Qiu Ju almost choked to death on her own saliva.
He had seen shameless people, but he had never seen anyone as shameless as the Emperor.
They clearly had ulterior motives, yet they brought up Xue'er as a pretext.
Jiang Shuyue smiled sweetly at Xiao Jingzhao, "If Your Majesty is reluctant to part with Xue'er, you can take her back to the palace to rest for a few days. It just so happens that Sui Sui spends a lot of time in the palace now, so let Xue'er keep him company."
"How could I take away someone else's good fortune? Besides, I don't know anything about medicine. Xue'er would suffer if she stayed with me. I can come here often."
Xiao Jingzhao knew that Xue'er had a sensitive stomach and would get diarrhea if she accidentally ate something.
Jiang Shuyue rolled her eyes inwardly.
That's such a lame excuse. With so many imperial physicians in the palace, surely they can take care of a cat?
She didn't call out his excuses, but that didn't stop her from making things difficult for him.
"Your Majesty, the people are saying that you will be holding a spring selection of concubines. You always come to the Jiang residence at this time. What will the other girls think when they find out?"
“I am not afraid of what others say about me. You are the emperor, and no one can use your reputation against you.”
Xiao Jingzhao's lips curled slightly. "Is Yue Niang worried about me?"
Jiang Shuyue: "..." This is going to be so boring.
Seeing Jiang Shuyue glare at him, he pointed to the next room, "I jumped over the wall from next door. Xiang Song and Xiang Yang are still visiting the Censor's house next door."
"Does His Majesty mean that Young Master Nangong has already returned to his residence?" Qiuju asked, then immediately wanted to slap herself.
It's like they're rubbing salt in the wound; every time the Emperor comes, Nangong Zeyue is so busy she's never home.
If you said there wasn't something fishy going on here, Qiuju would never believe that the Emperor wasn't involved.
"What I mean is that Young Master Nangong returned late, and I don't know if he has eaten yet. His Majesty and Miss are chatting, so I'll go out and see if there's anything else that hasn't been arranged properly at the manor."
Qiuju bowed and withdrew. Xiao Jingzhao looked at the chessboard on the coffee table. "Is Yueniang waiting for him to play a game?"
"Well, he's all alone. He's a good friend, a neighbor, and also Sui Sui's godfather. When we have nothing to do, we play a couple of games of chess."
When Jiang Shuyue mentioned the word "godfather," she deliberately glanced at Xiao Jingzhao. She saw his brow twitch slightly before he quickly regained his composure.
"If Yue Niang hasn't investigated, how can she know he's all alone? Perhaps he has elderly parents and a large family."
"What does Your Majesty mean by this?"
Jiang Shuyue wasn't surprised at all that Xiao Jingzhao had so many capable people under his command, so he could find Nangong Zeyue's parents and family.
Xiao Jingzhao picked up his tea and took a sip. "I was just saying, Yue Niang, don't take it seriously. Nangong Zeyue treats Sui Sui very well. He is your friend, and I sincerely hope that his family can find him."
"Your Majesty, if..."
"Moon Lady, please speak your mind."
"It's nothing. My memory hasn't been very good lately. Sometimes I forget what I was going to say a moment ago."
Jiang Shuyue wanted to ask if it was convenient for her to help Nangong Zeyue find her family.
But when the words were about to come out, he felt it was inappropriate. Nangong Zeyue only had one jade pendant. If his family didn't spread the word to find him, even if the emperor sent people to look for him, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
If she couldn't get things done, she would end up owing Xiao Jingzhao a favor, which was not something she wanted.
"Since Your Majesty is here, how about we play a game of chess?" Jiang Shuyue quickly changed the subject when she saw Xiao Jingzhao looking at her with an ambiguous expression.
Xiao Jingzhao withdrew his gaze and nodded slightly, "Alright, I'm itching to play chess too."
The two played chess while chatting about what Sui Sui had learned in the palace.
Xiao Jingzhao knew that she cared about the Su family. With the Prince of Kang's wedding approaching, the Su family could truly be considered imperial relatives.
Xiao Jingzhao placed a chess piece and said, "Su Jin is steady in his work. He needs more training in the future, and he will surely be able to stand on his own in the future."
"Yes, thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty. Ajin is a person of noble character and trustworthy."
This was the second time Jiang Shuyue had openly praised Su Jin in front of Xiao Jingzhao.
"I understand, a good sword needs to be honed."
Jiang Shuyue breathed a sigh of relief. The Emperor was telling her that Su Jin would rise rapidly in rank in the future.
...
At this moment, in an inn not far from Jiangzhou Wharf, Lin Xiangzhi came out of the washroom after taking a bath.
After taking a bath, the fatigue from the long journey was relieved somewhat.
Seeing Zhu Xi peering out the window, he pulled his nightgown tighter and said, "Stop looking. What can you possibly see at this hour? We paid for this room for a month. We'll have plenty of time to look around later."
"Go take a bath to relax, so we can go out for a stroll tomorrow and get familiar with Jiangzhou."
Zhu Xi shrank back and turned around. "Young Master, we can see the river from here."
“That’s obvious. Your young master carefully selected this inn, of course, because he can see the river.”
Zhu Xi lowered his voice and said, "Young master, what I meant was that we can see the boats coming out of the dock and entering the river from here."
Lin Xiangzhi smiled faintly, "This room was the right choice."
Zhu Xi went to take a bath, while Lin Xiangzhi put on his coat and walked to the window.
The climate here is different from that in Beijing. Even in the dead of winter, you don't need a fire inside to keep warm.
Lin Xiangzhi walked to the window, the river breeze caressing his face. He looked up and saw that the dock in the distance was brightly lit, the lights reflected on the water, shimmering.
It looked like a cargo ship that had just arrived was unloading its cargo, or a cargo ship that was about to embark on a long journey was loading its cargo.
Lin Xiangzhi was engrossed in reading when he heard hurried footsteps outside.
Then came a loud, rough knocking on the door.
"Who!" Lin Xiangzhi's tone was displeased. He thought to himself, "This looks like a nice inn, how could the servant be so rude?"
Even if it's just to deliver tea, you should knock gently on the door late at night.
If this were in the capital, he would have angrily rebuked the other party. However, he was new to the capital and was there to carry out a secret mission, so it was inconvenient for him to have a conflict with someone, lest it cause further complications.
"Open the door! Officials are on duty!" The person outside pounded on the door.
Lin Xiangzhi stumbled.
Holy crap!
They were discovered as soon as they arrived?!
No, the yellow book I have was given to me by Xiang Song, and the identity and name on it are fake. How did they find out about me?
Perhaps the other party knows that someone will come to investigate sooner or later, and this is a test?
Lin Xiangzhi was so certain that none of the officials here recognized him.
He composed himself, forced himself to remain calm, and walked over to open the door.
Before he could speak, the leading officer held out his hand, "Bring the yellow register for verification."
Without saying a word, Lin Xiangzhi turned around, took the yellow book, and respectfully handed it over.
The identity listed on the Yellow Register is that of a merchant.
The official took the yellow register, looked at it, and asked, "Are you from Zhuxi County?"
Lin Xiangzhi replied in a thick Zhuxi County accent: "That's right, I am from Zhuxi County. This is stamped with the official seal of the government. How could I possibly fake it?"
"Your surname is Jia?"
"ah!"
"Yes, yes, yes, I am Jia Lin, the real deal." Lin Xiangzhi almost couldn't react in time, then put on a smooth smile, and he was ninety percent of the guise of a small merchant.
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