Facts have proved that the important officials around the two princes were not worried about anything, but were planning ahead.

Because after the two of them left after giving everything, the emperor sent someone to call the prince into the palace, and then confronted and interrogated him.

If the other officials hadn't known the importance of the severity, as Xia Shangshu and others expected, they would not dare to confess the prince. In addition, Xia Shangshu took the initiative to stand up and bear the blame, but he was afraid that the prince would not only be scolded, but also be confined to the Eastern Palace for half a month to reflect on such a light punishment.

But even so, this incident still had a great blow to the prince. He returned to the East Palace almost in a daze, and then sat there in absent-minded manner until midnight. Even the two Liu brothers came to comfort him, but they could not make him react too much. Mr. Mo, who had only returned from the outside, heard about this and came to ask for a meeting.

The prince then looked at Mr. Mo with a confused look on his face: "Sir, you have to help me... This time, the father was obviously suspected by me. Even if Master Xia took the blame with all his strength, I could feel that the father looked at me a little differently. He should have guessed that the money was sent to me by them. You said, should I hand over all the money and admit my mistake with my father?"

"Your Highness, you must not do this!" Mr. Mo immediately dissuaded, "If you do this, you will be doomed. Even if Your Majesty is willing to spare you, you will be severely punished before you confess your own sins. I am afraid that your position as the prince may not be able to be preserved."

"But... Is there any other way I can do it?" The prince was really panicked and said in despair. Thinking about his embarrassing look of Master Xia being stripped of his crown uniform in the palace just now, he shuddered.

Mr. Mo quickly comforted, "Please don't be anxious, the matter is far from irreversible. Whether Your Majesty's previous reprimand or severe punishment for Master Xia, it was a natural reaction in his anger. After all, Huguang is a heavy place in my Dayue granary, so it is naturally annoying to have such a thing.

"But, as long as your Majesty calms down afterwards, he will not force your Highness too much. Even if you are really at fault, you are the crown prince of the country after all. Before there is no conclusive evidence, Your Majesty will definitely not be willing to touch you at all, otherwise it will shake the foundation of the country and make the world turbulent."

His analysis was indeed much more useful than the previous unpainful and unhealthy words of the Liu brothers. After hearing this, the prince's face finally looked a little better. But he still hesitated: "Then I will really do nothing, wait for my father to calm down?"

"It should be like this on the surface. At this time, you do more and more mistakes. The more you want to find someone to save yourself, the more you feel guilty. Even if Your Majesty doesn't want to pursue it, some people will make trouble with it. But if Your Majesty really thinks about your mistakes behind closed doors and others help explain, the matter may be quickly calmed down, because even Your Majesty hopes to minimize the impact of this matter.

"As it said, the land of Huguang is of great importance. Whether your Majesty or the Dukes in the court, they actually don't want more people to know the various disadvantages there, which will affect the world's food prices."

"You... what you said is indeed reasonable." The prince finally calmed down a little, "Then I will follow what you said and no longer ask about foreign affairs."

"No, you still have to do some things in your Highness, so that you can minimize the blow caused by this."

"What do you mean?" The prince looked at him bluntly. Mr. Mo has now become the person he trusts the most.

Mr. Mo touched his gray beard and said, "That is the arrangement of the vacancies in the court and local officials who were vacant because of the Huguang case."

This really reminded the prince, yes, Huguang alone had dozens or hundreds of vacancies vacant due to the case, and the positions vacant after the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue and other yamen officials were taken down, which was enough to attract many people to look at them, using their brains and means to get these vacancies.

Especially the British King Party, which has just emerged, as the initiator of everything, they will definitely not miss this opportunity, so they must find ways to seize most of these official positions in order to preserve their suppression of the British King.

Thinking of this, when the prince was about to say something, Mr. Mo said again: "Your Highness, what you need to do next is to secretly tell our people not to fight for these vacancy. When the British king wants to fight for these vacancy, we can help them and let them sit in these positions."

"What did you say?" Even though the prince had already trusted Mr. Mo and was trusting, he couldn't help but scream when he heard this proposal, and even doubted which end he was from.

Mr. Mo was not panicked because of the prince's impatience, and continued to say calmly: "Your Highness, be careful, please listen to me slowly. First of all, whether it is the number of positions of the Ministry of Works and Revenue, or the many official positions in Huguang, is it really that useful? I think these positions are just icing on the cake for the prince. There are not many of them, and there are not many of them, so why bother fighting with others for this, which will make Your Majesty more dissatisfied with you?"

These words really made the prince listen. After thinking about it, he couldn't help but nodded slightly. Mr. Mo said, "Secondly, your highness thinks why you are so harsh this time? Is it just because of the case report sent by Li Ling and the conclusive evidence from those people?"

The prince soon had his own answer: "Of course not! It's no wonder that the father blames me so much, and it's more about suppressing me."

The father, Mo Ruozi, is the crown prince. As the crown prince, he has already grasped the mind and purpose of his father in repeated struggles. It is for the absolute control of the imperial power that the father has caused his prince to suffer from injustice and challenges repeatedly. This was the case when he fought with King Yong, and it is the same today.

Mr. Mo also lowered his voice at this time: "Your Majesty wants a balance under his control, but now it is hard to say the balance between Your Highness and the King of England. He has just been named the Prince, and there are almost no one under his command except Li Ling and other few people. But what about Your Highness? You not only have the title of righteousness, but also have many ministers to serve. Your Majesty naturally wants to deliberately suppress it in order to find that balance.

"So, even if the Huguang case is not happening, Your Majesty will suppress you with other reasons. And if you still occupy these vacancies after this time, making it difficult for the King of England to develop, what will happen to Your Majesty?"

Of course, I just continue to find reasons to suppress myself, and by then, I am afraid that the father's methods will be more severe than this time, and my own losses will inevitably be greater. Thinking of this, the prince's body shook again, and he understood what the other party meant: "So you asked me to take advantage of the situation and give him a chance?"

"That is, Your Highness, sometimes it is a trick to retreat and advance. Only when Your Majesty thinks that you two have formed a balance and he controls everything will he not attack you. And what you have to do is to keep a low profile, and make Your Majesty think that he has done this. And secretly, you can completely think of winning some forces, so that when it really reaches the most critical moment, you can win in one battle.

"As the saying goes, the dispute over the throne is not in front of you, but in the long run. It is not in the gains and losses of one official and one position, but in the heart of the emperor."

Mr. Mo's words made the prince ponder again, and after a while, he sighed sincerely: "Mr. Mo's words really made me realize it. I've been taught." As he said that, he even stood up and bowed to him with his fists.

Mr. Mo quickly stood up and avoided the gift: "I dare not take it. I am just talking about my own shallow views. Whether it can be achieved depends on your highness himself. However, your highness, I think there is someone who has to be careful, that is..."

"Li Ling!" The prince immediately followed it, and the name almost burst out from the cracks of his teeth, and his eyes were filled with resentment and fear.

"That's right. This person has outstanding abilities and has no rules or scruples in his actions. Even if he is next to the King, he will inevitably be a big disaster for us and must be eradicated as soon as possible."

"I think so too, but... you also know that he is the imperial envoy and is deeply trusted by his father. Even if I want to kill him, I don't know how to get it!" The prince said angrily, and even felt a little scared. Speaking of which, when Li Ling was in the northern border, he wanted to kill him, but not only failed, but he seized the opportunity and pushed Sun Bi to the position of King of England. It was really a matter of stealing chickens and losing rice.

"Your Highness, what you are using is nothing more than the power in the officialdom, so Li Ling is always easily resolved. Since that's the case, why not change your thinking? For example, assassinate him through the power in the world!" Mr. Mo suggested with his eyes narrowed.

"The power in the world... do they have this ability?"

"It is easy to avoid hidden arrows and it is hard to defend against open guns, and this is the best thing people in the world are good at. Just so I have some friendship with some forces in the world. If Your Highness can trust me, I am willing to contact him and get rid of Li Ling!"

When the prince heard this, he immediately agreed, "Just do what you said. Mr. Mo, as long as you can accomplish this, you will make a great contribution to me. I will thank you very much at that time! If you have any requests, just make them. If you want money and people, I will be satisfied!" He really hated Li Ling to death. As long as he could kill him, he would be willing to pay any price.

Mr. Mo was also very happy and quickly agreed. His eyes were shining with light, full of confidence.

Just when they decided to concentrate on attacking Li Ling, Lord Li, who was the target, had already arrived in Xiangfan again. This time, except for Xiao Chengzhi who led half of his troops to continue to guard Wuchang, everyone else was taken to Xiangfan by him, including those who had just arrived in Baiyitang who had just arrived in Wuchang from elsewhere.
Chapter completed!