Since she came in, Xie Linzhou's brows hadn't relaxed at all; they were furrowed tighter and tighter, and he didn't even notice her coming in.
He sat at the desk, holding a document in his hand, engrossed in reading it.
Song Ning waved her hand in front of his eyes, but he didn't react at all.
Xie Linzhou snatched the folded document from his hand and then looked up.
Why are you here?
“Your family is worried about you, so they sent me to check on you. I heard you’ve been having some political troubles lately. Let’s eat first, then you can worry about it.”
Song Ning pushed the food in front of him and naturally picked up the folded document that Xie Linzhou had just put down and opened it.
I was stunned as soon as I opened it.
She forgot that these were matters of the imperial court and shouldn't be viewed casually, so she quickly put them back.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Don't worry, I didn't see anything."
Xie Linzhou reached out and handed her the folded document he had just put down: "You can look at my things."
Seeing that Song Ning didn't move, he simply stuffed the item into her hand.
"Perfect, you can give me some advice too."
Song Ning opened the document and glanced at it. It was still about recent news: the two forces in the north were fiercely competing for trade, and both sides wanted to push their own people to the top.
His Majesty attaches great importance to this matter. If handled well, there will be opportunities for promotion and rewards; if handled poorly, there will still be opportunities to profit from it.
In any case, this is a lucrative job, and no one would lose out, so those people naturally wouldn't let it go.
But the people scrambling for it now aren't doing it for the people at all; they just want to profit from it. That's what Xie Linzhou is worried about.
Most of the northern area is Xie Linzhou's fiefdom. Logically, he should be the one to handle this matter, but because he doesn't take sides, both the Crown Prince and the Second Prince oppose it.
As for the Third Prince, he basically listens to Jiang Shuyue now and has no ideas of his own at all.
Fortunately, His Majesty is a good emperor, and so far, he has not indicated that he intends to appoint anyone.
What do you think?
"I have to handle this personally, otherwise... I won't feel at ease."
The north was the culmination of the Xie family's efforts; in order to maintain stability in the northern border, all the male members of the Xie family sacrificed themselves.
Song Ning didn't want to offer any advice; it was a difficult situation to advise on.
If it were her, she would make the same choice.
"Then go ahead, I support you."
Xie Linzhou was taken aback, then lowered his head: "If I leave, the wedding will probably be delayed."
Song Ning suddenly laughed: "I'm not even sixteen yet. Even if you go, I won't be the one who's worried."
She's still young.
Xie Linzhou smiled helplessly: "You always use that to shut me up."
"What I said is true."
Although she thought Xie Linzhou was still young at over twenty years old, others didn't see it that way.
The Duke's Mansion didn't want Xie Linzhou to leave. He was getting married soon after the New Year, and if he left, who knew when he would be able to return.
"But this matter is probably not easy to handle. Not only will Her Highness the Princess disagree, but the court will also not agree to your going."
"We'll figure something out when the time comes, but... some places in the north are not under my jurisdiction, and I'm afraid they've already sided with the central government."
Song Ning knew this; she had the good fortune to meet him in Qingyang last time.
I suddenly remembered Qi Liangyuan. I ran into Qi Liangyuan in Qingyang back then, and he said that the prefect of Qingyang was his brother and that he had no choice in the matter. Now it seems that his brother was probably instigated by him.
"Now that we know the root of the problem, we'll surely find a solution."
Song Ning actually had a candidate in mind: Jiang Shuyue.
Jiang Shuyue's talent is in no way inferior to that of the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, and even to many men, but this matter is more difficult to handle.
I just don't know if she has this idea. If she does, perhaps she can try her luck on her own.
However, even Xie Linzhou can't come up with a solution in the short term, so it's even less likely that Jiang Shuyue will.
"If I leave, you mustn't go looking for that guy surnamed Zhou."
"You've already left, how would you know if I looked for you or not? Even if I did look for you and then told you I didn't, how would you know if it was true or not?"
Xie Linzhou suddenly found the food in his hand unappetizing.
"You dare."
Song Ning smiled and tilted her head, wondering if she would dare to do it then.
The two chatted back and forth, and the atmosphere finally became lively.
However, this person was really pushing his luck. After the meal, he grabbed her and wouldn't let her leave. He made a scene for a while before finally letting her go.
As soon as they went outside, Princess Jianing quickly asked, "How did it go?"
"He wants to go in person."
Princess Jianing sighed: "I knew it. This boy is just like his father, a stubborn mule."
"That's a good thing. He has his own space, and we should support him."
Princess Jianing held Song Ning's hand with a loving expression: "You are a good child, but... this is too unfair to you."
“I don’t feel wronged. This is good. I also hope that he can do what he likes and not have to hold back because of me.”
Besides, she has her own things to do, so she has nothing to feel wronged about.
Princess Jianing was very pleased with her daughter-in-law, Song Ning. Although she had grown up in the countryside, she was well-educated, reasonable, and not at all arrogant.
Logically speaking, the two were about to get married, but her son was leaving. It would be sad for a young woman to feel this way. Unexpectedly, Er Ya said this, showing that she cared more about Linzhou than her mother did.
This matter caused quite a stir, and Zheng Gaoyi found her again.
"Actually, I wanted you to go this time."
"Don't tell me I'm just a businessman, not a government official. I can't come."
She didn't want to be the target. Two princes couldn't even win this contest, and she was expected to do it? Did they think they were living too long?
"Of course I'm not saying you have to go alone. I mean, you can come along with me."
"The matter is still unresolved. What Lord Zheng should be concerned about now is how Xie Linzhou can take the blame upon himself."
Zheng Gaoyi looked unusually troubled and remained silent for a moment.
"However, this is a big deal, and only a member of the royal family can handle it."
Zheng Gaoyi was even more worried when he thought about the royal family. None of the princes he had were capable of taking on this important task.
The Crown Prince is too mediocre, the Second Prince is too radical and has impure thoughts, the Third Prince is even more brainless, the Fourth Prince died young, and the rest are all too young, still just milk babies who only know how to look for their mothers.
Thinking about it this way, there was no suitable candidate in the court besides Xie Linzhou.
After much deliberation, Song Ning finally decided to go and find Jiang Shuyue.
Sister Jiang is a talented woman. She advised the Third Prince and made many suggestions that would benefit the people. Even now, the Ministry of War and the army still use the regulations that she and Xie Linzhou formulated together.
If Xie Linzhou really can't go, then Jiang Shuyue is the best choice.
However, women entering politics was unheard of in the Jin Dynasty, so she would probably have to overcome this hurdle on her own.
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