Chapter 13: The Crown Prince's MercyChapter 903: Knowing the Malice of Hearts >

The emergence of oblivion, at best, merely adds a seemingly favorable possibility to an already complex and ever-changing situation for Li Chen.

However, everything is still up in the air.

The most important point is that Li Chen knows the wickedness of human hearts.

Jiéwàng seems like an innocent heart wanting the best for Shaolin.

The problem is that Shaolin North and South have been separated for a hundred years, each with their own abbot and their own system.

If this teacher ancestor were to simply act as a mascot, peacefully and securely, then both the north and south would naturally revere him.

If someone forcefully tries to take the lead of both North and South Shaolin, things might not go smoothly.

Li Chen did not participate and knew the variables were enormous.

So Li Chen didn't have high hopes at all.

He also had something more important to do; his wedding day with Su Jinpa was just around the corner.

"There are five days left."

The next morning, Li Chen summoned He Kun into the Hall of Political Affairs and said, "Five days from now is the wedding day. You should have almost finished collecting the congratulatory gifts."

He Kun beamed with delight and said, “Almost everything is done. Officials from all levels of the court have delivered their gifts. Here are the accounts, Your Highness, please take a look.”

Li Chen took the thick ledger He Kun handed him, and after a quick glance, he went straight to the total at the back.

Reconciling the details is not his job, naturally someone will go to check the inventory. More importantly, He Kun dare not mess with this, Li Chen believes He Kun still has some brains.

As soon as he saw the total number, Li Chen immediately grinned.

All kinds of bullion, gold and treasures, totaling eight million seven hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver.

"Very good, quite good."

The officials in the court were even more corrupt than Li Chen had imagined.

Otherwise, where would they get so much silver from.

This is equivalent to over eight million taels of silver, which is more than the total tax revenue of the Qin Empire for a year.

With this money, the construction of the Royal Academy would no longer be a problem.

Even other things can be done.

Having secured so much silver, Li Chen felt that this time, even if he had to lower himself and accept bribes, it wouldn't be a loss.

"Your Highness, not just the civil and military officials, but many feudal princes have also sent representatives with gifts. Most of them are treasures, with varying values. However, there's been no movement from Prince Wen's side."

Listening to He Kun's report, Li Chen frowned slightly.

As the prince, Li Chen's relatives and elders were all feudal lords. No matter their willingness or unwillingness, they had to make a gesture for his wedding.

While everyone else had brought their gifts, King Wen remained silent. This piqued Li Chen's curiosity.

Could it be that the restless King Wen has become so incapacitated, embarrassing himself over such a trivial matter

Even if he achieved his goal, what good would it do him

At this level, one shouldn't be so immature.

Just then, a voice came from outside the palace gates.

The Duke's gift has arrived.

Li Chen rose and said, “Let’s go. This palace will personally see what Wen Wang's tardy gift is.”

As Li Chen walked out of Xizheng Hall with He Kun and Wan Jiaojiao, he saw a line of carriages escorted by guards being brought to the square in front of Xizheng Hall.

A large chest sat on the carriage, clearly custom-made. It was unopened, so no one knew what lay inside.

And following the carriage came two clerks from Wen Wangfu.

One middle-aged man with a goatee respectfully said to Li Chen: "My lord, I am Hu Kai. By the order of the King Wen, I present a gift to His Royal Highness on his wedding day."s previous cowardly nature, he would have definitely exposed the affair between Zhao Xuanji and King Wen.At that time, the affair of the feudal lords interfering in state affairs and colluding with th...