roccoschili Chapter 60 Old Eight's Schemes
Chapter 60 Old Eight's Schemes
"What?"
Yin'e almost dropped the teacup in his hand. The tea sloshed and a few drops splashed onto his fingers, scalding him slightly.
He didn't bother wiping his face, staring wide-eyed at Lao Ba, his face filled with disbelief.
"Myna, you said you're going to give me the task?"
He really didn't expect it.
His purpose in coming to the Eighth Prince's residence today was merely to make his presence known, shut the Eighth Prince up, and incidentally reveal some information about the Crown Prince's residence in order to curry favor with the Eighth Prince.
He brought up Gao Mengyuan and Juxianju's affairs to make Lao Ba think that Lao Shi was still useful and not just a good-for-nothing who caused trouble.
As for how to investigate, who will investigate, and to what extent, that's Lao Ba's business, and has nothing to do with him.
But he never expected that Lao Ba would directly dump the task on him.
Old Nine reacted even faster than him.
Old Jiu put down his teacup, his tone clearly urgent.
"Eighth Brother, why don't you let me handle this?" His gaze lingered on the Eighth Brother's face for a moment, then he turned to look at Yin'e. "Tenth Brother... he's never done this before either."
The phrase "never done any official business" is already quite polite.
What Lao Jiu didn't say was, "With his reckless nature, it's a miracle he doesn't cause trouble. You expect him to get things done? Isn't that just pushing him into a fire pit?"
The Ninth Prince's distrust of Yin'e has been going on for a long time.
Although his gout had been cured, it was thanks to medication given to him by someone else; it was a lucky accident.
In his eyes, the tenth brother was a reckless man who could not be entrusted with important tasks.
It's lucky that we were able to find out the information; if we actually let him go on the mission, who knows what kind of mess he'd make.
You have to do this yourself.
Hearing what the Ninth Prince said, Yin'e felt a sense of relief.
He nodded repeatedly, following Lao Jiu's words, as if to say, "Brother Jiu is right."
Yinzhi (the Eighth Prince) leaned back in his chair, his hands crossed and resting on his abdomen.
The study was quiet for a moment.
"Tenth Brother, you brought this news. Regardless of where you found out it or how you found out it."
"This proves that your intelligence network has uncovered information that neither I nor my ninth brother have been able to obtain."
Yin'e's fingers twitched slightly.
"Furthermore, given that you've been able to probe into such depths, it's highly likely that your people have already infiltrated their ranks, isn't that right?"
A fine layer of sweat appeared on Yin'e's forehead.
Lao Ba's analysis was entirely correct.
His "intelligence network" was actually the book "Overheard".
The person who "infiltrated the inside" was his brother-in-law, Batu.
Lao Ba didn't know these things, but he was right.
It wasn't because he had evidence, but because his sense of smell was too keen.
Yin'e remained silent.
Lao Ba took his silence as tacit agreement and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
He sat up straight, moved a little off the cushion, and his tone became earnest.
"The reason I didn't let you go on errands before was because of your impulsive personality. But I see that you've become much more composed lately, so it's time for you to go out and gain some experience."
Staying in the mansion all day, when will you be able to stand on your own?
"You're a prince too, you can't spend your whole life following your little bird around like a servant, can you?"
Yin'e opened his mouth, still wanting to refuse.
His mind raced, trying to come up with a thousand or ten thousand reasons to refuse the job.
I have no experience, I don't have anyone on my side, I don't know the rules of case handling, and I have a lot of things to deal with at my residence.
These words swirled in his throat, but he couldn't utter a single one.
Lao Ba waved his hand.
"Alright, it's settled then." His tone left no room for argument. "Don't feel pressured, but..."
He held up a finger and waved it in front of Yin'e.
"Remember, Eighth Brother won't expect to defeat the Crown Prince in one blow this time." Eighth Brother's gaze sharpened. "Just tripping him up a bit will be enough."
Yin'e remained silent for a moment.
The eighth brother's gaze was fixed on him, and the ninth brother's gaze was also fixed on him.
He knew he had nowhere to turn.
To refuse again would be to be ungrateful; to be too humble would be to lack responsibility.
In Lao Ba's eyes, the "composure" image that Lao Shi had painstakingly built up would be completely shattered.
Yin'e took a deep breath and suppressed the turmoil in his chest.
He raised his head and looked into Lao Ba's eyes.
"Um... alright." His voice lowered. "Thank you for your trust, Myna. But..."
"I might have to recruit a few people from the Eighth Prince's faction. I really can't handle something this big by myself."
Lao Ba raised his eyebrows slightly, then quickly regained his composure.
He looked at Yin'e, as if weighing the weight of those words.
Using people from the Eighth Prince's faction? That's a clever move. It would put the Eighth Prince at ease and give himself a way out.
"Sure." Old Eight nodded, his tone crisp and decisive. "Who do you want to use?"
Yin'e thought for a moment, then shook his head: "I haven't decided yet. I'll bring it up with you when the time comes."
Lao Ba didn't press further, but simply hummed in agreement, picked up his teacup, and slowly took a sip, thus settling the matter.
The ninth brother opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but after seeing the eighth brother's expression, he closed his mouth again.
On the way back to the mansion, the sedan chair swayed and rattled along the bluestone road.
Yin'e leaned against the sedan chair wall, his eyes closed, his fingers tapping lightly on his knees, his mind a complete mess.
Old Eight, you really are shrewd and clever with age.
He just wanted to leak some information to improve his image and make Lao Ba think that Lao Shi wasn't just a troublemaker.
But to my utter surprise, the task ended up falling on my shoulders.
What kind of situation is this? Did they lift a rock only to drop it on their own foot? Or did their cleverness backfire?
He opened his eyes, lifted a corner of the sedan curtain, and looked at the pedestrians on the street.
An old man selling candied hawthorns shouted at the top of his lungs, white smoke billowed from the oven roasting sweet potatoes, and several children squatted by the roadside playing with picture cards, their laughter as clear and crisp as copper bells.
He quickly analyzed the ins and outs of the matter in his mind.
The Eighth Prince entrusted him with the task because he trusted him.
not completely.
Lao Ba is a person who never only looks at one side of the story when doing things.
He handed it over to Lao Shi, probably because he genuinely believed that Lao Shi had intelligence sources and could handle the matter well;
It's also possible that they wanted to give Lao Shi a chance to gain experience so that he could be of great use in the future.
Another possibility is that Lao Ba was testing him.
To test his abilities, to test his loyalty, and to test his position within the Eighth Prince's faction.
If this matter is handled well, it means that Lao Shi is usable;
If things go wrong, it means that Lao Shi is still the same reckless fool. From now on, he should just obediently be a follower.
But no matter what the Eighth Prince thought, Yin'e was more worried about something else.
Can this current incident really bring down the Crown Prince?