Chapter Forty-Four: No Sooner Has One Wave Subsided Than Another Rises!

In the distance, Fang Xiaoru was still watching the commotion over here.

Upon hearing this conversation, a sudden flash of light crossed his eyes.

He immediately turned around and headed straight for the Prince Xian's Mansion.

Night fell bit by bit, and the dome of the sky gradually darkened.

The previously bustling streets quickly returned to tranquility.

Today's events were too sudden and unexpected. When Zhu Yunkan led a group of Embroidered Uniform Guards back to the Prince Wu's Mansion, escorting Lan Yu and Fu Ye, the ripples of the incident were still lingering.

Prince Xian's Mansion.

Night had fallen. In Zhu Yunwen's study, dozens of candles illuminated the room brightly.

By the time Fang Xiaoru returned, Huang Zicheng had also hurried back.

Zhu Yunwen anxiously and impatiently questioned the two men about the situation.

Fang Xiaoru took a sip of tea and then recounted everything he had witnessed and experienced outside the Duke of Liang's mansion to the other two in complete detail.

Finally, he said, "It is hateful that Lan Yu! I previously thought he possessed a fiery temper and could never tolerate any wrongdoing, but when matters came to a head, he turned out to be a cowardly and spineless wretch. Even when given the opportunity to resist, he squandered the chance. Hateful, simply hateful!"

Huang Zicheng frowned and said, "Strange. From what I know of Lan Yu, he is by no means such a person."

"Why would he submit so obediently?"

Zhu Yunwen pondered for a moment and said, "Could it be that the two of them conspired in private long ago, and today's affair was merely a performance for us to see?"

"No!" Fang Xiaoru and Huang Zicheng both shook their heads in denial.

Fang Xiaoru said, "I witnessed the scene with my own eyes. The situation today was indeed extremely perilous. A single misstep would have resulted in an irrecoverable impasse for them."

"If Lan Yu and the Prince of Wu had truly plotted this beforehand to put on a show for outsiders, then Wang Bi leading the nobles and military generals to intervene would certainly not have happened afterward."

Huang Zicheng nodded and said, "Indeed. Yet this matter is truly bizarre; Lan Yu's reaction greatly exceeded our expectations."

Soon, his brow relaxed into a smile, and he said, "No matter."

"Now that the Prince of Wu has arrested Lan Yu and caused such a huge uproar, almost coming to blows and triggering a bloody conflict with the faction of military nobles led by Wang Bi..."

"Although the incident has subsided, the imperial court cannot avoid holding the Prince of Wu accountable."

"I have already contacted the censors and several supervising secretaries, waiting only for tomorrow morning's court session to impeach him severely several times over."

"We shall impeach both Lan Yu for his crimes and the Prince of Wu for his brazen audacity."

"With these dual approaches, we shall ensure neither of them can ever make a comeback."

Fang Xiaoru stroked his beard and said, "Brother Huang's plan is excellent. The arrest of Lan Yu is merely the beginning of the matter, far from its conclusion."

"Tomorrow in the imperial court, everything will depend on Brother Huang."

"We must strike them down completely in one fell swoop and sweep away all obstacles to establishing the Prince Xian as the crown prince."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen felt a surge of excitement and added, "Can we now set in motion the measures we arranged previously?"

"Not yet!" Fang Xiaoru shook his head and said, "His Majesty has always favored his own kin deeply. Even for grave offenses, he cannot bear to impose severe punishment."

"If we deploy all our means at once, His Majesty may not necessarily strike down the Prince of Wu with a single blow."

"Instead, it is better to hold them back for now. We shall submit a memorial tomorrow, present a confidential report the next day, escalating the charges day by day. Over time, the anger accumulated in His Majesty's heart will grow ever greater."

"The punishment inflicted upon the Prince of Wu will consequently become heavier and heavier, ensuring he never has a chance to rise again."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen bowed in admiration and said, "Teacher truly lives up to your reputation as one well-versed in the sages' books. The strategy you have devised is far superior to what others could conceive. It was this student who failed to think deeply enough."

"Quite right. We shall follow Teacher's plan, which will surely drive him to his doom."

Zhu Yunwen paused for a moment, then hypocritically continued, "Only, if we do this, it will inevitably cause Royal Grandfather grief and sorrow day after day, harming his elderly constitution. That would make me, as a grandson, unfilial."

Fang Xiaoru quickly instructed, "Your Highness Prince Xian possesses benevolence and filial piety, but at a juncture like this, you must never show leniency."

"Eliminating the Prince of Wu and clearing away the obstacles to Your Highness becoming the crown prince—once Your Highness ascends the throne in the future, wields the Great Ming empire, governs the realm well, allows the common people to live and work in peace, and ensures the Great Ming endures for ten thousand generations—that will be the greatest loyalty and filial piety toward His Majesty."

"If Your Highness merely dwells on how to spare His Majesty from grief in the present and fails to thoroughly overthrow the Prince of Wu, thereby allowing him a chance to stage a comeback and seize the empire of Great Ming..."

"That would be a betrayal of His Majesty, a betrayal of the hundreds of millions of common folk across the realm, and true unfilial piety!"

"Entrusting the empire of Great Ming to his hands would make Your Highness a sinner of the Zhu family, as well as a sinner before the countless multitudes of the world!"

Zhu Yunwen looked solemn and respectful, saying, "Teacher's instructions are entirely correct. This student has learned much!"

Huang Zicheng said, "The most pressing matter right now is how to assign crimes to Lan Yu and the Prince of Wu at tomorrow's court session. We must thoroughly deliberate on this."

Zhu Yunwen nodded and said, "Indeed, we must not lower our guard. That day in court, he openly demanded the position of crown prince and demanded the empire of Great Ming, yet ultimately emerged unscathed and withdrew safely."

"Today's affair was also initiated by him; he must have made foolproof preparations."

"We must never underestimate the enemy or lower our guard."

Fang Xiaoru smiled and said, "There is a ready-made method: we go tonight to seize Lan Yu into our custody, interrogate him through the night, establish his guilt to create an ironclad case, and incidentally implicate the Prince of Wu as well."

"We shall simply claim that the Prince of Wu and Lan Yu conspired to rebel, and that the Prince of Wu arrested Lan Yu only because the plot was exposed."

"With Lan Yu's confession and accusation, it will be an absolute certainty from which no one can ever appeal."

Huang Zicheng looked astonished and said, "But Lan Yu is in the hands of the Prince of Wu, guarded by the Embroidered Uniform Guards. How could we possibly seize him?"

"Could Brother Fang manage to incite rebellion among the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Jiang Huan?"

Fang Xiaoru smiled and shook his head, saying, "That is naturally impossible."

"However, did you all forget that a few years ago, His Majesty stripped the Embroidered Uniform Guards of their authority to interrogate and imprison suspects?"

"At present, the prisons of the Embroidered Uniform Guards have long been empty. Having gone unused for years, the instruments of torture were also destroyed and have not been replaced."

"The Prince of Wu has taken both Lan Yu and that Fu Ye and locked them up inside his own residence."

"In my view, they may well negotiate tonight, or even reconcile once more."

"Our only recourse now is to order the Three Judicial Offices to step forward."

"If Lan Yu is innocent, he should not have been arrested."

"If Lan Yu has committed a crime, according to the laws of our dynasty, he should be detained in the Ministry of Punishments' prison. By what logic is he locked up in the Prince of Wu's mansion?"

Huang Zicheng's eyes lit up as he abruptly stood to his feet.

"Listening to your explanation just now, I completely overlooked this layer."

"We can immediately contact the Ministry of Punishments, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate, having them step forward to negotiate and order the Prince of Wu to transfer the prisoner to the Ministry of Punishments."

"Once the prisoner reaches the Ministry of Punishments, we can interrogate him through the night. Under heavy torture, Lan Yu will confess to whatever we demand!"

Zhu Yunwen frowned and said, "I am afraid he will not hand Lan Yu over, will he? Even when Wang Bi led several thousand young nobles and military generals, he could not force the Prince of Wu to hand over the prisoner. If the Three Judicial Offices intervene to negotiate, would he really surrender him?"

"That is different!" Huang Zicheng said, "Although Wang Bi acted under the banner of suppressing rebellion, everyone knows full well that the Prince of Wu acted rashly, but he is certainly not rebelling."

"So much time has passed, and His Majesty has yet to issue an imperial edict to stop him; this constitutes tacit approval."

"Wang Bi lacks both standing and justification. If matters truly came to blows, regardless of the outcome, he would come to no good end."

"Yet for the Three Judicial Offices to step forward, demanding that the Prince of Wu transfer the prisoner and escort him to the prison of the Ministry of Punishments—that is entirely justified and in accordance with the Great Ming Code. What reason does the Prince of Wu have to refuse?"

"The Ministry of Punishments also has soldiers and guards of its own. Since the Prince of Wu could capture Lan Yu, can the Ministry of Punishments not seize the prisoner?"

"If the Ministry of Punishments, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censorate join forces to negotiate and he still stubbornly refuses to hand over the prisoner, then his arrest of Lan Yu is harboring malicious intent, and he will be indefensible no matter what!"

"However, this matter is of the utmost importance. Although I am acquainted with the Minister of Punishments Yang Jing, the Chief of the Court of Judicial Review Zhou Zhiqing, and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate Yuan Tai, my friendship with them is not deep."

"I am afraid Your Highness Prince Xian will have to step forward personally for this to go smoothly!"

Zhu Yunwen hesitated slightly and said, "If I step forward, and Royal Grandfather finds out, he might think that we brothers are at odds and intentionally fighting among ourselves. Would that be appropriate?"

He had always been extremely careful to maintain his image of benevolence and filial piety in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart, even though he hated Zhu Yunkan to the core, outwardly he still maintained the appearance of a loving elder brother and respectful younger brother.

"No!" Huang Zicheng said, "If it were any other matter, it would naturally be inconvenient for Your Highness to step forward."

"But urging the Three Judicial Offices to handle the case impartially and have the prisoner transferred for detention in the Ministry of Punishments' prison—this is not a fight between brothers, but rather an elder brother's care for his younger brother, preventing any accidents from befalling Lan Yu in the Prince of Wu's mansion, which would leave the Prince of Wu with a thousand mouths and unable to clear his name."

"Your Highness acts thusly out of tender affection for your younger brother. Whether outsiders or His Majesty, what could they possibly say?"

This line of reasoning was, to some extent, self-deception.

Old Zhu was a man of extreme shrewdness; how could he fail to see through such petty scheming?

However, this was precisely what distinguished Huang Zicheng from a top-tier strategist.

He fancied himself brilliant, meticulous, intellectually superior, and infallible in his calculations.

In reality, when exercising patience and restraint, he was barely passable.

Once he began plotting major affairs, a tiny error at the start led to a thousand miles of deviation.

The historical Zhu Yunwen followed his advice and was ultimately led astray into an abyss.

"There is one more matter!" Fang Xiaoru added, "Lan Yu has already been arrested, but how to sentence him has yet to be finalized."

"The Prince of Wu locked him in his own mansion, likely to find a way to exonerate Lan Yu."

"Yet investigating cases and assigning guilt is precisely the duty of the Three Judicial Offices. According to the law, Lan Yu's case ought to be tried jointly by the Three Judicial Offices."

"If the Three Judicial Offices go to demand the prisoner and the Prince of Wu stubbornly refuses to surrender him, thereby offending the Three Judicial Offices, then when they preside over Lan Yu's case in the future..."

Fang Xiaoru stroked his beard and left the rest unsaid.

The implication was already glaringly obvious.

"Brilliant!" Zhu Yunwen clapped his hands. "Then let us not delay; we shall set out immediately. We must get Lan Yu into our hands, interrogate him through the night, and forge an ironclad case!"