Chapter 168 Zhao Qi’an decided to add fuel to the fire
For some things, Zhao Qi’an doesn’t have to deal with them personally, as someone will naturally do it for him.

For example, when it comes to dealing with the third prince Ji Yunrui, Ji Haoyu is much more enthusiastic than him.

That evening, shortly after Zhao Qi’an left the palace, the second prince traveled light, quietly slipped out of the palace, went to Prime Minister Wu’s residence in the inner city of Kyoto, and met with Prime Minister Wu in person.

No one knew the result of this interview except the Second Prince and Prime Minister Wu.

However, at the court meeting the next day, Prime Minister Wu suddenly attacked several senior officials within the Wu Party, which alarmed the government and the public.

……

Another five days passed quickly.

On this day, Zhao Qi’an was sitting in a carriage, preparing to return to the princess’s mansion in the inner city from the west market.

On the way back, the carriage suddenly stopped and he asked, “What happened?”

“Master, the people from the Patrol of Astronomy are blocking the road. We have to avoid them.”

Zhao Qian heard the voice of the ugly slave outside the carriage, lifted the curtain and looked outside.

Sure enough, on the main road outside, a team of sky patrollers were hurrying forward in a vehicle, occupying the street.

In the city of Kyoto, except for the current emperor’s sedan chair, no matter how high the official position or the noble title, if they met the Astronomical Patrol team on the road, they had to step aside and make way.

Even Zhao Qi’an’s identity as a royal consort is useless.

This is the privilege given to the Astronomical Patrol by Emperor Tianwu. After all, “patrolling the sky on behalf of the emperor” is not just talk. If anyone offends the Astronomical Patrol’s team, it is equivalent to offending the emperor.

The ugly slave pointed in the direction where the Patrol Team left and said, “Master, where are they going? I think I saw the Fourth Young Master just now.”

Zhao Qi’an smiled and said, “Another house search.”

In the past few days, Prime Minister Wu has been performing steadily. In just five days, two third-rank officials and several high-ranking officials from various departments have been brought down.

Dealing with political opponents may not be that easy.

But it is not easy to deal with people from your own party.

After all, if you want to serve under Prime Minister Wu, you naturally have to have a “letter of surrender”.

And those “letters of surrender” that once opened a path to success have now become ropes hanging around these people’s necks.

Everyone inside and outside the court thought that Prime Minister Wu was crazy. This “cockfighting prime minister” had no political enemies left in the court, and now he has started fighting his own people, right?

But only a few people know the inside story.

And Zhao Qi’an is one of them.

After all, he was the one who lit the fuse of this incident.

It’s just that he was the cause of all this, but he himself acted as if nothing had happened. He just watched the fire from the other side of the river. The fire could never burn him.

Although this time it was a purge within the civil service group, it could not be called a major turmoil.

It was impossible for Wu Xiangzhen to really bring down the party that he had personally nurtured. He only set up a few examples as a warning to others, so that the originally restless officials would behave themselves.

Zhao Qi’an even maliciously speculated that perhaps these officials of the Wu party were secretly contacting the third prince with the tacit approval of Prime Minister Wu.

Otherwise, how can we explain that the left prime minister, who holds great power in the government, was unable to detect the disloyalty of members of his own party for so many years?

The reason…maybe it’s really because the second prince has no children.

If the second prince really cannot give birth to a child, then he is destined not to become the crown prince.

He is the Queen’s biological son and the eldest prince among the princes… but he is useless!
No one in the court would allow a “man without descendants” to become the monarch of a country. Even his own grandfather would not invest in him anymore, after all, it would be a waste of effort.

However, Prime Minister Wu himself will not easily waver in his position, but it is normal for him to let his subordinates try to contact the Third Prince Ji Yunrui first.

You see, now that the Second Imperial Concubine is pregnant, Prime Minister Wu has room to maneuver, and the only things he loses are some insignificant subordinates.

Zhao Qi’an knew who the officials who had been dismissed in the past few days were. It was not difficult to find out. The highest-ranking official was only the Minister of Justice.

The Minister of Justice is an important official position. If it were during the reign of the previous emperor, it would have been one of the top-ranked ministries among the six ministries.

But during the Tianwu calendar period, after the construction of the Astronomical Observatory, the Ministry of Justice became more and more like a decoration.

Small cases were handled by the Jingzhao Prefecture, and large cases were handled by the Xuntianjian. Throughout the year, not many cases were handled, and the prisons of the Ministry of Justice were so empty that only rats could run through them.

Without power, the status of the Minister of Justice became lower and lower. He was almost a clay sculpture in the court. Apart from following Prime Minister Wu and waving flags and shouting a few words, he could not do anything practical.

Therefore, the fall of the Minister of Justice was not a big loss to the Wu Party.

What’s more, the officials who filled the vacancies were still members of the Wu Party.

This is essentially a purge operation that is all loud thunder but little results.

Prime Minister Wu would be satisfied with this result, but the Second Prince Ji Haoyu would not be satisfied.

He really wanted to get rid of all those who had betrayed him.

Zhao Qi’an recalled that when he was reprimanded, Ji Haoyu had sent his close companion, eunuch Fu, to the princess’s residence in person and brought him a message – “Sometimes, the Left Prime Minister’s meaning is the Left Prime Minister’s meaning, but it is not the Second Prince’s meaning. Please make sure you can distinguish between the two, Your Majesty.”

It was at that time that he vaguely felt that the Second Prince and the Left Prime Minister Wu Yong did not seem to be so closely connected.

There seems to be a crack in the relationship between the two.

The current purge of civil servants also confirmed his conjecture.

Inside the carriage, Zhao Qi’an gently touched his chest. There was a document hidden in his lapel.

That was a list of buyers who had purchased private slaves in large quantities from the pawnshop controlled by the Zhou family.

The last time he met the Second Prince Ji Haoyu, he did not give him this document.

But now, as the internal fighting within the Wu Party in the court has gradually subsided, I am afraid that the Second Prince’s dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Wu has been suppressed to a limit…

What is lacking is just a fire.

Thinking of this, Zhao Qian opened the curtain of the sedan chair and said to the ugly slave outside: “You go back home first. I have something else to do and need to go to the palace.”

Ugly slave asked in surprise: “Going to the palace at this time? Then will you come back for dinner?”

“I won’t come back.”

“Hey, I got an old hen today and cooked a big pot of nourishing soup. Since the master is not enjoying the food, I won’t be polite.”

Listening to the ugly slave’s complaints, Zhao Qianan smiled and said, “Didn’t you always say that a fellow tribesman of yours was sold together with you? I searched all over Kyoto for you but couldn’t find his whereabouts. I think he must have entered the palace. It just so happens that I have something to give to the Second Prince, so I’d like to ask him to help find your fellow tribesman.”

When Chou Nu heard this, he immediately became excited: “Really?!”

“Of course I take it seriously.”

“Master, you are so kind! Then go quickly. I will go home and warm the soup for you and wait for you to come back!” She raised her hand and swore, “I will never drink a sip before you come back!”

Seeing her serious look, Zhao Qi’an said, “Don’t hold your hopes too high. I can only try my best to ask.”

(End of this chapter)