Chapter 215 His Majesty's Reward
"Your Majesty, Minister Gong and Scholar Ye have returned to report on their work and are waiting outside now."
Jun Liluo, who was sitting behind the imperial desk, raised his head and said, "Call them in."
Soon, the two entered the imperial study. Seeing that they were thinner than before, Jun Liluo couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, "I'm afraid you haven't adapted to the life in Yuzhou during this period of time?"
"I am very happy that we can share your majesty's worries." Ye Fengmian bowed and said, "When I first arrived in Yuzhou, I was indeed a little uncomfortable with the climate and the food there. The local government took good care of us two, and they also helped a lot in the flood control this time."
"That's good." Jun Liluo was somewhat relieved, and then glanced at Gong Mingyuan again, "Is your cold better?"
Gong Mingyuan quickly responded, "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am now well again."
"I see that you are still a little pale. You two are tired from the journey. You should rest well in the mansion for the next two days. Come to court after you have recovered."
"Come here, pass on my order. Gong Mingyuan and Ye Fengmian have a good way of managing the floods and have not been afraid of hard work. I will reward them with a box of pearls, a box of high-quality medicinal materials, and a box of feather satin."
The two of them hurriedly expressed their gratitude.
Gong Mingyuan was in a very excited mood.
His Majesty had deducted one year's salary from me before, but now I have earned it back!
The box of tribute pearls alone is worth a lot, and feather satin is the best quality among all silks. Lord Song said before that if he were to be more humble to Ye Fengmian and cooperate harmoniously with him, there would definitely be benefits. This was indeed true.
God knows how much he is annoyed by Ye Fengmian’s nagging. If this guy didn’t really have some talent, he would have started arguing with him a long time ago.
However, this man does have decent character and is more pleasing to the eye than his father, General Ye.
"Your Majesty, when I was in Yuzhou, I often missed my relatives. Today, I returned to the court and have seen my father, but I have not seen Empress Zhenfei yet. I wonder how the Empress is doing these days?"
"You two siblings haven't seen each other for a long time. Zhen Fei naturally misses you. If you want to know how she is doing, go see her yourself."
Ye Fengmian responded with a “yes” and walked out of the imperial study.
But when he arrived outside Zhenfei's bedroom, he was told by the palace servants that Zhenfei had gone to Lifei's bedroom.
He suddenly felt incredible.
He knew his own sister's temper best. Her dislike for someone was written all over her face. Among the concubines, the one she hated the most was Concubine Li. She always said that Concubine Li was pretentious and artificial. But now he is willing to set foot in Concubine Li's bedroom?
This made him wonder if she had bad intentions.
He was not afraid that she would quarrel with others openly, but he was afraid that she would have evil thoughts. If she harmed other concubines and was charged with immorality, not only would she be punished, but the honor of the entire Ye family would also be affected.
His Majesty only allowed him to visit Concubine Zhen. Naturally, he was not allowed to visit the bedrooms of other concubines. He could only order the palace servants to call Concubine Zhen back quickly.
On the other side, in the Zhenxia Palace——
"God bless me, three or six..."
Zhen Fei murmured to herself as she turned over the new cards. When she saw that it was a real six, she was overjoyed.
The position is really good today, we have won four games in a row.
"Win! Give me money!"
"Why are you making trouble again?" The other three were a little unhappy.
"Just wait and see, the next one will be mine."
A new round of poker begins again.
Zhenfei was overjoyed when she saw that she had another good hand.
I won five games in a row once since I first started playing mahjong, but I haven't had that since. Looking at today's momentum, I think I can surpass my previous record.
Just when she was feeling happy, her personal maid came into the palace to report, "Your Majesty, Scholar Ye is back! Someone is coming to call you back to the palace."
"Brother is back?"
"Yes, Scholar Ye has already paid his respects to His Majesty and received a reward from His Majesty. He has not seen you for many days, and he came to see you as soon as he left the Imperial Study."
Upon hearing that Ye Fengmian had received a reward, Concubine Zhen's eyes lit up, "What reward did he receive?"
She wanted to ask if there was any gold or silver, but then she thought that asking this question would make her seem like she was greedy for money.
"It seems to be jewels and fine brocade!"
The light in Zhenfei's eyes suddenly disappeared.
Jewels and brocades…are of no use unless they are ready-made silver.
"Then wait a moment. I'm about to win five consecutive games."
She said, her eyes returning to the cards in her hand.
But the result is often not satisfactory. Although her cards are good, the next player has better cards than her.
"Win!" Concubine Li pushed the cards in front of her and looked at Concubine Zhen with great pride.
"My luck is gone since my elder brother came. I really want him to compensate me." Concubine Zhen gritted her teeth and then stood up and said, "You guys chat first. I'll go see my elder brother and come back later."
On the other side, Ye Fengmian waited for a long time. When he saw Concubine Zhen coming back, he went up to her and asked her why she went to Concubine Li's residence.
"Brother, what's with that expression on your face? You look so bitter after receiving the reward. You don't think I'm going to pay New Year's greetings to the weasel, do you? Oh, I'm not the only one there. There are four of us there. What else can I do?"
She couldn't tell Ye Fengmian about the gambling, so she could only think of an excuse to fool him. "The emperor won't see us anyway. If I still quarrel with others, won't I be lonely to death in this palace? I don't want to be bored all day, so I can only reluctantly hang out with Concubine Li and the others...writing poems and songs."
Ye Fengmian was a little suspicious, "Are you serious?"
"Why, do you want me to swear to you that I will never harm Concubine Li?"
"That's not the case. Since you said so, I believe you." Seeing that she was unhappy, Ye Fengmian quickly softened his tone and smiled at her. "His Majesty's Thousand Years' Day is coming. Have you thought about what gift to give to His Majesty? Father means that the gift must be unique and try not to be too ordinary. If it can win His Majesty's favor..."
"Forget it. It's useless to give anything. If I try so hard to be in the limelight, the other sisters will be unhappy, and His Majesty may not be satisfied either. Why should I bother?"
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