Chapter 6 Chapter 6 "Does it hurt?"

In the side room of Lizheng Hall, the air is filled with the fragrance of incense and orchids.

Shangguan Xu was half lying on the small couch inside, leaning his forehead against the book.

Qing He walked in lightly and whispered to her side: "My Lady, A Zheng has returned to the capital."

Shangguan Xu raised his eyes, first glanced at the portrait in front of the side room, then sat up and said, "Let's talk outside."

This side room is simply decorated with a portrait hanging on the wall, a table in front of the portrait, and a beauty couch on the side. There are no other unnecessary decorations.

Shangguan Xu often reads in there, but she almost never talks about things with others here.

After the two of them walked out of the side room, Shangguan Xu asked, "How did things go?"

Qing He said, "A Zheng has already escorted the witness to the capital and sent the complaint to the Censorate. Because they are directly appealing under their real names and not using the "rumored statement" [1], A Zheng is worried that if the witness's whereabouts are revealed, someone will harm them. So, she has not returned to the palace for the time being and continues to stay in the dark to guard the witness and help them spread the news."

Shangguan Xu nodded: "A Zheng always considers everything she does."

Qing He then continued, "The Censorate has already investigated the matter of praying for blessings and found it on the cruise ship. Your Majesty, what do you think you should do?"

"No, I just want him to investigate." Shangguan Xu suddenly smiled. "Now that the witness has come to Beijing, the lawsuit has been filed, and the cruise ship has been investigated, I've laid out everything he needs. It all depends on whether he can handle it this time."

——

Shangguan Xu said that the Ministry of Works' affairs were handed over to the Censorate for investigation, but in fact it was Xu Qing'an who was investigating.

There were two imperial censors in charge of this case. They cooperated with each other and checked and balanced each other.

If the cabin is leaking, the first thing to check is naturally the hull itself.

The cruise ship was towed ashore, and Xu Qing'an was the first to go down into the cabin and find the location of the leak.

After a ship goes into the water, many traces will be washed away by the water, but there is no guarantee that some traces will slip through the net.

Just as he had thought before, when Shangguan Xu restarted the water sacrifice, Xu Qing'an felt that she would not do this simply.

So when he was arranging the regulations with the Ministry of Rites later, he had been secretly investigating this matter. Sure enough, he found a problem with the teak wood used in building the ship.

Teak is insect-proof and moisture-proof, making it an excellent wood for building ships. After all, when a ship is launched, the most feared thing is that it cannot withstand the wind and waves and cannot prevent water seepage.

However, Xu Qing'an discovered that the teak used to build the cabin looked normal on the surface, but in fact it was only covered with a layer of wax to make it shiny, and the internal structure had long been rotten. If such wood was used to build a boat, it would not take long after it was launched into the water for it to be deformed and then cracked by the weight of the water and the cabin.

However, Xu Qing'an not only did not make it public, but on the eve of the blessing, he had someone sneak into the cabin and pour something on the teak wood.

After the teak wood is connected, the gaps will be filled with coconut shell fibers, and then coated with tung oil and lime to reinforce waterproofing. The thing that is poured can corrode the filling material in the gaps.

Therefore, the speed at which the cabin ruptured and leaked water exceeded Shangguan Xu's expectations.

Xu Qing'an was the first to rush down, actually to see if there were any remaining traces. If there were, he could clean them up in advance.

"Xu Yushi, you're walking so fast, but what important clues are there?"

Along with the sound of footsteps coming down the wooden stairs, a clear male voice gradually approached.

Another censor in charge of the case came down with his men.

Xu Qing'an half-crouched, his expression cold. He didn't reply immediately, but instead stared at the leak in the cabin, then reached out...

Just break that piece of teak off!

The people behind were all shocked.

"What are you doing?"

Xu Qing'an then smiled and stood up facing the crowd with the folded wooden board. "A clue."

"You may want to take a look at this wooden board, Censor Chen." His words were relaxed, and his movements also seemed leisurely.

The censor Chen Feng opposite took the wooden board and turned it over and over to look at it in confusion.

Xu Qing'an reminded him, "Censor Chen, please pay attention to the material. You can also touch it with your hands."

Chen Feng did as he was told, then exclaimed in surprise, "Pink!"

This wood looks hard, but it actually breaks into pieces when touched and has a powdery texture.

Xu Qing'an said calmly, "It seems we've figured out the cause of the cabin leak."

"Master Xu! Master Chen!"

An officer hurried down to the cabin.

"News came from the Censorate that someone just filed a petition with their real name, accusing Minister Liu of the Ministry of Works of forcibly seizing land and abducting women!"

——

As soon as they discovered that there was a problem with the timber of the cruise ship supervised by the Ministry of Works, they filed a lawsuit against the Vice Minister of Works.

Xu Qingan understood what he meant. After returning to the Censorate to meet the witness, he immediately went to the palace to meet the Queen Mother.

Shangguan Xu had been waiting for a long time.

Inside the hall, after the palace servants brought Xu Qing'an up, Qinghe led everyone out.

Xu Qing'an was slightly surprised.

Shangguan Xu curled his lips and said, "I know that Xu Qing must have something important to discuss with me now. I sent someone down ahead of time to relieve you of many concerns."

Xu Qing'an then bowed, "Your Majesty truly has a keen eye. Nothing can be hidden from you."

He used his usual sweet talk again, but Shangguan Xu didn't waste any time talking to him: "Are you here because of the real-name complaint to the Censorate?"

"Yes." Xu Qing'an looked up, a smile on his face, a glint in his eyes, "but it's not just that."

Shangguan Xu also looked at him, but her expression was colder than before, and she did not respond to his smile at all.

It was because she felt that she and he were getting straight to the point, while he seemed to be beating around the bush.

Don't know what's good for you.

However, the next sentence he said was, "I went to the cruise ship today to inspect it and discovered that the teak wood used in the cabin, though it only looks normal on the outside, is already rotten inside and is completely unsuitable for shipbuilding, let alone for a boat for Your Majesty and Your Majesty to ride."

"Coincidentally, just after I discovered the teak problem, someone filed a complaint with the Censorate. The person they were accusing was the Minister of Works, a figure who was also related to the cruise ship incident."

Shangguan Xu raised an eyebrow at this and asked knowingly, "Are you saying that Minister Liu of the Ministry of Works was directly related to the boat leak during the Lantern Festival?"

Xu Qing'an lowered his eyes and smiled, "It all depends on what the Queen wants."

Shangguan Xu: "Oh?"

Xu Qing'an said, "Although someone has now filed an appeal against Minister Liu to the Censorate under his real name, appealing is one thing, and investigating is another."

"Some time ago, the Minister of Works retired. Now is a critical period for the Ministry of Works to select a new Minister. As one of the Ministers of Works, Minister Liu is naturally a candidate for the position of Minister. If Your Majesty has high hopes for him, then you must find a way to prevent him from getting involved in things that are detrimental to him."

"Is that so?" Shangguan Xu chuckled softly, left his seat, stood up, and walked leisurely to the center of the hall, step by step.

Xu Qing'an also noticed her approaching in his peripheral vision. He raised his eyes slightly and met her charming gaze. He smiled back to welcome her arrival.

She stopped in front of him, tilted her head, and after leaving his eyes, she glanced at the rest of his face, including the smooth skin under his neck.

Her eyes were full of charm, and her voice was gentle: "Xu Qing really has good plans for me."

Xu Qing'an said complacently, "It's my duty to share Her Majesty's worries."

However, the next moment, Shangguan Xu's face suddenly turned cold.

“Kneel down!”

Xu Qing'an was stunned for a moment, then suddenly knelt down.

"Your Majesty..."

Shangguan Xu raised his chin slightly, glanced at him, and interrupted, "Sharing my worries? On Lantern Festival night, the boat tour was on, and you still haven't given me an explanation."

Her voice turned cold, then soft. "I remember saying I wanted to cancel the cruise, but in the end, the cruise went ahead anyway, without even informing me in advance. So, was it Lord Xu who, along with the people from the Ministry of Rites, pretended to obey but secretly disobeyed? Or, just like today, was it Lord Xu who misjudged my intentions?"

Shangguan Xu had specifically instructed Xu Qing'an to cancel the boat parade and asked him to convey the message to the officials of the Ministry of Rites.

If we really want to talk about cause and effect, even if there was a problem with the boat, if the cruise ship had docked at the shore according to Shangguan Xu's original arrangement, the fall into the water would not have happened.

She did not mention this matter to Su Wang and the officials from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Rites that night, but now she settled the account with Xu Qing'an alone.

Xu Qing'an felt a little nervous and couldn't figure out her intention.

But he still raised his face and smiled: "Your Majesty has misunderstood me. Everything I thought about was really for your Majesty."

His eyes were sincere, and his brows would occasionally raise, revealing a grievance.

"The boat tour was indeed suggested by officials from the Ministry of Rites."

"The Queen Mother is reinstating the Water Festival to celebrate the Lantern Festival and to celebrate the New Year. She wants to share the joy with the people. Many people also want to see the Queen Mother and His Majesty. So if you cancel the parade outright and let the people go empty-handed, it will be bad for the reputation of His Majesty and the Queen Mother."

"I also thought that Your Majesty had previously canceled the parade out of concern that Your Majesty might catch a cold. Perhaps if we could just control the duration of the parade, we'd be able to do the trick. After considering both options, the Ministry of Rites came up with the idea of ​​a quick parade during the prayer period."

As he spoke, Xu Qing'an suddenly exclaimed, "However, I really didn't expect that there would be any problems with the cruise ship!"

After he bowed his hands to apologize, he knocked his head to the ground.

Shangguan Xu stood up and squinted at him.

"Then what you just said about the Minister of Works..."

Xu Qing'an stood up straight, bowed, and said quickly, "As the Censor-in-Chief, I naturally pay close attention to the affairs of all officials. I never thought that Your Majesty would not like it. From now on, I will not say much."

As he said this, he was about to kowtow again, but just as he moved, a soft hand carrying the faint fragrance of peony stroked his jaw and clamped his chin.

Xu Qing'an's eyelashes trembled slightly, and his breathing quickened.

He had never expected her to do this.

"Your Majesty..."

Even speaking has to be concealed by whispers.

But she calmly smiled and said, "It's not that I don't like it, I just think you're being too blunt. Being too blunt makes it easy for others to get caught up in your thoughts, do you understand?"

Xu Qing'an smiled calmly, "I understand. But in front of Her Majesty, I don't need to pretend."

Shangguan Xu glanced at him and said, "Hmm?"

Xu Qing'an's chin was still clamped by her, but he had already digested her action and even turned this clamping into a kind of enjoyment.

When the crisis turns into comfort, it begins to slowly gain the upper hand.

He raised his chin to allow her to see his expression more clearly. "My heart is with Your Majesty, so I should analyze everything in front of you without hiding anything."

He brought his face closer to Shangguan Xu with extremely sincere words, just to make her accept everything he was passing on to her without any escape.

But her long eyelashes flickered and she looked away.

The light in Xu Qing'an's eyes suddenly became lonely.

Shangguan Xu naturally wouldn't believe what he said, but for some reason, she didn't reject it. Although she didn't look at him again, her eyes still lingered on his jade-white and clean face.

The thin fingers clamped on his chin moved slowly and stopped at the place where she slapped him last night.

As his palm followed, he suddenly felt a burning sensation.

Looking back on the past, pain and tenderness are intertwined.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

The waist is slightly bent and the breath brings warmth.