FVN 110. Standoff
110. Standoff
In the capital city, Lin Mo stood in the private room on the top floor of Wangjiang Tower, overlooking the brightly lit imperial palace in the distance. He toyed with a jade talisman in his hand, a token given to him by the old eunuch he had saved in his previous life.
"Master, everything is arranged." Lin Feng pushed open the door and entered, speaking in a low voice, "Eunuch Li, the Third Prince's confidant, and Mr. Zhang, the Fifth Prince's advisor, are already on their way."
Lin Mo nodded: "Remember, they must meet 'by chance,' and it must be in a crowded and conspicuous place like Wangjiang Tower."
"Understood, sir." Lin Feng bowed and withdrew.
A short while later, a commotion arose downstairs. Lin Mo stood by the window, watching as two groups of people unexpectedly met at the top of the stairs. The Third Prince's confidant, Eunuch Li, with several attendants, was running into Mr. Zhang, the Fifth Prince's strategist.
"Where is Eunuch Li going?" Mr. Zhang asked with a forced smile.
"I've been ordered by the Third Prince to fetch some newly arrived tea from Jiangnan," Eunuch Li said arrogantly, raising his chin. "And what brings Mr. Zhang here?"
"His Highness the Fifth Prince enjoys the perch at Wangjiang Tower and specifically ordered me to make a reservation."
The two men were outwardly polite, but their eyes betrayed their wariness. Lin Mo, watching from upstairs, saw this clearly; it was exactly the effect he wanted.
After the two had left, Lin Mo instructed the guards behind him, "Go and deliver the prepared 'gifts'."
The next morning, the Third Prince Li Chen was reviewing memorials in his study when a trusted confidant delivered a secret letter.
"Your Highness, this was found outside the mansion gate this morning."
Li Chen opened the envelope; inside was a list of several border generals whom the Fifth Prince, Li Fan, had recently won over. What shocked him most was a small note at the end of the list: "His Highness the Fifth Prince has secured the support of the Prince of Zhenbei."
"The Prince of Zhenbei?" Li Chen suddenly stood up. "When did Fifth Brother get in touch with that old fox?"
At the same time, the Fifth Prince's residence also received a similar secret letter. The letter detailed evidence of the Third Prince's embezzlement of salt taxes in Jiangnan, and also included a map marking the weapons workshops that the Third Prince had privately established outside the city.
"That's the Third Brother!" Li Fan's face turned ashen with anger. "He pretends to be honest and upright on the surface, but behind the scenes he's secretly manufacturing weapons. Is he planning a rebellion?"
In the following days, undercurrents surged in the capital. The open and covert struggle between the two princes suddenly escalated.
That morning at court, the censors from the Fifth Prince's faction suddenly launched an attack, impeaching the Third Prince for allowing his servants to seize farmland from the people. The Third Prince was caught off guard, and although he tried his best to defend himself, he was still reprimanded by the Emperor.
After the court session, the Third Prince returned to his residence in a rage.
"Investigate! Find out exactly how Fifth Prince knew about the estate!"
Meanwhile, things weren't going well for the Fifth Prince either. Several of his trusted confidants in the Ministry of Revenue were impeached and dismissed from their posts by the Third Prince's faction.
"Third Brother is trying to cut off my source of income!" Li Fan paced back and forth in the study. "I can't let this continue."
Lin Mo observed all of this unfolding from the shadows. That day, he had Lin Feng invite a special guest—Liu San Niang, the head of the largest opera troupe in the capital.
"Master Liu, how have you been lately?" Lin Mo asked with a smile, offering him a cup of tea.
Liu San Niang took the teacup and said with a charming smile, "Master Lin, are you looking for me to arrange another new play?"
"Exactly." Lin Mo took out a play script. "This is a script I recently came across. I find it very interesting and would like to ask Master Liu to stage it."
Liu San Niang took the script, flipped through a few pages, and her expression changed slightly: "This...the plot of this play seems a bit..."
"It's just a play," Lin Mo said meaningfully. "Art originates from life, yet transcends it. Don't you agree, Master Liu?"
Liu San Niang nodded knowingly, "Master Lin is right. This play was indeed wonderful. I'll go back and prepare now."
Three days later, the most popular theater in the capital posted a trailer for a new play: "The Twin Dragons." The play tells the story of two princes vying for power, ultimately resulting in mutual destruction. Although the characters in the play are all pseudonyms, it is clear to discerning viewers that it is a veiled reference to two princes of the current dynasty.
The play caused a sensation in the capital as soon as it was performed. Both the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince sent people to watch it, and they returned with grim faces.
"This play must have been orchestrated by the Fifth Prince!" The Third Prince smashed his most beloved inkstone in his study. "He's trying to ruin my reputation among the common people!"
The Fifth Prince shared the same thought: "Third Brother is going to completely break ties with me! He's resorting to such despicable means!"
The tension between the two princes grew increasingly high. One day, on their way to the hunting grounds, their caravans met unexpectedly.
"Fifth Brother, where are you going?" the Third Prince asked with a cold smile as he lifted the carriage curtain.
"Isn't Third Brother also going to the hunting grounds?" the Fifth Prince retorted without backing down. "I heard Third Brother's archery skills have improved greatly recently, how about we have a contest later?"
"That suits me perfectly."
On the hunting grounds, the two princes, each accompanied by their retinues, ostensibly hunted, but in reality engaged in a fierce competition. Amidst the flying arrows, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.
Suddenly, a stray arrow shot towards the Fifth Prince's mount. The horse was startled and nearly threw the Fifth Prince off.
"What does Third Brother mean by this?" The Fifth Prince steadied himself and glared angrily.
The third prince was also taken aback: "This arrow was not shot by me!"
But the Fifth Prince refused to believe it and immediately ordered his men to fire arrows in retaliation. Chaos erupted instantly on the hunting grounds.
When the news reached Lin Mo, he was teaching Li Yu martial arts at the manor.
"My lord, the plan has succeeded," Lin Feng reported. "The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince clashed at the hunting grounds, and both sides sustained injuries. Now, both princes have complained to the Emperor, who is furious and has punished them by confining them to their quarters for a month to reflect on their actions."
Lin Mo nodded: "A month is enough for us to do a lot."
Li Yu, who was practicing his sword nearby, heard this news and couldn't help but ask, "Master Lin, won't you... provoke these two royal uncles to fight each other?"
"Isn't that a bit too insidious?" Lin Mo interjected, then shook his head. "You must remember, in a power struggle, no one is innocent. Both the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince participated in the persecution of the Crown Prince; their conflict is nothing more than dogs fighting each other."
He walked to Li Yu's side and adjusted his sword grip: "What you need to do now is improve your strength as quickly as possible. I'll handle the power struggles in the court, but ultimately, you need to have the ability to protect yourself."
"I understand." Li Yu nodded solemnly.
That evening, Lin Mo received a secret report from his spies in the capital. With the two princes under house arrest, their factions were leaderless and began fighting amongst themselves. Officials from the Third Prince's faction and the Fifth Prince's faction attacked each other in court, causing the emperor a headache, and he did not attend court for several days.
"The time is almost right," Lin Mo said to Lin Feng. "Have our people start making contact with those neutral officials, especially those upright officials who are dissatisfied with the status quo."
"Does the master intend to..."
"When two princes vie for power, a third party will inevitably benefit," Lin Mo said meaningfully. "We need to show those officials who are watching from the sidelines that there is another path besides currying favor with the princes."
As the two princes' factions weakened, the power structure in the court was quietly shifting. And all of this was within Lin Mo's calculations.
A month later, when the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince were released from confinement and returned to court, they discovered a new force emerging in the court. A group of upright officials, led by Wang Wenqian, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, suddenly became active and put forward opinions that differed from those of the two princes on many political matters.
What unsettled them even more was that the emperor seemed to take the suggestions of these upright officials quite seriously.
"What's going on?" the Third Prince summoned his trusted aides and asked, "When did those bookworms become so influential?"
"Your Highness, over the past month, Scholar Wang and his colleagues have submitted several memorials, all offering suggestions on reforming the bureaucracy and taxation. For some reason, His Majesty has approved of them all."
The third prince frowned, sensing that things were spiraling out of control.
A similar conversation took place at the Fifth Prince's residence. The two princes realized, almost simultaneously, that their conflict seemed to have benefited a third party.
But by then, it was too late to join forces against Qingliu. The seeds of suspicion had been sown, and the rift between the two princes was irreparable.
Lin Mo stood atop the mountain villa, gazing towards the capital. The first step of the plan had succeeded; now it was time to move on to the next. The Crown Prince's orphan was temporarily safe, and his attention could now turn to more important targets—the mysterious Imperial Advisor and the Emperor's unusual behavior.
A mountain breeze swept by, carrying the coolness of early autumn.