Chapter 161 Things Have Gone Seriously

"Your Highness, what I just talked about was only the timing and location. There is one more person I haven't mentioned yet!"

"After I finish speaking, Your Highness can then consider whether you are truly worthy!" Lord Shangguan said, forcing himself to remain calm.

"Please speak, sir."

Having already heard so much from the elders, I don't mind hearing a few more words.

"In the end, it's all because I wasn't born into the late Empress's womb," King Wu said coldly.

Lord Shangguan ignored King Wu's words and continued the previous topic.

"Your Highness, you have been feeling sorry for yourself, believing that His Majesty is biased and has given everything to the Crown Prince."

But Your Highness, have you considered how disappointed His Majesty has been with some of your actions?

"Disappointed? Besides that useless crown prince, who else does Father Emperor have any hope for?" King Wu raised his voice immediately.

"Without expectation, how can there be disappointment!" Lord Shangguan immediately remarked.

King Wu did not speak, but simply looked at Lord Shangguan.

Lord Shangguan also stared coldly at King Wu.

"I will only say one thing, Your Highness, think it over carefully."

Five years ago, His Majesty bestowed titles of nobility upon his princes.

I remember that Your Highness was granted the title of King of Wu and the land of Wu was given to you as your fief.

In the capital, they even embarked on a massive construction project to build mansions for the three princes.

"I remember very clearly, Your Highness has a large estate in the suburbs of the capital, right?" Lord Shangguan looked at Prince Wu.

"Yes! Father Emperor has built a royal palace for us and also bestowed a manor upon me."

Isn't this something all the princes have?

We don't have the same qualifications as the Crown Prince to build a five-courtyard Crown Prince's Villa. It's just a large manor house.

"Which prince or minister doesn't have one?" King Wu said coldly.

Lord Shangguan waved his hand.

"That's not what I wanted to talk about. What I really wanted to say was that the prince's large estate caused quite a bit of trouble back then!"

The estate bestowed by His Majesty originally comprised 150 mu of land and 20 households.

"After the prince took over, he wanted to build a pavilion and tower, didn't he?" Lord Shangguan looked at Prince Wu.

The King of Wu remained silent.

"Since we're building pavilions, we'll definitely need to bring in fresh water."

Unfortunately, there was only one stream of water next to that manor, and that stream was used by the people of another manor to irrigate their fields.

You've diverted the fresh water, leaving the villagers to rely solely on the heavens for their livelihood, waiting for rain to fall.

The people pleaded many times, and finally filed a complaint with the Shuntian Prefecture.

How did you handle it?

"Did you have the people from Shuntian Prefecture flog the farmers who led the complaint?" Lord Shangguan continued to ask.

King Wu remained silent. He was simply a little surprised, as the matter had been handled very discreetly at the time. How did this old fellow know about it?

"When I learned of this matter, I wrote a memorial overnight."

When His Majesty found out, he sent Eunuch Xue, who was close to him, to persuade me not to submit a memorial, saying that His Majesty would handle the matter.

Later, His Majesty ordered the irrigation ditches to be leveled and rewarded you with two hundred acres of land.

They gave each of the affected farmers twenty taels of silver as compensation, and that was the end of the matter.

Your Highness, I have a question for you.

Do you have the people in your heart? You only care about having a pool of running water in your pavilions and towers, yet you disregard the life and death of the people in a village. Is this something a ruler should do?

Are you still not convinced?

Alright, I have something else to tell you.

Ten years ago, when the Prince's Villa was renovated, there was also a ditch outside the villa.

Fearing that it would affect the water supply for the people behind the mountain, the prince preferred to move the wall of his private residence five feet inward to bypass the ditch.

"Comparing the two, Your Highness, whose heart truly belongs to the people?" Lord Shangguan's tone grew increasingly serious.

The King of Wu had nothing to say.

"Furthermore, the prince has always said that the crown prince is weak and unable to protect the world of Dayu."

But I believe that the Crown Prince has the world and the people in his heart, and he puts the people first.

Whether it was a flood in the south or a drought in the north, it was always the Crown Prince who handled these matters.

When has the Crown Prince ever handled a situation poorly?

This is the Crown Prince's way of getting along with people!

The Crown Prince has the people in his heart, but Your Highness does not!

That's the most fundamental difference!

"If you're going to say someone is unworthy, this is where Your Highness truly falls short!" Lord Shangguan said coldly.

King Wu was immediately enraged by the old man, Shangguan.

He straightened up and grabbed Lord Shangguan by the collar.

"Unworthy? You old scoundrel, you think I'm unworthy just because you say so? You just want to accuse me of being greedy and preying on the people, don't you?"

The Crown Prince is not greedy; he has the people in his heart!

That's because he had everything from birth; he didn't have to fight or snatch things away as they were delivered to him.

Let alone a manor, even mountains of gold and silver could be placed before him by his father.

All I did was build a pavilion, and not only did my father reprimand me, but I'm also being scolded by all of you.

He has everything, so he doesn't care!

I have nothing, which is why I must fight and rob.

This applies to small things and big things alike; no matter what it is, I will seize it.

The more you look down on me, the more I will prove you wrong.

"One day in the future, I will watch you kneel at my feet and shout 'Long live the King!' three times."

After King Wu finished speaking, he glared fiercely at Lord Shangguan before letting go of his hand and turning to leave.

Watching the King of Wu turn and leave, the old official looked at the wrinkled collar of his official robe and gently shook his head.

This child... is vicious and must not be allowed to live!

Feeling completely drained, Lord Shangguan struggled to move backward.

Feeling his body growing weaker and weaker, Lord Shangguan marveled at the peculiarity of the pill he had taken, while also taking one last, reluctant look around.

Finally... he slammed the back of his head against the cell wall with all his might...

...

King Wu strode out of the Ministry of Justice prison.

He was in a very bad mood.

Just now, Lord Shangguan's words were like a poisoned knife, stabbing him hard in the heart.

Make him suffer, make his limbs lose all strength.

The King of Wu felt like a rogue whose clothes had been stripped off, and everyone was laughing at him behind his back.

"Your Highness!" The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice immediately came forward.

Just as King Wu was about to speak, he saw Minister Ye approaching with the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who was still limping.

"Minister Ye's health has fully recovered?" King Wu looked at Minister Ye with sarcasm.

Minister Ye bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

"I can only walk! Prime Minister Lin instructed me to bring the old man out, so I dragged myself on this trip."

The King of Wu gave a cold laugh.

"Hopefully, Minister Ye has enough influence to persuade that person to come..."

"Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!" A jailer scrambled out of the jail.

"What kind of behavior is this! What happened?" Minister Ye was also startled.

"Lord Shangguan...Lord Shangguan is gone!" the jailer said, trembling.

Everyone outside the prison...

The King of Wu had only one feeling.

The sky has truly fallen...