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

Chapter 228 The Emperor Qianxi's Mission: The Eldest Brother is Like a Father
"What happened? Is it Lord A-Ling?"

Jin Wushan had been bullied by A Ling in the past. This two-faced guy always found ways to make things difficult for him, so he was very wary of him.

At this moment, looking at his flustered subordinates, he asked, trying to appear calm.

"My lord, it's not Lord Alinga who's here. Lord Alinga hasn't come to the Court of Colonial Affairs since the end of the court session. His personal attendants have taken all his things."

Upon hearing this, Jin Wushan's smile widened even more.

You've taken everything? Great!
That saves me the trouble of delivering it to him!

However, he couldn't rush to move into that official residence of a high-ranking official, since he hadn't been officially appointed yet! Haste makes waste, so he decided to wait a few more days.

Thinking this, Jin Wushan asked in a deep voice, "What exactly happened?"

"Lord Jin, the princess has passed away!" the subordinate said, somewhat at a loss.

Jin Wushan didn't pay much attention to these words. He said in a deep voice, "It is sad that the princess has passed away, but isn't this... isn't this a matter for the Imperial Clan Court to handle?"

What he said was absolutely correct. The princess's funeral arrangements were the responsibility of the Imperial Clan Court and had nothing to do with their Court of Colonial Affairs.

The subordinate finally calmed down and solemnly said, "Yes... the Fifth Princess has passed away!"

"The memorial submitted by Khorchin stated that he died suddenly of a heart attack, but our spies here reported that... he was kicked to death by the prince consort!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Wushan felt his head buzz for a moment.

Oh no! This is a real problem!

The Khorchin were a large tribe in the northern part of the court, with a population of over 100,000, including tens of thousands of warriors.

The imperial court has always used the method of winning over and intermarrying with these tribes on the grasslands.

Although the Khorchin tribe is not the largest tribe on the grassland, it is a powerful and influential group; if not handled properly, it could cause serious trouble.

Moreover, who is the Fifth Princess? She is the Qianxi Emperor's own daughter and the Thirteenth Prince's older sister.

If such a distinguished person were truly kicked to death, we absolutely cannot let this go.

In an instant, cold sweat poured down his forehead.

At this moment, Jin Wushan began to truly miss Aling'a!

If Lord Aling were still here, he would be the one to take on this hot potato! He wouldn't have to worry about how to report this matter to the Emperor.
Alas, Aling'a is not coming back, but he still has matters to attend to. So his first order was: "Quickly! Bring me the memorial; I need to see the Emperor immediately!"

"Oh, right, go and invite Lord Gao over as well."

Jin Wushan was a seasoned veteran; since he couldn't avoid it, he decided to drag Gao Youzhen, the Right Vice Minister, into the mess.

We all hold the same position, so if problems arise, we'll all be in the same boat.

Jin Wushan felt that this matter was difficult to handle and he might be scolded. He could bring Gao Youzhen along for courage, but he dared not alarm the Crown Prince.

He's now hesitant to let the crown prince get scolded along with him.

While Jin Wushan was bustling about, Shen Ye remained completely unaware. After seeing Jin Wushan and the others off, he leisurely reclined on a deck chair in the pavilion and began reading.

I said I was reading, but I was really just relaxing. A gentle autumn breeze was blowing in the pavilion, which was quite enjoyable.

I wish these days could last a little longer.

Shen Ye squinted, pondering who should be assigned to handle the affairs of the academy.

Yu Chenglong is quite capable, but he himself is busy from the moment he opens his eyes until the lights go out; Nian Dongliang, on the other hand, seems to be too low in rank.

Various thoughts swirled in Shen Ye's mind, and she quickly drifted into a drowsy state.

I got up way too early for today's morning court session!
Just as Shen Ye was enjoying this rare moment of leisure, Zhou Bao suddenly came to report that Liang Jiugong had arrived by imperial decree.

Shen Ye was always polite to this favorite of Emperor Qianxi.

He had Zhou Bao invite Liang Jiugong to his small pavilion where he was resting. Before Liang Jiugong could even bow, he took Liang Jiugong's hand and said, "Old Liang, sit down and have a cup of tea."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Although Liang Jiugong longed to be close to the Crown Prince, he was well aware of his own status.

He was a confidant of Emperor Qianxi. If he became too close to the Crown Prince, it would be difficult to explain to Emperor Qianxi.

So he said a few words of politeness and quickly got down to business.

In fact, Liang Jiugong's main business was a memorial to the throne, along with a message from Emperor Qianxi: "His Majesty said that the eldest brother is like a father, and that the Crown Prince should handle the matter properly."

As soon as he finished speaking, Liang Jiugong hurriedly took his leave.

He was a close associate of Emperor Qianxi and also the highest-ranking eunuch.

Therefore, he was even more aware that his interactions with the Crown Prince had to be kept under the watchful eye of Emperor Qianxi.

Otherwise, my future days will be very difficult.

After seeing Liang Jiugong off, Shen Ye took out this memorial.

Before he even looked at the memorial, his heart sank; it was probably not a good thing.

Otherwise, why would Emperor Qianxi need to send Liang Jiugong on such a secretive trip?
Upon opening the memorial, it was exactly as he had guessed.

This is an impeachment memorial submitted by an imperial censor!

The impeachment is against the ninth prince, Yuntang, for forcibly seizing someone else's shop.

What was originally a deal worth several thousand taels of silver was "bought" by Yuntang for only two hundred taels. The wording in the memorial was tactful, but in Shen Ye's view, this memorial was tantamount to slapping his father, Emperor Qianxi, in the face.

On one hand, he shouts that "princes are subject to the same laws as commoners," while on the other hand, he condones his son's theft of other people's businesses. That's just too unethical...

In the parallel universe, Shen Ye knew very well how the Ninth Prince had seized power through trickery and force, and the things mentioned in the memorials were most likely true.

However, since this matter was entrusted to him by Emperor Qianxi, he had no choice but to find out about it.

Shen Ye felt that Emperor Qianxi's saying "the eldest brother is like a father" was definitely not meant to make him uphold justice, but more importantly, to teach the brat a lesson.

No, wait, it seems the Ninth Prince is already engaged and about to get married; he's no longer a brat.

Shen Ye was mostly uninterested in the tasks assigned by Emperor Qianxi, but when it came to dealing with the Ninth Prince, he immediately became interested!

“Zhou Bao, go to Nian Dongliang’s place and ask him what exactly is going on with Hu’s Gold Shop.”

Zhou Bao was Shen Ye's confidant. Seeing how seriously Shen Ye spoke, he agreed and left quickly.

As the magistrate of Daxing County, Nian Dongliang lived up to his reputation as a local strongman, and he quickly provided an answer to Shen Ye's question.

The matter was simple: the Ninth Prince took a fancy to someone's gold shop, but the Hu family didn't want to sell. So the Ninth Prince simply had a sales contract made up, and bought the shop for two hundred taels of silver.

Upon hearing the report, Shen Ye clicked his tongue. This old ninth brother really was quite rough in his work.

He doesn't even deserve the description of "seizing by trickery and force".

However, it was easy for Emperor Qianxi to handle this matter himself. He only needed to call Yuntang over and give him a good scolding, and that would be the end of it.

Why should I be the one to manage it?

Could this be yet another test?

Shen Ye pondered for a while, but couldn't figure out what his father, Emperor Qianxi, meant, so he simply ignored everything and did what he thought was right!
He immediately called Zhou Bao over and gave him a few instructions.

After hearing Shen Ye's arrangement, Zhou Bao hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness, is this the right thing to do?"

"What's wrong with it?" Shen Ye said calmly, "I think it's fine."

"Isn't he bullying people? Then let him get bullied too."

"Don't worry, I'll do it. It's okay, I'm here!"

Although Zhou Bao was uneasy, he dared not disobey Shen Ye's orders and immediately went to carry them out.

The very next day, as arranged by Shen Ye, the Ninth Prince, Yuntang, who had been studying in the Imperial Study for some time, was rushed in by his trusted eunuch with a message:
The gold shop he had just "bought" was sold to someone else for two hundred taels of silver! The shopkeeper and his assistant were also kicked out.

Upon hearing this, Yuntang was furious!
For so many years, he has always been the one bullying others; when has he ever been bullied?

Moreover, the other person's method was exactly the same as his, which was a blatant slap in the face.

"When they bought the shop, did you tell them whose shop it was?" Yuntang trembled with anger.

"Ninth Master, our manager said this is your business, Ninth Master, but they won't listen at all and even kicked the manager out."

"They even said... that we bought it for two hundred taels of silver, and that they bought it from us for two hundred taels, so it's a fair trade."

"He even said that even if you went there yourself, you wouldn't be able to get the shop back." The trusted eunuch looked aggrieved, and his tone was somewhat provocative.

The reason for stirring up trouble is that the shop owner is the elder brother of the trusted eunuch!
Yuntang was taken aback when he heard this.

He thought he was already arrogant enough, but he never expected that there would be someone even more arrogant than him!

For a moment, the doubts in my heart overwhelmed my anger.

Just as he was hesitating, the tenth brother, who had been following behind him, said, "Ninth Brother, what are you afraid of!"

"We are the Emperor's own sons, and I refuse to believe that there is anyone in this world who doesn't respect us brothers!"

"Let's go see who's got the guts to do this."

"Damn it, if he's smart enough to apologize, we'll let it go. Otherwise, we'll beat him to a pulp and teach him a lesson!"

Provoked by Lao Shi's words, a cold glint flashed in Yun Tang's eyes: "Let's go!"

It wasn't easy for the two brothers to leave the palace; they had to report to the palace before they could leave with the help of the imperial guards.

Although Emperor Qianxi was not strict in this regard, this procedure was still essential.

This is why most princes wanted to move out.

As soon as he stepped out of the palace gates, the tenth prince, Yun'e, started complaining: "Ninth brother, when can we move out to our own residence? It's so inconvenient to stay cooped up in the palace all the time!"

The Ninth Prince was also annoyed, but he had no say in the matter; it depended on Emperor Qianxi's decision.

He gave a perfunctory reply: "Soon, soon. I reckon it'll be our turn after my older brother and the others move out."

"When we build our mansion, we brothers need a good place to live side by side so we can all enjoy ourselves!"

"Then let's go beat up that bastard who stole your shop first, and then look for a good plot of land."

Yun'e eagerly said, "Just thinking about beating someone makes my fists itch!"

　Hey everyone, here's the first update of the day! It's almost mid-month, so please support me with your monthly votes!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)