Chapter 157 I Didn't Agree

Lu Jinlan asked again, "Is Qi Lin back?"

Qi Lin suddenly raised his head, his shock evident in his expression.

She was appointed by the late emperor to serve as the chief spy in the Jiang Kingdom. She had only met him once, five or six years ago, when Lu Jinlan came to the Jiang Kingdom.

At that time, Lu Jinlan was already the Marquis of Jing'an, while Qi Lin was just a minor chief of secret agents.

That year, Marquis Jing'an held immense power and fame throughout the land, becoming incredibly popular. As soon as she arrived in the Jiang Kingdom, long queues formed to see her, and in the blink of an eye, several stacks of visiting cards were piled up.

Qi Lin, who was part of the Hua Kingdom officials stationed in Jiang Kingdom, was arranged to have a meal with Lu Jinlan along with a dozen other people.

She was quiet and reserved, not good at speaking, and didn't have much of a chance to talk during the meal, so she just ate in silence.

Finally, Lu Jinlan took the initiative to ask her a few questions: "Are you used to life in Jiang Guoxi?" "Is there anyone at home who can help you?" "If you have difficulties with official business, go to the Prime Minister. If you have difficulties with personal matters, write to me."

These few words filled Qi Lin with trepidation and deep emotion.

When Lu Jinlan ascended the throne last year, all personnel stationed abroad received a generous New Year's gift, including silver, clothing, herbs, and some local specialties from their hometowns.

There was also a sentence written by Lu Jinlan himself: Take care of yourself, never forget your original intention, and come to me if you have any difficulties.

Thinking back on everything that had happened, Qi Lin's eyes welled up with tears when she heard Lu Jinlan call her name and invite her in to talk.

She strode in quickly, bowed respectfully, and said, "Your subject Qi Lin greets Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor!"

Lu Jinlan said gently, "You've come all the way from Jiang Kingdom, you must be tired from your journey. Please rise."

"Yes." Qi Lin looked up and glanced at Lu Jinlan. She seemed to have just woken up from a hangover. Her hair was disheveled and her face was flushed from drinking. But her eyes were extremely clear and bright, and incredibly deep.

Not in the palace, she was not wearing the emperor's clothes, but only a simple moon-white nightgown.

She sat on the edge of the bed, a robe casually draped over her shoulders; it didn't look like hers, but rather more like the outer robe of a high-ranking official. Behind her lay a drunken woman, fast asleep.

She simply sat there lazily and casually, which suddenly reminded Qi Lin of the late emperor.

She remembered that year when she delivered an urgent report to the palace, the late emperor was also sitting on the edge of the bed, casually dressed with his hair disheveled.

They really were mother and daughter.

The same regal bearing, the same composure and calmness, the same keen gaze and extraordinary insight—it seemed that even the most momentous events were merely a matter of her brow furrowing and relaxing; everything was contained within her expression. There was no need to be alarmed, no need to fear.

Despite the urgent report, Lu Jinlan showed no sign of urgency.

Guan Shanyue handed over the urgent report, which Lu Jinlan took in her hand, but her gaze then turned to Qi Lin. "I remember someone saying last year that you injured your leg while entering the palace to gather information. Are you fully recovered now?"

Qi Lin had just managed to suppress his excitement when he heard this and knelt down with a thud, choking back tears as he said, "Your Majesty, my little injury has long since healed. I dare not trouble Your Majesty with such concern."

Lu Jinlan sighed, “The nation is also a home. You are worried about your families while you are away, and I am worried about you while I am at home. It’s been almost ten years since you left Jiang. If you have had enough of the hardships of wandering abroad, just submit a memorial, and I will allow you to return and arrange another job for you.”

Qi Lin wiped away his tears. "Your Majesty, I can bear it. With you taking care of the elderly, children, and husband at home, I feel at ease while I am away. It is my blessing to serve Your Majesty, and I would gladly die for it."

Lu Jinlan smiled and said, "It's not that serious, get up quickly."

After exchanging pleasantries, she began to write the letter.

Guan Shanyue said from the side, "Before you left the palace, you instructed that the matter of enthroning the new emperor of Jiang Kingdom should be reported to you immediately. Lord Qi personally delivered it, so I brought her to meet Your Majesty."

"I just don't understand what this new emperor's enthronement has to do with us. I think we should let the people of Jiang fight it out. Let human brains fight like dogs, and we can just watch the show."

Lu Jinlan curled the corners of her lips, glanced up at her, and said, "Don't you know Helian Yangzhen's daughter?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Lin felt even more apprehensive, thinking to himself: "The Emperor doesn't hide such a confidential matter from me; he treats me as a trusted and important minister!"

Guan Shanyue hesitated for a moment, "I vaguely know, but the people of Jiang also vaguely know. So, whoever they ultimately support, they won't support the nineteenth princess."

Lu Jinlan smiled and said, "They will. Didn't the urgent report mention that Suo Hongzhu proposed to support the nineteenth princess, but it was rejected?"

Guan Shanyue said in surprise, "Yes, Suo Hongzhu's suggestion was rejected by the regent Wu Ertai as soon as it was made. Moreover, they have already decided to support Helian Yi, the daughter of the recently deceased Helian Shu, as the new emperor, and will not choose from the nineteenth princess's generation."

Lu Jinlan shook his head, "This is just their wishful thinking; I did not agree to it."

Guan Shanyue was taken aback. "Your Majesty means..."

Lu Jinlan said, "No one but my daughter will do."

Qi Lin hurriedly asked, "Does Your Majesty intend to eliminate Helian Yi?"

Lu Jinlan shook his head. "An eight-year-old child can't accomplish anything. But Wu Ertai is no child. Execute Wu Ertai first, and the remaining three regents will naturally reconsider the matter of the crown prince."

"Qi Lin, I grant you full authority to handle this matter. If you don't have enough men, you can borrow a few from the Imperial Physician. Just say it's my idea, and he'll understand. The principle is simple: whoever opposes supporting the Nineteenth Princess will die."

Xiang Ruzhen said worriedly, "Isn't this too obvious? They can guess that you sent someone to do it as soon as they think about it."

Lu Jinlan said, "This suits me just fine, so I don't have to spread the word myself. If they know I did it, let's see if they dare to go against me."

Lu Jinlan looked at Qi Lin as she spoke, "When you pass through Chizhou City on your way back, tell Ling Zhaoren, the Chizhou garrison commander, to join forces with the Yezhou garrison commander of Qu Kingdom to conduct a joint exercise between the two countries. The location should be right next to the border of Jiang Kingdom, very close by."

Guan Shanyue found it all too risky. "Your Majesty, I've never heard of anything about joint exercises between two countries. Would the people of Qu agree to that?"

Lu Jinlan: "You've already heard about it, haven't you? What's so special about that? I personally wrote a letter to Xiao Chengying. She's much bolder than you guys."

Everyone quickly laid out paper and prepared ink. Lu Jinlan wrote a letter and gave many instructions, telling Qi Lin to rest for two days before returning.

As Guan Shanyue was taking his leave, he remembered that "Lord Li wrote to say that she was going to the Suzhou area on business and asked if His Majesty wanted her to bring you anything."

Lu Jinlan thought for a moment, "There's nothing I need to bring, but what's she going to Suzhou for?"

Guan Shanyue said, "I heard that some people are illegally mining gold in the Suzhou area. Since Lord Li is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, he will naturally investigate this matter."

Lu Jinlan said, "Then write back to her and tell her there's no need to rush. We're less than two days' journey from Suzhou, so we'll set off tomorrow. Since we have nothing else to do, let's take care of this while we're at it."

Guan Shanyue accepted the order and left. Lu Jinlan lay down on the bed, while Yan Wuxin grumbled, annoyed by the noise, "It's the middle of the night, and you still have to deal with state affairs. Aren't you tired?"

Lu Jinlan sighed, "That's how it is in developing countries. When the people are all rich and powerful, and the territory is vast and the borders are stable, these problems will naturally disappear. I've always thought that when I get old, I will pass the throne to Anbei."

"By then we'll be old, and we'll leave everything to the younger generation. We'll just be like we were in our youth, wandering around all day, enjoying flowers and wine, and having a good time."

Yan Wuxin quickly chimed in, "Okay, okay, then when should we wait?"

Lu Jinlan: What do you think?

Yan Wuxin thought for a long time, "Now, I think Anbei can stand on his own now."

Xiang Ruzhen quickly said, "Don't talk nonsense. We're so young now, and it's not enough for you to have fun all the time. If you want to put aside your serious business, you'll have to wait until you're seventy or eighty years old."

Yan Wuxin, who was in his seventies or eighties, had been propped up, but upon hearing this, he immediately collapsed with a thud, lamenting, "Do I have to work for another sixty years, heavens!"

Lu Jinlan smiled and said, "Maybe it won't be that long. Just hang in there a little longer. I don't mind. The main thing is that we have to wait until Ruzhen gets tired of it."

“She can get tired of it,” Yan Wuxin said, perking up again. “She’s more fond of memorials than handsome young men, looking at them all the time. Maybe when we’re not around, she’ll actually hug the memorials and kiss them a few times.”

Xiang Ruzhen gritted her teeth, "Yan Wuxin, if you slander me again, I'll hit you!"

Yan Wuxin quickly kicked him, "Hehe, then I'll strike first."

Xiang Ruzhen immediately sat up, rolled up her sleeves, and was about to grab the person. "I told you to make the first move, so you'd better let me hit you back right now, or you won't be sleeping."

Lu Jinlan lay between the two men, who began exchanging blows in front of her, the wind from their palms blowing across her face.

Lu Jinlan shrank back again, "Go ahead and make a scene, fight all you want. Just don't scratch me, I'm going to sleep now."

Passersby glanced out the window a few times; inside, the two playful figures were fighting, appearing from the outside like leaping shadow puppets. Then, Lu Jinlan shouted, "Hey, who kicked me?"

Her response was a burst of wild laughter.

*

The next day, as mentioned the night before, we were to head to the Suzhou area to find that illegally operated gold mine.

Lu Jinzhao naturally couldn't go along; she was newly married and deeply in love. She was enjoying the bliss of having two women on either side of her, and was quite happy.

Lu Jinlan then told her to wait at the Liu residence, with Manager Ping accompanying her. The three of them, along with Guan Shanyue and Xu Lin, went to scout out the situation first.

The group of five traveled for two days and then searched the nearby mountains, but they found no minerals.

Exhausted and out of breath, Xu Lin said, "Your Majesty, I reckon... since it's a private gold mine, it must be extremely secretive and impossible for outsiders to find it easily. Why don't we find a place to stay first, and then discuss this further?"

Lu Jinlan nodded, "That makes some sense, but I don't understand. Mining requires so many workers, so many people involved, yet we still can't find out anything. How do they manage to keep the secrecy of this gold mine so good?"

Yan Wuxin said, "There are probably two possibilities: either they paid enough money, or they detained the person and couldn't get any information out of them."

Lu Jinlan responded and looked at the setting sun. "It's getting late. Let's go down the mountain and find a place to stay."

Xiang Ruzhen said, "This place is remote, and there may be no inn. Perhaps we will have to stay at a farmhouse. If we can't find a farmhouse either, we will have to spend the night in a deserted thatched hut in the wilderness."

Guan Shanyue sighed, "At least the inn has someone to cook and boil water, so the conditions are acceptable. Staying at a farmhouse, with the crowing of roosters and barking of dogs, I'm afraid His Majesty won't sleep well."

Yan Wuxin wiped his sweat. "We really should have brought a man with us, at least someone could cook for us."

Lu Jinlan suddenly stopped. "Yes, there's a man. This isn't far from Dagu Temple. Lord Guan, didn't you say Qingxuan was near Dagu Temple?"

*

Qingxuan hid for six years, in a place where Lu Jinlan was not, to focus on her pregnancy, study Buddhism, and raise her child on her own.

After finishing the religious ceremony at the foot of the mountain that day, he bought extra vegetables and meat, thinking that his daughter Wangchen would be returning from school today.

The vegetable vendors all knew that he was a male monk staying at Dagu Temple, seemingly raising a child he had taken in. So they were all willing to sell him their vegetables at a lower price, as a way of doing good deeds and accumulating merit.

In fact, Qingxuan never said that the child was adopted. It's just that his child has no surname or given name, only a pseudonym called Wangchen.

Qingxuan grew up in a Buddhist temple, and his appearance was pure and untainted by worldly dust. In addition, he had a handsome and upright appearance, and his eyes were clear and without any evil thoughts.

No one could have imagined that the child was his biological son.

Who would have thought that a reclusive male monk living in the mountains would become involved with the woman of the world's most powerful ruler?

Who would have thought that a seemingly indifferent man would end up in bed with a woman he'd only met once, make love to her, and secretly leave behind her child?

Even if someone like him stood naked on the street, no one would think he was behaving improperly or trying to seduce any women. People would just think that Master Qingxuan was doing performance art, perhaps a way of Buddhism to save all sentient beings.

So surprisingly, he, a young and handsome single man, raised his young child alone and lived peacefully here for six years, until this day.

Qingxuan returned to the dilapidated courtyard, put the vegetables, meat, and fish into basins, and started fetching water to prepare a meal.

He didn't know martial arts and was completely unaware that many eyes were watching him from the shadows.

Lu Jinlan gave him a wink. "Let's go."

Guan Shanyue hesitated for a moment, "Your Majesty, this is your private matter. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to be present..."

Lu Jinlan: "There's nothing inconvenient about it. I'll just ask him a few questions. Even if the conversation doesn't go well, he won't kick us out. He'll at least invite us to dinner. If you're worried, you don't have to go. I'll call you to dinner after I've finished talking with him."

"Okay!" everyone agreed in unison, no one wanting to get involved.

Lu Jinlan gritted his teeth. "I've thought about it again, and it won't work. He's an extremely stubborn person. If I go by myself, he might really kick me out. If you all come with me, with more people, he'll have to give me face."

So Lu Jinlan took the lead, and the four of them followed behind, going around from the back of the courtyard to the main gate.

Lu Jinlan pushed open the dilapidated wooden door with a creak. Qingxuan glanced at the person who came in, and the bucket of water that was half-carried in his hand suddenly fell to the ground with a thud, splashing up layers of turbulent ripples that could not be calmed for a long time.