PFC Chapter 227: Grand Master Dies
Chapter 227: Grand Master Dies
On the third day after Song Qingwan returned to the Pang family to visit, Grand Tutor Pang died at the age of 82.
The emperor personally issued an imperial edict to express his condolences and recounted the contributions of Grand Tutor Pang over the years.
Master Pang devoted his entire life to the Great Sage Dynasty, fighting in battles for decades, but before he died, he had only one woman by his side. It is truly sad.
In the courtyard, Song Qingwan silently knelt down towards the west and kowtowed three times to bid farewell to her grandfather.
Thinking about how much her grandfather loved her but she couldn't be there to see him off in person, Song Qingwan was filled with hatred and became more determined to dethrone the emperor and eliminate Prince Yu's party.
In the blink of an eye, it was July. The emperor was taking a nap in his bedroom when Li Fuquan suddenly ran in in a panic.
The emperor knew that Li Fuquan always did things properly and would never disturb his rest without reason, so he hurried to see if something had happened to Li Fuquan.
Li Fuquan knelt on the ground and reported in a trembling voice.
"Your Majesty, hurry up! The river in the south of the Yangtze River has burst its banks and caused severe flooding. All the people in the seventeen states have been displaced, and thousands of hectares of fertile farmland have been flooded..."
"What! Is the news accurate?"
The emperor stood up in shock, almost unable to believe his ears.
It has only been a few years since the last flood in the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, Prince Yu took the initiative to volunteer to send people to build dams and manage rivers. It all seems like yesterday. How could such a major disaster happen again?
Li Fuquan's face was filled with heartache, and he almost cried as he nodded to the emperor to confirm. How could a eunuch like him dare to lie about such a big thing?
The emperor slumped down on the dragon throne, his face pale as dust, and passed out after a while of dizziness.
Li Fuquan quickly stepped forward to support the emperor's body to prevent him from falling, and then shouted for help.
"Someone, come quickly! The emperor has fainted, please call the imperial physician!"
The emperor's appearance now seems to have recovered a lot, but in fact his inner body has long been hollowed out. Now he is just being kept alive by the imperial physician with the best medicine.
After such a great shock, the emperor's physical condition was exposed, so at this critical moment, the emperor fell ill and his condition was even more serious than before he was poisoned.
Then, Shangshu Zhong took the lead and directly proposed that the crown prince should come out to take charge of the situation. No one in the court, whether civil or military, stood up to oppose it.
Because everyone understands that the emperor's health will not last much longer, and the Zhong family is the only dominant family in the court.
Not to mention that Minister Zhong is the prince's father-in-law, who dares to raise objections at this time? Wouldn't that be like throwing your head into someone else's hands?
So, Crown Prince Zhao Yujun "reluctantly" ascended the throne ahead of time under the earnest pleas of civil and military officials in the court, and went to court on behalf of the emperor to deal with the flood in the south of the Yangtze River.
Of course, most people supported the prince's early enthronement, but there were naturally officials in the Zhong family who did not get along with him, so some people secretly gossiped about him in front of Song Chengfeng.
"Sir Song is the Prime Minister of the current dynasty and is a first-rank official. You and Shangshu Zhong are supposed to be of the same rank, but Shangshu Zhong has acted on his own without consulting Prime Minister Song. He really doesn't take you seriously."
"Lord Wang, please be careful with your words. You and I are both subjects, and we are supposed to help the emperor solve his problems. Now that the emperor is not feeling well, we should unite as one and work hard for the country."
Song Chengfeng spoke with great righteousness, and he looked upright and uncomplaining, making it hard to tell whether he really thought so or was just afraid to offend Shangshu Zhong.
Facing these questioning looks, Song Chengfeng seemed not to hear a word. He straightened his official robe and walked out of the palace in square steps.
Song Chengfeng was certainly not completely indifferent. He had his own plans.
Now the Song family is indeed unable to compete with the Zhong family. He will not be stupid enough to confront them head-on, let alone against the prince, in which case he will have even less chance of winning.
At this moment, he could only have a chance of survival by going to Song Qingwan to discuss countermeasures.
Because once the prince comes to power, he, the prime minister who is in name only, might be dismissed from office.
After all, Song Chengfeng is the emperor's man, and the new emperor is always wary of the old ministers of the previous dynasty. Generally, he will not entrust them with important tasks, let alone trust them.
A shrewd man like Song Chengfeng naturally understood this, so after the court session, he returned home, changed his clothes, and hurried to the villa.
When Song Qingwan heard Song Chengfeng talk about the emperor's illness and the current situation in the court, she raised her eyebrows in surprise.
She didn't expect that the emperor's body could not withstand such a torture. She had really overestimated him before and thought that the emperor could hold on until the incident in Jiangnan was over.
Now it seems that the prince's ascension to the throne is a foregone conclusion.
Although the prince is nominally in power now, it is hard to say whether the emperor can wake up given his current physical condition. Even if he really wakes up, all power has been seized by Zhao Yujun, so what role does the emperor have?
Seeing that Song Qingwan's face was calm and she remained silent, Song Chengfeng became a little anxious.
"Wan'er, what countermeasures do you have? If the prince ascends the throne now, how can our Song family and Prince Huai's Mansion have any chance to turn things around?"
"Why are you in such a hurry, father? Just proceed according to the original plan."
"But once the emperor dies and the prince takes the throne, will our plan still work?"
"Father, you think too highly of the Crown Prince. With the Crown Prince ascending to the throne, our plan can be implemented ahead of time. Father, who do you think the first person to be suppressed after the new emperor ascends to the throne will be?"
Song Chengfeng frowned and thought for a while, and finally realized it.
"So what do we do now?"
"Father, just do as usual. We just need to wait and see and we will see the results soon."
Song Qingwan picked up the teacup on the table with one hand, placed it in front of her eyes, observed it for a while, and then put it down. She suddenly remembered something and gave a warning.
"Father must not have any conflicts with the Zhong family recently, and he must also tell Song Changwei not to reveal his true colors."
"Don't worry, Chang Wei was chosen by my father from dozens of clan members, so there will be no mistakes."
"That's good"
After seeing Song Chengfeng off, Song Qingwan summarized and analyzed what had happened recently in her mind and finally came to a conclusion.
"I'm afraid that Zhong Xueying has already started to have a rift with the Zhong family."
Song Qingwan's guess was correct. The Zhong family has been so powerful recently. In comparison, Zhong Xueying has been suppressed everywhere in the Prince's Mansion.
Luo Qingqing had the prince under her thumb and almost became his exclusive favorite.
Except for the few days every month when the prince went to Zhong Xueying's room, he basically stayed with Luo Qingqing the rest of the time. This made Zhong Xueying's hope of giving birth to a legitimate son even slimmer.
So Zhong Xueying went back to the Zhong family in anger and found her father for help.
Minister Zhong had just sent away some officials who came to curry his favor and was feeling very happy. When he saw his daughter coming back to her parents' home crying, he felt that it was really unlucky.
But when he thought of Zhong Xueying's current identity, he pinched his nose and asked patiently.
"Ying'er, what's the matter with coming back today?"
"Father, please find a way to kill that bitch in the Prince's Mansion!"