Chapter 23 Chapter 23 "Is he worthy?"
==Chapter 23==
But Feng Wenyu knew very well that this relationship should have ended when the two broke off their engagement.
She hates inappropriate behavior and the same goes for inappropriate feelings.
The two of them looked at each other and then separated. Feng Wenyu bowed slightly and performed a junior's greeting: "Uncle."
Zhou Yuangui waved his hand: "Ayu, come and sit down. This is the Imperial Envoy."
Zhou Yuangui was actually a little embarrassed in his heart. After all, he was borrowing his niece's reputation to ask the imperial envoy for leniency, especially since the relationship between the two was still so awkward.
But Feng Wenyu did not refuse to come, which made him feel slightly relieved.
Zhou Yuangui felt a little regretful and depressed.
After all, his own unfilial son is not worthy of being in public. A girl is more sensible than him.
Feng Wenyu didn't care about her uncle's thoughts. The Zhou family's death meant that the Feng family's interests were damaged. She couldn't just stand by and watch what happened to the Zhou family.
When Feng Wenyu looked at Gu Yu again, she felt a little embarrassed and couldn't tell anyone. After all, Zhou Yu wanted to use her to take advantage of Gu Yu. Feng Wenyu couldn't help feeling a little short of breath when she faced Gu Yu again.
She called out, "Master Gu."
Gu Yushi frowned slightly because of this harsh name. Mu Fan's words last night left a mark in his heart.
He observed her inconspicuously, and seeing that her expression was normal and she didn't seem to be resentful, he lowered his eyes and called to her:
"Miss Feng."
Very uncomfortable.
He would rather call her Feng Wenyu.
Feng Wenyu sat down. Zhou Yuangui was still explaining the origin of the salt permit, but the other two were a little absent-minded.
Especially Gu Yushi, he knew the ins and outs of the salt permit issue very clearly, and coming to Zhou Mansion today was just a formality.
After Zhou Yuangui finished speaking, Gu Yushi raised his eyes as if normal:
"This matter is already known to me."
His tone was normal, and Zhou Yuangui was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard the imperial envoy beside him ask calmly, "How will Lord Zhou deal with your son's bribery?"
Zhou Yuangui's heart tightened. Anything involving bribery cannot be taken lightly.
Is it worth it to let a bastard implicate the entire Zhou family?
Zhou Yuangui's heart hardened, and he said directly: "Whatever is to be done, it is to be done. Your Excellency will deal with it impartially, and I will not complain at all."
Feng Wenyu also held the cup tightly without leaving any trace.
Gu Yushi seemed to pause for a moment before he calmly said, "This matter is of great importance. We should avoid alerting the enemy. Lord Zhou, please keep an eye on your son for the time being. Once this matter is resolved, I will report it to the Emperor and await His Majesty's decision."
Zhou Yuangui's eyes flashed. He heard a hidden message from Gu Yushi's voice - Gu Yushi had no intention of protecting himself in the corruption case.
Report to the emperor.
Zhou Yuangui swallowed silently. It seemed that their emperor was determined to crack down on the corruption of salt merchants this time.
Realizing this, Zhou Yuangui has completely given up on Zhou Chiyu.
After Gu Yushi conveyed his intention, he did not stay in the Zhou Mansion for long. As soon as he stood up, Zhou Yuangui also stood up. He glanced at Feng Wenyu hesitantly, but before he could speak, Feng Wenyu took the initiative to mention:
"Master Gu and I are old acquaintances. Let me give Master Gu a ride on behalf of my uncle."
Zhou Yuangui nodded: "Thank you for your hard work, Ayu."
Feng Wenyu smiled but said nothing. She would take the initiative to mention sending Gu Yu away mainly because she had something to say to Gu Yu.
She lagged behind Gu Yushi by a step, and they both left the living room together. But when they reached the corridor, they were walking side by side again without knowing when.
As the two approached the gate of the mansion, they subconsciously slowed down their pace.
Feng Wenyu blinked, not wanting to let irrelevant emotions interfere with her. She said, "I apologize to you on behalf of Zhou Chiyu regarding the salt permit."
Gu Yushi's face darkened slightly, and his tone was filled with worry:
"It's not your fault, you don't need to take the blame."
Feng Wenyu felt that he was not immune to the consequences: "If it weren't for his relationship with me, he might not have dared to accept the salt permit."
Gu Yushi didn't like to hear her self-reflection, and his tone became harsh:
"You underestimate him. Since he has greed, the result will be the same with or without you."
Even though he was not an imperial envoy in his previous life, Zhou Chiyu was still involved in the salt merchant corruption case.
Bad people are bad people. External factors will only have a slight impact on them, but they will eventually become bad.
Feng Wenyu was choked, but she had to admit that Gu Yushi's words made her feel a lot better.
But Feng Wenyu couldn't help but glance at him and asked something he had been wondering about for a long time: "What triggered you to become so mean?"
Gu Yushi was not like this before. Although he shouldered the heavy responsibility of the entire Gu family, he would occasionally reveal some youthful spirit.
Gu Yushi fell silent again.
Feng Wenyu held her breath and rolled her eyes secretly. It was a good thing that she broke off the engagement with such a talkative person, otherwise wouldn't she be depressed to death after marriage?
"If you don't want to tell me, then don't tell me. Who wants to hear it?"
Gu Yu pretended not to hear the complaint and said, "The corruption case will be resolved soon. Yangzhou City will be in chaos soon. You should stay in the Zhou Mansion."
Feng Wenyu is very annoyed with him now:
"Don't worry about me."
Gu Yushi paused. When she did it again, her temper seemed to have gotten much worse.
He didn't say anything more, fearing that it would provoke her rebellious psychology. He saw her expression turn cold from the corner of his eye, and after a moment of silence, he revealed a piece of news:
"The chief examiner for this Yangzhou provincial examination is Fang Zhiming."
Feng Wenyu's emotions disappeared in an instant. Fang Zhiming?
In order to avoid any cover-up in the imperial examinations, those who could come to Yangzhou to serve as the chief examiner would not have any connection with the current candidates, and Fang Zhiming certainly could not be a member of the Feng Party.
The current emperor is old, and his sons are gradually growing up, and they have formed many factions.
Her grandfather was a deputy prime minister, but his friendship with the current emperor, Gao Ge Lao, which had lasted for decades, was not as good as that of the chief minister. Therefore, half of the civil and military officials in the court were members of Gao's party.
Lord Gao placed his bets on the Second Prince, who was the Imperial Concubine's son. The Imperial Concubine had been favoring the Second Prince for ten years, and therefore, the Second Prince had always been valued by the Emperor.
And the current Salt Commander is Gao Ge Lao’s biological son.
Officials protect each other and have conflicting interests. It's no wonder that no one thinks Gu Yushi dares to risk offending Lord Gao and intervene in the affairs of the salt merchants.
Feng Wenyu had heard from her father that before Gu Yu went to Jiangnan, the imperial edict had transferred Captain Gao back to the capital. Now Gao Qianming's position has not been determined, but the emperor is obviously unwilling to let Gao Qianming leave the capital again.
This is also the opportunity that the emperor gave to Gu Yushi.
He must be sharp enough to break through all the haze and obstacles so that he can truly be noticed by the emperor and enter the center of power.
As for Fang Zhiming, he is neither a member of the Gao Party nor a member of the Feng Party.
Feng Wenyu vaguely remembered that Lord Fang was a student of Lord Qiu, and Lord Qiu had been on good terms with Lord Gao in the past, or in other words, few people in the court dared to offend the Gao Party.
Thinking of this, Feng Wenyu couldn't help but frown. This was not good news for her.
The party struggle is so fierce that if you are not careful, you will be wiped out. With Fang Zhiming around, her second brother will definitely not win the first place in this provincial examination.
Seeing her face becoming increasingly grim, Gu Yushi had no choice but to reveal more information:
"At the end of May, Fang Zhiming's uncle was unsuccessful in his promotion to the right, and the vacancy was forcibly filled by Gao's party members..."
Feng Wenyu continued, "To save a spot for Gao Qianming?"
Gao Qianming will definitely step down from his post as the captain. Now that he is unemployed at home, the Gao Party will definitely make plans for him. In the eyes of the Gao Party, Gao Qianming will take over the position of Lord Gao in the future.
Gu Yushi always knew that she was perceptive, so he was not surprised that she could guess it, and nodded immediately.
Feng Wenyu's eyes lit up.
Lord Qiu may have been on good terms with Lord Gao in the past, but after this incident, the two factions are bound to become enemies!
Although Fang Zhiming would not give Feng Wenzhou a backdoor in the provincial examination, at least there would be no possibility of making things difficult for Feng Wenzhou.
Feng Wenyu thought of another thing. Although Fang Zhiming was the chief examiner, the local prefect and the education commissioner each had their own authority in the ranking. Mrs. Pei's attitude towards her was obvious, and she was worried that something might go wrong.
Feng Wenyu glanced at Gu Yushi and asked cryptically:
"Is Magistrate Pei also involved in this case? I noticed that Madam Pei was being rather evasive towards me recently."
After much thought, Feng Wenyu could only attribute Mrs. Pei's attitude to her previous relationship with Gu Yushi.
Gu Yushi knew Feng Wenyu very well. When he heard this, he knew what Feng Wenyu wanted to ask. He frowned at the second half of her words and said directly:
"Don't worry about him, he doesn't have the courage."
Feng Wenyu curled the corners of his lips, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
He has only been in the officialdom for half a year, so how come he looks like he knows everything about the court?
Moreover, he was just relying on the convenience of being an imperial envoy. Otherwise, his official position would be even lower than that of Lord Pei. How could he dare to speak so rudely to Prefect Pei?
Feng Wenyu was grumbling in his heart, but since he had the benefit of the information, he swallowed his complaints:
"Thank you, Master Gu. We are already at the door. Please forgive me for not seeing you off any further."
After saying that, she turned around and left, eager to tell Feng Wenzhou the news.
Gu Yushi looked at her back without turning back, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought -
Was his bridge being demolished?
After leaving Zhou's house, Mu Fan had a complete view of the interactions between Master and Miss Feng, and he couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Sir, do you feel that you treat Miss Feng differently?"
Do you still remember that you two have broken off the engagement?
Why are you so eager to pass on the message?
If you can't bear to do so, why don't you just not cancel the engagement in the first place? Mu Fan is now beginning to worry about how his master can rekindle his relationship with Miss Feng.
Gu Yushi's body was stiff. After a long while, he said stiffly:
"I'm just doing this because of our past friendship."
Mu Fan rolled his eyes secretly and said, "Okay, you are the master, whatever you say is true. Just don't regret it yourself."
Mu Fan was about to say something when his master interrupted him. His voice was extremely calm, yet it carried an inexplicable chill:
"Tell Qin Li that it's time to close the net."
Mu Fan's heart trembled. His expression became more serious and he whispered, "But as for the Second Prince..."
Gu Yushi didn't even raise his eyelids, and said in a sarcastic tone:
"He hasn't even taken that position yet, so he's overreaching."
Mu Fan breathed a sigh of relief. He turned his head and glanced towards the Zhou Mansion. Miss Feng was far away in Yangzhou and might not know the news from the capital yet.
"Sir, do you think Miss Feng would agree?"
The carriage suddenly fell silent. After a long moment, Gu Yushi finally spoke: "Is he worthy?"
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