After Transmigrating Into A Love-Brained Scumbag Villain - Chapter 21

Zhao Shangrong was not an engineering student. Her understanding of mechanical principles and related knowledge was only at the level of high school physics. Therefore, asking her to promote industrial development in this era was impossible.

Her only ability was to draw out her ideas and concepts, then let the craftsmen below study and perfect them.

As for how much effort and resources the craftsmen would need to spend to create a hand-cranked fan that met her requirements? That was not something she needed to worry about.

Wang Yaoshuang also had no intention of interfering with His Highness’s behavior—as long as His Highness did not do anything outrageous or harmful, she could make trouble however she liked.

What they did not know was that while they hid inside the prince’s manor and lived their carefree little days, the outside world had produced many speculations about them.

In particular, His Highness accompanying Wang Yaoshuang on her return visit and the harmonious married relationship they displayed gave people a sense of unreality.

The main reason was that His Highness’s attitude before and after the marriage was drastically different. There was a sense of division—as if the His Highness before marriage and the His Highness after marriage were not the same person. Otherwise, no one’s behavior could possibly be so contradictory.

Thus, opinions such as “the Prince of Yingchuan is putting on an act in front of others to gain the Wang family’s support, so he can go to his fief and take command as soon as possible” became the mainstream view in this discussion.

Fan Ye also thought so.

Inside Shiqian Hall.

The emperor, dressed in dark red robes, lifted his head from the memorials and glanced at Fan Ye, who was seated below. He asked, “When Minister Fan went to visit Seventh Brother last time, was Seventh Brother truly unwell?”

The emperor said carelessly, “Since Seventh Brother has not asked me to let him go to Yingchuan, why must I guard against him at every turn?”

The emperor pondered for a moment, then asked, “Then, in Minister Fan’s opinion, what should I do?”

He had always believed that, based on the Prince of Yingchuan’s past conduct, whether “he” would become obsessed with beauty or not, this was all a show “he” was putting on in front of everyone in order to win over the Wang family.

Fan Ye hesitated briefly, then said truthfully, “That day, the Prince of Yingchuan did not speak privately with Grand Master Wang, nor did he ever mention anything related to going to Yingchuan Commandery. And because of the grievance suffered by his daughter, Grand Master Wang’s attitude toward the Prince of Yingchuan was rather indifferent. In the short term, Grand Master Wang should not make arrangements on behalf of the Prince of Yingchuan.”

After a while, the emperor said, “On the day the Princess Consort of Yingchuan returned home, Minister Fan was also at the Wang residence. In your opinion, will the Wang family arrange this matter for Seventh Brother?”

Fan Ye said, “The Prince of Yingchuan refused to allow the imperial physicians to examine him, so this minister does not dare make a definite judgment.”

Fan Ye said, “This minister has an upper, middle, and lower strategy. The upper strategy is to arrange spies to infiltrate the Prince of Yingchuan’s manor and collect evidence against him. First, this would allow Your Majesty to grasp the Prince of Yingchuan’s movements at any time and make timely preparations. Second, as long as the Prince of Yingchuan harbors rebellious intentions, Your Majesty will have a legitimate reason to depose him.”

At present, the easiest ones to control were the Prince of Yingchuan, the Prince of Yiyang, and the Prince of Luling, who were all in Jiankang.

The emperor’s expression remained as usual, but his gaze was dark and deep, like the thick ink ground on the desk.

Although His Highness had not tried to win over the Wang family on the day of the princess consort’s return visit, no one could guarantee that His Highness would not continue using the princess consort to slowly change the Wang family’s attitude, then try to win them over later.

Fan Ye had a good personal relationship with Wang Ru, but private friendship was private friendship. When matters of the nation were involved, he would still choose to stand on the emperor’s side without hesitation.

The emperor said, “Why did I hear that Seventh Brother and the princess consort have a rather good relationship?”

Fan Ye was also unsure whether His Highness and the princess consort’s relationship was truly harmonious. Judging from the situation that day when the princess consort fed His Highness medicine, the princess consort was at least inclined toward her husband. As for His Highness…

The emperor looked at him, his gaze heavy, clearly considering his words.

He said, “Forget it. As long as he behaves himself, whether he is truly ill or pretending, let him be.”

The emperor naturally would not gossip about his younger brother’s inner residence affairs. It was only that the recent rumors in the capital about His Highness and the princess consort had gradually become exaggerated and had reached his ears.

At this moment, Fan Ye rose and bowed. “Please forgive this minister, Your Majesty. This minister dares to offer blunt advice: the princes cannot be indulged like this!”

Fan Ye knew that his words might be suspected of sowing discord between the emperor and his brothers, but for the sake of Great Luo’s realm and to prevent the previous dynasty’s “Chaos of the Nine Kings” from reappearing, the power of the imperial princes had to be weakened.

Among these three princes, the Prince of Yingchuan was the oldest and the most restless, so the Prince of Yingchuan had to be used to kill the chicken and warn the monkeys.

“Even if the Prince of Yingchuan has not yet proposed going to Yingchuan to command the provincial troops, his Chief Clerk Chen Huaiyuan and the Chen clan behind him will certainly not allow him to remain in the capital for long. The fact that the Prince of Yingchuan has made no moves now does not mean he will not do so in the future. Therefore, precautions must still be made early. When necessary, Your Majesty may even strike first.”

The emperor said, “What if Seventh Brother has no rebellious intent? If I do this, would it not harm our harmony?”

Fan Ye once again praised the emperor’s benevolence and affection for his siblings before giving the “middle strategy.” He said, “Therefore, the person Your Majesty arranges must be skilled at disguise. The smarter they are, and the more they know how to use every opportunity to approach the Prince of Yingchuan, the better.”

“If that truly does not work, then use Grand Consort Yun’s madness to make an issue and restrain the Prince of Yingchuan. It would be best to make him commit a mistake on his own. That way, Your Majesty will have ready-made evidence against him. But this strategy can easily be detected by the Prince of Yingchuan. If the Prince of Yingchuan is ruthless enough to ignore Grand Consort Yun, its effect will not be great. Therefore, this is the middle strategy.”

The emperor thoughtfully tapped the table. “And the lower strategy?”

Fan Ye seemed somewhat conflicted. After a long while, he finally spoke as if resigned to death. “Tamper with his meals.”

The emperor froze. Clearly, he had not expected Fan Ye to be so ruthless.

“The Assistant Court Physician in the Prince of Yingchuan’s manor, Mi Zhong, comes from Grand Consort Yun’s former subordinates. His appointment was specially permitted by the late emperor, and he was personally chosen by Grand Consort Yun. With him there, poisoning the meals can naturally only be a lower strategy with a low chance of success. Therefore, if Your Majesty permits it, this minister has a way to remove that Assistant Court Physician, then choose someone from among the imperial physicians to replace him.”

The emperor suddenly shouted coldly, “Enough!”

Fan Ye’s heart trembled, and he stopped continuing to devise plans for murdering the Prince of Yingchuan.

The emperor’s face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He said in a low voice, “I will treat this matter as if I never heard it. Do not harbor such thoughts again. Otherwise, do not blame me for disregarding your past merits and punishing you for the crime of plotting to murder an imperial prince!”

Fan Ye kowtowed, drenched in sweat, and pleaded guilty.

He had been too reckless and had overestimated the emperor’s resolve.

The emperor also knew that without ruthlessness, the throne could not be stable. However, since Fan Ye could secretly harm the Prince of Yingchuan through his meals, then perhaps one day, someone could use the same method to harm the emperor himself.

He did not care about the Prince of Yingchuan’s life or death. He was only worried about himself.

Fortunately, Fan Ye had only had this thought and had not actually carried it out.

Moreover, when the late emperor had planned to adopt the emperor out to a collateral imperial relative, Fan Ye had run around everywhere and mediated, ultimately making the late emperor change his mind. If not for that, unless all the other princes had died, the throne would never have fallen to him.

Later, on the road when Xie Mian and the others called him back to inherit the throne, he had encountered danger several times, and Fan Ye had cleverly resolved those dangers each time.

Thinking of Fan Ye’s loyalty and protection toward him, the emperor did not plan to pursue the matter. He asked, “If we use the upper strategy, in your opinion, how should it be arranged?”

Fan Ye wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “It would be best to use two groups of people for this matter, proceeding along an open line and a hidden line. Use one person to attract everyone’s attention. This way, we can ensure that the hidden piece can smoothly collect evidence against the Prince of Yingchuan.”

As for the candidates and how to plant people in the Prince of Yingchuan’s manor, he had long thought it through. “When the late emperor passed away, the Prince of Yingchuan was still young. Emperor Huang did not attend to court affairs and never cared about the princes’ studies. Therefore, to this day, the Prince of Yingchuan, the Prince of Yiyang, and the Prince of Luling still do not have a princely tutor, princely companion, or literary aide by their sides to guide them in studying the classics.

“The position of ‘princely tutor’ is high-ranking and powerful. It also has a close relationship with the princes and is often a position that only great aristocratic clans can assume. Therefore, appointing a princely tutor is equal to providing assistance to the princes. The same principle applies to ‘princely companion’ and ‘literary aide.’ Therefore, ever since the late emperor began suppressing the noble clans, the positions of ‘princely tutor’ and ‘princely companion’ have often been left vacant, with only ‘literary aides’ and study attendants appointed.

“Study attendants hold low status, but they can also take charge of record-keeping matters. The noble clans often disdain serving as study attendants to princes, so this post is usually held by men from humble or non-aristocratic families. And such humble families are mostly recruited and promoted by the court. Your Majesty broke through the prejudice of family rank and promoted humble families, so their loyalty to Your Majesty absolutely exceeds that of the noble clans. If they are made study attendants to the Prince of Yingchuan, they will certainly devote themselves completely to fulfilling the mission!”

The emperor’s eyes lit up. “That is indeed a good idea. But does Minister Fan have trustworthy candidates for literary aide or study attendant?”

The Court of Ceremonies under Fan Ye’s management had precisely this kind of function, so he had plenty of candidates under him.

He said, “This minister has one candidate: Liu Su, Erudite of the Imperial Academy. He is a famous scholar. In his youth, he became renowned throughout the realm for his literary talent. Aside from lecturing to students of the Imperial Academy, he also often goes out to lecture and hold pure conversations with famous scholars…”

The emperor said, “Such a famous scholar—would it not be a pity to have him serve as Seventh Brother’s literary aide? Hearing you praise him so much, I even want to transfer him to my side as a Secretariat Yellow Gate Attendant.”

Fan Ye said, “Liu Su has more than ten disciples, all lofty-minded scholars from humble families who love learning and do not like forming factions with officials. We may choose from among them.”

“And… the hidden piece?” the emperor asked.

Fan Ye said cautiously, “This minister fears the walls have ears.”

The emperor understood.

He remained silent for a long time. In the end, he nodded. “Then I will leave this matter for you to arrange.”

Author’s Note:

His Highness: Who said I wouldn’t become obsessed with beauty? I’m quite obsessed with the princess consort’s beauty.

Fan Ye: …

—

Side Note:

The original meaning of “humble families” did not refer to poor people. It generally referred to small and medium landlord families outside the aristocratic clans, also called commoner clans. There were also impoverished scholars whose families had once been decent but later declined and became too poor to live properly.

Because during this period, knowledge was monopolized by the aristocratic clans. If a poor person could afford to study, it meant their ancestors had once been wealthy.

What truly allowed ordinary people to enter officialdom and rise upward was the appearance of the imperial examination system. However, during the Sui and Tang dynasties, the imperial examination system was still a tool controlled by aristocratic families. For example, everyone knows Du Fu and Luo Binwang were poor, but in reality, their ancestors had been officials or members of great clans. Their families were still wealthy when they were young and only later declined.

The imperial examination system only became more civilianized, allowing commoners to use knowledge to enter the upper class, after the rise of private academies in the Song dynasty.