Dongfang Heng returned to the inner room, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently stroked her delicate, porcelain-like face with his jade-like fingers. A gentle smile flashed in his deep eyes. He wanted her to have a good sleep, and perhaps he could tell her the specific plan after she woke up.
At the same time, Dongfang Zhan was standing in the study of the Zhan Prince's Mansion, coldly looking at Yu Xin opposite him, his sharp eyes unfathomable: "What exactly happened that the guards who bullied the people in the year and month of Yang were beheaded?"
He was just pondering a plan to deal with the Crown Prince when he suddenly received this news. He was almost stunned. Qingyan was in a time of peace and prosperity, with strict military law. How could such a thing happen?
"Your Highness, Wang Qiang, Huang Liang, and Li Yan are not your subordinates. They were just born in the same year and month, and were selected to serve in the army. However, they were originally petty thugs, and rather lecherous. Once, while on an errand, they took a fancy to a young woman, and seeing that no one was around, they dragged her into the carriage and raped her..."
The natural disaster was predicted by Yu Xin, and the solution was also explained by him. There are not many people born in Yang years and Yang months. In order to make the best use of everyone, when each person takes office, he will tell Yu Xin a divination. Based on their birth date and ability, he will reasonably arrange their positions. The positions of the people involved in the accident were also arranged at his suggestion. Moreover, these people have a very ordinary temperament, so he did not pay much attention to them and simply assigned them to the army as soldiers. He did not expect that such a big incident would occur.
"Li Fan is truly a muddle-headed official." Dongfang Zhan gritted his teeth, his sharp eyes burning with anger. Five strong men and one weak woman—anyone with eyes could see who was right and who was wrong. Yet he actually accepted bribes and made such a muddle-headed judgment. He's truly hopeless.
If he were smarter, he would have executed those who made the mistake, cleared the mother and daughter's name, not only suppressing the matter and gaining a good reputation, but also securing his official position and wealth under the guise of selflessness. Instead, he was greedy for a few hundred taels of silver and ruined himself. He was utterly foolish.
"His Majesty only executed those five men and cleared the name of the mother and daughter, without further investigation. The guards in the army who are of the same age should be fine." Yu Xin stroked his white beard and slowly gave his analysis.
Dongfang Zhan shook his head, his gaze deep: "You don't understand Father. He's a man who likes to get to the bottom of things. His use of magic to divine and place those born in the years and months of the living is already incredibly shocking. If it weren't for the natural disasters, it wouldn't be believable at all. If those born in the years and months of the living were doing good deeds, Father would have increasingly believed in your divination. But those people did such shameless things, so Father will definitely have doubts about this..."
Yu Xin was startled: "Your Highness means that the Emperor's men have already set their sights on those guards born in the year of Yang and the month of Yang?"
"If I'm not mistaken, each of them has at least two or three people secretly watching them in shifts." Dongfang Zhan had witnessed the emperor's methods many times before; for people he was unsure about, he would have people keeping a close watch on them in secret.
"So what should we do now?" Yu Xin knew how to perform magic, but he didn't have much cunning. Faced with this relatively complicated and somewhat dangerous situation, he was at a loss.
"What else can we do? We should remain still and let them perform their duties in the army. We should not have any contact with them for a month." A month is enough time to prove their character and innocence. As long as they behave themselves and make no mistakes during this period, the emperor's people will lower their guard and gradually believe that the five people were just an accident.
"This subordinate understands." Yu Xin looked at Dongfang Zhan with even more admiration. If it were anyone else, upon learning that their most capable subordinate was being monitored by the Emperor, they would definitely panic and try to find various reasons to recall their subordinate. In doing so, not only would they fail to save them, but they would also arouse the Emperor's suspicion and indirectly admit that the ritual to ask the heavens was premeditated.
Prince Zhan, however, remained still and responded to all changes with unchanging principles. Everyone held their positions and made no mistakes. Even if the emperor wanted to arrest the wrong person, he couldn't. It was truly a brilliant strategy.
Dongfang Zhan's mood was not as relaxed as Yu Xin's. Ten days ago, they raped a woman, which caused quite a stir. Ten days later, they actually dared to rape a second woman. Were they completely unscrupulous, or were they instigated by someone?
If it's the former, that's fine; it's just that they're reckless and lustful. But if it's the latter, then it's troublesome. Someone is using those five ignorant people to deal with all the secret guards he's planted in the army.
His men had been monitoring Dongfang Heng and Dongfang Hong, but they hadn't detected anything unusual. However, at this crucial moment, he couldn't be careless and had to be extremely cautious to avoid any further mistakes.
Yu Xin and Dongfang Zhan always kept in touch privately. Whether they were coming to or leaving the Zhan Prince's Mansion, they always traveled by carriage and were very careful.
The carriage was draped with a thick curtain, making it impossible to see inside from the outside. Yu Xin didn't dare to be careless and walked cautiously. Only when he arrived at his own door did he breathe a sigh of relief, lift the curtain, get off the carriage, and slowly walk through the gate.
Suddenly, a figure appeared beside him and grabbed his arm tightly: "Lord Yu, may I speak with you in private?"
Yu Xin was startled and turned to look. The newcomer was a man dressed in ordinary brocade robes, over fifty years old, with a weathered face but sharp eyes: "Prime Minister Li, what brings you here?"
He was Dongfang Zhan's secret subordinate, and only the two of them knew about their relationship. He was very surprised when Prime Minister Li suddenly came to see him, especially since Prime Minister Li had taken off his official hat and robes and disguised himself to come to see him. Had something serious happened?
Prime Minister Li looked around and lowered his voice, saying, "Lord Yu, this is the entrance, it's not convenient to talk here."
Yu Xin turned around and saw that the carriage had already been driven to the backyard by the driver. The nearest teahouse and restaurant were two streets away. In front of the court officials, he always maintained an aloof and detached demeanor, and had no excessive entanglements with any princes or ministers. He could not openly walk too far alongside Prime Minister Li: "Let's go inside and talk."
Upon entering the study and dismissing his attendants, Yu Xin went straight to the point: "What brings Prime Minister Li to see me?" Prime Minister Li was Dongfang Zhan's maternal grandfather, a highly respected figure, and Dongfang Zhan was on the same side as him, so he was quite respectful to Prime Minister Li.
"Does Lord Yu know about Li Fan's matter?" Prime Minister Li didn't waste any words and went straight to the point. His slightly red eyes and haggard pupils showed that he had been troubled for a long time.
"Of course I know." The fact that Li Fan was foolish and ignorant, did not know what was important, accepted bribes, and made arbitrary judgments had spread throughout the streets and alleys, becoming a laughing stock for people. As a diviner, Yu Xin naturally had heard about it long ago.
"I implore you, Lord Yu, to save Li Fan's life." Prime Minister Li gazed at Yu Xin with sincere eyes, a hint of tears glistening in the depths of his pupils.
Yu Xin was taken aback: "Prime Minister Li, Li Fan's crime was judged by the Emperor himself, and no one can change it. Even if I wanted to save him, I would be powerless to do so."
“The Emperor is the supreme ruler, and his judgment is indeed unchangeable. However, Your Excellency can.” A deep hope flickered in Prime Minister Li’s weary eyes.
"What do you mean?" Yu Xin was puzzled. He was just an ordinary minister. Why could he do what others couldn't, and even change the mind of the emperor? It was unbelievable.
"My lord is skilled in divination and consulting the heavens. If you use this little trick—by casting a divination and saying a few good words about Li Fan—he can be saved."
Whether Dongfang Zhan planted people in the army or seized Dongfang Heng's military power, he used Yu Xin's magic to create a scheme that deceived the heavens and made everything seem perfectly logical.
He was Dongfang Zhan's maternal grandfather. Dongfang Zhan had mentioned this matter to him once unintentionally, but he hadn't taken it to heart. Li Fan had accepted bribes and made arbitrary judgments, resulting in his demotion to commoner status and exile to the frontier. He was so worried that he couldn't eat and pondered ways to save him every day, but he couldn't find any flaws. Until half an hour ago, when the servants in his mansion were discussing Yu Xin's superb magic, he suddenly remembered that he could ask Yu Xin for help to save Li Fan.
Looking at Prime Minister Li's expectant gaze, Yu Xin's expression changed slightly: "Prime Minister Li, deceiving the Emperor is a capital offense." He had succeeded by using magic to question the heavens, something ethereal and incomprehensible to all the civil and military officials. One such incident was enough to keep him on edge for half a year; how could he dare to deceive a second time?
Moreover, one must weigh the pros and cons and think twice before doing such a thing. For example, helping Dongfang Zhan to plant people is to consolidate his power for his ascension to the throne. It is a great help to him and also a gamble on one's own future wealth and glory. If the gamble is won, one can be rich and noble for life.
As for Li Fan, he had no connection with him and was a playboy who spent his days indulging in pleasure. He didn't know what benefit it would bring him to help Li Fan. If he accidentally exposed himself in front of the emperor and was beheaded as a warning, he would regret it deeply.
Prime Minister Li chuckled: "Lord Yu, let's be frank. This so-called 'divine inquiry' is a huge deception, designed to deceive the Emperor and plant those born in the year of Yang and month of Yang into the various fortresses of Qingyan. You have already deceived the Emperor once. If the Emperor finds out, you are worthy of being sentenced to beheading."
"You're threatening me?" Yu Xinwen's gentle gaze instantly hardened.
"No, I only want to ask Lord Yu to help save Li Fan." Dongfang Zhan is his grandson. Yu Xin dared to cheat in the ritual to ask the heavens because he was acting on Dongfang Zhan's orders. If he exposes Yu Xin, he will also implicate Dongfang Zhan. He is not so reckless as to not know what is important.
“Young Master Li grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, he doesn’t understand the suffering of ordinary people, he’s greedy and lustful, and he’s extravagant. Wouldn’t it be better to send him to the border for a few years to temper his character and make him a pillar of society, bringing glory to the family?”
"To be honest, I have many enemies in the court. Once Fan'er leaves the capital and is no longer protected by the Prime Minister's mansion, he will definitely run into trouble. I love this grandson the most and don't want anything to happen to him."
"His Majesty has just sentenced Li Fan to exile to the frontier. If I were to perform divination at this time, what reason could I give to prevent him from going?" Li Fan is merely the son of a minister, who only knows how to eat, drink, and have fun every day. He has no impact on the situation in Qingyan. If we want to keep him in the capital, we need to find a very appropriate reason, but this reason is really hard to come up with.
Yu Xin's tone softened, and Prime Minister Li's attitude also eased: "I have already made all the arrangements. When the time comes, Lord Yu Xin only needs to perform the divination and state that Li Fan cannot leave the capital..."
"Bang!" The tightly closed study door was pushed open forcefully, and a tall figure strode in, his gaze towards Prime Minister Li and Yu Xin almost spitting fire with anger.
Chapter 219: Dongfang Zhan is furious
Dressed in a sandalwood brocade robe and wearing a purple-gold crown, his sharp eyes exuded an imposing aura, and an innate arrogance emanated from his brows. His handsome and dashing appearance left Yu Xin and Prime Minister Li speechless: "Your Majesty..."
How did he get here? How long have he been here? How come they didn't notice at all? The guards outside the door didn't make a sound either, where are they all?
"How dare you two plot to deceive me here!" The emperor, recalling the conversation he had just overheard, was furious. He kicked Yu Xin and Prime Minister Li to the ground with both feet, and his angry roar echoed throughout the study.