Chapter 260: A Ledger
This day Prince Chu returned very late, arriving home past midnight.
Princess Consort Chu had not slept, leaving a lamp lit waiting for him.
“Why did you return so late today? I heard His Majesty kept you in the Palace after the morning court, what was it about?” Princess Consort Chu asked, getting up and putting on her robe.
“You should lie down quickly!” Prince Chu said, “It’s nothing more than someone impeaching me. His Majesty has held onto the memorial without issuing it and called me over to ask what exactly happened.”
“Is it still about Yu Fengshan?” Princess Consort Chu worried, “Why don’t you have Mister Hua Ying take action! To avoid escalating the matter, didn’t he say he had a lot of leverage over Prince Zhao? Don’t tell me he was lying to us.”
“You! Your knowledge is as short as your hair is long.” Prince Chu admonished his wife, “If Mister Hua Ying heard you say that, he’d surely never visit again.”
“I’m just anxious,” Princess Consort Chu said, “What if His Majesty blames us…”
“Don’t worry about what you shouldn’t,” Prince Chu said, “It makes one seem unfocused and not the type to achieve anything.”
“But…” Princess Consort Chu wanted to say more, but Prince Chu had already blown out the lamp, “Sleep, we’ll talk about anything in the morning.”
The next day at the morning court, Prince Zhao proactively spoke to Prince Chu: “You didn’t sleep well last night, did you? You look so tired.”
Prince Chu chuckled and said, “His Majesty kept me in the Palace yesterday, so I did return quite late. However, official duties were absolutely not delayed in the slightest.”
“Haha, yes, staying up all night is no big deal, it won’t delay official duties. But if one’s personal ambition is too great, it can greatly hinder official business.” Prince Zhao also smiled.
Both of them spoke with hidden meanings, and the officials waiting for the morning court nearby naturally sensed it, but no one interjected.
Two officials from the Ministry of Personnel came forward in the Imperial Court and impeached Prince Chu, with the charges being consistent with the content of the memorial previously submitted to the Emperor.
It seemed yesterday’s memorial was a probe, and today the matter was openly brought to light.
Prince Chu was naturally prepared and vehemently defended himself.
Those who were usually close to him also stood up to speak in his defense.
After much noisy argument, the Emperor showed impatience and told everyone to stop for a moment.
Then he asked Prince Zhao: “What are your thoughts on this matter?”
Prince Zhao stepped forward and said: “The matters impeached by the two Ministry of Personnel officials are difficult to discern as true or false for the moment. In my humble opinion, someone should be sent to investigate thoroughly.”
“Since that is the case, this matter will be entrusted to you,” the Emperor directly handed this task to Prince Zhao, “Investigate clearly and then report back to me. Currently, Longxi is experiencing heavy snow, which has collapsed houses, and the border soldiers are also facing the risk of running out of food. This matter is even more urgent and requires swift discussion on how to handle it.”
Hearing the Emperor say this, the officials naturally set aside Prince Chu’s matter for the time being. After all, there are priorities, especially in matters of state, which cannot be taken lightly.
After the court session, Prince Zhao looked at Prince Chu and smiled, saying nothing.
Prince Chu knew he was waiting for him to bow his head.
The Emperor asking him to investigate himself was tantamount to handing his life and death into his hands, wasn’t it?
But Prince Chu merely smiled back at Prince Zhao and then walked out with his head held high.
Seeing him like this, everyone assumed he was innocent and unafraid of investigation. Only Prince Zhao sneered inwardly, deciding to teach him a lesson.
Prince Chu returned home and ordered food and drink to be prepared, and he drank with Mister Hua Ying.
Princess Consort Chu was worried upon hearing about the court proceedings, but she couldn’t ask directly, so she told the servants: “You all keep an eye on him, don’t let the Prince get drunk. If he comes out to relieve himself, ask him how he plans to handle today’s matter? At least have Mister Hua Ying give us some assurance.
He’s been at our Mansion for some time, but I’ve never seen him go out. What exactly is the plan?”
After some time, a servant returned to report to Princess Consort Chu: “His Highness said that one should not doubt those one trusts, and not trust those one doubts. He asked you to rest early.”
But Princess Consort Zhao had no intention of resting and just sat alone in her room.
Then she became suspicious, thinking that perhaps Mister Hua Ying was in league with Prince Zhao, deliberately coming to their home to make Prince Chu complacent.
Thinking of this, she could no longer sit still and said to the maid serving her: “No, if this continues, I’ll go mad. Help me change, I’ll go ask Mister Hua Ying myself.”
She arrived at the Gong Ju Zhai where Prince Chu and Hua Ying were drinking. Just as she was about to knock, she saw the butler hurrying over.
He was a bit surprised to see Princess Consort Chu there and stopped, saying: “Two people have arrived at the back door, saying they have something important to see Mister Hua Ying about.”
These two people were also dressed for night travel, and both were from San Jing Academy.
Mister Hua Ying was already slightly tipsy and said with a smile: “May I be so bold as to invite Princess Consort to take a seat, is that permissible?”
Prince Chu glanced at his wife, looking somewhat displeased, reminding her that she never listened.
But since Mister Hua Ying had invited her, he couldn’t say anything more and smiled, saying: “Since Mister invites, then naturally I respectfully accept.”
Princess Consort Chu didn’t care if Prince Chu was happy or not; she had to clarify how this matter was to be handled today.
“Did you two come from Dai Shan?” Mister Hua Ying asked the two men, “How did the matter go?”
“We completely eradicated the gambling house Prince Zhao set up there, and the account books have been collected here. All the important people have been secured,” the older of the two men took out an account book from his embrace, “Please take a look.”
Mister Hua Ying took it, glanced at it briefly, and handed it to Prince Chu: “Your Highness, please look. Prince Zhao set up such a secret gambling house nearly a hundred miles from the Capital City, on one hand to allow high officials and nobles from the Capital City to indulge, and on the other hand to help them launder their illicit money, with interest compounding.”
“Oh? Is there such a thing!” Prince Chu took the account book and was so astonished by the figures that his mouth hung open.
Some of the people listed were high-ranking officials in the Imperial Court, some were hereditary nobles, and there were even many names he never expected on it.
“This… is this thing real?” Princess Consort Chu asked in disbelief, unable to help herself.
“It’s easy to verify if this is real or fake,” Mister Hua Ying smiled, “Your Highness can tear off any page from it, wrap some tea leaves, and have someone deliver it to Prince Zhao. If it’s real, he won’t dare to investigate you further and will even cover for you before His Majesty. If it’s fake, then I don’t need to say more.”
Prince Chu was very pleased to hear this. He looked at it, tore off a not-so-important page, and casually wrapped some tea leaves.
Then he ordered it to be packed in a box and sealed, and said to the butler: “Others cannot accomplish this, you must deliver it personally! Say that this is rare and good tea, and ask Prince Zhao to be sure to try it.”
The butler heard this and quickly went out.
By this time it was already very dark, and the wind outside was strong, howling and shrieking as if trying to tear the sky apart.
