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

Chapter 553 Pressing Harder, Letting You Know What It Means to Delegate Tasks
The Infantry Commander's Office!

Longkodo sat down in the main hall, and oh my, he felt the gazes below him, so loyal and burning!
He knew in his heart that this loyalty and fervor did not come for nothing.

Isn't it because I've turned a blind eye and indulged them all these years, letting these guys below eat their fill of grease?
Otherwise, who would be willing to open their heart to him?
He could fool the prince above and get the brothers below to wholeheartedly support him.

He can even skim some extra money off the side. He's living a pretty comfortable life.

Just as he was happily thinking about how much he would earn today, his personal subordinate, Tong Liu, came running in, stumbling and crawling.

"My lord, something terrible has happened!"

Upon hearing this tune, Longkodo's brows immediately furrowed.

This Tong Liu always speaks as if he's announcing a bad day; it's always startling and alarming.

What do you mean, "Your Excellency is not well"? I am perfectly fine! Aren't you just jinxing me?

He glared at Tong Liu fiercely, his eyes sharp: "What are you panicking about? Did the sky fall outside?"

Tong Liu was so out of breath that he could barely stand, one hand on his waist and the other clutching his chest.

"My lord, no, it's not the sky falling!"

"It was the upright and honest department that posted notices everywhere in the inner and outer city, offering rewards for clues about those who oppressed the people and extorted money."

"And...and they also said that the person providing the clues doesn't need to show up; they can just throw the clues into the suggestion boxes that the Fengqingqizheng Division has set up in the inner and outer cities."

"The Crown Prince also ordered the imperial guards to stand guard, and no one was allowed to stop him."

Upon hearing this, Longkodo's expression changed instantly!

Zhen Yan, who is usually as quiet as a mule, suddenly pulled this stunt!
Who knows what scary things might pop out of those buckets?
Oh no, Longkodo had thought everything was under his control.

But now I feel like there are thorns growing under my butt, and I really can't sit still!
What if the job I did involved only involving a cunning servant taking the blame, but the Fengqingqizheng Division found out that I had let the minor offender go free? Then…

Then wouldn't the crown prince have his own weakness exposed?
"Sir, how about we send a few clever ones to keep watch around the barrel?"

"If we see anyone sneaking clues in there, we'll arrest them."

A clueless military officer standing to the side came over to offer advice.

Longkodo snorted coldly and lightly tapped him on the forehead: "Your head is quite sharp!"

"But do you think those imperial guards just stand there doing nothing?"

"If we get caught red-handed, guess who'll be the first to report to the execution ground?"

Upon hearing Longkodo's words, the subordinate turned pale, shrank back, and dared not utter another word.

Just then, another yamen runner ran in to report, "Sir, Lord Zhen Yan of the Fengqingqizheng Division requests an audience."

Upon hearing that Zhen Yan had arrived, Longkodo's heart tightened suddenly, as if he had been jolted awake from a beautiful dream.

"Lord Zhen is an honored guest. He is an upright and honest man, whom I have always admired. Please come in, no, I will go to greet him myself!"

Although Zhen Yan's official rank was far lower than Longkodo's, who was Zhen Yan?

Longkodo knew it all too well!

This guy was a confidant of the Crown Prince, and was specifically sent to "keep an eye" on him and the Shuntian Prefecture.

When faced with such a person, Longkodo always knew how to adapt to changing circumstances, and he never hesitated to bend over when necessary.

Soon, Longkodo met Zhen Yan. After a very polite greeting, Longkodo tentatively began to speak:

"Lord Zhen, I heard that your Bureau of Integrity and Uprightness has set up a suggestion box for collecting clues?"

"What a brilliant and ingenious idea! Going deep into the countryside and experiencing people's hardships!"

Zhen Yan said with a smile:
"You flatter me, Lord Long! Many common people, after being oppressed, are afraid of retaliation from those corrupt officials and have no choice but to swallow their anger."

"Since our Fengqingqizheng Division is to assist the Shuntian Prefecture and the Infantry Commander's Office in governing the capital, we need to have some informants."

"It's good to thoroughly clean up those places where filth and evil hide, and to eradicate evil completely!"

"Yes, yes, yes, we must eradicate evil completely! We must eradicate it completely, hahaha!"

Longkodo chuckled dryly, but inwardly he cursed, "Get rid of me, my foot! You're clearly trying to set me off!"

Sigh, he still has to be polite, since he can't afford to offend Zhen Yan right now.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Zhen Yan handed over a thick stack of documents:
"Lord Longkodo, these are some clues we, the Clean and Righteous Division, have recently received regarding the oppression of the good and kind."

"Thinking that the Infantry Commander's Office was responsible for maintaining order in the capital, it was their duty, so they compiled this."

"I'll have to trouble Lord Long to investigate this thoroughly."

"This is a clue transfer form. If Lord Tong thinks that the number of clues and the content of the transfer match, please sign it."

Longkodo knew that Zhen Yan had come with ill intentions, but after flipping through the contents of these handover documents, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.

Zhen Yan gave him a total of fifteen clues, most of which involved members of the royal family!

The two most critical ones are:

One story is about Ma Qi's third son, Ma Hechang, who, in a jealous dispute, beat a scholar who had come to the capital to become a cripple.
Another case is that the younger brother of Prince Shuncheng was poisoned in the Prince's mansion, and this old case has been brought up again.

Longkodo felt a buzzing in his head and his vision went black.

What kind of clue is this?
These are clearly two death warrants, pointing directly at Ma Qi and Prince Shuncheng, forcing Longkodo to stir up a hornet's nest!
Longkodo had heard about both of these things.

However, in the first matter, the scholar, intimidated by Ma Qi's power, didn't dare utter a single word. Although Longkodo also disliked Ma Qi, since the man didn't file a complaint, he wouldn't pursue the matter.

He didn't want to offend Ma Qi for no reason.

But now that the case leads have been handed over, if he doesn't handle it, the Crown Prince will probably punish him.

As for the matter of the Prince Shuncheng's mansion, he was still young when he heard about it, and at that time he was not the head of the Infantry Commander's Office, so it was naturally not under his jurisdiction.

He wasn't surprised at all that the Crown Prince had taken action against Ma Qi.

After all, Ma Qi, like his father, supported the Eighth Prince.

If I were the crown prince, I would also take action against him.

Although Prince Shuncheng also supported the Eighth Prince, he was merely a figurehead.

Judging from the Crown Prince's attitude, is he not even allowing those who want to chime in to do so?
This is an attempt to wipe them out completely!

"Lord Zhen, this...this matter of fighting falls under the jurisdiction of our Infantry Commander's Office;"

"But wouldn't it be more appropriate for the Imperial Clan Court to handle this case of poisoning a member of the royal family?"

Longkodo hesitated for a moment, then came up with an excuse to decline.

Zhen Yan said with a forced smile:
"Lord Long, the Imperial Clan Court deals with disputes within the imperial clan; these are family matters."

"The poisoning of this member of the imperial clan is beyond the jurisdiction of the Imperial Clan Court; it is a murder case and should be handled by the Infantry Commander's Office."

"This is the Crown Prince's opinion. If you, Lord Longkodo, have any questions, you can come with me to meet the Crown Prince."

When Longkodo heard that he had to meet the Crown Prince, he felt as if he had been pricked by a needle. The last person he wanted to see was the Crown Prince!
He quickly waved his hand: "No need, no need! I will do my best to investigate and handle the matter arranged by the Crown Prince!"

Zhen Yan smiled and said, "Cracking down on the demons and monsters in the capital and restoring peace to the people is the top priority right now."

"Lord Long, the Crown Prince is very concerned about this matter. Please don't let him down."

"I still have some clues to hand over to Shuntian Prefecture, so I'll take my leave now!"

No sooner had Zhen Yan left than Long Keduo, clutching the stack of hot-button clues, turned and ran home.

His father, Tong Guowei, was reclining on the bed, resting with his eyes closed. Hearing him come in, he didn't even lift his eyelids, and said in a cool tone:
"Oh, Lord Long, haven't you been handling major cases with great fanfare lately? What brings you to my humble abode today?"

Hearing his father's sarcastic remarks, Longkodo didn't bother to argue and leaned closer to whisper:
"Father, something terrible has happened! The Crown Prince sent Zhen Yan with a list of clues, please take a look..."

Upon hearing the words "Crown Prince," Tong Guowei's expression turned solemn.

He took the order and glanced at it, pausing particularly at the entry for "Ma Hechang beat and broke a scholar's leg," his face darkening.
"You bastard!"

I don't know who he was cursing, but it certainly wasn't his own son.

Longkodo said with a bitter face, "Father, I can usually get away with trivial matters by just fooling around, but this time the Crown Prince is personally watching!"

"If I throw a few more scapegoats out here, he'll definitely tear this government office down!"

He grew increasingly worried as he spoke: "The Crown Prince's reforms in the capital are practically leading us by the nose!"

"Today they're targeting Ma Qi, tomorrow they might target someone else..."

"You guys need to come up with a solution quickly, otherwise, you'll get burned sooner or later!"

Tong Guowei usually doesn't give his son a kind look, but this time he really couldn't sit still.

While the matter of Ma Qi's son might not be able to bring Ma Qi down, it has certainly damaged his reputation considerably.

The position of chief examiner for the imperial examination, which was so close to being secured, will almost certainly fall through.

You can't even teach your own son properly, and you even broke the legs of a candidate for the imperial examination. How can you be the chief examiner?

What are all the scholars in the country supposed to think?!
But here's the problem: if Ma Qi doesn't become the chief examiner, then who will?
He rubbed his temples and got up: "You go ahead and do your errands. I'm going out for a bit."

Longkodo quickly added, "Father, you'd better hurry! If you keep investigating like this, you'll eventually find your own doorstep!"

Tong Guowei ignored him and went straight to the South Study, where he immediately invited the Eighth Prince over.

The Eighth Prince was in a good mood.

After all, he and Tong Guowei had already worked on Longkodo and the Shuntian Prefecture respectively, and felt that the Crown Prince's influence should subside.

Upon hearing that Ma Qi's family's affairs had been brought up again, he flew into a rage: "The Crown Prince is deliberately seeking revenge, settling a personal score under the guise of public office!"

Tong Guowei sighed and said, "Eighth Master, Ma Qi's matter is neither a big deal nor a small one."

"To put it bluntly, it hasn't reached the point of causing serious damage; but to put it mildly, it's still a wound."

"If the Crown Prince continues to tear along this path... the consequences will be unpredictable!"

"We need to join forces with Zhang Ying and the others to find a way to make the Crown Prince stop."

The Eighth Prince frowned: "It's easy to join forces, but what excuse can we find to make him stop?"

Tong Guowei narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice:

"Then we'll have to see... what kind of 'gift' we can 'give' him that he can't refuse."

　The second update for today is here! Please vote and support me, everyone.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)