We'll have you impersonate the Crown Prince and create a prosperous era for the Great Qian Dyna

A few days later, everything was ready.

Thirty fully armed guards from the Eastern Palace escorted five hundred prisoners all the way to the outskirts of the capital.

There was no chaos along the way.

For no other reason than that, although the number of guards in the Eastern Palace was small, they were all cavalrymen who rode horses, wore armor, and carried bows and spears.

Anyone who dares to act recklessly will be asked whether they can outrun a horse's hooves or an arrow.

Of course, a large part of the reason is that among these 500 people, at least 400 have committed minor crimes, the kind that can be released after a few months in jail.

But if they run away, that's a serious crime, and they could be imprisoned for more than ten years.

It's absolutely not worth it.

But as soon as they arrived at the camp, they were ordered to set up camp.

The prisoners immediately became resentful.

The reason many of them end up in prison is because they don't want to follow the right path, they want to take shortcuts, and they want to be lazy.

If you send them over without saying anything and they start working right away, how can they not be resentful?

Many people simply started to put on a show, doing little work but pretending to be exhausted.

This kind of acting skill was so convincing that not only Zhou Tiancheng but even Xinhua could see it.

He frowned and stared for a long time before finally turning around to find Zhou Tiancheng.

"Your Highness, these people are utterly hopeless. If you put them in battle, they'd probably run away before the enemy even gets close!"

"Excuse my bluntness, but your chances of winning with them are practically nil!"

Zhou Tiancheng, who had been looking down at the map, raised his head and looked at Xinhua with a calm expression.

"New General, what will you do if I lead them to victory?"

Zhou Tiancheng initiated a bet.

Xinhua immediately sneered.

Those people outside have too many ulterior motives; they're simply not suited to be soldiers on the battlefield.

It's simply impossible to train them into qualified soldiers in just one month.

"Your Highness, if you lead them to victory, the people of Xinhua will be completely convinced of your worth. Whatever you want, if I have it, I will give it to you!"

"Then it's settled. Once they win the championship, you will leave the Duke's mansion and come to my Eastern Palace to serve as my bodyguard."

Zhou Tiancheng immediately spoke up, fearing that Xinhua might back out.

Xinhua was clearly stunned when he heard Zhou Tiancheng's request.

He frowned and thought for a long time, and when he was sure that this group of people had no chance of winning, he did not refuse.

"I agree!"

"But if they don't win, I want His Highness the Crown Prince's Green Edge Sword!"

What is the Qingfeng Sword?

Zhou Tiancheng didn't know!

But he was playing the crown prince, and there was absolutely no way he could be exposed at this critical juncture, so he smiled calmly.

"You have a good eye for taste!"

"I agree. As long as they don't win the championship, the Qingfeng Sword is yours. But you mustn't cause me any trouble."

Xinhua scoffed dismissively.

"I, Xinhua, am not that kind of petty person!"

"Your Highness, rest assured, I will not only refrain from causing trouble, but I will also strictly abide by military orders!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xinhua turned and walked out.

As soon as he left, Zhou Tiancheng immediately turned to look at Steward Liu.

"What is the Qingfeng Sword? How much is it worth?"

Manager Liu looked completely bewildered.

So you agreed to it without knowing anything?

He mistakenly believed that Zhou Tiancheng was so confident of winning that he was even willing to use the Qingfeng Sword as a wager.

Were you acting just now?

This acting is just too good!

Manager Liu gave an awkward laugh and leaned closer to explain in a low voice.

"The Qingfeng Sword is one of the ten famous swords of ancient times. It followed the First Emperor in unifying the country and was worth about 300,000 taels of silver."

Zhou Tiancheng was taken aback at first, then his eyes widened suddenly.

The Ten Famous Swords of Ancient Times?

Worth 300,000 taels of silver?

If that were converted to modern currency, it would be worth 1.5 million!

Why did he just use the Qingfeng Sword as a wager without even asking?

Zhou Tiancheng's heart was trembling, and he was filled with remorse. He grabbed Steward Liu's hand and spoke.

"Old Liu, next time something like this happens, could you please let me know in advance?"

"Three hundred thousand taels of silver!"

"The entire Eastern Palace wouldn't be worth that much money even if you sold it!"

Manager Liu gave an awkward smile.

"This old servant thought Your Highness knew everything."

Zhou Tiancheng was so angry that he wanted to slap himself.

But then he remembered something important.

Why does the Crown Prince's Palace possess such a treasure, yet he knows nothing about it?

He glared at Steward Liu through gritted teeth.

"Old Liu, tell me honestly, besides that Classic of Mountains and Seas, how many other good things does the Eastern Palace have?"

Manager Liu explained with his head down.

"Your Highness, you must first know where the Crown Prince's money comes from."

"Of that, there are about two thousand taels of silver each month, which is converted from the Crown Prince's salary."

"Another major source of funds is the Crown Prince's current various positions, such as managing the Imperial Household Department, which is within Your Highness's authority."

"The Imperial Household Department is responsible for the private finances and daily life of the entire palace. When it comes to purchasing goods outside, the choice of which merchants to select and what styles to order is entirely up to you, Your Highness. The profits from this are at least 20,000 taels a month."

"The other is His Majesty's reward. During festivals, a batch of various treasures will be sent to the Eastern Palace. The Qingfeng Sword is His Majesty's coming-of-age gift to Your Highness."

Zhou Tiancheng was almost going crazy.

He had always thought he was destitute and couldn't even come up with a thousand taels of silver. Now that Steward Liu was telling him that he still had a major source of income, how could he not go crazy?

"What about the money?"

Zhou Tiancheng stared wide-eyed at Steward Liu.

He simply refused to believe that a prince could spend 22,000 taels of silver a month, which would be equivalent to about 11 million yuan in today's money.

Then Steward Liu glanced at him guiltily.

"Well... Your Highness, you don't like to deal with those trivial matters, so the management of the Imperial Household Department has been handed over to Consort Liu."

"As for the treasures bestowed by His Majesty, these cannot be sold; selling them would invite ridicule."

Nima!

Zhou Tiancheng barely managed to refrain from swearing.

Is the real crown prince mentally unstable?

To hand over the biggest source of income to the enemy—isn't that utterly idiotic?

"Is it possible to get it back?"

Zhou Tiancheng was somewhat unwilling.

Steward Liu shook his head slightly.

"It's probably not going to be recovered. After all, Your Highness hates those trivial matters the most. The dispatching of the Imperial Household Department had to be handed over to Consort Liu. Since Your Highness doesn't like Consort Liu, you naturally don't like her servants either, and don't want to deal with them, so you handed over the job..."

So, the Crown Prince hated Consort Liu, so he sent her money?

Zhou Tiancheng laughed in exasperation.

He now had only one thought: to go back and drag out the true prince's corpse and whip it!

Steward Liu also sighed.

"This old servant tried to stop him, but His Highness wouldn't listen to me. He even made me get beaten dozens of times and I was almost bedridden."

"It's too late to say anything now. Rashly demanding back the Imperial Household Department's control over procurement and allocation will only arouse the Emperor's suspicion."

Zhou Tiancheng rubbed his temples, feeling a throbbing pain in his forehead.

What a mess! The mess left by the Crown Prince has left him feeling helpless and restricted.

No wonder the Crown Prince was called a good-for-nothing.

What else could this be but a good-for-nothing?

Fortunately, Zhou Tiancheng adjusted his mindset quickly and regained his composure in no time, though he couldn't quite manage a smile anymore.

Seeing that it was getting late, Zhou Tiancheng walked out of the central army camp with resentment. Looking outside, he saw that not even half of the tents had been set up.

Well done.

Zhou Tiancheng's eyes grew increasingly cold.

He could vent his anger on the group of prisoners.

It's time to show them the wickedness of human nature!