Seeing Xuan Yuanduo interfere, Xuan Yuanzhi turned his attention to Xuan Yuanduo: "Fine, tell me, shouldn't the Ministry of Revenue be responsible for tax collection?"
Without hesitation, Xuanyuan Duo replied, "Of course, the Ministry of Revenue has always been in charge of taxation."
As soon as Xuanyuan Duo finished speaking, Xuanyuan Yu glared at him fiercely.
Xuanyuan Duo was instantly terrified by the glare and quickly changed the subject, saying, "But it depends on the situation. There must be a reason why the third brother made such a decision."
Xuanyuan Yu was finally satisfied and asked smugly, "Tell me, can the Ministry of War's pay be reduced at will?"
Xuan Yuanduo understood Xuan Yuanyu's meaning perfectly well. Even if his father-in-law was the Vice Minister of War, and even if this matter had nothing to do with him, he couldn't arbitrarily reduce the Ministry of War's expenditures; that would cause a major incident.
"That's definitely not possible. Increasing or decreasing salaries are major issues that require careful consideration and discussion from multiple perspectives. Decisions cannot be made lightly!"
Seeing that Xuan Yuanduo's words were clearly in favor of Xuan Yuanyu, Xuan Yuanzhi became furious and shouted, "Xuan Yuanduo, I have to remind you again, now that Father has asked me and Xuan Yuanyu to handle state affairs together, it means we both have a chance. Father hasn't decided yet who should be the crown prince. If you take sides so early, what will happen to you if I win in the end?!"
“I…” Xuan Yuanduo was instantly dumbfounded by the question and glanced at Xuan Yuanyu with some panic.
No way, Xuanyuan Yu will lose to Xuanyuan Zhi.
"Xuanyuan Zhi, what do you mean? You poach my people right in front of me!" Xuanyuan Yu was equally furious, pointing at Xuanyuan Zhi as if he wanted to attack.
Xuan Yuanzhi, however, was not afraid at all. Instead, he stepped forward and confronted Xuan Yuanyu head-on: "So what if he is? Xuan Yuanduo is not only your brother, but also mine. How can he be your man!"
Xuan Yuan Yu glared angrily: "He's my man! He's always supported me since we were kids!"
Did he even need to say that?
After fighting with him for so long, hasn't he realized that Xuanyuan Duo is on his side yet? How naive of him to still dare to try to steal people from him!
Xuanyuan Zhi curled his lips in disdain: "So what? A good bird chooses a good tree to perch on, and a good minister chooses a good lord to serve. He has the right to make his own choice."
Xuanyuan Yu gritted his teeth and said, word by word, "He made his choice long ago!"
Xuan Yuanzhi raised an eyebrow with a wicked grin: "That's not necessarily true. Until the very last moment, no one knows what their decision will be, let alone other people's!"
Xuan Yuanzhi's meaningful words infuriated Xuan Yuanyu to the point that he wanted to kill someone.
What does 轩辕植 mean?
They're clearly trying to steal him away. He wants to see if they can actually take him from him!
"You two... stop arguing..." Xuan Yuanduo was flustered by Xuan Yuanzhi's words and wanted to step forward to mediate, but he found that the two of them were like hedgehogs locked in a battle of wits, neither of them giving way to the other, and no one paid any attention to him.
Chengqian Palace.
News of what happened in the Eastern Chu Palace today quickly reached Xuanyuan Peng's ears.
Xuanyuan Peng could no longer tell whether he was disappointed or what other emotion he felt; it was as if he had expected this outcome all along.
Neither Xuanyuan Yu nor Xuanyuan Zhi is capable of shouldering this great responsibility.
Unfortunately, his three sons were adept at infighting, but utterly incompetent at handling state affairs.
It was because of the contrast with the three of them that he felt Zhan'er was even more wonderful!
He didn't know how long it would be before Zhan'er returned. He had to hold on a little longer and make sure Zhan'er came back to the capital.
"Cough cough..." Xuan Yuanpeng coughed and looked at Zong Jiu: "Go to the Imperial Guards later and tell them to make sure the Dowager Consort and the Princess Consort are well protected."
"Yes." Zong Jiu immediately bowed in response.
No matter how much the emperor tried to conceal it, his heart was still set on the Dowager Consort.
"Your Majesty, should we send a letter to the Holy Prince?" Zong Jiu looked at Xuan Yuanpeng's weak appearance and was really worried that he would not make it to the day the prince returned.
Shouldn't we send a letter sooner to urge the prince to return to the capital?
Xuanyuan Peng remained silent for a moment before speaking in a hoarse voice: "Let's wait a little longer, until I really can't hold on any longer."
Zhan'er has just gone to the North, and the matters there also need to be resolved.
He knew his own body well; even if he really had tuberculosis, he wouldn't die anytime soon.
Seeing Xuan Yuanpeng's life hanging by a thread, Zong Jiu felt a pang of heartache and his eyes welled up with tears. He wanted to comfort him, but he couldn't utter a single word.
"Ninth Eunuch."
A servant knocked on the door.
Zong Jiu bowed to Xuan Yuanpeng and then withdrew.
As Zong Jiu exited the main hall, several eunuchs stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Eunuch Jiu."
Zong Jiu looked at the eunuch guarding the gate.
The eunuch quickly explained, "These men are guards of the national treasury. They said they have important matters to report to you, Ninth Eunuch."
Zong Jiu then looked at the eunuchs and asked, "What is it?"
Several eunuchs sent a representative to report: "The night before last, the Third Prince went to the national treasury and asked us to open the treasury door. He said he wanted to go in to find something."
When it came to Xuan Yuan Yu, Zong Jiu immediately became vigilant: "The Third Prince went to the national treasury? You let him in?"
The men were instantly terrified and knelt down in unison: "His Highness said that if we didn't open the door, he would cut off our heads. We had no choice but to..."
"We deserve to die!" The men immediately kowtowed to Zong Jiu to beg for forgiveness.
Zong Jiu felt increasingly uneasy and frowned, asking, "What exactly did he take?"
The eunuchs exchanged glances and bowed, saying, "We've been checking the accounts for a whole day and night, and we've finally found out that the snow silkworms that the Holy Maiden of Southern Xinjiang presented to us are gone. They must have been taken by the Third Prince."
"Snow Silkworm?" Zong Jiu was somewhat surprised, not expecting that this was missing. "Besides this, is anything else missing?"
"No, everything is intact except for the snow silkworms!"
To ensure there were no mistakes, they checked twice carefully and confirmed that only the snow silkworms were missing.
Zong Jiu didn't understand why Xuan Yuan Yu took the Snow Silkworm, but he felt that it was very strange.
"This happened the night before last?"
"Yes." The eunuchs nodded, then carefully recalled the time: "It should be midnight, it's already past midnight."
Zong Jiu's heart pounded as he listened.
It's already midnight?
The Third Prince went to the national treasury in the middle of the night and took away the snow silkworms presented by the Holy Maiden of Southern Xinjiang.
The next morning, the emperor fainted during the morning court session. What a coincidence! Could it be that the emperor's fainting was related to the Third Prince taking away the snow silkworm?
Zong Jiu felt something was wrong and immediately returned to the main hall: "Your Majesty, just now some eunuchs guarding the national treasury came to report that the Third Prince went into the national treasury the night before last and took away the snow silkworms presented by the Holy Maiden of Southern Xinjiang."
"Snow Silkworm?" Xuan Yuanpeng was equally stunned: "What is he going to do with the Snow Silkworm?"
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