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

Chapter 142: Both afraid the Crown Prince was working too hard and disliking his complacency.

After leaving Qianqing Palace, Shen Ye exchanged a few words with Ma Qi and then turned back to his Yuqing Palace.

Ma Qi, after wandering around outside, returned to the Qianqing Palace.

"Your Majesty, clearing up the national treasury's debts is itself an extremely difficult task."

"Aren't you putting too much pressure on the Crown Prince by making such demands?" Ma Qi said softly after bowing.

Emperor Qianxi snorted and said, "This rebellious son, if we don't put some pressure on him, he'll just laze around all day, never knowing how to work!"

As he spoke, he angrily picked up a stack of reports.

I originally intended to show these reports to Ma Qi, but in the end, after thinking about it, I decided to put them aside.

After all, what's written here is the daily behavior of the Crown Prince and others.

What infuriated Emperor Qianxi was that since returning to the palace, the Crown Prince had only done one thing: to have his Crown Prince's residence built as soon as possible.

The Crown Prince had money, and the Ministry of Works was also a dictator; no matter who was short of money, they wouldn't dare to short the Crown Prince's money.

Therefore, the construction of the Crown Prince's Palace proceeded very quickly.

The outline of the mansion is now basically complete.

Of course, this also depends on the height of the building. Shen Ye's Crown Prince's Mansion is only two stories high at most. As long as there are enough workers, there is basically no pressure in building it.

Aside from this matter, the Crown Prince spent his days playing chess and chatting with Shi Jingrong, and then had people prepare some delicious food. He would eat some himself, send some to the Empress Dowager, and of course, he, the Emperor, also had some.

As for the nights, the red and green hues were all different, each with its own charm. In any case, it was a night of revelry and carefree joy, to the point that even Emperor Qianxi was embarrassed to watch.

Upon seeing the Crown Prince like this, Emperor Qianxi didn't say anything else, but he felt a slight sense of relief.

After all, if the crown prince works too hard, the emperor can't sit still!

However, it had been almost a month, and the Crown Prince was doing this every day. Emperor Qianxi was really getting impatient.

How can a crown prince be so decadent!
Especially during this critical period of debt collection from the national treasury, he did nothing and did nothing at all.

This greatly angered Emperor Qianxi, but he couldn't say anything about it. This time, when Shen Ye came to see him with Ma Qi, Emperor Qianxi immediately put a tight rein on Shen Ye.

You want to build a Crown Prince's residence? Then go ahead and build it. Even if it's finished, I won't allow you to move there. You'll live in Yuqing Palace instead!

As for the Crown Prince's residence that has already been built, just leave it to air out!
This is your punishment for not working honestly.

If Emperor Qianxi's actions were applied today, it would be a case of both fearing his son would suffer and harboring a nameless anger at seeing his son playing video games at home every day.

Ma Qi, of course, had no idea what Emperor Qianxi was thinking. Hearing Emperor Qianxi say this, he could only swallow his next words.

"Your Majesty, the debts owed by the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince are really difficult to collect. Your Majesty, please take a look at this..."

When Ma Qi mentioned his younger brother and older brother, Emperor Qianxi also felt a headache coming on.

After all, these two were his only two living brothers. If he became emperor and caused chaos over debt collection, thus incurring the wrath of others, it would truly damage his sagacity.

However, now all the ministers in the court are watching his two brothers closely, which is giving him a real headache.

"How to handle this matter is entirely up to the Crown Prince," Emperor Qianxi said to Ma Qi, thinking about what the Crown Prince had been doing these past few days.

Just as Ma Qi was about to agree, Emperor Qianxi continued, "Report all of the Crown Prince's arrangements to me promptly."

Upon hearing this, Ma Qi reluctantly agreed.

At this moment, he fully understood Emperor Qianxi's thoughts. Emperor Qianxi was not prepared to personally intervene in this matter that required him to play the bad guy.

He urged the crown prince to charge forward, while he himself remained calm and collected.

If he discovers anything wrong with the Crown Prince's actions, he will definitely overturn them immediately.

After leaving the Qianqing Palace, Ma Qi began to ponder the Crown Prince's next move. It would be difficult to collect debts from either of the two princes or Cao Yin.

The two princes are uncles and paternal uncles; if things get unpleasant while collecting the debt, it might give the Crown Prince a reputation for being harsh. As for Cao Yin, almost the entire court feels he's been wronged; if they push too hard on this matter, then…

A series of thoughts surged through Ma Qi's mind, making his head spin. Unable to come up with a good solution, he couldn't help but mutter, "If the sky falls, someone taller will hold it up. It's not my money. You guys aren't worried, so I'm not worried at all!"

Feeling much better after saying that, Ma Qi headed towards his residence.

Shen Ye was unaware that Ma Qi had gone back to see Emperor Qianxi again. Although he was unhappy about Emperor Qianxi's change of heart, he was helpless.

Who told him he wasn't the emperor, and Emperor Qianxi wasn't the crown prince!

In that instant, he felt a greater understanding of Brother Li Heng.

If I ever manage to ascend the throne, I'll make sure you experience what it's like today...

Of course, this idea can only be imagined. Without many external enemies or rebellions, it would not be an easy task to dethrone the Qianxi Emperor, whose control of imperial power had reached its peak.

He strolled back to Yuqing Palace and saw Shi Jingrong frowning as she held an invitation or something similar.

Seeing Shen Ye walk in, Shi Jingrong stood up and asked with concern, "Your Highness, did your meeting with His Majesty go smoothly this time?"

"It went very smoothly." Shen Ye looked at Shi Jingrong, who showed no signs of pregnancy and still had a slender figure, and said with a smile, "His Majesty is very supportive of me and wants me to handle the matter of recovering the debts well."

Shi Jingrong is always prone to worrying, and Shen Ye naturally doesn't want her to continue worrying at a time like this.

Therefore, Shen Ye simply adopted the approach of reporting only good news and not bad news to Shi Jingrong.

Looking at the smiling Shen Ye, Shi Jingrong raised an eyebrow slightly. Her intuition told her that this matter was not so simple.

But after hesitating for a moment, she didn't say anything more about it. Because there was nothing she could do to help in this matter.

Shen Ye's gaze fell on an invitation.

Normally, Shen Ye receives very few invitations because he is the Crown Prince, and many people feel that they don't have enough influence to invite him.

Naturally, he rarely sent invitations to Shen Ye.

"Who sent this invitation?" Shen Ye asked casually.

Shi Jingrong said, "It was sent by Prince Yu's residence. It says that Prince Yu is celebrating the 100th day of his newly born grandson, the eldest grandson, and he invites the Crown Prince to attend."

Upon hearing Shi Jingrong's words, Shen Ye frowned.

Generally, if Prince Yu had a son, he would hold a grand banquet to celebrate. However, the current heir apparent of Prince Yu is only sixteen years old and has not yet been formally married. Therefore, this grandson is not a legitimate grandson.

Under such circumstances, Prince Yu's residence should not host a banquet.

But now, Prince Yu's mansion is not only hosting a dinner party, but doing it in such a grand manner. It seems that this dinner party is not simple!

This is definitely not just about eating.

Seeing Shen Ye frown, Shi Jingrong said softly, "Prince Yu already has four or five grandsons, and he hasn't really made any arrangements for them."

"This sudden mobilization is probably due to the Ministry of Revenue's deficit."

"If Your Highness finds it difficult, you might as well say you are not feeling well and have Zhou Bao deliver a generous congratulatory gift."

"This way, Prince Yu won't be able to find fault."

Shen Ye gently took Shi Jingrong's hand and said, "I'm not the one who owes the debt, so why can't I go?"

"Besides, a generous gift costs money, and I'm not giving that."

"It's not like it's a trap, why can't I go? Since Prince Yu is hosting this time, I'll go."

"Otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble they might cause!"

　The third update of the day is here! Please support me, everyone!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)