Chapter 88

The head of the East Factory was named Cui Rong. He had a fair face and no beard, and his hair was half white.

Emperor Chongzhao did not allow eunuchs to interfere in state affairs. He would rather be more tired himself and go through the memorials in detail.

The East Factory depends on the imperial power for its existence and is completely a knife in the hands of the emperor.

There was only one director of the Eastern Depot, also known as the Supervisor, who was in charge of two deputy supervisors. Each of the deputy supervisors was in charge of three leading eunuchs and several errand eunuchs.

The eunuchs were in control of the power of the East Factory. The rest of the people were initially a group selected from the imperial guards, and later a group was selected from the palace guards to form the East Factory.

They are directly under the emperor and can arrest people directly. Many dirty tasks are handled by them in private.

Cui Rong asked, "Are you still asking us to come in?"

Squeak——

The door opened.

Duke Lu helped Yu Ruo out.

Yu Ruo said: "I am recovering from illness, I wonder why you came here?"

Cui Rong twitched his lips and said, "Your Highness Yu Ruo, we know each other well, so there is no need to waste words." He waved his hand, "Go, take Duke Lu into custody, treat him well, and ask him how he hurt our prince."

"Let me go! Let me go!"

"How dare you touch me? I am the Duke, the Duke!"

Yu Ruo did not stop him, but held onto the door frame, looking quite weak, "I wonder what your Majesty plans to do?"

People from the transportation department pulled several horse-drawn carriages from the backyard and slowly stopped them in front of the yard where Yu Ruo lived.

These were exactly what the Nanning envoys brought from their country, including food, clothes, many personal belongings, state gifts, etc.

Wen Xiaochun: "Okay, we're here, stop."

He turned around and bowed to Cui Rong, "I am here to inspect the delegation's belongings under the order of His Majesty."

Yu Ruo's fingers holding the door frame tightened slightly: "Two eunuchs, this is not polite, right?"

Checking items, even many of which are considered personal, is an insult.

Cui Rong: "We are all following orders. Just do it yourself. I will watch from here."

"Yes," Wen Xiaochun turned his head and looked at Yu Ruo, "Then when your country's Duke hurt our prince, did he ever think that it was against etiquette? And this time, I am here to check whether there are any contraband items such as Wangye Fruit entering the Great Zhou."

"I hope Your Highness understands."

He raised his hand, "Okay, okay, check."

"yes!"

The ten skilled workers brought by the Inspection and Transportation Department immediately and skillfully searched the boxes and opened the cabinets, tore up the clothes to check if there was any contraband, broke and hammered the nuts and dried fish that were still on the ground, and hammered the boxes to see if there was any layer of interlayer inside the wood.

Cui Rong's face twitched.

I haven't seen you for many years. Is the style of the Inspection and Transportation Department so violent now?

Of course, he still maintained a serious expression, as if this kind of examination was very common.

The Nanning envoy rushed over upon hearing the news and angrily asked, “What are you doing?”

"Stop smashing it! Stop flipping it over!"

They pulled apart the hands of the people from the inspection and transportation department.

“Stop!”

Wen Xiaochun narrowed his eyes: "Don't stop."

There was a young man who couldn't stand this kind of humiliation. He stared at Wen Xiaochun fiercely and walked over quickly, with his finger about to poke Wen Xiaochun's nose: "You——"

Wen Xiaochun grabbed his wrist with his backhand, turned around very neatly, and swung his arm.

The latter spun 360 degrees and fell to the ground: "Ouch!"

Wen Xiaochun folded his hands behind his back and pinched the back of his neck with his palms. "Someone come here. An envoy has suddenly fallen ill. I have subdued him now. Send him to the doctor quickly. Don't delay his illness or blame me for being rude."

Cui Rong was intrigued by Wen Xiaochun's move and asked two people to suppress the envoy.

"Have you practiced?"

Wen Xiaochun: “I know a little bit.”

Cui Rong: "Your movements look solid." He lightly tapped the whip at his waist with his fingertips and suddenly said, "Come to the East Factory and learn from each other if you have a chance in the future."

Wen Xiaochun was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "How can I refuse?"

The two stopped talking, one was talking to Prince Yu Ruo in a friendly manner, and the other was staring at people and... checking cars.

The atmosphere is extremely harmonious.

-

The seventh prince was injured and the Nanning embassy was surrounded.

This happened in the afternoon, and it gets dark early in winter.

After Xia Fuyang sent Qu Dubian back to the palace, he waited at the north gate for a while. He watched the people from the Inspection and Transport Office hurriedly go to the embassy where they were temporarily staying in Nanning, and it was not easy for him to go forward to stop them.

I can only walk around here again and again.

I don't know what I'm waiting for.

He didn't return home until it was dark.

After returning home, I still couldn't calm down, so I took a broom and dustpan and went to the yard to sweep the snow.

The icy cold wind made his knuckles red.

"Xiaoyang."

Xia Fuyang looked up: "Mom? It's cold at night, why are you here?"

Wang came in holding a lantern. "I heard from Madam that you didn't have your meal, and knowing what happened today, I guessed that you have something to say. Tell mother?"

The Xia Mansion was run by his mother, Wang. She was in charge of all the expenses for food, clothing, and socializing with the wives of officials in their backyards, and she would take her adopted daughter with her to attend social events.

Wang followed Xia Hong all the way from Jeju and was quite knowledgeable. Xia Hong also cherished and loved her and would talk to her when he encountered difficulties.

Xia Fuyang leaned on the broom, "Well... well, I can't say it either."

"I got along well with the Seventh Prince. He was injured and I was worried about him. But besides being worried, there was something else... When he stood up and challenged Duke Lu, I felt the blood in my body heat up!"

His eyes were bright, and he used the broom as a sword, gesturing at Wang: "I wish I could make him take his words back and let me start over! He loves to play around and is vindictive. Sometimes he's stingy and wouldn't even give me mooncakes. I had to climb over the wall to Uncle Tingfeng's house to ask for them."

"But today is very different. It's just... Mom, I can't explain it, can you understand?"

Xia Fuyang was distressed.

Wang chuckled, "You are nothing like your father. He is much more stable."

Xia Fuyang: "He is an inner beauty, and I am an outer beauty."

Wang ignored his nonsense and asked, "Do you remember what your father said to you before he left?"

"Our family is in a situation now where everyone in the capital is trying to curry favor with us. It seems prosperous, but in fact, it is full of crises. In the past few years, we have avoided many people who have openly or secretly asked us to take sides. Mother has told you all about it."

Xia Fuyang: "Yeah, so I didn't get along particularly well with anyone."

Wang: "From the perspective of the Xia family, you should do this, but what about from your own perspective?" If you are destined to take sides in the future, who will you choose?

Wang did not say the second half, and there was no need to say it, Xia Fuyang understood.

He was silent for a while and said, "Before today, I just regarded him as a good friend." He never thought about following him in the future.

Wang: "The only friend in the royal family who can make you forget his identity is already very different. Xiaoyang, you should think about how to go in the future. It doesn't matter if you are anyone or neutral."

No matter which side you lean towards or whether you are neutral, there are pros and cons to each.

She knew that her child had always wanted to fight on the battlefield like his father since he was young, otherwise he would not have endured the hardship of training martial arts and gritted his teeth in silence.

A person who has his own ideas since childhood will die on the path he has chosen, even if he is beaten to death with a stick by others.

Xia Fuyang hugged her and said, "Thank you, mother."

"I know what you mean. Go to bed. It's getting dark. Go quickly."

He personally sent Wang back to her bedroom.

Xia Fuyang was just about to sort out his thoughts when there was a knock on the door of his mansion. A servant came in and reported that Xi Zixing was here to visit.

Xia Fuyang asked someone to invite him in.

Xi Zixing walked all the way with his nose and cheeks all red.

Xia Fuyang glanced at him, pulled him into the study, gave him a hand warmer and poured him some hot water.

"What are you doing here?"

Xi Zixing: "Nonsense, my father hasn't come out since he entered the palace, and I can't get any news, so I must come to ask you, how is Xiaoqi?"

Xia Fuyang: “I don’t know.”

The two of them looked at each other in silence, each with their own thoughts.

After a long while, Xia Fuyang sighed worriedly, "I finally understand why the first rule of your "selecting a wise leader" requires people to be in good health. Indeed, good health is very important."

Xi Zixing: "Oh? You want to observe secretly like me?"

Xia Fuyang rolled his eyes silently in his heart.

Observe the shit.

But Xi Zixing doesn’t consider Xiaoqi. Xi Zixing doesn’t consider Xiaoqi, but that doesn’t mean he is the same.

Then he and this guy might become enemies in the future... Thinking of this, Xia Fuyang decided not to tell him.

He was very smart and quietly drew up a line of defense in his heart.

-

After Xi Zixing inquired about Qu Dubian's situation, he returned home after his body recovered.

He sat under the light, his face showing visible confusion and struggle.

for a long time.

He then began cutting out the pamphlets again.

After cutting and binding, he began to struggle again, then picked up the pen and wrote on the book: Seven

He knew that the Seventh Prince was confronting Duke Lu, and that this was not untouched.

Anyway, the eldest princes with low scores are about to be eliminated... He will add one more, one increase and one subtraction, to balance the overall situation.

-

Shunning Palace.

The imperial doctors were crowded together in the seventh prince's bedroom.

We tried all kinds of methods, but the person just wouldn't wake up.

Emperor Chongzhao: "It's been a long time, and there is no conclusion. What's going on?"

Doctor Yang bowed and said, "Your Highness's pulse is very chaotic," so chaotic that it seems to be dancing, "...but overall, your breathing is long and calm."

Concubine Xuan: "Why aren't you awake yet?"

Doctor Yang pondered and said, "Perhaps it has something to do with the mental method that the young prince has been practicing. I remember that the young prince has been practicing martial arts and even found a mental method of his own. The young prince's current condition is more like his true energy has rushed into his Dantian acupoint without him knowing it, and he was unable to sort it out for a while, which led to his fainting."

"He, this kid, broke through the Dantian acupoint?"

Emperor Chongzhao suspected that he had heard wrongly. After receiving the confirmation from the imperial physician, he suddenly became furious. "How dare this brat secretly make a decision on such a dangerous matter!"

Concubine Xuan frowned: "Didn't you hear the imperial physician say that Xiao Qi herself didn't know anything? It's late at night, why are you so fierce?"

Emperor Chongzhao held his breath.

"I will settle accounts with him when he wakes up."

"Imperial Physician, is it a Qi riot?" Concubine Xuan obviously understood better than Emperor Chongzhao who didn't understand.

Doctor Yang: "It is... but the little prince's Qi is calm, only his pulse is disordered. It is not as dangerous as a Qi riot."

Emperor Chongzhao: "So it's okay?"

Which doctor dares to say that a comatose patient is fine? Not to mention that he is a prince. Doctor Yang said, "Not really. It is precisely because the Seventh Prince's condition is unpredictable that we should pay more attention to him."

The half-grown child lying on the bed looked sound, with his left hand wrapped in thick bandages, like a little pig's hoof.

“And His Highness hasn’t woken up yet. When will he wake up? Is there any other danger... It’s hard to say, hard to say.” Imperial Doctor Yang shook his head.

The bedroom became quiet for a moment.

Eunuch Yu came in from outside and whispered, "Your Majesty, the ministers of the six ministries have asked the palace servants to come to you and ask if they can leave now?"

Emperor Chongzhao: “…”

Damn, totally forgot about this.

He glanced at his youngest son on the bed and said to Concubine Xuan, "Thank you for taking care of him. I will go back to the Purple Palace."

Concubine Xuan nodded.

Qu Dubian slept for three days.