Chapter 43 A Trip to Jiangnan
'Chang Hyuk, you're back. '
Shen Changhe sat down below Madam Shen, frowning slightly, and asked directly, "What's wrong with An An?" '
When this was mentioned, Mrs. Shen's eyes turned red.
The nanny was very tactful and led the servants in the room to retreat.
Shen Changhe's heart tightened when he saw Madam Shen wiping away tears.
"An An, An An told me today that she has a lover."
When Shen Changhe heard this, his brows knitted tightly. Seeing his mother like this, he had a bad guess in his heart. A coldness spread in his eyes and his heart sank.
"Whose?"
When mentioning this, Mrs. Shen's throat choked.
"It is said that he is a newly-appointed Jinshi."
Shen Changhe's eyes instantly turned cold, "Zhang Yeyang, from Jiangnan?"
Mrs. Shen was stunned. It seemed that this was the name An An mentioned today.
"How do you know?"
"An An once introduced it to me."
He felt that the atmosphere between the two was a little strange at that time. He also observed carefully and found that the look in An An's eyes when looking at the man was not admiring.
But why would I suddenly mention it to my mother?
Mrs. Shen was a little angry, "If you knew, why didn't you say it earlier."
If she had known about it earlier, she would have stopped it, and the situation might not be like it is now.
Shen Changhe shook his head. "I asked An An, and she said they just met by chance and it was just an ordinary friendship."
Madam Shen wanted to pry open Shen Changhe's head to see what was inside. He was such a blockhead. No wonder he didn't even have a wife at this age.
"An An is a girl, how can she tell you? You didn't even tell me about such a big thing. What should I do now? Your sister is going on a hunger strike to marry that scholar."
There was a look of disbelief in Shen Changhe's eyes.
Hunger strike? How is that possible? This is not like An An's style.
Mrs. Shen has already started to cry.
Shen Changhe suddenly remembered the days when Shen Anan went to his study, and all her words were about inquiring about the scholar.
He was suspicious at the time and asked in a roundabout way, but when he saw An An's eyes were clear and not sad when she mentioned the scholar, he felt relieved.
He still feels that way now. , An An looked at the man and it didn’t seem like he was looking at his lover.
"Did Dad know?"
Mrs. Shen nodded while shedding tears.
Shen Changhe exhaled heavily and asked in a deep voice, "What did Dad say?"
"You may not know your father, but he has always been a white crane among the clouds, very noble and pure."
This means that you agree.
Shen Changhe looked a little ugly.
Madam Shen continued, "Your father said that the scholar's talent is average, but his character is acceptable, so he wants to keep him in the capital for a while to see what happens."
She was well aware of her husband's considerations. Given the current status of the Shen family, in order to prevent her daughter from becoming a victim in the fight for the throne, sending her away as soon as possible was the best option.
Shen Wen originally wanted to marry Shen Anan to a civil servant family with little real power.
Mrs. Shen knew it all, but she just couldn't bear to do it.
Shen Changhe put down the teacup and stood up. "It's getting late. I'll be busy in the army tomorrow. My son will go back first."
Madam Shen waved her hands, no longer having the strength to speak.
Shen Changhe bowed and turned to leave.
Mrs. Shen suddenly thought of something and said, "Mother told the Lin family about the date of the engagement the day before yesterday. It's not good to delay. After seven days, you can take a leave and go with me."
Mrs. Shen was in no mood for what was originally a happy event, and handed it over to the steward of the mansion.
Shen Changhe paused for a moment, but his face showed no expression as he responded in a very calm tone.
He had seen the girl from the Lin family several times at banquets, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember the girl's appearance at all. Instead, her beautiful and fragile little face became clearer and clearer in the moonlight.
The setting sun was pouring down, the autumn air was bleak, and the wind was gradually becoming bone-chillingly cold. Shen Changhe stood under the veranda, gazing at the Begonia Garden not far away, and it took him a long while to leave.
After returning to the study, he went straight behind the desk.
The servant boy was very tactful and came forward to spread the paper and grind the ink.
The strong and powerful handwriting soaked through the back of the paper. A quarter of an hour later, Shen Changhe packed the letter and handed it to the servant, "Send it out immediately."
The servant took it and left the house under the moonlight.
——
The Fourth Prince’s Mansion.
study.
The sky had completely darkened, but the study was as bright as day. The glass lamps under the veranda swayed back and forth in the breeze, reflecting the hurried footsteps of the servants.
"Master." The visitor knocked lightly on the door.
Ling Chenyi, who was half leaning on an armchair in the room helping Xiao Yuan handle official business, put down the memorial and sat up straighter.
He tilted his head to look at Xiao Yuan, who was buried in his desk, writing tirelessly, and stretched lazily.
It had been a whole day and half of his body was numb. He finally managed to catch a group of the Second Prince's cronies among the southern officials.
"Come in." He said calmly.
The study door was pushed open, and the visitor first bowed to Xiao Yuan who was sitting behind the desk, then quickly walked to Ling Chenyi.
"This is a letter to you that has just been sent from the palace. It seems to be very urgent."
Ling Chenyi responded, took it casually, and waved his hand to let the servant go.
Xiao Yuan was immersed in official duties, as if he was unaware of everything, and he didn't even raise his head.
Ling Chenyi made a surprised sound.
In the quiet study, his voice was clearly somewhat deliberate.
Then came the sound of rice paper being opened and then folded again after a moment.
Xiao Yuan still didn't raise his head, as if he didn't hear anything.
Ling Chenyi's eyes fell on his hand holding the pen, and he said with a half smile, "Do you know who wrote this letter?"
Xiao Yuan said nothing and chose to ignore it.
"Tsk." Ling Chenyi sighed, "Since you're not curious, forget it."
He stood up, spread out a piece of rice paper, and wrote a reply according to Xiao Yuan's writing.
He wrote a half-page scroll with great enthusiasm, blew the ink dry, and called the servant in, "Send it to Young Master Shen."
The servant took it and left.
Xiao Yuan was writing something when he suddenly stopped writing. He did not look up, but the black ink had smudged most of the document, and his profile was tense.
Ling Chenyi glanced at him, a smile on his lips, and said nothing.
He sat back in the armchair and looked through the memorials.
"What did you say?"
Xiao Yuan's cold voice sounded calmly.
"What?" Ling Chenyi pretended not to understand with a smile. When Xiao Yuan's gaze swept over him, he touched his nose to hide the amusement in his eyes.
Xiao Yuan's eyes were heavy, and his stern face looked a little tense under the candlelight.
Ling Chenyi is in charge of Daliang's files, and Shen Changhe is looking for him at this time just to check on him.
"Something happened to the Guards?"
"No." Ling Chenyi smiled, "It's a private matter, maybe it's for his sister, it's not a big deal."
Hearing this, Xiao Yuan's eyes narrowed, he placed the pen in his hand on the desk, and asked calmly, "Who does he want to investigate?"
"Zhang Yeyang."
The atmosphere in the study suddenly became cold and silent, but gusts of cold wind blew into the room. Ling Chenyi tightened his robe and crossed his arms across his chest.
Xiao Yuan didn't say anything else. He picked up the soiled document, crumpled it into a ball of waste paper in his palm, and finally threw it into the wastebasket.
Ling Chenyi looked at the piece of waste paper and felt a chill on his back for no reason.
"Well...he only asked me for Zhang Yeyang's household registration, family situation, and life experience over the past few years. He didn't say anything else."
Xiao Yuan stared at the wet black ink spots on the desk, lowered his head slightly, and still did not respond.
Ling Chenyi felt a little unsure.
After being together for more than ten years, he rarely saw Xiao Yuan like this. If you get angry, you get angry. What does it mean to have a gloomy face and keep silent? The whole room is cold.
"Two days have passed since the three-day deadline. He should be leaving for his new post tomorrow, right?" Xiao Yuan suddenly asked calmly.
Ling Chenyi nodded, "Indeed."
But at this critical juncture, when Shen Changhe checked on him, Ling Chenyi always felt that something was wrong.
Xiao Yuan hummed, lowered his eyes and continued to annotate the documents, but he could no longer calm down.
There was a feeling of restlessness rising and lingering in my heart, causing my writing to become more forceful.
"Send someone to Jiangnan." he suddenly said.
Ling Chenyi was still a little confused, "What are you going to Jiangnan for?" Isn't the scholar leaving? Once you leave the capital, you are just a speck of dust, and have nothing to do with him.
However, nowadays, the other person has nothing to do with him. They just both have feelings for the same person, but Xiao Yuan would never admit it.
Xiao Yuan raised his head and glared at Ling Chenyi without saying a word, but his aura was enough to make Ling Chenyi scared.
"Okay, I'll send someone to check on that scholar's hometown."
He stood up and went out, saying a few words, and then the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard in the corridor.
Ling Chenyi went back into the house, frowned and glanced at Xiao Yuan who was still annotating documents, and said softly, "Actually... if we can form an alliance with the Shen family, it would be perfect, and with the support of the imperial concubine, you..."
Before he finished speaking, Xiao Yuan raised his eyelids and interrupted him coldly. He pointed to the pile of files beside him and said, "There are still these. If you can't finish them today, you will stay in the study."
Ling Chenyi tightened his lips and stopped talking immediately.
He walked over obediently, screened them one by one, and pulled out the files of officials who might be the second prince's cronies, so that he could replace them with his own people later.
With the help of the refugee incident, it is the best time to disintegrate the second prince's followers. Tomorrow's court meeting will be crucial for them.
The candle in the study burned until the first quarter of the morning.
Ling Chenyi's eyes were blurry and he felt dizzy. He stood up and walked to the window to look at the sky which was about to get brighter. He had no choice but to stay in Xiao Yuan's study.
——
The next day, just after daybreak, the two of them packed up and went to court.
Outside the palace gate, a group of ministers were waiting there, gathered in groups of three or four.
The carriage with the sign of the Fourth Prince's Palace slowly stopped. The ministers were silent for a moment, looked in the direction of the carriage, and saluted in unison.
Xiao Yuan and Ling Chenyi got off the carriage together.
Ling Chenyi greeted the leaders of various families. Xiao Yuan had never been a talkative person, and the ministers were used to it. After the greetings, they withdrew their gazes and moved to the side, trying to stay away from him.
The bright moon had not yet completely disappeared and the sky was still dark. Only the palace lanterns illuminated the road ahead, allowing one to clearly see the scenery within a radius of five or six feet.
Xiao Yuan's eyes swept through the crowd and finally landed on Shen Wen, who was chatting with the Minister of Personnel at the side of the palace gate.
His eyes darkened slightly.
Ling Chenyi followed his gaze and frowned. The Minister of Personnel was an extremely smooth person. He didn't remember any relationship between him and Commandant Shen.
"General Shen is a loyal and upright person. He has always disliked Lord Wang, who is a fence-sitter. Why is he so…"
Before he finished speaking, he narrowed his eyes and had a bad feeling in his heart.
Especially Lord Wang, his face was full of smiles, he kept nodding his head, and judging from his lip movements, he seemed to be saying yes.
Apparently, Commander Shen needed his help with something.
Ling Chenyi's heart sank and he turned his head to look at Xiao Yuan.
The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the selection of Jinshi (imperial examination candidates). According to their scores and rankings, and in combination with vacancies in the court, they are appointed to corresponding official posts, either as principal officials internally or as prefects externally.
Moreover, Shen Changhe just checked Zhang Yeyang's files yesterday, and today Shen Wen went to the Ministry of Personnel again. It is easy to understand what is strange.
Xiao Yuan's face was hidden in darkness, and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry. His cold eyes stared at the two people who were talking, and the corners of his lips were tightly pursed.
At this moment, a shrill voice sounded, and the palace gate opened. The ministers automatically stepped back to make way for the princes and ministers.
Xiao Yuan paused at the palace gate, glanced at Shen Wen who was still chatting with Lord Wang, and said in a calm voice, "It's getting late, isn't General Shen going in?"
Shen Wen was stunned.
Lord Wang quickly bent down again and said, "Let's go now, let's go now."
After saying this, he bowed deeply to Shen Wen and walked away in a hurry.
Shen Wen stood in the shadows, his brows slightly knitted, with astonishment in his heroic and deep eyes.
He looked at Xiao Yuan under the palace lantern, and for a moment he felt that the person standing in the darkness was clearly him.
They did not have the deep friendship of going to and from court together.
However, Xiao Yuan had a faint smile on his lips, which made it hard to understand.
Shen Wen also put on an official smile on his face and walked towards the palace gate.
He lagged behind Xiao Yuan by one step and went to the Golden Palace together.
Ling Chenyi followed behind the two of them with a meaningful smile on his face.
When he was about to leave the palace, Shen Wen looked back and confirmed where the Fourth Prince's carriage was. Knowing that he had not heard his conversation with Lord Wang, he felt relieved a little.
Today's court meeting lasted a long time, and it didn't end until 1:01 am.
First, officials led by the Second Prince left dejectedly. Shen Wen never participated in these things and turned to leave the hall.
He searched the crowd for Lord Wang and walked towards him.
In the corridor of the main hall, Xiao Yuan had a cold expression on his face as he dealt with the Second Prince who blocked his way.
"Fourth brother, you have a good trick. Congratulations." Xiao Ze narrowed his eyes, and underneath his fake smile, he was sinister and cold.
Xiao Yuan withdrew his gaze from Shen Wen who was walking towards Lord Wang, and met Xiao Ze's eyes. There was calmness in his cold eyes. Compared with him, Xiao Yu, who was suppressing his anger, was immediately inferior.
What Xiao Ze fears most is Xiao Yuan, who is cruel and vicious and will bite you without you knowing it.
Afterwards, he was able to pretend to be at peace with the world. What's hateful is that his father never doubted him.
"I don't understand what my second brother said. I have something else to do at home. I won't accompany him any longer. Goodbye."
Without waiting for Xiao Yu to speak, he strode down the stairs and walked towards Shen Wen.
As soon as Shen Wen called out "Lord Wang", someone suddenly hugged his neck from behind. When he looked up, he was met with Ling Chenyi's gentle smile.
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