pass for genuine, but the recent ones are much lighter, making it hard not to notice. Fortunately, there aren’t many of these coins, and they haven’t circulated to other places; otherwise, the situation would become more severe."

Duke Zhen furrowed his brows and said, "Are you saying someone has secretly tampered behind our backs?"

Lord Wei nodded slightly, "Someone must be secretly profiting."

"What Eighth Brother said isn’t impossible," the Crown Prince remarked with a stoic face. "Uncle, we must find out the truth; otherwise, this person will end up endangering us."

"I’ll send someone to investigate thoroughly." Duke Zhen didn’t expect anyone would dare to audaciously steal copper under his nose.

"Duke, could Prince Dai’s people have infiltrated Peng City?" Lord Wei’s suggestion was a call to the thief to catch a thief.

The Crown Prince instantly agreed with Lord Wei’s guess, "It must be Prince Dai’s people."

Duke Zhen also doubted it, but after thinking carefully, he found it unlikely.

"It’s not Prince Dai’s people." If it were Prince Dai’s people, it would mean that Prince Dai knows about the copper theft, and they would have informed the Emperor, dooming them.

"If it’s not Prince Dai’s people, then there’s a traitor among ours," Lord Wei wasn’t worried about Duke Zhen suspecting him. "Duke, it’s fine that Prince Jing is going to Jinling tomorrow, right?"

"Eighth Brother, the Seventh can’t stir up any trouble." The Crown Prince was not concerned about Prince Jing, "He won’t be able to do anything even if he goes."

Lord Wei didn’t agree. With Empress Xie’s nature, she certainly wouldn’t let Prince Jing go to Jinling for nothing.

"Brother, the Seventh has always coveted the position of Crown Prince. Aren’t you afraid he’ll cause a scene in Jinling City?" If Prince Jing really was incapable of doing anything, he wouldn’t come back to the capital like a defeated dog. With his petty nature, he would certainly turn Jinling City upside down.

"Don’t worry, he won’t be allowed to cause any trouble in Jinling City," the Crown Prince said, his gaze turning fierce. "If he dares to cause a ruckus in Jinling, don’t blame me, as his brother, for being merciless."

Lord Wei heard the Crown Prince say this and didn’t say much more. Once Prince Jing went to Jinling, he would secretly lend him a hand.

"Brother, perhaps I should go to Jinling too." The tenth brother was missing and still not found, so Lord Wei worried about Zhao Yao’s safety, planning to personally go to Jinling. "Although the Seventh might not make much trouble, caution is advised regarding matters in Jinling, and I should go take a look."

"You want to go to Jinling?" the Crown Prince asked in puzzlement, "The matters over there are very stable; there’s no need for you to go."

"And as for the fourth, given his cautious nature, he will certainly anticipate us sending people to assassinate him. If he manages to escape by chance, our activities in Jinling might be discovered by him. For safety’s sake, I think I should go take a look."

His words were not without merit, and the Crown Prince looked towards Duke Zhen, who nodded gently at him.

"Eighth Brother, I’ll suggest to Father tomorrow that you assist the Seventh Brother in going to Jinling. You can also monitor the Seventh there."

"After Lord Wei reaches Jinling City, secretly visit Peng City and thoroughly investigate the copper theft." Duke Zhen trusted Lord Wei’s ability, making him the best person to investigate the copper theft in Peng City. If the situation in Peng City is exposed and can’t be concealed, they could still shift the blame onto Lord Wei.