wedding banquet

Xu Qiu and the Embroidered Uniform Guard did an excellent job in Shaanxi. Not to mention, the establishment of the Land Office benefited people of all ages, reduced the number of refugees, and freed the court from having to continue allocating disaster relief funds.

Xu Qiu had made great contributions, but he also committed great transgressions. The local officials whose interests had been harmed united to file a complaint in the capital, but their efforts were suppressed.

Emperor Shengyuan was determined to establish land administration offices. He had previously encountered obstacles in Shengjing and Bianjing, and all the officials thought that the emperor, who did not care about state affairs, would give up this absurd idea. Unexpectedly, he sent people to the disaster-stricken Shaanxi Plain to continue the trial.

Because of the large amount of land obtained through confiscation of property, this matter was actually carried out in Xi'an Prefecture.

Now that Xu Qiu has returned, as expected, Emperor Shengyuan ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot to take action, supervising their subordinate officials to begin surveying and clearing the land. With Xi'an Prefecture as a reference, these people acted extremely quickly.

The land administration offices that were previously nominal in the two important capitals have gradually taken shape, but clarifying the land is a huge project that cannot be accomplished overnight.

Because of the confiscation of the homes of merchants of all sizes in Shaanxi and the homes of several high-ranking officials in the capital, the national treasury finally became positive in the twenty-fifth year of the Shengyuan era, and even had a surplus.

The salaries owed to the court officials were finally paid in full, and all the officials breathed a sigh of relief. However, the thought of the land administration office in Shaanxi Province gave them a headache again.

After they returned to their hometowns in glory, they were still gentry and local officials. Wouldn't damaging their land interests be the same as taking their lives?

Many people are eager to make a move, it all depends on Emperor Shengyuan's attitude.

They didn't have the guts to kill Xu Qiu, since he was backed by both the Duke of Ying and the Emperor. It would be best to let him die with a just cause.

In mid-October, Princess Yuning was married, and Shengjing City was immersed in a sea of ​​joy, with the whole country celebrating.

Although Xu Qiu was not yet officially appointed and was still in the capital awaiting appointment, he was invited to the princess's residence for the wedding banquet because of his friendship with Dongfang Hongyao.

So Xu Qiu changed into a brocade robe and, together with Gu Yu, went to the princess's residence. He first presented his congratulatory gift, and then, on behalf of Wei Cong, presented the mandarin duck jade pendant.

Dongfang Hongyao greeted the guests at the front gate, stroking the jade pendant in his hand with some emotion. "I saw this jade pendant of yours before and praised it a couple of times. I didn't expect this man to be so honest as to give it to me directly. Lord Xu, is your brother Cong doing well in Tongzhou?"

Xu Qiu nodded and said, "Everything is fine. If the reform of the Tongzhou salt tax is effective in three years, he may be able to return soon. When he returns to the capital, he will surely be in a high position."

Gu Yu tugged at his sleeve. It was too ostentatious to say such things among so many high-ranking officials and dignitaries.

Xu Qiu glanced sideways and said, “Madam, don’t be afraid. My voice is very soft, and no one else can hear me. Besides, Brother Dongfang is not an outsider and will definitely consider Wei Cong’s feelings.”

"Madam Xu, it's been a long time. Today is my wedding day, and I hope you will enjoy yourself to the fullest."

He watched the two of them, so deeply in love, with a calm smile.

"Congratulations on the wedding of Lord Dongfang and Princess Yuning." Gu Yu said with a smile.

This was a marriage she had brought together, and she felt a pang of emotion.

Upon entering the princess's residence, men and women were to sit separately. Xu Qiu was talking to Gu Yu in the narrow corridor, telling her to eat less meat and not to drink alcohol.

Then a man led his entourage over.

The man was dressed in a crimson brocade robe, with a jade belt around his waist. He exuded an imposing aura, had no beard, and his hair was as black as ever. He also wore a golden crown to tie it up.

He walked straight over, as if he were coming for Xu Qiu.

Xu Qiu noticed that Gu Yu's hand, which was holding his, had become much colder, was covered in cold sweat, and her face had turned pale. She avoided his gaze.

"Lord Xu, you are a promising young man. I had only seen you twice from afar before. I never expected that you would achieve such great feats after arriving at your post."

Sun Gu did not bow, but his words were somewhat polite.

Given his status, there are no more than five people in this world worthy of his bowing.

Xu Qiu bowed and said, "Prime Minister Sun, you flatter me. I am unworthy of such praise. I merely received credit for doing a favor for His Majesty. My wife is feeling unwell and must return home now. I hope you will make way for me and not block my way back home."

The corridor, designed to connect the front hall and the back hall, was only wide enough for two or three people to pass through. Now, Sun Gu and his servants were blocking most of it, so Xu Qiu and Gu Yu really had to let the two of them make way if they wanted to go back.

The attendant beside Sun Gu was about to say something, but Sun Gu stopped him with a gesture, saying, "Then, Lord Xu, Madam Xu, please."

After the servant left, he muttered angrily, "My lord, that man really doesn't know what's good for him. You came here to try and befriend him, but he showed you no respect whatsoever. He only helped the Embroidered Uniform Guard confiscate property and collect 30 million in credit. My lord, you work tirelessly for the Great Sheng Dynasty day and night, and the money you've taken for the national treasury is far more than 30 million."

Sun Gu remained calm. "I won't give way to him so easily."

On the other side, Gu Yu sat in the carriage for a while to calm down before she came to her senses. She said apologetically, "You came out with me, but you're not going to attend the wedding banquet. That will definitely upset other people. Lord Xu, you'd better go back."

"Madam, don't worry about me. You look very pale. Should we have a doctor take a look?"

"Go back," Gu Yu said stubbornly.

“Since I’ve already told you you’re not feeling well, going back would be a slap in the face. Let Liuyun talk to Dongfang Hongyao, and we’ll just go back to the manor first.”

"Fine, I can't argue with you. But you've come all this way back to the capital, are you really planning to remain a lone official if you don't take advantage of the wedding banquet to get to know some powerful figures?"

Xu Qiu said, “With the arrival of Chief Minister Sun, how could I dare to do such a thing? I’ve heard that he doesn’t usually attend banquets, but he has made an unprecedented appearance this time. It seems he’s here for me. Besides, I’m already lucky if what I do doesn’t create personal feuds with those powerful figures. How can I compare to my father-in-law, who is so magnanimous and willing to marry his daughter to me?”

Gu Yu laughed and said, "It's all for nothing that you're praising him like this. I won't say a few good words for you, and he won't hear them anyway."

"It's alright, it's alright." He shook his head repeatedly, showing great magnanimity.

"Then, Lord Xu, what are your plans for the next step?"

"Let's go to Jiangnan and proceed gradually. What are your thoughts, Madam?"

Gu Yu thought of the Crown Prince who was in power in Bianjing and nodded. "Jiangnan is a good place. Do you still need to handle your duties as the land chief?"

“It needs to be done, but there’s no rush. This matter could be accomplished in Shaanxi because of favorable timing, location, and people, but it would be much more difficult to accomplish in Jiangnan.”

Gu Yu nodded, her thoughts unreadable.

Emperor Shengyuan wanted to depose the crown prince, but the crown prince was not a fool. He realized Emperor Shengyuan's intentions and was sure to try to win over the old dynasty's nobles in Bianjing.

The Six Ministries in Bianjing mainly managed fourteen prefectures and two states in the Jiangnan region.

What good would Xu Qiu get if he went to those prefectures and states? There would definitely be dangerous traps waiting for them.

"If I were to encounter a great calamity one day, what would you do, Madam?" He stared intently at Gu Yu with his dark eyes, which seemed to hold a different kind of light.

Gu Yu spoke frankly, "It is said that the closest relatives are husband and wife, and when disaster strikes, they fly away separately. If Lord Xu is unfortunate enough to suffer a misfortune, I will naturally have no choice but to find another branch to belong to."

“If that’s what you’re saying, Madam…” He lowered his eyelids, looking hurt. “Then I really have to worry that after I become useless, Madam might discard me like trash.”

Gu Yu reached out and touched his cheek, caressing his delicate, porcelain-like skin, and noticed that his earlobes had turned red again.

She said, "I don't know either, at least not now, but you said you'd give me time to think it over."

She was still completely ignorant about what romantic love between men and women was.

Was it envy and admiration for Gu Jin, or guilt and reluctance towards Wei Cong?

Xu Qiu is different from them. They share a common secret that allows her to be herself when she's with him without having to pretend.

"Lord Xu, I also have a question that I've been curious about for a long time. I wonder if you could answer it for me?"

His dark eyes gazed at her intently, like the moon rising in the deepest night, its light astonishing.

"Madam, please speak." He took her hand that was rubbing her cheek, their fingers intertwined, their distinct knuckles as smooth and warm as jade.

"If Gu Yu is just Gu Yu, and Tang Qingning is just Tang Qingning, would you still like me as you say? Who exactly am I that you like?"

Gu Yu tried to pull her hand back, but found she couldn't move it.

Xu Qiu was speechless. Gu Yu was just Gu Yu, which was too boring and dull. He couldn't find any interest in her, so naturally he didn't want to marry her.

Tang Qingning is just Tang Qingning, so there's nothing else he can gain from her. The two of them won't even have a chance to meet, let alone develop feelings for each other.

"It's you, it's the you right now."

Bearing a deep-seated blood feud and possessing a noble lineage, she is a treacherous ghost disguised as a beautiful woman.

"Um."

Gu Yu smiled slightly upon hearing the answer.

She hadn't originally planned for any answer, and no matter which answer he gave, she felt it was wrong.

Perhaps she had the answer.

"Lord Xu, be careful. If you go ahead alone, take Liu Yun with you. Don't let him lose his life. I would be very sad if my ally died on the way."

"Okay." He released her hand.

Her eyes and brows were gentle, and a smile as radiant as spring flowers bloomed on her lips.

"I will do as Madam says."

He was always easily satisfied. As long as Gu Yu showed him a little care and concern, he felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey.

He loved power, he loved wealth, and he loved himself.

When I realized I was falling for him and wanted to stop, it was too late; it all happened so suddenly.

There was no romance or poetry between them; it was all scheming and plotting—scheming against others, and scheming against themselves.

As the candlelight flickered out, Xu Qiu looked at Gu Yu's sleeping face and felt no remorse whatsoever.

Now that he had fallen for her, he was willing to concede defeat and only hoped that she would reciprocate in kind.

Half a month later, Xu Qiu took Liu Yun to Yangzhou to fill the vacancy of the prefect.

He anticipated that his trip to Jiangnan would be fraught with trouble, so he did not bring his family with him. He planned to wait until he settled down in Yangzhou before secretly sending someone to bring Gu Yu over.

However, the first letter Qingfeng received from Liuyun was bad news.

Even though Xu Qiu was disguised, he still encountered assassins on the road. The two of them barely escaped with their lives.

Because this letter was sent by Liuyun to Qingfeng, it was inevitably a bit verbose, mainly describing the assassin's martial arts skills.

Xu Qiu's text message to Gu Yu was very simple: "Don't worry, all is well."

Looking at those three words, Gu Yu still asked, "How badly are you injured?"

"It seems... a bit heavy, but he survived."

Qingfeng finally found the key point from Liuyun's long-winded rambling.

Gu Yu threw the chess piece back into the chess basket, suddenly losing interest in continuing to play.

She summoned Chunyue, listened to the recent income and expenditure of the estates and shops, and checked the account books from the days she was away.

Finally, in the dead of night, he murmured, "Xu Qiu, don't die."

Meanwhile, at a restaurant in Bianjing, several richly dressed men were gathered together discussing something.

Lin Shiyin, who was over fifty years old and had white hair and beard, spoke first, "What news came from over there?"

"Although we found the person and seriously injured two others, the person didn't die." A portly, bloated man in purple shook his head. "He had this guard with him, who was quite skilled, and they managed to escape."

"Since we encountered assassins on the road, we must have alerted them. I don't think we have a chance now," another person sighed unwillingly.

"Sigh!" After saying that, they all sighed again.

"Could it be that if this scoundrel comes to Jiangnan and causes trouble, and the Land Office is established, our ancestral property will be gone? The Great Sheng treasury is empty, so they set their sights on us poor people. Heaven has no eyes, and actually let this black-hearted bastard live."

Lin Shiyin shook his head and took a sip of tea, looking utterly dejected.

His ancestors once served as Left Censor-in-Chief and amassed thousands of acres of fertile land. If nothing unexpected happens, his descendants can be assured of a worry-free life for generations to come.

However, things have changed now.

"Let's get ready. Sell your land, lower the rent. Otherwise, the Embroidered Uniform Guard can just accuse us of some crime and confiscate all our property," Li Mingwu said.

“You all have thousands of acres of fertile land, while I only have a few thousand acres of barren land. My whole family depends on these fields for food. I don’t know how many years it will last if I sell them,” the portly Wang Chunsheng complained.

"Wait a minute, maybe there's still a chance," the youngest man in the group, dressed in black robes and barely thirty, reassured them.

The others all had ancestors who were officials, or had served as officials but retired, but this man in black was the current Vice Minister of War in Bianjing.

So when he spoke, everyone else looked at him.

"Lord Liu, what is the explanation?"

He calmly put down the teacup. “A distinguished person is coming today. Don’t underestimate him just because he’s young. He might have a solution.”

Just as everyone was wondering what was going on, the waiter pushed open the door to the private room.

The newcomer wore a moon-white robe, a jade belt, gold embroidery, and black shoes, looking every bit the ethereal, otherworldly being.

Who is this?

"My name is Shen Changqing." He cupped his hands in a respectful bow, a slight smile on his face, and deliberately paused for a moment before revealing his identity.

"The Crown Prince's advisor."

"Hiss—" someone gasped, "Is he really that person's advisor?"

Liu Jinghe nodded slightly. "This is the great-grandson of Old Master Zhuang, and he is now a favorite of the Crown Prince."

"So it's Young Master Shen. It's been a long time."

Although most people were just being polite on the surface, Shen Changqing knew that what these people cared about was the person standing behind him.

The crowd made room for him, and Shen Changqing sat down.