Chapter 328 The Duke of Chu's Skillful Methods

Marquis Jinyang felt the envious and jealous glances, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up in a wide smile. Realizing that he seemed to be appearing too smug, he tried his best to suppress the smile, but he couldn't. Eventually, he just left it as it was; after all, it was an undeniable fact that he had found a powerful patron for his son.

His smug expression made many officials green with envy. What family doesn't have a spoiled brat? Their brat was always causing trouble and getting into mischief.

The elders of Kou Binhe, Lu Tianzong, and Jing Yingyu were also happy, but they didn't show it as openly as the Marquis of Jinyang. They all thought to themselves, "Keep a low profile, or it will arouse jealousy."

"This reform of the money shops is not merely a matter of money; it is a struggle concerning the very foundation of the nation! All three provinces and six ministries must fully cooperate if the reform requires it. Anyone who shirks responsibility will be held accountable, down to the minister level."

The emperor's voice was very authoritative at this moment, and the officials below immediately and collectively replied, "Yes, Your Majesty." Then the emperor continued, "The performance evaluation of the officials in charge of supervising the work in each prefecture and county shall be based primarily on the progress of the reform of the money shops. Those who have made contributions will be promoted exceptionally, while those who have made mistakes will be demoted three ranks immediately!"

The resounding order to "immediately demote her three ranks" drew all eyes to Jiang Yu. With such support, the reform of the money shops would surely be a success. The Duke of Chu would undoubtedly be promoted again. The only question was, what position she would be promoted to next.

Jiang Yu hadn't expected the Emperor to suddenly offer such strong support. However, a moment's thought made sense; yesterday she had submitted a report regarding the amount of silver deposited at Jufeng Money Shop. The current Emperor was a miser, and seeing the tangible results of the reforms would surely make him extremely pleased.

After this matter was discussed, several ministers reported on some trivial matters. During this time, Jiang Yu felt the Prime Minister's gaze fall upon him several times.

"Is there anything else? If so, speak quickly; otherwise, the court is adjourned."

The emperor's voice rang out again, and Jiang Yu once more felt many eyes on her. She knew it must be the prime minister's faction; they were all waiting for her to impeach the prime minister so they could implement their pre-planned countermeasures.

Jiang Yu's lips curled up almost imperceptibly as he stood there calmly. Upon seeing this, the Prime Minister tightened his grip on his imperial tablet. He felt as if he had punched cotton, frustrated and uneasy. For a moment, he didn't know what Jiang Yu meant, or if he had a powerful plan waiting for him.

"If there's nothing else, then let's adjourn the court." The emperor rose and left. The prime minister walked towards Jiang Yu, looked at her, and said, "The Duke of Chu has quite the methods."

Jiang Yu humbly cupped his hands in greeting, "Prime Minister, you flatter me. I still have much to learn from you."

"The Duke of Chu is too modest," the Prime Minister said, then turned and strode away.

Although their conversation attracted the attention of the officials, everyone assumed the Prime Minister was discussing the reform of money shops and didn't pay much attention. Only those in the know understood that their conversation had been highly charged.

Jiang Yu glanced at the Prime Minister's retreating figure, then turned to Lu Yuntao and said, "Uncle, I'm going to visit my maternal grandfather this afternoon."

"Alright, go ahead and do what you need to do." Lu Yuntao had originally wanted to ask her some questions, but he didn't after hearing her say that. The two walked out of the palace together. Along the way, the elders of Marquis Jinyang and Kou Bin all came to exchange pleasantries with Jiang Yu, and she responded to them until they reached the outside of the palace.

In his letter last night, Prince An invited her to meet at Zuiyue Tower after court. She took a sedan chair and went to Zuiyue Tower. When she arrived, Prince An was already there. After exchanging greetings, she sat down. Prince An subtly observed her complexion and, seeing that it was no different from usual, he was relieved.

"I suppose you're hungry, so I've ordered a few dishes first. You can order more if you like," Prince An said with a smile, handing her a cup of tea.

Jiang Yu casually took the drink, sipped it, and said, "This humble official is indeed hungry."

Seeing that she wasn't being polite, Prince An's smile widened, and he immediately ordered the waiter to bring the dishes. Although Jiang Yu tried her best to act as usual, she didn't want to get too close to Prince An. In particular, she didn't want to have too many private conversations with him, so she told him about what happened at the morning court session.

Although Prince An was a prince, he was in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In the past, the commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard did not attend the morning court, so Prince An had never attended the morning court either.

"The Prime Minister should have guessed that I would impeach him at the morning court session today."

“Given his style of doing things, if he has any leverage over you, he will definitely make a move immediately,” said Prince An. “Of course he would assume the same about you. I imagine he must be very disappointed.”

Jiang Yu nodded with a smile, "I am indeed very disappointed."

The food arrived, and Jiang Yu didn't stand on ceremony, picking up her chopsticks and starting to eat; she was indeed hungry. When she was about half full, she slowed down her eating and began discussing serious matters with Prince An.

"When does Your Highness plan to report last night's events to the Emperor?" she asked.

Prince An put down his chopsticks. "Today."

"How does Your Highness intend to report this?" Jiang Yu asked again.

Prince An: "Report the facts truthfully, without embellishment."

Jiang Yu nodded, "That's what I think too. It would be better to let His Majesty speculate for himself."

Prince An picked up the teapot and poured some tea into his own cup, then poured some for Jiang Yu, saying, "How do you plan to deal with this now?"

Jiang Yu watched him pour her tea, then lowered her eyes and remained silent for a moment before saying, "We need to cause the Prime Minister some trouble, so he won't keep an eye on Prince Rui and the Imperial Workshop. Does Your Highness know of any rumors about the Prime Minister's eldest grandson?"

"I know, you want to start from here?" Prince An asked thoughtfully.

Jiang Yu: "Yes, the Prime Minister is cunning and treacherous. I have no other leverage over him."

Prince An pondered for a moment, "If there's anything you need, just tell me directly?"

"good."

The two ate in silence for the rest of the meal. When they felt they were about 70-80% full, Jiang Yu put down his chopsticks and looked at Prince An across from him, asking, "Is there any news from Lingnan?"

Prince An also put down his chopsticks. "I was just about to tell you this. My men have already found the place where the Prince of Lingnan prints banknotes."

"Have any banknotes been leaked?" Jiang Yu asked.

Prince An: "No, he's probably preparing for something big. He's in contact with the people of the Fifth Prince of the Southern Barbarians."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu picked up his cup, took a sip of tea, and pondered for a moment before saying, "He probably wanted to send the counterfeit banknotes to the Southern Barbarians, and then have the Southern Barbarian emperor attack us."

Prince An also considered this possibility, "I had someone stop it in advance."

“No,” Jiang Yu said seriously, “Let him circulate the counterfeit banknotes.”

Prince An frowned upon hearing this, but a moment later he understood the key point and looked at Jiang Yu with admiration.

"You want the Southern Barbarian Emperor to attack us, so we can take the opportunity to display our firearms as a deterrent."

Jiang Yu nodded, "At the same time, it will cause the Southern Barbarians and the King of Lingnan to turn against each other, since it was he who used the law to send the counterfeit banknotes to the Southern Barbarians."