Chapter 81 I know you, just as you know me...
The queen looked at the emperor with a gentle smile on her face. A moment of loss flashed in her eyes, but when she saw the handkerchief tightly twisted in Shang Meir's hand, she calmed down again.
Actually, that’s all.
If it were in the past, as the queen, she might have ignored Shang Meir, but now Shang Meir has a son, and as long as the crown prince is not announced, she will definitely regard her as a thorn in her side.
But she was the queen, so she was restricted and couldn't do anything too obvious for fear of displeasing the emperor.
The Queen cast her eyes on the newlyweds without leaving any trace. She was truly a beauty. Even though she was not good at dancing, her soft and boneless waist could still be twisted gracefully. The almost invisible moonlight made her beautiful face stand out even more, which was extremely pleasing to the eye.
Zhao Changning carefully observed the reactions of everyone in the room. The Queen's reaction was the most complicated. This woman had gradually shifted her focus to her son without her knowing when.
She looked at the beauty who had just finished dancing in the arena. She was indeed the best selected from among five thousand people, and her beauty was truly stunning.
This is probably the first concubine who has been favored before even going through the selection process.
Sure enough, on the first day of the New Year, the new snow covered the old snow, and the new people covered the old people.
When Zhao Changning went to Kunning Palace to pay New Year's greetings to the Queen, he saw the Queen sitting in front of the window in a daze.
The cold wind rushed in through the window, blowing up the curtains and shaking the queen's hairpin. The phoenix hairpin, as thin as a cicada's wing, trembled in the cold wind, but she did not move, just looking at the white in front of the window.
"Changning, the Emperor wants to confer the title of Jade Beauty on her. The word 'jade' is quite fitting for the title."
Zhao Changning walked to the queen's side and asked with concern, "Your Majesty, are you sad?"
The Queen sighed and pulled Zhao Changning to sit down. "It's strange. I thought I would be very sad, but I am just a little melancholy. I feel better than when Shang Mei'er entered the palace."
Zhao Changning could only offer comfort, "Of all the colors, none can compare to your beauty. The palace is never short of beauties. Don't be sad."
Even when he was old, the late emperor still loved beautiful women.
The Queen gave her a bitter smile. "It makes me feel much better to tell you what's in my heart. I wouldn't dare to ask anyone in the palace about this. Even if I did, no one would be as bold as you to persuade me."
Her voice was a little hoarse, and her eyes became gentle, as if she was thinking of herself.
"Changning, please read out this imperial decree and give more advice. It's not easy for the little girl to leave home and serve in the palace."
Zhao Changning nodded, "Don't worry, Your Majesty."
She went to see the Jade Beauty. The girl was still timid after being favored by the emperor. After all, she was a girl from the common people and did not have so many twists and turns in her mind. When she saw her coming, she actually knelt down to pay her respects.
Zhao Changning was so frightened that he helped her stand up, "Please stand up quickly, my beauty. You are bothering me."
Concubine Yu had never learned the specific palace rules, and her face immediately turned red when she heard this. "Aunt Changning? The emperor mentioned you last night and told me to ask you if I have any questions."
Zhao Changning was a little surprised. What did the emperor say to her?
Looking at the delicate and petite figure of Jade Beauty, she couldn't help but soften her tone, "It's me, beauty. Is your stay here comfortable? Is there anything missing?"
A smile appeared on the jade beauty's porcelain-white face. "It's very comfortable, Aunt Changning, this is much better than my home, warm and beautiful..."
Zhao Changning listened very seriously, but Yu Meiren seemed a little embarrassed and paused.
"Beautiful Lady Yu, although you are favored, you must not violate the proper court etiquette. I will appoint a female official and several maids to teach you."
Jade Beauty nodded cautiously.
Zhao Changning called Yun Hui over again, "This room is still a little empty. The beauty's things should be displayed. Be careful and don't exceed the rules, understand?"
Yunhui is now much more sensible. Seeing that her aunt attaches great importance to her, she knows that the emperor loves Yu Meilan.
"Auntie, don't worry, I'll compare them with the inventory list later, and nothing will be missing."
Yu Meiren watched Zhao Changning walk around and look around, and he picked up a lot of good things for her. She was very grateful, but also a little nervous.
Zhao Changning couldn't help but feel a little pity when he saw how restrained she was. He couldn't help but think of the words of the late emperor: How long can a little girl like this survive in the palace?
"Don't be too nervous, Beauty Yu. The Empress is kind and compassionate. When you serve the Emperor in the future, you must also respect the Empress and not be jealous..."
She said a lot, and she hoped that the beautiful lady could listen carefully.
By the time she was almost done with the work in the palace, it was already the fourth day of the New Year, and she returned to Shuier Lane in the snow.
When Granny Xu saw her, her face was filled with joy. She rubbed her hands together and smiled, "I was just talking about my daughter. This year, it's just Yunqiu and I for the New Year. It's so lonely. Mingxuan can't come back either, and Yunqiu misses her brother so much."
Zhao Changning touched Yun Qiu's head and said, "Brother won't be back until he reports on his work. Don't worry, okay?"
Yun Qiu nodded seriously and sensibly helped Zhao Changning and Yun Sheng move the chairs.
Grandma Xu brought two letters and handed them to Zhao Changning along with a hot water bottle.
Zhao Changning took it back to the room, holding the hot water bottle and opened Zhou Mi's letter first. The letter contained opinions on opening the sea, and also talked about the situation in Zhejiang, as well as the pirates and Japanese pirates who were ready to make a move. He was very worried and even more disgusted with those who enclosed land.
Finally, he also said, "If necessary, just be driven."
Zhao Changning felt that the fact that he could say this showed how deeply he hated those corrupt officials.
Mingxuan's letter was thicker. In addition to mentioning the suppression of bandits, it also talked about the enclosure of land.
He did have a lot of evidence at the beginning, but he advised Zhao Changning not to start with the land enclosure issue because it involved too many things. Doing so would only bring about a catastrophe and would shake the foundation of Dayong State. It should not be started unless it was absolutely necessary.
"They say to catch a thief, you must first catch the leader. The biggest landlord is Gao Yun, the Prime Minister. He owns 100,000 mu of land in Zhejiang, and an additional 300,000 mu in his hometown of Jiangxi. I have no way of knowing where else he owns land. The number of mu of land he deliberately undercounted is not available yet and needs to be verified later. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the iceberg lies the blood and tears of even more people. The Gao family's descendants are greedy and unkind despite their wealth. Gao Yun also indulges his son and servants to run rampant..."
Mingxuan suggested starting from here. As long as one point is touched, a reckoning will most likely follow. Officials always step down on the weak and praise the strong. Someone will deal with them when the time comes. This way, they can expose the true colors of others while also protecting themselves.
Zhao Changning couldn't help laughing when he saw this. Mingxuan was not afraid himself, but he was sincere in advising others.
She read the letter carefully again from the beginning and found that it seemed to be a good idea, especially since Hu Gou'er's book did record a lot of things about Gao Yun's family.
It would be difficult for her to influence the Prime Minister on her own, but if she could unite with others, it would not seem so difficult. Of course, this would definitely be much more difficult than she thought.
However, if you want to unite with others, you have to use some means.
At the end of the letter, there is a poem——
"I have a bright pearl, long locked up by dust and dirt. Now the dust is gone and the light is born, illuminating the green hills." [1]
Signed: Mingxuan.
Zhao Changning recited it silently, as if he could feel Mingxuan's joy and the light after the dust was wiped away. He could even imagine his heroic figure leading the troops to suppress the bandits. The pearl was covered in dust, but now the dust is gone and the light is reborn, and the sword is unsheathed. It is indeed worth being happy.
Zhao Changning picked up his pen and wrote him a letter back. After all, Yunqiu was with her, and she would be worried about her sister. She also wanted him to collect evidence.
She wasn't too worried about what he was worried about.
She went to the cellar and flipped through the book for a while. She originally wanted to read it in the cellar, but when she remembered Mingxuan's instructions, she finally climbed up.
The booklet left by Hu Gou'er recorded a lot of things, which shows how skilled he was, how sophisticated his methods were, and how wide his network of contacts was. Unfortunately, everything was just a dream and an attic in the air, and he never used it until his death.
In Prime Minister Gao's family, he rarely stepped forward to deal with trivial matters, but his reputation was valuable enough, and his children and grandchildren were all very "capable". Although they did not have great prospects, they were able to dominate a certain area. There were many murder lawsuits involved in managing the family business alone, not to mention trivial matters such as bullying men and women.
As expected, having too many children and grandchildren is prone to disasters. This is true for Zhou Min's family and Gao Yun's family as well.
People say that having many children and grandchildren is a blessing, but it is hard to say whether it is a blessing or a curse.
Zhao Changning looked at the notes in the booklet and felt a little regretful. It had been so long and the events in it might be impossible to verify. It was possible that the evidence had been destroyed by the Gao family. There would have to be a recent murder case to verify it.
However, a murder lawsuit is not a big deal. There are many reasons to cover up the murders in a big family, and there must be some secret matters involved. It is not easy to kill such a family from the outside, and it must be disintegrated from within.
Zhao Changning tilted his head and thought for a long time. All the methods he tried were not feasible. If he wanted to achieve his goal in one go, he had to start with the emperor.
How should I start?
When I returned to the palace, I looked at the clepsydra and it was already afternoon.
The sky was gloomy, and the north wind was howling, carrying a hint of cold fragrance through the hall. I heard that the emperor had resumed his usual routine. After a nap, he was now practicing calligraphy and painting in the Qinzheng Hall.
Yun Hui helped Zhao Changning take off her cloak, "Aunt, the emperor asked you about it and told you to go after you come back."
Zhao Changning nodded in agreement and went back to change his clothes. When he turned around, he saw the wintersweet in front of the Qinzheng Hall in full bloom, as red as fire, so he went to pick a few branches.
The emperor heard the noise, but without stopping his work, he looked up at her and said, "Why aren't you wearing new clothes? Did those bastards in the inner palace embezzle them?"
Zhao Changning lowered his head and looked around himself. He was wearing a bamboo green jacket embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns and trimmed with white fox fur. It was indeed an old piece of clothing.
"Who dares to deduct things from me, the female secretary, these days? I can't even spend all the tributes I receive every month. Your Majesty, I don't care much about what I wear."
She found a porcelain vase and wanted to put the flowers in it.
The emperor shook his head and said, "Just hold it like this and stand still."
He ground the paint again and mixed the pigments. "It just so happens that Tomei found some rare new pigments for me. I'll try the colors."
Zhao Changning noticed that he seemed to be in a good mood, so he smiled and said, "How can a figure as small as a reed or willow be included in a painting? Why don't you invite the beautiful woman Jade? It is a beautiful thing to have a beautiful woman in a painting."
"You have your own elegance and character, so why have you become so emaciated?" The emperor smiled and shook his head. "I noticed that she seems to have changed a lot of the furnishings in her palace. She said you helped to change them?"
Zhao Changning held onto the flower without moving. "It's so rare to have such a beauty that catches the Emperor's eye. How can I give in? Changning only did what I had to do. Your Majesty, is Beauty Yu satisfied?"
"She doesn't know anything about decorations, she just cares about looking pretty." The emperor looked up at Zhao Changning and gestured for her to stand by the window. "Why? You seem to like her?"
Zhao Changning took two steps and stood still again. "Beauty always takes advantage. Just looking at her makes me feel good. How can I not be happy?"
At some point, a golden light suddenly appeared in the sky, and the sun broke through the layers of dark clouds, casting strands of warm light. One beam of light happened to fall on the lattice window, shining through the peony carvings and onto Zhao Changning's face.
The interweaving of light and shadow, and her long eyelashes casting shadows, made her face look deep and hazy, especially her eyes, which were so black that it was truly captivating. Coupled with the blood-red wintersweet in her hand, a sense of solemnity could be seen from her calm and beautiful fair face.
The emperor paused with his pen, narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked over, and a strange color flashed in his eyes.
Seeing that the emperor was looking at her, Zhao Changning thought she was not standing properly and wanted to move.
"Don't move." The emperor picked up his pen again and said gently, "Don't move, just stand still."
He kept writing and asked, "What did you gain from this trip out of the palace?"
Zhao Changning's heart skipped a beat. She didn't know what the emperor wanted to ask, nor did she know how much the emperor knew about her. She also didn't know whether the emperor was testing her or simply asking a question.
But there was no point in hiding it at this time, and it would also cause unnecessary speculation from the emperor. She planned to face it calmly, and she also wanted to ask the emperor for some instructions.
She didn't move, just blinked. "I just got some evidence about Prime Minister Gao's family. Your Majesty, are you aware of Prime Minister Gao's land grabbing?"
The emperor nodded, and for some reason, as if he was not satisfied with the painting, he changed the drawing paper.
"I know, but I don't know the details. Land grabbing has always happened, and everyone does it very secretly. But from what you said, do you have evidence?"
"Yes, but it's only a part. It's too difficult to get all of it." Zhao Changning hesitated and said tentatively, "Your Majesty, if you don't want me to continue investigating, then I will stop."
The emperor raised his head suddenly, his eyes clear and cold, "No need to stop."
There was a hint of appreciation and inquiry in his eyes as he looked at Zhao Changning. Then he smiled, lowered his head and continued painting, with an obvious smile in his tone.
"Changning, you don't need to test me. Over these days, I know you just as you know me. I trust you, but you don't trust me."
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