klisemfg Chapter 31 You, as the crown prince, are truly surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Chapter 31 You, as the crown prince, are truly surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Lin Shiming nodded repeatedly, indicating that he understood, and only then did Lu Yuxi release his mouth.
"So much money?"
It should be noted that during the Kangxi era of the Qing Dynasty, a prince who was granted the title of Prince was given only a little over 200,000 taels of silver when he left the palace to build his own residence. This amount was even more significant in the Changping Dynasty, where silver had greater purchasing power.
Lin Shiming regretted not going with Lu Yuxi that afternoon to handle palace affairs; now he could only hear a relayed version.
"Let's go inside and talk. You didn't eat well at noon, so I've already had dinner prepared in advance."
Lu Yuxi nodded, and the two of them went to the front hall together.
Before going in, Lin Shiming carefully questioned the managers to make sure there was nothing he needed to deal with immediately before letting them leave and come back the next day.
In the front hall, several eunuchs had already set out dinner. Lin Shiming wanted to talk to Lu Yuxi about the day's events, so he asked them all to leave.
Before he could even speak, Lu Yuxi asked him a question.
What were you angry about just now?
"hold head high?"
Lu Yuxi explained in a more gentle tone, "It's just that when I came back, I saw that you looked a little angry."
It took Lin Shiming a while to realize that he was referring to the affairs of those managers. However, Lu Yuxi was quite observant; even though Lin Shiming's anger had almost subsided, he could still tell from that distance.
"It's nothing."
Lin Shiming briefly explained what happened today, "You don't know, I'm just angry that they still don't trust me to control Lin Ha and Lin Qi even after I've explained it to them many times. For a military officer like me, it's a great disgrace for the people I'm protecting not to trust me. It doesn't matter if they don't trust my abilities or my intention to protect them."
Imagine you're fighting on the front lines, risking your life to protect them, only to have them doubt your abilities or loyalty, living in constant fear. How pointless is that?
"However, I also know that it is only natural for them to be afraid of wolves. I can't expect them to completely overcome their fear just because they trust me; that would be asking too much. So I calmed down after a while, and it wasn't a big deal."
Lin Shiming has always been a carefree person, but he is very understanding and reasonable. He usually gets angry about these things but then forgets about them.
Just now, if Lu Yuxi hadn't asked, he would have forgotten about it long ago.
"If you're angry with them, just replace them."
Lin Shiming looked bewildered. "Is it really that big of a deal?"
"The servants are disliked and distrusted by their masters. Simply moving them to another place is already a great courtesy."
Lin Shiming was stunned by Lu Yuxi's words. He then quickly came to his senses.
He had forgotten that this was an ancient society with a strict hierarchy, where people were divided into high and low classes. It was also his own fault; having grown up in the Lin family and military camps, he had little exposure to these things. Later, he spent his days traveling and sightseeing, which further limited his contact with these matters. So, even after eighteen years in this world, he was still not used to these rules.
But now that he's entered the palace, things can no longer be the same as before. Even if Lin Shiming is fearless, he still has some self-awareness and knows that he can't change things here by himself, so he can only adapt. Having this status as the fourth-ranked person in the world is a stroke of luck for him.
"Let's talk about it later, let's leave it at that for now."
Seeing his insistence, Lu Yuxi didn't say anything more, but simply picked up her chopsticks and put some food on his plate. Lin Shiming ate a few bites in compliance, then suddenly remembered that he seemed to still want to hear Lu Yuxi tell him about what happened today.
"I almost forgot! Tell me quickly, what was the scene like? Were boxes of silver being carried out one by one?"
Just like the corrupt officials of his past life, he could even use RMB as a bed.
"What are you thinking about!" Lu Yuxi put another piece of food on his plate. "They're all silver notes. They're going to keep a low profile in their transactions, so naturally they won't use silver."
"Oh, right," Lin Shiming realized.
"There are indeed quite a few silver notes, including a sharp dagger. I guess you'll like it. Once this matter is settled, I'll ask my father for it for you."
Lin Shiming nodded with bright eyes. He would naturally not refuse Lu Yuxi's kindness, but there were more important things to do at the moment, so he put the dagger out of his mind for the time being.
"Let's put the dagger aside for now. Do you think we can find out who's behind this?"
"It seems unlikely. Based on our analysis at lunch, someone must be trying to sabotage this imperial examination by using the Yuandao Bookstore's sale of exam questions. So we need to investigate two groups. One is the Yuandao Bookstore itself—who is receiving the huge profits from selling exam questions? The other is who already knew about the Yuandao Bookstore's business and is using it to attack me."
“They would have had a backup plan to ensure they wouldn’t be implicated if something went wrong. Moreover, today, in order to help me eliminate the hidden danger, my father and I acted in a high-profile manner, which gave them even more time to destroy evidence.”
There was no other way; they didn't want this potential problem to explode during or after the exam, so they had to defuse it as quickly as possible. However, this also meant that the person behind it would know immediately and react accordingly.
If all goes well, we might be able to catch the owner of the bookstore from afar, but the other person who sent someone to pretend to be an examinee probably has almost no chance.
Although it was highly unlikely that he would be able to find out, Lin Shiming still made a rough guess. He casually ate a few bites of food, then put down his chopsticks and explained the situation to Lu Yuxi.
"I think we can leave aside for now who the owner of the Yuandao Bookstore is, since it's not just princes who are short of money, but also many officials. But the one who wants to use this to attack you, tracing back to the most likely point, is one of your royal brothers, since others have no such motive."
"Moreover, this person has to be rich. This whole thing is aimed at you, and they'll definitely never get back the money they spent pretending to be test takers. If they can afford to spend so much to deal with you, they must be very wealthy."
That makes some sense, Lu Yuxi nodded, "But my brothers are all quite wealthy."
?
What do you say?
Lu Yuxi continued to explain, "They all have subsidies from their maternal families. Except for the youngest seventh prince, the others also receive tributes from their wives' families and subordinates. Even the sixth prince, who is about to get married, has received considerable income from his subordinates. Not to mention that some of them also amass wealth through other means."
"...So you're saying any of them could be a possibility?"
"That's right. If they could exchange tens of thousands of taels of silver for me to suffer a major setback, they would all be very happy to do so."
As the crown prince, you've truly found yourself surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Lin Shiming chuckled and waved his hand, "I'm not guessing anymore, let's wait for the result. Let me see who wins, so I can go and knock on their door for you."
"Then you'd better pray that those people in prison aren't silenced."
"...Well, I meant well and wanted to help you vent your anger, but I guess I'll have to wait until next time."
Lu Yuxi chuckled lightly, "Eat quickly, I need to talk to you again later."
*
The phrase "I need to talk to you about something" really piqued Lin Shiming's interest, and he spent the entire meal wondering what Lu Yuxi wanted from him.
But Lu Yuxi was clearly very patient; he just kept people hanging without saying anything.
It wasn't until the two finished eating, took a walk, chased the wolf, and went back to their room to wash up that Lin Shiming was almost yawning from sleepiness, at which point Lu Yuxi pulled him to the bedside.
"Two things."
Lin Shiming cooperated by pretending to be all ears.
"The first thing is why I stopped you from encouraging Father Emperor to sell fake exam questions during lunch today."
Lin Shiming tilted his head in surprise, "Isn't that all in the past?"
He carefully recalled the scene at that time. Could it be...?
"...You didn't think you had time to scold me back then, so you've specially chosen this time to do so now, right?"