Chapter 24 She quickly retracted her foot, looking embarrassed
In the imperial palace, Xiao Yan, who had just finished the morning court, came out of the main hall in a purple official robe with coiled patterns. Someone handed him a thick fur coat.
"Why did it take so long, Lord Governor?"
Normally, the morning court session would only take about an hour, but today it lasted nearly three hours, and Emperor An's angry voice could be heard from the palace from time to time.
Jinyun lowered his voice: "But what happened?"
Xiao Yan reached through his fur robe, his eyes dark, "The news of those who died on Luohan Mountain has spread back to the capital, and His Majesty is furious."
"How could it be? We were clearly hiding it..." Jinyun's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Emperor An had been asking the governor to investigate the grain tax case, but someone from the aristocratic family tried to stop them, so their investigation was not going smoothly. They had finally found a few witnesses, but unexpectedly, they were attacked on Luohan Mountain on their way back to the capital. Although they brought back a survivor, the man became half crazy after being frightened, and his speech was incoherent, making it difficult for him to testify.
They did not report this matter to the capital, they just wanted to see if they could follow the clues, but unexpectedly someone leaked it out.
Xiao Yan said calmly, "If you keep it a secret, naturally other people will come up with suggestions."
"Then does Your Majesty blame the Governor?" Jinyun was worried.
Xiao Yan sneered when he heard this. He could blame him, as Emperor An had always been like this. If he was not satisfied with the people around him, they would naturally suffer. Those people from the aristocratic families knew this and deliberately exposed this matter, hoping that he would lose the emperor's favor and the emperor's favor because of his incompetence.
It’s a pity that most of them don’t understand that he has never relied on the so-called imperial will to get to this point, and no one in the world knows better than him how to reassure the emperor.
"No problem." Xiao Yan asked, "How's Cai Qi doing?"
Cai Qi was the person they brought back from Luohan Mountain.
Jinyun whispered, "Madam Qin has already gone to see him. She said his madness was caused by shock. There's a chance it can be relieved, but whether he can fully regain consciousness and return to normal depends on luck."
"Just let her do her best."
Xiao Yan walked towards the eunuch, his purple official robe blowing across the stone steps of the palace, bringing with it a cold and sharp wind.
When the palace servants on both sides of the road saw him, they hurriedly lowered their heads and retreated, bowed and called out "Supervisor", and only dared to get up and leave carefully after Xiao Yan led his men past.
The Eunuch Supervisor was originally in charge of the inner court affairs in the palace. Although it had great power, its status was not high. Until Xiao Yan took the seal and became the head of the Eunuch Supervisor, and was valued by Emperor An and was in charge of the Black Armor Army and the six bureaus under the Eunuch Department, and was in control of the Criminal Court, the Eunuch Supervisor's status increased day by day and his power grew.
Xiao Yan's daily work in the palace was in the most conspicuous Fuyun Hall. As soon as he entered, he saw Canglang coming towards him.
"Master Governor."
"Why did you enter the palace?"
"The Lu family has gone to look for Miss Song."
Xiao Yan paused in the act of unbuttoning his thick fur coat and raised his eyes, "Lu Zhinian?"
Canglang shook his head: "No, it's a servant of the Lu family, who seems to be Lu Zhinian's attendant, named Song Mo."
"He's the only one?"
"Yes, I didn't see any other members of the Lu family."
Xiao Yan's expression suddenly turned cold.
After the Song family came to make trouble yesterday, Song Jinxiu did not take Song Tangning back. He knew that the Lu family would definitely come to his house.
Before the marriage contract between the Song and Lu families was cancelled, Song Tangning was still the daughter-in-law to be married by the Lu family. They would never put her by Xiao Yan's side. Moreover, Song Jinxiu was scolded as a brother during the Shan incident, and Lu Zhinian was not much better. Now people outside are talking about Lu Zhinian's indifference and disloyalty, so he will also find Song Tangning to restore his reputation.
Xiao Yan originally thought that Lu Zhinian would at least put in some superficial effort and come in person to persuade Tang Ning to return to the Song family. Even if he cared about his reputation, the Lu family would find an elder to come and apologize and comfort Song Tang Ning. But he didn't expect that Lu Zhinian would only send a long-time attendant.
So perfunctory, so ignoring.
If he acts like this when he makes a mistake, what about other days?
Then how did Lu Zhinian and the Lu family treat Song Tangning?
Canglang also felt sorry for Miss Song: "The Lu family is really too much. Miss Song almost died in the mountains, and Lu Zhinian was engaged to her for many years, but he didn't even bother to visit her. He even had his long-time servant trick Miss Song into saying that the old lady of the Lu family punished him by making him kneel in the ancestral hall, trying to trick Miss Song into going to the Lu family. But someone clearly saw Lu Zhinian go to Prince Huan's Hengting Pavilion earlier."
"That servant of the Lu family wasn't a good person either. He tried to coax Miss Song with a broken coral bracelet, which made Miss Song cry. She chased him out while crying."
Xiao Yan's brows furrowed, and he put back the fur coat he had just taken off halfway, turned around and walked out of the palace.
Tang Ning was curled up beside the couch with the door closed, counting the silver left for her by Princess Cheng with Hua Wu.
There was a thick stack of banknotes, and next to it were two small boxes filled with gold and silver ingots, as well as a small box of gold leaves as thin as a cicada's wing, which were very suitable for rewards or gifts.
Hua Wu counted and was shocked: "Girl, there are 18,000 taels of silver notes here, and these gold and silver ingots and gold leaves add up to 200 to 300 taels. How did the princess send so much..."
Tang Ning pursed her lips: "Aunt is afraid that I will be wronged."
She couldn't go back to the Song family for the time being. Before Song Shulan's identity was clarified, she couldn't take the initiative to confront the Song family. All the things left by her father and mother were in the Song family, and she couldn't get them back for a while. Although she had a house to live in, maintaining such a large house required a lot of money for servants and daily needs.
Song Tangning held the blanket and instructed Hua Wu, "First, take out the silver for buying the house. Then take out two hundred taels and wrap it up and give it to Uncle He. Have him distribute it to the servants sent by the Governor's Mansion. Say it's my gift to them. Remember to wrap ten gold leaves separately for Uncle He when you give it to him. Keep the rest for now."
Hua Wu nodded quickly and wrote it down.
Tang Ning leaned against the window and watched her packing the banknotes, wrapped tightly in the blanket.
There was a charcoal basin burning next to it, and the heat was rising slowly, making the room as warm as spring.
Tang Ning felt a little hot after taking the medicine, so he quietly stretched out his feet from under the blanket after taking off his shoes and socks.
She was casually fiddling with the golden ears of wheat hanging by the window. She had just stretched lazily and comfortably when she suddenly saw a figure suddenly appear in the yard outside.
Xiao Yan strode in with a cold and stern aura. Just as he reached the gate and wanted to ask someone to come in to pass on the message, he looked up and saw a slender figure leaning against the window, stretching lazily like a cat.
Their eyes met, and Tang Ning's eyes suddenly widened. Her raised hand froze in mid-air, and her chest, which was originally bulging and showing its curves because of her straight waist, shrank back. She subconsciously pulled her feet back into the blanket and pulled down the window.
“…” Xiao Yan: “?”
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