The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 523 Sharing Father's Worries, How Could I Forget These Brothers?

Since Zhang Ying and his group were able to get wind of the fact that the powerful figures in the Imperial Household Department had joined forces, Shen Ye, as the Crown Prince, naturally knew about it as well.

After all, the Crown Prince's information channels are not to be underestimated.

The Fourth Prince, Yunzhen, sat down next to Shen Ye, his face tense, and said in a deep voice:
"Your Highness, if this matter isn't handled properly, our grand contracting plan will fall through!"

"Maybe by then, we won't be able to contract out any of them."

Shen Ye was well aware of the implications, and smiled at the Fourth Prince, saying:
"Fourth brother, what do you think we should do now?"

"Second Brother, if you ask me, we need to strike hard at these lackeys and teach them a lesson!"

"Since they don't want to live a life of luxury with us, let's just send them to Ningguta to herd sheep and horses for the armored men!"

The fourth prince glared and spoke with murderous intent.

This fourth brother is indeed a ruthless person.

Since he had no way out after following the Crown Prince, he might as well go all the way to the bitter end:

If we get things done, we can also get the Emperor's attention.

Shen Ye smiled and patted his shoulder, saying:
"Fourth brother, the reason why these servants of the Imperial Household Department dare to jump out is because they have someone in charge."

"If we take down the ringleader, the rest will behave themselves."

"As for the contracting, we still have to rely on them to do it. If we arrest them all, we won't be able to explain it to Father."

At this point, he took out an account book that Liang Jiugong had handed over and waved it in front of the fourth brother:
"Look, this is a good thing that Father Emperor just sent over by Liang Jiugong. It contains the black accounts of the misdeeds of a few troublemakers in the Imperial Household Department over the years."

"Father has made it clear that we should handle this ourselves."

The fourth prince took the account book and flipped through it, his heart skipped a beat.

He never expected that his father, the Qianxi Emperor, would think so far ahead.

Even the ledgers had been prepared in advance.

Isn't this handing the knife right into the hands of the crown prince?

It's something I could easily solve myself, but I'm making the Crown Prince do it.
Is this meant to establish the Crown Prince's authority, or is it to... dig a pit for the Crown Prince and create enemies?
Could it be that the Crown Prince is planning to entrust me with the task of dealing with these people?

That would offend a lot of people!
While he was lost in thought, Shen Ye had already made the decision:

"It seems that we have no choice but to take drastic measures now."

"Somebody come!"

Zhou Bao scurried over, and then heard the Crown Prince give the order:

"Zhou Bao, go and invite all the princes, from the First Prince to the Twelfth Prince, to me!"

"Just tell them I have something important to discuss with them."

"No matter how important their business is, they must immediately assemble at the Prince of Qingqiu's residence."

Upon hearing that all the princes would be summoned, Zhou Bao felt immediately at ease.

Sharing happiness is worse than enjoying it alone; if we're going to get criticized, we should all share the burden!

After giving Zhou Bao his instructions, Shen Ye turned and smiled at the Fourth Prince:
"Fourth brother, it is our duty to serve our father and share his burdens."

"We can't keep this good thing to ourselves."

"We have to let the other brothers benefit too, so people won't say we're hogging the good stuff!"

The fourth prince's lips twitched, and he thought to himself:
Second Brother Crown Prince, you call this kind of offending behavior "eating alone"?

This is clearly dragging everyone down with them!
Isn't your line of thinking a bit too... unique and unconventional?

But he always said it in a serious tone:
"Your Highness is right! We should definitely think of our brothers more often when it comes to good things like this in the future."

"So that they won't always complain about not having the opportunity to share the Emperor's burdens."

It was the New Year season, and the princes were either busy visiting relatives or gathering to drink and watch operas.

Even the eldest prince, who should have been imprisoned, was spared punishment during the New Year, allowing him to happily celebrate the holiday first.

Emperor Qianxi, this old father, could be quite kind at times.

Therefore, when Zhou Bao conveyed Shen Ye's decree, these brothers, though unwilling, eventually came to the Prince of Qingqiu's residence.

There was no way around it; although they were brothers, the Crown Prince was, after all, only half a ruler.

Furthermore, Emperor Qianxi now intends to use the crown prince, elevating him to a very high position.

If you offend the Crown Prince and get sued, it's not worth it.

When most of the people had arrived, the Eighth Prince and the First Prince walked in together.

The Eighth Prince smiled broadly, showing no sign of the misfortune of being stripped of his title and dismissed from his post.

The eldest prince, however, seemed completely unconcerned, speaking in a loud and clear voice:
"Your Highness, what are your orders for summoning the brothers during the New Year?"

"Don't you think it's because we brothers haven't had a drink in a while, so you're trying to get us together?"

Hearing this, Shen Ye gave a forced smile and said calmly:
"Brother wants to drink? That's easy."

"However, the main reason I called you brothers here this time is to share the burden with Father."

At this point, he suddenly turned serious:
"You've all heard about the mess those lackeys in the Imperial Household Department have made, haven't you?"

"The Imperial Household Department is the Emperor's property, but those servants there are taking advantage of the Emperor's leniency and are getting too arrogant towards him!"

“Manage this gold mine for a year and bring Father Emperor a profit of one hundred taels of gold.”

He slammed his hand on the table, making the teacups rattle and clatter.
"Are they trying to fool Father Emperor?"

"What are we sons for, Father?" "Can we just stand by and watch Father be humiliated like this by these servants?"

"Big brother! Don't you always say that you want to expand the territory for Father and conquer all corners of the world?"

"Now, Father has been fooled in his own courtyard. What do you think we should do?"

When Shen Ye slammed his fist on the table, the eldest prince felt a jolt, and his guard immediately went up.
Here it comes, the Crown Prince's tricks are here!

He silently reminded himself, "Stay calm! Don't let the Crown Prince lead you by the nose."

But he never expected that the Crown Prince would immediately slap such a solid accusation on the officials of the Imperial Household Department.

And the reasons are very valid.

Mining gold for a year only earns you a hundred taels of gold. If this isn't a scam, who are you trying to fool?
If no one exposes this, it's fine; it's just corruption.

But the Crown Prince insisted on making a big deal out of it, linking the matter to his father's reputation.

As the eldest son of the emperor, if he does not express his opinion at this time, what will happen if it gets to his father's ears?
However, the eldest prince was cautious; he feigned anger and fury.
“Your Highness, if the evidence you’re telling is conclusive, I’ll personally chop those bastards to pieces.”

His words sounded incredibly bold, but in reality, he was also leaving himself a way out.

The key point is all in the phrase "conclusive evidence".

If the evidence is conclusive, then there's nothing more to say!

Even if he allows it not to deal with these guys, the imperial court cannot sit idly by.

But if there's no evidence, you can't just accuse someone without any proof, right?
Shen Ye nodded with a smile:

"My elder brother is indeed both loyal and filial. Father will be very pleased to know this. I will give him the chance to personally execute someone in a moment."

Before the eldest prince could answer, her gaze fell on the third prince.

"Third brother, you are not only a scholar, but also a skilled martial artist. You are a rare combination of both among us brothers."

"Tell me, how do you intend to deal with Father Emperor being so humiliated?"

The Third Prince had already made his plans.

At this point, it is imperative to uphold one's father's dignity.

Otherwise, if I don't side with my dad this time, I'll never be able to side with him again in my life!
Regardless of the reason, if a son doesn't even protect his own father's reputation, he's basically out of the game.

Forget about the throne; once labeled "unfilial," he might even lose his freedom.

The crown prince, who claims to be filial, is truly someone you cannot afford to be an enemy of.

So he stated his position with an air of righteous indignation:
"Your Highness, my elder brother and I share the same opinion. As long as the evidence is conclusive, I will absolutely not let these bastards off the hook!"

Shen Ye smiled and said, "Third brother truly lives up to Father's praise as a filial son. With your words, I can rest assured."

At this point, his gaze lightly swept over the Fifth Prince and landed directly on the Eighth Prince.

"Eighth Brother, both Eldest Brother and Third Brother have spoken out. What do you plan to do about this insult to Father Emperor?"

The Eighth Prince glanced at the Fifth Prince and the others out of the corner of his eye, thinking to himself:
How do we skip the fourth and fifth brothers? This order is wrong, isn't it?

What's meant to happen will happen, but what's not meant to happen shouldn't come in a hurry!

It's not my turn yet!

Unfortunately, with everyone watching, he couldn't dwell too much on such procedural issues.

You can't just stand up and question the Crown Prince; you haven't even asked the Fourth and Fifth Princes yet!
That's incredibly low emotional intelligence!
Not only have we offended the fourth and fifth princes, but the crown prince probably has a whole host of plausible reasons waiting for us!
He knew the Crown Prince was definitely up to no good when he asked that question.

But under these circumstances, he had no choice but to make a statement.

Since saying "no" is impossible, then I might as well grit my teeth and say it more decisively than anyone else:

"Your Highness, my brother, elder brother, and third brother are of one mind and share the same attitude!"

"Whoever dares to insult Father Emperor, your younger brother will never share the same sky with him!"

Shen Ye clapped his hands and said:
"Good! I like what you said, Eighth Brother. Indeed, all of you brothers are Father's good sons!"

“I think this is the situation that Father Emperor most wants to see.”

After speaking, he scanned the room: "The rest of you brothers, you have no objections, right?"

Everyone nodded in unison; who would dare to disagree on such a life-threatening issue of filial piety!

"Your Highness, I am equally willing to share the Emperor's burdens!"

Even though we don't know what kind of worries we're supposed to share right now, let's just shout out the slogan first!
Shen Ye then slowly took out a portion of the evidence given to him by Emperor Qianxi, and smiled sinisterly:
"The Imperial Household Department has bestowed the imperial favor upon the Heshun lineage, yet instead of repaying it, they have insulted the emperor."

"They manage the gold mines in the Black Soil region under the Imperial Household Department, and they only make a profit of one hundred taels of gold a year. But what about themselves?"

"The amount of gold embezzled in a year reached as high as 13,000 taels!"

"Such a greedy person must be killed to appease the Emperor's anger!"

"Big brother, take fifth and ninth brothers to the Feng family later and ransack their house!"

"Let these parasites know what reverence is! What it means to defy imperial authority!"

Upon hearing that he was to lead the confiscation of property, the eldest prince's lips twitched slightly.
How did this messy, offensive thing end up on my head?

So all that talk of being of one mind and one heart was just waiting for me here?

A million curses were running through my mind, but I still had to be respectful on the surface:

"Your subject... obeys!"

(End of this chapter)