Chapter 101 The Gift

Li Yuanzhao continued, "As for the Liu family matter that you found out, if you think that person is useful, then find a way to win him over yourself."

"But I must remind you, don't let your guard down just because she is a woman and in a pitiful situation. The more harmless a person seems, the more likely they are to have unexpected thoughts."

"Your subject understands, thank you for the reminder, Your Highness."

Su Qingci agreed and was about to get up to take her leave.

Just then, Chen Yanqing's voice came from outside the study, "Your Highness, Lord Pei has arrived."

After finishing his report, he turned to look at Pei Huaijin behind him, who was wearing a blue round-necked robe and had a gentle expression, and silently complained to himself.

What's going on today?

As soon as Su Qingci entered, Pei Huaijin followed, and they all rushed to the princess's residence as if they were in a hurry.

However, he had a fairly good impression of Pei Huaijin. This person was gentle and polite in his dealings with others, and quite tolerant. He was not like Lin Xuean, who would scheme and compete for favor. Therefore, he treated Pei Huaijin with more respect and courtesy.

After hearing the Princess say "Come in," Pei Huaijin nodded to Chen Yanqing in thanks, then gently straightened his clothes to make sure he was properly dressed before pushing open the door and entering.

He actually rarely visited the Princess's residence.

Princess Chang did not usually like to associate closely with officials in private, lest she give others grounds to accuse her of "forming cliques for personal gain".

Although the Emperor may favor her, he may not truly care, but it is inevitable that the Prime Minister Cui's faction will seize on this as a pretext to attack her, which will only cause more trouble.

Upon entering, Pei Huaijin discovered that Li Yuanzhao was not alone in the study; Su Qingci was also sitting beside him.

He immediately bowed and said, "Your Highness, I pay my respects to you and Lord Su."

"Please sit down."

Li Yuanzhao raised his hand in a gesture.

Chen Yanqing silently stepped forward to serve tea to the two of them.

After Pei Huaijin sat down, he explained the purpose of his visit to the Princess.

"Recently, Wang Qiao, the prefect of Taiyuan, sent me a letter through a messenger. In the letter, he mentioned that since Your Highness took charge of the government, the atmosphere in the court has become increasingly clear and the local administration has become more and more orderly. He is far away in Taiyuan and is deeply grateful for Your Highness's benevolence."

"Wang Qiao also said that among the Wang family's sons and nephews, there are several talented and capable individuals who are currently only holding sinecure positions in local areas and often lament that they have no way to serve the country. If they could gain the appreciation of a wise ruler like Your Highness, they would certainly do their utmost to serve Your Highness."

Su Qingci was slightly startled upon hearing this.

Among the prominent families of today, the five surnames of Cui, Pei, Lu, Zheng, and Wang are the most renowned and hold the highest social standing.

Although they were not royalty, their prestige among the people and their influence in the court were sometimes even more powerful than imperial authority.

The Cui and Zheng families, in particular, provided crucial assistance to the emperor during his struggle for the throne, which is why they now wield immense power.

However, after the emperor secured his throne, the support of powerful families gradually became a hindrance.

It was precisely for this reason that the Emperor secretly used the Eldest Princess to suppress the powerful families.

In recent years, the eldest princess has implemented the imperial examination reform with swift and decisive measures, breaking the monopoly of aristocratic families on official careers.

Furthermore, he used the three cases of salt tax embezzlement, assassination attempt at the hunting grounds, and the death of the Grand Tutor to repeatedly and severely damage the Pei, Cui, and Lu families.

Now the Pei family has lost a former patriarch, the Lu family has lost a minister, and even the Cui family has lost half of its wealth.

With such a severe blow, many families are now living in fear.

But Su Qingci really didn't expect that the Wang family of Taiyuan would take the initiative to surrender to His Highness.

After all, His Highness had previously said that these powerful families had deep roots and high aspirations, and were never willing to take sides easily, let alone side with the Princess who had repeatedly attacked their interests.

But when I calmed down and thought about it carefully, I felt that this matter seemed to make sense.

Since Pei Guyan's incident, Pei Huaijin had already secretly switched sides. He not only painstakingly used the Pei family's connections to gather information for His Highness, but also quietly built momentum for His Highness in the court, lobbied neutral officials, and formed alliances with usable allies. He was already on His Highness's side.

With Prime Minister Zheng in charge, the Zheng family is a trusted and reliable minister of the emperor, and their position is secure. There is no need for them to rush to bow down to either side.

Needless to say, the Lu family, although they had been "sold out" by Cui Xiang as pawns before, were still firmly held by Cui Xiang. Although they were unwilling, they had no choice but to rely on the Cui family in order to barely stand in the court. They were already tied to the Cui family and had no possibility of surrendering.

As a result, among the five surnames, only the Wang family of Taiyuan was left isolated and helpless.

They had neither a stable backer in the court like Prime Minister Zheng, nor the binding relationship between the Lu and Cui families.

Seeing that the Pei and Lu families had suffered setbacks one after another, and the Cui family had also been severely weakened, Wang was certainly afraid.

Moreover, with the Lu Yuandao incident, they probably weighed the pros and cons before so eagerly seeking out Pei Huaijin to convey their intention to surrender to His Highness.

After listening to Pei Huaijin's report, Li Yuanzhao continued to gently stroke the rim of the teacup with his fingertips, showing no reaction.

After a long pause, he said to Pei Huaijin, "You've put your heart into it. The Wang family of Taiyuan is indeed a renowned family that has always been known for its poetry and propriety. Now that the court is employing people, it values ​​the word 'public-mindedness.' Anyone who is willing to serve the country will be selected based on talent, regardless of their family background."

She paused, then gave an ambiguous response: "Go back and tell Wang Qiao that if the Wang family members are truly as talented, virtuous, and sincere as he claims, the court will eventually see their abilities; there is no need to rush."

When Pei Huaijin first heard this, his immediate reaction was that His Highness had directly rejected the Wang family's surrender.

But upon further reflection, I immediately grasped the deeper meaning behind it.

Your Highness is politely declining, avoiding accusations of "forming a faction in private," while leaving room for hope and suspense.

The implication is clear: the opportunity does exist, but whether or not it can be seized depends on the sincerity shown by Wang, rather than just empty words of surrender.

The final decision always rests with His Highness.

Having figured this out, Pei Huaijin said no more. "Your Highness understands what I mean, and I will certainly convey it to Lord Wang truthfully."

Just before he got up to take his leave, he seemed to suddenly remember something, and his expression became somewhat troubled. He hesitated before speaking, "Actually... besides delivering the message, Lord Wang also asked me to bring three gifts to Your Highness."

He seemed hesitant to speak, "However, this gift is rather special, and I cannot refuse it on Your Highness's behalf. So I brought it along for Your Highness to see. It is waiting in the side hall. Would Your Highness like to see it?"

This was the first time Li Yuanzhao had seen Pei Huaijin looking so "unable to speak," and he couldn't help but become interested.

"Then send it up."

But when the "gift" entered the study, not only Chen Yanqing froze on the spot, but even the usually calm Su Qingci was so surprised that his eyes widened.

Three young men stood in the center of the field, each dressed in a light silk robe in red, green, and blue respectively.

The three women had light pink lipstick on their cheeks and bright red on their lips. Their eyes and brows were full of deliberately forced coquettishness. Even their posture was that of a woman, with slightly bent knees, hunched chests and lowered heads. They were even more alluring than the most popular actresses in the capital.

To be fair, these three men were indeed good-looking, with delicate features and fair skin. Although they couldn't compare to Lin Xue'an, they were still considered rare beauties.

But her forced, graceful gait, her affected, pretentious voice, and especially that sickeningly sweet "Greetings, Princess!"—all these things made her seem unnatural.

Even Li Yuanzhao, who was usually unfazed by the collapse of Mount Tai, had his eyelids twitch, which was quite unusual.