The Dramatic Crown Princess Wants to Poison Me!

Chapter 406: Pledge of Allegiance

King Kang helplessly said, "I appreciate the Emperor’s trust, but Jinxuan acts impulsively and may ruin the Emperor’s important matters. I am willing to take on the task!"

The Emperor jokingly said, "How about now, do you still think your abilities are inadequate?"

King Kang didn’t dare respond to the Emperor’s joke and simply said, "Serving the Emperor is my duty. Although I worry about my abilities, I will definitely be extremely cautious!"

"Fine! Go and handle it!"

King Kang, resigned, bowed and withdrew.

King Kang wasn’t concerned about whether Huangfu Jinxuan had the ability; if he were to investigate, he could turn the entire place upside down.

The Emperor understood King Kang’s thoughts, and indeed, he favored King Kang, who acted with discretion and knew what could be touched and what couldn’t. But Huangfu Jinxuan was brash and could not be allowed to go too far.

That night, Marquis Anning went to see Huangfu Yuxuan.

In a secret chamber, Marquis Anning knelt on one knee before Huangfu Yuxuan, "My life was saved by you, my lord. From now on, I pledge my loyalty to you, even unto death!"

Huangfu Yuxuan helped him up and said with a slight smile, "Marquis Anning, no need for such formalities. By pledging loyalty to me, I will not fail you. Together, we will blaze a clear path!"

Huangfu Yuxuan’s eyes shone with determination.

Indeed, the current situation wasn’t favorable for him because his father wasn’t the Crown Prince anymore.

However, who said the person sitting on the throne of the Crown Prince is secure?

Huangfu Hanyu thought by having the vassal kings send their sons to the Capital, keeping them under his watchful eye, he would be invincible. How laughable! But with him causing chaos upfront, it saved me quite a bit of trouble!

Huangfu Hanyu thought he became a partisan of Prince Li and intensified his suppression of Prince Li. With his help, Prince Li now had a considerable influence in the court, and the two were at an impasse.

This allowed him to bide his time and reap the benefits.

As for Huangfu Hanyu, let him continue to blunder; after all, he won’t occupy that position for long.

As long as there’s no Crown Prince, anything is possible.

With this matter arranged, it was time to visit Haotian Village.

A month later, the epidemic in Wangshan Town was eradicated, and the Imperial Physician returned to the court.

People from the Ministry of Justice arrived and escorted Yu Shikui away. The moment the chains were fastened, Yu Shikui knew his grandfather had abandoned him.

He harbored resentment in his heart; he had painstakingly climbed to this position, but what did it matter? One wrong step led to another. If he hadn’t thought of using the lives of Wangshan Town’s villagers to pave his way to power, could he have continued as the Prefectural Governor?

Shang Jingwang, holding a commendation decree, returned to the capital to report to the Emperor.

Huangfu Jinxuan appeared elated and flamboyant.

Everyone returned to the capital with the Imperial Envoy Guard.

This time, Huangfu Jinxuan didn’t leave early.

In the prisoner carriage, looking at the imperial guard procession ahead, Yu Shikui looked completely desolate.

Huangfu Jinxuan claimed he was eager to return to the capital after being away for too long, so he hurried without delay and returned to the Capital City in twenty days.

Yu Shikui was directly imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice’s dungeons.

The scandal of his and Kong Tixin’s debauchery had already reached the Capital, but compared to the examination fraud and replacing someone else’s ranking, it was considered a minor issue of poor personal conduct.

After reviewing Shang Jingwang’s duty report, the Emperor was pleased. He had intended to let Shang Jingwang fill Yu Shikui’s vacancy, promoting him to Prefectural Governor. However, a vacancy happened to arise for the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Both positions were of the Fourth Rank, and since Shang Jingwang had served in the provinces for years, it made more sense to reward him by allowing him to serve in the capital.

Thus, Shang Jingwang immediately took up the post of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

As for Yanglu County Magistrate Kong Tixin, who idled in his position, acted perversely, and oppressed the villagers, there was no need to bring him to the capital; he was directly executed in the marketplace. County Magistrate Tian Zhenlin was promoted to his position.

For successfully completing his first imperial mission, Huangfu Jinxuan was rewarded with writing practice of thirty pieces a day for a month!

Wen Hao, as the Military Commander of the stationed troops, failed to perform his duties, nearly creating a major mistake. Although his position was to be taken, due to his subsequent repentance and contributions to controlling the epidemic, he was retained for observation to assess future performance!

Rewards were given where due, and punishment where necessary. The vacancies for Northern County Magistrate and Huainan County Magistrate were soon filled, with candidates suggested by the Ministry.

Initially, the lists for filling these vacancies were prone to influence by the Crown Prince, Prince Li, and even Huangfu Yuxuan, each trying to insert their own people, but the Emperor consulted with King Kang first, who recommended several calm, neutral, capable yet unsuccessful officials.

The Emperor forwarded these names to the Ministry of Personnel to make the selection.

This time, neither the Crown Prince nor Prince Li gained any advantages.

Huangfu Yuxuan was also surprised; even with the discreet activity of his people, nothing was achieved. He firmly set down his pen, which left a mark on the white paper on his desk.

"Yu Shikui, such an incompetent fool, always causing more harm than good!"

King Kang presented the investigation on corruption to the Emperor, completing his mission, then immediately withdrew, as deciding on judgment was the Emperor’s responsibility.

He felt fortunate that Yu Shikui had targeted Bai Yi’s family, but fortunately, someone had helped relocate them, and Bai Yi’s younger brother had evidence Bai Yi had gathered over seven years.

Moreover, the examination papers from the past ten years were preserved for review, yielding just enough information for the investigation.

The Emperor, gazing at the case files, looked grim, but for now, no action was taken.

Huangfu Jinxuan, feeling excessively "happy" from the Emperor’s commendation, once again caused chaos throughout the Capital, resulting in over twenty memorials of complaint reaching the Emperor’s desk.

The Emperor, amused yet exasperated, sent someone to reprimand him.

During this period, the princely heirs of various vassal kings arrived in the Capital one after another. Of course, while Prince Li was already in the Capital, his heir remained in the vassal land.

Vassal kings generally had mansions in the Capital, as it was permitted; after all, they needed accommodation when visiting for festivals or summons.

However, some, like Prince Cheng, lost contact after leaving the Capital and did not maintain residences there.

Upon hearing that Prince Cheng’s heir, Huangfu Jingchen, was staying at an inn after arriving in the Capital, the Emperor gifted him a mansion. Huangfu Jingchen settled in the Capital City.

Upon learning of Huangfu Jingchen’s arrival in the Capital, responses differed between Prince Zhuang and Huangfu Yuxuan.

Prince Zhuang thought of Gongyang Puyu’s words that felt like a thorn in his throat, especially since the assassins he sent had failed. At the birthday celebration, three Imperial Grandsons died unexpectedly on the road, and it seemed the Emperor was suspicious of him, so he dared not act too conspicuously.

Huangfu Yuxuan had arranged for Gongyang Puyu to say such things merely to divert Prince Zhuang’s attention; to him, Huangfu Jingchen was insignificant, only that he had once been favored by Gu Hanmo.

Nevertheless, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

Furthermore, with Gongyang Puyu’s remark, the Crown Prince would not spare Huangfu Jingchen, and he could just sit back and watch the fight.