Chapter 197 The Emperor Can’t Stand It Anymore

"Prepare the carriage. I want to go to the palace to meet Empress Zhe."

"yes."

When Lin Rusheng walked out of Zuixian Tower, two figures appeared at the corner of the stairs.

"This old man is quite ambitious. Two hundred and seventy thousand taels of silver are not enough to fill his teeth." Xie Jinyu crossed his arms over his chest, looking through the window of the stairwell, watching the Lin family carriage slowly driving away with interest.

Xie Ming had already changed into the clothes of a Zuixianlou servant. He lowered his head to adjust his collar and said in a deep voice, "I'm going to be gentle. Those two servants in the backyard will probably wake up in 15 minutes. Third brother, hurry up."

"I know, I know." Xie Jinyu stretched his muscles, picked up the soup with some spices on the side, bent his waist slightly, and knocked on the door of the private room.

"who?"

A man's impatient voice came from the room.

Xie Jinyu lowered his head and lowered his voice, "Dear guests, I have received instructions from Master Lin to serve you soup."

The next moment, the door of the private room was opened, "Come in."

Most likely they were afraid that their evil deeds would be discovered, so the people in the house did not bring any servants with them, which gave Xie Lao San the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Xie Jinyu walked into the room with lowered head and respectfully brought the soup to the table. He saw that some of them were drunk, while others had just climbed up from the beautiful bride, with anger on their faces as if their good fortune had been ruined.

The man who had just spoken frowned when he saw that he was still not leaving. "Why are you still standing here? Get out!"

Xie Jinyu lowered her eyes and pretended to be apprehensive, saying, "My dear guests, it's not that I'm refusing to leave, but Lord Lin has instructed that we must watch you finish this pot of soup."

The man frowned suspiciously, "Why is that?"

"In reply to your question, this soup was personally ordered by Lord Lin. It's called Eight Flavors, and it's a blend of eight precious ingredients. Before serving, Lord Lin threw a copper coin into the pot and specifically instructed me to watch the guests drink it." Xie Jinyu pursed her lips and smiled, softening her tone. "Lord Lin has said that whoever eats that copper coin will be blessed with great fortune."

"Lucky...Lucky..."

The eight people sobered up instantly and stood up at the same time and rushed to the table. Just as they were about to move, Xu Mian stopped them first and carefully looked at Xie Jinyu standing in front of them. "You, come here and have a drink."

Xie Jinyu raised her eyebrows slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

Unexpectedly, there is still one person with brains among this group of rubbish.

"Thank you for the gift!" Xie Jinyu hurried forward, bowing to Xu Mian. She scooped half a spoonful of soup from a porcelain plate beside her, tilted her head back and drank it. A satisfied smile instantly appeared on her face. "I've never eaten anything so delicious. Thank you, my dear guest..."

As he spoke, he reached out again, wanting to get another bowl, but Xu Mian knocked the chopsticks out of his hand.

"Get out! You're pushing your luck, you idiot!" Xu Mian's face was filled with disgust, and he wanted to kick him out of the private room. "You have no right to fight here."

Xie Jinyu gently stroked the back of her swollen hand, a deep look flashed in her eyes, and she quietly retreated and closed the door.

The eight people in the room seemed to have never had soup before. They gathered around the table and scooped spoonful after spoonful into the bowls. In just half an incense stick of time, the soup was gone, but no one got a penny.

Unfortunately, before they could go out and cause trouble for Xie Jinyu, they fell to the ground one after another.

The house erupted in screams from the women. Xie Jinyu slowly pushed open the door and saw the panicked looks of the women. She curled her lips slightly and said, "I'm sorry, none of you can leave today."

Some people refused to believe it and insisted on rushing out. Xie Jinyu flicked his long finger, and fine powder flashed before the woman's eyes. The next moment, her body fell limply to the ground.

Xie Ming walked in slowly, took out an iron lock from his sleeve, locked it from the inside, looked back at the mess in the room, walked straight to the men, and searched their bodies.

Xie Jinyu was guarding the seven or eight women, tossing the poison powder bag up and down in her hand. The threat was self-evident. She crushed Xu Mian's fingers with her toes to vent her anger.

Soon, Xie Ming succeeded. Looking at the stack of letters in his hand, which were all secret letters between them and Lin Rusheng, he said, "Third brother, we succeeded."

Xie Jinyu then retracted his foot, his eyes falling on the letters, and he curled his lips in a cold smile, "The fact that they carry the letters with them shows that they don't completely trust Lin Rusheng, and they want to use these letters as a last resort to save their lives."

"Let's retreat." Xie Ming hid the letter on his body, glanced at the women who had retreated to the corner, and said in a deep voice, "If what happened today is exposed, your lives will be in danger."

Xie Jinyu raised her eyebrows slightly, but didn't say anything.

The two of them left the house, leaving a mess on the ground. The moment the wooden door closed, Xie Jinyu opened her thin lips and said, "If this is not resolved, it will definitely be a hidden danger in the future. No one inside will be spared."

Xie Ming was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood, "I understand."

-

Zhongcui Palace

"This old minister pays homage to Her Majesty the Concubine Zhe."

Lin Rusheng made a move to kneel down, but was immediately supported by the woman in front of him.

"Father, there are no outsiders in the palace. Between you and me, let's not be so formal as to pay lip service to these formalities." Concubine Zhe supported him and walked to the round table to sit down. She whispered, "Father, are you here at this time for something important?"

Lin Rusheng waved his hand to let the maids in the palace leave, handed the account book to Concubine Zhe, and said in a deep voice, "This is the account I just recorded today, take a look."

"Two hundred thousand and seven taels... for seven days, why is it so little?" Concubine Zhe's face darkened instantly, and she frowned and asked, "Could it be that they are hiding something?"

"How could they possibly have the nerve to do that?" Lin Rusheng's expression was equally grim. He looked at the figures in the account book and couldn't help but curse, "What a bunch of losers! It's obvious they've never had any good food. They're so smug with just this little money, as if the few melons and dates in their pockets are as good as the treasury."

Concubine Zhe was furious and threw the account book on the table. "If this continues, how long will it take to recruit soldiers? Mu'er is young, but my daughter can't wait!"

"You've been patient for years, what's the point of just a moment?" Lin Rusheng sighed, lowering his head. "Don't worry, our Lin family will definitely do our utmost to support Mu'er. As for the money, I'll think of a way. Money isn't hard to come by, but the difficulty lies in our actions being done in secret, guarding against those wooden ministers of the previous dynasty, and avoiding Huo Beiting's spies."

"Father, we must take action before early autumn this year, otherwise Huo Beiting will gain an advantage for nothing." Concubine Zhe lowered her voice, her expression serious and solemn. "My daughter went to Changqing Palace yesterday. The emperor...is probably unable to hold on."

"What?" Lin Rusheng couldn't hide his shock. "You...what did you do?"