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

Chapter 306 This rebellious son is after me

Questioning the Crown Prince!

Does this person have a death wish?
Could it be that the mighty Zhou Dynasty is destined to produce a Hai Qingtian (a notorious upright official)?

If that's the case, then things will get interesting!
If Your Majesty does not kill Zhao Youzhi, then how will the Crown Prince conduct himself?
If Emperor Qianxi had killed Zhao Youzhi, how would he have faced public opinion?

At this moment, many people in the imperial court were worried for Zhao Youzhi.

Some people even secretly glanced at the Crown Prince!
In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, how should the Crown Prince respond to being questioned like this by his subjects?

However, no matter what, the Crown Prince has been cornered and can no longer hide; he must stand up and face the situation!

Emperor Qianxi stared coldly at Zhao Youzhi without saying a word.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Shen Ye slowly walked out.

He had anticipated this attack, but he hadn't expected it to be so ruthless and explosive!
It's absolutely terrifying!
Shen Ye slowly stepped forward and calmly said, "Lord Zhao is right. The lives of ordinary people are lives too, especially since the one who died was a scholar!"

"This matter must be explained!"

Before Zhao Youzhi could speak, he shouted at Ma Qi, "Ma Qi, tell me, where did all those deposits in Yuqing Bank go?"

Why can't these depositors repay their money?

Ma Qi was inwardly praising Zhao Youzhi, thinking to himself that the censor the Eighth Prince had found was truly extraordinary!
Even if they can't bring down the Crown Prince in one fell swoop, he has at least lost face after this battle.

How can a crown prince who has lost his prestige win the hearts of the people?

How can a crown prince who is publicly questioned rule the world?
However, to his utter surprise, the Crown Prince had no interest in the matter of a life being taken; instead, he inquired about the money in Yuqing Bank!

Ma Qi immediately broke out in a cold sweat, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly looked towards Emperor Qianxi.

Emperor Qianxi did catch the look he was giving him, but he didn't say a word!
If Emperor Qianxi were to stop the Crown Prince from asking where the money from Yuqing Bank went, wouldn't that be like finding a lice on a bald man's head, clearly indicating that the money had been spent?

“Your Highness, this money was borrowed by the Ministry of Revenue.” Seeing that Emperor Qianxi remained silent, Ma Qi’s mind raced, and he finally decided to take responsibility for the matter.

Or rather, let the Ministry of Revenue take responsibility.

The Crown Prince could confront him directly and bring up the matter, but he dared not say that the money had been spent by Emperor Qianxi.

Shen Ye glanced at Emperor Qianxi and saw that he was still sitting there calmly and composedly. Shen Ye could no longer suppress his anger and coldly asked, "What did the Ministry of Revenue do with this money?"

"In front of the entire court, can't you even explain this clearly?!"

Emperor Qianxi's lips twitched slightly; at this moment, he felt a slight fear of the Crown Prince.

The guilty conscience needs no accuser!
He spent the money because he lacked confidence.

The Crown Prince's relentless questioning wasn't directed at Ma Qi, but clearly aimed at him!
For a moment, Emperor Qianxi felt both ashamed and angry, but he couldn't utter a single word.

After all, the Crown Prince's questions were all reasonable and without any problems.

Zhao Youzhi's nerves also tightened.

He had just remonstrated with the Crown Prince to the death, and was in the midst of a passionate outburst.

Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince suddenly turned his gun on Ma Qi, leaving him out in the cold, which gave him a vague sense of unease.

Faced with the Crown Prince's aggressive questioning, Ma Qi was also somewhat annoyed. He stole a glance at Emperor Qianxi and found that he was still sitting there unmoved and had no intention of speaking. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and reply, "Your Highness, this money is for the sake of the court's grand plan!"

"In order to deter the tribes of the northern grasslands and to demonstrate the imperial court's benevolence to them, this money must be spent!"

Unfortunately, Shen Ye wasn't buying it at all and continued to ask, "Spending money is no problem for the sake of the imperial court's grand plan."

"But why hasn't the Ministry of Revenue repaid this money after all this time?"

"Father Emperor instructed the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Household Department to find a way to allocate 500,000 taels of silver to Yuqing Bank as soon as possible, so why hasn't it arrived yet?"

A series of questions left Ma Qi blushing.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that using Yuqing Bank as a catalyst was a misjudgment of his approach.

"Your Highness, you are well aware of the Ministry of Revenue's situation. It's not that we don't want to repay, it's that we simply have no money to repay!"

Ma Qi knew that he absolutely could not take the blame at this time, so he spread his hands and said helplessly, "I cannot raise so much silver in a short time."

“What Lord Ma said is not without reason,” Shen Ye said calmly. “After all, three million taels of silver is not a small amount.”

"Moreover, these three million taels of silver are originally from the Ministry of Revenue."

Ma Qi's heart tightened—the Crown Prince's sudden act of defending the Ministry of Revenue was not a good thing!
Especially at times like these.

However, for now, Ma Qi could only look after himself, so he kept quiet.

Shen Ye's gaze fell on Zhao Youzhi again.

"Lord Zhao, you are a scholar who passed the imperial examinations twice, so you can be said to be exceptionally learned. I would like to ask you a question."

Zhao Youzhi had just launched a powerful rebuke of the Crown Prince, passionately remonstrating with him even at the cost of his life.

Just as he was preparing to make further progress, the Crown Prince suddenly turned his attention to Ma Qi, and he seemed to have suddenly become a supporting character.

This made him very uncomfortable, but he had no choice but to accept it.

The conversation between the Crown Prince and Ma Qi suddenly put the Ministry of Revenue in the spotlight.

Just when he felt the problem was getting complicated, he heard the Crown Prince ask him by name, and he immediately became alert, his heart leaping into his throat.

Then Shen Ye said in a deep voice, "The Ministry of Revenue said that the money in Yuqing Bank should have belonged to the Ministry of Revenue."

"Because Yuqing Bank attracted these three million taels of deposits by paying interest on installments of the three million taels of silver lent out by the Ministry of Revenue."

"But the money in Yuqing Bank comes from depositors' savings. So please tell me: whose three million taels of silver is this?"

"If it's from the Ministry of Revenue, where did the money of Yuqing Bank depositors go?"

"If it belongs to the depositors, then where did the three million taels of silver that should have belonged to the Ministry of Revenue go?" Zhao Youzhi was able to pass the imperial examination, so he was naturally quick-witted.

The Crown Prince's question immediately made him realize that the three million taels of silver were clearly a deficit incurred by the officials who had borrowed money from the Ministry of Revenue.

This question is easy to answer, but once you answer it, you'll offend a lot of people.

He has already died for his cause, so he should be fearless no matter what.

But in reality, he was filled with fear, because remonstrating with the crown prince to the death might not necessarily lead to his death, but he couldn't afford to offend those people.

"This this……"

Zhao Youzhi stammered and dared not respond.

Seeing Zhao Youzhi's expression, Shen Ye sneered and said, "Lord Zhao, if you can't say it, let me say it for you!"

"This money belongs to the depositors of Yuqing Bank."

"The money in the Ministry of Revenue was simply borrowed by some people and not repaid!"

"Didn't you want to thoroughly investigate Yuqing Bank?"

"Didn't you say that ordinary people's lives matter too?"

"Very well, then please have Lord Zhao lead the team to search the homes of those who owe money, recover the money they owe, and return it to the depositors!"

At this point, he raised his voice: "Since ancient times, who has ever escaped death? Let my loyal heart shine in history!"

"Since Lord Zhao is so determined, surely he is not afraid of whether those who owe him money are high-ranking officials or relatives of the emperor?"

Zhao Youzhi didn't dare to reply.

He knew this task was not easy to complete; once he accepted it, it would definitely be a dead end.

The key point is that even if you risk your life, you might not be able to succeed.

However, it wouldn't be right not to accept, since he had just loudly recited poetry, appearing ready to die to prove his point.

To say you're not going to do it now would be cowardly...

"Your Highness, please don't try to change the subject or distort the truth. The matter we're asking His Majesty to handle this time is the case of Yuqing Bank driving Scholar Feng to his death."

"Instead of dealing with the Ministry of Revenue's debts, which have already been settled, why bring it up again?"

The speaker was a censor in his forties. He slowly stepped forward, essentially pleading for Zhao Youzhi.

Shen Ye looked at the censor and said calmly, "How should I address this gentleman?"

"Your humble servant is Cheng Shaoqin, the Supervising Censor!" the middle-aged man said to Shen Ye.

“Imperial Censor Cheng,” Shen Ye’s tone grew colder, “according to you, is it like treating the symptom, not the cause, like patching up the fire wherever it’s burning?”

"As for why it caught fire, that's not something we need to worry about."

"It's like someone finding a cow rope, and you immediately accuse that person of stealing your cow, just because the cow rope is in that person's hands."

"As for whether you're innocent or not, you don't care at all?"

These words caused Cheng Shaoqin's expression to change, and he hurriedly retorted, "Your Highness, I am merely stating the facts. Please do not try to change the subject..."

Whether it's based on the facts or not, you know the answer in your heart!

"You don't even understand right and wrong. The quality of the Censorate is truly worrying. Moreover, without His Majesty's permission, do you have the right to speak here?"

"What right do you have to stand in this court, you muddle-headed fool who doesn't care about right and wrong and doesn't want to really solve problems?"

"Get out of here!"

The room fell silent upon hearing this.

Cheng Shaoqin's face turned deathly pale instantly.

He jumped out to help Zhao Youzhi out of the predicament, but he didn't expect the Crown Prince to tell him to "get out!"

This was the greatest humiliation in the imperial court.

In the future, when people mention him, they will probably remember this scene.

"Your Highness, how...how could you..."

Chen Tingjing, as the Left Censor-in-Chief, also looked quite grim at this moment.

His subordinates were insulted by the Crown Prince in this way, and he lost face.

However, what Cheng Shaoqin just said is indeed untenable.

For a moment, the only thing in the vast court was Cheng Shaoqin's flushed face.

"Your Majesty, I merely offered a suggestion, yet... I have been so humiliated by the Crown Prince. It is truly... truly..."

"Your Majesty, I humbly beg you to uphold justice!"

Emperor Qianxi kept his eyes fixed on Shen Ye, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

He was feeling rather annoyed at the moment. Although the fire hadn't yet reached him, he was already feeling quite uncomfortable.

After all, he was the one who spent the money!

He also permitted the ministers to borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue.

This matter cannot withstand close scrutiny.

This rebellious son's words are clearly directed at me!
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(End of this chapter)