Chapter 46: Emperor Xia Assigns a Task

Xiao Rui had always respected the System.

Well, he was deliberately currying favor.

But honestly, while the tasks the System issued were sometimes troublesome, they were mostly harmless. In the end, there was always a deeper meaning to them, directly or indirectly pushing, driving, whipping Xiao Rui forward.

What lay ahead? The Heir Apparent Position? The Imperial Throne? Or an even more impressive position—all were pushing Xiao Rui’s growth.

So Xiao Rui could believe that the System sending him to find the Night King was also a process of striving upward.

Just as Xiao Rui was thinking about investigating “Braised Chicken,” an oral decree suddenly arrived from the palace, ordering Xiao Rui to enter the palace for an audience with the Emperor.

Upon entering the palace, he learned that not only he but also the other Imperial Princes had been summoned.

This was the first time all the Imperial Princes had been gathered since Emperor Xia’s birthday celebration, merely days apart. Xiao Rui believed he wasn’t the only one overthinking; the other princes must also be constantly speculating.

What did Father intend? After all, on his birthday, it was made clear that the Heir Apparent Position would go to the most capable. This palace summons probably wasn’t about the succession.

With uneasy hearts, everyone arrived at the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

Emperor Xia had the nine Imperial Princes take their seats, then got straight to the point.

“I have been troubled by a matter recently, but it cannot be investigated openly. The Eastern Depot and the Brocade Guard each have their own tasks, so I want you few to share my burden,” Emperor Xia said with a smile.

Upon hearing this, all the princes were immediately stirred.

Sharing Emperor Xia’s burden meant a chance to showcase their abilities; naturally, they were eager.

“What matter troubles Father? Your son is willing to spare no effort to share your burden,” the Eldest Prince Xiao Lie declared solemnly.

“Your son is also willing to share Father’s burden,” the other princes rose one after another to respond.

Emperor Xia smiled. “I am pleased by your filial devotion. You are all aware of Xu Xianyang’s situation, but last night, Xu Xianyang hanged himself in his prison cell. The news has not spread yet; it is being kept secret, so you were unaware.”

“What?” Xiao Rui was greatly shocked.

He had just seen Xu Xianyang yesterday afternoon, and by night he had taken his own life? Impossible! Xiao Rui absolutely did not believe he would commit suicide. Then how did he die? Murdered? By whom? Who could enter the East Prison Death Cell to kill?

Xiao Rui’s mind was full of doubts.

But the other princes were not surprised.

“Father, Xu Xianyang deserved death. Taking his own life to accept punishment is letting him off easy,” the Second Prince Xiao Yiheng said coldly.

Emperor Xia smiled. “He felt shame toward me and took his own life to atone, so I will let him keep a whole corpse. But the rebel matter troubles me, so I summoned you here to track down the rebel leader Xiao Heding for me. I have reliable information that Xiao Heding is currently in the Capital City! Whoever can find him for me, I promise that when assigning you positions, you may freely choose from among the Six Ministries and all other offices.”

The princes were overjoyed.

Among all the official offices in the capital, aside from the Grand Secretariat, the most important were the Six Ministries. Although the Six Ministries held equal rank, the Ministry of Personnel was universally acknowledged as the foremost. It managed the appointments, evaluations, promotions, honors, and transfers of all civil officials in the realm. Therefore, serving in the Ministry of Personnel would be most beneficial in the competition for the Crown Prince position.

Xiao Rui was somewhat surprised. The System had given him the task ahead of Emperor Xia, and he already had a lead over the other princes, putting him in first place.

Haha… as expected, the System only caused trouble; it didn’t harm.

But then, Emperor Xia’s next words dampened Xiao Rui’s spirits.

“Of course, I understand that asking you to investigate with no clues would be unfair. Fortunately, the Eastern Depot has uncovered some leads, which I will give to you all. Whoever finds the rebel Xiao Heding will depend on your own methods,” Emperor Xia said with a smile.

After Emperor Xia finished speaking, Hai Dafu brought nine copies of information and distributed them to the nine Imperial Princes.

Xiao Rui received his copy, and then the nine took their leave and exited the palace.

On the way back, Xiao Yan ran over and asked, “Seventh Brother, what is Father’s intention? Why ask us to find someone?”

“This is also a test,” Xiao Rui said with a smile. “Perhaps from now on, Father will observe our performances. Whoever has the ability will inherit the great succession.”

“So troublesome. I don’t want to be Crown Prince. Can I not participate?” Xiao Yan grumbled.

Xiao Rui paused and looked at him. “Really don’t want to be Crown Prince? You could become the ruler of a nation in the future. Who wouldn’t covet that?”

Xiao Yan smiled. “Seventh Brother, you be the Crown Prince.”

“I don’t have such ability,” Xiao Rui denied.

“Playing dumb,” Xiao Yan snorted. “Isn’t Father forcing us brothers to create rifts, even to fight each other?”

Xiao Rui thought of Jia Xu’s words: Emperor Xia was raising gu insects.

“Little Ninth, being part of the royal family, you should have realized this long ago,” Xiao Rui cautioned. “I think Father is right. Among us brothers, whoever has the ability becomes Crown Prince. Rather than fighting viciously in secret, better to openly compare abilities. This avoids true fratricide. Think of it another way: this is Father protecting the less capable princes.”

Xiao Yan was taken aback, then understood.

It seemed like raising gu, but under Emperor Xia’s watch, losing princes would lose due to lack of ability, thus avoiding secret assassinations. Knowing Emperor Xia was watching made them cautious, not daring to go too far. Even if Emperor Xia were merciful, he wouldn’t choose someone who killed his own brother to be Crown Prince.

Someone daring to kill a brother might one day kill his father!

“Then, Seventh Brother, how do we find Xiao Heding?” Xiao Yan asked.

Xiao Rui glared at him. “Figure it out yourself. We are competitors now!”

Xiao Yan pouted and tugged at Xiao Rui’s sleeve, startling Xiao Rui into fleeing.

Outside the Imperial City, Gao Quan was waiting with the carriage.

Only after boarding the carriage did Xiao Rui open the information given by Hai Dafu.

The contents were miscellaneous, including Xiao Heding’s age and appearance description. He was over seventy years old, with a prominent black mole near his left temple, the most noticeable feature of his appearance.

The Eastern Depot had tracked him to the eastern market district, but he escaped during pursuit. Therefore, the Brocade Guard had people strictly checking commoners leaving through each city gate. He was not found exiting the city, so it was assumed he was still inside.

Eastern Depot agents traced that Xiao Heding seemed to have ties to a secret organization in the capital called the Black Lotus Sect, because when pursued, he fled into a Black Lotus Sect hideout and disappeared.

Although the Eastern Depot arrested all Black Lotus Sect members at that hideout, interrogations yielded no results. To avoid causing a stir, the Eastern Depot released them, planning to investigate secretly.

Little did they expect Emperor Xia would now assign the investigation to the nine Imperial Princes.

No doubt the other eight princes would focus their investigations on the Black Lotus Sect.

The information also described this Black Lotus Sect.

The Great Xia Kingdom had no state religion because Emperor Xia believed in neither Buddhism nor Taoism. But the people needed spiritual sustenance. When the country was prosperous and the people strong, Buddhism and Taoism tended to flourish.

The Black Lotus Sect worshipped the Sage of Black Lotus, said to be one of the two great sages under the Buddha. The Sage of White Lotus governed life; the Sage of Black Lotus governed death. The Black Lotus Sect revered the Sage of Black Lotus, praying to avoid the suffering of reincarnation after death and not to fall into hell.

This spiritual belief attracted many, both poor commoners and wicked nobles, making it one of the more active religions near the capital region.

But after investigating the Black Lotus Sect, the Eastern Depot found their gatherings and prayers were quite normal, and they had existed for a long time. The authorities had not classified it as an evil religion, so naturally it had not been suppressed or banned.

Holding the information, Xiao Rui faced a dilemma.

Should he follow the “Braised Chicken” clue provided by Xu Xianyang, or start from the Black Lotus Sect?

And what puzzled him most were Emperor Xia’s intentions and why Xu Xianyang had taken his own life?