She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 632 - 630: Where is the Easy Job?

Chapter 632: Chapter 630: Where is the Easy Job?

His Majesty retracted his disdainful gaze from Jinrong and said to Han Yanhui, "Go back and copy the trial document for the wooden railway for both the Crown Prince and Prince Fu, and have them take a look."

"As for Prince Yu, since we need to avoid suspicion..." His Majesty paused, glanced sideways at Jinrong, and continued, "there’s no need to copy the document for him."

Jinrong had just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard His Majesty continue, "This trial document was originally presented by Prince Yu. Prince Yu, along with Prime Minister Han, was tasked with discussing the inauguration regulations for the wooden railway."

"I," Jinrong quickly interjected, "that is, although the wooden railway was for the cheese business, I wasn’t in Clear Water Village when it was laid, so I don’t know much about the engineering."

"Alright, dismiss," His Majesty said without even looking at Jinrong, not even waiting for him to finish, and stood up to leave.

Jinrong vainly withdrew his gaze from the direction in which His Majesty had disappeared and, when he looked towards his eldest brother and seventh brother, received their bitter and jealous stares.

......

Prince Fu left the Imperial Court and returned to the front hall where he usually worked in the Ministry of Works, casually tossing the cabinet-sent wooden railway trial document onto the table.

Minister of Works Wang Xian followed closely behind Prince Fu, shooing away the approaching scribe and instructing the attendants in the front hall, "Bring some hot tea. If you see Mister Liu, let him in. Do not let anyone else disturb us unless summoned."

The scribe and attendants, seeing no anger on Prince Fu’s face but chilled by the lack of emotion in his expression, hastily retreated to their tasks.

The two palace attendants intimate to Prince Fu entered, serving Prince Fu as he took off his outdoor fur coat and accepted the tea that had been brought in. Hesitating, they were unsure whether to place it on the desk in the inner room or the table in the outer room.

Prince Fu sat down silently next to the table. The attendant hurrying to serve the tea placed it on the table, then moved two braziers closer to the foot of the wall near the table before quietly withdrawing.

Wang Xian sat down on a chair beside Prince Fu, looked at him with furrowed brows, and glanced at the wooden railway document that the cabinet had already copied, momentarily at a loss for words.

Before long, the palace advisor, Liu Yu, following routine, came by the Prince’s residence after the court session to see if there were any orders.

Upon entering, Liu Yu saw Prince Fu sitting beside the table with furrowed brows, seemingly contemplating something. Wang Xian sat beside him and, upon seeing Liu Yu enter, motioned with his eyes towards Prince Fu, signaling him to notice Prince Fu’s mood.

Liu Yu understood; there must have been issues at the court. He stepped forward to pay his respects to Prince Fu and Wang Xian.

"Please take a seat, Mister," Prince Fu gestured for Liu Yu to sit down.

Liu Yu took his usual place and, after scanning the thick stack of documents on the table, tentatively asked, "Was there an issue at today’s court session? Your Highness doesn’t seem very pleased."

Prince Fu remained silent while Wang Xian briefly mentioned, "A matter regarding the transport railway."

Liu Yu was surprised. "What could be the issue with the railway? Isn’t the iron railway operating well? Does His Majesty wish to expand it, or is it to be temporarily halted?"

Prince Fu unconsciously picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said to Wang Xian, "You tell Mister Liu about it." He truly had no desire to recount the scene at the Imperial Court again.

"His Majesty proposed in today’s court session to replace iron rails with wooden ones for the construction of the railway transportation project," Wang Xian briefly relayed to Liu Yu the Emperor’s plans to implement wooden rails that were discussed at court.

"Wooden rails?" Liu Yu, upon hearing that the Emperor actually had a trial document for wooden rails, was first stunned, and then deeply shocked, "Does that mean they’ve already decided not to use iron materials? But we have..."

He did not finish his sentence. Just as the Emperor was disappointed in his son, Liu Yu, who was equally ambitious as Prince Fu, did not first consider how wooden rails replacing iron ones could reduce the court’s burden, but instead, he thought of the losses Prince Fu would suffer.

The substitution of iron rails with wooden ones would not only foil the prince’s original plans, but the bigger issue was that they had stockpiled a massive amount of iron mines and iron ingots, all skimmed off from last year’s projects.

Of course, these items were not recorded in the official accounts; they were intended for use in the next year’s railway projects.

They had good plans, to continue convincing the court to allocate silver for mining and expanding workshops next year, to overreport labor and equipment costs, and to take the opportunity for a big haul.

If there were no projects for these items to be used on and they could not be consumed quickly, how should they be dealt with?

If the court didn’t have any major projects, it would take some time to use these items up, and if they were found during this period, that would be troublesome. To put it mildly, it was hoarding resources to profit from the railway construction; to speak more severely, without a bottom line, hiding so much iron ore and material, one could be accused of rebellion.

At Liu Yu’s question, Prince Fu’s anger suddenly became uncontrollable, erupting instantly.

He slammed the table vigorously and said bitterly, "I never thought Lao Liu would be so insidious. Any involvement with him guarantees trouble! He even tested wooden rails behind everyone’s back and recommended the results to His Majesty. If he had spoken up earlier, I would never have stockpiled so much."

Wang Xian added, "The Crown Prince knew about this in advance and had made preparations. However, it seems he only found out about it a few days ago, and he looks very annoyed as well."

Liu Yu paused, then said, "It’s not surprising that the Crown Prince’s involvement in Cabinet affairs allowed him to know in advance." Liu Yu frowned, "But the actions of Prince Yu... what is his intention? Could it be that after all these years, he now decides to throw his hat into the competition for Crown Prince?"

Prince Fu snorted coldly, his mind in even greater turmoil. If vying for the position of Crown Prince was merely Lao Liu’s personal desire, it would be one thing. However, since Lao Liu’s return after two years mingling outside, His Majesty had treated him differently, and that was the real trouble.

Today, His Majesty appeared displeased with Lao Liu, seemingly even with reprimand, but anyone with clear eyes could see that the Imperial Father was very close to him.

Not right, the Imperial Father had been close to Lao Liu in the past too, but he had thought it was because the Imperial Father treated him as a prodigal son, not intending to entrust him with serious responsibilities, which was why he wasn’t strictly demanding of him. Now it was different; with Lao Liu at the Imperial Court and still treated this way by His Majesty, his intentions were somewhat intriguing.

Wang Xian also noticed something different and said to Mister Liu, "Mister Liu hasn’t witnessed the Majesty’s imposing presence. These past two years, His Majesty’s treatment of Prince Yu is indeed a bit different. If this continues, even if Prince Yu has no desire to contest the succession, I fear others may still attach themselves and encourage him."

Liu Yu was silent, thinking about what the Emperor’s intentions could be with this move. In this way, wouldn’t the situation at court become even more chaotic? The relationships among the princes would grow tense.

"His Majesty treats Prince Yu differently; can’t the Crown Prince see that? What is the Crown Prince thinking?"

Prince Fu snorted coldly, "What can he be thinking? Anyone can see that he’s been the Crown Prince for too long; it’s made him lose his wits. He’s only worrying about cheap wooden rails replacing the iron ones, and though he had made advance preparations, he couldn’t help but reveal himself. It seems there are quite a few people reaching for money through the railway transport venture."