After being reborn, I stole the female lead's cheat ability and raised the empress.

Chapter 162 Establishing the Crown Prince

Zhao Jihua and Xia Li, their faces grave, hurriedly returned to their residence.

Along the way, the sound of horses' hooves was rapid, as if pounding on their increasingly heavy hearts.

"This situation is becoming increasingly unpredictable."

Zhao Jihua broke the silence first, her voice tinged with anxiety.

Xia Li gripped the reins tightly, his eyes blazing: "Let's return to the manor first, and then discuss this further."

Upon entering the mansion, the two went straight to the study and dismissed the servants.

However, before they could even settle in, shocking news arrived—

The third prince has been named crown prince!

This news was like a boulder, stirring up a thousand waves in their already turbulent hearts.

"How could this happen so suddenly?" Zhao Jihua stood up abruptly, nearly dropping the teacup in his hand.

She frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said, "There must be a deeper meaning behind this. We probably haven't fully figured out the Emperor's thoughts yet."

Xia Li: "What does sister think?"

Zhao Jihua said, "I have a bad feeling that something terrible is going to happen, so I sent someone to invite the Ninth Prince over to discuss this together."

……

Before long, the Ninth Prince arrived in a hurry.

Inside the study, the candlelight flickered, illuminating the stern faces of the three men.

"The fact that my third brother has been made crown prince is not good news for us."

As soon as the Ninth Prince sat down, he got straight to the point.

Zhao Jihua nodded slightly: "Indeed, the emperor's move was sudden, and there may be some unknown secret behind it."

Xia Li chimed in, "Nowadays, many court officials are also dissatisfied with this sudden investiture, and they even want the emperor to appoint the eldest prince instead."

"But the emperor rejected them all," the Ninth Prince added, his tone tinged with helplessness.

The three fell silent, a heavy atmosphere filling the study. After a long while, the Ninth Prince spoke up: "If it were the eldest prince, it would be fine, but it's the third prince. If he gains power, he certainly won't let us go! We can't just sit here and wait to die; we must come up with a solution."

After a moment of contemplation, Zhao Jihua said, "I think we can start with the court officials and unite with those who firmly support the eldest prince to put pressure on the emperor."

The Ninth Prince shook his head and said, "No, this is too risky. Since the Emperor has already made his decision, applying pressure now will only make him more resentful, and he may even suspect that we have ulterior motives."

Xia Li agreed with the Ninth Prince's view: "The Ninth Prince is absolutely right. We need to find another way to express our position without arousing the Emperor's suspicion."

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

A servant hurried in and whispered a few words in Zhao Jihua's ear.

Zhao Jihua's face instantly turned gloomy.

"What's wrong?" Xia Li and the Ninth Prince asked almost simultaneously.

Zhao Jihua took a deep breath and slowly said, "I just received news that the Third Prince has begun to expand his power. He has won over many court officials, and even some of those who originally supported us have begun to waver."

This news made everyone's mood even heavier.

Before they could even begin to discuss their strategy, the doorman reported again:

"A man whose house is filled with gold and jade requests an audience."

The group exchanged glances, all with a bad feeling.

Xia Li said, "Please invite him in."

The newcomer's face was full of anxiety: "Master! Something terrible has happened! The Third Prince has surrounded Jin Yu Man Tang with his men!"

"What?!!"

"Let's go take a look!"

The group immediately rushed to Jin Yu Man Tang.

The Third Prince strode into the shop with an arrogant expression, shouting, "Your Golden Jade Hall is completely illegal and non-compliant! I, the Prince, hereby represent..."

Upon hearing this, Xia Li hurriedly stepped forward, smiling but asking firmly, "I wonder what exactly Your Highness means by what is illegal? Please enlighten me."

Upon seeing this, the Third Prince's face stiffened.

The subordinate next to him quickly stepped forward and whispered, "Your Highness, there are thousands of laws and regulations in the court, but very few shops actually abide by them. If you just say something, there must be some violations on their part."

Upon hearing this, the Third Prince couldn't hide his smugness: "You haven't paid any taxes to the court! Everyone knows that in the capital, anyone connected to powerful figures is spared from being pressured to pay taxes; they all rely on voluntary tributes. So you definitely haven't paid any taxes!"

He arrogantly ordered, "Guards! Seal off this Golden Jade Hall!"

"Wait a minute," Xia Li smiled and asked the shopkeeper to show everyone the proof, and said, "We pay every tax to the imperial court on time. Not only that, we also give an extra 2% of the profit from each item in the shop to the national treasury, which is used to build bridges and roads and benefit the people."

The onlookers began to discuss it.

"This Jin Yu Man Tang is truly a conscientious shop!"

"I didn't expect that Jin Yu Man Tang, a company of such great size, would still be so law-abiding."

"He even donated money to help us repair the road. He's such a kind person! I've decided to buy things from him from now on!"

"I'll go there again in the future. The products at Jin Yu Man Tang are of good quality and the prices are reasonable."

"That's right, and the Golden Jade Hall contains many rare, exquisite, and unique items!"

"Yes, that glass is only sold at Jin Yu Man Tang."

"..."

They're all praising the abundance of gold and jade.

Xia Li smiled enigmatically: "Your Highness, rest assured, we have paid all the taxes that were due. And please, Your Highness, refrain from sleeping where you shouldn't be sleeping."

"..."

The third prince looked very annoyed and continued to list a series of so-called problems, such as the store's decoration not meeting regulations, the prices of goods being too high, and the employees' poor service attitude.

However, Xia Li remained calm and methodically addressed and refuted these accusations one by one.

She explained in detail that every step was carried out strictly in accordance with imperial laws and industry standards, and there were no violations.

Just as the Third Prince was about to launch another attack, a commotion suddenly broke out at the shop entrance.

Immediately afterwards, a group of people from the black market walked in.

Upon realizing they were from the black market, everyone held their breath and watched silently as they escorted two extraordinary-looking children into the center of the crowd.

Although they were only half a person's height, no one dared to ignore the two children.

What a joke! The black market is all-powerful; they kill without blinking an eye. Who dares to offend them?

Although these two are only half a person tall, you can tell from their appearance that they are not ordinary people!

Xia Li smiled gently; the two people were hope Yao and Qi Shu.

hope Yao, her face ashen, held a mysterious black token in her hand. She walked straight up to the Third Prince and said coldly, "Who gave you such audacity to touch the businesses protected by our black market?"

The Third Prince's expression changed drastically upon seeing the black market token, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

The black market is incredibly powerful, even disregarding the Imperial Preceptor's Mansion, and is definitely not something I can easily provoke.

Left with no other choice, he turned and left dejectedly, not forgetting to glare fiercely at Xia Li before he left, as if to say that this score would be settled in the future.

With the departure of the Third Prince, the shop returned to its usual tranquility.

Xia Li looked at hope Yao gratefully.

After everyone left, Xi Yao quickly put on a childlike, innocent smile, tugging at Xia Li's skirt and pleading, "Sister, sister, look how amazing I am! I chased away the bad guys! I want a reward~"

"Sister is amazing!" Qi Shu immediately became a cheerleader, clapping her hands enthusiastically.

Xia Li smiled and squatted down, "hope Yao is great, she chased away the bad guys for her sister. Qi Shu is also very capable, he's a real man. I saw Qi Shu protecting her the whole time!"

"Sister, hug me~"

"I want one too!"

Both children were being affectionate and wanted her to hold them.

Xia Li picked up the two children with a kind expression, one on each side.

"Xiyao, how were you so amazing just now? You stood up so bravely! You acted like a little adult, I almost didn't recognize you."

Qi Shu said, "I heard that my sister is bullying me. Come on, protect my sister."

hope Yao explained, "We heard that our sister was being bullied, so we came to protect her. That's how my dad always talks to those people. By the way, sister, didn't I give you a token before? Dad said this token is very powerful and important; it can protect you!"

"My sister forgot to bring it out, but thankfully you two came to protect me. Thank you!"

As Xia Li spoke, she smiled and kissed the two children's pretty cheeks, "You two are getting cuter and cuter, I love you so much~"

But after a short while, she put the two children down and said, "I can't take it anymore, you're too heavy. Go inside and play for a while, see if there's anything you like to take home, okay?"

"Yay!" The two laughed and ran into the shop.

The Ninth Prince looked at her and teased, "How come I didn't know? Miss Xia, why do you like to speak in such a high-pitched voice?"

"Really?" Xia Li herself hadn't even noticed. "Maybe when you talk to children, you just unconsciously add a certain tone."

"Didn't Miss Xia say before that this kind of clip is pretentious and should be avoided?"

Xia Li: ...

I told you not to attract bad romantic prospects, and now you're using that on me?

Enraged, she was about to hit the Ninth Prince on the spot, but the Ninth Prince had already flashed to the other side of Zhao Jihua. When Xia Li ran over there, he ran back to this side.

Xia Li was genuinely angry; she tilted her head to the side.

She looked at Zhao Jihua with a wronged expression: "You! Sister, look at him!"

"Alright! Stop fooling around. Ninth Prince, how old are you? Why are you bullying a little girl?"

Ninth Prince: ...

Xia Li burst into laughter.

The smile wouldn't disappear; it would simply transfer from the Ninth Prince's face to my own.

Fortunately, after a while of laughter and joking, the oppressive feeling in everyone's hearts was finally relieved.

Everyone knew that Jin Yu Man Tang had successfully averted a crisis thanks to the support of the black market.

However, the Third Prince is vindictive and will surely cause countless troubles in the future.