Troublemaker Prince C46
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 46
When You Yusui told Huo Xiling that he wanted these talents, his expression was both pitiful and delicate, even the crimson teardrop mole beneath his eyelid dimmed a few shades.
"Whatever people Your Highness wishes to recruit is entirely up to Your Highness's pleasure," Huo Xiling said with a smile.
After Huo Xiling came to his senses, he was no longer in a hurry to bring the talented poor scholars he had been helping out into the open. After all, the current emperor's intentions were difficult to fathom—if he saw so many talented poor scholars coming to pledge themselves to His Highness, he would likely become suspicious.
You Yusui reached out and hooked his finger under Huo Xiling's chin, speaking in a low voice, "Speak. What did you want to tell this prince with that very excited look just now?"
You Yusui was no fool. He could guess what Huo Xiling had been doing right under his nose—winning people's hearts and gathering talent. You Yusui knew that Huo Xiling was paving the way for future matters. Only when enough key positions were held by people who belonged to them could they successfully overthrow the Eldest Princess at the critical moment.
"You may only tell the truth, no lies allowed," You Yusui said, lightly tapping Huo Xiling's nose with his finger.
"I used the allowance Your Highness gave me to help many destitute scholars," Huo Xiling said with his head lowered.
The gold and silver You Yusui had bestowed upon him had mostly been used to help these impoverished scholars. Among them, some who knew how to repay kindness were willing to entrust their future to Huo Xiling's hands even without knowing his identity.
You Yusui turned his head to look at Huo Xiling and asked, "In this prince's name?"
Huo Xiling quickly shook his head. "I didn't use Your Highness's name."
He didn't dare use the Crown Prince's name, fearing that someone might investigate and use this matter to attack You Yusui. Moreover, he acted covertly each time without revealing his identity. The money he gave was just enough for these scholars' urgent needs, not so much as to greatly change their lives and arouse suspicion.
"Fairly clever," You Yusui said, tapping Huo Xiling's forehead.
Huo Xiling covered his forehead. He looked at the Crown Prince lying on the soft couch—where exactly had he not been clever?
Afterward, You Yusui withdrew his hand and smiled at Huo Xiling. "Is the allowance this prince gives you enough?"
"More than enough!" Huo Xiling quickly replied, afraid that You Yusui would throw more money at him again.
Every time His Highness gave too much. Of that thousand in gold, Huo Xiling had not even used one percent so far. If Huo Xiling had not been tempered by his sister and brother-in-law since childhood, accustomed to the frugal and simple military life, and possessed extremely strong self-discipline, given You Yusui's way of giving money without a word, Huo Xiling would sooner or later be raised into a spoiled wastrel by You Yusui.
You Yusui looked at Huo Xiling's refusal with a smile on his face. Then he thought about what else he could give Huo Xiling besides vulgar gold and silver.
"Xiling, besides those who can play music and sing, the Juxian Pavilion can also accept those with peculiar skills and tricks. If there are those who can make various dishes and pastries, that would be even better," You Yusui said.
When the time came, they could directly contract weddings and funerals—from the cooks who prepared the banquets to the musicians who played music, to the acrobats who performed acts—everything would be complete. By then, supporting such a group of people wouldn't be a loss.
You Yusui's thinking was simple. The Juxian Pavilion absolutely could not be used to recruit talent, but his dear father emperor insisted on forcing it upon him. Being too passive wouldn't work either, so any talent was talent—weren't acrobats also talented? He would directly recruit those with special skills, then have them use their talents to amuse him, and moreover, these people could contract all the weddings and funerals in Chang'an. Not only would he not lose money, he would make money.
In short, it was impossible for You Yusui to support idle people—he couldn't support idle people no matter how wealthy he was. He couldn't afford such extravagance.
After Huo Xiling heard that You Yusui was recruiting those who could play music and sing as well as those who cooked well in order to contract all the weddings and funerals in Chang'an, he fell suspiciously silent for a moment before finally praising, "Your Highness has very creative ideas."
The current emperor would likely be quite enraged.
You Yusui toyed with the red jade bead bracelet on his hand and smiled. "Is it not good? It would be perfect for them to practice in advance."
"Practice what?" Huo Xiling asked.
Of course, to practice funeral music in advance. After playing it so many times, when the time came to perform at his funeral, they definitely wouldn't make a single mistake.
Huo Xiling had asked, but You Yusui had no intention of continuing.
Not long after, Grand Preceptor Gu, who had gotten into a fight with others at court, came looking for him.
After leaving court, Gu Shen had discussed the matter with Xie Yi at length. They unanimously agreed that You Yusui absolutely could not take on the hot potato that was the Juxian Pavilion.
No one could predict the emperor's thoughts. Even someone as experienced as Xie Yi could not guess what You Fengyun was thinking. Perhaps in the future, You Fengyun would use the matter of the Juxian Pavilion to make things difficult for You Yusui.
Besides this, the First Prince and Third Prince were no easy lamps either. Open attacks were easy to dodge, but hidden arrows were hard to guard against.
Under various worries, Xie Yi and Gu Shen decided to think of a way with You Yusui to return the Juxian Pavilion without angering You Fengyun.
Therefore, Grand Preceptor Gu, who could freely enter the Eastern Palace, came to find You Yusui to discuss after consulting with Xie Yi.
The Crown Prince who had received the hot potato was not only not anxious, but even had the leisure to flirt with the young man beside him.
Gu Shen, who considered himself extremely worried, instantly pulled a long face and walked expressionlessly before You Yusui.
"The Crown Prince has such leisure. Lord Xie and I worried for half the day, while Your Highness has been here enjoying yourself," Grand Preceptor Gu exercised his specialty of speaking sarcastically.
"Do you know how worried Lord Xie and I have been?" Grand Preceptor Gu said with a stern face.
They were afraid You Yusui would become the target of everyone's attacks, be harmed and framed by the schemes of the First Prince and Third Prince, and be used by You Fengyun to make things difficult in the future.
Now, the protagonist of their worries apparently didn't care about these possible occurrences at all.
In short, Grand Preceptor Gu felt his earlier worries had been in vain.
"Think of a way yourself to quickly return the authority to select talents from across the realm," Gu Shen was already too lazy to think of a solution for You Yusui himself and directly told You Yusui to figure it out on his own.
You Yusui unhurriedly poured a cup of clear tea and pushed it before Gu Shen, then said, "I naturally know that Teacher and Grandfather are both worried about me."
Grand Preceptor Gu looked at the tea before him and snorted coldly before picking it up to taste.
Indeed, everything used in the Eastern Palace was the finest. Even this tea was hard to find among aristocratic families.
"Lord Xie's and my meaning is that you should not take over this Juxian Pavilion," Gu Shen said.
You Yusui said quietly, "In all the years you and Grandfather have watched His Majesty reign, has there ever been a decision he made that he changed?"
Just as You Fengyun had said, he himself was the rule. All beneath him were chess pieces.
Hearing this, Gu Shen fell silent, but they still had to try, didn't they?
Seeing this, You Yusui suddenly laughed. He said to Gu Shen, "Moreover, I've already thought of how to use the Juxian Pavilion!"
In You Yusui's view, since You Fengyun had completely given him the Juxian Pavilion, then Juxian Pavilion it was—who cared whether it gathered worthy talents or salted fish.
Huo Xiling on the side looked sympathetically at Gu Shen, only hoping Grand Preceptor Gu could withstand the Crown Prince's wild imagination.
That day, Gu Shen didn't know how he walked out of the Eastern Palace. His head was buzzing, with only four characters cycling endlessly: Heretical and rebellious! Heretical and rebellious!
Lord Xie, who had been waiting outside the palace for a long time, saw Gu Shen emerge and quickly came forward. "What does the Crown Prince plan to do in response?"
Gu Shen looked at Xie Yi with an expression beyond words. "You should just be glad the Crown Prince wasn't born into the Xie family."
Xie Yi: ??? What kind of talk was this? He desperately wished his Suisui had been born into the Xie family.
Gu Shen patted Xie Yi's shoulder. "His Majesty will likely have a heart attack."
Hearing this, Xie Yi grew even more confused. Gu Shen continued, "There's no need to worry about the Crown Prince anymore. Just wait and see."
It would definitely exceed everyone's expectations. By then, the First Prince and Third Prince probably wouldn't even have a way to make their move.
On another front, after leaving court, the Third Prince hurried to Jianjia Palace.
Consort Xian, who was trimming flower branches, saw her son rushing over and couldn't help but furrow her brow slightly. She handed the scissors to the palace maid beside her before looking at You Yushan and gently scolding, "How many times have I told you not to panic when things happen?"
Hearing this, You Yushan looked around before saying to Consort Xian, "Mother Consort, this is a big matter."
Then You Yushan told Consort Xian about how Father Emperor wanted to give the Juxian Pavilion to the Crown Prince in court and have the Crown Prince recruit talents from across the realm.
Hearing this, Consort Xian couldn't help but be stunned. Such favor exceeded Consort Xian's imagination. Soon, Consort Xian furrowed her brow.
"Mother Consort, what do we do now? We can't really let the Crown Prince gain power," You Yushan said anxiously.
Of the three factions—aristocratic families, poor scholars, and imperial relatives—the imperial relatives were always the most looked down upon. People thought they gained their position entirely through nepotism, especially since the Li family was not from an aristocratic background.
Originally, the Li family was merely a street meat seller. Only after Imperial Concubine Li entered the palace did their days improve. It wasn't until Imperial Concubine Li's son You Fengyun became emperor that the Li family truly prospered.
But in everyone's eyes, the Li family was just nouveau riche, not on the same level as aristocratic families with centuries of heritage. Even the poor scholars who prided themselves on their integrity looked down on them.
This meant that aside from the imperial relatives, the Third Prince had very little power at court. If the Crown Prince recruited talent, most poor scholars would inevitably pledge themselves to him, which would be very unfavorable for the Third Prince.
Consort Xian raised her head, a few traces of viciousness showing in her eyes. "Recruiting talent depends on having a worthy reputation. We only need to make it so he cannot recruit anyone."
Soon, Consort Xian had someone bribe a scholar whose talent was mediocre but who loved luxury and boasting. She had him ruin the Crown Prince's reputation, letting people know the Crown Prince ignored and treated recruited worthy talents with arrogant disdain. Those scholars, whose self-esteem was higher than anyone's, naturally wouldn't serve such a person.
Three days later, the Crown Prince's Juxian Pavilion opened its doors. The Crown Prince's people widely proclaimed that anyone with a unique skill could enter the Juxian Pavilion and enjoy room and board with high pay.
For a time, the entrance to the Juxian Pavilion was surrounded by people. A middle-aged man, unable to resist the lure of high pay, boldly asked, "Official sir, I can play the suona—would that work?"
"That's fine. Play and let's see," Huo Xiling said, sitting at the table.
"Alright then. People from all the villages around come to me to play the suona."
As his words fell, the middle-aged man picked up the suona he carried with him and began to play. The enormous sound pierced the clouds, startling the person who had snuck in intending to cause trouble and making him stumble.
Huo Xiling rubbed his ears. "Alright, come in."
As the words fell, the person invited by the Third Prince thought: This works too?