Chapter 54

According to the ancestral rules of the Great Wei, the Crown Prince, as the heir apparent, holds a higher status than the other princes. Moreover, this Crown Prince Hongli is also the eldest prince, so when encountering him in the palace corridor, whether it be Prince Yong Hongyu or Zhao Hongrun, they must take the initiative to bow and pay their respects. Otherwise, it would be considered a breach of etiquette.

Do not think that a breach of etiquette is insignificant. In fact, this matter can be either minor or major. If Zhao Hongrun commits this breach and Crown Prince Hongli is also displeased with him, the latter can directly report to the Emperor, ordering Zhao Hongrun to return to the palace's ceremonial officials to relearn court etiquette.

This is known as entrapment within the rules, commonly referred to as "wearing small shoes."

"Your Highness Hongyu (Hongrun), I pay my respects to the Crown Prince!"

Zhao Hongrun and Prince Yong Hongyu bowed deeply to Crown Prince Hongli.

It was evident that as rivals for the throne, the relationship between Crown Prince Hongli and Prince Yong Hongyu had reached a breaking point. Although there was no visible sign of this from Prince Yong's side, the look in the Crown Prince's eyes clearly showed a degree of coldness.

"Second Brother, it has been more than two months since Father summoned us all in the Wende Hall, hasn't it? ... What have you been doing at your residence, Second Brother?"

"Nothing much," Prince Yong Hongyu replied with a smile. "I've just been reading scriptures and practicing archery... I've been thinking about showing off my skills in this year's autumn hunt."

"Oh?" Crown Prince Hongli's face showed a hint of a strange smile, and he said lightly, "But I heard that you've been visiting the Ministry of Revenue quite frequently lately."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere became tense, and even Zhao Hongrun couldn't help but glance at Prince Yong Hongyu.

'Is Second Brother's target... the Ministry of Revenue?'

Zhao Hongrun was not surprised by this.

After all, among the six departments of the Shangshu Province, the Ministry of Personnel once held the most exalted position, wielding the power to recommend, appoint, promote, and demote officials, making it the foremost of the six departments.

Following the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Revenue was the most crucial, as it managed the financial and grain revenues of the entire Great Wei. Many government offices often had to defer to the officials of the Ministry of Revenue.

Therefore, it was not surprising that Prince Yong Hongyu, who aspired to the throne, would try to exert influence over the Ministry of Revenue.

"Ha ha ha."

After a brief silence, Prince Yong Hongyu's light laughter broke the tension: "Crown Prince, you misunderstand... Last year, the local taxes were already submitted to the Ministry of Revenue. I heard that the officials there have been extremely busy these days, and I thought I might be able to help, so I went to take a look... After all, the Great Wei is the ancestral legacy of our Ji and Zhao clans, and as a prince, I should contribute my share."

Though it was a grand and noble excuse, strangely, it sounded somewhat credible coming from Prince Yong Hongyu.

At least Crown Prince Hongli couldn't find any fault with it and could only say unhappily, "Even so, your frequent visits to the Ministry of Revenue are not proper... In the future, try to avoid it to prevent the officials from accusing you of overstepping your bounds."

Prince Yong Hongyu replied with a smile, "Understood... I will keep the Crown Prince's advice in mind."

At this point, Crown Prince Hongli finally turned his gaze to Zhao Hongrun.

It was clear that this Crown Prince had some resentment towards Zhao Hongrun. After all, just over half a month ago, during the imperial examination held by the Ministry of Personnel, this Crown Prince had already sent a message through the palace guards to his eighth brother, telling him not to interfere with the Ministry's internal affairs. However, Zhao Hongrun completely ignored his advice and continued his investigation.

As a result, a major cheating scandal involving over a hundred identical exam papers was exposed on the third day of the examination at the Temple of Confucius. Seventeen examiners, including the chief examiner, Luo Wenzhong, were imprisoned. To this day, the newly established Censorate is still investigating the matter.

Luo Wenzhong, the chief examiner and a newly appointed official of the Crown Prince, could not escape the charge of dereliction of duty. As the chief examiner, the scandal in the examination hall was so shocking that even if Zhao Hongrun did not add fuel to the fire, Luo Wenzhong would still face demotion.

Indeed, the Censorate had already issued a punishment for Luo Wenzhong: demotion and reduction to a minor official, which was not much different from what Zhao Hongrun had anticipated.

His son, Luo Rong, was also removed from the examination due to his father's dereliction of duty, and he was not allowed to retake the exam, wasting three years of effort.

Of course, this was not the most critical issue. The most critical was that Fan Su, the official of the Ministry of Personnel's Department of Examinations and a supporter of Crown Prince Hongli, could not be protected by the Crown Prince.

Under the strict investigation by the Censorate, Fan Su was accused of accepting bribes, cheating in the examination, and perverting the law. If there were no errors, this branch would be considered ruined, and he would likely be exiled to the border to serve as a prisoner-soldier.

Without Fan Su, who would act as a go-between to help the Crown Prince win over the officials of the four departments of the Ministry of Personnel? Was the Crown Prince going to do it himself?

Just thinking about it made Crown Prince Hongli furious.

At this point, Crown Prince Hongli was somewhat regretful. If he had known this would happen, he might have followed the advice of the palace guard Feng Shu and abandoned Luo Wenzhong.

He believed that if he had given up on Luo Wenzhong and instructed Fan Su to cooperate with the eighth prince's investigation, the eighth prince would not have exposed the entire examination scandal.

However, despite his regret, Crown Prince Hongli's resentment towards his eighth brother did not diminish. After all, the eighth prince had exposed the cheating scandal even after he had clearly stated his position.

Crown Prince Hongli even suspected that the over a hundred identical exam papers were planted by his young eighth brother, as Fan Su and others would never be foolish enough to do such a thing.

"Hongrun, as I understand, you were punished by the ancestral temple last month... What exactly did you do wrong?"

Crown Prince Hongli asked lightly.

In fact, due to the ancestral temple's protection of the princes' secrets and the Emperor's deliberate suppression of the matter, the palace only knew that Zhao Hongrun had been detained in the ancestral temple for seven days but did not know the specific reason.

Although Zhao Hongrun had been framed at the time, Crown Prince Hongli's public questioning of the matter made him feel uncomfortable.

"What does the Crown Prince want to know this for?"

Crown Prince Hongli's expression turned cold, and he said sternly, "I am just puzzled. Last month, you were punished by the ancestral temple, yet you still do not repent, preferring to play and neglect your studies... As a direct descendant of the Ji and Zhao clans, are you not ashamed?"

'What the hell, are you overstepping your bounds?'

Zhao Hongrun's expression darkened.

After all, they were not alone; behind Crown Prince Hongli were a group of tutors, lecturers, and advisors from the Eastern Palace, as well as some eunuchs.

Although the eldest brother had the duty to discipline his younger brothers, this should be done in private. By criticizing Zhao Hongrun in front of these people, Crown Prince Hongli's intentions were clear.

He was simply frustrated by seeing Zhao Hongrun with Prince Yong Hongyu, and the old and new grievances had piled up, making it hard for him to hold back.

Zhao Hongrun's expression darkened, but at that moment, Prince Yong Hongyu secretly pulled him, then chuckled and said to Crown Prince Hongli, "The Crown Prince is right, but I believe Hongrun will change. Right, Hongrun?"

'...'

Zhao Hongrun frowned and glanced at Prince Yong Hongyu, his face cold, not responding.

"Hmph!" Crown Prince Hongli, seeing this, became even more displeased, coldly snorted, and led his entourage straight to the Chui Gong Hall.

Watching the retreating figures of the group, Zhao Hongrun waved off Prince Yong Hongyu's hand that was secretly holding his sleeve and said unhappily, "Prince Yong, that was not very fair!"

"Hmm? Was it not Second Brother?"

Prince Yong chuckled.

Hearing this jest, Zhao Hongrun's expression darkened even more, about to retort, but then saw Prince Yong Hongyu bow and apologize, "Alright, it was my fault. I apologize to you."

Seeing his second brother apologize, Zhao Hongrun's expression improved slightly, "When Prince Yong said you were waiting for me, was it because of this?"

"Ha ha ha." Prince Yong laughed and looked at Zhao Hongrun, "If I say it was just a coincidence, would you believe me?"

'Coincidence? This is too coincidental. But...'

Zhao Hongrun analyzed in his mind. Logically, Prince Yong could not have predicted his appearance and the Crown Prince's appearance so precisely, as he had not planned to visit the Chui Gong Hall to pay respects to his father. Even if Prince Yong had guessed when he would appear, could he have guessed when the Crown Prince would appear? The probability was too low!

But if it was purely a coincidence, it was indeed too coincidental, coincidental enough to make one suspect that Prince Yong had arranged it.

"My luck has always been good. Sometimes I even feel that the heavens are on my side," Prince Yong Hongyu looked at Zhao Hongrun and smiled, "To be honest, Hongrun, I was not waiting for you. I just had a sudden thought to see if I would run into you here, and I did... After meeting you, I thought that if the Crown Prince were to meet us, it might be to my advantage, and he did. ... That's what happened."

Listening to Prince Yong's matter-of-fact explanation, Zhao Hongrun felt a chill run down his spine, thinking how incredible this luck was.

At this moment, Prince Yong's self-deprecating remark made Zhao Hongrun pause.

"My luck has always been excellent, except for one thing... that he was born a few moments before me, making him the Crown Prince."

Standing in the corridor with his hands behind his back, Prince Yong Hongyu sighed softly.

'...'

Zhao Hongrun looked up at his second brother.

He had heard about this.

According to palace rumors, Crown Prince Hongli and Second Prince Yong Hongyu, though born to different mothers, the Empress Wang and Consort Shi, were born on the same day, month, and year, just at different times.

Hongli, born a few moments earlier, became the Crown Prince, while Hongyu, born a few moments later, became an ordinary prince.

Their fates were intertwined from the moment of their birth.