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

Chapter 177 Crying at the Confucius Temple and Blocking the Bridal Sedan Chair

Looking at Emperor Qianxi's cold face, Ma Qi's heart trembled.

He had a very close relationship with Emperor Qianxi, and they could even joke around with each other in private.

But at this time, he could only proceed with extreme caution.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince says he has no other choice," Ma Qi said in a deep voice.

Emperor Qianxi was not too surprised by this outcome. After all, the loan had already been repaid in installments; what else could be done?

Are they really going to raid their house?
But some people, even if their homes are confiscated, still can't pay back their debts.

For example, Cao Yin, and Li Xu...

These trusted confidants were all people he owed money to during his trip to Jiangnan.

It's pointless for them to raid the house!
Just as Emperor Qianxi was about to change the subject to the land tax reform, he noticed a hint of hesitation in Ma Qi's expression.

Ma Qi understood him, and Emperor Qianxi understood Ma Qi even better.

Ma Qi is a straightforward person who speaks his mind.

Such hesitant speech is quite rare nowadays.

"Speak your mind, or shut up. Do you think you can hide anything from me?"

Emperor Qianxi spoke these words lightly, but they sent a shiver down Ma Qi's spine.

He had known Emperor Qianxi for many years, and just as he understood Emperor Qianxi, Emperor Qianxi also understood him very well.

Compared to his own guesses, if he let Emperor Qianxi feel that he had deceived him, then he would lose Emperor Qianxi's trust forever.

With that thought in mind, he said in a deep voice, "It's not that I'm hiding anything, but when I reported this matter to the Crown Prince, I always felt that the Crown Prince seemed to have a solution."

"But the Crown Prince didn't say."

"I don't know if I'm overthinking things, or if I'm just imagining things!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Qianxi's already cold face grew even colder.

Although he felt there was no other way to resolve the matter, the Crown Prince's recent actions had given him a fervent hope that no matter how difficult the situation, this rebellious son, whose mind was as cunning as a hornet's nest, might have a solution.

He also had confidence in Mazi's intuition.

After all, Ma Qi was a capable minister who had dealt with many people. His ability to read people's expressions and guess their thoughts was not to be underestimated.

His intuition was at least 70-80% correct.

That unfilial son! He's clearly quick-witted and resourceful. Even though he didn't have the key to pick the lock, I sent Ma Qi to ask him for advice, and he actually said he didn't know!

What is this guy trying to do?!

Could it be that he wants his father to ask him personally?

"I'll ask him about this later."

At this point, Emperor Qianxi picked up a memorial and asked, "Ma Qi, what do you think of this matter?"

Ma Qi took the memorial from Emperor Qianxi's hand and saw that it was a memorial from the educational commissioner of Hubei and Hunan provinces. The memorial only mentioned one thing: thousands of scholars and officials from Hubei and Hunan provinces were crying at the Confucius Temple.

These people were targeting the "equalization of land tax and poll tax".

Their reasoning was that the land tax reform was an oppressive policy that was taking away profits from the people, and if this continued, the people of the entire Hunan and Hubei provinces would suffer greatly.

They vehemently criticized Nian Xialing, and some even began organizing the successful candidates from the two lakes regions to boycott the imperial examinations the following year.

For the imperial court, weeping at the Confucius Temple was a very shameful thing, not to mention that the candidates from Hunan and Hubei refused to take the exam, which would have further damaged Emperor Qianxi's reputation.

As Ma Qi read the memorials, he quickly began to make calculations.

The "equalization of land tax and poll tax" promoted by Nian Xialing was nominally Nian Xialing's own idea as governor.

In fact, this was at the behest of Emperor Qianxi.

Otherwise, why would the cunning Nian Xialing create such trouble for himself?

Now, his actions at such an advanced age have encountered a strong backlash.

In this kind of situation, one bad thing is that you put in a lot of effort but get no reward.

"Your Majesty, this servant believes that someone is behind this, otherwise it would never have escalated to this extent." "Such a traitor must not be shown any leniency and should be severely punished."

"However, the two lakes are strategically important areas of the imperial court. If chaos breaks out, it will have far-reaching consequences. Furthermore, the imperial examination held every four years is crucial to the court's reputation. If the students of the two lakes refuse to participate in this examination, it will be a disgrace to the court..."

Ma Qi did not continue speaking, but Emperor Qianxi instantly understood his meaning.

Mazi's intention was to severely punish the ringleader, and then make appropriate concessions.

In this way, the court's reputation can be preserved, and the majority of those who are causing trouble can also be appeased.

This can be described as a mature and prudent approach.

However, if he did that, his plan to merge land tax with poll tax would come to nothing.

This kind of defeat was certainly not something Emperor Qianxi wanted to see.

But then things started to get messy...

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Emperor Qianxi's expression kept changing. Just when Ma Qi was getting a little uncomfortable waiting, Emperor Qianxi suddenly clutched his stomach.

"You should step back first."

As he spoke, Emperor Qianxi strode quickly behind the screen.

Ma Qi was stunned for a moment as he watched Emperor Qianxi leave, but by then Emperor Qianxi had already hurriedly reached the back of the screen.

A hint of suspicion arose in Ma Qi's mind. He bowed respectfully and then walked away slowly.

As Ma Qi walked out of the Qianqing Palace, a sense of worry rose in his heart. His Majesty's stomach ailment seemed to be worse than before.

Thinking of his stomach ailment, Ma Qi couldn't help but quicken his pace.

At this moment, Shen Ye had no idea that his other father-in-law had caused such a big mess in the two lakes region.

In reality, even if he knew, he wouldn't need to handle this matter.

So at this moment, he remained content to be his groom.

Even for ordinary people getting married, there are a lot of rules and regulations, let alone for a prince.

Although Shen Ye was only given the title of concubine this time, none of the proper etiquette was omitted.

Shen Ye was even harassed on the eve of his wedding.

If Shen Ye were to comment on his marriage, he would only have one feeling: it was too painful!
Although he was the crown prince, the etiquette was fixed, and he couldn't refuse to follow it.

As each ceremony went by, Shen Ye felt her heart was going numb!

Fortunately, as time passed, he finally picked up his bride from the Cao family's old residence, accompanied by the Fourth Prince, the Fifth Prince, and others, and then walked back to Yuqing Palace in a grand procession.

It's finally coming to an end!

Just as Shen Ye was about to exchange a few words with the Fourth Prince Yunzhen beside him, he heard a commotion.

Amidst the commotion, loud shouts rang out: "Your Highness, please do justice for the people of Hubei and Hunan!"

“Nian Xialing has acted perversely and competed with the people for profit, causing the people of Hubei and Hunan to suffer greatly. We beg Your Highness to kill Nian Xialing to bring peace to the world.”

"The policy of 'equalizing land tax and poll tax' is an oppressive one..."

The shouts grew louder and louder, and the surroundings became increasingly chaotic.

At this moment, the faces of the Fourth Prince Yunzhen and the Fifth Prince Yunqi, who were accompanying Shen Ye, had become extremely ugly.

Neither of them expected that this situation would occur during the Crown Prince's wedding.

What is this for?
This is clearly meant to upset the Crown Prince!
Imagine if someone pretended to be stupid and blocked the wedding car when an ordinary family got married, people would feel it was bad luck, let alone a group of people blocking the way and crying out for justice.

This is bad luck upon bad luck!
Just then, Erlengtai quickly came to Shen Ye and said, "Your Highness, these are students from the Imperial Academy in the two lakes. They request that you thoroughly investigate Nian Xialing's tyrannical policy of converting land tax into poll tax."

"They kept saying they wanted to see you."

Before Shen Ye could speak after hearing Erlengtai's words, someone shouted, "Erlengtai, don't you know what time it is? It's the Crown Prince's wedding, and they dare to come and cause trouble! They've really gone too far!"

"Bring the men from the Infantry Commander's Office here and arrest them all!"

　The second update for today is here! Please support me, everyone! It's the end of the month, so if you have any votes, please give me two!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)