Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

"Your Highness the Prince wants to forge weapons himself?"

Xiao Ming pretended to be terrified: "This won't do. If His Majesty knew about this, he would punish us severely."

Let’s dig a pit for Chu Ning first.

When the higher-ups investigate this matter, he will be able to clear himself of it cleanly.

Chu Ning frowned, his face showing indignation: "I forged the weapons not for myself, but for the guards to have weapons on the battlefield!

If my father wants to blame someone, then blame me alone!

If the Ministry of War investigates, I will bear the responsibility alone.

Shopkeeper Xiao, please step back. This matter has nothing to do with you and the other blacksmiths!"

As soon as these words were spoken, more than 30 veterans were deeply moved.

They were just veterans who had returned from the front lines, and many people said they were deserters and looked down on them because of that.

Over the years, they have been looked down upon and treated coldly because of their defeat, and no one cares about them at all.

But today, Chu Ning would rather take the blame alone so that they can have the right weapons.

At this moment, their attitude towards Chu Ning changed completely.

At first, they just wanted to follow Chu Ning to the front line to fulfill their long-cherished wish as veterans.

But now, they really want to protect Chu Ning's safety.

"Your Highness, you must not be punished for us!"

"Yes, Your Highness. Leave the forging of weapons to us."

"Let's all work together. We must not let His Highness take the blame for us!"

"If we are punished, we will be guilty of the same crime as Your Highness!"

Everyone was moved and took the tools from the blacksmiths.

Xiao Ming looked at this scene. Although he looked embarrassed, he was very excited in his heart.

Forging weapons is not a matter of a day or two. If Chu Ning had really been forging weapons here these days, he would have become a laughing stock in Kyoto City.

Such an interesting thing must of course be reported to the Crown Prince and the Second Prince!

With a roll of his eyes, Xiao Ming pretended to be helpless: "Since Your Highness insists on doing this, I can only obey your orders."

"It just so happens that all the blacksmiths are tired from working so hard these days, so you can take a few days off. However, Your Highness, you must pay them for their wages."

The blacksmiths around showed joy on their faces.

Manager Xiao is very kind. He doesn't even have to work for me, but he still pays me.

But Zhao Yu's face darkened when he heard this: "Chief Executive Xiao, are you acting like this to deceive His Highness that he can't do anything to you?"

Xiao Ming looked terrified: "What do you mean by that? Do you think I am deliberately making things difficult for Your Highness?"

"you……"

"All right!"

Chu Ning waved his hand to interrupt Zhao Yu: "Zhao Yu, pay the blacksmith's wages and let them go."

When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned.

What does it mean to settle the wages?

Are you trying to drive people away?

Xiao Ming reacted and a cold look flashed in his eyes.

If all the blacksmiths were driven away, there would be no need for him as the shopkeeper to stay.

"Your Highness, are you going to vent your anger on these blacksmiths because of what happened just now?"

Xiao Ming said seriously: "These blacksmiths have worked here for many years. Even if they have no merit, they have worked hard. How can Your Highness make such a hasty decision?"

Chu Ning sighed, his face full of helplessness: "Chief Executive Xiao, you also know that I want to forge weapons. If my father blames me for this, I am afraid that other people will be implicated.

The reason why I fired these blacksmiths is because I don’t want to implicate them.”

After saying that, he looked at the blacksmith and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, if you want to stay, it's fine. I can give you more wages.

But once the court blames you, you will also have to bear the responsibility together with me!"

The blacksmiths immediately refused to work upon hearing this.

"I have an old mother to support at home, so please pay me the wages, Your Highness."

"Your Highness, my wife is about to give birth, and I want to pay off my wages so I can take care of her."

"I...I still have children to raise. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

No one wants to take responsibility!

If I don't leave now, do I have to wait for the court to blame me?

If it were any other prince, the court would not dare to blame him, but since the Prince of Penglai has no power or influence, they do not want to share responsibility with such a person.

Chu Ning looked at the blacksmiths with anxious faces and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Zhao Yu, pay them their wages!"

At the command, the blacksmiths rushed towards Zhao Yu.

Xiao Ming's eyes rolled and he came back to his senses.

Looking at the veterans who had already started forging, he regretted it deeply.

It turns out that Chu Ning wanted to take control of the blacksmith shop from the very beginning!

It’s ridiculous that he still doesn’t know and thinks Chu Ning just wants to make weapons, and he even wants to make fun of Chu Ning.

Now, instead of seeing Chu Ning’s joke, he became the joke.

No, we must not let the blacksmith leave, otherwise everything will be over.

He was a secret agent arranged by the Crown Prince to work for the Second Prince. If there were no blacksmith shop, neither the Crown Prince nor the Second Prince would have used him.

"and many more!"

Xiao Ming rushed forward and stood in front of the blacksmith, saying coldly: "The wages have not been calculated yet. If you pay too much, Your Highness will suffer a loss, right?"

The blacksmiths were stunned.

Xiao Ming is the one who calculates the wages. Now that Xiao Ming objects, can I still get the wages?

"Shopkeeper Xiao, we can ask for less."

"Yeah, we want to go home as soon as possible."

"Boss, please let us go."

The blacksmiths begged desperately, but Xiao Ming had a gloomy face and refused to agree.

Chu Ning chuckled: "Shopkeeper Xiao, you just said that even though they didn't make any contributions, they still worked hard. How about this, I'll take a loss and give you ten taels of silver each!"

Ten taels of silver are enough to cover the expenses of a family of four for a month.

The blacksmiths were ecstatic and fell to their knees in worship.

"Thank you, Your Highness!"

Zhao Yu didn't waste any time and immediately took out the silver and distributed it to the blacksmiths.

The blacksmiths who received the silver kowtowed to Chu Ning and thanked him before leaving.

"Come back, come back!"

Regardless of Xiao Ming's roar behind them, the blacksmiths did not even turn their heads back and completely disappeared from his sight.

Chu Ning looked at Xiao Ming who was alone and a smile appeared on his face.

"Shopkeeper Xiao, I guess you don't want to share the responsibility with me, right?"

"I……"

"Shopkeeper Xiao, you don't need to explain. I understand!"

Chu Ning took a small bag of silver from Zhao Yu and threw it over: "Here are fifty taels of silver, which should be more than enough to pay Manager Xiao's wages."

After saying that, he threw the silver into Xiao Ming's hands.

Xiao Ming's face turned completely gloomy.

He finally understood the purpose of Chu Ning's coming here today!

From the very beginning, Chu Ning had been digging a hole for himself, with the goal of completely taking control of this blacksmith shop.

This Chu Ning, a prince who was about to become a scapegoat, actually dared to play tricks on himself like this!

Xiao Ming became more and more angry the more he thought about it. A cold light flashed in his eyes and he suddenly looked up and looked at Chu Ning.

"Prince Penglai has great means. I will definitely report this to the Second Prince!"

After saying that, Xiao Ming took the silver and glared at Chu Ning fiercely before turning around and leaving.

Guan Yun's eyes turned cold, and his murderous intent surged: "Your Highness, do you want to..."

He made a gesture of wiping his neck!