Chapter 107 Spoiled and arrogant, their brains stop working properly.
"Master, a messenger from the Duke of Chu's mansion has arrived." Xie Yun and Xie Ning'an, who were plotting something, were stunned for a moment upon hearing the voice outside.
The two exchanged a glance; neither of them could guess what message the Duke of Chu's mansion would send at this time.
"Come in." As soon as Xie Yun finished speaking, the study door was pushed open, and a steward walked in, handing the letter to Xie Yun and saying, "It was delivered by Steward Hu from the Duke of Chu's mansion."
Xie Yun took the letter and waved for the steward to leave. He glanced at the letter for a moment and was about to open it when Xie Ning'an stopped him, saying, "Grandfather, be careful."
"Hmph!" Xie Yun snorted heavily. "Does Jiang Jinglan dare to poison me?"
He tore open the letter, revealing a strong, vigorous handwriting that wasn't that of the Duke of Chu. He narrowed his eyes, skimmed through it, and then let out another loud snort, "Arrogant! Bold!"
Xie Ning'an took the letter from his hand and read it quickly. When she saw the last line, she thought to herself that it was indeed bold and arrogant.
Jiang Yu's last words were, "I know what you're up to. If you want the Xie family to be in danger again, then bring it on."
Finally, the name Jiang Yu was prominently displayed.
Xie Ning'an thought of Jiang Yu's cold and stern face after she trampled Xie Lei's legs; those arrogant and confident words were something only she could say.
How could there be such a woman in this world? She is stronger than any man, and she is also ruthless, cunning, and resourceful.
"Grandfather, how should we deal with this?" Xie Ning'an asked.
"What do you think we should do?" Xie Yun looked at Xie Ning'an, his grandson, who had always been his pride. He felt that among the younger generation in the capital, no one could compare to Xie Ning'an. But now, Jiang Yu had suddenly appeared, and he even felt that Jiang Yu might not be any worse than Xie Ning'an.
Xie Ning'an understood the meaning in Xie Yun's eyes and smiled bitterly to himself. He never imagined that one day he would be compared to a woman.
"Hold your positions and don't move," Xie Ning'an said. "Just like she said, we've just gone through a major crisis, and we can't afford any more fluctuations now."
Xie Yun looked at Xie Ning'an with some dissatisfaction. He knew that since the Duke of Chu's mansion had already guessed what they were going to do, remaining inactive was the best solution. However, he wanted Xie Ning'an to come up with a better plan to thwart Jiang Yu's open scheme.
But the result disappointed him. Xie Ning'an smiled bitterly to himself again, feeling a sense of frustration, like "Why did Heaven create both Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang?"
After a while, Xie Yun said, "Then let's hold back. This Jiang Yu doesn't play by the rules. If we really do something to prevent him from entering officialdom, who knows what she'll do next?"
But after saying that, he let out a long sigh, lamenting that the planned mission could not be accomplished and that he could not eliminate Jiang Yu, his enemy.
...
Royal Palace
Late at night, the emperor was still reviewing memorials. The chief eunuch, Zhang Fuquan, carefully attended to him. The emperor placed a completed memorial aside, turned to look at Zhang Fuquan as he neatly arranged the memorials, and asked, "What time is it?"
"It's past midnight, Your Majesty, it's time to rest," Zhang Fuquan said.
The emperor glanced at the last memorial and said, "Let's look at the last one."
Zhang Fuquan immediately opened the last memorial. The emperor lowered his head to read it carefully, then his brows furrowed tightly. Finally, he threw the vermilion brush in his hand onto the table and said in a somewhat angry tone:
"This Duke of Chu is really senile. He has not had any female officials for so many years, yet he actually recommends his own granddaughter to serve in the court."
Zhang Fuquan carefully placed the vermilion brush that the emperor had tossed aside, then stood to the side with his head down, but kept a close eye on the emperor's expression out of the corner of his eye.
Although the emperor was angry, he did not make any comments on the memorial. After a while, the emperor said, "I know he has no successor and is a bit impatient, but he cannot do such a bold thing."
Zhang Fuquan kept his head down, when he heard the Emperor say, "Summon the Duke of Chu to the palace tomorrow."
"Yes." Zhang Fuquan immediately went out to have the eunuch deliver the imperial decree. He knew that the Duke of Chu still had some influence with the emperor, but he didn't know if the Duke of Chu's wish could be fulfilled this time.
Just then, he saw a palace maid responsible for cleaning the imperial study quickly disappear into the night. He chuckled, thinking that the grand show was about to begin again.
Meanwhile, the young palace maid trotted into Consort Su's palace and was led into the inner hall. Upon seeing Consort Su, who had already changed into her nightgown, she immediately knelt down and said, "This servant just overheard outside the Imperial Study that the Duke of Chu submitted a memorial recommending his granddaughter for an official position."
Consort Su, who was fiddling with the jade hairpin, stopped and said, "Tell me in detail."
The young palace maid recounted in detail what she had overheard, concluding, "It seems the Emperor hasn't reviewed the memorial; he's ordered the Duke of Chu to be summoned to the palace tomorrow."
After hearing this, Consort Su gripped the jade hairpin tightly and remained silent for a while before saying, "Reward."
The head maidservant beside Consort Su took out a silver note and stuffed it into the hand of a young maidservant, then escorted her to the palace gate and whispered, "Serving Consort Su will not be a bad thing for you."
The young palace maid gripped the silver note in her hand and said, "Yes, I understand."
After she finished speaking, she jogged away to a secluded corner. She peered at the silver note in the moonlight and saw it was for fifty taels. A wide smile spread across her face; she knew the Imperial Concubine was very generous.
On Consort Su's side, after the head maid returned and reported that the young maid had left, she said, "Go and tell the Emperor that I have not seen him for many days and I miss him."
"Yes." The head maid turned and left, thinking to herself that the Imperial Concubine always used the same two tricks: either she had a chest pain or she missed the Emperor, but the Emperor always fell for it.
It would be best if she didn't run into Consort Guo. Consort Guo is currently very popular, and if they did, their Imperial Concubine wouldn't be able to compete. Nothing can compare to freshness and youth.
She was very lucky today; she didn't run into any of the other concubines outside the Imperial Study. She told the Emperor what Consort Su had said, and the Emperor lowered his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then agreed.
But what she didn't know was that shortly after she left the imperial study, the little palace maid who had delivered the letter was arrested and beaten to death.
"The person has been dealt with." After the little palace maid died, Zhang Fuquan reported to the emperor in a low voice.
The emperor grunted and stood up. "Let's go to the Imperial Concubine's place."
"Yes." Zhang Fuquan hurriedly ordered his carriage to be prepared, thinking to himself that the Imperial Concubine was becoming more and more reckless in her actions. Had she forgotten the loss she suffered at the Duke of Chu's mansion?
The Emperor had just read the memorial sent by the Duke of Chu, and the Consort sent someone to summon him. Did she think the Emperor was a fool? No matter how much the Emperor favored her, he could not tolerate her inquiring into the affairs of the court in the Imperial Study; this was a grave taboo.
You asked if anyone was investigating the matter in the Imperial Study? Of course, quite a few people were. But who would be so blatant? Probably only this Imperial Concubine.
It can only be said that he has become arrogant and spoiled, and his brain has become less sharp.
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