Chapter 7: It’s hard to fly even with wings

After Xu Huizu left, the Minister of War Qi Tai said, "Duke Wei's plan is really to cut off the firewood from under the cauldron, which is very cruel. As long as the princes of the King of Yan are imprisoned and restricted to a small place, and cut off from the inside and outside, even if they try their best, they will be helpless and unable to escape!

In this way, Your Majesty will have the upper hand and everything will be in his hands.

In the past, because there was no explanation, we could not easily imprison the prince. Now that the Prince of Gaoyang has committed a murder, his crime is serious, and using this as an excuse is a natural consequence, and it is like sending a pillow when you want to sleep."

After Qi Tai finished speaking, he took another breath, looking a little puzzled, "However, the Duke of Wei and the King of Yan are relatives, but they came up with such a cruel plan, which really surprised me."

At this time, Huang Zicheng calmly asked, "Will Duke Wei use the self-torture trick to test me?"

Qi Tai looked at him in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Huang Zicheng spoke freely, "In the current situation, the King of Yan must have some suspicions, but he is not sure. If we follow the plan of Duke Wei and move the prince of Yan, wouldn't it be a warning to the enemy and confirm the intention of the court to deal with the King of Yan? Duke Wei's sister is the first wife of the King of Yan..."

When Emperor Zhu Yunwen heard this, he immediately nodded and said, "There is some truth in this, and we must pay attention to it."

Qi Tai immediately added, "I have an objection. Duke Wei is the eldest son of the Xu family. He inherited the title and brought honor to the family because of the grace of the emperor. If he disregards the prosperity of the family and goes against the court at this time, why bother?"

Zhu Yunwen, who was in power, pondered for a long time after hearing this.

Qi Tai immediately saw some signs. He thought to himself that the emperor was very receptive to advice and was very willing to listen to other people's suggestions. He and Huang Zicheng were both ministers who advocated reducing the power of the feudal lords. Although their words were effective, Huang Zicheng was more trustworthy.

At the beginning, Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng both advocated the reduction of the power of the princes. In terms of specific strategies, Qi Tai advocated the capture of the king first, and suddenly took action against the most powerful prince of Yan; while Huang Zicheng advocated clipping the wings first, winning public opinion, and starting with the princes of Zhou, Qi, Xiang, Dai, etc., who were slightly less powerful and had not made many contributions. In the end, the emperor adopted Huang Zicheng's proposal.

Qi Tai's opinion of Huang Zicheng is that he is a selfish person, good at political manipulation, and values his factions.

After thinking about it, Qi Tai changed his tone and said, "Your Majesty's words are golden. The order to arrest Du and Wang should not be changed lightly. I suggest that the Prince of Gaoyang be punished for breaking the law and be confined to his home to reflect on his mistakes."

Huang Zicheng immediately said, "I second my opinion."

Zhu Yunwen thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "I'll wait for your request."

...At dusk that day, the prince's residence suddenly became noisy, mixed with the footsteps of armored soldiers. The neat and rhythmic sound made the atmosphere even more tense.

Zhu Gaoxu and Gao Sui helped the prince, who was unsteady in walking, to the entrance of the courtyard, where they saw many soldiers blocking the entrance and making it full of chaos. The prince shouted, "What are you doing?"

A military general wearing a royal uniform came over, bowed, clasped his fists and said, "The prince of Gaoyang County beat the imperial official to death in the street, and many people were impeached in the court. The Holy One has decreed that from today onwards, the prince of Gaoyang County and others will sit behind closed doors and think about their mistakes. You are not allowed to interact with outsiders without permission when leaving the mansion.”

Gao Sui shouted angrily, "We are members of the clan, not prisoners!"

The Jinyiwei general said, "Don't blame me, Prince. I am just following orders. If you have anything to say, you can write a letter and I will deliver it to the palace."

"Hmph!" The prince snorted to show his dissatisfaction, turned around and was about to leave.

Zhu Gaoxu felt a tightness in his chest, but he didn't say anything... In the current situation, no one will pay attention to the imperial orders carried out by the Jinyiwei even if you shout at the top of your lungs!

The three of them returned to the inner house in a depressed mood. The prince looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said, "That's good!"

Gao Sui hurriedly asked, "Second brother was so confident yesterday. Have you figured out a solution?"

Zhu Gaoxu said helplessly, "The Jinyiwei and soldiers are holding the imperial edict and have surrounded us. We are squatting in this tiny place. What can we do now?"

"This..." Gao Sui's face was very ugly and full of complaints.

The prince raised his arm and said, "Forget it. Things have come to this point. We brothers cannot fight among ourselves. We should work together to overcome the difficulties. If His Majesty wants to imprison us, he can always find a reason. We can't blame my second brother too much."

"There must be some way." Gao Sui looked anxious.

The prince said, "Be patient, many things are just like this. Who is smarter than who? Who can plan everything? Things in the world are unpredictable. Don't people always take one step at a time?"

He pondered for a moment, and then said, "What my second brother said yesterday still makes some sense. If someone in the court didn't want to use us brothers as hostages to threaten our father, how could there be two imperial edicts within half a day?

We can figure these things out, but can't people outside figure them out? Don't be impatient, just wait and see."

Waiting is the most depressing thing. The depressing day has arrived. We have been waiting for more than half a month, but there is still no end in sight. The prince's mansion is so airtight that everyone seems to be isolated from the world.

...

One evening, Huang Zicheng came home from work. His wife came in and helped him change out of his official uniform and hat. She casually asked him, "Have the two criminals been caught?"

Huang Zicheng was suddenly a little displeased.

The lady said hurriedly, "People from my hometown came to ask, so I had to bother asking my husband."

Huang Zicheng said earnestly, "Women only think about someone losing their life, but they are not the ones who did it!"

Madam said carefully, "Prince Gaoyang is a royal family member, so shouldn't he be allowed to pay with his life?"

Huang Zicheng said, "Zhu Gaoxu has now been defeated miserably, which is much worse than the death of two small soldiers! The Xu family doesn't need to hold on any longer. One life, and the imprisonment of the Prince of Yan's sons, what else do you want?"

The lady had no choice but to nod in agreement and did not dare to contradict.

Huang Zicheng kicked off his boots, and as he thought about it, he revealed a somewhat smug look, "Not long ago, the Prince of Yan pretended to be sick in his residence in order to save his three sons. But we also have spies in Peking, who reported the Prince of Yan's feigned illness to the capital, and finally let the emperor see through the Prince of Yan's trick."

Madam hurriedly said, "Fortunately, I saw through it, otherwise it would be difficult for His Majesty to refuse. There is nothing wrong with asking a son to be at his father's bedside to show filial piety."

"Of course." Huang Zicheng smiled, "That's probably what the Yan envoy Deng Yong said when he came to the court that day. But it's useless. Gaoyang County Prince and others are still locked up in the Prince's Mansion, with a large number of people watching over them. It's impossible for them to escape even if they have wings!"

Huang Zicheng was in a good mood tonight and talked a lot. "These princes and royal family members usually break the law and do evil. Compared with the kings of Zhou, Qi, Xiang and Dai who were demoted to commoners, how much better is he? I'll wait and see what tricks he can come up with!"