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

Chapter 526 Don't let words prevent you from being warned

Seeing Su Mahu's unwilling expression, the Eighth Prince hesitated before speaking:

“We’re all here today on a mission, so there are some things you should save for the courtroom.”

Upon hearing this, Su Mahu's face trembled, and his voice carried a hint of pleading:
"Eighth Prince, Eighth Prince, please have mercy... could you... allow this servant to see Prime Minister Tong? Just once!"

The Eighth Prince turned to exchange glances with the Seventh and Twelfth Princes, but ultimately shook his head.
“Su Mahu, we have official duties to perform, so please cooperate for now.”

"As for the rest...we'll talk about it later."

Seeing the Eighth Prince's resolute expression, Su Mahu sighed and was led away.

The Eighth Prince watched him walk away, then turned to the Seventh and Twelfth Princes and said:
"Seventh Brother, Twelfth Brother, this time we've really offended the Su family!"

"Although we weren't in charge of this, the infamy of having our homes ransacked is something we brothers really have to bear!"

The Seventh Prince sighed: "The Crown Prince asked us to share the Emperor's burdens. Can we refuse? What can we do?"

"Besides, someone has to do this."

"Those scoundrels in the Imperial Household Department are truly outrageous! They even dared to embezzle the little money our brothers had in the Prince's Residence..."

"If we don't clean this up, it might fly into the sky one day!"

"Humph!"

The twelfth prince simply smiled and didn't reply.

He knew very well that he would offend someone no matter what he said at this time—either the Eighth Prince or the Crown Prince, and he would not please either side.

Since Seventh Brother has already spoken, I might as well pretend to be mute.

The Eighth Prince glanced at the two of them and sighed inwardly:

The seventh and twelfth princes were both sensible men and had no interest in the throne.

The Crown Prince handed them to me; could it be that he's preventing us from joining forces?
During the Lunar New Year, the princes actually led a team to confiscate property, causing chaos throughout the capital.

People visiting relatives lost interest in going from house to house; they munched on sunflower seeds, sipped hot tea, and chatted animatedly.

"That grandson of a man, Feng Heshun, has his eyes on the top of his head!"

"Just because his mother is the Empress Dowager's hairdresser, he can act recklessly and look down on everyone!"

"The last time you saw me, you were so arrogant, as if I were some kind of marquis! You didn't even respect me!"

"Serves them right for getting punished this time!"

"That's right! There are over a dozen gold mines over there in the black soil region, but this guy insisted on reporting to the Emperor that he only earned a hundred taels of gold a year..."

"Goodness, this money is more than just from digging rocks!"

"I heard it's the charge of 'insulting His Majesty,' not just greed!"

……

Just as everyone was getting into the heat of their argument, a clever person quietly interjected:
“It’s not surprising that Feng Heshun was dealt with; it was only a matter of time. I think it’s quite normal.”

"But Sumago isn't the most greedy, is he? Why are we punishing him?"

The person next to him lowered his voice:
“You don’t understand. Su Mahu is Lord Tong Guowei’s cousin—this time it was the Crown Prince who made the move.”

"The Crown Prince has never had a good impression of Prime Minister Tong!"

Everyone immediately had a look of sudden realization.

However, those with more active minds have already started thinking about this "contracting" matter:

"Gentlemen, listen to me!"

“My grandfather’s generation was also a veteran of the Imperial Household Department, but after he passed away, he never got a good job.”

"This time, the Crown Prince said that background and origin don't matter; the highest bidder wins!"

"The contract fee isn't low, but if we pool our resources and take over either the ginseng farm or His Majesty's two ranches, we're guaranteed to make a profit!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke: "I'll take care of the business, and everyone else just needs to share the profits, how about that?"

Upon hearing this, several people's eyes lit up.

That's right. Being a member of the royal family sounds glamorous, but in reality, they are short of money. Their salaries alone are not enough.

In the past, the Imperial Household Department could get by with just a little bit of money leaking from under their fingernails, but now the Crown Prince is openly contracting it out!

As a result, many people took advantage of the New Year gatherings to pool their money and discuss bidding categories.

For a time, relatives became exceptionally close because of their joint business partnership.

The three chief stewards of the Imperial Household Department were the most uneasy during the house raid.

How could Narsu and his group not know that Feng Heshun and his gang were behind this?

In the past, we just turned a blind eye and pretended to be deaf and dumb, because no one wanted to offend these powerful people with connections!
Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince acted so quickly. The princes went directly to their home to confiscate their property, catching them off guard and leaving them terrified.

When Shen Yexuan and his companions entered the palace, the three of them were terrified, their legs trembling.
Could it be that the Crown Prince intends to wipe out the entire organization, including us?
"Greetings, Your Highness!"

Upon entering the hall, the three knelt down with a thud, bowing even more respectfully than before, not daring to raise their heads.

Shen Ye smiled and raised his hand: "No need for such formalities, gentlemen."

But before he could finish speaking, his face suddenly darkened:
"Come on, you three, who's going to explain this to me?"

"Why are people still rushing to walk into the line of fire even after I've already said all those harsh words?"

"Do you really think the Imperial Household Department is your own backyard, where you can lie down however you want?"

"Do they still think the court and the emperor's swords aren't sharp enough, and want to come closer to test their edge?"

"I told you long ago, paying only one hundred taels of gold per year for gold mining is not only a charlatan, it's a blatant insult to His Majesty!"

"As the three in charge, not only did you not deal with it, but you also pretended to be stupid and accepted it by refusing to listen!"

Shen Ye leaned forward and asked slowly:
"From this perspective, wouldn't you consider this an insult to His Majesty? What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, the three of them, including Narsu, were immediately filled with a buzzing sound.

If it's just a charge of "negligence," at worst one would be dismissed from office; but if it's labeled as "insulting the Emperor," then it's truly a dead end!

Yue Xing'a was so frightened that his soul almost left his body. He quickly knelt half a step forward and hurriedly explained:
"Your Highness, please see the truth! We servants are utterly loyal to His Majesty, as clear as the sun and moon, and have never harbored the slightest disrespect!"

"It's just that... we haven't found any real evidence of their embezzlement, which is why we haven't... dared to take any rash action."

He wiped his sweat as he spoke, his heart filled with bitterness, as if he had just chewed on a bitter herb.

Who told him to have the most seniority and the weakest backing?

If something really goes wrong, he'll be the first one to be pushed out as a scapegoat and take the blame.

Looking at Yue Xing'a's nervous expression, Shen Ye said with a half-smile:

"Yue Xing'a, don't rush to defend yourself. Everything in the Imperial Household Department is documented and clearly documented in black and white."

What's yours will come to you; what's not yours can't be wronged.

Upon hearing this, Yue Xing'a broke out in a cold sweat.

Shen Ye softened his tone:
"As for me, I'll say it again: I'm managing the Imperial Household Department on behalf of my father, not to cause you any trouble."

"Instead, we want everyone to make some money openly and honestly—but we also don't want His Majesty to suffer losses, so that he can also get some benefits."

"Wouldn't it be better if we were all happy?"

"But some people just don't know what's good for them and insist on walking into the line of fire, so I have no choice but to grant their wish and let them get even closer to the line of fire."

“If the three of you can’t even manage your subordinates, don’t blame me for punishing you for both crimes.”

"At that time, we'll have to send you and Feng Heshun to keep them company."

"Don't say you weren't warned."

Upon hearing this, Narsu breathed a slight sigh of relief and quickly kowtowed:

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, this servant will do his utmost to assist you in handling this matter!"

"If anyone dares to cause trouble again, Your Highness, you won't even need to lift a finger; this servant will be the first to deal with him!"

Yue Xing'a and Zhe Luntai quickly chimed in, "We servants are the same!"

"It's good that you have the intention. We'll hold a bidding process for the contract on the sixth day of the new year, with sealed bids and the highest bidder winning."

Shen Ye said calmly:

"The Fourth Prince is in charge, so you all need to cooperate. If this goes smoothly, all your previous actions will be wiped clean."

The three men felt as if they had been granted a pardon, kowtowed in gratitude, and left with their feet barely touching the ground.

We've finally gotten through this hurdle, at least for now.

After giving the three stewards a good talking-to, Shen Ye let out a long sigh of relief.

It would be great to take care of all three of them at once, but we have to be careful not to do things the wrong way.

These three were, after all, trusted senior officials of Emperor Qianxi.

Sweep them all out, wipe them out in one fell swoop. Father may not say it now, but he will inevitably be wary in the future.

It would be better to keep them around and slowly drain the Imperial Household Department, like boiling a frog in lukewarm water. That would be the best strategy.

Just as we were pondering this, a commotion arose outside:
The eldest prince and his entourage are back!

The speed at which they raided the house was as fast as an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

In just half a day, all nine princes came to report, carrying account books.

Actually, all the princes were itching to try it out.

He wanted to head straight to the Qianqing Palace to show off his abilities to his father.

But rules are rules. The mission was sent by the Crown Prince, so naturally I had to come here first to report back.

Shen Ye took the thick stack of account books and first picked out the one for the eldest prince.

When the Crown Prince handed him the account book of Feng Heshun's family, his eyelids twitched when he saw the entry for "more than 50,000 taels of gold confiscated".

Fifty thousand taels of gold?!

That's over 500,000 taels of silver!
This is way too much and too exaggerated!

The evidence my father gave me only seemed to be a little over ten thousand taels of gold... How did it increase by more than five times?

He raised his head and looked at the eldest prince with an incredulous expression:

"Brother, does the Feng family really have this much gold?"

The eldest prince's chest heaved, his face turned ashen, clearly indicating he was extremely angry.
How could a mere servant of the Imperial Household Department be richer than the eldest son of the Emperor himself!
Compared to this guy, the little bit of wealth I've painstakingly saved up is as pitiful as a beggar's!

Who can swallow this insult?

He was somewhat reluctant at first to have his house searched.

Now that he's found so much money, he's become more and more excited and relieved as he keeps copying.

“Your Highness is unaware,” the eldest prince explained in a muffled voice, his tone tinged with a sour undertone.

"The account books that Father Emperor gave us only contained the amount that He Shun embezzled when he was in charge of the gold mine."

"But his father used to manage gold mines and was also the chief steward of the Imperial Household Department. He was a corrupt official."

"The father and son worked together for at least several decades to embezzle. More than 500,000 taels of silver is nothing to their family."

The eldest prince grew angrier as he spoke, almost gritting his teeth as he said:

"That bastard actually built himself a mansion out of gold! Such extravagance is simply outrageous!"

The eldest prince thought to himself that his own official residence was just ordinary wood, while this servant actually used gold to urinate!
I felt a surge of anger rush to my head:

Damn it! It’s so damned!
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(End of this chapter)