"Your Majesty has no one in mind. I simply believe that all under heaven belongs to the king, and all within the realm are his subjects. Whoever Your Majesty entrusts this matter to, they will certainly handle it well for Your Majesty," Wei Qinglou said calmly, his head bowed.
Upon hearing this, the eunuch standing behind the emperor felt that people were truly different. When it came to flattery, other ministers would practically have the word "obsequious" written all over their faces, but this Lord Wei, even if you knew he was flattering you, looking at his serious face, you not only couldn't doubt him, but you even felt a desire to believe him.
However, this was a lucrative job. After pondering for a while, the eunuch decided that he could sell this information to a few high-ranking officials outside the palace. Whether they succeeded or not was their business, but he would have done them a favor.
Just as he was thinking this, he heard the Emperor say, "You are right, but you are not right either. I do have a good candidate in mind, but I don't know if he is willing."
Gu Xinming shifted his gaze from the Jade Pool to Wei Qinglou: "Minister Wei, are you willing to do this for me?"
Wei Qinglou quickly cupped his hands in greeting: "Your humble servant obeys."
"Good!" Gu Xinming was overjoyed. "Then this matter will be entrusted to you. I am very much looking forward to seeing what kind of results you can achieve. I will not interfere with the specific process, I will only look at the results, how about that?"
Wei Qinglou's head drooped even lower.
He knew the emperor meant to delegate the matter to him, but he felt no joy, because this was exactly what he had expected.
Of course, even if the emperor didn't entrust this matter to him, he wouldn't be disappointed, since he had more important things to do.
Gu Xinming helped him up: "You should understand what I mean. Go ahead and do it. I'll support you no matter what."
"Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace." Wei Qinglou bowed again, and only after thanking you did he stand up. He was silent for a moment, and then said, "Your Majesty, I dare to ask what Your Majesty's plans are for the former Minister of Personnel, Song Baopu?"
"Your Majesty, I recently reviewed the files of the Court of Judicial Review. According to the laws of Da Ye, Song Baopu should be beheaded and his family should be exiled to Wangshan. However, you have only demoted him to Xingchuan Prefecture. Does Your Majesty intend to reinstate him?"
Gu Xinming's eyes gleamed, and his smile deepened as he asked with great interest, "Others only think I am kind-hearted, but you suspect that I have designs on him. Why is that?"
"Having reviewed this man's life, I know that although he embezzled money, he was also a man of talent and learning. When he served in the Ministry of Works, he was in charge of the construction of water conservancy bridges and dams. Not only did he not embezzle funds, but he also ate and lived with the workers. The people in the Zhaohe area all called him a righteous official. It was His Majesty who had a discerning eye and sent this man to Zhaohe to benefit them."
"Later, when he became Minister of Personnel, the embezzlement scandal broke out. However, what he embezzled was not public funds from the national treasury, but rather..."
Gu Xinming picked up where he left off: "It is the treasure of the aristocratic families, right? You guessed right, I do have his intentions, but he set such a big trap for the aristocratic families before, and he comes from a humble background with no connections. If I don't demote him, the aristocratic families will not let it go."
"Ten years have passed. Don't you think he should come back?" He sighed, vaguely recalling twenty years ago, when the young man with a face like white jade and a body like a pine tree, dressed in a red robe, rode his horse through the streets with high spirits.
Now, twenty years have passed, and both my old friend and I have grown old.
"I know you share the same thoughts as me. Find some time to go to Heling. If he returns, he will be a great help to you."
He shook his head, probably because he was really getting old. After thinking about the past for a while, he felt mentally and physically exhausted and couldn't muster any energy: "I'm tired too. Go back and give my regards to your father."
Upon hearing this, Wei Qinglou lowered his head, respectfully seeing him off. He then turned and left the palace, returning to the Dali Temple, where he said to Shujian:
"Get ready, we might be setting off for Heling soon. All the brothels and pleasure houses have been shut down, right? Find some time to secretly find a group of trustworthy women, regardless of their background, as long as they are innocent. Call them over at a time, I need to see them."
Shu Jian clasped his hands in a fist salute and said yes, then asked about his plans: "Young Master, what do you intend to do..."
Wei Qinglou said, "It's alright, just go and do it."
Shujian agreed and said, "There's one more thing, young master. Last time, when Shushan returned from the tavern, he was followed. He investigated afterwards and found out it was someone from the Chang family."
"Is it Chang Beiqiu again?" Wei Qinglou frowned. "I understand. You may leave now. Tell your subordinates to be careful in their actions these days, so that no one can find any fault with them."
After he finished speaking, as if he suddenly remembered something, he asked, "Has the Yan family not made any moves recently?"
Shu Jian struggled greatly to suppress his laughter. He shook his head: "No."
But he couldn't help wondering what the Yan family would dare to do next. He figured Yan Feng hadn't left the house these past few days because he was terrified by his young master's return gift.
Meanwhile, Yan Feng, whom the master and servant had mentioned, was clinging to his elderly father's leg at home, weeping and pleading:
"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! I kindly sent him a beautiful woman, and he actually said that the woman's beauty lay in her expressive eyes. He then gouged out her eyes with a single sword stroke and had them brought back to me as a return gift!"
"Father, you must stand up for me! He did this because he knew our Yan family wouldn't dare to do anything to him! Even if he didn't like the beauty, he could have at least returned her intact for the sake of the family. But he was so cruel! Father, my heart is breaking!"
Yan Feng was truly terrified this time. Ever since he saw the pair of eyes in the brocade box that night, he hadn't drunk a drop of water or eaten a single grain of rice for three whole days. He couldn't even look at women, because it would remind him of those eyes that had stared at him in the dark, eyes devoid of light and life.
However, Lord Yan was completely unmoved by his words. He even slapped this good-for-nothing son so hard that he saw stars.
"The imperial physicians have said that he must not be near women, otherwise it may damage his health in the future. At this critical juncture, you are still sending him women. Are you afraid that the Wei family will think that we are living too comfortably?"
"Just because I don't question the dirty deeds you've done doesn't mean I don't know about them. I'll let bygones be bygones in the past, but if you provoke Wei Qinglou again, I don't think you'll ever need to come back to the Yan family!"
He felt a surge of anger when he thought about the news he heard from Eunuch Cao today. They were both sons, yet Wei Qinglou had already entered the court as an official, and the emperor even intended to pave the way for him, while his son was still playing those despicable tricks. Don't think that he didn't know what Yan Feng meant by sending women to Wei Qinglou, but what good would it do?
He coldly stared at his son, who sat dumbfounded on the ground, saying, "I won't ask who gave you that terrible advice. If you're smart, you should cut ties with those good-for-nothings who only know how to goof off. Otherwise, I'm afraid if you continue like this, one day I'll kick you out of the house first. Yan Feng," Old Master Yan sighed heavily, "I've been able to get to where I am today, to steadily support this family, because I know that a person can be bad, but not stupid. Do you understand what I mean?"
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