After the mother and son had shown each other some concern, Xie Ming took out two books from his pocket and handed them to the Crown Prince.
"Second brother, what's this?"
"My elder brother has given me so many good things over the years, but I can't eat them all or use them all, so I've just given them away. Now that I have the things in this booklet, consider this my way of congratulating my elder brother!"
Xie Ming did not explicitly say what he was congratulating, but everyone present knew that the Crown Prince had already seized power.
At this point, forcing the emperor to abdicate would be as easy as turning one's hand, but it cannot be said openly, otherwise it would be considered treason.
The prince flipped through a few pages with great interest, and then his heart started pounding.
Despite having a history of over a hundred years, the ever-increasing expenditures of the imperial court have led to a year-on-year reduction in the national treasury's revenue.
The agricultural tax collected each year was only a small portion; most of the land was in the hands of the gentry, who were exempted from various taxes under different pretexts.
It can be said that the officials and army supported by the royal family of the Great Sheng Dynasty were all guarding the wealth of the gentry.
The feeling is truly indescribable.
Before the old emperor ascended the throne, he and the late emperor had been thinking about how to increase the national treasury. They couldn't increase the source of revenue, and they couldn't even think about cutting expenditures.
The increased salaries of officials and military spending in recent years have been enough to wipe out any savings.
So when the Crown Prince saw the books Xie Ming presented, he was overjoyed; it was practically a gift of money to him.
The first half of the booklet contains illustrations of agricultural tool improvements, the middle part describes the manufacturing processes of precious items such as glass and soap, and the last part is surprisingly a geographical record of the area surrounding the Great Sheng Dynasty.
It has overseas islands suitable for growing grains, mountains rich in minerals such as gold, silver, copper, and iron, and a map showing the distribution of precious spices...
The crown prince could not imagine how much effort his younger brother had put into collecting so many things.
No wonder his health has been deteriorating year by year. If he hadn't gone to so much trouble to plan and had instead taken good care of himself, he might have gotten married and had children a few years earlier.
In the end, he exclaimed that his sincerity had been rewarded and that his love for his younger brother had not been in vain.
Xie Ming didn't interrupt the Crown Prince's wild imagination; he simply sat quietly beside him.
The Ningren Palace fell into a sticky silence, which pleased the old emperor at the gate.
The old emperor also had brothers, but they had a falling out over the throne and are now separated by death.
Thinking of this, the old emperor couldn't help but call out, "Empress!"
Upon seeing the person at the door, Xie Ming quickly stood up and blocked the old emperor's view.
The prince hurriedly stuffed the top booklet into his robes, leaving only the bottom one.
"emperor."
"Father."
"Did you father and son plan this all along? You didn't even give us any notice."
"Hahaha! We just wanted to see if you were saying anything bad about me."
After the old emperor finished speaking, he turned to look at the booklet in the crown prince's hand and gestured for him to hand it over so he could take a look. The crown prince quickly and respectfully presented it.
He flipped through a few pages at random, his lips twitched, and he quickly returned the book, thinking to himself: No wonder the Crown Prince was so moved.
Look at what the younger brother wrote to his older brother; it's something most people couldn't bear.
He knew the two brothers were inseparable, but he really didn't know they could be this inseparable.
Xie Ming flashed a wide smile at the Crown Prince, who understood his brother's meaning. This was Xie Ming using the book to demonstrate his loyalty!
For some reason, the Crown Prince felt a pang of sadness, but he had no doubts about his brother.
This is not his fault. Being a crown prince is not an easy job. If he makes a single wrong move, he could be doomed forever.
After court, the old emperor came to see his sickly son. The family of four had a rare and warm reunion, and he and the crown prince had lunch together before leaving Ningren Palace.
Xie Ming returned to the Prince's Mansion after having dinner, accompanied by the current Eunuch Xiao Li.
Xie Shuli, who was jogging numbly beside the carriage, had no idea what he had been through during this time.
After leaving the silkworm room, his wounds had not yet healed when he was sent to the old eunuch for "training".
In a short period of time, several of the rattan canes that had been used to beat his arms, back, and calves broke. New wounds piled on top of old ones, and he didn't even dare to lift his robe to look at them.
Just when he thought the days would pass by, he was sent to the washroom.
A mountain of chamber pots lay before him. Having never been in contact with filth before, he had no idea how smelly so many chamber pots together could be.
As soon as he went in, he vomited all over the place.
Seeing his affected manner, the eunuch who accompanied him threw him in. Xie Shuli would never forget the feeling of washing his body with the icy well water that night.
He was determined to climb up and deliver a heavy blow to those people.
Finally, he found an opportunity and, using the secrets of the imperial harem he knew from his previous life, successfully got close to a eunuch he had once heavily relied on.
After leaving the clean room, he was assigned to work for a minor nobleman, and he thought his life was about to get better.
Some scoundrel revealed that he had bathed in excrement and urine, and the young nobleman no longer gave him a friendly look.
He was constantly beaten and scolded, or even forced to kneel. His life was miserable, even worse than in the bathroom. As time went on, he even began to miss that stinking place.
But his overwhelming hatred forced him to endure the humiliation, knowing that as long as he stayed in the palace, he would have a chance to climb to a high position.
Once he becomes a favorite of the emperor, won't he still have a chance to avenge himself?
Unexpectedly, in just half a day, fate played another trick on him, and Xie Ming actually took him out of the palace.
In just over two months, Xie Shuli had forgotten his former glory, forgotten to worry about whether his family outside would be affected, and had not bothered to investigate what was wrong.
Even after entering a side courtyard of the Kang Prince's mansion and seeing Xie Ming, whose face wasn't so pale, he still couldn't figure out what the problem was.
Xie Shuli only snapped out of his daze when Xie Ming gave him a strange smile.
In his memory, King Kang had never appeared to be in good health. Even if he seemed only slightly better than before, that was impossible.
Could it be? Could it be?
Only now, as he pondered this deeply, did he feel a chill run down his spine...
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