Chapter 168: This child is destined to be one of us Confucians! (1 / 2)

The courtesan indeed knew all the details about the Prince of Jibei’s son.

“The Prince of Jibei really favors this son of his. Each time he entered the capital, he brought thousands of pounds of gold with him.”

[Yes, and then he used half of it to manipulate the flower rankings, helping his women dominate the list.]

[Good thing his father doesn’t know about this.]

The old emperor’s throat twitched as he fought the urge to laugh.

Hold it in! Don’t laugh!

The courtesan continued, “Some time ago, I was brought into his residence. By accident, I found the household ledger. The heir sends gifts to certain officials…”

Gold was used for such things.

[Yes, yes, and then he secretly takes a kickback—pockets a few taels of gold and uses some of the tea leaves for his personal enjoyment.]

The old emperor pinched his thigh hard.

Hold it together! Really, don’t laugh! If I laugh, I won’t be able to explain myself!

The courtesan went on, “I didn’t look closely at the time, but I remember the names recorded in the ledger—there were only two or three.”

“Among them, the most gifts were sent to the Marquis of Yingcheng…”

[Indeed! After all, he has more than a hundred concubines to support, so his expenses are quite high. He has to receive more gifts to cover it.]@@novelbin@@

[Heh, the old emperor probably doesn’t have that many concubines, right? Even if he had one every two days, could his body handle it? Watch out, the iron pestle might turn into a needle.]

[And how stingy! Many of the concubines’ rooms weren’t even that large—just ten square meters. Oh, wait—!]

Xu Yanmiao suddenly reacted with a jolt.

The old emperor felt uneasy.

From experience, he knew that the brat must have figured something out by now…

[Laughing so hard, saying ten square meters is more sustainable—only nouveau riche emperors would build such big rooms—snicker I wonder how big his rooms are… Fifty square meters! That’s five times bigger!]

The old emperor: “…”

He hadn’t really known what ten square meters meant before, but he had guessed it referred to room size, so he hadn’t paid it much mind. But when Xu Yanmiao used his room for comparison…

The old emperor: 🙂

A nouveau riche, huh?

The old emperor glanced at the courtesan. “Can you find a way to bring me that ledger?”

The ledger?

The courtesan was initially stunned, then her expression turned determined. “I can do it!”

Xu Yanmiao, providing a voiceover: [I must get that foolish heir into the South Wind Pavilion as the lead courtesan!]

The old emperor looked at him thoughtfully, a single thought running through his mind: It seems that sometimes, before acting, I should consider what Xu Yanmiao would do—there might be unexpected gains.

—If this were before, he never would have thought of throwing someone into the South Wind Pavilion! He would have just said, “So-and-so, you are at liberty to deal with it!” or “So-and-so, be imprisoned and executed.”

Xu Yanmiao was really useful.

The old emperor affirmed this in his mind, then smiled at the courtesan. “Don’t worry, I’m not a cruel man. Your life will be protected by the Jinyiwei in secret.”

The courtesan was overjoyed. “Thank you, Your Majesty!”

The old emperor, ever so practiced, encouraged her, “Do well. What you want is not difficult.”

When the courtesan left, she was brimming with excitement and joy, even her hair seemed to carry a sense of exhilaration.

As soon as she left, the old emperor began to plot.

He cleared his throat and, with a subtle hint, said, “The ledger can prove that the Prince of Jibei is contacting officials with ulterior motives. However, it would be best if we could sever his connections.”

[Huh? Does this mean getting rid of the Prince of Jibei’s influence?]

The old emperor exhaled a barely noticeable sigh of relief.

Very good, it seems Xu Yanmiao understood my meaning this time. It was worth being so straightforward.

[It’s not that hard to get rid of him!]

The old emperor’s eyes lit up.

This was rare! Xu Yanmiao was actually taking the initiative to ease his worries!

[Looks like the old emperor is about to use the Jinyiwei!]

[Am I going to get to see the Jinyiwei in action?!]

[Rainy night! Official’s residence! Flying fish robes! Embroidered Spring Knife! Live capture—wow!]

Xu Lang’s eyes went vacant, clearly lost in thought and drifting far away.

The old emperor: “…”

Forget it, he accepted it. Let’s be even more direct: “For example, Marquis of Yingcheng. If we can find something on him, we could impeach him in court. Once we get the ledger, anyone who has had dealings with the Prince of Jibei and is implicated will be impeached, and the Prince of Jibei will surely panic and make a desperate move.”

Whether he feels the emperor is deliberately targeting him or suspects the emperor has discovered his plot to rebel, either way, the Prince of Jibei will be thrown into chaos and will have no choice but to raise an army.

[This plan is good!]

The old emperor smiled slightly.

Good, huh? Then shouldn’t you express something? Maybe offer up the Marquis of Yingcheng’s weakness voluntarily?

[Doesn’t this seem even more suited to the Jinyiwei’s involvement!]

The old emperor’s smile froze.

Huang Yong could no longer bear to listen.

Xu Lang! His Majesty wants you to take the initiative and take responsibility!

Huang Yong tried signaling him with his eyes.

Xu Lang noticed.

Xu Lang’s face lit up with sudden realization.

Huang Yong sighed in relief…

[I see, I see! Huang Langzhong is signaling to me!]

Unlike those novels where characters mistake such signals for something romantic, Xu Lang certainly wouldn’t make that mistake!

Huang Yong: “…”

Feeling the emperor’s faint glance at him, Huang Langzhong carefully lowered his head.

[But why did Huang Langzhong suddenly give me a signal? What’s going on?]

[Is it because I should lower my head like him? So I won’t meet the emperor’s gaze?]

[Or should I speak up and say something nice for him to the emperor? But that doesn’t seem likely. My words won’t carry much weight.]

[Hiss—Could it be that my clothes are inside out or my belt isn’t fastened properly?]

[Ah, I’m so dumb! He wants me to hurry up and praise him! The boss came up with a great idea, and of course, he wants people to compliment it!]

The old emperor: “…”

Seeing that Xu Yanmiao was about to start praising him with something like, “Your Majesty, this plan is truly brilliant,” the old emperor quickly interrupted.

He gave up on letting Xu Yanmiao figure it out by himself and went straight to the point—

“Xu Yanmiao, this task is entrusted to you.”

Xu Yanmiao: “…”

[Huh???]