"Yes, the Prince Consort said he would send it to you every two months, and this time I brought the first two months' worth."
"Take me to see this quickly."
Yuan Xiu helped Wei You up and said, "Let's have someone carry him in!"
Wei nodded, clapped his hands, and said, "Bring the boxes in!"
A moment later, two rows of boxes were placed in front of Yuan Xiu.
Yuan Xiu opened them one by one, and when he saw the glittering silver coins, he couldn't stop smiling.
Lu Lu, who was standing to the side, glanced at the silver and couldn't help but feel a chill.
Yuan Xiu bent down, casually grabbed a handful of silver, stroked it, and asked, "Wei You, how much silver is here?"
Wei You took out an account book from a box and said, "This is the profit sharing for Jingdong County, Jiangyang County, Yunjing County, and Yanchuan region for two months, totaling four million taels after deducting supplementary payments."
Yuan Xiu turned around and said in surprise, "Four million taels??"
Wei You nodded solemnly and said, "That's definitely the number!"
Yuan Xiu slammed the silver in his hand down and shouted, "Damn it, that's more than my imperial treasury's entire annual budget!"
"Ahem..." Wei You cleared his throat and said, "When the prince consort handed the silver to me, I was also very shocked."
Yuan Xiu said, "My brother-in-law is far too rich!"
Wei You said, "The Prince Consort said that His Majesty should make do with it for now. As his business grows, His Majesty will receive more. He will strictly abide by the agreement with His Majesty and will not take advantage of His Majesty."
"Hey, you're still making do with it? Aren't you taking advantage of me? All the silver in the world belongs to me!"
Yuan Xiu pouted, complaining on the surface but secretly overjoyed, exclaiming, "My elder sister has truly married into a good family!"
As he spoke, Yuan Xiu frowned slightly and said, "Zhao Cheng's business is so profitable that it can accumulate huge wealth for the Right Prime Minister's Mansion. This is not a good thing."
Wei You quickly replied, "As far as I know, the Prince Consort's business is constantly growing, and the profits earned will be immediately reinvested in the projects."
Yuan Xiu asked, "You mean he didn't hoard gold and silver, but instead kept expanding his business?"
Wei You nodded and said, "That's right. So I think that if the Prince Consort is someone who is content with a little wealth and hoards gold and silver, then Your Majesty certainly has to be wary, because it's unclear what the Prince Consort will do with that money. But if the Prince Consort keeps expanding his business, then no matter how big his business becomes, in the end it will all belong to Your Majesty, right?"
"In my eyes, the Imperial Son-in-Law is just Your Majesty's porter; he earns money, and Your Majesty spends it."
“That makes sense!” Yuan Xiu patted Wei You’s arm and laughed, “The court has been short of money these past two years, and so have I. If it weren’t for Marquis Qingdong’s efforts in the Ministry of Revenue, I would have been starving! For the sake of war, disaster relief, and the Xishan Dam, I haven’t even dared to renovate my palace. The construction of the Imperial New Hall, which was only halfway completed, was halted. In the past two years, all we’ve built is the Star Gazing Tower!”
"Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief!"
"Wei You, go find Luo Mingyi later and tell him to continue building the new imperial palace for me."
"Just tell him there's no need to go through the procedures to get funding from the Ministry of Revenue; the money will come from my own private treasury. Let him start construction immediately. I'll show my strength for once, hahaha!!"
"yes!!"
Wei You was also happy for Yuan Xiu. He glanced at Lü Lu and whispered in Yuan Xiu's ear, "Your Majesty, the Imperial Son-in-Law gave you a share of the profits of four hundred taels, but there are a total of four hundred and fifty taels in these boxes."
Yuan Xiu smiled and said, "Why don't you take out the money that the prince consort gave you as a token of respect?"
Wei You said, "Everything I have is a gift from Your Majesty. If I were to seek personal gain while serving Your Majesty, I would have no shame at all."
Yuan Xiu pointed at Wei You, then at Lü Lu, and said, "Do you know why I trust you two the most? It's because you two treat me like family."
As he spoke, Yuan Xiu pointed to the door of the Imperial Study and said, "Once this door is closed, the three of us will be family!"
"Wei You, consider this 500,000 as a donation to help me build the Imperial Palace. Anyway, once the Imperial Palace is finished, you'll be staying there permanently."
"It is my honor!"
“This Zhao Cheng…” Yuan Xiu sneered and said, “He wanted to bribe you so that he could have something on you, but he didn’t expect you to be so easily fooled.”
Wei You said solemnly, "Your Majesty, I am loyal to you alone."
"It's a pity that there are too few who are truly loyal to me." As if thinking of something bad, Yuan Xiu's face darkened, and he plopped down in a pile of silver.
"Wei You, my Empress, drugged me last night."
...
The Left Prime Minister's Residence.
By the lake, Wen Hu accompanied Wen Tai fishing.
Liu Ling stood behind the two, reporting Yu Changsi's itinerary. After entering the city, Yu Changsi took Luo Ying to run some errands and then told Liu Ling to return to the manor first. If Liu Ling were to turn around and look back from her current position, she would see a young woman diligently practicing her spear technique in the bamboo forest not far away.
"You must be tired from your journey. Take a good rest for a couple of days." Wen Tai said calmly, holding his fishing rod.
Liu Ling nodded, but did not leave. She raised her eyebrows slightly and said, "Zhao Cheng has someone with lightness skills comparable to mine."
Wen Tai didn't seem to notice anything, but Wen Hu was more perceptive in these matters and asked, "Are you from your Liu family?"
"no."
"Atop Yanshan Mountain, the Liu family cultivates lotus. Is there someone whose lightness skill rivals that of the Liu family? Is that person male or female, and how old are they?"
"A man, about eighteen or nineteen years old."
Wen Hu rubbed his fingers thoughtfully, then said, "No wonder Zhao Cheng always managed to seize the initiative when he went south; it turns out he also had a skilled intelligence gatherer by his side! Liu Ling, this man is about your age; do you think you can turn him against you?"
Liu Ling thought for a moment and said, "Judging from his attitude towards Zhao Cheng... he is very loyal, and there is little hope of turning him to defect."
Wen Hu smiled and said, "Turning someone into a defection doesn't necessarily require money. You and he are both top-notch masters of lightness skill, so you must have a lot in common..."
Liu Ling was taken aback and asked, "You want me to use my feminine wiles?"
Wen Hudao said, "That's one way to put it."
"Isn't that a really stupid idea?" Liu Ling blurted out, "I'm not a beauty!"
Feeling embarrassed after being slapped in the face, Wen Hu was momentarily speechless.
Wen Tai laughed and said, "That's a pretty stupid idea."
"uncle……"
"Alright, Liu Ling, ignore him. We're not going to sacrifice ourselves for him. Hey! The fish's here!"
Wen Hu quickly put down his fishing rod to help Wen Tai put the fish in the water.
Liu Ling still didn't leave, and said, "There's one more thing. When I entered the palace, I discovered that someone had bribed a guard to sneak out of the palace."
Wen Tai looked at the fish he had caught with satisfaction and asked, "What kind of person is worth telling us about?"
Wen Hu reminded him, "Liu Ling, what the Left Prime Minister means is that you need to learn to analyze and filter information, and not report everything to the Left Prime Minister."
Liu Ling said, "But I think this person is quite important."
"who?"
"King Xin."
Wen Hu was taken aback. The fish, whose hook had just been removed, twitched, slipped from his hand, and jumped back into the water.
Wen Hu looked at Liu Ling suspiciously and said, "Prince Xin? He should be in Xuzhong County!"
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