Chapter 366 Imperial Envoy
The sun sets and the moon rises, and a cool breeze blows.
"The young master said he has no appetite and won't eat dinner." Chen Xing brought back the untouched food and looked at Chu Liuzheng with her cheek propped up. "Sister, go and persuade the young master. He will listen to you."
Chu Liuzheng would only come forward when he was tired of living, and said vaguely: "Butler Zhou is here."
"That's right, Master will eat when he's hungry." Feng Jing glanced at her, picked up the bowl and greeted everyone, "Come on, come on, let's eat quickly, we still have things to discuss later."
Chu Liuzheng was the first to respond. She was now thinking of eating as many meals as possible. She thought that she could only withstand the punishment if she was full.
The others were also really hungry, so they picked up their chopsticks and started eating.
After the meal, a maid came forward to clear the dishes. Thinking about the many things to discuss later, Chu Liuzheng went to the kitchen to make tea, and Miyue accompanied her.
When the two came back with tea, there was already a circle of people sitting in the yard, including Xiao Jingfan.
After bathing, he changed into a moon-white robe. With his eyelashes half-closed, he leaned on the chair in the middle. His muscular hands held a folding fan, opening and closing it, as if he was thinking about something.
The stone lamp on the side cast a layer of warm yellow light around him, making his cold white skin appear jade-like, and adding a touch of softness to his slightly sharp facial features.
At first glance, he doesn't look like a majestic emperor, but rather like a pampered young man from a wealthy family.
Chu Liuzheng paused, muttered a few words to keep calm, and then walked over as usual. He first placed the teacup next to him, then stepped aside, put the teapot on the stone table, and poured tea for others.
Zhou Yuande looked at her sideways, his eyes containing a hint of condemnation, but Chu Liuzheng pretended not to notice.
Siyue placed two plates of freshly baked pastries on the table next to Xiao Jingfan. One was sweet and the other salty, perfect with tea.
Xiao Jingfan was the only one present who had not eaten dinner, so he was the only one with snacks on hand.
No one else had any objections, except Feng Jing, who took the tea and looked at Chu Liuzheng with resentment.
That means I can eat another dessert.
Chu Liuzheng had no choice but to take out two pieces of candy from his purse to deal with him.
Doctor Feng didn't mind, as long as there was something to eat.
The candy pushed up a small bulge in his cheek.
Lu Fei, who was sitting next to him, turned his head to look at him. Feng Jing didn't eat alone either, so he handed the remaining candy to him.
Lu Fei had heard something about the fried meatball incident. He glanced at Xiao Jingfan who was sitting at the upper seat, but did not reach out to take it.
Feng Jing happily ate two pieces, thinking that he would ask Chu Liuzheng where he bought it later so that he could buy two pounds as well.
Du Qian hurried over, bowed to Xiao Jingfan and took a seat.
Seeing that everyone was gathered, Xiao Jingfan closed his folding fan, glanced at everyone, and his gaze fell on Du Qian. He asked, "How is the situation in the government office?"
"Everything is calm." Du Qian took a sip of tea. "The news of Jiang Zhou's death has not spread, and the government office is not in chaos."
Last night, when Xiao Jingfan led people to visit the government office at night, he did something by the way. He sent secret guards to kill the fake Jiang Zhou who was lying in bed pretending to be sick.
"Nothing's wrong." Xiao Jingfan rested his folding fan against his chin, thought for a moment, and asked, "How did Master Liu react?"
"He has been staying in the government office the entire time." Du Qian pulled out two notes from his sleeve pocket and handed them over respectfully. "Here are the intercepted pigeon messages. Please have a look."
The contents of the two notes were the same, with only one word: change.
Xiao Jingfan handed the note to Lu Fei, who was sitting on his left, and showed it to everyone present.
"Change?" Jiang Yao handed the note to Chu Liuzheng beside her after reading it, tilting her head and asking, "What do you mean?"
Chu Liuzheng didn't know how to answer. Just as he was about to check the system, a cold voice came over, "Literally."
Both of them turned to look over.
Xiao Jingfan didn't look at them, as if he was just answering casually. He looked up at the sky and said, "It should be almost here."
As soon as he finished speaking, the housekeeper came running in to report that there were guests.
Du Qian asked, "Who?"
The housekeeper said, "He said his surname was Liu and he was a legal advisor at the government office."
Everyone was stunned. Why was Master Liu here?
Xiao Jingfan had anticipated this and said to the housekeeper, "Please come in."
The housekeeper knew that the real decision maker was this gentleman, so he didn't ask Du Qian and hurried to the front to ask for help.
After a while, he came in with a man in a black cloak.
Chu Liuzheng turned around and looked at the person who came.
He was about forty years old, neither tall nor short, of medium build, with a handsome appearance and two small mustaches on his lips, which looked carefully trimmed.
He glanced at everyone and pulled out a token from his sleeve: "Excuse me, who is the Imperial Envoy?"
Everyone: ???
"I." Xiao Jingfan said calmly.
Master Liu looked at him carefully for a moment, then lifted his robe, knelt, and presented the token with both hands: "Your humble servant Liu Du pays respects to the Imperial Envoy."
"No need to be so polite, get up." Xiao Jingfan waved his hand and waited for him to sit down before asking, "How did you know I was in the Du Mansion?"
"Your Excellency has given such an obvious hint. If I still can't guess it, how can I sit in the government office in peace?" Liu Du said as he took out a handkerchief bag from his arms.
When everyone looked closely, they found that there was a wilted azalea wrapped in the handkerchief.
Lu Fei suddenly realized that the azalea that the young master picked in the garden last night was used here. He thought it was picked as a gift.
"Your Majesty has learned about the incident in Sishui Town. Sishui Town is under the jurisdiction of Xiancheng, but the prefect of Xiancheng has not submitted any report. I think something has happened, so Your Majesty has specially sent us to check it out." Xiao Jingfan used his own name very smoothly.
Liu Du was just a legal advisor and had never seen the emperor, so he naturally could not recognize that he was the emperor.
Judging from his extraordinary bearing and the fact that he was entrusted with such an important task by the emperor at such a young age, he must be a favorite of the emperor. Perhaps he is the notorious Jinyiwei commander Xie Hui.
Thinking of the fake Jiang Zhou whose neck was cut by a knife, Liu Du felt more and more that his guess was correct.
But just in case, he still bowed and confirmed: "I dare to ask, was the incident at the government office last night caused by you, sir?"
Xiao Jingfan nodded and admitted it very straightforwardly.
He gestured to Liu Du: "Tell me more about the situation in the government office."
"Yes." Liu Du sorted out his thoughts briefly and slowly told what had happened in the past few days.
He spoke for nearly an hour, and to sum it up briefly he said:
Jiang Zhou went to Sishui Town for a routine inspection and discovered the existence of a Gu person. He wanted to report the matter to the court, but was discovered by Yin Lanci's men, who threatened him with the life of King Rui. Jiang Zhou had to compromise and wanted to rescue King Rui first before making any plans.
Unfortunately, Jiang Zhou made one wrong move in his dealings with Hongying and others, and not only did he fail to rescue King Rui, he also lost himself.
The fake Jiang Zhou usurped the throne, replacing some of the government officials with his own men and gaining control of the government. Liu Du, assessing the situation, pretended to defect, seemingly cooperating with the fake Jiang Zhou, but in reality, he was secretly tracking the real Jiang Zhou's whereabouts and trying to establish contact with the court.
The Jinwu Guards' visit was a perfect opportunity, but unfortunately the Jinwu Guards didn't understand his hint, and he was being monitored, so he couldn't make his hint more obvious. He had to continue to be a traitor in the enemy camp, hoping that the court would send some smart people.
When he woke up this morning and saw the imperial envoy's token next to his pillow, he thought he was dreaming. He took a bite to confirm whether it was real or not, and almost broke a tooth. His tooth still hurts now.
Everyone: “…”
You don't actually need to tell us about biting the token.
Thinking that the token might be stained with Liu Du's saliva, Xiao Jingfan's face turned green and he almost threw the imperial envoy's token away.
Just as I was looking for a handkerchief to wipe my hands, a white wet handkerchief was handed to me at the right time.
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