The drunkard's real intention is not to drink!

Shiyi Niang immediately realized the purpose of Huang Sanniang's visit. And considering the friendship between the Huang family and the Xu family, no matter what Huang Sanniang asked for, I'm afraid Xu Lingyi would not refuse to see her.

"The New Year has just passed, and the Marquis has been busy with some affairs in the outer courtyard these days." She smiled and took the initiative to ask, "Sister, what do you want to ask the Marquis?"

This matter might require Eleventh Lady to plead in front of Xu Lingyi...

An idea flashed through Grandma Huang San's mind, and she glanced at the maids and young wives in the room.

Eleventh Lady understood and sent the servants away.

"It's all because of that useless guy in our family!" Grandma Huang San saw that there was no one else in the room, her eyes became wet and tears fell, "He was eager for quick success and didn't even consult with others, and now something big has happened..."

The Marquis of Yongchang was not good at managing general affairs, and he often felt overwhelmed, so he asked for the throne and gave it to the prince. As soon as the prince took over, he wanted to establish his authority, so he started the idea of ​​the Jiangnan River. The Marquis of Jianning may have heard about it from the officials of the Ministry of Works, so he took the initiative to send a steward to find the chief steward of the Marquis of Yongchang's family, hoping to buy stone from the quarry of the Marquis of Yongchang. The prince was happy to see it happen. The two families started doing business in this vague way. As time went on, they inevitably had some social events, and gradually became familiar with each other. In the twelfth month of the year before last, someone came to the prince through the staff of the Marquis of Yongchang, and asked for the position of Langzhong of the Fujian Division of the Ministry of Revenue with three hundred taels of gold. The prince tried to write a note to the Marquis of Jianning. Unexpectedly, after the new year, this person really got the position of Langzhong of the Fujian Division of the Ministry of Revenue, and the prince sent someone to send one hundred taels of gold to the Yang family...

"... On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Madam sent the Second Madam to report the news. After hearing what the Second Madam said, the Young Master realized the seriousness of the situation." Grandma Huang wiped her eyes, "The note is still in the hands of Marquis Jianning. I don't know if he saved it or put it somewhere." As she spoke, she lowered her voice, "If it is true as the Second Madam said, the Yang family was raided... What if the note written by the Young Master was copied out, or there is a private account that records that the Young Master had given gold to Marquis Jianning... Even if the Emperor wants to spare the Marquis' life for the hard work and great contributions of the Huang family's ancestors, I am afraid that those censors will not let the Marquis go. The Young Master sighed and couldn't sleep day and night. He didn't dare to tell the Marquis... After thinking it over, the Young Master had no choice but to come Beg the Marquis. But when I thought about what I had done, I was too ashamed to come to see the Marquis. Let me say that our two families are close friends. The Marquis and the Young Master grew up together and are as close as brothers. No matter how embarrassing the matter is, why can't I say it in front of my brother? The Young Master's face turned red when he heard it, but he didn't say anything. I thought that this matter should be dealt with as soon as possible. It happened that the Madam sent a maid to ask me to be a matchmaker for the eldest young master. Thinking that the Madam treated me well, I didn't care about those things and just came to my sister. "As she said, she took Eleventh Lady's hand and said, "My dear sister, you have to save your uncle. If anything happens to him, I don't want to live anymore!" After that, she covered her face and cried.

The Ministry of Personnel was managed by Lord Chen, so how come the eldest son of Marquis Yongchang could get Marquis Jianning's help in getting a position as a Langzhong in the Fujian Division of the Ministry of Revenue with just a note?

Eleventh Lady suppressed her suspicion and comforted Grandma Huang San: "Sister, don't cry. I will send someone to invite the Marquis in."

Grandma Huang San sobbed and nodded.

Shiyi Niang asked Qiuyu to fetch water and come in to help Huang Sanniang wash and comb her hair, and sent Xiulian to invite Xu Lingyi. When Xu Lingyi came in, she went back to the hall.

The two chatted in the east side room for about an incense stick's time before Grandma Huang San came out with a gloomy look on her face.

Eleventh Lady hurried to greet him.

"Sister, please stay in my room for a while!" She hinted, "Since you are here, you have to go to Third Sister-in-law's place to avoid being discovered."

Grandma Huang nodded gratefully to Eleventh Lady, and followed her to the west room. She drank the hot tea brought by the maid, and felt much better.

"The Marquis said that it depends on who the Emperor sends." She whispered to Eleventh Lady, "If it's someone from the Five Cities Military Division or the West Mountain Camp, it's not a big deal. What's scary is that it's someone from the Dali Temple who's in charge - the Marquis doesn't have anyone close to him in the Dali Temple."

"Finally there is a glimmer of hope." Eleventh Lady comforted her, "Sister, don't worry too much. Maybe the prince will be blessed by heaven and turn the disaster into good fortune!"

Grandma Huang sighed softly, "I hope so!" After that, she pondered for a moment, then forced a smile, "But no matter what, sister, please tell the Marquis for me. The prince will never forget his kindness for the rest of his life."

Eleventh Lady hurriedly said, "Our two families have had a friendship since the Madam's generation. It's too polite for Sister to say this."

Mrs. Huang San did not say much, and stood up to say goodbye: "I came here today because of the matter of the eldest young master. I also want to go to the third lady to test her attitude, so that I can talk to Madam Liu later."

Eleventh Lady sent Huang San's grandmother to the Third Lady: "I'll leave all the matters concerning our Qin'er in the hands of my sister!"

"Since you're talking about a friendship between several generations, don't say such things!"

The two of them arrived at the Third Lady's place.

The Third Lady had received a letter saying that Huang San's wife had come. She first went to the Madam's place and then to Eleventh Lady's place. She was feeling unhappy, but when she saw Eleventh Lady personally bringing the person over, her face lightened up. Eleventh Lady was thinking about Xu Lingyi in the room, so she exchanged a few words with the Third Lady and went back to the room.

* * * * * *

Xu Lingyi had a gloomy face and was walking around the room with his hands behind his back.

Seeing Eleventh Lady coming in, he stopped.

My face must look very ugly right now!

Xu Lingyi pondered and wanted to ease the atmosphere, so he took the initiative to greet Shiyi Niang: "Has the person been sent to Third Sister-in-law?" Who knew that the voice that came out was even colder than usual.

He couldn't help but frown.

This matter must be very difficult for him, right?

Eleventh Lady thought about it and walked over lightly: "My Lord, man proposes, God disposes. If the Emperor really sends people from the Dali Temple to raid the Marquis of Jianning's mansion, then it can only be said that the prince is not so lucky!"

That being said, she was still worried. She was afraid that Xu Lingyi would make things difficult for himself in order to save the Yongchang Marquis's son!

Looking at Eleventh Lady's somewhat heavy expression, Xu Lingyi couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.

I told her not to worry about anything anymore, but in the end things always fall on her.

Xu Lingyi hugged Shiyi Niang.

"It's okay! I'm just trying to scare him." He leaned against her face and sighed, "Even if the Dali Temple came to search our house, we can't achieve anything relying on those few government offices of the Dali Temple. It's not impossible to find a few letters, account books and the like from the pile of things. But Ziqi is so bold. If we don't take this opportunity to teach him a lesson, I'm afraid he will become more and more arrogant in the future."

Ziqi, this should be the name of the eldest son of Marquis Yongchang!

"My Lord, just be careful." Eleventh Lady believed in his ability, but she couldn't help but say the words of warning, "If it really doesn't work, don't force it. Didn't you say that the emperor is 'making up a crime' this time? I'm sure the emperor knows which people are implicated and which are let go. Otherwise, the emperor wouldn't have taken the opportunity of the first day of the new year to warn him - I guess he didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"The Ministry of Personnel is under the jurisdiction of Lord Chen. If you want to place someone, it is not something that can be done with just a note as Mrs. Huang said." Xu Lingyi put his arm around Shiyi Niang's shoulders and sat on the big kang by the window. "I'm afraid there is something fishy about this matter." At this point, he couldn't help but ponder, "I'm afraid that Lord Chen doesn't know some things... This time, the emperor has pulled out the radish with mud and implicated Lord Chen as well!"

"But as you said, since Lord Chen is in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, if the officials of the Ministry of Personnel really did something like this, then Lord Chen cannot escape the blame!" Eleventh Lady said softly, "Even if the emperor is counting on Lord Chen to help him with civil and military affairs and become an eternal wise ruler, he can't just ignore it or condone it! In the long run, it will only harm Lord Chen. It may even ruin the emperor's reputation and ruin his great cause!"

"There are some things you don't know." Xu Lingyi pondered after listening, "Among the seven cabinet ministers, Elder Chen supports the emperor's proposal to lift the maritime ban, while Elder Liang has an unclear attitude. The other five are all against lifting the maritime ban..."

He said this, but hesitated.

Everyone thinks that imperial power is supreme, but in fact, imperial power cannot always achieve its goals.

He didn't quite know how to explain this situation to Eleventh Lady.

Eleventh Lady understood why officials in the Ministry of Personnel dared to sell official positions - someone wanted to bring down Chen Ge Lao. If something happened in the Ministry of Personnel, Chen Ge Lao would have a hard time explaining himself and would have to resign. The only person who supported the emperor had fallen, and the maritime ban would naturally end. She also understood why the emperor warned Xu Lingyi - his target was these ministers in the cabinet. As long as two or three ministers got involved, they could replace them with people who supported them and break the current deadlock.

Whether Chen Ge Lao falls or the emperor achieves his goal, the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty will be in turmoil... Chen Ge Lao falls, and the emperor's new policy fails. Will the emperor be willing to accept this? The emperor has achieved his goal, and I don't know how many people are eyeing the vacant position of the elder!

"My Lord, what should we do then?" she asked in a deep voice.

Under such circumstances, no one can remain immune, including the Xu family of Yongping Marquis, who are in-laws.

Xu Lingyi was a little surprised by Shiyi Niang's reaction, but he was a little confused at the moment, and there were more important things to do. He suppressed the confusion in his heart and said with a serious expression: "I was thinking, how can I tell the emperor about this without involving the Huang family!"

There is nothing Eleventh Lady can do about this.

She stood up, made a cup of hot tea for Xu Lingyi, and sat quietly beside him.

Xu Lingyi slowly finished his tea and stood up with a calm expression: "Don't wait for me to eat. I'm going to the palace."

Plain words, yet hidden danger.

"My Lord!" Eleventh Lady asked in surprise, "Are you going to die in remonstrance?"

The originally serious atmosphere was ruined by her words. Xu Lingyi laughed: "I'm not the Imperial Censor!"

Eleventh Lady smiled mischievously: "It's good that the Marquis knows!"

Xu Lingyi was stunned.

Eleventh Lady, you want to liven up the atmosphere, right?

Such a dignified person, but when he becomes playful, he becomes like a child.

He smiled and ruffled her hair: "Go and call the little maid to come in and help me change clothes!"

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It’s a bit late after all the changes!

O(∩_∩)O~

I'll post a draft first and correct the typos later!