Chapter 308 - Added Fuel to the Fire

The Fourth Prince suddenly raised his head. “Father Emperor, someone deliberately exposed this matter. How could so many brothels be on fire at the same time? Someone framed us. Someone must have framed us!”

“Yes, Father Emperor. There were so many places on fire for no reason. Who knows if the ledgers were real or fake? So many officials were implicated, and that person even schemed against us. The person behind this is vicious. Father Emperor, don’t be deceived by the villain!”

Hearing their remarks, Baili Qingcang stopped his orders of execution, and his gaze swept over everyone present.

Baili Junyi looked at the panic-stricken the Third Prince and Fourth Prince.

“My royal brothers, let’s not talk about whether the ledgers are fake or not. No one can fake this money. If someone is trying to frame me with this amount of money, I won’t mind being framed a few more times. With this money, not only the funding for the northwest, but it is also more than enough to cover Jiangnan’s disaster relief.”

The Third Prince and the Fourth Prince were choked by these remarks and glared fiercely at Baili Junyi.

“By the way, it’s funny. We are involved in this matter, and the Crown Prince was poisoned. Why are you and Second Elder Brother fine?”

Baili Junyi remained smiling, and his eyes were full of ridicule and contempt. “What are you trying to say? Are you implying that all the officials and princes have to make money through the brothels?”

“You are twisting my words! I did not say that.”

“Stop accusing me then.”

“Am I wrong? Almost everyone here is implicated. What about you? How can you get away from this?”

“It’s because you need to make money, but I don’t. I have enough to spend. I enjoy the salary of a royal prince, and Father Emperor also gives me rewards from time to time. My wife is Noble Princess Zhaohua, and she enjoys a salary equal to that of a royal prince. My son is Bei Zi, and my daughter is a prefectural princess. All these salaries added together, it is more than enough as long as it is not used to recruit soldiers and bribe powerful people,” Baili Junyi stated righteously.

Seeing that the Third Prince was muted, he added, his expression becoming more and more mocking. “Also, Third Elder Brother, no one says that there can’t be a white bird from a crow’s nest. Although all the birds are black, can’t you allow one to be white?”

“You…”

The Third Prince and the others could never have imagined that Baili Junyi would dare to speak so bluntly. His salary was enough because he didn’t need to recruit soldiers or bribe powerful people. In other words, he was implying that their salaries weren’t enough because they were plotting against the Emperor, so they needed to make more money in a shady way.

Moreover, he was mocking them head-on!

Baili Qingcang’s face was extremely gloomy. He looked at the men of sacrifice, “Have you searched the princes’ mansions? Did you find anything?”

“Master, we didn’t find anything out of the ordinary in the princes’ mansions.”

The Third Prince and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and their bodies relaxed a lot. They were usually very careful and hid everything that could not be exposed to the outsiders. How could suspicious things be easily found in their mansions?

Seeing the changes in their expressions, Shen Ninghua sneered in her heart. They were so smug at this moment, but did they not see His Majesty’s gloomy expression? It wasn’t something odd that the princes had the intention to fight for the throne, especially when the Third Prince’s faction was only short of fighting with the Crown Prince’s faction in the court. And now, the biggest problem was that His Majesty’s most trusted men of sacrifice hadn’t found any problems in their mansions at all.

Baili Qingcang’s face relaxed for a while, and then it suddenly became gloomy as he shared the same thought as Shen Ninghua. These princes were restless, especially the Third Prince. He needed two sons to fight for the sake of stability in the court, so he secretly supported the Third Prince, and he took a fancy to the latter’s impulsive and reckless personality.

But now, the man of sacrifice told him that there was nothing odd in the Third Prince’s mansion. He dealt with this matter so flawlessly. Did it mean that his usual behavior was just a disguise?

At this moment, the Third Prince had no idea that he was defined by Baili Qingcang as a person with treacherous thoughts and was good at pretending. When he heard that the men of sacrifice hadn’t found any evidence, he barked at the cocky Baili Junyi.

“See? What do you have to say now? Father Emperor has already sent people to investigate, and they didn’t find anything unusual in my mansion. Just now, you were accusing me of all sorts of crimes. Shouldn’t you apologize to me?”

“Apologize? I just said what I thought, but I never mentioned any name. Third Elder Brother, you are too sensitive.” Baili Junyi had a cold face and didn’t take the Third Prince’s words seriously.

The Third Prince was dismayed. “Father Emperor, look at him. I am his elder brother, but he treats me so rudely. Perhaps, he is not as filial to you as he seems to.”

The Fourth Prince chimed in from the side, “Yes, Father Emperor. Fifth Younger Brother is acting so arrogant and condescending in front of you. Such behavior is really intolerable.”

Baili Junyi sneered and said, “But you’ve been tolerating me for so long, right? Why can’t you tolerate it now? By the way, Fourth Elder Brother, Father Emperor’s men said that there is no evidence in Third Elder Brother’s mansion, but they haven’t talked about your mansion yet. You are so bold and confident now. Be careful when the proof lies in front of your eyes later.”

“A-Are you threatening me?” The Fourth Prince glared at Baili Junyi, wishing to tear him apart.

“I am just stating facts. Why are you as sensitive as Third Elder Brother?” Baili Junyi always had a smile on his face, and his words were quite casual. However, the more he was like this, the more arrogant and domineering the others felt he was.

If it weren’t for the fact that they were standing in front of Baili Qingcang, the Third Prince and Fourth Prince would have rolled up their sleeves and stepped forward to beat him up.

The Fourth Prince turned around and looked at Baili Qingcang.

“Father Emperor, look at him. He did not grow up by your side. It’s fine if he doesn’t have any feelings of friendship towards his brothers, but he still has to have at least some respect for us. How can he be so arrogant in front of you and the civil and military officials? He doesn’t respect you as his father and us as his brothers. What will happen in the future?”

Baili Qingcang’s gaze fell on Baili Junyi. “Junyi, your words are indeed too excessive.”

Hearing this, Baili Junyi withdrew the smile on his face and raised his head to look at Baili Qingcang. His gaze carried a sense of closeness, adoration, and a trace of a complicated feeling that was difficult to conceal.

“Father Emperor, Fourth Elder Brother is right. I grew up among ordinary citizens. I have not been by your side for a long time, and I have not done what I should do to you and Mother. Originally, I wanted to stay in the capital to help you and share your burden. But now it seems that the capital is indeed not suitable for me. Please allow me to leave.”

The eyes of the Third Prince and the others instantly lit up. Although there was something wrong with Baili Junyi’s background, it could not deny the fact that his status was way too high. Moreover, the twins that Shen Ninghua had given birth to and the Huajun Pharmacy that was popular among the people made them fear him from the bottom of their hearts. If Baili Junyi could leave the capital, he would no longer be a threat.

From beginning to end, the Second Prince, Baili Jinchuan, who had been keeping his eyes calm, abruptly raised his head and looked at Shen Ninghua with a deep gaze. His fingers could not help but clench into a fist. Baili Junyi wanted to leave, so did Shen Ninghua… Once she left the capital, he would never see her again…

Thinking of this possibility, he squinted in great dismay. The coldness and killing intent on his body could not be suppressed, and a dark black color flashed through his cold eyes. Baili Junyi could leave, but Shen Ninghua had to stay!

Not far behind him, Yang Yingxue felt the coldness coming from his body. Her fingers trembled as she tightly twisted the silk handkerchief in her hand, her face extremely pale.

Baili Qingcang’s heart shook. He almost couldn’t believe his ears. “What did you say? You want to leave the capital?”

“Yes,” Baili Junyi lowered his head slightly. “Father Emperor, Fourth Elder Brother just said that I am a person without proper upbringing and respect. The atmosphere in the capital is really suffocating. So, after careful consideration, I decided to leave.”

The veins on Baili Qingcang’s forehead flashed. “What are you saying? You are my son. Where do you want to go? Moreover, I think the Fourth Prince is right. You are not filial. Since you have not been by my side for many years, instead of being nice to me, you want to leave the capital. What are you thinking?”

The Third Prince was excited. Although Father Emperor did not say it explicitly, the notion “Fourth Prince is right” was enough to put a label on Baili Junyi. If he made use of this matter properly, he could completely destroy Baili Junyi.

There was no trace of fear on Baili Junyi’s face. He looked at Shen Ninghua and extended his hand to her. Shen Ninghua stood up and walked to his side, intertwining their fingers, knelt down to Baili Qingcang, and bowed deeply.

“Father Emperor, I do not want to leave you either. It is just that I have done something wrong and have to leave.”

Baili Qingcang’s eyes flashed as he silently looked at the two of them.

Baili Junyi raised his head. “Doesn’t Father Emperor want to know what I did wrong?”

Baili Qingcang still did not speak, but he had some ideas in his heart. A moment later, he asked, “W-What did you do?”

With a smile, Baili Junyi turned to look at Shen Ninghua and announced loudly, “I was the one who sent people to burn those brothels!”

Although he was prepared, Baili Qingcang still closed his eyes in sorrow and took a deep breath when he heard what Baili Junyi said.

The Third Prince, Fourth Prince, and the others had already gone crazy. They shouted at the top of their lungs to condemn Baili Junyi and Shen Ninghua.

“Fifth Younger Brother, you are really outrageous. Not only did you publicly burn down several brothels in the capital, but you also framed us with those fake ledgers! You are simply lawless!”

“Yes, do you still have Father Emperor in your eyes? Do you still have the law to cause such a big mess in the capital? Who do you think you are?”

“This is too infuriating. Not only did you frame us brothers, but you even framed many court officials. What are your intentions?”

“Just now, Father Emperor killed several officials. Those were all conscientious people. Fortunately, Father Emperor was calm and did not continue to kill. If he did according to what was recorded in those fake ledgers, there would be no officials left in the kingdom!”

“Father Emperor, Fifth Younger Brother is really sinister. He must not be let off easily. Please, Father Emperor, please punish him!”

The frightened officials below also calmed down. At this moment, with the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince leading the way, they all knelt on the ground and shouted, “Please, Your Majesty, please punish him!”