Chapter 99: You forced me to do this
Qin Fu was puzzled when he saw Yun Hui leave. "Your Majesty, why bother calling her back directly?"
The emperor chuckled and started writing with confidence, crossing out the pair of majestic and powerful wings on the painting of the goshawk from the previous day.
"You don't understand. My female secretary is intelligent and ambitious. She is not an ordinary woman."
Yunsheng learned that Anyi had gone to serve again, and was summoned by the emperor himself. After hesitating for a while, he still gritted his teeth and asked Yunhui.
"What did the emperor say to Anyi?"
"I didn't dare go over and listen." Yun Hui shook her head. "What's wrong?"
Yunsheng mumbled a few words, then continued, "Next time Anyi goes to serve, if I'm not around, you have to listen carefully. The emperor is not that scary."
Yun Hui sighed, "I'm not my aunt. The Emperor may seem easygoing, but his eyes are like knives. I get scared the moment I see them."
Yunsheng tutted his words and asked reprimandingly, "Do you still want your aunt to come back?"
Yun Hui finally understood, and was surprised and incredulous. "No way? Anyi has seemed quite normal recently. Auntie treated him so well in the past. She will definitely come back."
Yunsheng pursed his lips, thinking of his aunt's advice before she left, "People's hearts can change."
"Why don't we write a letter to Aunt?" Yun Hui suggested, "Let Aunt find a way to come back sooner. We can't make the decision ourselves."
Yunsheng shook his head. "No, I usually write to my aunt about trivial matters. If I write these words, it will make my aunt worry for no reason and make Anyi and the others suspicious. If others see it, it will be another trouble."
Yun Hui was a little worried, "What should we do then? What if Anyi and the others...how will my aunt come back?"
The struggles in the palace are no joke. Back then, my aunt fought with Eunuch Hu, and the Hu party was uprooted. My aunt rose to prominence, and who wouldn't envy her?
Yunsheng was also a little at a loss, and finally the two decided to observe for a few more days.
However, in the following days, the emperor often asked the three Anyi brothers to accompany him and also allowed Anyi to enter and leave the cabinet. This was a very bad sign.
What made Yunsheng even more uneasy was that the emperor suddenly promoted several people under Anyi to replace the female officials left by his aunt, which made him full of doubts.
But he didn't want to make his aunt worry too much about this matter.
He thought, maybe he could solve it himself.
On this day, heavy snow fell again, and the sky and the earth were covered in white. Because the next day was New Year's Day, the palace was decorated with lights and colorful banners early, and it was a festive occasion.
An Yi was pasting window flowers when he saw Yun Sheng coming through the window. He smiled and put his arm around his shoulder, with white smoke curling around his lips.
"Why are you here? I haven't seen you in the past few days."
Yun Sheng rubbed his hands coldly and shook off his arm without leaving a trace. "An Yi, why has the emperor been summoning you to serve recently? He even lets you go in and out of the cabinet? Why were those people under you promoted?"
Although Anyi looks rough on the surface, he is naturally not stupid since he can serve the emperor.
The smile on his face froze, "What do you mean?"
Yunsheng gritted his teeth, "Do you know what I mean?"
Anyi narrowed his eyes and said, "I don't know."
Yun gritted her teeth in anger and demanded, "You don't want your aunt to come back, do you?"
"Yunsheng, I never said that." An Yi looked at Yunsheng with a hint of sternness in his eyes, even a little uneasy. "Have you told all this to Auntie?"
Yun was annoyed by his attitude. "Yes, I've already told Auntie, Anyi. We've been together for so long, and Auntie saved our lives. You'd better stop and don't have such thoughts..."
Anyi stood there without saying a word and let him accuse him, while in his heart he was thinking about Zhao Changning's ruthlessness. Over the years, he admired her and was also afraid of her. He knew that she did not trust him, and he knew how she would deal with the enemy.
Perhaps at this time, she already regarded him as an enemy, even if he did not have such thoughts.
He turned and left.
Seeing him like this, Yunsheng felt even more angry. His aunt had told him before she left that he couldn't mess this up.
He wanted to stop Anyi and make things clear, "Anyi, what are you going to do?"
Anyi pushed him away and said angrily, "Yunsheng, you forced me to do this."
Yunsheng was thrown into the snow. When he got up, Anyi was gone. He stomped his feet in anger and became more and more convinced that Anyi was going to betray his aunt.
Anyi found Anhe and Anzhong and told them about this with a serious face.
The other two said that their aunt was not such a stingy person, and that there was no need for the three of them to do this. Everything was arranged by the emperor, and they just obeyed his orders.
Anyi knew much more than the two of them, and he couldn't help but grit his teeth when he thought back to what happened to his godfather.
"You all know what Auntie does. Yunsheng is talking nonsense. What if she believes it? She hasn't come back yet. What if she comes back? Will she let me go?"
An He is now married and has bought a house outside. She lives a leisurely life with Zhao Changning.
"Maybe Auntie doesn't believe Yunsheng's words? You know, Yunsheng is just like a dog. Auntie knows right from wrong and won't believe him easily."
An He looked at him and said, "We are different from Yunsheng. She believes Yunsheng, but she may not believe us."
An Zhong frowned, "Then we can't defeat her. She dares to poison the palace. Do we dare?"
Anyi said viciously, "I know exactly how my godfather died back then. Now I'm just following her path again. The fighting in the palace never stops. It all depends on one's ability, and the winner is king. Why can't it be us? Are we really going to wait for her to come back and kill us?"
An He hesitated, "Then what do you want to do?"
Anyi asked the two of them to come closer and whispered.
It’s still cold after the Lantern Festival, but the snow has almost melted.
Zhao Changning prepared to return to Guangzhou.
Mingxuan sent her off as usual. He was a little reluctant, but he couldn't help but remind her, "You have a bad stomach, so you must pay attention to what you eat. I've talked to Grandma Xu and she's written down a lot of recipes. Also, I'll come to see you next time, so you don't have to run back and forth anymore."
"You've been so hard at reading so many medical books. I feel much better now." Zhao Changning couldn't help but laugh. "You're the governor, you can't leave your post without permission. I'm different from you. I'm also very interested in seeing the great landscape of Dayong."
Seeing her smile, Mingxuan lowered his head slightly and took out a small, slender brocade box from his sleeve. "I saw your pen was a little bald a few days ago. I picked it up on the street. It's not expensive, so don't despise it."
Zhao Changning took it and said, "Thank you, I like it very much."
Seeing the boat was about to move, Mingxuan hurriedly said, "Next time we meet, let's play a good game of chess."
During the New Year holidays, they were occasionally bored, so the two of them played chess. Even though Mingxuan deliberately let Zhao Changning win, he still won. He felt that this dampened Zhao Changning's mood.
Zhao Changning raised his hand in farewell. "I, a lousy chess player, will not play chess with you anymore. Next time we meet, take me to see the river you repaired."
The sound was already a little far away.
Seeing his master staring motionlessly, Taiping grumbled helplessly, "I clearly picked it out from thousands of choices, but you talk as if you picked it randomly. Master, why do you always lie?"
Mingxuan smiled and shook his head, "She knows."
In the boat, Gao Cong parroted angrily, "I picked it up on the street. It's not expensive. Don't despise it. Humph, you have seen so many good things. If you know it's not good, don't take it out."
Zhao Changning was holding the book prepared by Mingxuan and reading it by himself, ignoring his words.
Guangzhou in February is no different from when I left. There are all kinds of fruit trees standing in rows, and the wind always carries a salty and humid smell.
Grandma Xu liked it very much. "Guangzhou is actually quite suitable for people to live in. It's neither too cold nor too hot, which is really comfortable. In the north, your ears will freeze off at this time. It's a pity that Yunqiu can't come. She will definitely like it here."
Zhao Changning smiled and said, "You can bring Yunqiu over to live with you when the time comes."
"That's great." Granny Xu tidied while cleaning up, "What's going on between you and Mingxuan? If you two end up together, Yunqiu will be the happiest. I'll be happy too. I think Mingxuan can take good care of you."
The smile on Zhao Changning's lips did not fall, but she did not say anything. As they got to know each other better, she found that Mingxuan was the one who made her most comfortable.
However, she has no real interest in romance, so being friends like this is fine.
After Zhao Changning returned to his normal life, a guest suddenly arrived.
"Aunt?" Zheng Chan excitedly stood up, plopped down on her knees, and said with a smile, "Aunt, long time no see."
Zhao Changning helped her up and looked her up and down. "You seem to be a little taller. How did you find yourself here? Is everything okay at home? Did something happen to you?"
Zheng Chan shook her head vigorously. "Everything is fine at home, including my mother."
She was tearful and a little excited. "I heard that my aunt was in Guangzhou. I always wanted to come over, but it never worked out. This time, I finally made the egg-screen cup. Now I have a reason to want to present it to my aunt. Thank you so much for helping me back then. Zheng Chan has no way to repay you, so I just hope that she won't regret saving me."
Zhao Changning was a little surprised. "You've made such rapid progress. I don't regret it at all. I'm glad I intervened."
Zheng Chan carefully took a box wrapped in layers from the servant beside her. She was really careful and stuffed it with cotton and other delicate things for fear of damaging the cup.
Zhao Changning had naturally seen the egg-curtain cup. As the name suggests, it comes from the thin membrane inside the eggshell. It is extremely difficult to fire and is rare in the world. Even in the palace, there are only a few sets.
The egg-curtain cup in front of him was no less impressive than those in the palace. Its body was as thin as a cicada's wing and as light as a feather. It felt like nothing in his hand. The wall of the cup was also carved with lotus and fish patterns. It was truly ingenious and priceless.
"I'm afraid the wind will blow it away, and I'm also worried about the sun burning it away." She sighed repeatedly, "You are so young, and yet you have such a natural talent. It's really amazing."
Zheng Chan shook her head. "These were all given by my aunt. Without my aunt, there would be no such things."
Zhao Changning put the cup away and said with a smile, "You earned all this by yourself, Zheng Chan. Don't worry, I will never let you bury it."
She planned to send the egg-screen cup back to Yujing and ask for a seventh-rank imperial decree for Zheng Chan's mother.
"With such skills, from now on, no one will bully you and your daughter anymore."
If done well, porcelain making could bring countless wealth to Dayong.
It was not until April that the ships returned.
Fang Wenhai didn't dare to delay and found Zhao Changning as soon as possible.
"We returned late this time because we encountered storms. In addition, the ship did reach places like Portugal, which also delayed us."
Zhao Changning nodded. "These are all trivial matters. What the Emperor cares about is the profits brought by tea."
The imperial court had always banned private tea. Tea in the south was mostly controlled by clans and wealthy businessmen. The imperial court mediated and set up tea permits to prohibit the outflow of private tea. It also strictly controlled the tea-horse trade. In addition, the people of Dayong loved to drink tea, so not much tea was exported.
I heard that the tea that could be exported to the sea in the past was all brought out of Fujian by Japanese pirates in collusion with the people.
This time, there is a gap in Fujian's tea mountains. Tea can be exported, and the profit will definitely be higher than that in Dayong.
Fujian rushed over 30,000 kilograms of tea, including both black tea and green tea, with Dahongpao being the most valuable.
Fang Wenhai handed over the account book and said respectfully, "We've traveled a long way this time, but distance has its advantages. If we were to go to places like Southeast Asia, the average price of tea would be no more than ten taels, but in places like Portugal, the value of this tea would double. Excluding the loss from the long journey, we've brought back nearly six hundred thousand taels of silver from the tea we brought back."
He sighed, "If this thing didn't take so long to make and depended on the weather and the solar terms, it would be more profitable than porcelain and silk."
Zhao Changning heard from Tomei that people in Portugal and even further afield were very fond of tea.
However, there is no difficulty in selling tea. The demand is even greater in the north and west. However, going north, tea is mostly used to exchange for horses.
She threw the account book to Chen Qi beside her and said with a smile, "That's good. I can also give an explanation to the emperor. Lord Fang, I will definitely commend you in front of the emperor."
Fang Wenhai declined repeatedly and chatted for a while before leaving.
Chen Qi flipped through the account book for a while and said, "I can't see anything fishy. Do you want a detailed calculation?"
Zhao Changning shook his head. "The Maritime Customs is a tough job. If they don't have the same problems as Wan Yuwan, there's no need to investigate. Someone has to do the work."
Granny Xu suddenly came in, "Miss, here's your letter."
Zhao Changning took it, it was Song Huan’s.
"She hasn't written to me for some time." Zhao Changning said with a smile as she opened the letter, but as she read on, her smile disappeared.
She sat up and said, "Grandma Xu, bring me all the letters Yunsheng wrote to me."
Chen Qi noticed something was wrong, "Aunt, what's wrong?"
Zhao Changning handed her the letter and said gravely, "Song Huan said that she hasn't seen Yunsheng in a long time, but Yunsheng has been writing to me non-stop."
Chen Qi was startled. "Could something have happened in the palace?"
Zhao Changning opened Yun Sheng's previous letter and compared it. Noticing that the handwriting hadn't changed, he shook his head and said, "I don't know for now. I only know that several female officials in the Qinzheng Palace have been replaced by people under Anyi."
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