Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 582: Chapter 299: The Eighth Prince’s Purpose_2

Facing the wall for reflection is of no use, it won’t harm the Crown Prince or Duke Zhen in the least; this is not the outcome that Prince Dai and Marquis Xuanping wanted.

Prince Dai, furious because of this matter, smashed many things in his mansion. Marquis Xuanping was also displeased, but what use is that?

"Father actually covers for the Crown Prince like this." Prince Dai said with deep resentment, raising his hand to heavily pound on the table. The teacup on the table fell to the ground. "Without the Crown Prince’s orders, without the Crown Prince’s connivance, even if Zhang Nan had a thousand guts, he wouldn’t dare embezzle and accept bribes."

Prince Dai, angry to the point of standing up, said: "A full fifty thousand guans of money, fifty thousand guans! And Father just casually forgave the Crown Prince!" The more Prince Dai spoke, the angrier he got, his face turning bright red. He gritted his teeth and said, "It might not even be just fifty thousand guans, it could be a hundred thousand guans, yet Father doesn’t pursue the Crown Prince’s responsibility, is Father blind."

"Your Highness, be cautious with your words." Marquis Xuanping quickly reminded Prince Dai to mind his words, "Your Highness, you cannot speak of His Majesty in this way."

Prince Dai ignored Marquis Xuanping’s warning and continued angrily, "Father is not old yet, but has he started to become senile already?"

"Your Highness!" Marquis Xuanping couldn’t help but raise his voice, warning Prince Dai, "Be cautious with your words!"

Prince Dai nonchalantly said, "This is my Prince Mansion, what is there to fear."

"Your Highness, even if it’s your mansion, you must be careful of eavesdroppers."

Prince Dai looked disdainful and said, "If anyone reports what I just said to Father, I would say the same in front of Father."

Marquis Xuanping knew upon hearing Prince Dai’s words that he had already lost his wits due to anger.

"Your Highness, His Majesty is not a confused person."

"If Father is not confused, then why did he let the Crown Prince off?" Prince Dai said, letting out a sneer, "Just because the Crown Prince is the heir of Great Zhou, to save the Crown Prince and Great Zhou’s face, Father can only feign ignorance."

Marquis Xuanping sighed lightly, "It’s not impossible, after all, the Crown Prince was personally appointed by His Majesty."

The Princely Heir of Marquis Xuanping’s Mansion continued his father’s words, "Your Highness, Father is right, His Majesty could not have been unaware that Zhang Nan’s corruption was orchestrated by the Crown Prince from behind the scenes, but he did not severely punish the Crown Prince, for the sake of Great Zhou’s face."

"For the sake of Great Zhou’s face, just let the Crown Prince off like this?" Prince Dai sneered, "If in the future the Crown Prince does something even more excessive than this, will Father still maintain the Crown Prince for Great Zhou’s face?"

"No, based on His Majesty’s temperament, he will only forgive the Crown Prince once. If the Crown Prince continues to embezzle in the future, His Majesty will not let him off lightly." Marquis Xuanping was discontent but not as furious as Prince Dai, "His Majesty loathes those who are corrupt, this time Zhang Nan embezzled fifty thousand guans of money and implicated a lot of officials; this has already touched His Majesty’s taboo, His Majesty will not allow the Crown Prince to offend again."

He continued, "As long as the Crown Prince embezzles again in the future, then His Majesty will not be merciful and will definitely issue a decree to depose the Crown Prince."

Upon hearing this, Prince Dai’s angry and unpleasant expression slightly eased.

"Is this really how it will be?"

"Yes. Your Highness, have you forgotten, His Majesty does not like the Crown Prince, and has never been very satisfied with him." Marquis Xuanping patiently explained to Prince Dai, "It seems on the surface that the Crown Prince is fine, but in His Majesty’s heart, the Crown Prince is already dismissed."

The Princely Heir of Marquis Xuanping’s Mansion echoed, "Through this matter, His Majesty is undoubtedly increasingly displeased with the Crown Prince, so Your Highness need not be so angry."

Hearing what Marquis Xuanping and his son said, the anger in Prince Dai’s heart disappeared completely.

"So, we didn’t act in vain this time."

"No, on the contrary, what we did this time was outstanding." Marquis Xuanping said with a gleeful smile, "We have won this time."

Upon hearing this, Prince Dai smiled with his lips curled up, "That’s good." He then asked, "Uncle, what shall we do next, seize the opportunity to fan the flames?"

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince’s people will deal with us next, we must prepare to face them." Marquis Xuanping furrowed his brows, his eyes full of worry, "We caused such a big loss to the Crown Prince and Duke Zhen this time, they surely won’t refrain from retaliating."

Prince Dai wasn’t too concerned, "Our people didn’t embezzle as much money as Zhang Nan did."

"Your Highness, but not every one of our people is clean-handed." Having fought against Duke Zhen for decades, Marquis Xuanping knew a bit about Duke Zhen’s character and methods, "With Duke Zhen’s vengeful nature, since they have suffered such a major setback this time, they will definitely not let us off easily. With his methods, he might make us suffer even more than they did."