IRSWP Ch. 74.2

Translator: Dj2203

Editor: Dj2203

Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.

But let’s turn to another story. Beneath the calm surface of the capital city, undercurrents were surging.

Upon learning that Grand Commandant Yun and several officials had secretly visited the Drunken Flower Pavilion in the West Market after court, and that there had been no major events such as weddings or funerals at their residences recently, the Prime Minister was concerned. Their unexplained gathering outside the residence and their deliberate secrecy about their whereabouts raised suspicions about their plans. He ordered his spies to keep an eye on them.

However, this single glance led the Prime Minister to discover a major incident.

His informant told him that there was a privately run gambling den under the teahouse near the Drunken Flower Pavilion, where a foreign merchant had a terrible temper. When he won, he would pocket all the money, but when he lost, he would beat and kick the person who won from him.

This time, he kicked the second son of the prefect of Chenzhou, who was studying in the capital.

The second son of the Chenzhou prefect was no nobody, and logically, he should have made a big fuss and arrested the foreign merchant. But for some reason, this commoner seemed to have a powerful backer, which left the Chenzhou prefect with nowhere to turn and forced him to flee the capital overnight.

Collusion between officials and merchants was not uncommon in the capital. When officials in the imperial court wanted to launder money, they would use some businessmen as intermediaries.

Among these merchants, those from the Western Regions were the best choice.

Because these foreign merchants could come and go freely, and they could leave the capital with just a travel permit after completing their business, leaving no evidence for anyone to find.

As a result, some foreign merchants, having secured such powerful backers, assumed they could act with impunity in the capital and disregarded the lives of the city’s inhabitants.

Upon hearing what his informant had said, the prime minister’s first reaction was that this foreign merchant was up to no good. He believed that by following the clues, he might be able to uncover some corrupt officials.

Moreover, this matter may be related to the incident of bandits injuring people in the capital that the Fifth Prince and the Dali Temple have been dealing with recently.

If the Fifth Prince’s crime of protecting someone was discovered, it would be a good opportunity to weaken his power in the capital. Even if it turned out that the Fifth Prince had nothing to do with it, it would still be a merit that could be attributed to the Eldest Prince. Although the Eldest Prince had been granted the title of Crown Prince in the past two years, his position was very unstable. Compared to the Fifth Prince and the Ninth Prince who was brought back by the Emperor, the Crown Prince had virtually no political achievements. The Prime Minister was also afraid that if this continued, it would shake the position of the Crown Prince.

So he sent someone to investigate secretly.

Unexpectedly, after investigating, it turned out that the foreign merchant only had some connection with the crown prince.

Could it be that the Crown Prince was the one who secretly protected the Hu merchants, laundered money through them and the gambling dens, and drove the second son of the Chenzhou prefect out of the capital?

—How is that possible?

The Prime Minister would never believe it. It wasn’t that he believed the Crown Prince was incorruptible and incapable of embezzlement, but rather that he couldn’t believe the Crown Prince, with his paramecium-like intellect and timid, indecisive nature, would so meticulously expel the second son of the Prefect of Chenzhou from the capital, handle the matter cleanly and efficiently, and frame the people arrested by the Court of Judicial Review.

This must be a plot by someone to harm the Crown Prince and frame him.

After the Prime Minister’s analysis, he could no longer remain silent.

He first sent a message to the Crown Prince’s palace, in which he subtly mentioned the matter.

The Crown Prince replied that night, claiming that he had absolutely nothing to do with the matter and that his uncle should not be misled by rumors spread by petty people.

The Prime Minister was finally relieved.

He feared that the emperor would also discover this matter and punish the crown prince for colluding with the foreign merchants. The crown prince was indeed innocent, but there was no guarantee someone wouldn’t frame him! Therefore, the prime minister entered the palace that very evening, deciding to pre-emptively inform the emperor of the affair. Whoever was behind this scheme, the crown prince would be the first to be implicated.

Through the Prime Minister, Lu Huan finally managed to get the matter to the Emperor.

Chenzhou was a poor, remote place, lacking food and clothing. The second son of the Chenzhou prefect chose wealth and power over fame, leaving the capital that very night with a bag of silver given to him by Zhong Ganping. It was necessary for someone like him to confront the foreign merchant, yet appear timid and weak, for only then would the prime minister become suspicious and investigate. He was bait thrown out by Lu Huan.

That night, the emperor was furious.

One reason for his fury was that someone dared to collude with foreign merchants to launder money and embezzle funds on a large scale right under the emperor’s nose. Another reason was that the Fifth Prince and the Dali Temple, while investigating the case, failed to apprehend the actual perpetrators but instead captured several scapegoats; someone had dared to switch the blame right under the emperor’s nose. A third reason was that the matter was clearly not so simple and definitely involved in infighting and framing among the princes.

The emperor first stripped the fifth prince and the Dali Temple of their authority to investigate the matter, and then ordered the commander of the Imperial Guards around him to investigate it personally.

What started as a minor matter suddenly escalated into a major incident, causing widespread fear and unease among officials in the capital, who were afraid of siding with the wrong party. This was especially true for members of the Fifth Prince’s faction. Even if the merchant from the Hu family wasn’t backed by the Fifth Prince, he couldn’t escape the accusation of negligence in his investigation.

The Fifth Prince’s expression was not good in the Golden Palace.

But this was in a bad way for the emperor, and no official dared to step forward to comfort him.

….

While the emperor was investigating the case, some officials in the capital, sensing the growing tension, couldn’t resist secretly visiting Lu Huan.

After all, the most promising candidates to ascend to that position were previously the Crown Prince or the Fifth Prince, but this incident had made people realize that the seemingly unassuming Ninth Prince might actually be the most likely candidate.

Even if they couldn’t be behind him from the very beginning like General Zhenyuan and others, trying to curry favor at the last minute or making amends might still have some effect.

However, none of the Ninth Prince’s residences were visible.

Lu Huan remained uninvolved in the matter. Apart from attending court and handling government affairs, he stayed in his bedchamber and only went to Su Xi.

At such times, the official explanation given was that he was tired and wanted to rest early.

Perhaps it was because he slept so much that, somehow, rumors began to circulate in the capital that the Ninth Prince had been raised in Changchun Temple since childhood, was physically weak, had a pale complexion, and was still recovering from injuries sustained in the northern border, leaving him constantly lacking energy…

When this news spread, the noble ladies in the capital who had their eyes on Lu Huan also backed down a bit… No matter how noble his lineage, their future husband couldn’t be an incompetent man.

Although these rumors were chaotic and absurd, since they provided convenience for Lu Huan, he instructed his subordinates to turn a blind eye to them.

He told Su Xi about it, and Su Xi laughed until her stomach hurt.

Su Xi couldn’t help but glance downwards.

Lu Huan’s face darkened slightly: “…I can do it.”

….

Ten days later, a major event suddenly occurred in the capital, shocking and sparking heated discussions among civil and military officials.

It turned out that the case of the bandits from half a month ago had been solved.

Many officials were implicated behind the scenes, with the Crown Prince at the top of the list. He even colluded with foreign merchants and amassed a fortune in his residence!

This foreign merchant repeatedly injured people in the West Market by abusing his power, yet no officials arrested him. This was because the Crown Prince helped him switch the blame, leading the Dali Temple to mistakenly arrest several scapegoats.

The Fifth Prince’s ineffective investigation led to the wrongful arrest of several innocent people. Public resentment was now boiling over in the capital. One petition demanded that the Dali Temple release the innocent scapegoats; another demanded that the Emperor be subject to the same laws as the common people!

To quell public anger, the emperor had the foreign merchant and his accomplices from the Western Regions executed without exception. He also stripped the crown prince of his seal of office and ordered him to be confined to his quarters to reflect on his mistakes. The fifth prince was punished for his inaction in handling the case and was stripped of his salary for a year. Other officials who engaged in embezzlement and corruption were punished, with the most serious offenses resulting in the extermination of their entire families, and those with less serious offenses being dismissed from their posts.

Most of these officials had ties to the families of the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister. The Crown Prince’s faction suffered heavy losses.

The Prime Minister was spared from disaster because he had taken the initiative to report the matter.

….

The matter was reported to the Prime Minister in the Golden Palace by the commander of the Imperial Guards sent by the Emperor to investigate. After the truth came to light, the Prime Minister could not believe it. He shouted in the Golden Palace, “The Crown Prince is honest and upright, and is by no means a person who would amass wealth. This must be a frame-up!”

He mainly didn’t believe that the Crown Prince, with his simple mind, could pull off such a flawless scheme as money laundering and fraud.

Moreover, before he rushed into the palace that night, he clearly sent his personal guards to the Eastern Palace[1] to deliver a message, yet the Crown Prince knew nothing about it.

But the emperor was furious and threw the testimony and evidence, along with the missing account books from last year’s disaster, in front of him: “The evidence is conclusive. Does the prime minister still want to speak up for the crown prince?!”

After the prime minister finished going through those account books, his legs went weak.

Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…

You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles

Or become a Patron and access advance chapters on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005

If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….

Previous • Table of Contents • Next

[1] The Eastern Palace (Chinese: 東宮; pinyin: Dōnggōng) in Chinese history traditionally refers to the official residence and administrative compound of the Crown Prince (the heir apparent).