Chapter 583: Everyone Has Secrets

When the students of the Imperial Academy were in an uproar, the main target of their protests, Regent King Xiao Yin, hurriedly entered the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace.

Bai Xiaosheng hurriedly came forward, bowing to Xiao Yin and saying, "Imperial Uncle, you've finally come—I'm about to be torn apart alive by those pedantic scholars!"

Xiao Yin coldly glanced at Bai Xiaosheng, whose expression showed a hint of panic; as Regent Prince, he had never seen such a scene before and was momentarily afraid.

He had seen generals rebel, but never scholars besiege the palace—this was a different experience altogether.

Xiao Yin furrowed his brows sharply, bypassed Bai Xiaosheng, and took the seat of honor.

In the court, Bai Xiaosheng is the ruler and Xiao Yin the subject.

Privately, Bai Xiaosheng is nothing but a sword in Xiao Yin's hand—or a well‑trained dog.

Bai Xiaosheng's eyes flickered; he slowly turned to face Xiao Yin in the seat of honor, smiled, and sat beside him.

"Prince, how should we settle this?"

"We can't just kill them all, can we?"

A hint of killing intent flashed in Xiao Yin's peach‑blossom eyes; he really did have that thought.

But Southern Qi has been founded for over two hundred years, and the ancestral injunction left by the forebears is not to kill scholars; Xiao Yin's forcing Chen Zhuo to death today has already caused an uproar outside.

Xiao Yin's long fingers tapped the rosewood armrest, his gaze gradually chilling; after a while he looked at Bai Xiaosheng and asked, "What's the going rate for buying information from your Bai Xiao Men?"

Xiao Yin does have his own intelligence channels; the information he usually deals with concerns state and military affairs, not the families' dirty secrets.

He disdains and refuses to gather such trivia, unless it concerns someone extremely important to him, in which case he will go to the trouble of collecting information.

Unlike Bai Xiaosheng's Bai Xiao Men, which deals in family gossip and personal affairs, knowing everything that goes on in clans.

Actually, every family has some unsavory matters they'd rather keep hidden.

Bai Xiaosheng is the one who buys and sells such gossip, so his reputation in the martial world is not good; many people hate him yet cannot kill him—sometimes he's disgusting, sometimes useful.

Bai Xiaosheng never expected things to come to this point—Xiao Yin actually discussing business with him. After serving as Regent Prince for so many days, he now feels somewhat unaccustomed to this shift in tone.

"Imperial Uncle… heh, what are you talking about?"

"Imperial Uncle, tell me what information you want, and I'll tell you—no need to mention money. Besides, we're uncle and nephew; what do you say, Imperial Uncle?"

"Speak! How much silver?" Xiao Yin slammed the armrest of his chair, his face darkening involuntarily.

Bai Xiaosheng jumped in fright, quickly laughing, "Imperial Uncle, don't be angry! Don't be angry!"

"How we do business in Bai Xiao Men depends on whether the information is worth paying for; we buy and sell according to the situation, with no deception to young or old."

Xiao Yin coldly said, "I want the private scandals of those academy students and all the Doctors of the Five Classics in the Imperial Academy—big or small, recent or old—how much silver per piece of information?"

"Scandals?" Bai Xiaosheng sucked in a breath, asking cautiously, "Imperial Uncle, just how scandalous do you want them to be?"

Xiao Yin gave him a white‑eye look: "The uglier, the better."

Bai Xiaosheng nodded, slowly extending a finger: "A major scandal costs one hundred taels, a minor one fifty taels—just family gossip, not worth much."

Xiao Yin raised his brows: "I want both human and material evidence, and I want it right now, immediately."

Bai Xiaosheng blinked: "Then we'll have to charge more."

Xiao Yin gave a cold chuckle: "Ling Feng!"

Ling Feng bowed and said, "Prince!"

"Give it to him!"

Ling Feng turned, clapped his hands, and shortly afterward two servants from the Rui Wangfu carried in a sandalwood box, placing it before Bai Xiaosheng.

Ling Feng lifted the lid, revealing a box full of banknotes—yes, banknotes, not silver.

Bai Xiaosheng's eyes widened; he strode over and casually pulled out a few notes, all issued by various branches of Southern Qi's major money shops, which are reputable guarantors.

Staring at the box full of banknotes, Bai Xiaosheng sucked in a breath: "They say this Ninth Imperial Uncle is a pauper, that he only has money because he married Gu Jiu Ling and lives off her—what nonsense is this?"

"Is this enough to buy the information on those academy students outside?" Xiao Yin said coldly.

"Enough! Enough! How could it not be? It's more than enough!"

Bai Xiaosheng laughed loudly, had his subordinates collect the notes, then took out a bamboo tube painted with red flowers and green leaves, walked to the front hall, lit it—bang! —the tube flew into the air and exploded.

Bai Xiaosheng shouted, "Brothers! Work's here!"

At dusk, various oddly shaped boxes and a group of clearly dazed men and women were sent to a manor in the outskirts.

Gu Jiu Ling looked at the crowd of dark‑filled people standing before her, felt a bit dazed, turned her face toward Xiao Yin.

Xiao Yin brought Gu Jiu Ling to sit under the corridor, his cold gaze sweeping over the bewildered assortment of people before him.

Those people knew the power‑wielding Regent King who dominated court and countryside, but as ordinary folk they could never hope to reach such a high‑ranking minister.

At this moment, none of them understood why Xiao Yin had suddenly summoned them here, and each found fifty taels of silver pressed into their hands.

It wasn't just for the fifty taels; it was also because the guards sent by the Regent King were fearsome looking, making them afraid, so they had no choice but to follow.

At this moment, Xiao Yin leaned back in his chair, his long fingers lightly tapping the armrest.

"You've seen the Prince and still won't kneel?" Ling Feng shouted in rebuke.

The dazed crowd suddenly came to their senses, all kneeling before Xiao Yin.

Xiao Yin made a gesture; Ling Feng took out a stack of paper and distributed it according to the numbers previously assigned to these people.

Originally, these people were sought out by the Rui Wangfu, given fifty taels of silver to come to the outskirts for a meeting, and each was assigned a number.

Now, after they received the paper in hand and looked down, their faces changed dramatically.

The papers bore different names, each name familiar to the person holding it; at this moment they had no idea what Prince Rui intended to do.

"Speak one by one; if you get it right, each person receives one hundred taels of silver, but if you dare conceal even the slightest detail, you'll be dragged out and beaten to death!"

A chorus of gasps rose from all around—Xiao Yin's notorious reputation was known to everyone.

This person has always been ruthless; in Shang Jing he has no good reputation.

Moreover, it's heard today that the Regent King forced the death of the present era's Great Scholar, Mr. Chen Zhuo.

Having just heard Xiao Yin's words, those below no longer dared to hide anything, and began speaking one after another.

"Reporting to the Prince, Zhang Erlang, after entering the Imperial Academy, proved wolf‑hearted and dog‑gutted, abandoned his wife and children, outwardly claimed he was unmarried, yet became the son‑in‑law of the wealthy Cheng family."

I respectfully report to the Prince, Chen Kesong is a distant nephew of my family; when he first took the exam to enter the Imperial Academy, he spent a considerable amount of silver bribing the headmaster, only then did he receive guidance on a passable essay, and thus he managed to enter the Imperial Academy.

Prince, Wang Shou, a student of the Imperial Academy, loves gambling; in the gambling house opened by my family, he lost all the coffin boards left by his mother...

Gu Jiu Ling instantly understood what Xiao Yin intended to do.