Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Chapter 433: Chapter 415 Bee King Honey, Three Yellow Plums_2

The Three Yellow Plums tree has always been regarded as the most precious treasure by the royal family. Aside from the royal family, the outside world does not know where the Three Yellow Plums tree grows.

However, the Emperor would occasionally bestow Three Yellow Plums upon his subjects, but only those who are either at the peak of Houtian (Acquired) realm or Half-step Innate Martial Artists could receive such a favor.

Thus, the world only knows that the royal family possesses a Spiritual Fruit Tree, but few know exactly what kind of Spirit Fruit it bears.

Today, the fact that Emperor Chengping bestowed a Three Yellow Plum upon Yang Zhenshan clearly shows how pleased he is with him.

Eunuch Chen emerged from the sleeping chambers, exhaling a long breath, but his expression had become significantly more somber.

No one knew more clearly about Emperor Chengping’s health condition than him. He was aware that the Emperor did not have much time left. However, seeing the Emperor’s improved spirit and complexion today did offer him some relief.

Thinking of Yang Zhenshan and Bee King Honey, Eunuch Chen immediately summoned a subordinate and instructed: “You must go immediately to Chongshan Town and ask Marquis Jing’an to present all of the Bee King Honey!”

“Be quick and return at once!”

Although Bee King Honey cannot change Emperor Chengping’s condition, as long as it can provide the Emperor a bit of comfort, it is worth Eunuch Chen arranging a trip.

“Yes!”

The subordinate responded and turned to leave.

“Wait!”

Eunuch Chen stopped him, “You should first accompany me to collect the Three Yellow Plums, and then deliver them together, to prevent Marquis Jing’an from thinking we aim to forcibly take his Bee King Honey!”

In his haste just now, he nearly forgot about the Three Yellow Plums that Emperor Chengping had rewarded to Yang Zhenshan.

While Eunuch Chen was collecting the Three Yellow Plums from the treasury, in the Imperial Study Room of Taiji Palace, the Crown Prince was listening to a report from a middle-aged eunuch.

The Imperial Study Room is where the Emperor conducts court affairs, though the Crown Prince, currently overseeing the country, does not have the right to handle court affairs there. However, Emperor Chengping has decreed that the Crown Prince should conduct court affairs in the Imperial Study Room, which clearly indicates that the Crown Prince’s succession to the throne is firmly decided.

At this moment, the middle-aged eunuch before the Crown Prince is named Nansheng, who is a personal attendant eunuch to the Crown Prince, having served by his side since childhood.

Nansheng is very similar to Eunuch Chen. Eunuch Chen used to be an attendant eunuch to Emperor Chengping as well, and in the future, Nansheng may take up a position similar to Eunuch Chen’s, taking charge of the Ritual Supervision and becoming the foremost Inner Official in the Imperial City.

“How is His Majesty?” the Crown Prince inquired.

“Your Majesty is all well. Just now, His Majesty even drank a bowl of honey water, which was the Bee King Honey sent by Marquis Jing’an,” Nansheng said softly.

“Oh! Father drank it?”

“Yes, he drank a bowl, and after that, his complexion seemed much improved!”

“Then what are we waiting for? Send someone to Chongshan Town immediately and have Marquis Jing’an send more Bee King Honey!” said the Crown Prince urgently.

In the imperial family, there are no father-son relationships.

To speak frankly, the current relationship between the Crown Prince and Emperor Chengping is not overly close.

But now that Emperor Chengping has set his mind on having him inherit the throne, he naturally needs to display filial piety.

It’s not about putting on a show. After all, he doesn’t need to pretend for anyone else’s benefit here. But at present, he still requires the Emperor’s support to help him ascend to the throne smoothly and securely.

Both publicly and privately, he does not wish to see Emperor Chengping pass away too soon.

“Your Highness, Eunuch Chen has already arranged for someone to go to Chongshan Town, and His Majesty has also rewarded Marquis Jing’an with a Three Yellow Plum,” Nansheng spoke softly.

Although Emperor Chengping hasn’t completely handed over the Imperial City to the Crown Prince yet, the Crown Prince is already able to interfere with matters within the Imperial City. Whatever happens in the sleeping chambers cannot be kept from the Crown Prince’s knowledge.

Everyone understands that the Crown Prince is the future ruler, and the eunuchs and palace maids within the Imperial City are well aware of it as well. Thus, at this time, many seek to ingratiate themselves with Nansheng by providing him with information.

The Crown Prince’s expression became reserved, and he nodded slightly.

He had no objection to Emperor Chengping bestowing a Three Yellow Plum on Yang Zhenshan; for Martial Artists, it was a rare resource, but to him, it was just one of the many items given to ministers or clan members, no different from gold, silver, or jewels.

“Where is the memorial submitted by Marquis Jing’an?”

Nansheng quickly found the memorial that Yang Zhenshan had sent. The Crown Prince had already read it before, but he had merely glanced through it once before sending the telescope and Bee King Honey to the Ritual Supervision.

Recently, a number of ministers had been presenting treasures to Emperor Chengping, countless odd and precious items.

Ministers wanted to show their loyalty; the Crown Prince couldn’t stop them, which is why he would only take a cursory look at such tribute memorials before sending them to the Ritual Supervision.

Only presenting treasures without involving court affairs, he naturally would not pay special attention.

Now, seeing that the Bee King Honey sent by Yang Zhenshan was effective, he wanted to take a closer look at the memorial.

In fact, Yang Zhenshan had written about many things in the memorial, particularly about the descriptions of the telescope and the Bee King Honey.

There was no need to mention much about the Bee King Honey, which was all nonsense made up by Yang Zhenshan, saying it was accidentally acquired in Chongshan Town without too much explanation.

As for the telescope, Yang Zhenshan went into great detail about its use.

After the Crown Prince read the memorial again, he became interested in the telescope.

“Where is the telescope?”

“Marquis Jing’an brought ten, and Eunuch Chen took one. The remaining nine have all been sent to the Inner Treasury!” Nansheng replied.

The Inner Treasury, essentially the Imperial City’s warehouse, had sections like the porcelain warehouse, the silk warehouse, the lantern warehouse, the rice and grain warehouse, the wax warehouse, and so on, in other words, it was the storehouse of materials within the Imperial City.

The Inner Treasury was not the Emperor’s private vault. The Emperor’s private vault housed valuable and useful goods, at least gold and silver.

Random items would not be placed in the Emperor’s private vault but would instead be managed by the Inner Treasury.

Evidently, neither Nansheng nor others saw the value of the telescope.

“Bring one for me to see!” ordered the Crown Prince.

Moments later, Nansheng presented a telescope to the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince fiddled with the telescope for a long time, looking it over from all sides, occasionally showing a surprised expression, and repeatedly read Yang Zhenshan’s memorial.

Roughly an hour later, he exclaimed in amazement, “This device is extremely useful for warfare!”

Yang Zhenshan had already explained the uses of the telescope in his memorial, but without seeing it firsthand and using it himself, the Crown Prince could not fully grasp its true potential as mentioned by Yang Zhenshan.

The most direct use of the telescope was to observe enemy movements; during an army standoff, it would allow Scouts to meticulously observe enemy forces, such as the number of troops and their deployment.

It would also enable a commander to clearly observe enemy movements, gaining a step ahead in open battles.

It can be said that the telescope was a very practical piece of military auxiliary equipment.

Although it couldn’t directly increase the army’s strength, it was beneficial for controlling and monitoring the situation and movements of enemies on the battlefield.

“Send the remaining telescopes to the Ministry of War and the Five Army Commandery, let the officials study it!”

The Crown Prince might not have fought on the battlefield, but that didn’t mean he lacked military ability.

On the contrary, as a Prince, he received a comprehensive education. He was well-versed in various classics including Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, military strategy, and Legalism, but he merely lacked specialization.

The Crown Prince could understand some of the uses of the telescope, and thus he placed more importance on it, and coupled with the recommendation of Yang Zhenshan, a renowned general, he recommended it to the Ministry of War and the Five Army Commandery.