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

Chapter 212 The Emperor's Longevity and the Crown Prince's Divine Blessing
Aling came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

He rode in on horseback and then sped away, leaving a few minutes behind, which made the atmosphere in the carriage a little oppressive for a moment.

Fortunately, Emperor Qianxi seemed to be deep in thought and did not say anything, which relieved Shen Ye.

However, after returning to Chaoyang Gate, Emperor Qianxi looked at the long expressway and said to Shen Ye, "Crown Prince, tell Yu Chenglong that the expressway needs to be expedited."

"This year, I'm still looking forward to going to new places!"

Shen Ye could understand Emperor Qianxi's feelings. After all, Emperor Qianxi, who was used to the bumpy rides of carriages, really couldn't resist the fast and comfortable mode of transportation like the expressway.

But the problem is, the fast track costs money!
Shen Ye could only agree to this arrangement for now. As for how to repair it, that was Yu Chenglong's business, and he could worry about it.

Although most things are handled by others and Shen Ye only needs to give instructions, he still has to worry about a lot of things.

Therefore, after returning to Yuqing Palace, Shen Ye simply greeted Shi Jingrong and then lay down on the bed to rest.

However, although Shen Ye was resting, the entire capital city was talking about sweet potatoes.

The Nalan Mansion, once a place of tranquility, is now devoid of its former serenity.

He looked at his son, Kui Xu, and asked with a hint of disbelief, "Is the yield of sweet potatoes really more than 3,000 jin per mu?"

Although Kui Xu felt a little contempt for his father's loss of composure, Mingzhu was still his father, and he was still afraid of him when facing him.

“Father, it was dug up on site, and not only the Emperor, but also many ministers were there watching.”

At this point, Kui Xu lowered his voice and said, "Among the servants in charge of the excavation this time, dozens are our people."

“They are all used to working in the fields, so they can spot anything unusual immediately.”

"There's no problem with the yield per acre of these sweet potatoes."

"Besides, even if the Crown Prince were to bring in sweet potatoes from other places, he couldn't possibly get enough!"

Mingzhu nodded.

Kui Xu continued, "With the yield of these sweet potatoes, the Crown Prince's prestige has increased even further."

"I've heard many people say that His Highness cares deeply about the people's livelihood, which is why such auspicious omens have appeared from the heavens!"

"If this continues, then the crown prince's position..."

Kui Xu didn't continue, but his meaning was very clear.

That means the Crown Prince's position will become even more secure after this incident.

Mingzhu stroked his beard and pondered for a moment before saying, "The Crown Prince's influence is strong, so tell the First Prince to be careful lately."

"Don't compete with the Crown Prince, and it's best to keep a low profile in your actions."

Kui Xu was taken aback when he heard his father say that.

What does Dad mean by this?
Should we ask the eldest prince to give up?
Just as Kui Xu was filled with doubt, he heard Mingzhu say calmly, "His Majesty will not let the eldest prince become depressed."

Kui Xu instantly understood Mingzhu's meaning. He glanced at his father and then respectfully clasped his hands in a salute.

As Mingzhu's old rival, Suo'etu received the news no later than Mingzhu.

Upon hearing this news, a strange expression appeared on his face.

According to Algishan, his father's expression at this moment showed both joy and a hint of worry.

Algishan naturally understood the joy, but what was the reason for his father's hidden worries?

He hesitated for a moment, then asked Songgotu, "Father, is something wrong?"

“There’s nothing wrong with it,” Soetu said in a deep voice, “It’s just… His Majesty is blessed with longevity, and we hope the Crown Prince will be protected by the gods and Buddhas!”

Argishan was confused by these words, but he had a bad feeling about them.

"By the way, has the ginseng digging in Changbai Mountain stopped?" Soetu suddenly asked.

Algishan, who had been trying to guess his father's meaning, quickly said upon hearing this, "It's stopped, it's already stopped!"

"Father, rest assured, I know what's important and what's urgent."

Soetu nodded. He felt he should be confident that his son would not deceive him on such a matter.

The eldest prince, the fourth prince, the eighth prince...

The princes, all eager to seize the throne, were exhausted from following Emperor Qianxi back from the sweet potato fields. Yet, upon their return, they either pondered alone or consulted with their confidants…

After all, the Crown Prince's prestige is about to surge this time!
Faced with this situation, what should they do?

However, these discussions were mostly conducted in secret, since none of them had their own residences yet and they were still living in Emperor Qianxi's palace!
After paying his respects to Emperor Qianxi and the Empress Dowager as always, Shen Ye returned to Yuqing Palace.

Because of her pregnancy, Shi Jingrong had been exempted from the custom of paying respects to the emperor by Emperor Qianxi and the Empress Dowager, so she spent most of her time in Yuqing Palace every day.

When Shen Ye returned, she was drinking sweet potato and rice porridge.

"Your Highness, this sweet potato and rice porridge tastes quite good. Would you like a bowl?" Shi Jingrong put down her bowl and said with a smile.

Shi Jingrong truly loved these sweet potatoes.

It wasn't that the sweet potato brought the prince a lot of gold and silver; she liked the sweet potato because it would bring him immense prestige.

In the future, whenever the people have sweet potatoes to fill their stomachs, who wouldn't praise the Crown Prince?
It could be said that this was a golden statue cast for the crown prince. Shen Ye, smelling the sweet aroma of the rice porridge, smiled and said, "Alright, I'll have a bowl then."

At this point, Shen Ye smiled and said, "Sweet potatoes are only valuable now; they'll be worthless once they're widely available next year."

Emperor Qianxi valued the newly dug sweet potatoes highly, intending to keep them for seed, so he ordered most of them to be stored in cellars.

As for food...

Emperor Qianxi, also known as the Empress Dowager, had no limit on the number of concubines, but the concubines in the harem were basically supplied in fixed quantities.

Even beauties of low status did not receive this treatment.

It's unclear whether Emperor Qianxi was extremely satisfied with Shi Jingrong, his Crown Princess, or whether it was because the sweet potatoes were grown by Shen Ye, but the Crown Princess's supply of sweet potatoes was not restricted.

Shi Jingrong smiled and said, "Who cares how cheap it gets later? Anyway, I think these sweet potatoes are pretty delicious."

"Your Highness, are you going to the Court of Colonial Affairs today?"

While eating, Shen Ye casually said, "I'm not going."

Upon hearing Shen Ye's words, Shi Jingrong was taken aback: "Your Highness, didn't His Majesty send you to the Court of Colonial Affairs to observe state affairs?"

Shen Ye casually said, "His Majesty asked me to observe politics in the Court of Colonial Affairs, but he didn't say that I should report to the Court of Colonial Affairs every day to do that or what."

At this point, Shen Ye turned to Zhou Bao, who was standing to the side, and said, "The money I won from this bet should be sent over soon."

"Have someone make a record of who delivered the silver."

"Also, take Erlengtai to Prince Jian's mansion and find Yarjianga to see when he will hand over the dozen or so estates in Xiaotangshan."

Zhou Bao is now Shen Ye's trusted eunuch, and his status is rising rapidly along with Shen Ye's reputation.

At this point, he naturally agreed to Shen Ye's arrangement quickly.

When Shi Jingrong heard that the Crown Prince had asked Zhou Bao to go to Yarjianga to collect the debt, she felt that the Crown Prince was being a bit too hasty. However, considering the past disagreements between the two, she didn't say anything.

After enjoying a delicious meal, Shen Ye leisurely picked up a book in the study and casually flipped through it.

Although he doesn't read classics, histories, philosophical works, or vernacular stories, he has already read too many novels. Looking at these vernacular stories, he felt an urge to write one himself.

So when he had nothing to do, he would get a copy of the Zizhi Tongjian (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government) and play with it.

The activities at Yuqing Palace were a major focus of Emperor Qianxi's attention.

In particular, after discovering that the Crown Prince was becoming more and more capable, Emperor Qianxi paid more and more attention to him.

After receiving the ministers who were reporting on their work at the Qianqing Palace, it was already lunchtime.

When Emperor Qianxi looked at the dishes that were served, he found them a bit unpalatable and said directly, "These dishes are to be given to Yuqing Palace."

For the emperor to bestow a dish upon him is an extremely prestigious thing.

Even if you are the crown prince, if you receive a dish as a reward from the emperor, it means that the emperor is thinking of you.

After the young eunuch took the food away, Emperor Qianxi casually asked Liang Jiugong, who was serving the food, "Did the Crown Prince leave the palace today?"

"No, the Crown Prince spent today paying his respects to His Majesty and the Empress Dowager and reading in Yuqing Palace."

Emperor Qianxi paused with his chopsticks, and said calmly, "He does have the demeanor of a great general."

As they were talking, Emperor Qianxi continued eating.

Although Shen Ye wasn't too impressed with the dishes Emperor Qianxi had given her, she still expressed her gratitude and ate as usual, just like before.

In the afternoon, Zhou Bao and Erlengtai returned.

They never even met Yarjianga, but as a prince, Yarjianga was very magnanimous. He had already made arrangements and directly sent the steward of his manor to Xiaotangshan with Zhou Bao and Erlengtai to hand over the estate.

Moreover, the real estate documents will be issued in a couple of days.

Hearing that the estate had been acquired, Shen Ye was very happy. He planned to make a fortune in Xiaotangshan, and this was a good start.

The key point is that it didn't cost any money!
Most of the nobles and dignitaries who had gambled with Shen Ye also sent over their silver.

Although the loss of this money pained them, they still dared not renege on their debt to the Crown Prince.

However, some were not delivered!
For example, Orondai, who was known for his high stakes, lost 60,000 taels of silver to Shen Ye in one go, and hasn't sent it over yet.

Sixty thousand taels of silver is no small sum, and since Orondai couldn't deliver it immediately, Shen Ye didn't pay much attention to it.

But to his surprise, three days passed and Orondai neither came to see him nor brought him any money.

It was as if this had never happened at all.

Shen Ye sent Zhou Bao over, but Zhou Bao ended up spending the afternoon drinking tea in the living room without even seeing Orondai before being sent back.

Looking at Zhou Bao's dejected face, Shen Ye had only one thought in his mind: this time, he had been cheated out of his money.

That scoundrel Orondai actually dared to renege on his debt!
When the thought first came to mind, Shen Ye initially found it a bit funny, but after careful consideration, he realized that he might not have guessed wrong.

Orondai might really be going to renege on his debt!

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(End of this chapter)