Chapter 106: The Mediocre Prince (Fourth Update)

Fu Jingyu asked in confusion: "Is Shanhe behind this?"

"It is not Shanhe, but Chunyu, my lord, the former tutor of the Crown Prince under the Mediocre Prince..."

"Stop!" Xu Yuan shouted loudly to halt them.

As for the soul of Lord Qin, it stood there in a daze, motionless, knowing only to execute orders.

The Mediocre Prince, the Crown Prince's tutor—this must involve a case of earth-shattering magnitude!

Even in the distant province of Southern Jiaozhi, anyone you pulled off the street would know the Mediocre Prince was the former Crown Prince!

Xu Yuan made an immediate decision: "We cannot continue investigating. Seal this soul properly, take it back to the old lord, and our mission here is over."

Yan Lao's face wore a solemn expression; he nodded and said, "Very well, Fu Jingyu..."

But Fu Jingyu kept his head down, deaf to the words of the two men.

Xu Yuan slapped his shoulder, and only then did Fu Jingyu raise his head. His expression showed struggle and confusion, yet he gritted his teeth and said, "One must plan according to one's position. We wear the official robes of the Impurity Removal Bureau and draw its salary; how can we, when facing a major case, worry only about our own and our families' safety and thus stand still?"

"You..." Xu Yuan did not expect this fellow's rigid temper to flare up.

Lu Zhengyan thrust his great guan dao forcefully into the ground, placed his hands on his hips, and roared, "Since we have stumbled upon this case, there is no situation where we can hide!"

He then bowed to Xu Yuan: "Young Master Xu, your fate is unfortunate. From the moment you entered Qiao Zi'an's inn to work, it was destined that no matter how you chose or what you did, you would be drawn in!"

These words fully displayed the true nature of a Wu Xiu...

Yan Lao gave a bitter smile, shook his head without speaking, understanding in his heart that Lu Zhengyan's words were rough but the reasoning sound; though blunt, they hit the nail on the head.

Xu Yuan turned to look back now; no matter when this case broke out, everyone in Lord Qiao's inn would have only one fate: to be silenced.

If the plan failed, the Mediocre Prince's faction, fearing evidence would be caught, would naturally slaughter everyone in the inn to cut off all future trouble!

If the plan succeeded, the Mediocre Prince's faction would also fear news leaking out, so naturally they would slaughter everyone in the inn to cut off all future trouble!

It was likely that even Qiao Zi'an himself would not be allowed to live.

As for a mere little servant in the Yifangting Inn, who supposedly would not know Lord Qiao's secrets... would those great figures care about the life of such an ant?

Xu Yuan frowned, cursed silently, and could not help but wonder: Could it truly be "destined by fate"?

Fu Jingyu became resolute and ordered the soul of Lord Qin: "Continue speaking, explain everything in one breath!"

"The Mediocre Prince needs a great merit to have a chance of reinstatement. This merit must be one that even Your Majesty cannot ignore, nor dare to ignore.

The canal detours around Ghost Wushan, which is a great loss of face for the Long Wang of the Canal.

If the Mediocre Prince could subdue Ghost Wushan and make the canal cut straight through this section, it would be a merit recognized by the Long Wang of the Canal and one Your Majesty could not ignore!"

"Therefore, Lord Chunyu arranged for Lord Chen to be in charge of this matter, and Lord Chen selected Qiao Zi'an.

However, Qiao Zi'an was too self-interested; he kept delaying over these years, so the matter was never properly completed."

Xu Yuan asked in confusion: "How did you persuade the evil spirits of Ghost Wushan?"

"We arranged a city over in Zhenla. If the evil spirits of Ghost Wushan are willing to move away, that city will be their new home.

The five hundred thousand people in the city can all be their blood food."

Yan Lao's beard and hair bristled with rage: "You are truly insane!"

"Lord Chunyu said the people of Zhenla are not subjects of our Great Ming Emperor."

"But they are five hundred thousand living souls!"

Xu Yuan felt a chill run down his back; for the first time, he truly witnessed that in the eyes of the so-called "superiors," commoners are like grass and weeds!

Five hundred thousand living souls, and they wouldn't even blink before handing them over to evil spirits!

All for their so-called "great cause."

The soul of Lord Qin continued speaking: "Qiao Zi'an had previously always said his strength was weak and his status low, so he could not gain the trust of the evil spirits in the mountains.

His original intention might have been to have superiors assign him an official post to raise his standing, but the superiors already had grievances against his lack of achievement over these years. Therefore, Lord Chunyu sent someone to deliver a contract to Qiao Zi'an, stamped with Lord Chunyu's personal seal.

This contract was sufficient to gain the trust of the evil spirits in the mountains.

Qiao Zi'an suddenly died. Chen Liangxuan feared the contract would fall into the hands of the Impurity Removal Bureau, exposing Lord Chunyu. So, after searching with all his might and failing to find it, he had no choice but to let Mr. Gao activate the 'Self-Sacrifice Method' early."

As long as the Mediocre Prince could be reinstated and return to the position of Crown Prince, he would surely reward merit upon inheriting the throne in the future; the Chen and Qin families would be enriched for several generations!

Xu Yuan sighed: "No wonder Chen Liangxuan was willing to risk his very life."

The general thread of the entire event was roughly clarified. The four exchanged glances. Fu Jingyu sealed the soul of Lord Qin; they would return and hand it over to Ma Tianshou for further detailed interrogation.

Yan Lao spoke slowly: "Chen Liangxuan was a man of the Crown Prince back then. After the Crown Prince was deposed, he was demoted to the Southern Capital."

"The Crown Prince was intelligent and loved learning from childhood. After reaching adulthood, he treated scholars with respect and had a reputation for virtue, enjoying immense popularity throughout the court and the country.

The Son of Heaven also seemed quite satisfied and had already intended to entrust part of the state affairs to the Crown Prince to handle. He had even personally taught the Crown Prince how to review memorials.

Everyone thought that after the current Son of Heaven passed away, the Crown Prince would surely succeed to the throne.

But on a rainy night ten years ago, the Son of Heaven suddenly ordered the Eastern Depot to cooperate with the Divine Machine Grand Camp to surround the Crown Prince's residence. The Crown Prince fell overnight; the Crown Princess was ordered to commit suicide, and over three thousand relatives and guests were implicated and executed!

Of the four Grand Councilors of the court, the Son of Heaven killed half in one breath.

The court officials who gathered around the Crown Prince were mostly stripped of rank and reduced to commoners. Those with better luck, like Chen Liangxuan, were all driven to the Southern Capital to retire.

But for some unknown reason, Your Majesty did not kill the Crown Prince, but demoted him to 'Mediocre Prince' and drove him to his fiefdom to shut himself away and reflect on his faults.

Such a major matter required an explanation to the world, yet in the edict issued by the Son of Heaven to the outside, only a few vague charges were given to the Crown Prince, such as 'resenting the ruler and father' and 'unfilial conduct.'

At that time, the court and country were in turmoil. Many upright scholars submitted memorials to remonstrate, but Your Majesty was filled with thunderous rage and killed several old officials who submitted memorials. After that, no one dared to speak again."

Yan Lao took a deep breath: "The true details of this matter, I fear, are known clearly by very few in this world."

Lu Zhengyan spoke bluntly: "It is said that in these years, the Mediocre Prince has been somewhat restless!"

Xu Yuan had now understood the general course of the event ten years ago. He lowered his head and thought for a while, then said: "Please call back Bai Laoyan and Mr. Piaodang."

Those two went to "clean the battlefield," but in reality, they just ran far away to hide for a while.

They could not clean the battlefield.

The descendants of the Locust Woman, influenced by 'Hunger Eating,' were still constantly preying on one another.

As soon as the two of them approached, they too would generate an insatiable sense of hunger.

By the time Xu Yuan and the others finished, only a few of the Locust Hag's descendants remained.

Xu Yuan went over to collect the human skin; those locusts suddenly snapped to their senses and lunged at him with claws and fangs, but Old Lu, standing nearby, cleaved them all apart with a single stroke each.

Xu Yuan quietly inspected the human skin; numerous wounds had appeared upon it.

After all, they had endured a fierce battle, so it was inevitable that his heart ached.

There are still some foreshadowing threads that will be revealed slowly later on.

Everyone can take a guess.

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(End of this chapter)