Chapter 675: Wen girl is always good at coaxing people
"No need," Emperor Kangxi waved his hand to stop Liang Jiugong: "Send it away. I am still young now. These things should be given to the Empress Dowager first."
After saying this, he saw Li Dequan, who had delivered something to the Empress Dowager, coming back, and asked, "How is it? Is the Empress Dowager in good health?"
Li Dequan immediately replied with a smile, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is in better spirits today. The imperial physician says she'll be fully recovered in two days. When I brought her something, she ate two small cakes in one sitting. She also said that Concubine Wen's cakes were her favorite, and she kept praising Concubine Wen for her thoughtfulness. She even asked me to bring you two cakes as well."
As Li Dequan spoke, he opened the lunch box and took out a small plate.
On top were two small cakes, half the size of a palm, made in the shape of a peach, and filled with various red, green and yellow diced fruits.
Emperor Kangxi found it amusing when he saw this: "What a fool of the Empress Dowager! Wen brought her food, but she would forget me?"
As he spoke, he picked up the chopsticks.
Li Dequan, standing beside him, immediately trotted over and helped Emperor Kangxi turn up his sleeves. He added, "Your Majesty, the concubine also brought you some juice, saying it's good for your health. I've asked someone to put it in the hall. Would Your Majesty like to have some with your snacks?"
Emperor Kangxi took a bite of the cake and said, "Well, bring it here."
Li Dequan immediately sent for some juice and personally poured it for Emperor Kangxi: "This is watermelon juice, and the other is orange juice. Your Majesty, please try both."
Emperor Kangxi took it and took a bite. "Not bad, this dessert is not bad either. It's softer than the one given to me, but the taste is a bit bland. I guess it was prepared according to the Empress Dowager's preferences. I put a lot of thought into it."
"Your Majesty, would you like to try the snacks that the concubine brought you?" Li Dequan ran over and took out another plate from the food box.
Emperor Kangxi took a bite and smiled, "Not bad, this one has a stronger milk flavor, I like it."
Li Dequan just laughed: "If she knew that Your Majesty likes to eat, Concubine Jin would be so happy."
Emperor Kangxi laughed: "You old thing, after staying in the Fourth Master's house for some time, you have become more and more capable of doing your job."
"Your Majesty, look at what you said. This is because you have trained me well. I have been serving you for more than twenty years."
Liang Jiugong looked at Li Dequan's smiling face and became alert for a moment. Why did he suddenly feel that his position was a little unstable?
Li Dequan continued to smile and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother said that she would ask you to come over later."
Emperor Kangxi paused and asked, "What did the Queen Mother say?"
Li Dequan: "The Empress Dowager said she wanted to discuss with you what kind of reward to give to the young prince. The Empress Dowager is concerned about the young princes in the Fourth Master's mansion. When I went to deliver the gifts, the Empress Dowager was picking out many things and couldn't make up her mind."
Emperor Kangxi laughed when he heard this: "It's rare that the Empress Dowager likes children so much."
Suddenly, he laughed again and said, "Miss Wen is always good at coaxing people. When she is free in a couple of days, call her to the palace and let her bring Hongyun and the others to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager."
As soon as these words were spoken, Liang Jiugong and Li Dequan around him nodded in agreement.
As they were talking, they saw Wei Zhu hurried in: "Your Majesty, Bu Yan who was with the Fourth Master is here."
Emperor Kangxi subconsciously raised his head and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Wei Zhu's face was a bit strange, and he only said: "Your Majesty, Bu Yan also brought Lord Wang and Lord Xu here. It is said...it is said...that two of your ministers were fighting at the gate of the Yongjun Prince's Mansion. The Fourth Master sent a message, asking you to take care of it..."
Emperor Kangxi felt as if he had misheard: "What did you say?"
Wei Zhu: "...The Fourth Master has already sent someone to the Palace of Heavenly Purity."
"What's this Fourth Brother doing again?" Emperor Kangxi frowned and put down his chopsticks. "Send someone in."
Then he pushed the plate to the side.
Seeing Liang Jiugong packing up beside him, Emperor Kangxi added: "Don't throw it away, keep it for me and use it later."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw two ministers walking into the Palace of Heavenly Purity side by side.
Emperor Kangxi took one look at you and his brows knitted into a knot. "What's the matter? The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue can't accommodate you two anymore? Are you planning to go to the Ministry of War? You're over a hundred years old between you, what a mess!"
But I didn't expect that the two of them would actually fight.
The two adults below immediately knelt down.
Lord Wang covered his bruised eye sockets, dusted himself off, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, I am guilty. I have brought shame upon you. But Your Majesty, this time Xu Xueqin has gone too far. He's so greedy for money that he's even extended his hand to my Ministry of Works!"
"Wang Daogen, stop slandering me!" Lord Xu Xueqin was so excited that he pulled the corner of his mouth, which was red and swollen, and immediately bared his teeth. He didn't care about the clothes that were half torn off his left shoulder and immediately kowtowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please don't listen to his nonsense. The money raised in the past has never been transferred to the Ministry of Revenue. It's clearly Wang Daogen who has ruined my job! And he is so unreasonable. He is really a stubborn old man. I can't explain it to you!"
"Xu Xueqian, you are so outrageous! You dare to argue in front of the emperor!"
"Wang Daogan, don't think I'm afraid of you. Although I'm one rank lower than you, I still don't believe that I can't reason with the emperor!"
"Xu Xueqian, you're going too far!"
"You are going too far!"
"Hey, I have to teach you a lesson."
"Come if you want, who's afraid of who?"
...
"good!"
Emperor Kangxi looked at the two ministers below who were fighting like cockfighting cocks, and his beard trembled with anger. "Beat them! Beat them now! Fight to the death! Let everyone in the world see how ridiculous my ministers are!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the two adults who were already fighting with each other froze.
It was Master Xu who came back to his senses first, loosened his grip, and knelt down: "Your Majesty, I know I was wrong."
Lord Wang also let go of Lord Xu's sleeve awkwardly: "I know I was wrong."
"Oh," Emperor Kangxi laughed in anger. "What have you done wrong? I was wrong. I was wrong when I appointed you!"
"I am guilty." This time they said it in unison.
Emperor Kangxi leaned back in his chair, glaring at the two ministers with their heads drooping, and became even more furious.
"What are you doing? Are you playing a guessing game with me? Tell me what's going on!"
"Your Majesty, I was negotiating the fundraising. The Jiangnan salt merchants, the Shen family, were ready to donate 500,000 taels, and the deal was almost done. But Xu Xueqin insisted on intervening, asking the Shen family to contribute 1 million taels. Now, he's scared them away!"
"You are slandering me, Your Majesty. Don't listen to his nonsense. What do you mean I scared people away? The Ministry of Revenue has always been in charge of this matter. I must have negotiated with the Shen family. I didn't say one million taels. I just wanted to know if it was possible to get more. I don't know what Wang Daogan said to the head of the Shen family, but he has been hiding in the Raindrop Chamber of Commerce all day and won't come out. I can't see him now."
Emperor Kangxi heard the end and got the key point: "Raindrop Chamber of Commerce? Why does this name sound so familiar?"
Liang Jiugong, who was standing beside him, whispered in Emperor Kangxi's ear at the right moment: "Your Majesty, the auction that Concubine Wen took you to earlier was the one run by the Raindrop Chamber of Commerce."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
