The Demon Prince

That night.

The first batch of funds to cover the debts was sent out without going through the procedures of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Rites, or other relevant government departments; it went directly out the back gate of the Prince Zhenguo's Mansion.

Zhao Yuanbao led his men and personally escorted them, first to the resettlement center for the former northern troops, and then to the residences of some other retired and disabled veterans.

The night wind was cold, and the alley was old. When you pushed open the gates of a few houses, it was pitch black inside, and you couldn't even turn on a decent lamp. A one-armed old soldier came out leaning on a wooden cane. You might mistake him for a debt collector.

When Zhao Yuanbao shoved the silver into his hand, the old soldier was completely stunned.

"This is……"

"Your compensation." Zhao Yuanbao showed him the bill:

"It's been two and a half years, now we're making up for it."

The veteran stared blankly at the bag of silver, his hands trembling.

"Give it to me? Really give it to me?"

"That's right."

Zhao Yuanbao was extremely serious.

Another old soldier, blind in one eye, clutched the silver horn, speechless for a long time. Finally, his lips trembled, and tears streamed down his face.

"I thought... I'd never get to see it in my lifetime."

Zhao Yuanbao paused for a moment:

"My young master asked me to pass on a message."

These are what you deserve.

He will collect every debt owed to you in the past, one by one.

In the courtyard, several veterans shed even more tears.

Some people held the silver coins, hesitant to exert any force, as if afraid that if they did, the dream they hadn't dared to pursue all these years would shatter.

Li Shunhua stood at the entrance of the alley, not entering the courtyard, but just watching from afar.

The night breeze ruffled her black hair, and she remembered that when Xiao Xingyue was instructing Zhao Yuanbao, he was sitting amidst money stained with the stench of money and blood.

He told her that this was something the imperial court owed them, and something the world owed them.

Is he really that foolish, arrogant, dissolute, and hopeless... Xiao Xingyue?

Li Shunhua smiled brightly, her smile radiant in the night breeze.

But soon, she frowned and began to worry.

Today Zhou Heng is dead, but tomorrow the court will certainly not let this go...

And that is indeed the case.

The news of Zhou Heng's murder and the petty corrupt official's extortion spread in the middle of the night, throwing the old party of the Ministry of War and the remnants of the party of the Ministry of Rites into a panic.

They originally thought that Xiao Xingyue was just using the investigation to collect money and establish his authority, and that everyone would exchange gifts, admit defeat, go through the motions, and then it would be over.

But with Zhou Heng's death, they all understood that small mistakes can be corrected, but big mistakes are fatal.

For people like them who have been involved in murder cases, suppressed old cases, or even have shady dealings with outsiders, no amount of money can help them!

At night, the lights on in a private residence on East Street stayed on very late.

Several former officials from the Ministry of War, a few remnants of the Ministry of Rites, and two mid-level officials who rarely showed their faces sat around the table, each with an increasingly grim expression.

"Zhou Heng is dead."

"Who's next?"

"We can't just sit here and wait for him to come and chop us up."

"That kid's gone crazy now that he has the investigation warrant."

"His father just died, what wouldn't he do?"

At this point, the room became even quieter.

After a long pause, someone finally spoke through gritted teeth:

"Then bite back at him."

Wasn't he accepting gifts? Wasn't he taking money?

Then say that he accepted bribes under the guise of investigation, that the Prince of Zhenguo's Mansion used the funeral to make money, and that the so-called account reimbursement all went into Xiao Xingyue's private treasury!

Zhou Heng's death wasn't due to a meritorious investigation; it was murder to silence him!

Upon hearing this, everyone else's eyes lit up.

Yes, fire here!

Once these labels are firmly attached, no matter how much the emperor wants to use him, he will have to be cautious.

Soon, the group made a decision.

The next morning, just as dawn broke, several teahouses and taverns in Kyoto became bustling with activity.

"Have you heard?"

"Young Master Xiao must have made a fortune this time, receiving hundreds of thousands of taels, right?"

"They say it's to cover debts, but who knows if it actually went into their own pockets?"

"Receiving gifts outside the mourning hall of the Prince of Zhen's Mansion, tsk tsk, they really know how to pick a place."

"Zhou Heng refused to give more, and as a result, he was killed. This is not an investigation; it is clearly the establishment of a faction."

"To put it bluntly, it's still about using the dead to make money for themselves."

"Exactly, all crows under the sky are black!"

When the wind blows, the whole city is filled with it.

……

The wind outside the Prince's Mansion changed its smell overnight.

One day it was mourning, collecting debts, and beating people; today it's just gossip all over the city.

They talk about it in teahouses, taverns, and on the streets; even the pancake vendors can add their own comment.

It is said that Xiao Xingyue used the investigation to amass wealth, accepting gifts outside the mourning hall of the Prince of Zhen's Mansion, and behaving in an unseemly manner.

They said Zhou Heng didn't deserve to die; he was beheaded because he didn't pay enough money.

Some people said even dirtier things, saying that the bodies of the King of Zhen and his son were barely cold, and this young master of the Xiao family was already using the white banner as a signboard to do business with the dead.

These words, carried by the wind, reached the ears of those minor officials.

The day before, they were kneeling outside the mourning hall, crying their eyes out, feeling like they had been given a second chance at life. But today, their thoughts have changed.

Manager Xu sat in his side room, staring at the supplementary bill on the table, his eyes reddening, and sneered:

"What talk of repentance and giving him a way out? After all that, isn't he just taking our money to embellish his own image?"

The junior official next to him, Sun, was also holding back his anger:

"Exactly, what's the difference between him and Cao Bi?"

Cao Bi openly robbed us; he was even more ruthless. After robbing us, we still had to thank him, humph!

The other one had a pale face and a more bitter tone:

"They acted all righteous and awe-inspiring before, talking about making up for their mistakes and getting away with it by checking the accounts. Bah!"

Ultimately, isn't it still the Prince Zhenguo's Mansion taking the money? They've just changed to an even more ruthless one to collect it.

The more they talked, the angrier they became. What they had been relieved to have escaped death yesterday was turned into rage by the rumors.

Why should we take this knife for nothing?

Rumors are circulating that if we don't add fuel to the fire, we'll lose both our money and our reputation.

After a long silence, Manager Xu spoke in a low voice:

"Then tell us! Tell everyone what we've seen!"

He likes to pretend, doesn't he? I'll see how long he can keep up the act.

The moment these people started talking, the wind outside became even more chaotic.

Not only them, but also the people behind the Fifth Princess, Fourth Princess, and Third Princess who were originally inconspicuous began to secretly stir up trouble.

These forces don't usually stand in the limelight, but nobody's blind.

Xiao Xingyue is making a bigger and bigger fuss right now. If he really manages to investigate the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites, and then takes the opportunity to win over the old troops in the Northern Border and the favors of several princesses, who will be able to suppress him in the future?

So at this moment, stepping on his foot is just right.

Meanwhile, inside the Prince's Mansion at the eye of the storm, Xiao Xingyue seemed completely oblivious to the wind outside.

He was busy accepting gifts, checking accounts, and arresting people. He spent the whole day either flipping through old files in the side hall or supervising people counting and supplementing accounts in the backyard. He was so busy that he didn't have time to rest.

Zhao Yuanbao was worried for him:

"Your Highness, look at the level of abuse they've caused! Are you really not going to do anything about it?"

Xiao Xingyue sat at the table, flipping through a volume of old records from the Ministry of War, without even looking up:

"What's the rush? My bones are strong, and they have good teeth. Let them take a few more bites."

Zhao Yuanbao was completely bewildered.

"If you keep biting like this, everyone in Kyoto will say you're the biggest corrupt official in the Great Xia Dynasty."

Xiao Xingyue turned a page of the file:

"That's good, at least it's number one."

At the pinnacle of greed, I reign supreme; with my star-crossing spirit, there is heaven.

Before Xiao Xingyue could even explode, Li Wangshu in Consort Shu's palace was already furious.

She slammed a newly acquired scroll of local gossip on the table, her eyes red with anger:

"Mother, there's all this nonsense going around. If this continues, Xiao Xingyue's reputation will be ruined."

Jiang Shuying remained calm, her smile carrying a hint of insight into people's hearts.

"Being a little smelly isn't necessarily a bad thing."