Chapter 34 No One Dares to Attack the Prince

He asked, "What?"

The voice was as cold as usual, completely different from the way they were when they were lingering in the bamboo forest just now.

"The teacher was teaching us calligraphy today, and he kept praising you, saying that your handwriting has excellent style and can be regarded as a master of calligraphy. The teacher also said that he has lived to such an old age and has taught countless students, but your handwriting is his favorite." She deliberately exaggerated.

Although he knew that she was flattering him on purpose, Lu Ji still smiled, his eyebrows curved and his clear eyes showed satisfaction.

"Okay." He said, "Come with me to the study."

Seeing that she agreed, she was happy, but she said: "I won't go into the study room, just let Zhufeng bring the calligraphy to me later."

Hearing this, he said nothing more, but took her little hand without question and strode into the study.

Lu Ji's study is large, with four spacious rooms. In the center is a huge sandalwood desk. Behind the desk, there are more than a dozen rows of large mahogany bookshelves that rise from the ground and reach the roof. The books on them are all-encompassing and are arranged meticulously and neatly.
In such a large study, there is only a book boy named Zhufeng who takes care of it.

In the past, there were also special maids serving here. There was one named Cailan, who had worked for the old lady. She was elegant in appearance, and what was more rare was that she could read and write. It was said that she was the daughter of an official family, but her family was convicted and she was sold as a slave. The old lady liked Cailan very much, so she sent her to Lu Ji's study to serve him with writing materials.

Cai Lan was conquered by Lu Ji's charm, or perhaps she was unwilling to be a slave forever. Once when Lu Ji returned from a banquet, she took the risk of putting an aphrodisiac in Lu Ji's tea, attempting to make the relationship a fait accompli, get close to Lu Ji, and become his concubine.

Lu Ji drank the tea and was poisoned, but he did not touch her. He soaked in ice water for an hour to relieve the discomfort. The first thing he did was to have the maid tied up, dragged outside, and beaten to death.

A proud man like Lu Ji hates other people's calculations the most.

It is said that the maidservant cried out her love for Lu Ji while being tortured, and she did not say a word against him until her last breath, but Lu Ji did not soften his heart at all.

All the maids who worked in Qingsong Garden and the study were called over to watch the execution. This act of killing a chicken to scare the monkeys completely frightened all the maids. From then on, no one dared to make a move on the prince.

Ever since this incident, Lu Ji no longer allowed women to enter his study.

Knowing Lu Ji's taboo, Qin Xiaoning never sets foot here without Lu Ji's permission.

This was the first time Qin Xiaoning came to Lu Ji's study room since Cai Lan's incident. It had changed a lot from before. There were more bookshelves and the books were more dazzling. Seeing the vast amount of books, the little girl was shocked. She opened her eyes wide and asked Lu Ji: "Have you read all these books?"

Lu Ji didn't answer her, but just said: "If you like any book, you can ask Zhu Feng to get it for you. I have a complete collection of books here."

She thought about it seriously and asked jokingly, "Do you have a storybook?"

Lu Ji frowned when he heard this: "This, really doesn't exist."

Zhu Feng brought some words from Lu Ji and gave them to Qin Xiaoning. Qin Xiaoning took them and did not stay here for long. After thanking Lu Ji, she happily returned to Qingsong Garden.

—

Lu Ji presented all the evidence of Qin Wang's treason collected by Prime Minister Jiang to the Sage. The Sage was furious after reading it, and during the court meeting, he immediately issued an order to send troops to the northern border to eliminate the rebel Qin Wang.

Many important officials headed by Zhang Tingjing knelt down to speak for the King of Qin, recounting his loyalty and saying that he had paid tribute in full, which showed that he had no ulterior motives.

Upon hearing this, the saint said nothing and immediately left.

After returning to the imperial study, the saint immediately summoned the Grand Tutor Chen Xiuyuan. Chen was the saint's mentor, who had supported him all the way from the time when the saint was still a prince to where he is today. He was the person the saint trusted the most.

When the sage met Chen Xiuyuan, he asked directly, "In your opinion, who should I send to destroy the King of Qin?"

Chen Xiuyuan replied, "Among the generals in the court today, Lu Ji is the most capable in terms of strategy and ability." The sage nodded slightly and said, "Lu Ji is capable." But he did not say anything else.

The sage was worried that Lu Ji's achievements would surpass his master's and that he would be difficult to subdue in the future.

So Chen Xiuyuan said, "Your Majesty, if you don't want to use Lu Ji to withdraw the fief, Huo Lang, the commander of the Patrol City Division, is also capable of taking on the important task."

The saint still didn't say anything. Chen Xiuyuan couldn't understand what the saint was thinking. He stood below with a frown, waiting. After a long while, the saint said leisurely, "Deputy Commander of the Patrol City Division, how is Zhou Jing?"

Zhou Jing was one of the four concubines of the sage and the elder brother of Concubine Jing.

Although the Zhou family is also a century-old aristocratic family, all of their sons are useless, so the Zhou family is far inferior to the families of the other three concubines.

Zhou Jing is the only one in the Zhou family who is quite outstanding.

The saint chose Zhou Jing alone. Chen Xiuyuan was unsure of the saint's intention, so he told the truth: "Zhou Jing is capable, but his achievements are not obvious."

The sage said, "Appoint Zhou Jing as the commander and lead an army of 200,000 to destroy the King of Qin."

Finally, he added: "I want to give Zhao'er some experience, so I will order Zhao'er to be the deputy commander and accompany the army to the battle this time."

The Zhao'er mentioned by the sage is the sage's eldest son, born to Concubine Duan, the daughter of Prime Minister Jiang. He is now an adult and has been named Prince of Jin.

After hearing this, Chen Xiuyuan became even more confused.

Now the throne is vacant.

Did the saint intend to make the Prince of Jin, born to Concubine Duan, the crown prince? After the queen passed away, Concubine Duan should have been in charge of the harem. Why did he promote Concubine Chen, the daughter of a prince?
Or does he want to let the two sides fight each other to consolidate the imperial power? Does he want to finally promote the Shufei and her son who came from the Ningguo Mansion? But if so, he shouldn't be afraid of Lu Ji, right?

He couldn't be thinking of Concubine Jing, otherwise why would he honor the unknown Zhou Jing?

As soon as this thought came out, it was immediately cut off by Chen Xiuyuan. Concubine Jing had no children, so the saint would naturally not do this.

The Saint's mind is hard to predict. Even the old tutor who always claims to understand the Saint's mind best is a little confused.

Chen Xiuyuan took the order, left the Qinzheng Hall, and went to order the cabinet to draft an edict and issue it.

The next day, the emperor's decree spread throughout the court, including the entire harem. After the court session, the emperor was reviewing memorials in the Qinzheng Hall when a eunuch outside reported back that the concubine was seeking a meeting outside.

The sage neither said he would see him nor said he would not see him, but just continued to handle his official business.

The Concubine Chen gave birth to a prince for the Saint, who is now the Second Prince. Before he was twenty, the Saint took her to sit by his side and attend government affairs, seemingly with high hopes. After the Queen passed away, she took charge of the harem, which was truly a blessing from the Saint. Many court officials placed their hopes on the Concubine Chen and the Second Prince.

The Concubine Chen also believed that the Saint was intentionally promoting her and her son, and that she was only one step away from becoming the empress. If she could ascend to the throne, her son would undoubtedly be the crown prince.

A while ago, court officials headed by Prime Minister Jiang were clamoring to conquer the vassal kings. The Concubine Chen did not take it too seriously. She wrote a letter to her father, Prince Xuanchen, asking him to do his duty and instructing her father to persuade the King of Qin to pay tribute as ordered and not to create unnecessary trouble.

The Concubine Chen originally thought that as long as the King of Qin paid tribute, the Sage would naturally not make things difficult for him. However, she did not expect that after the Sage accepted the tribute, he would send troops to the northern border.

The Northern Frontier and her father's fiefdom in the Northwest are closely linked. When the Concubine Chen heard the news, she could no longer sit still.

(End of this chapter)