Chapter 614 Two people can't make up a brain
Xiao Yan rolled up the map on the table and put it aside. "Right now, in the capital, the only people who are familiar with grain prices are probably the Crown Prince and that Mr. Cui."
Qian Baokun laughed when he heard this. "I heard that the Cui family's steward got into a fight with a grain merchant named Meng a few days ago. Not only did they smash his stall but they also injured him. Later, the fight spread to Jingzhao Prefecture. I think the chief official from the Prince's Palace was also there at the government office?"
Xiao Yan and Tang Ning couldn't help but laugh when they heard his gloating voice.
Tang Ning said, "The Crown Prince previously worked with the Cui family to stockpile a lot of grain, probably hoping to win over people without telling my brother, or to make a fortune during the chaos. But who could have imagined that His Majesty would actually provide money and grain to alleviate the Ministry of Revenue's urgent needs?"
Qian Baokun said disdainfully: "The Cui family had previously sent someone to test the waters, wanting to sell the grain they had to the Ministry of Revenue. They think everyone is a fool."
Cui Lin is not very reasonable, but at least he has some sense. Cui Qi is not even half as good as his father. He only wants to ease the situation of the Cui family and gets involved with the prince. Unfortunately, the two of them cannot make up as much brain as one, and are fooled around by the grain merchants in the capital.
They thought that no one would dare to bully them since one of them was from a noble family and the other was a prince. However, they did not realize that there is no business without fraud and that their tricks could not defeat those cunning grain merchants. They were complacent about buying grain at high prices and wanted to make a fortune, but when something went wrong, they wanted the Ministry of Revenue to cover the mess for them.
What a sweet dream!
"They probably knew there was no shortage of food. Seeing that food prices were starting to fall, I sent people to Jiangnan, bypassing the capital, so they got anxious. I heard that they wanted to sell the food back to the grain merchants at the original price, but they were rejected. The chief official of the Crown Prince's Mansion got anxious and brought up his status as the Crown Prince, which led to a commotion."
Once the incident reached Jingzhao Prefecture, the things the prince did in private could no longer be concealed.
The matter of hoarding grain can be a big deal or a small one. To put it simply, the prince just wants to make some money, but he chose this time. Everyone knew that the Ministry of Revenue was short of food and the army heading south was in a stalemate. Now that the prince was exposed to hoarding grain at this time, anyone could see what he was planning.
At yesterday's morning court session, someone from the Censorate directly impeached the Crown Prince and Cui Qi for competing with the people for profits, hoarding grain to disrupt the market, and harming people's livelihood.
The Crown Prince was severely punished by Emperor An, who took the opportunity to take back the "privilege" that had been granted to him to govern the country. The Crown Prince wanted to refute, but he had been wrong before and had solid evidence against him. Even the court officials who had been won over by him to speak for him could not find a way to refute Emperor An's words.
The prince had enjoyed a good position in the court before, but he lost it all because of his greed for a little profit.
After yesterday's morning court session, countless people secretly cursed the prince for being stupid.
Qian Baokun said, "I think His Majesty is behind this. Even if the people in the Prince's Mansion are stupid, they should know that if this gets out of hand, it will be difficult to resolve. Besides, those staff members in the Prince's Mansion can't all be brainless." He then looked at Xiao Yan and said, "The Prince didn't come to see you?"
Xiao Yan said calmly, "I found it."
More than that, the prince almost knelt down in front of him in tears, wishing he could confess his actions to him.
Qian Baokun was curious: "Do you want to help him?"
Xiao Yan sneered: "What are you helping him with?"
Tang Ning also said with disgust: "This is not the first time that the prince has done such things. Before my brother's identity was unknown, he did it several times behind my back. If my brother hadn't helped him, he would have died long ago."
"Later, he was conferred the title of Hate Prince, and everyone avoided him. He was trapped in the Prince's Mansion and nearly died. Having experienced the lows and seen the cruelty of the struggle for imperial power, we all thought he would learn to be smarter, at least think more carefully before acting."
"But who knows..."
She shook her head somewhat, thinking that the prince was simply too helpless to be helped.
My brother certainly wants to find a "mascot" to divert Emperor An's attention so that Emperor An will have no time to deal with my brother while competing with him for the imperial power, but the prince is really too stupid.
Whenever the situation seems to be better and the government can be stabilized, allowing my brother to devote his energy to other things, he always comes out and causes some trouble, each time more outrageous than the last.
Others learn from their mistakes, but he is different. He makes the same mistakes over and over again. He falls into the same pit again and again, and every time he needs someone to clean up the mess for him.
It’s better not to have this kind of “mascot”.
Seeing that the water in the cup had grown a little cold, Xiao Yan poured it directly onto the floor outside and took the teapot beside him to refill it.
"The Crown Prince has crossed His Majesty's bottom line. Stockpiling grain is just a small matter, and His Majesty will not tolerate him."
Qian Baokun was stunned for a moment, and suddenly remembered what the prince did outside the city on the day when Wen Xinhou and his men set out on the expedition more than half a month ago. His face changed slightly.
"No way, His Majesty punished him with a stick in the court yesterday and also took back his power. Could there be something else?"
Xiao Yan curled his lips and was about to speak when Jin Yun suddenly walked in quickly from outside.
Xiao Yan met his expression and asked, "What's wrong?"
Jinyun whispered, "The Queen Mother is seriously ill and has summoned the ladies of the capital to attend to her."
Xiao Yan frowned.
Jinyun said, "Mrs. Rong and the girl are also among them."
Xiao Yan's eyes darkened: "Who said that?"
Jinyun said, "The decree came from Shoukang Palace. The eunuch who came to announce it said only one sentence and then left, leaving only the message for Madam Rongguo and the young lady to come to the palace as soon as possible to attend to the patient. Judging from the direction he went, I'm afraid there will be quite a few people entering the palace to attend to the patient this time."
Qian Baokun, sitting nearby, couldn't help but say, "When the Empress or Empress Dowager is seriously ill, there's precedent for summoning noble ladies from the capital to the palace to tend to her. But the Empress Dowager has been ill for so long, and she rarely summoned visitors from outside the palace. Why is she suddenly sending someone to tend to her this time?"
He couldn't help but glance at Tang Ning.
"Don't worry, it's not someone else who wants to cause trouble by taking advantage of the Queen Mother's serious illness."
Xiao Yan raised his head with a stern look in his eyes: "Send someone to report back to the palace and tell them that Tang Ning and my aunt are not feeling well..."
"Brother."
Tang Ning put his hand on Xiao Yan's arm to stop him from saying anything.
Xiao Yan turned around and looked at her.
Tang Ning said, "My aunt went to Prince Ji's Mansion a few days ago and met many people. A Ru and I have been frequently visiting those noble families to copy books these days. Even many people at Rongsheng Academy have seen us."
"If we suddenly say we are unwell and unable to attend to the sick in the palace, we won't be able to cover it up at all."
Xiao Yan said coldly, "So what if I can't cover it up? If I don't let you into the palace, who dares to force me to do so?"
"No one dares to force it, but she is the Queen Mother after all."
Tang Ning said softly, "I know my brother didn't let us into the palace because he was afraid that my aunt and I would be in danger. But since the palace has clearly summoned us, and the excuse is that we are attending to the empress dowager, if my aunt and I refuse, we will be disobeying the order."
"Unless we stay in the mansion and don't step out until the Queen Mother recovers from her illness, no other excuse will do."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com