Chapter 167: Father‑competition

The Prefect of Jingzhao is nearby; no matter how he drags his feet, he still has to clean up this mess.

Upon reaching the Justice Bureau hall, he saw Prince Yin reclining in a chair with two attendants behind him; the handful by the door must have been the ones who fought him. Prefect of Jingzhao Shen Yu stepped forward and bowed: "Prefect of Jingzhao Shen Yu pays his respects to Your Highness, Prince Yin; may Your Highness enjoy boundless happiness."

Your Highness: "Huh? Who can still be happy after being locked up? Hello, we meet again."

Shen Yu: "…Your Highness still remembers me; it is my honor."

Your Highness smiled: "Yesterday at Establishing Chapter Palace, when I filed a complaint against the City Gate Guard, I noticed three officials looking odd, and I wondered which one was the Prefect of Jingzhao; now that I've seen you, haha, I guessed right!" So glad, right?

Shen Yu: "…Where did this genius come from!"

I already know what happened; this time the Justice Bureau messed up and caused a mix‑up. I apologize to Your Highness and hope you'll forgive me this once—I won't let it happen again. Would you like me to see you off? Don't delay Your Highness's lunch.

Your Highness exclaimed: "You're just letting me go that easily? But I've already told my older brother to bring money to bail me out!"

Prefect of Jingzhao: "…Your older brother… isn't he the Guangling Prince? Good, very good."

Shen Yu immediately felt a headache; he glared angrily at the chief of the Justice Bureau. "Nice work! You hired a bunch of blind fools to do the job!" Upon hearing that his subordinates had locked up Prince Yin, the head of the Justice Bureau had to vacate the office hall and shrink into a corner.

Shen Yu forced a smile: "Your Highness, you're joking…"

"No joke—we should follow procedure. I can't just leave without clarification; the matter needs to be made clear."

"What's there to say? It's just a bunch of spoiled brats fighting over drinks."

"Please speak, Your Highness."

Your Highness: "First, your subordinates' attitude is fine, but their minds are muddled—they can't tell right from wrong. The Justice Bureau lot seems to know this local young master and have blatantly favored him, declaring me the guilty party—this is unacceptable!"

Shen Yu looked around and asked: "Who is this local young master?"

Your Highness pointed at Qian Qing: "It's him—he first tried to break my leg, while the shopkeeper selling fake liquor reported to the authorities that I smashed his shop—think about it! The three of them—this local young master, the shopkeeper, and the Justice Bureau—all know each other, and they're ganging up on me, a newcomer! That local young master, where does your father work? Today it's obvious this is a father‑competition, yet I still haven't figured out who your father is!"

Damn father‑competition!

Shen Yu was utterly speechless—this Prince Yin may look small, but he's no pushover. Since you've called it a father‑competition, who would dare let you lose?!

Someone from Jingzhao Prefecture who had finally figured things out came over and whispered to Shen Yu: "Sir, that local young master is the son of Qian Shao Fu; the backer of Moon‑Obtaining Tower is the husband's family of Lady Wang's younger sister, which is also the family of Prince Yu's aunt."

Shen Yu: "…So the blind fools of the Justice Bureau decided to pin the blame on Prince Yin?!"

He took a deep breath and felt he needed a Heart‑Saving Pill.

That local young master had already stepped forward; now he had no choice but to lay himself on the line to avoid dragging his father into trouble.

He was blind to Mount Tai, tried to fight Prince Yin and lost—Prince Yin didn't even lay a finger on him—yet he still ends up in jail? No, his father will save him! After realizing this, Qian Qing adopted a defiant stance against the evil forces: "What I did has nothing to do with my father—do whatever you want, kill or cut me!"

Your Highness rested his chin on his hand, eyes sharp: "Really nothing to do with your father? Without him, how could a youngster like you get such favor from the Justice Bureau? You're a true filial son!" Your Highness offered sincere praise.

He then added: "Actually I had thought… maybe I lost to you because my father didn't try hard enough."

Just as the Guangling Prince stepped through the Justice Bureau's gate, he happened to hear that remark…

?

He clenched his fists in frustration!

Can we start over?

Too late!