Chapter 80
Arlie did not answer, but his gaze drifted subtly toward the other princes of Da Qi. The moment that gaze landed, even Qi Junyou, who had been wearing a look of complete disinterest, sat up straight.
Qi Junyan curled his lips, his expression clearly saying, "This has nothing to do with me."
Qi Junmu continued in a gentle tone: "Arlie, it's fine if you don't answer. I do have some guesses of my own. Prince Ping is my second brother, beloved by the people, and his mother's clan holds considerable power. Ever since I ascended the throne, the Zhou family has caused me no end of trouble. If he feels unbalanced and wants to do something, that would not be impossible."
"Prince Rui holds the status of the eldest legitimate son. Even though his mother made mistakes, there are still those who believe the son should not bear the blame for his mother's faults. There are people in this court who support Prince Rui, believing he is the rightful heir and that I merely benefited from a fluke. So there are certainly those who would like to seize the opportunity to back him."
"As for Prince Jin, he carries the blood of Yunhai. After Yunhai was destroyed, his mother died of grief. If he harbored resentment and secretly did something to avenge his mother, that would also be understandable. Moreover, he is connected to this female assassin from Yunhai, so his suspicion is considerable."
Qi Junmu said all this lightly, but the faces of the three brothers—Qi Junyan, Qi Junyou, and Qi Junzhuo—were not pleasant to look at.
Qi Junyou remained expressionless. He thought to himself, he had always known Qi Junmu was petty. Ever since being sent to Qingzhou, he had understood—this man was full of schemes. He knew full well that the Zhou family was unstable, yet he gave no indication of it.
The water in the pot had been kept warm for them all along, waiting to boil so that he and the Zhou family could be thrown in together.
And indeed, since returning from Qingzhou, he had kept a lower profile than ever. The main branch of the Zhou family in the capital and the collateral branch in Qingzhou had long been at odds because of the emperor's favoritism. The main branch accused the collateral branch of forgetting their roots, while the collateral branch accused the main branch of barring them from rising. Relatives had turned to enemies over power. The Zhou family's influence had waned greatly, to Consort Dowager Xian's great vexation, and yet the Emperor still found fault with him.
The most critical thing was that Qi Junyou felt he could not refute it, because he knew about the Zhou family's and Consort Dowager Xian's little maneuvers, and had tacitly allowed them. After all, if there was even a chance, which prince wouldn't want to be emperor?
Qi Junyan felt the same. He appeared calm on the surface, but occasionally he would meet with ministers who favored him, and would sigh at the unfairness of fate.
He admitted all of that, but—
"But no matter what petty schemes they harbor, or whether they covet the seat I sit on, they would never commit treason." Qi Junmu said this in a very calm tone, yet it struck like thunder in everyone's ears.
Lin Xiao and the other ministers could not help but look up at Qi Junmu.
"How can Your Majesty be so sure?" Arlie had not expected the situation to unfold this way. In his mind, the Emperor of Da Qi should have taken this opportunity to strike at his brothers. Now that things had turned out so differently, he could not help but ask.
Qi Junmu's expression turned cold. He said, "Prince Ping was at his wits' end with fury when he was kept under constant watch during the Qingzhou snow disaster. Qingzhou had the Zhou family. If Prince Ping had wanted to, even under the strictest watch, he could have sent out a message. But he did not reveal his identity to incite chaos in Qingzhou or make the situation there even worse. He was unhappy, but he only complained with words."
"Prince Rui was in the Western Frontier. After Chang Sheng vanished, he could have seized the chance to win over the troops, or even spread rumors against me to strengthen his own position. But the first thing Prince Rui did in the West Frontier was stabilize the local situation, calm the shaken morale of the Western Frontier Army, and stand guard against a surprise attack by your Western Di."
"Men like them, at the very least, still have the common people in their hearts. If they want the throne, they would only use their own influence and keep any conflict within Da Qi's borders. How could they possibly collude with foreign enemies and gamble with tigers?"
"What about Prince Jin, then?" Arlie could not help but point at Qi Junzhuo. "He is connected to that female assassin—that is solid evidence—and he concealed it. Does Your Majesty not suspect him?"
"Why should I suspect him?" Qi Junmu said in a low, somber voice. Qi Junzhuo, who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly looked up.
Qi Junmu continued calmly, "I raised him from childhood. I know Prince Jin's character better than anyone. Yes, he carries the blood of Yunhai—so what? The destruction of Yunhai was painful for everyone, but that was not Da Qi's fault."
"As for his dealings with this female assassin, if he wishes to tell me, I will listen. If he does not, I trust that he has his reasons. Most importantly, you have been trying to sow discord between me and Prince Jin, but you forget—he only gained real power and came to everyone's attention after I ascended the throne. No one knows Prince Jin's true nature better than I do. That is precisely why he is the only prince of Da Qi to hold the title of Qin Wang."
[Prince Jin (瑾親王 / Jin Qin Wang) holds the rank of Qin Wang (親王), which is the highest rank for a prince, while Prince Rui (睿王 / Rui Wang) and Prince Ping (平王 / Ping Wang) only hold the rank of Wang (王), which is lower.]
"I know what some of you are plotting. You think I will take this chance to strike at my brothers, so you spread rumors and stir up trouble with or without evidence. But I see clearly in my heart, if they had truly done something wrong, I would not need your instigation to end their lives. If they have done nothing wrong, I will not fabricate charges to pin on their heads."
When Qi Junmu finished speaking, the officials of the Da Qi court were left with hearts full of conflicting emotions.
Qi Junyan and Qi Junyou were overcome with complicated feelings. They had not expected that the emperor's decision to send them out of the capital had involved such considerations. If they had acted rashly back then, they might well have ended up in a very different situation.
The emperor was truly deep in his calculations.
Qi Junmu had intended to lay everything out today. Seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces, he first signaled Qi Junzhuo to stand, then continued, "So after ruling them all out, only one question remained in my mind: who could it be that is colluding with Western Di? Such a person would have to be someone with the qualifications to sit on the throne."
As he spoke, the gazes of the crowd shifted back and forth, finally settling on Prince Ying.
Even Qi Junyan and Qi Junyou followed suit. Neither had ever considered this possibility, and their expressions turned somewhat grim. Prince Ying, meanwhile, began to look flustered.
Qi Junmu smiled warmly as he looked at Prince Ying's plump figure and said, "I have been thinking about one thing all these years—many of the incidents that have happened in the palace were all carried out by the remnants of Prince Su."
"Precisely—they are the remnants of Prince Su. They harbored deep hatred for the late emperor, and that is why they committed these acts," Prince Ying quickly agreed.
Qi Junmu slowly shook his head. "If it were right after Imperial Father ascended the throne, I could believe that remnants of Prince Su still existed. But so many years have passed now—even the descendants of those who were loyal to Prince Su have grown up. A whole generation has come and gone, yet the palace keeps seeing deeds done by Prince Su's remnants. I find it puzzling. They were killed again and again, yet they never seem to be wiped out. Are they truly endless, generation after generation?"
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