Hope for luck

Chapter 177
After hearing Gao Pan talk about the special mission conveyed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Dong Pingzhang finally understood why Gao Pan had such a reaction before.

He looked at Gao Pan with some guilt, and said softly:
"The old man is not very familiar with the affairs of the inner court, but you can ask someone to inquire about it. As for the sweet-scented osmanthus you mentioned, the old man has heard about it. I heard that it is the imperial concubine Li in the palace who likes sweet-scented osmanthus very much. It is probably because of this Bar?"

After Gao Pan listened, he got an important message and asked quickly:
"Mr. Dong, can you tell me about the background of Concubine Li?"

"Concubine Li has an outstanding appearance and is deeply favored by the emperor. Right now, in the harem, she is the noble concubine at the head!"

Dong Pingzhang seemed unwilling to talk about the emperor's harem, and said with a helpless face, frowning.

After Gao Pan listened, he became interested:

"Why is the imperial concubine the leader? What about the queen?"

"Empress Zhangyi passed away many years ago, and the emperor has never made another empress. However, this Concubine Li happened to win the emperor's heart. Therefore, she is the one who ruled the harem! Afterwards, it was rejected by most of the ministers in the DPRK!"

Dong Pingzhang calmly described the affairs of the palace.

This made Gao Pan more interested in an instant, and then asked:

"Then, does Concubine Li have a royal heir? And a queen?"

"It is precisely because Concubine Li did not give birth to a son and a half daughter. Therefore, the courtiers felt that Concubine Li could not be a queen. As for Empress Zhang Yi, she has a prince, the sixth prince, His Royal Highness King Lu!"

Dong Pingzhang was still very calm, but when he talked about King Lu, Gao Pan heard some respect in his words, and he seemed to respect King Lu very much.

This is the second time Gao Pan heard the name of another prince after he knew that there was a trend of seizing the throne in the current court. Gao Pan had already learned some superficial information about the previous Liang Wang.

"In this way, the crown prince should belong to His Royal Highness Prince Lu? But why, the emperor has not appointed a crown prince?"

Gao Pan had previously learned that the position of prince is still vacant, which is the main reason why old man Gao had a very bad attitude when he heard Gao Qiyuan fawning over Queen Liang.

After Dong Pingzhang heard this, his turbid and kind eyes instantly became a little sharper, and he said calmly:
"That's right, the position of crown prince has always followed the ancestral system established by the emperor Taizu. There is no elder for the first son, and no younger for the elder. Since Queen Zhangyi has left a son of the emperor, then the crown prince's Naturally, it belongs to King Lu!"

Although what Dong Pingzhang said was convincing, Gao Pan could hear a bit of unwillingness and uncertainty in his ears.

If Emperor Tianfeng really wanted to follow the ancestral system and establish a prince, King Lu would definitely become the prince, without any dispute.

But Emperor Tianfeng did not do this, which shows that the position of the crown prince cannot be determined according to the ancestral system, and there may be variables.

Thinking of this, Gao Pan finally understood why Gao Qiyuan went to curry favor with Prince Liang's mansion. Emperor Tianfeng's ambiguous attitude was just giving outsiders an illusion that except King Lu, other princes could become princes and future emperors!
Although Gao Pan doesn't know how cruel it is to seize the heir, but in the history of his previous life, for the throne, brothers fought against each other, father and son turned against each other, etc., are all recorded.

Judging from Dong Pingzhang's tone at the moment, he is definitely optimistic about King Lu, after all, he is the only orthodox bloodline left by the former empress.

"Elder Dong, as a kid, I can only see that the emperor is still in his prime, who can sit in the position of prince, and it's better not to get too involved!"

Gao Pan thought for a while, and then persuaded him from the bottom of his heart.

Dong Pingzhang stared at Gao Pan and said:

"The position of crown prince is related to the foundation of the country. As a subject, this is a matter of one's own duty. How can one take care of oneself alone?"

Gao Pan blushed when he heard this, and didn't know how to persuade him. Maybe this was Dong Pingzhang's obsession, and outsiders couldn't persuade him no matter what.

Gao Pan thought to himself, if it were someone else, facing the struggle for the throne, he might not be able to hide. Just like Gao Pan at this moment, he felt that not participating is the best way to be an official.

"In the history of the throne, there has never been a reason why a concubine gave birth to a prince. The emperor has not established a prince for a long time, which is not good for the country. Besides, the emperor is not young now, and King Lu has passed the year of weak crown. He should also be established. For the prince!"

Dong Pingzhang continued to talk about things that horrified Gao Pan.

"Mr. Dong, I think, if you really want to ask the emperor to appoint a crown prince, should you first ask the emperor what he means?"

Even if Gao Pan doesn't understand anymore, he also knows that if the emperor doesn't want to establish a prince, but the courtiers are full of heart, so that the monarch and his ministers are separated, there may be big troubles.

This can't help but remind Gao Pan that the Wanli Emperor in his previous life, in order to establish a crown prince, simply stopped going to court and confronted his officials.

Although this is a different time and space, there is a saying that history is always surprisingly similar. Gao Pan thought, in this time and space, there will be another such drama, right?
However, Gao Pan quickly put aside this absurd view, because Dong Pingzhang's answer made him breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's natural. I'm not stupid enough to play in a hurry. Even if it's needed, it's not right now. However, the position of crown prince is very important. I just want my heart to be at ease, and I will let the emperor decide on it as soon as possible!"

Although Dong Pingzhang said that he would not confront the emperor, Gao Pan still felt that Dong Pingzhang's intention was still to force Emperor Tianfeng to express his opinion.

After thinking about it, Gao Pan felt that this topic was too heavy, so he quickly talked about the previous incident:
"I will trouble you about the matter of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the future, if you always have any request, even if you ask, the boy will not frown. He will definitely go all out to do it!"

Dong Pingzhang waved his hand, took another sip from his teacup, and then said calmly:

"It's just a matter of lip service, but the old man is a little curious. The Shen family is not related to you, so why are you so caring?"

This question made Gao Pan blushed, subconsciously scratched the back of his head, and said shyly:

"It's just a friend of the Shen family. If the friend is in trouble, the kid will naturally have to help!"

Dong Pingzhang had such great eyesight, he squinted his eyes and looked at Gao Pan and said:

"Really? Good friend, good friend..."

Dong Pingzhang's half-smile made Gao Pan's handsome face flush with embarrassment, and he quickly picked up the sweet-scented osmanthus cake beside him and ate it to cover up his embarrassment at the moment.

"The matter of Du Xiangwan is over, what are your plans?"

Dong Pingzhang asked again suddenly.

This made Gao Pan stop eating for an instant. After seeing Dong Pingzhang's face, he felt a little scared in his heart.

Just like in his previous life, whenever he was asked what his plans were for this year and the future, he was always a little surprised.

(End of this chapter)