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Hearing Chen Cheng's teasing, Chen Yun looked at Chen Cheng helplessly and said, "Grandfather is too playful."
"It's just that I see His Majesty indeed intends to pass the throne to the Dai Prince, which would be a succession from brother to brother. It's a good thing."
After hearing Chen Yun's words, Chen Cheng also nodded slightly: "Yes, it's a good thing."
He sighed, no longer discussing matters of court, but instead looked at Chen Yun, a concerned expression on his face, and asked, "Is everything well in Guandu? I've been too tired these past few days and haven't read the letters your father wrote."
Chen Yun mischievously stuck out his tongue and said, "Everything is well, it's just..."
He frowned slightly: "There are always people in the capital who want to extend their reach into Guandu, and Fourth Uncle also has some... some movements, seemingly colluding with outsiders."
"As for whether he truly has, Father hasn't investigated that yet."
Chen Yun looked at Chen Cheng and said, "Father originally didn't want me to tell Grandfather, saying that Grandfather's health hasn't been very good these past two years, and if Grandfather knew about this, it might endanger his health."
"Right now, nothing is more important than Grandfather maintaining a healthy body."
Chen Cheng nodded, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. He looked at Chen Yun and said, "Then why are you willing to let me know? Aren't you afraid, as your father said, that I'll be angered by this matter and harm my health?"
Chen Yun looked at Chen Cheng's clearly testing question and knew clearly in his heart that he had probably done the right thing this time, otherwise, how could Grandfather have reacted this way?
He immediately chuckled, and then said, "I think Father misunderstands Grandfather. Regarding Fourth Uncle's matter, you won't be sad or angry; on the contrary..."
He stared directly at Chen Cheng: "On the contrary, you should have discovered this matter long ago, and deliberately kept him around."
Chen Cheng's eyes showed even more satisfaction. He looked at Chen Yun in front of him, seemingly with a hint of confusion, and asked, "Oh?"
"My fourth son is my child, and one of my more favored children."
"Why do you think I deliberately kept him around? Could I intentionally send my own child to his death?"
Chen Yun sighed slightly, and said quite maturely, "This is precisely Grandfather's brilliance and decisiveness."
"Your grandson dares to guess your intentions."
"When you discovered Fourth Uncle colluding with outsiders, your intention should have been to give him a minor punishment—but in that process, you discovered something."
He carefully watched Chen Cheng's eyebrows, as if trying to discern something from his gaze.
"If your grandson guesses correctly, you should have discovered that Fourth Uncle did something that touched your bottom line. At that time, you were prepared—prepared to lose this son."
Chen Yun carefully looked at Chen Cheng, then softly asked, "Is your grandson's guess correct?"
Chen Cheng clapped his hands and laughed. He looked at Chen Yun and said, "Indeed, you are very correct. I did discover what my fourth son did—he not only colluded with outsiders but even accepted 'good' advice from some people and extensively annexed land in Guandu."
"The Qian Shou who died at his hands because of a piece of land have already exceeded a hundred households."
"So at that time, I was mentally prepared. This beast is no longer worthy of being my son, and even if his mother knew, she would definitely support me."
Chen Yun did not respond to the latter part of Chen Cheng's statement, but simply frowned and asked, "Then why didn't Grandfather either punish Fourth Uncle with family law or let the court handle it at that time?"
"I think neither of those should have been very difficult."
He closed his eyes, thinking of those "victims," and felt a surge of anger: "Does Grandfather intend to spare his life? Or is there another purpose, so you completely disregard the interests of the Qian Shou in Guandu?"
Seeing the somewhat angry Chen Yun, the stone in Chen Cheng's heart finally fell again.
In fact, under his test, Chen Yun's performance was almost perfect. Even if it were repeated many times, Chen Yun could not have done better than this time.
So Chen Cheng decided to be more open. He looked at Chen Yun and said, "In fact, if you investigate, you will find that for these past few years, no one has died at my fourth son's hands, and my fourth son has been diligently pretending to be an honest person."
He chuckled, "Even today, he doesn't even know that I already know what he did."
Don't know?
Chen Yun was startled, still too inexperienced; he hadn't considered that possibility before.
"Grandfather, why did you do that?"
Chen Cheng stood up, then looked at the pond, and said softly, "Yun'er, look at the pond in this courtyard, how beautiful it is. The pond water is usually calm, but as soon as I scatter some fish bait into it, everything changes."
"My fourth son's ambition is too wild, but there are many people like him in the court and among the powerful noble families, and such people are living well."
He said this with a smile, but his tone carried a chilling quality that anyone could hear.
"My fourth son only harmed Guandu, but these people are harming the entire world! How could I let my fourth son live? But if my fourth son doesn't live, how can I uproot this group of people?"
Uproot?
Chen Yun gasped.
Among those who annexed land, there were not a few Marquis of Distinction, Marquis within the Passes, and others from back then.
Perhaps only Grandfather in the entire Han Dynasty had the courage to speak and act like this, to uproot this entire string of people!
How grand was this undertaking?
Chen Cheng tapped the railing in front of him, his voice resonant and powerful: "Of course, it's not just for this reason."
He looked at Chen Yun with a smile: "Your father, he is steady but lacks decisiveness. I have not yet decided whether to let him inherit the position of Chen Clan Head."
Chen Cheng's voice was very relaxed and leisurely.
As if he was talking about a trivial matter.
"The position of Chen Clan Head is different from the title of Guandu Marquis. It is true that the title of Guandu Marquis can be passed down through generations, and the eldest legitimate son must inherit this title, and then it passes down through that lineage."
Chen Cheng's tone was very relaxed: "Perhaps one day, if an unworthy descendant is encountered and this title cannot be kept, the problem isn't too big."
"But the position of Chen Clan Head is different."
"If an idiot takes this position, it could bring enormous danger to the entire Chen clan, even the possibility of annihilation!"
"This is something I absolutely cannot tolerate."
Chen Cheng's expression was indifferent, his voice indifferent.
Chen Yun then immediately said, "So, this is a test for my father?"