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

Chapter 106 Father, you need to be more reliable

As the Crown Prince and the second most important figure in the empire, Shen Ye's appearance was naturally second to last.

However, when he came out accompanied by Zhou Bao, he gave the impression of being sleep-deprived.

Even the circles under her eyes were a bit dark.

Although none of the high-ranking officials present would comment on the Crown Prince, they couldn't help but have their doubts upon seeing this situation.

How much money did the crown prince actually take from the river works?

Otherwise, why can't I even fall asleep!
The Third Prince, standing to the side, whispered to the Fourth Prince, Yunzhen, "Fourth Brother, I heard that the Crown Prince's new concubine, Lady Nian, is not only beautiful but also alluring."

"Could it be that the Crown Prince has gone too far? Hehehe..."

Hearing his third brother's somewhat frivolous words, Yunzhen's face became serious: "Third brother, there are too many people around, watch your words!"

But in his mind, he couldn't help but think of the evaluations of the Nian family's daughter.

A vixen's allure can bewitch her master!

At such a crucial moment, the Crown Prince still looked listless, which suggests that he was truly bewitched by this Lady Nian.

That's better!
The more the Crown Prince disappoints his father, the greater their chances will become.

Just as Yunzhen was lost in thought, Shen Ye had already arrived at the seat prepared for him in the lobby.

As the crown prince, his seat was next to Emperor Qianxi. Although it was not as spacious as Emperor Qianxi's seat, it was still comfortable to sit in.

Since Emperor Qianxi was about to arrive, it was not appropriate for him to greet everyone, so he simply nodded and sat down in the chair.

In just two minutes, Emperor Qianxi arrived.

This time, because there were so many people impeaching Jin Fu and the Water Conservancy Bureau, Emperor Qianxi ordered the Three Judicial Offices and the Six Ministries to conduct a joint trial.

The Minister of Justice, Fu Lun, was the presiding judge in this case.

After the ministers paid their respects to Emperor Qianxi, Fu Lun began to hold court. Jin Fu, with his gray hair, strode into the Ministry of Justice court in his official robes.

Shen Ye stared intently at Jin Fu for a moment and found that although this Lord Jin was not very tall, he was very energetic.

He spoke with intonation and conviction, and although he was being interrogated, he still bowed respectfully to Emperor Qianxi.

Shen Ye was also secretly observing Emperor Qianxi. He found that Emperor Qianxi was in high spirits and calm, as if he had everything under control.

How exactly did Emperor Qianxi intend to handle the matter of the 100,000 taels of silver?

Just as Shen Ye was pondering, he suddenly felt Emperor Qianxi's gaze turn toward him.

Shen Ye immediately wanted to look away.

But just as he was about to take action, he suddenly felt that withdrawing his gaze like that made him seem like he had a guilty conscience.

Who knows, in the future, Emperor Qianxi might use this as a pretext to accuse him of spying on the imperial procession!
So, when he met Emperor Qianxi's gaze, he smiled innocently.

Emperor Qianxi glared at him fiercely, his expression showing a hint of displeasure.

At that moment, Fu Lun, who was sitting upright in the hall, said in a deep voice: "Jin Fu, as the governor of the Yellow River, you have caused five breaches in the Yellow River, turning thousands of miles of fertile fields into waterlogged areas."

"Tens of thousands of people have been displaced; do you know your crime?"

Shen Ye did not expect that the Minister of Justice would act so ruthlessly. Without asking any questions, he smashed several big hats down on Jin Fu's head.

This is an attempt to kill Jin Fu!

This question, seemingly straightforward, actually contains countless hidden traps. If Jin Fu admits guilt, then there's no need for a trial; if you've already confessed, what's the point of a trial?

Jin Fu's claim of ignorance also fell into the trap.

You, Jin Fu, are the Governor-General of the Waterways, and you've caused such a huge mess. You don't even know your mistake. Fu Lun could easily reply, "I've never seen such a shameless person as you!"
With that thought in mind, Shen Ye turned his gaze to Jin Fu.

This capable minister, valued by Emperor Qianxi, should have his own abilities and wouldn't have been stumped by such a problem right from the start.

In fact, not only Shen Ye, but everyone else's eyes were also on Jin Fu.

Jin Fu's expression was extremely solemn. He clasped his hands in a fist salute towards the void and said in an extremely solemn voice, "Lord Fulun, the Yellow River has breached its banks. It is Jin Fu's fault for failing to control the river effectively. I am willing to accept the punishment!"

"However, since the beginning of summer, Henan has experienced continuous torrential rains, causing rivers to swell and breach their banks."

As the ancients said, "Where there are wrongful convictions in the world, the rain will never stop!"

"Your Majesty, I humbly request that the Three Judicial Offices investigate wrongful convictions to prevent further natural disasters."

Jin Fu's answer caused Fu Lun's expression to change.

He hadn't expected Jin Fu to be so audacious, claiming that he himself had failed in his river management efforts and that there were injustices in the country, which was why the torrential rains had fallen.

This is clearly an attempt to drag him down with them.

If I'm not doing well, you shouldn't expect to be either!

You want to kill me with one blow? Then neither of us will get away unscathed! I'll take someone down with me when I die!

"You audacious Jin Fu, this is utter nonsense! With the Holy Emperor in power, what injustice can there be in this world?" Fu Lun said angrily, "Do you think you can absolve yourself of your crimes by making baseless accusations like this?"

Jin Fu knew that Fu Lun wanted to kill him the moment he opened his mouth.

So he said without any politeness, "Lord Florence, you can check the reports from various places regarding the continuous torrential rains I mentioned. If there is any falsehood, I am willing to accept the punishment."

Before Florence could speak, Mingzhu coughed and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to say, but I don't know if I should."

Emperor Qianxi was watching the bickering between the two first-rank officials with great interest when Mingzhu spoke up. He smiled and said, "Minister Ming, please speak freely."

"Your Majesty, the purpose of this joint trial of Jin Fu is to have the Censorate and the Imperial Censors impeach him for many illegal acts related to the river works. However, Lord Fu Lun's trial has already deviated somewhat from the intended course."

"Your Majesty, I request that you allow Lord Furen to conduct the trial in accordance with the censor's report."

Mingzhu's request is perfectly legitimate.

So Emperor Qianxi pondered for a moment, then looked at Fulun and said, "Fulun, you have heard Mingxiang's opinion, so do as Mingxiang says."

Fu Lun was already very close to Mingzhu, and when he heard the conversation between Emperor Qianxi and Mingzhu, he realized that he had just gone astray.

He agreed and then said to Jin Fu, "Jin Fu, in the past ten years, the amount of silver that the imperial court has sent to the river works every year has been no less than one million."

"However, recently, the Censorate and the Ministry of Revenue discovered during their review of the use of funds for river works that a portion of the funds had gone missing."

"For example, in June of the thirty-fifth year, the Ministry of Revenue approved 100,000 taels of silver for the River Works Office, but this was not recorded in the River Works Office's account books."

"Did you embezzle this money?"

In June of the thirty-fifth year of the Qianxi Emperor's reign, upon hearing this date, Shen Ye understood that what Fu Lun was referring to was the money that Zhao Yongyan had helped him obtain.

This Fu Lun, who had wanted to kill Jin Fu the moment he opened his mouth, is now making no attempt to hide his intentions and has directly set his sights on Shen Ye, the Crown Prince.

Although not many people knew about this money, they were all people in high positions of power.

So everyone turned their attention to Shen Ye!
Shen Ye then turned his gaze to Emperor Qianxi, thinking to himself, "Father, you'd better be more reliable this time!"
　The third update of the day is here! Hey everyone, it's almost the end of the month, please support me with your monthly votes!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)