Dead silence settled over the room, and then Royce tilted his head with a surprised look on his face. "Return to the imperial city?" He asked, and Charles replied.

"Yes."

"And why would we do that?"

"Well, your arrival here was due to the previous lord's investigation, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was."

"So, now that a new Lord has taken over the reins of the estate, doesn't that mean there's little to no need for you to remain here?"

Delong chuckled softly. "You make it sound so simple, Sir Charles."

"But it should be," Austin replied, before adding slowly. "Unless of course… your team has found other unofficial reasons to remain here?"

Silence reigned once again but Charles wasn't done with what he was saying.

"Of course, since I arrived in this estate, I've heard many rumors, like how villagers are made to pay additional taxes and how others are forced to give up their land for the 'emperor's will'. But that's absurd, don't you think?"

"Anyways, those are just rumors after all. It's not like anything like that is really happening, am I right?" Charles asked the three inspectors, but neither of them seemed willing to say anything.

In fact, they were slowly feeling uncomfortable as the room seemed to grow warmer. But unfortunately for them, Charles wasn't done talking. "Trust me, gentlemen. I find it difficult to believe these whispers myself, but the people? Ah, they whisper a lot, and when whispers become too loud, they tend to find their way into the ears of the Emperor, don't you agree?" He asked, but the room remained silent.

None of the inspectors could raise their heads or look Charles straight in the eyes.

Even Sana had a smile on her face right now, and she was really curious to see how Austin would kick all the inspectors out.

Meanwhile, Delong was becoming increasingly annoyed by the questions Sir Charles kept asking.

He finally raised his head, but his fingers kept tapping his armrest as he spoke. "Sir Charles, just what are you trying to imply?"

"Oh, nothing at all. It's just that… sometimes when guests overstay their welcome, the host begins to wonder why."

Listening to his words, Royce's mouth flattened into a thin line.

Delong exhaled slowly, and Skye simply resumed writing, though his writing speed had now slowed down a lot.

But before any of the three inspectors could open their mouths to speak, Charles continued in a calm and steady voice. "Inspectors, I understand that this territory has struggled with neglect, corruption, and even drought, but when strangers in expensive robes begin to demand coins from villagers without reason… well, whispers will definitely reach His Highness, and it won't be long before it reaches His Imperial Majesty."

Delong narrowed his eyes as he glared at Charles. "Sir Charles, those are heavy words coming out of the lips of a mere consultant."

"But they're not mine, Inspector Delong. They're simply some of what the fourth prince has heard, and I'm merely passing them along." Charles replied with a smirk.

But Delong was increasingly becoming irritated by the man sitting across from him.

Sensing the tension in the air, Royce wasn't going to risk Delong ruining the possibility of having a future investment partner, so he tried to clear the air between them.

"Gentlemen, let's not turn a simple cordial meeting into something uncomfortable. The fruits and juice are really delicious, so let's try to redirect our focus to them, shall we?"

"Ah, speaking of redirecting our focus." Charles said, before adding, "I believe the emperor assigned three capable men to watch over a single territory with the expectation that these men would 'focus' on their main objective instead of squeezing coins out of a couple of farmers who are barely able to take care of themselves and their families."

Delong furrowed his brows and he warned. "Sir Charles, your words are treading the dangerous line between a statement and an insult."

"Oh, really? But I haven't mentioned any names." Charles replied with a smirk as he leaned forward. "All I did was open up about the whispers I've heard so far. But, perhaps Sir Royce was right. Perhaps we've veered a bit too far from cordiality. After all, I'm merely a consultant of the fourth prince and my role is to advise him on how to make his land bloom again, and the first step in doing that is for me to get rid of the weeds first."

Hearing this, Royce blinked and he suddenly became even more cautious at Charles' subtle way of speaking as he asked. "What do you mean by getting rid of the weeds?"

But Charles simply smiled politely before beckoning for Sana to come closer to him.

Sana did exactly that before handing him a tightly sealed scroll. This was what Austin had asked Sana to get for him just before he joined the meeting.

Looking at the scroll, the three inspectors noticed that the wax was pressed with a distinctive symbol that represented the personal seal of the Fourth Prince.

"Is that…?"

"From His Highness?"

Both Royce and Delong expressed a look of surprise and worry, but Charles simply smiled as he slowly opened the scroll.

This was the document Austin had prepared the night before as a backup plan to finally rid the estate of the meddling Imperial Oversight Team.

He did this because of the report he received from his retainers and due to the warning his father-in-law had given him as well.

If this group of corrupted, greedy ass motherfuckers were to remain in the estate, doing as they pleased, any of his three older brothers could use them as pawns to carry out their objective. Because, from what he could see, their loyalties could easily be bought.

So it was better to get rid of them as soon as possible before they ruined the estate even more than they already had.

Opening it, Charles began to read out the contents of the scroll.

"By order of the Jade Swallow Estate's rightful lord, His Highness, the Fourth Prince, has successfully completed a review of his new domain, and based on the findings collected by his internal investigators and stewards, it has been determined that the presence of the Imperial Oversight Team is no longer required in this territory."

Once he was done reading it out, Charles gently placed the scroll on the table between them, and Royce stared at the scroll like it had scorpions crawling over it. "The Fourth Prince wrote that?"

"That is correct."

"But…" Royce tried to talk, but he was short of words because never in his wildest dream could he have predicted the fourth prince doing something like this.

Wasn't the fourth prince supposed to be the laziest and most reclusive of the emperor's sons?

So why was he suddenly interested in a matter like this?

These were the thoughts spiraling through Royce's mind, but Delong refused to be perturbed by the contents of the scroll.

Instead, he scoffed and glared at Charles. "Sir Charles, a prince cannot revoke an imperial appointment. Only the emperor-"

"But this is not a revocation," Charles interrupted him smoothly.

"Then what is it?" Skye asked.

"It's just a formal request for reassignment based on the completion of your duties. Since Lord Han has stepped down, and the estate is now under new leadership, it stands to reason that your investigation is now complete."

"And what if we choose to stay?" Delong asked.

"Then I believe the court will be receiving a direct report from His Highness himself, leading the emperor to question why the permit taxes of the villagers have tripled over the last three weeks, and we all know who would be blamed for such actions."

"Is that a threat?" Delong's grip on his armrest tightened, and he unleashed a massive amount of powerful aura from his body; his aim was to suppress and possibly choke Sir Charles to death.

But Sana swiftly countered his aura pressure with hers, causing Delong's to disperse into the air and forcing him to glare at the maid who now had a smug smirk on her face.

Meanwhile, Charles noticed this and continued to speak with even more confidence in his voice. "A threat?" He asked as he chuckled darkly.

"Yes, it is. So if you and your men leave gracefully, His Highness might even honor your time here and offer you parting gifts in return, but if you choose to remain in the estate, then don't be surprised if the emperor's shadow guards come knocking on your door tonight."

A long silence reigned in the room.

All three inspectors knew it would be game over for them if the emperor ever sent over his shadow guards.

Not only would they be unable to detect their presence, but they would be killed before they could even try to defend themselves.

Knowing this, Delong grunted as he spoke. "We'll take this into consideration and leave before sunset tomorrow."

"Very well," Charles said as he stood up from his seat. "Then I'll inform the prince of your response."

Charles bowed politely and Po stood up from his seat as he also bowed, but he had a satisfied smile on his lips before trailing behind Austin.

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