Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 551 - 551 0370 Still Pretty Relaxed_2

Chapter 551: Chapter 0370: Still Pretty Relaxed_2 Chapter 551: Chapter 0370: Still Pretty Relaxed_2 When King Zhangbei, Zhao Donghao, saw that even his daughter could not change Qi Tian’s mind, he made a final struggle. He said, “Qi Tian, are you not afraid that the emperor will blame you for interfering with the replacement of princes and ministers when he resumes his administration of the court? Also, when Mansion Master Xiao Xiaowu returns to the Imperial Master Mansion and finds that there have been so many changes because of you, he will blame you as well. Moreover, your forceful intervention in the affairs of our King Zhangbei Manor effectively sets a dangerous precedent. Those powers dependent on the Imperial Master Mansion will become shaky and disloyal.”

Qi Tian laughed dismissively and said, “Whether the emperor and the Mansion Master will blame me, I don’t know, and I don’t care. As for those powers dependent on the Imperial Master Mansion, if they become disloyal, so be it. It also means I can rid myself entirely of these burdens. Those who cannot keep pace with the Imperial Master Mansion, such as your King Zhangbei Manor, make loud declarations in ordinary times, but when your support is needed, you retreat and betray. Prince, tell me, why should we keep such dependent powers? Are we supposed to hold onto them for celebrations?”

King Zhangbei Zhao Donghao was left speechless by Qi Tian’s words.

Qi Tian said calmly, “Okay, that’s all for today’s conversation. I have given you an opportunity. As for your King Zhangbei Manor, I will wait and see what choices you make. I forgot to mention, my patience is limited. Within three days, I want to see your decision.”

King Zhangbei, Zhao Donghao, left the County Master Mansion with a dazed and devastated look. Zhao Qian followed behind expressionlessly, only the Princess gave a cold snort as she walked out of the gate, seemingly indicating her dissatisfaction with Qi Tian.

Zhao Qian remained silent, knowing that anything she said at this point would be wrong.

King Zhangbei, Zhao Donghao, approached his horse and with the aid of the saddle, hoisted himself up. Holding the reins, he didn’t urge the horse forward immediately. Instead, he turned to Zhao Qian and said, “Send a Message Paper Crane to the Prince Mansion. Have them draw out competent personnel to arrest your second brother in the military camp. There’s no need for a trial, execute him directly on the grounds of embezzlement and misappropriation of disaster relief funds. To convince Qi Tian, keep Zhao Puxue’s head preserved for his inspection.”

Saying these words, King Zhangbei, Zhao Donghao’s eyes twitched, reflecting his internal struggle and regret. He loved this son more than his eldest. If he had known that his second son, Zhao Puxue, would cause such trouble, he would have let his eldest son deliver the money and food to Qi Tian in the first place. This way, none of these events would have happened, and he would not be forced to give an order to kill his own son.

In a way, he could not blame it solely on his second son, Zhao Puxue. His part in this was substantial. His hunger for power, backed by the Imperial Master Mansion, incited him to dream of reaching beyond the rank of Prince to become a Royal Prince. It was this ambition that made him approve of Zhao Puxue – simply because Zhao Puxue was on good terms with the Crown Prince, wasn’t it?

Speaking of the Crown Prince, their present predicament was largely connected to him as well. On one hand, he allowed Prince Duan Manor to act tyrannically in Wangjin County and, on the other hand, he accepted the silver from Zhao Puxue without even inquiring about its origin. Could such a character be a wise monarch? If the Crown Prince were wise, he should have questioned the source of the money at the beginning and returned it immediately after knowing that it was disaster relief funds. However, until now, there was no sign of the Crown Prince returning any of it.

How greedy must this Crown Prince be, to even take money meant for disaster relief? Was he not afraid of choking?

King Zhangbei, Zhao Donghao, could only grumble internally. The Crown Prince’s power was very vast and, since he was now the Supervising Crown Prince, his authority was so great that if he sought to retaliate against King Zhangbei Manor, it would be all too easy. Especially since he was soon to abdicate from his position as King, at which point he would simply become a commoner, making it as easy for the Crown Prince to squash him as stepping on an ant.

After issuing the order, King Zhangbei, Zhao Donghao, Zhao Qian, and Princess Zhao Fangfang set off again, this time heading back to King Zhangbei Manor. Unlike their optimistic expectations when they came, they now began to reluctantly accept reality and no longer held any hope for the future.

As they raced back to King Zhangbei Manor, they found Zhao Puxue’s bisected corpse. Zhao Puxue’s head had been chopped off and, after being treated with lime, was placed inside a wooden box.

Looking at the severed head of his second son, King Zhangbei, Zhao Donghao’s face was clouded, but he didn’t say anything. He simply had Zhao Puxue’s head taken away with haste to be sent to Lubei County.

Following what might be his last command as King Zhangbei, Zhao Donghao secluded himself in his study and began drafting a memorial to the imperial court. He declared that due to personal health reasons, he could no longer fulfill his duties as King Zhangbei, and decided to abdicate, handing over the Princehood of King Zhangbei to his daughter, Princess Zhao Qian.

After completing the memorial, Zhao Donghao had it sent to the capital, employing the fastest method of delivery available.

According to the usual practice of the court, this memorial would certainly be approved. On usual occasions, when the title of a prince was involved in matters of succession, the dying or abdicating prince would usually specify the successor with the court merely confirming the designation.

However, the situation with Zhao Donghao was rather unique, and it was uncertain what the final outcome would be.

Unwilling to wait for the result, Zhao Donghao decided that regardless of whether the court agreed, he was no longer suited to continue his rule as King Zhangbei. Thus, he gathered everyone in the King Zhangbei Manor, took them all to the ancestral temple, and after explaining the situation to the first generation King Zhangbei and various ancestors, he handed over the symbols of King Zhangbei’s power – items like the seal, his imperial scroll, account keys, and the register of staff in the prince’s mansion that only the king could hold and manage – to Zhao Qian.

Zhao Qian was reluctant to accept, but the consequences of refusal were far graver. In the end, gritting her teeth, she accepted the symbols of the King of Zhangbei.

Immediately after, Zhao Donghao led the entire household in paying respect to Zhao Qian. As her father, he naturally did not need to kneel, but all others prostrated before Zhao Qian, crying out, “Long live the Prince.”

From that moment, the name King Zhangbei, Zhao Donghao, completely disappeared from the King Zhangbei Manor, replaced by King Zhangbei, Zhao Qian.

The first thing Zhao Qian did upon taking office was to send a Message Paper Crane to Qi Tian, informing him she had taken over King Zhangbei Manor, and then asked what she should do next.

Qi Tian’s reply came swiftly. In it, Qi Tian clearly stated that he would not lightly interfere in big or small matters of the King Zhangbei Manor. Apart from being provoked by actions of the fatherhood-son pair, Zhao Donghao and Zhao Puxue, which made him demand a change in the manor’s leadership, as long as Zhao Qian does not commit similar errors, there would not be a problem.

Furthermore, Qi Tian mentioned how to reestablish contact between King Zhangbei Manor and the Imperial Master Mansion. Moving the Imperial Master Mansion back to Zhangshui City was definitely unrealistic. Qi Tian gave Zhao Qian two choices: one was for King Zhangbei Manor to relocate with the Imperial Master Mansion to Lubei County, where there was still plenty of vacant land for building a new King Zhangbei Manor with relative ease.

The other option was for the Imperial Master Mansion to station personnel at King Zhangbei Manor to provide services for a fee, considered as being hired for service by King Zhangbei Manor.