Poor Family

It was a helpless move for the Duke of Ming Dynasty to seek refuge with the prince. The emperor's suppression became more and more obvious. If they didn't find a backer, they could only gradually decline under the emperor's suppression.

The emperor might have wanted to use the Duke of Ming Dynasty to check and balance the Wei family before, but now that the Wei family has collapsed, the Duke of Ming's residence has no effect on the emperor.

As a result, the situation of the Duke of Ming Dynasty became more and more difficult.

Before the crown prince died, he sold the Duke of Ming Dynasty to the fourth prince. Regarding this, Changqing Dongfang and the rest of the Duke of Ming Dynasty were extremely angry, but there was nothing they could do.

Today's Duke of Ming Dynasty no longer has the arrogance of the past, and feels that Conglong's merits are dispensable.

To support the Fourth Prince, the Duke of Ming Dynasty was actually a little hesitant.

After the death of the prince, the situation in the court was very unclear. The princes came up one after another, but the emperor's attitude was always ambiguous. Although the fourth prince had always been the emperor's favorite prince, he was not so good compared to the eldest prince who was the eldest prince. Orthodox and justifiable.

As the natal family of Empress Wende, the Duke of Ming Dynasty should support the eldest prince no matter whether it is based on feelings or the rules and regulations of the monarch and ministers.

But the fourth prince took advantage of the fault of the Duke of Ming, forcing the Duke of Ming to compromise on the situation again.

Seeing Duke Ming's unwillingness and sorrow because he had to compromise, Dongfang Zhangqing comforted him: "Actually, the eldest prince also occupies the title of eldest son. In terms of power in the court, the fourth prince is still better. Among the many princes, the fourth prince is also the most capable one."

Duke Ming shook his head: "The power behind the eldest prince is not small. Among other things, the relationship between Shennongtang and the border army is a force that cannot be ignored."

Dongfang Changqing has a different opinion: "Father, I don't think the relationship between Shennongtang and the border army will be the help of the First Prince, maybe the First Prince will be backlashed by him."

"Father, don't forget that the emperor is a monarch who does not allow others to touch or challenge his own power."

"Throughout the ages, all emperors have wanted to have absolute control over military power. Do you think he would like to see the First Prince get too involved with the frontier army?"

Ming Guogong nodded: "You are also reasonable, but I am always a little uneasy about tying our family and the fourth prince together."

Dongfang Changqing was silent: "It is impossible to achieve a sure win without losing anything. Judging from the current situation, the probability of the fourth prince winning in the end is still higher than that of other princes."

"Anyway, the fourth prince has the emperor's favor, and the emperor is the most critical factor in deciding the successor."

The Duke of Ming also knew that it was in the best interest of the Duke of Ming's family to seek refuge with the fourth prince, so he sighed, suppressed the reluctance in his heart, and compromised with reality.

As the fourth prince wished, the Duke of Ming took refuge in him, but when Dongfang Changqing came to find him, he didn't pay much attention to him. Dongfang Changqing visited the door many times, and he only found time to see him last time.

Dongfang Changqing felt a little heavy when he ignored the fourth prince's love.

When he first took refuge in the prince, the prince treated them very politely and valued them very much. Therefore, he slightly eased their guilt of violating the family precepts and made them feel less uncomfortable.

But now, the fourth prince acted like he was dispensable to the Duke of Ming, which really made Dongfang Changqing feel extremely useless and depressed.

This also made him realize soberly that the current Ming Dynasty Duke's Mansion is no longer what it used to be.

When seeking refuge with the crown prince, it was the crown prince who sought the protection of the Duke of Ming; while seeking refuge with the fourth prince, it was the Duke of Ming who sought the protection of the fourth prince.

When he was refused to be summoned by the fourth prince again, Dongfang Changqing knew that if he didn't hand over a nomination certificate, the fourth prince might give him a cold shoulder, so he hesitated for a while, and caught up with the fourth prince's carriage: "Your Highness, I have something important to report to Your Highness."

In the carriage, the fourth prince had a triumphant smile in his eyes: "Let's talk in the carriage."

When Dongfang Changqing got into the carriage, the fourth prince asked with a smile: "What's so important that Mr. Changqing came to stop my prince's carriage?"

Dongfang Changqing tried his best to ignore the banter in the fourth prince's tone, and said straight to the point: "Your Highness, in today's court, other princes are not to be feared, only the eldest prince can compete with you."

The fourth prince was a little surprised by Dongfang Changqing's directness, raised his eyebrows and said: "Oh, Changqing, do you have any way to change this situation?"

Dongfang Changqing looked at the fourth prince: "The biggest advantage of the eldest prince is that he has the status of the eldest son, but we all know that nothing can be done without a status."

Dongfang Changqing looked at the fourth prince: "The biggest advantage of the eldest prince is that he has the status of the eldest son, but we all know that nothing can be done without a status."

"However, the First Prince is lucky. His master is the head of Shennong Hall."

"I won't talk about the relationship between Shennongtang and the frontier army. Let's say that the master of Shennongtang is the apprentice of the old man Tianchi, and the old man Tianchi is the descendant of the Long family. Your Highness should know the influence of the descendants of the Long family in the hearts of the people."

"With the banner of being the heir of the Long family, the First Prince can easily gain the support of the common people."

"The support of the people and the support of Shennong Hall, these are the two most important bargaining chips for the First Prince to gain a foothold in the court and compete with you, and they are also the important reasons why the ministers of the court chose him."

"The heirs of the Long family and Shennongtang all point to one person in the end, and that is Chu Yao's wife, Shi Shi."

The fourth prince is naturally clear about these situations: "So?"

Dongfang Changqing: "Without the Shi clan, the First Prince would lose his arms."

The fourth prince rolled his eyes: "The Shi family is protected by Chu Yao, and she is also very capable. If it is easy to deal with, the prince still needs you to give some advice."

Dongfang Changqing was silent for a while: "After the Wei family ransacked the house, I secretly went to the Ministry of Criminal Justice to meet Wei Yichen, and he told me something."

The fourth prince's expression brightened: "What's the matter?"

Dongfang Changqing: "The reason why the entire army of the Prince's family was wiped out is because Chu Yao discovered their secret."

When it comes to the secret of the downfall of the prince, queen mother, and empress, both Dongfang Changqing and the fourth prince are a little strange.

Neither of them believed the reason announced by the emperor before, that the queen mother poisoned the empress dowager was just an excuse to fool people.

Dongfang Changqing continued: "In order to prevent Chu Yao from revealing the secret, the Wei family sent Dongjian to kidnap Shi Shi, with the purpose of besieging and killing Chu Yao."

"Grandmaster Jue Dian went out, and the Wei family sent hundreds of killers during the period, but in the end, the Wei family was defeated. Chu Yao and Shi Fuxin were safe and sound."

"Why does Your Highness think this is?"

The fourth prince said with a sullen face: "Chu Yao is also a great master, it is not surprising that the Wei family lost."

Dongfang Changqing shook his head: "No, Your Highness, don't forget that Shi Shi is in the hands of Dong Jian. Once Chu Yao resists, she can kill Shi Shi at any time."

"No matter how strong Chu Yao's martial arts are, in the face of hundreds of assassins besieging him, he couldn't rescue Shi Shi immediately, but you also saw that Shi Shi came back safe and sound. Don't His Highness find it strange?"

"Furthermore, as far as I know, the Shi Shi returned the medicine and defeated two ninth-rank masters. It was because of those two people that the crown prince was convicted."

The fourth prince frowned: "You mean, there are masters behind Shi Shi?"

Dongfang Changqing: "I suspect that there is a supreme master behind the Shi family to protect him."

Fourth Prince: "Even so, what can we do?"

Dongfang Changqing: "The supreme master has high martial arts skills, and he comes and goes without a trace. The emperor has always been very afraid of him. We can reveal to the emperor that Shi Shi is a supreme master."

The fourth prince laughed "haha": "You treat your father as a fool."

Dongfang Changqing said without changing his face: "As long as the emperor becomes suspicious and has a lump in his heart, it will be a good thing for His Highness."