Chapter 346: Chapter 346: A Crime Worthy of Execution

Huangfu Yuxuan leisurely asked again, “If we send a letter from Wangshan Town to the Northern County Governor Mansion with the same urgent speed, how many days would it take?”

Someone calculated and said, “It should take two days!”

Huangfu Yuxuan smiled. Of course, he knew the answer, but he wouldn’t say it; he wanted others to say it. Otherwise, as an Imperial Grandson, if he knew too much, wouldn’t it deliberately invite suspicion?

“From the Northern County Governor Mansion, sending urgently to the Capital City, how many days would it take?”

He kept asking questions, leaving Jiang Yuhuo even more puzzled.

But since he was an Imperial Grandson, as a Fifth Rank Imperial Censor, he couldn’t question his intentions.

“Within six days it should arrive!”

Jiang Yuhuo felt a relief upon hearing this; the implication of the Second Young Master’s words from the Prince Liang Mansion was probably that sending directly to the Capital City is more time-saving, after all, it’s one day less.

Many people also thought so.

Huangfu Yuxuan’s gaze was steady, exuding an innate majesty. Though he was a young man just coming of age, those around him saw a noble air and power in him that could rival the Crown Prince.

This demeanor, even the former Crown Prince didn’t possess, but his son did.

After all, he is a Royal Family grandson.

Amidst the varying thoughts of the crowd, Huangfu Yuxuan calmly said, “Grandfather, Shang Jingwang deceived his superiors, concealed the epidemic, and seized credit. His crime deserves death!”

Everyone was stunned; even those who previously insisted Shang Jingwang was at fault only thought of slightly punishing him, never considering such a severe crime deserving of death.

Huangfu Yuxuan’s statement, though not loud, seemed to explode in the ears of everyone who heard it clearly.

His crime deserves death!

Deserves death?!

The Crown Prince’s gaze suddenly became fierce.

A silent dog bites; ever since he became the Crown Prince, he began monitoring every move of the people from the former Crown Prince Mansion intensely.

Prince Liang, that useless, indulged himself, smashing things and yelling at people, even killing several servants during his confinement, and he knew all about it.

The Eldest Son of Prince Liang showed no difference despite his father’s dethroned Crown Prince status, still living a life of indulgence.

The Second Young Master of Prince Liang was also pretty compliant.

However, now, he realized that this compliance was all a façade.

This Huangfu Yuxuan was indeed bolder than his useless father king, daring to oppose him in the court? Was he trying to draw their father’s attention through such methods? Hmph, he miscalculated.

The Emperor was also somewhat surprised and said, “Oh, Yuxuan, you only asked a few questions, how did you reach such a conclusion?”

Huangfu Yuxuan remained indifferent and said coldly, “Grandfather, even though I only asked a few questions, from them, I discerned Shang Jingwang’s malicious intent.”

“Speak and let us hear!”

Huangfu Yuxuan stated, “Grandfather, since the decline of Tianqian Country, war broke out, and the Huangfu surname was almost wiped out by bandits. It was our Nanxia’s Grand Ancestor who turned the tide, reclaiming the dignity of our Huangfu name from bandit hands and restoring the prestige of the Huangfu name!”

These were some well-known stories from Nanxia’s founding, which the Huangfu descendants took pride in. Naturally, these Nanxia officials were also familiar with this history.

The Emperor nodded slightly and said nothing.

Huangfu Yuxuan’s eyes became sharp, “To prevent the chaos of the Tianqian’s last days from arising again, our dynasty has strict orders; ranks are clearly defined, each performs their duties, policies communicated without hindrance. No deceit, no concealment, no slander, no deception! These are ancestral instructions, and for over a hundred years, these instructions have been treasured alongside the Nanxia Law Code as treasures of governance. They are the foundation of our Nanxia’s peace and prosperity.”

The Crown Prince, seeing his demeanor, felt annoyed and impatiently said, “These are known by everyone; there’s no need for you to waste time repeating them! What exactly are you trying to say?”

Ignoring the Crown Prince’s angry tone, Huangfu Yuxuan continued to the Emperor, “Grandfather, when a major issue occurs under a jurisdiction, if it can be handled, it must be reported to the superior. If it cannot be handled, it must be reported to the superior for their judgment. This is the most basic duty of a subordinate and has been a strict order since the reign of the Sovereign Ancestor. If Shang Jingwang simultaneously reported to both the Capital City and the Prefectural Governor, he would be without fault. However, it is evident that Shang Jingwang did not do so; he bypassed the Prefectural Governor and Governor, reporting directly to the Capital City. There’s no need to say more, everyone can think of the motive he had!”

Jiang Yuhuo struggled desperately, “Young Master Yuxuan, perhaps Shang Jingwang reported simultaneously…”

“If it was simultaneously, by the third day after Shang Jingwang’s memorial arrived in the Capital City, the Northern County Governor’s memorial should also have arrived. Now, don’t mention three days; even ten days have passed. Do you think, upon learning of an epidemic, the Northern County Governor would not report to the Capital City immediately?”

Jiang Yuhuo could not answer.

Simply not reporting to the superior and directly reporting to the Capital City might not seem significant, but everyone present knew that whether it was significant depended on how the Emperor viewed it and whether similar incidents had occurred before.

Unfortunately, similar incidents had indeed occurred before.

During the reign of the Peace Sovereign, Qinghuang Prefecture under Qinzhou suffered a flood; the Prefect of Qinghuang Prefecture was a descendant of the Prince Su, a collateral branch of the Huangfu Royal Family, and because of their decline, they obtained a Prefect’s post to gain some external experience, which, upon returning to the Capital City, could serve as a basis for promotion and to partially regain some of Prince Su’s former prestige.

However, when the flood hit, this Prefect, too self-confident despite lacking governance experience, did not take the flood seriously.

In the following days, heavy rain led to the dike breaking along the river, turning hundreds of miles of fertile fields into marshes. The stored grains in the Prefectural Treasury were not used for disaster relief immediately, resulting in starving people rampaging and looting.

Terrified, the Prefect called for troops to suppress the chaos; however, the displaced people were so numerous, and the Prefecture’s garrison only numbered a thousand, insufficient to combat so many angry citizens. Moreover, the Prefect’s incompetence left the people hopeless, resulting in frequent looting of supplies and assaults on officers.

This Prefect could not suppress the chaos; in panic, he immediately dispatched an urgent letter to the Capital City seven hundred miles away. By the time the relief envoy from the Capital City was deployed, the flood in Qinghuang, due to a lack of effective management and poor resettlement of the populace, had turned the entire Qinghuang Prefecture into a living hell, with flooded plains, corpses strewn everywhere, nine out of ten homes empty, and desolation everywhere.

If at that time the Prefect had first reported to the Prefectural Governor instead of futilely waiting for the relief envoy and funds from the Capital City, the Governor could have coordinated nearby supplies, potentially saving tens of thousands of lives.

In Qinghuang Prefecture, out of one hundred thousand people, due to a flood and the Prefect’s delay, only a few thousand survived in the end.

This incident ultimately led to accountability; the Prefect was executed, and all officials involved were severely punished. Prince Su’s branch was demoted to commoners!

It was after this incident that the Court issued a strict order; in case of disasters or incidents, reporting is mandatory. This is not only a procedure but also a necessity!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep