novelSusiti Chapter 140 Zhao Dezhao's Transformation
Chapter 140 Zhao Dezhao's Transformation
Chapter 140 Zhao Dezhao's Transformation
As Zhao Dezhao left the Zhao residence, he walked with his head down, his still-growing brows furrowed slightly, looking lost in thought.
The last few words Zhao Pu had just spoken to him were swirling in his mind, each word like a heavy hammer, making it difficult for him to calm down.
"Your Majesty, I have heard you say that Your Highness intends to emulate Emperor Taizong of Tang and create an unparalleled golden age?"
"Emperor Taizong is a great emperor of all time, and his disciples naturally admire him wholeheartedly."
"Your Highness, let's set aside Emperor Taizong's great achievements for now. I only have one question: In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between you and Emperor Taizong?"
"In terms of strategy, I am inferior to Emperor Taizong; in terms of military tactics, I am also inferior to Emperor Taizong."
"No, these are certainly important, but not the most important. Does Your Highness know how Emperor Taizong ascended the throne?"
"This—the Xuanwu Gate Incident, the murder of his brother and imprisonment of his father."
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"That's it then. In my opinion, the biggest difference between Your Highness and Emperor Taizong is that Your Highness isn't ruthless enough!"
"Heartless?"
"Indeed, as the saying goes, 'One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand,' and the same is true for the throne. If one wishes to ascend to the throne and achieve unparalleled greatness, one must be prepared for millions of corpses and rivers of blood to be shed!"
"We must stop at nothing, and cast aside all notions of loyalty, righteousness, integrity, shame, propriety, brotherly love, and even our own dignity!"
History is written by the victors.
"As Your Highness has recently taken action, promoting the new civil service examination policy and establishing military academies, it is not that it is bad, but it is somewhat putting the cart before the horse."
"Your Highness must understand that only after securing your throne can you discuss anything else; otherwise, everything is just a mirage, a castle in the air!"
"Although Emperor Taizong of Tang murdered his brother and imprisoned his father, didn't he still earn the reputation of being one of the greatest emperors in history? Although Your Majesty usurped the throne from the Zhou to the Song, if you can pacify the world, the world will sing your praises!"
"Furthermore, since the Marquis of Taiyuan is vying with Your Highness for the throne, they are already mortal enemies!"
"Since he is a mortal enemy, Your Highness should find a way to get rid of him—assassination! Poisoning! Murder by plot! Trapping! Use any means necessary! There is bound to be one that can make him disappear silently, without leaving a trace."
"Killing is sometimes an extremely foolish act, but it can also be a wise move. Sometimes, killing one person can solve the problem once and for all and eliminate future troubles."
"As long as it is done cleanly and neatly, leaving no trace, His Majesty will naturally not suspect Your Highness."
"By then, who will be able to challenge His Highness's position as Crown Prince?"
It's hard to imagine that such ruthless and decisive words would come from Zhao Pu's mouth.
But after recalling his past actions of helping Zhao Guangyi and plotting to force Zhao Guangmei to his death, Zhao Dezhao felt relieved.
Zhao Pu is such a character. He may appear calm and composed on ordinary days, but when he becomes truly ruthless, there is probably no one in the world who can match him.
"Killing one person can actually solve the problem once and for all —"
Zhao Dezhao murmured the same words over and over, his thoughts churning and boiling, and a hint of ruthlessness flashing in the depths of his eyes from time to time.
He knew that he had indeed been putting the cart before the horse lately.
He was always thinking about eliminating all the problems of the Song Dynasty, and he always thought that now that he had made a name for himself, Zhao Kuangyin would surely make his son the heir apparent, and his position as the crown prince should be unshakeable. So he inevitably put his mind on other things.
But Zhao Pu's words startled him, and he remembered something Li Chuyun had once said to him.
"Your Highness, if you want to achieve great things, you can't afford to suffer—"
"They have to eat people!"
"Yes—they have to eat people!"
After figuring all this out, Zhao Dezhao suddenly smiled and even began to feel grateful to Zhao Guangyi.
This incident involving witchcraft certainly served as a reminder to him.
This good uncle has indeed been acting rather erratically lately, and judging by the time, Empress Dowager Du is nearing her end. If that old woman were to concoct a so-called "Golden Chest Alliance" before she dies, binding the matter of succession to her, then I would truly be in a passive position.
Since that's the case, let's just shut him down completely and eliminate any future trouble.
"Bang""
Three days later, in the main hall of the Marquis of Taiyuan's residence, a crisp sound of a teacup shattering suddenly rang out, causing a passing servant to instinctively shiver and hurriedly leave.
Inside the hall, Shi Zaixi stood by, his brows furrowed, not daring to utter a sound.
Zhao Guangyi's face was so dark it could drip water. He sat upright in the main seat, his fingers tapping incessantly on the tea table. His expression was grim as he couldn't help but angrily rebuke, "Ningji, tell me, why have the rumors spread like this!"
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"The Prince of Wugong is immoral? The Marquis of Taiyuan is benevolent and should be made Crown Prince? If these words were to reach the ears of Your Majesty, what would Your Majesty think!"
As Zhao Guangyi spoke, his face grew increasingly gloomy, and his chest heaved violently, clearly indicating that he was extremely angry.
According to his original plan, after spreading rumors that Zhao Dezhao was practicing witchcraft, he would invite Chen Tuan to the palace again, and use his reputation as a highly accomplished Taoist master to subtly convey the prophecy "The black dragon covers the sun, and yin replaces yang" to Zhao Kuangyin.
In this way, no matter how much Zhao Kuangyin trusted Zhao Dezhao, with rumors circulating and Chen Tuan following, Zhao Kuangyin would inevitably develop a rift and become suspicious of Zhao Dezhao.
At that point, he only needs to have one of the servants in the Prince of Wugong's mansion produce some "substantial" evidence, and Zhao Dezhao's attempt to use witchcraft will be completely confirmed, leaving him with no way to defend himself!
By then, whether the emperor believes it or not will be up to him.
With irrefutable evidence before us, how can we convince the public if we do not punish them?
But now, this rumor has not only directly told Zhao Kuangyin that someone must have deliberately orchestrated this, but it has also pushed him, who had been secretly plotting in the shadows, into the limelight and exposed him nakedly to Zhao Kuangyin!
As a result, all his subsequent plans came to naught and died in the womb!
Otherwise, wouldn't that be clearly telling Zhao Kuangyin that the witchcraft was his doing?
Thinking of this, Zhao Guangyi's face darkened even more. Ironically, he, who was originally fair-skinned, now finally looked somewhat like Zhao Kuangyin.
"Your Majesty, is it possible that this matter—was the work of Prince Wugong?" Shi Zaixi hesitated for a long time before cautiously speaking.
"Who else could it be but him!" Zhao Guangyi tapped the table impatiently. "But who would believe it if we told others? Would my imperial brother believe it?"
Will those court officials believe it? Or will the people of the world believe it?!
"They'll just assume I did it all!"
Thinking of this, Zhao Guangyi couldn't help but pick up the teacup again, about to smash it on the ground, but just then, Madam Fu arrived.
"My husband, please don't be angry."
Madam Fu arrived gracefully, her sleeves fluttering lightly. Her soft hands gently placed Zhao Guangyi's hand, taking the teacup from his and placing it back on the tea table. She said softly, "Things have come to this point. Getting angry will not only be useless, but will also make you lose your composure. It would be better to calm down and think about how to quell the rumors."
"Suppress the rumors?" Zhao Guangyi laughed angrily.
How ironic those four words sound.
Just a few days ago, he had sent Shi Zaixi to spread rumors throughout the city, but now he himself has to clear his political enemy's name.
How frustrating! Absolutely frustrating!
Zhao Guangyi remained silent, his face grim, his anger rising intermittently.
"Your Majesty, quelling the rumors is secondary. The most important thing right now is to figure out how to extricate ourselves from this matter—" Shi Zaixi said bitterly.
"Escape? How else can I escape!" Zhao Guangyi suppressed his anger.
"We have no choice but to cut our losses and survive—" Shi Zaixi sighed.
Survival by cutting off the tail — Survival by cutting off the tail —
Zhao Guangyi murmured these four words in a low voice, pacing back and forth in the hall with heavy and hurried steps, his brows full of struggle and ruthlessness.
A moment later, he suddenly stopped, turned around abruptly, and looked sharply at Shi Zaixi: "Do you still remember that Liao man who came to the capital to do business some time ago?"