Chapter 1645: A New Clue! (1/2)

Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The Great Buddhist Temple incident had come to an end, but its effects were still being felt. With the backing of Wang Chong and Yan Wenzhang, and the promise of the First Prince at the summit, the Imperial Court quickly set up a Charity Office specifically to handle the matter of orphans and widows.

The news of Wang Chong's personal donation of twenty million taels of gold for the orphans and widows was spread throughout the capital and the empire.

The generous words and benevolent acts of the King of Foreign Lands had earned him the widespread praise of the capital, and the streets and alleys were filled with admiration for him.

”Bastard!”

In the Eastern Palace, the First Prince could only gnash his teeth at the news. He had been the originator of the Great Buddhist Temple incident, and he had invited all the great clans, but in the end, it was Wang Chong who had received the support of the people.

As for the First Prince who had built the temple, he had been tossed aside.

”Have the calculations been finished?” the First Prince suddenly asked, not even turning his head.

An extremely wise-looking Eastern Palace advisor moved around the beads of an abacus before lowering his head and giving a report.

”The calculations are done. According to the records in the ledger, thirty-five million taels of gold were received in donations. Five hundred thousand taels were left in the Great Buddhist Temple, and the rest was taken away by the Grand Scribe!”

This number made the hall fall silent, and the First Prince's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

Thirty-five million taels!

This was even more than Wang Chong had donated, nearly double. This made the First Prince the greatest donor of this event, and also the greatest loser. But despite his contribution, it was Wang Chong who had taken all of the prestige.

The First Prince hated Wang Chong to his very core!

In this oppressive air, an old and deep voice spoke, instantly assuaging the mood with its mere presence.

”There is no need for Your Highness to be so vexed. It is only thirty-five million taels of gold. Your Highness has the realm, so why worry about this trifling money?”

At this time, the only person who could speak like this to the First Prince after such a major defeat and humiliation was the Ghost King.

Not far from the First Prince, the Ghost King was reading through a book, not even raising his head as he spoke.

This Ghost King… to think he would speak with this sort of tone to His Highness.

Nearby, Zhu Tong'en and the other Eastern Palace advisors glanced at the Ghost King with complicated looks. Anyone who had dared to speak to the First Prince like this in the past would probably already have their head rolling.

But for some reason, the First Prince was extremely respectful to this mysterious Ghost King, treating him completely unlike his other advisors.

”Senior, it was your idea to build the Great Buddhist Temple, but now we've lost everything, and can't even tell which of the clans attending the ceremony are sincerely loyal, yet Senior still seems able to laugh,” the First Prince sternly said.

Everyone could sense that the First Prince was suppressing his anger, and he was surprisingly succeeding, showing incredible restraint in front of the Ghost King.

At this point, the Ghost King chuckled and finally put down his book.

”Who said that it's impossible to tell which ones are truly loyal to you?” the Ghost King said lightly.

With these words, the Ghost King instantly had the attention of everyone in the hall.

”Right now, I have a rough understanding of this King of Foreign Lands you speak of. I have to say that his action was rather unexpected. Encouraging the great clans to attend the ceremony and then funding their donations, and then pushing things along so that all the money is taken away for the sake of orphans and widows—this entire plan was meticulously designed. But in the end, it's all minor.”

The Ghost King placed his hands behind his back and slowly rose from his chair.

”This… What does Senior mean?”

The advisors were stunned, and even the First Prince frowned in confusion.

”You don't get it?”