The crown prince stopped in his tracks and squinted at Little Anzi.
The intimidating look in his eyes sent a chill down Little Anzi's spine.
"Little Anzi, when did you start learning all these dirty tricks from Liang Yuzhou?"
Only Liang Yuzhou could come up with such underhanded schemes. He himself couldn't do it.
A king had his bottom - lines that couldn't be crossed. Lose one's principles, and one would turn into a tyrant.
Little Anzi realized his mistake.
He was too eager to relieve the crown prince's worries, but the crown prince couldn't tolerate the idea of sending Miss Jiang away through underhanded means. So he would just have to keep worrying.
"Your servant pays respects to the crown prince!"
Just as the carriage left the palace path and headed towards the Eastern Palace, they heard someone greeting the prince outside. It was a young and steady voice.
The crown prince lifted the curtain of the carriage. Kneeling on the ground was Liang Wentao.
"Rise. I haven't had the chance to congratulate Lord Liang on your promotion to Deputy Minister of the Secretariat."
The emperor once mentioned Liang Wentao at a family banquet. After the crown prince spoke highly of him, the emperor promoted him. He was promoted from the sixth rank to the third rank in one go. Such a rapid promotion made many people envious.
The Deputy Minister of the Secretariat was a high - ranking official second only to the Minister of the Secretariat in the Secretariat.
However, Liang Wentao was very modest and low - key. He showed no signs of arrogance despite the emperor's favor. Instead, he was more cautious than ever.
Liang Wentao got up and stood with his head bowed.
It was well - known in the capital that the Liang family produced handsome men. Back then, Liang Yuzhou's grandfather and his three brothers were all well - known handsome men in the capital. Naturally, Liang Wentao was no exception.
He was a handsome young man with a tall and slender figure. He resembled Liang Yuzhou in his eyebrows and eyes, but his facial features were softer, giving him an air of gentleness.
However, the sharpness between his eyebrows couldn't be hidden. It was this sharpness that made people not dare to underestimate him.
"Thank you, Your Highness. Your servant owes the imperial grace and also your recommendation. I will surely live up to everyone's expectations and do my bit for the court."
He knew that it was because of the crown prince's approval that the emperor decided to promote him. But he couldn't express his gratitude in a way that seemed like pledging allegiance. It would make him look like a sycophant eager to take sides.
His words were very subtle, and the crown prince understood his meaning.
After exchanging a few polite words, the crown prince returned to the Eastern Palace.
He ordered someone to investigate who Liang Wentao had been associating with recently and if anything had happened to him.
The next day, he received the news.
The mother of the imperial noble consort and Liang Wentao's grandmother were old acquaintances.
As soon as Liang Wentao was promoted, Lady Gao invited Grandmother Liang to her place as a guest and even wanted to arrange a marriage for Liang Wentao.
Fortunately, Grandmother Liang was smart. Knowing that the Gao family was involved with the Second Prince, she politely declined, saying that Liang Wentao was a man of deep affection and loyalty. Since his first wife had passed away less than three years ago, he was in no hurry to remarry.
"No wonder he was so eager to show his loyalty in front of me. It seems someone can't wait to win people over."
The Secretariat was the emperor's central decision - making institution. Any imperial edict would first be known to the Secretariat.
The positions of the Minister and Deputy Minister of the Secretariat were both extremely important.
Moreover, Liang Wentao was promoted just before Princess Lingyang's wedding. Obviously, the emperor intended to replace Qin Feng with him.
"Lu Siming has been too active recently."
Liang Yuzhou was wiping his sword. His casual tone carried a compelling sharpness.
On this fine autumn day, the glazed tiles of the Eastern Palace sparkled in the sunlight. But the brightness didn't reach the crown prince's eyes.
"Father has warned him so many times, but he still doesn't know how to restrain himself. He really ignores Father's good intentions."
The crown prince didn't want to harm his brother unless it was absolutely necessary. Especially since his father cared so much about his reputation.
If the conflict between him and Lu Siming became public, the end result would surely be a fight to the death. Then, how could the emperor maintain his image as a kind - hearted father?
However, Liang Yuzhou looked very relaxed, without a trace of gloom.
"Your Highness seems to have quite a few troubles recently."
He even had the mood to tease.
"Yes, unlike you, this unorthodox Taoist priest, who lives a carefree life."
The crown prince was half - self - deprecating and half - sarcastic.
"Lu Siming has started to win over your Liang family members. Although the entire Liang family has always adhered to the Doctrine of the Mean, it's hard to guarantee that everyone has pure intentions. If someone wants to take the wrong path, Lu Siming will surely spare no expense to tear a hole through that person."
Liang Yuzhou flicked the tip of his sword, and a clear buzzing sound rang out, as if carrying a sharp killing intent.
"Your Highness is worried about Liang Yuchuan? He is under my close surveillance. Every move of his is under my control. He also knows that he is being watched, so he is eager to behave himself. Besides, he has already been expelled from the Liang family. Unless Lu Siming has no one else to use, he will never collude with him."
Just as they were talking, Song Wanchu and Cheng Simian came back from paying respects to the queen in the Yukun Palace.
Liang Yuzhou put away his sword.
The two men stood up and helped their respective lovers to their sides.
Both Song Wanchu and Cheng Simian looked preoccupied.
"Mother said she wanted to meet Miss Jiang. She asked me to bring her with me when I go to pay respects tomorrow."
After Cheng Simian finished speaking, the crown prince's face darkened even more.
The queen didn't approve of sending Jiang Qianyu to the Yukun Palace as the head maid. Once she met her, she would surely promise to make her a concubine.
If his mother spoke up, it would be unfilial for him, as a son, to refuse.
The crown prince rubbed his temples irritably.
"Your Highness, just listen to Mother. Taking Miss Jiang as your concubine will do you more good than harm."
Cheng Simian wasn't so insistent on the promise of exclusive favor in the harem.
Although the crown prince had great ambitions, throughout history, no emperor had ever had exclusive favor in the harem.
Even ordinary men wanted to have multiple wives and concubines. It was too difficult for an emperor to have exclusive favor.
"I will talk to Qian'er again."
"If you go and reason with a woman who is deeply in love with you like this, it will only strengthen her determination to stay by your side."
Liang Yuzhou kindly reminded him, but there was clearly a hint of schadenfreude in his eyes.
"You have to do something to break her heart completely, so that she can realize that you just don't love her."
Song Wanchu wanted to cover Liang Yuzhou's mouth. "Stop giving such bad ideas!"
The crown prince and Liang Yuzhou were fundamentally two different kinds of people.
The crown prince carried too many burdens and had a strong sense of morality. Asking him to deliberately hurt a woman's feelings was a dirty trick in his eyes. How could he do it?
A man born into the royal family and with high expectations placed on him was hard to be as unrestrained as Liang Yuzhou.
He could protect Song Wanchu from being bullied by Princess Lingyang and even created the illusion outside that Yu Huiyan was his true love. Yu Huiyan unknowingly became a target for Wanchu for three years. The crown prince would never do such a thing.
"Either take back your promise of exclusive favor to the crown princess."
Liang Yuzhou didn't care about making things worse and continued to fan the flames.
The crown prince was already very unhappy, but he still kept talking without a sense of propriety.
Song Wanchu guessed that Liang Yuzhou had already come up with an idea to solve the problem. He was just deliberately teasing the crown prince.
The crown prince's desire to kill Liang Yuzhou was already showing in his eyes.
"You seem to understand the situation so well. Then come up with an idea?"
Liang Yuzhou just smiled mysteriously.
"Wanchu, let's go home. There will be guests at home this afternoon. We can't neglect them."
"Who wants to go to your home?"
"Liang Wentao."