Liu Xun's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
What would happen if he took this evidence to the emperor and accused the Crown Prince?
The Crown Prince would fall, and Wang Pu and the Zhen Family would be uprooted. The position of Minister of Revenue would be left vacant, and the North's largest Imperial Merchant would be brought down. In an instant, a vast power vacuum would appear in both the Imperial Court and the world of commerce.
Who would fill that vacuum?
Would it be him? No. He had just suffered heavy losses in the grain crisis, and his foundations were still unstable. He couldn't possibly swallow such a huge prize.
Then...
The answer was obvious.
It was that "Gu Shen"! That mysterious "Southern Righteous Merchant"!
What a clever move, using one blade to kill another!
What a masterful way to kill three birds with one stone!
He wanted not only to kill the Crown Prince, but also to use Liu Xun's hand to clear away obstacles in the Imperial Court and eliminate his rivals in business!
Once Liu Xun and the Crown Prince had fought each other to the death, Gu Shen would appear as a "savior," clean up the mess, and reap all the rewards!
By then, this "informant" would probably fare no better. His father was naturally suspicious and hated nothing more than his sons fighting among themselves. If Liu Xun rose to power by stepping over his elder brother's corpse, then in his father's eyes, he would be nothing but a ruthless schemer who stopped at nothing.
"How ruthless... How vicious..."
Liu Xun murmured to himself. He felt like a child stripped bare, standing naked in the freezing snow, exposed from head to toe for someone to inspect.
The booklet he had once treasured