Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 674 - 616: The Crown Prince is Getting Smart Now!

Chapter 674: Chapter 616: The Crown Prince is Getting Smart Now!

In a private room of the tavern, after Shang Bufa had set up the soundproofing formation, he poured a cup of wine for Zhang San.

"Brother San, you’ve worked hard up north for a while!"

Zhang San smiled and waved his hand, "What’s hard work? It’s all for Great Sui!"

Shen Bao nodded vigorously, remembering Zhang San’s words in his heart.

Each time, Grandpa would feel his own consciousness wasn’t high enough, and that he should learn more from Brother San’s kind of remarks in the future.

At the moment, the four juniors of Legalism were offering Zhang San a welcome to wash away the dust of travel.

After all, Zhang San had returned late yesterday, and naturally, the Ministry of War had to entertain these generals properly first.

As a result, this morning Zhang San and the others had all come out from the house of an assistant minister at the Ministry of War.

Today, after Zhang San had descended from the court, these four had finally gotten the chance to invite Zhang San for a drink.

"Speaking of which, you’ve all heard about the rumors about me in the Capital lately, haven’t you?"

Han Yanqiu and Shen Bao nodded.

"I heard from Grandpa that the Magistrate of Metropolitan Prefecture has been investigating the matter but hasn’t gotten any leads on where the rumors originated."

"When our Han Family first got wind of this information, Grandpa felt something was awry and instructed us to investigate thoroughly. But we too came up empty."

Shang Bufa shook his head with a wry smile, "Such rumors that originate from the common folks, we at the Ministry of Punishment really find hard to trace."

Only Shen Zhongdian looked at Zhang San with a serious face, and asked, "Brother San, if you knew who spread these rumors, what would you do?"

Zhang San smiled amiably and said softly, "If someone merely spread some rumors about me, you think I’d kill their entire family? Surely not, right? I’m not someone who has to kill people wherever I go."

Han Yanqiu kept his head down, not wanting to speak.

"But sometimes, killing a few people is necessary."

Shen Zhongdian sighed and said in a low voice, "The source of the news comes from three places."

As he said this, Shen Zhongdian lifted his hand and extended three fingers.

"From the army, news passed back from the Jin River Path. Although the main battlefield of the Tujue invasion this time was at Longyun Path, the Jin River Path has also been sending back information. The first whispers in the army indeed came from Jin River Path."

Hearing this, Zhang San understood.

After all, although Wang Junwu was the General Star of Jin River Path, and the centrist faction generals there cherished him as their future, this didn’t mean that the entire Jin River Path was of a single mind.

It was even uncertain whether the Centrist Faction itself was united.

"Censor. These people can report rumors as if they have seen them firsthand, without needing any real evidence before they accuse others. But when no one had received any news at the beginning, the first memorial to the throne was submitted by the Censors. Most importantly, nearly all the Censors were from the side of Confucianism. Confucianism and Legalism have never been on good terms."

Zhang San seemed to understand that someone at court wanted to target him, and it wasn’t out of the question that Confucianism deliberately stood up to block his rise.

Everyone knew that he was the favored disciple of the Pharaoh of Legalism.

If he could not rise, when he became the leader of Legalism, the status of Legalism would inevitably be impacted.

"Imperial Palace procurement."

As Shen Zhongdian lowered his third finger, he said in a low voice, "The news first came out from the purchases made for the Imperial Palace at the West Market. Seizing the chance, they pretended to accidentally divulge information obtained from inside the Imperial Palace. And merchants are most sensitive to news trickling down from above. So it spread quickly."

Hearing this, Zhang San had basically understood.

"I have no enemies in the Jin River Path’s army, unless my enemies have reached out there. And those who could reach into Jin River Path are probably... heh heh..."

"As for why Confucianism is targeting me, that’s quite normal, after all, the struggle between Confucianism and Legalism has always been there. It’s just that they chose this moment to make their move, they must have allied with certain people."

"And the last incident with the Imperial Palace’s procurement couldn’t have been more obvious. After all, when Kaihuang left Daxing City, who had the final say in the entire Imperial Palace, if not that one person."

At this moment, the table was very quiet.

Although Zhang San did not specify, among the four people present, except for Shen Bao who was completely clueless, the other three knew that Zhang San was talking about the Crown Prince.

And since there was already a conflict between the Crown Prince and Zhang San, now that the Crown Prince was framing him, how could Zhang San not fight back.

"But one thing, now our Crown Prince has learned to be smart. You can deduce these matters, but you won’t find a single piece of evidence. Even with the Jin River Path incident, it’s possible that some martial path factions and martial families were dissatisfied with you and deliberately had the military send back the news. So, you simply can’t find proof that it was him behind all of this set-up."

Zhang San naturally knew that with his multiple identities, he naturally had to face multiple enemies.

It’s just that he didn’t expect this Crown Prince to have become so cunning now.

"Originally, this Crown Prince only knew how to confront problems head-on. Later, he learned how to use others to do his dirty work, and now he’s even smarter, employing both public opinion and popular sentiment. This Crown Prince is indeed growing up fast!"

Originally, Zhang San felt that it would suffice to just bring down the Crown Prince and then let King Jin ascend to the throne.

But now, Zhang San felt that given the Crown Prince’s rate of growth, even if he was deposed in the future, he could still cause trouble.

Is the best method still to eliminate him physically?

Although he is Kaihuang’s son, who asked him to be my enemy?

But Zhang San knew all too well that precisely because the Crown Prince was Kaihuang’s son, Kaihuang had allowed him to fight with the Crown Prince as a way to temper him.

Only, with the Crown Prince disliking him so much, if he were to ascend to the throne in the future, the one at a disadvantage would certainly be himself.

Therefore, he must be eliminated.

Better yet, to chop off his head and kick it around like a ball!

But in terms of legitimacy, after all, the Crown Prince is the sovereign, and I am the subject.

To commit regicide would ultimately not bode well for my reputation.

So, there needs to be a scapegoat, no, a partner in crime.

At this thought, Zhang San had already begun to calculate how to execute his plan.

At this time, Han Yanqiu thought of something and whispered a reminder, "Brother San, although I don’t know what you plan to do, it would be wise to keep a low profile for the time being."

"Why so?"

Zhang San remembered that Han Yanqiu used to be quite bold, so why was he being so cautious now?

"Brother San, you might not know, but not long ago, Kaihuang held an imperial examination. It allowed scholars from all over to come to Daxing City, where they took a uniform exam. Their papers were used to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and then the best were selected for government service."

Zhang San curiously said, "That’s a good thing! Gathering talents from all over into the court. But what does this have to do with me?"

Shen Zhongdian added from the side, "Brother San, is it possible that these scholars who have just completed their exams are most fond of discussing court affairs? And just so happens, the focus of their discussions recently is you?"

Zhang San was stunned and asked, "Surely not all the scholars are speaking ill of me."

"Not just a few scholars."

"Well, that’s a relief."

"All the scholars!"

"What!?"