Sheng Li tied Kongqi from a tree in the forest. "Stay here. I will be back soon," Sheng Li patted Kongqi's face. Tying the handkerchief around his face, he turned and walked out of the forest as quickly as he could.
He easily sneaked inside the residence of Gu Zhenya. There was not much security which made it easy for him to enter the main house. Whenever the house servants would come in his way, he hid behind the pillars, thus preventing himself from getting noticed.
Suddenly he heard the noises– the loud voices made him think of some kind of party going on in the house. He followed the voices and saw the illuminance from the chief room of the main house. It was not surprising for him to see almost every Minister in that room. Gu Zhenya was seated at the main table, enjoying the wine with the other ministers. Sheng Li stayed at a safe distance from them so that they could not notice him. However, he could check on their activities..
Two hours later, many of the ministers took their leave while some of the Court Ministers stayed behind. Those who were drunk were sent into a litter to their respective homes. Sheng Li found that Minister of Personnel- Dong Xi; Minister of Finance- Gao Ju and Minister of Agriculture- Teng Jin, were the only ministers left in the room. His view was blocked when a servant closed the doors.
Sheng Li looked around and thought about entering as a servant in that room. But that could be a risky task so he dropped the idea and stayed at his place, for a while, to observe the activity.
For almost ten minutes, no servant came to that room which assured him that the Court Ministers were having an important conversation. He decided to go near the room and stepped ahead when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He narrowly gazed and saw Huo Jin.
"You?"
Huo Jin nodded his head. "I will go and hear their conversation. His Highness shall stay here," Huo Jin whispered in his ear.
"I will wait for you at the Southern end of this house," Sheng Li said in a low voice.
"Yes, your highness." Huo Jin agreed with him. Sheng Li left the place, while Huo Jin went towards the chief room from the backside to hear the conversation. He made a tiny hole on the Fusuma (sliding paper doors) and peeked inside. The few candle lights had illuminated the room well. The three figures of ministers were visible to Huo Jin.
"Minister Gu told me to support the Emperor's concubine in becoming the next Empress so that we could get benefits. The Empress seems weak. She had no power over the Emperor, who snatched away the rights of the Fourth Prince and also banished him from not only the Palace but also Luoyang," Gao Ju affirmed and picked the porcelain cup.
"Minister Gao, the Fourth Prince himself asked for this. And some ministers were not happy that the Fourth Prince disrespected the Emperor," Teng Jin stated and poured the wine in their respective cups. "Ministers can never become powerful until the Crown Prince is here," he added.
"We could not do anything when the Crown Prince was campaigning," Gao Ju tightened his grip on the cup.
"Because we thought that Empress Wei and her half-brother would cut off the Crown Prince from our path. They almost had-" Gu Zhenya paused and knitted his brows.
"But the Crown Princess saved him. That woman is an exception in the Han Family. We saw her brainy side a few days ago! How the Crown Princess caught the real culprit behind all this. The First Prince could have been banished along with the entire Wei Family but that woman won the game," proclaimed Gao Ju. He raised the cup, brought it near his mouth, and gulped the wine in it.
"We cannot do anything until they both are in the Imperial Palace. We have to send them away. We also need to find the Fourth Prince. Prince Nianzu always supports the Crown Prince, so we need to create a rift between these two brothers," Gu Zhenya asserted.
"Did Minister Gu have anything in his mind?" Teng Jin questioned.
"The Empress has said that the only way to rule over Han is to assassinate the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess both at the same time. Because until they both are alive, they will never let us Ministers rise. The aristocracy will always listen to them, especially that woman," Gu Zhenya clenched his fist. The veins on his forehead became visible because of the anger that built inside him.
"The Crown Princess does not listen to anyone because she knows that the Crown Prince will save her. Most importantly, the Emperor favors the Crown Princess. The entire Military support is with them. The Crown Prince has upper hand on many things," stated Teng Jin and heaved a sigh.
"That's why either they both should die or the Fourth Prince returns and asks for his rights," Gu Zhenya said in a low voice.
"That's impossible. Killing them is impossible while Prince Nianzu, if returns, will again refuse the position of Crown Prince," Gao Ju stated.
"If the commoner with whom he married is killed off and the blame was put on the Crown Prince, then he will never refuse. He will rebel, and we Ministers will support him to give the Fourth Prince his rights." Gu Zhenya explained to them, who smiled. "Let's find the Fourth Prince first. Then we will execute this plan," Gu Zhenya told them, who acknowledged his idea.
Huo Jin was shocked to hear them. He stepped back and looked around before safely leaving the Gu Residence. He came to the place where Sheng Li was waiting for him.
Sheng Li was delighted to see him and told him to follow him up. The two left the place and came to the forest, where Sheng Li had left Kongqi.
"What did you find out?" Sheng Li asked Huo Jin.
Huo Jin was confused about where to start. After a while, he narrated everything he heard to Sheng Li.
Sheng Li could not believe that Deng Hui had joined hands with them. After his mother's demise, to some extent, he considered her as his mother. However, Deng Hui never considered him a son. At last, she also cared for power and her son's position.
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