The first thousand one hundred and twenty-eight chapters
The consequence of being cautious was that although King Cheng was inclined to have Emperor Xin banned, there was no deeper calculation, but he did not relax because of it.
until……
The day after King Yu was summoned to the palace for the second time.
On this day, the old emperor, who was lying deep in the palace, finally summoned his nominal eldest son.
Thus, King Cheng finally met his "seriously ill" father.
Without waiting for him to express concern in a pretense, he discovered that not only did the old emperor's condition not worsen, but because of the coal stove, it was even better than before.
Others may not be able to notice this change, but King Cheng can clearly sense it.
However, the old emperor did not explain anything to him.
The power of the emperor is unpredictable.
King Cheng did not ask further questions, but the suspicion that had been suppressed in his heart came to mind again.
But the next development was somewhat beyond his expectation.
As he spoke, he could sense the old emperor's examination of him. After answering calmly and fluently, there seemed to be a satisfied smile in the old emperor's cloudy eyes.
Then, the chief chamberlain who had been following the old emperor took out an imperial edict made of yellow silk.
Right in front of him, the chief eunuch unfolded the imperial edict, and then filled in a name on the old emperor's signal.
Zhao Chengrui.
King Cheng's pupils shrank slightly.
Naturally, he could clearly see the contents of the imperial edict, and Zhao Chengrui was his name.
Following the old eunuch's announcement, King Cheng finally believed that he had really been given the post of superintendent of the country.
"Thank you, Father."
After receiving the imperial edict, the doubts in his heart were confirmed, but he also breathed a real sigh of relief.
King Yu was banned not only because he refused to retreat, but also angered the emperor.
At this moment, a chain of clues has been fully formed in his mind.
First, the old emperor pretended to be seriously ill and recalled King Yu from the frontier to the capital, and summoned him to the palace the next day after his return.
King Cheng believed that on that day King Yu should have accepted the old emperor's examination just like him.
It can also be seen from this that the old emperor's heart was more inclined to Prince Yu as the next successor to the throne than to himself who had been staying in the capital.
Cheng Wang was no exception to this discovery.
He had seen clearly the 20,000-strong expansion of troops that the old emperor had given to Northern Xinjiang a few years ago, as well as the secret protection of King Yu's expedition a few months ago.
In addition, there are some secret behaviors that also prove the old emperor's preference for King Yu.
And this is also one of the reasons why King Yu can compete with him in the same court.
If there are no supporters, no matter how great King Yu's achievements are, his advantage can be reduced by the pens of many civil servants and through various Spring and Autumn writing methods.
Don't underestimate a scholar's pen. If you really use it, sometimes it will be sharper than a military attache's sword.
It was because of the old emperor's secret support that King Cheng's achievements were not obliterated.
Within the capital, the support of the old emperor alone was equal to that of almost all officials.
But the temperament of this old emperor lying on the sickbed was known to everyone. Even though he was not harsh on the princes, he was extremely rational in choosing his successor.
Even if he has an inclination in his heart, if the person he chooses is unqualified, he will not stick to it.
King Yu probably just didn't seize the opportunity and failed the old emperor's examination.
The second summons to King Yu was probably a second chance given to him, but King Yu still failed to pass the exam.
This is not because King Yu is incompetent.
He has proven his ability by being able to manage the northern border to be as lush as it is now and open up so much territory for Dali.
This can only show that he does not meet the old emperor's standards for the next successor.
It is true that he was not grounded simply because he annoyed the emperor.
King Yu must have also discovered this, so he added fuel to certain speculations to cover up the real facts.
Choosing a successor is a major event and cannot be easily exposed before the results are released. Therefore, the old emperor chose to call Prince Yu back because of his worsening illness.
King Yu failed the school entrance examination twice, so this opportunity fell on him.
While he breathed a sigh of relief, King Cheng also secretly sighed that he was lucky.
The prince who can also serve as the supervisor of the country is basically destined to be the next prince.
If King Yu passed the examination and was given the position of supervising the country, he would have no choice but to rebel if he did not want to be eliminated.
With the power he now has in his hands, although the success rate of forcing him to marry is not small, he does not want to do this if possible.
Improper positioning is another issue.
Because even if it succeeds, Dali's foundation will be consumed again.
Then, the old emperor was very diligent to him.
After dealing with it, King Cheng returned to his house with the imperial edict and seal.
After officially taking office today, he finally believed that this matter was true.
This is not because Cheng Wang’s mental endurance is insufficient.
As the master of a large world, I am not very interested in a small Da Li.
The fight for the crown prince position of Dali is just to lay the foundation for the fight for the entire Ancient Moon Realm.
The reason why he was a little worried about gains and losses was because he did not expect that the goal he had planned for several years would actually be achieved.
It's a little too peaceful.
However, he did not find any obvious illogicality in the process, and the result was good for him, so after doubting it for a while, he chose to accept it calmly.
There is nothing wrong with being skeptical, but if you are suspicious of everything, then there is no need to do anything.
After playing with the seal for a while, King Cheng placed it on the table.
Although the position of supervising the country is not the same as that of a prince, it is basically the same.
In a sense, this already represents the attitude of the old emperor.
With the support of the person on the throne, and the fact that most of the civil and military officials were his people, in King Cheng's view, the crown prince's position was basically a certainty.
"It's just that I didn't expect that the territory of Dali has become such a mess!"
King Cheng sighed leisurely.
With the Mingyue Tower secrets covering almost the entire Dali, coupled with the official power on the surface, King Cheng was basically aware of the situation in Dali.
It's just that all along, his mind has been on fighting for the throne. Even though he has handled some government affairs in order to show his ability, he actually doesn't care much about it.
They were just mortal natives, and King Cheng didn't really take them to heart at all.
But now, when these people were about to become his people, he felt the consequences of letting them go.