Zhou Gu sighed along, wondering if his rush to get married and requiring so many staff members to take charge was untimely and failed to prioritize the urgency of events?
Should he discuss it with Su Rong? If not possible, could he postpone the wedding? Who could expect that Nanchu’s domestic chaos lasted half a year and lost half of the spring crop’s seeds due to three months of fighting? This matter was indeed neglected by him and Su Rong.
As he pondered, he heard Su Rong say: "When we negotiated peace with Dawei before, we unexpectedly forgot about the seeds. Dawei should indemnify us for this, but the peace agreement has been signed already, and we cannot ask for more from Dawei now. Here’s an idea! Later on, I will send a message by Hawk Messenger to the Crown Prince of Daliang, and ask him to negotiate with Dawei for some spring seeds for us."
Upon hearing this, Ye Xiang was overjoyed, "Can we still make it in time?"
"We should be able to make it. The peace negotiations between Dawei and Nanchu have just ended, so there’s a time lag before the news is sent back to Dawei. I have already sent the second and third sons of the Duke Residence of Daliang, along with two hundred thousand troops, to assist the Crown Prince of Daliang. They will delay the peace talks before the troops arrive. Let’s give it a shot!" Su Rong didn’t have any other antidotes, "If the peace agreement between Dawei and Daliang is already signed, we can only use the gold we got from Dawei to discreetly buy seeds for the spring crops from them. Dawei has ample reserves of food and forage to start a war, so they wouldn’t use the seeds for spring crops. Despite the large losses in Dawei, they should have plenty of seeds."
Ye Xiang nodded continuously, "The Princess is right. We can only do it this way now."
Su Rong wanted to say something else but stopped when she saw Zhou Gu. "Let’s stop here for today! Everyone must be tired after discussing matters with me for the whole day. We can talk about the rest tomorrow."
Everyone assented, indeed feeling exhausted, and dropped the conversation, saying their goodbyes with respectful bows.
Su Rong wanted to keep Xie Yuan, but she noticed that he, along with Ye Xiang, left without looking back. She felt like laughing. It seemed that Uncle Xie didn’t want to stay and have dinner with her father before leaving.
"Son-in-law!" Ye Xiang came out, saw Zhou Gu, and respectfully greeted him.
Zhou Gu wasn’t quite used to this title yet, but he had to admit that this title was the best proof that he belonged to Su Rong. Compared to the titles of "Lord Thursday" or "Master Zhou", he preferred this one. He quickly returned the salute, "Master Ye Xiang," then saluted Xie Yuan, "Uncle Xie."
Ye Xiang paused, "Son-in-law going to the Ministry of Rites is a misplacement of talents."
Zhou Gu blinked his eyes.
Xie Yuan looked at Zhou Gu, "What were you thinking? Does the Ministry of Rites lack you?"
Zhou Gu blushed, lowering his head in shame.
Ye Xiang laughed, "Son-in-law, you should discuss it with the king and princess again. Your talents would indeed be wasted in the Ministry of Rites."
Zhou Gu raised his head, respectfully asked, "Then Master Ye Xiang, which of the Six Ministries do you think I should go to?"
"Naturally, it should be the Ministry of Housing." Ye Xiang said, "At present, the Ministry of Housing lacks staff, and the position of the Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Housing is vacant, the same as that in the Ministry of Rites."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Gu looked towards Xie Yuan.
Xie Yuan replied, "Master Ye Xiang is right."
Zhou Gu also felt that he was a bit out of touch being busy with his wedding. He could only accept the advice humbly, "If the Ministry of Housing really needs people, then I will listen to Master Ye Xiang and Uncle Xie’s advice and go to the Ministry of Housing."
Upon hearing this, Ye Xiang laughed and nodded. Xie Yuan didn’t say anything else, and they both left together.
Ye Guixue lagged a step behind them and laughed, saying to Zhou Gu, "Although it is busy now and we are indeed short of staff, it’s only for a while. Once the follow-up affairs related to the peace agreement with Dawei are handled properly, Brother Zhang Yun and others will return to the royal capital. At that time, even if we lack staff, it won’t be as dire as it is now."
The implication was, don’t listen to my father and Master Xie, they just want to work you harder.
Zhou Gu sighed, "Thank you, Brother Guixue, I understand."
Although he said that, Zhou Gu knew that it was not just staff that were lacking at the moment, but competent people who can handle all aspects independently. Like Zhang Yun, Zhang Mao, Cui Xingzhi, and after such a long period of experience, Ning Ze and Jiang Zhu have become useful. But their return to the royal capital will probably take two or three months.
Ye Guixue left laughing, and several court officials also greeted Zhou Gu with a salute and left one after another.
Su Rong walked up to Zhou Gu and laughed, "Why the wrinkled brow? Be careful not to form permanent forehead wrinkles. They’re not attractive."
Zhou Gu immediately relaxed his face and looked at her, "And you don’t know it, but you’ve rubbed your forehead red. There are so many things, and each one is tricky. Before returning to the royal capital, I really didn’t expect it, otherwise, I could have taken more time from Dawei and skinned them another layer."
Su Rong was also irritated, "This is a question to ask the king. What is he doing? The letter only mentioned unnecessary things, and also failed to mention the lack of seeds."
Nanchu King touched his nose, feeling guilty and remorseful, "Well, it was my fault. I heard that the frontline had achieved a great victory, you have captured several cities, and you made a lot of profits from the negotiations with Dawei. Both the court and the country were surrounded by joy. I neglected this matter."
Su Rong was annoyed, "For over ten years, you were in a daze, which was okay, but I have come back, and you are still in a daze. Is that proper?"
The Nanchu King also knew that he had done something wrong, "It’s my fault, don’t be angry."
He also knew he had failed his daughter, and had felt guilty and remorseful all day. He even felt guilty eating lunch, eating half a bowl less. You should know, ever since his daughter returned, he could eat two bowls of rice at every meal. If it was before, he would only eat about half a bowl.
Su Rong gave a cold snort and complained to Zhou Gu, "He even puts blame on Ye Xiang. Is it easy for Ye Xiang? Let him be the scapegoat. It’s really hard for Ye Xiang to have been his master and subject for nearly twenty years and not conspire against him like Nangong Yin and the Prince of Liu’an." After she finished, she sighed, "Ye Xiang is really a good person."
Nanchu King: "...."
When he and Ye Xiang were young, they were as close as brothers, and when they got older, they were almost relatives by marriage. If Ye Xiang had conspired against him, he would have really doubted his character and would have wanted to terminate it himself.
As for him laying blame on Ye Xiang and making him a scapegoat, wasn’t this a common occurrence? He never felt anything was wrong about it.
Zhou Gu wanted to laugh. He pulled Su Rong and coaxed her, "Alright, what kind of friendship does my father-in-law have with Ye Xiang? If my father-in-law blamed someone else, Ye Xiang would probably be unhappy, right?"
Su Rong looked at Zhou Gu, "Is that so?"
"Right?" Zhou Gu asked the Nanchu King.
The Nanchu King nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes, yes. Even his wife said that Ye Xiang was very willing to work for me."
Su Rong was speechless, "Shouldn’t it be said that he should fulfill his duty as a monarch and not shift the responsibility to others?"
Zhou Gu made a small pause and then pretended to admonish the Nanchu King, "Father-in-law, we shouldn’t be too obvious when we do such things next time."
The Nanchu King quickly agreed, "Yes, yes, I also think that it was a bit unkind to do this in front of so many people today, and it won’t set a precedent."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
