After parting ways with Prince Kang, Prince Qing returned to the Ministry of Rites by himself.
The Ministry of Rites was currently preparing for the Eldest Princess's wedding in May. The officials worked diligently for their salaries and performance evaluations. Prince Qing did not need these, so he did not want to waste his mental energy on marriage affairs. He preferred to sit at his desk, pretending to read through files while actually spacing out and letting his mind wander.
The Crown Prince, the Crown Prince. From an ordinary prince to the Crown Prince, it was only one step away.
Even though the chances were slim, Prince Qing could not completely give up until the very last moment. Perhaps this patrol of Mount Lingshan was an opportunity for his imperial father to see him in a new light?
At dusk, when it was time to get off work, Prince Qing left late. Ignoring the surprised looks from the Minister of Rites and the two Vice Ministers, he continued to look at a gift list.
At a quarter to six in the evening, the close attendant sent out to gather information returned and whispered, Your Highness, the Second Prince just left the Ministry of Works.
Prince Qing nodded. Last month, a bizarre case occurred in Jinzhou. A room in a Daoist temple suddenly exploded, instantly killing a Daoist Yu and two young acolytes, which then sparked a fire in the temple. The local magistrate investigated and learned that Daoist Yu was obsessed with alchemy and had often mixed the wrong formulas before, causing his furnaces to explode. Thus, they deduced that Daoist Yu had mixed the wrong formula again that night, only this time the explosion was so severe that it destroyed the building and killed the people inside.
Such an incident had absolutely nothing to do with the Ministry of Works. However, the Chief Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision casually mentioned it during the morning assembly. A few days later, their imperial father praised his second brother again in court. He said that his second brother believed that although the formula that killed Daoist Yu was not suitable for alchemy, it could be used as a heavy explosive specifically for blasting. Such heavy explosives would be incredibly useful for mining, carving roads through mountains, and even on the battlefield.
As soon as this was said, the civil and military officials were highly enthusiastic, and their imperial father directly handed the matter over to his second brother to manage.
Prince Qing was both envious and jealous. Why had he not thought of that?
However, who would dare to easily test a pill formula that could blow people up? And could they really find the exact formula that Daoist Yu used to blow himself up? It was said that with those alchemical formulas, even if the same few ingredients were mixed together, variations in the amounts of each material could yield vastly different results.
If his second brother worked for nothing and failed to recreate the formula, all the praise he received that day would turn into mockery and sarcasm.
Just like suppressing bandits: while important, whether it could be successfully done and how great the casualties were would both affect their imperial father's rewards and punishments.
Having learned from his past mistakes, Prince Qing now actually preferred errands like inspecting canals and patrolling medicine fields. They were easy, simple, and a good way to earn merit.
Prince Qing pondered as he waited. Estimating that his second brother's wheelchair should have been pushed outside the Ministry of Rites by now, Prince Qing finally stepped out of his office.
Soon, Prince Qing appeared in Prince Hui's line of sight.
When Prince Qing stopped and acted as if he was waiting to walk together, Zhao Sui looked away.
One could find a silver lining in anything. Take Prince Hui, for example, who was forced to sit in a wheelchair. Although he had to look up or turn his head when he wanted to see his princess, when faced with someone he did not want to look at, as long as the distance was close enough, he could avoid their face just by keeping his gaze level. And rarely would anyone accuse him of being disrespectful merely for looking straight ahead.
Second Brother, why are you so late? Prince Qing greeted with a smile.
Zhao Sui replied, I was rather busy today.
Qing'ai quietly kept an eye on Prince Qing's boots. It was not until Prince Qing walked to a position parallel to the wheelchair that Qing'ai felt relieved, for he was completely unwilling to hand the wheelchair over to the Third Prince.
Prince Qing chatted a bit about the children of their two families before changing the subject. Sigh, ever since Sanlang was born, I have not taken any assignments outside the capital. But today, Imperial Father ordered me to go to Lingshan County to inspect the eight hundred acres of Solomon's seal fields. Naturally, I am willing to share Imperial Father's burdens, but the thought of not seeing Sanlang for a long time makes me miss him already.
He deliberately did not stand too close to the wheelchair so that he could easily observe his second brother's expression and determine whether he had anything to do with the Solomon's seal fields over there.
Zhao Sui was somewhat surprised that their imperial father had actually assigned Prince Qing to do this, but he did not show it on his face. After pondering for a moment, he said, When I went there to escape the summer heat the year before last, I saw the nearby mountains. The mountain paths are rugged, so pay attention to your footing when you patrol.
Prince Qing nodded and then smiled. The local magistrate thought of opening up the wasteland right after you went there to escape the heat. Could it be that Second Brother was the one who guided him?
He had to find out for sure. If it really was his second brother's guidance, then the final credit would definitely fall on his second brother's head again. If that were the case, Prince Qing would not bother putting any effort into this errand; he would just let his eldest brother play the fool.
Qing'ai, who was silently pushing the wheelchair, looked at Prince Qing in confusion, as if he did not understand why Prince Qing would think that.
Zhao Sui also glanced at Prince Qing and asked, Why would I guide him?
Prince Qing was speechless.
Right. If it really was his second brother's idea, his second brother could have just gone directly to their imperial father to claim the credit. Why take such a detour?
When Di Xian was building the canal, his second brother had roundaboutly asked Yan Lun to recommend him because he was afraid that Di Xian would not build it well and their imperial father would blame him afterwards. After all, it was a massive project costing hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. But opening up the wasteland in Lingshan relied entirely on the labor of the local commoners. The imperial court only needed to provide a little silver to buy cheap raw Solomon's seal. If it succeeded, it would be a great merit; if it failed, there would be no significant loss.
But Prince Qing still pressed, Second Brother, just tell me if it was your idea or not.
This second brother of his was not someone who excelled at lying.
Zhao Sui looked straight ahead. If you think it is, then it is.
Prince Qing was speechless again.
Qing'ai smiled and shook his head, but did not say anything more.
But Prince Qing understood Qing'ai's smile. He was laughing at him for overthinking and attributing every merit to his second brother. His second brother's cold tone meant he was angered by his suspicions and had deliberately admitted it just to brush him off.
Now, Prince Qing felt reassured!
Having found an opportunity to win back his imperial father's favor, Prince Qing returned to his manor with a renewed gleam in his eyes. Holding Sanlang, he told Zheng Yuanzhen about the matter, only leaving out his suspicions and probing of his second brother.
Zheng Yuanzhen had been solely worried about the affairs in Liangzhou lately and had not thought that far ahead. She simply felt that Emperor Yongchang truly wanted to give Prince Qing a chance. Fearing he might mess it up again, the Emperor had arranged for Prince Kang to accompany him so that Prince Qing could learn from Prince Kang's diligence and steadiness.
She instinctively instructed Prince Qing on various things, such as eating and traveling together with Prince Kang once they reached Lingshan, and earnestly inspecting the growth of the Solomon's seal when they were on the mountain.
Prince Qing was in a good mood, so he smiled and listened to whatever she said.
Early the next morning, Prince Qing brought a close attendant and four guards and rode his horse to the outside of the south city gate, where he found Prince Kang already waiting.
For the journey of over one hundred and sixty li, Prince Kang's intention was for the group to ride faster so they could enter Lingshan County before dark.
Prince Qing obeyed him.
Upon arriving at the county town, the two brothers stayed at the official hostel used to receive traveling officials. When Xu Dongyang learned that the two princes had arrived, he hurriedly came to pay his respects.
Prince Kang was entirely focused on asking about the eight hundred acres of Solomon's seal.
Prince Qing found an opportunity to ask, The year before last, when Prince Hui came to Lingshan to escape the summer heat, did Lord Xu ever meet him?
Keeping in mind Prince Hui's previous instructions, Xu Dongyang feigned surprise and said, Such a thing happened? Does the Third Prince know which inn the Second Prince stayed at back then?
Prince Kang covertly glared at his third brother. It was one thing to spout nonsense in front of him, but to actually continue probing and sowing discord in front of a local official? Was he not afraid that Xu Dongyang would guess the open and secret struggles between the royal brothers, thereby bringing disgrace upon the imperial family?
Prince Qing had already gotten the answer from Xu Dongyang's reaction. He smiled and said, "Never mind, I was just asking casually."
Xu Dongyang thought to himself that between the two princes—one telling him to hide the truth and the other trying to pry it out—he naturally had to be loyal to Prince Hui, who had shown great kindness to him and the people of this county.
It was getting late, and Xu Dongyang prepared to take his leave.
Prince Kang said, "Lingshan Town is far away. We will eat early tomorrow morning and set off at exactly six o'clock."
Under Prince Qing's look of disbelief, Xu Dongyang accepted the order.
Prince Kang glared at Prince Qing again. "Didn't you resolve to go to the battlefield in the future to kill the enemy and earn merit? Is waking up early too hard for you?"
Prince Qing replied, "...But this isn't a battlefield."
Prince Kang said with a solemn face, "The sooner we finish patrolling the mountains, the sooner Imperial Father will approve Xu Dongyang's memorial. Then Xu Dongyang can urge the commoners to open up the wasteland sooner. There are still five thousand mu of wild forest waiting to be cleared and planted. The people racing against the seasons is also a kind of battlefield."
Prince Qing secretly memorized these words, planning to polish them up later and use them when reporting back to their Imperial Father!
After this day, Prince Qing began his arduous, battle-like days of following Prince Kang around climbing mountains.
On the battlefield, at least he could ride a horse. In Lingshan, he could only ride to the foot of the mountain; after dismounting, it was endless climbing. After five consecutive days of climbing, they finally finished inspecting the eight hundred mu of medicinal fields planted with Solomon's seal. Exhausted and drained, Prince Qing returned to the official residence and was just about to get a good sleep when Prince Kang stopped him, telling him to continue waking up early tomorrow. The two of them were to accompany Xu Dongyang to inspect the five thousand mu of mountain forest waiting to be cleared.
Prince Qing asked, "Can't we at least rest for one day?"
Prince Kang replied, "Xu Dongyang is a civil official and hasn't complained. You've practiced martial arts for over a decade, yet you can't even compare to him?"
Prince Qing gritted his teeth and turned to leave.
Prince Kang called out, "Remember to soak your feet!"
He didn't want his third brother's feet to be covered in blisters from climbing, giving him an excuse to slack off.
On the tenth day of the fourth lunar month, in the dead of night, there was only a crescent moon hanging in the sky.
While the two princes were snoring loudly in their beds after a full day of mountain climbing, more than two thousand miles away under a different night sky, Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng—sent by Princess Fucheng to destroy the canal—set out dressed in black, their faces covered with black cloth masks, carrying shovels and pickaxes.
The embankment of the canal they selected was over five feet thick. The canal was currently flowing with water drawn from the Yellow River just that day. As long as they dug two holes the size of water vats, by daybreak tomorrow, the breaching Yellow River water would flood a large swath of the surrounding fields.
The wheat seedlings, which had already grown over a foot tall, needed irrigation. However, if they were submerged in river water for even two or three days, even if they survived, the harvest would be poor.
But whether the wheat seedlings lived or died had nothing to do with them. Once the canal was destroyed, their mission would be complete!
Every village had arranged for canal patrollers during both the day and night. Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng avoided the patrollers from other villages and arrived at their chosen section of the canal. They hid behind an earth mound, waiting for the local patroller, who was carrying a lantern and yawning, to approach. Suddenly, Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng sprang out. One tightly grabbed the man's arms to immobilize him, while the other took out a cloth sprinkled with knockout powder and clamped it tightly over his mouth and nose.
A moment later, the patroller went limp and collapsed to the ground.
Jiang Qiang took out a rope to tie him up and gagged his mouth with the cloth just in case. Once they finished breaching the canal, they planned to drown him in the water, making it look as though he had tragically been swept away and drowned by the breached Yellow River water.
After that, the two swung their pickaxes and began to destroy the canal.
They had barely dug a shallow pit when a furious roar suddenly came from the distance: "You damned beasts, stop right there!"
Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng both jolted in shock and simultaneously turned their heads.
At the far end of the fields shrouded in darkness, numerous silhouettes had appeared out of nowhere. Some figures were clutching clubs and sprinting wildly toward them, while others with slower steps trailed behind. Amidst the chaos, the two heard the shocked and angry voice of a woman: "I came to deliver flatbread to Zhuzi. From a distance, I saw them knock Zhuzi down. Knowing I couldn't fight them off and afraid of scaring them away, I hurried back to call the village head..."
Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng exchanged a glance, dropped their tools, and bolted.
However, the village head was well-prepared. He had dispatched strong men to outflank them from different directions, ultimately trapping them like turtles in a jar.
A real turtle could still climb up the canal embankment and jump into the river to swim away. But the village head was beating a gong, which had already woken up the villagers on the opposite side. The canals extended in all directions, but the ends were dead ends. As long as the villagers chased them along the two directions of the canal, they would catch the two sooner or later—unless they swam upstream and jumped straight into the Yellow River...
"We caught them!"
After a bout of chasing, someone shouted in satisfaction.
"See if I don't beat you to death!"
The commoners relied entirely on these canals for a good harvest. Anyone who came to destroy the canals was destroying their fields and grain, which was tantamount to murdering them.
Jiang Qiang and Jiang Sheng were thrown to the ground by the faceless villagers, as a barrage of clubs, fists, and kicks rained down on them.
The village head intervened just in time, saying, "Stop beating them! Send them to the government office so we can see which village sent these beasts!"
The village head of this poor little village still thought this completely heartless act was the doing of a rival village that had a feud with them.
