Chapter 1329: Sisters turn against each other
It is definitely wrong to say that Sun He is a fool.
Especially in reading and changing, he is quite commendable.
His flaw lies in his serious lack of understanding of the cruelty of court battles and palace battles.
In other words, he has not yet adapted to his status as the prince, and the fact that Mrs. Pan's entry into the palace has caused his mother to fall out of favor.
In the past, when Sun Deng was here, Sun and his sons favored other princes based on their mother's status, and the rewards they received were far more than those of other princes.
Even the prince Sun Deng expressed his intention to give up his position to him several times. One can imagine Sun He's status in the palace in the early years.
Successed Sun Deng as the crown prince, and his rising status inevitably made Sun He a little inflated and gave him an illusion:
When I was not the prince, I was so respectful and favored. Now that I have become the prince, who can be more respected and favored than me?
He has been favored since he was a child, so this is an important factor for him to succeed Sun Deng as the prince.
But it was precisely because he was too pampered or overprotected that Sun He was too naive in political struggle.
Originally, this is nothing.
After all, the prince is the crown prince after all, and he has his own assistants and tutors such as the prince Taifu and the prince Shaofu.
As long as he is taught well, the prince will naturally grow up slowly.
But coincidentally, the crown prince's Tai Fu Kanze and Prince's Young Fu Xue Zong, who originally assisted the prince, died last year, a few months earlier than Prime Minister Gu Yong.
Once these two masters left, the only people left to teach the prince were Confucian scholars such as Cai Ying, Zhang Chun, Feng Ren, and Yan Wei.
When it comes to studying scriptures and educating people, they must have no problem.
But it would be too difficult for them to teach the prince how to fight for power and favor in the palace.
Besides them, the people who can always be with the prince are basically the second and third generations.
There are many of them who want to be invited privately to gain honor, and they are eager to confront King Lu every day in front of the prince to show their loyalty.
Even those with better knowledge, such as Gu Tan, were radicals who protected the crown prince and drove King Lu away. They would not give up until King Lu was driven out of Jianye.
Let alone other people, how would they know to remind the prince what he should and should not do?
As for the important officials in the court who supported the prince, such as Lu Xun, Wu Can and others, it was impossible for them to follow the prince every day and remind him what he needed to pay attention to.
The combination of various factors, coupled with the ruthlessness and power of the opponent, directly hit the prince's destiny, forcing Mrs. Wang to die of fear and worry.
Sun He was reprimanded by Sun Quan and cut off from all contacts with officials. Then his mother was forced to die, and it was like waking up from a dream:
His position is not as stable as he imagined.
Having lost his wings and suddenly lost his mother, Sun He was suddenly helpless in the palace.
Sun He, who had been pampered since he was a child and had never experienced any setbacks. He was extremely inexperienced. He lost Sun Quan's favor and his shortcomings began to be magnified infinitely.
The previous wisdom and insight were all gone at this time.
Facing the political storm, Sun He became flustered and frightened, without any ideas.
Even became a little nervous, always suspicious, worried that his position as prince would be deposed.
The prince and King Lu were punished equally. Sun He felt like the sky was falling, but for King Lu, it was good news from heaven.
To the King of Lu and his party, what does His Majesty’s edict mean?
Meaning that in His Majesty’s heart, King Lu is actually still tied with the Crown Prince?
No!
This is a hint that they will continue to criticize the prince.
The prince lives in the palace, under the eyes of His Majesty, and his every move may alarm His Majesty at any time.
His Majesty has issued an order, and there will definitely be no way to contact officials outside.
But King Lu is different.
Thanks to the tireless advice from the prince's party, King Lu had to move out of the palace and live in Prince Lu's mansion.
King Lu’s actions were much freer and more convenient than those of the prince.
You can't come and go in the open, but you can't tell in secret.
As for Princess Quan, who was the main promoter of this sacrificial event, she never dreamed of it:
With such a move, he was able to drive Mrs. Wang, who had been his sworn enemy for decades, to death.
And it was within just a few days.
Feeling that she had finally vented her anger on her mother, the princess was so inspired that she decided to work hard and throw the prince off the stage.
“The four families in Wu County are the leaders of the Jiangdong family. Nowadays, the children of the Zhang family no longer serve as officials, leaving only the three families of Lu, Gu and Zhu.”
Princess Quan counted her fingers with her Alang Quan Cong:
“And Lu Xun was reprimanded by His Majesty in public in the court and is now sick at home.”
"Gu Yong is dead. The two sons originally offended His Majesty, but have lost His Majesty's heart. They also support the crown prince and are unlikely to be offended by Your Majesty, so there is nothing to worry about."
As the mastermind behind this incident, Princess Quan knew Sun Quan’s thoughts at this time far better than anyone else.
Mrs. Wang is dead. Can Zhang Xiu, who asked the prince to rest at his house, be safe?
Dream!
Zhang Xiu can't escape, that means Gu Cheng can't escape either.
If it is determined that Zhang and Gu falsely claimed military exploits, how can we explain Gu Tan, who said in the court that he was "interested in talking about it"?
What is this if not false accusation and slander?
From this point of view, Lu Xun, who confessed his crime on the spot in the court, was the wisest.
"Only the Zhu family," Princess Quan said with great confidence, "I want my little sister to marry Zhu Zifan (i.e. Zhu Ju). I will go and persuade her right away."
"I have avenged my mother, and she will be happy. I asked her to explore Zhu Zifan's tone. If she can win over the Zhu family, why worry about a big deal?"
The incident of sacrifice at the Imperial Ancestral Temple gave Princess Quan great confidence, and even gave her some kind of ambition in her heart.
I remember someone Feng from the Han Dynasty once said that women should not give way to men.
I think that Feng Mingwen is a famous general of his generation and one of the most talented generals in the world. It is really insightful to be able to say these words.
Why is it that a man can do it but a woman cannot?
Aren’t all these talented people, talented people, and pillars of the country being manipulated by me?
Looking at the ambitious and overly excited Princess Quan, Quan Cong actually became a little worried:
"Your Majesty ordered the Second Palace not to have contact with the officials. There was a lot of criticism in the court. Yang Di, the governor's envoy, recently wrote a letter stating the harm of this move."
"If your Majesty hinders the opinions of the ministers and withdraws his order, what will you do? It is better to wait and see for the time being."
Princess Quan couldn’t listen, but smiled and said:
“I am not afraid of a woman, but as a man, why is Alang so worried?”
“Alang, don’t worry. During these days, I come to the palace every day to attend to illness. How can I not know what your majesty is thinking?”
After finishing speaking, he asked the servants in the mansion to prepare a car and go to Zhu's mansion.
At this time, the state of Wu had high hopes for the cavalry army that had been built up with so much hard work.
As the commander-in-chief of the cavalry army, Zhu Ju naturally had great responsibilities. He was stationed in the army day and night to train soldiers.
At this time, only Princess Zhu was staying in the Zhu Mansion in Jianye City.
When Princess Zhu learned that her sister had arrived, she was so happy that she went out to greet her in person:
“Why is my sister free to come today?”
How could Princess Zhu be unhappy when she saw Princess Quan coming to visit her?
The sisters went into the house and sat down, and had some private conversations. As he spoke, the recent situation was inevitably mentioned.
Princess Quan asked:
"Your Majesty is ill in bed. Why hasn't my little sister visited the palace recently?"
Princess Zhu quickly cried out:
"Sister, you have wronged me. When I learned that Your Majesty was ill, I asked for permission to enter the palace early. However, His Majesty didn't see anyone at that time, so I had nothing to do."
“His Majesty’s condition improved a few days ago, so I went there again. My sister was with His Majesty at that time, didn’t she also see me?”
“It’s not like I don’t know that I am the only one who can look after everything in the Zhu Mansion. Unlike my sister, I can go out at any time.”
Zhu Ju's two sons, Zhu Xiong and Zhu Sun, had both entered the Han cavalry training camp, so they followed Zhu Ju in the camp at this time.
Princess Zhu said it was not an excuse for her to go out.
Although she and Princess Quan are sisters, their temperaments are completely different.
Compared with her sister, Princess Zhu has a gentle temperament and does not fight against the world. She has a typical mentality of a little family girl.
Therefore, after getting married, you usually enter the palace according to etiquette to pay your respects.
Unlike Princess Quan, in order to slander Mrs. Wang in front of Sun Quan, she actually found ways to get the privilege of entering and exiting the palace at any time from Sun Quan.
Princess Quan naturally understands Princess Zhu’s situation.
She came here this time not to investigate the matter, but just to raise the topic.
He saw her smiling and said:
"How can I not know your difficulties? You can't go to the palace to attend to His Majesty all the time, but you can always go to worship your mother when you have time, right?"
"To worship my mother?" Princess Zhu was slightly startled, "Of course I have to go to worship my mother, but why did my sister suddenly mention this?"
Although Mrs. Bu could not be granted the title of queen during her lifetime, she was buried with the rites of a queen after her death.
If you want to go to worship, there is naturally a process.
Even if your biological daughter is going, you must prepare in advance.
Princess Quan finally frowned when she heard what Princess Zhu said.
As a little sister, do you care too little about outside things?
She looked to her left and right, signaled Princess Zhu to send all the servants away, and then asked:
“That **** named Wang has finally died. Isn’t this a happy event? As daughters, shouldn’t we tell our mother this good news?”
Princess Zhu also felt quite helpless regarding the long-standing grievance between her elder sister and Mrs. Wang.
Fighting for favor in the harem is a common thing.
Not to mention that my mother was not allowed to be granted the title of queen during her lifetime. The fundamental reason lies with Prince Xuan, not Mrs. Wang.
However, if my sister is willing to vent her anger for my mother, I will definitely not stop her.
But if you want to get involved in this matter, you have no interest.
After all, my mother has gone and I have left the palace. I still have to contend with Mrs. Wang for favors in His Majesty’s harem. It’s hard to know how to advance or retreat.
So Princess Zhu’s attitude towards Princess Quan’s actions is very clear:
Happy to see it come true, but if it doesn't come true, there is no need to worry too much - my mother had many beauties promoted by Your Majesty during her lifetime.
It can be seen that he may not care about Mrs. Wang's competition for favor.
However, seeing Princess Quan personally coming to see her for this matter, Princess Zhu couldn't refuse:
“Since my sister said so, I will arrange things at home in the past few days and go with my sister to worship my mother.”
When Princess Quan heard this, she raised her eyebrows and said with a proud smile:
"That's right! You used to say that there was no point in getting involved with that bitch, but did you ever think that today, I finally drove her to death and avenged my mother's death?"
Princess Zhu, who originally thought that her sister was just here to remind her to pay homage to her mother, heard this and felt like a huge thunder exploded in her ears.
She opened her eyes in disbelief and looked at Princess Quan, with a look of horror on her face:
"What do you mean, sister? You, you actually forced me to die..."
“No, it’s not that the prince made a mistake in offering sacrifices to the ancestral temple. Your Majesty was furious and reprimanded Mrs. Wang for her incompetence in educating her son. That’s why Mrs. Wang…”
Princess Zhu couldn't control herself because she was too frightened, and even became a little incoherent.
Princess Quan seemed very satisfied with her little sister’s reaction:
"You said that the prince's sacrifice to the Ancestral Temple was wrong. How did your majesty know about it?"
“Could it be, sister, you?”
“Who else but me?”
Princess Quan then explained the matter in detail.
At the end of her words, she said very excitedly:
"Now that the **** named Wang is dead, the prince's wings are greatly damaged, and his favor has been lost. It is time to eradicate the weeds with all his strength."
"Otherwise, if the prince regains his breath, he will definitely remember his mother's hatred and take revenge."
“Little sister, in the foreign court, there is no one who supports the prince and has your majesty’s trust more than your husband-in-law.”
"If you can persuade General Zuo to support King Lu and try to depose the prince, then our sisters will be able to avenge our mother, and our husband will be supported by us, so why should our family worry about wealth?"
When Princess Zhu heard these words, she stood up suddenly:
“Sister, this is absolutely impossible!”
Princess Quan, who was in high spirits, didn't expect that her little sister would throw such a basin of cold water on her so simply.
She looked at Princess Zhu in disbelief: "What did you say?"
Princess Zhu slowed down her tone and advised:
“Sister, you have already forced Mrs. Wang to death. My mother’s revenge has been avenged. Why do you continue to force the prince?”
"Not to mention that since ancient times, deposing and establishing a prince has been a major national event. It is extremely dangerous. Important officials are involved in it and it is difficult to retreat. What's more, we women?"
“We should take care of our husbands and teach our children. This is a matter within the court that we cannot interfere with.”
“Sister, this is too dangerous, please stop.”
When Princess Quan heard this, she was immediately furious. She also stood up suddenly and glared at Princess Zhu:
"I have been dedicated to avenging my mother for so many years. Have I ever said anything strange that you don't want to help me?"
"Now that I have accomplished something, I will not give up on your previous act of watching indifferently. I cherish the feelings of our compatriots and sisters, so I came here specially to invite you to share the wealth."
“I didn’t expect you to actually advise me to stop? Why? I stopped and let the prince grow bigger. Will he let me go like you in the future?”
"The prince and I have become enemies of life and death, and it is absolutely impossible to stop. Let me ask you, are you willing to watch me be harmed by the prince in the future, or are you willing to help me?"
Princess Zhu was silent for a long time and then said:
"I am just a woman, and I have never interfered with Alang's affairs in the court. As for the fate of the Zhu family, it is not Alang alone who has the final say. What my sister asked me to do is not to embarrass my younger sister?"
"Furthermore, the Quan family wants to support King Lu. As the wife of the Quan family, my sister wants to contribute to the Quan family. I can understand it."
"But I am also the wife of the Zhu family. I dare not say that I am doing my best for the Zhu family. I just ask my sister not to push me anymore. Can't I understand this?"
Princess Quan was speechless for a moment, and then became angry:
“If my mother knew that she gave birth to a daughter who was so ruthless and heartless, who didn’t even think about avenging her mother, but actually wanted to support her enemy, she would definitely regret giving birth to you!”
The two sisters parted on bad terms.
(End of this chapter)