Chapter 111 Green Robes for You, Longing in My Heart
After the court session, Li Yuanzhao went straight back to the princess's residence.
Since her father had ordered her to stay at home, she should obey.
However, this restricted area was not designated by the Emperor.
Compared to the heavily guarded and watchful Xihe Palace, the Princess's residence was naturally more comfortable, and "coming and going" was also more convenient.
After finishing his official business, Pei Huaijin quietly went to the princess's residence to request an audience.
The courtyard of the mansion was quiet, with only the soft rustling of the wind through the bamboo shadows.
Upon entering, one could see that the Princess had already changed out of her court robes and into a light blue kimono skirt, which complemented the green bamboo outside the window. She exuded an air of refined elegance, far removed from the strife of the court.
She was standing in front of her desk, practicing calligraphy with a relaxed and contented air, showing no sign of the setback she had just suffered in court.
Pei Huaijin concealed the worry in his eyes, stepped forward, knelt down, and apologized.
"It was my oversight and poor judgment that led to Your Highness being punished in this way. I truly did not expect that Wang Qiao would harbor such malicious intentions and set a trap to frame Your Highness. I deserve to die a thousand deaths, and I beg Your Highness to punish me!"
After Li Yuanzhao finished writing the last stroke, he slowly raised his eyes to look at him and said, "Get up."
Pei Huaijin stood up, but still felt somewhat uneasy.
His Highness trusted him and entrusted him with such an important matter, yet he made such a grave mistake; it was his fault.
Although he knew that Wang Qiao's matter today had no impact on His Highness, His Highness had been subjected to so many impeachments because of this matter, and he could not escape blame.
Li Yuanzhao then beckoned to him, calling him closer.
Pei Huaijin approached, puzzled, and his gaze naturally fell on the Xuan paper on the desk.
Her handwriting reflects her personality: it is elegant and bold, with sharp strokes, just like her daily conduct.
But what alarmed him most were the six large characters written on the paper.
"All I see is gold, but no one."
This saying comes from the story of "The Man from Qi Seizing Gold" in the "Liezi: Shuofu". It means that one can only see the gold and not the people around him. In pursuit of profit, one becomes blinded and completely ignores the dangers around him.
He was momentarily confused as to what His Highness meant.
Li Yuanzhao, in a good mood, laid out another sheet of paper and handed him the pen with a smile.
"Come here."
Pei Huaijin took the pen, still warm from her fingertips, and his heart raced for a moment.
He stared at the blank sheet of rice paper, his mind a jumble, unsure of what to write.
Before he could react, the pen had already fallen, and eight large characters appeared on the paper.
"Green are your robes, deep is my longing."
Today, Li Yuanzhao is wearing a blue dress, which perfectly matches the four characters "青青子衿" on the paper.
These feelings, hidden deep in my heart, were revealed so openly by myself.
Pei Huaijin's ears instantly burned, and he was so embarrassed that he almost dared not look up at her.
Li Yuanzhao, however, seemed completely oblivious to his feelings. He glanced at the words on the paper and said directly, "These words are not good."
The word "bad" made Pei Huaijin's heart, which had just accelerated, suddenly sink, and his mood instantly plummeted.
Was it her poor handwriting, or her inappropriate thoughts that made her feel bad?
He was secretly annoyed when Li Yuanzhao suddenly grabbed his wrist.
Pei Huaijin froze, feeling as if he had lost six of his three souls and seven spirits, and his heart was about to jump out of his chest.
His attention had completely wandered, his eyes fixed only on her figure so close to him, oblivious to the fact that she was guiding him to write.
Li Yuanzhao stood right beside him, so close that he could clearly smell the faint scent of ink and the crisp fragrance emanating from her clothes.
The warmth of her palm seeped slowly through the back of his hand, burning his fingertips so much that he could barely hold the wolf-hair brush.
Pei Huaijin followed her force blankly, letting her guide his hand across the rice paper.
The soft rustling of the brush tip across the rice paper, the overlapping breaths of the two, and the occasional subtle pressure from her fingertips were all amplified infinitely.
In the blink of an eye, several large characters appeared on the paper.
After Li Yuanzhao released his grip, Pei Huaijin remained in the same pen-holding posture, standing there in a daze.
Only when he met her calm gaze did he snap out of his reverie and look at the words on the table.
"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."
Pei Huaijin instantly understood that His Highness wasn't actually teaching him calligraphy at all.
She was telling him that Cui Shiliang thought he had won by putting the Second Prince in charge of disaster relief, but he didn't realize that he had already become the "cicada" in His Highness's eyes, while the real "oriole" was always herself.
The romantic feelings in his heart gradually dissipated, and he was about to speak.
But then Li Yuanzhao picked up the piece of paper with "Green are your robes" written on it, his tone carrying a hint of a half-smile.
"Lord Pei's handwriting is more straightforward than you are."
Pei Huaijin's face flushed red instantly, and he couldn't even finish his sentence: "Your Highness..."
Li Yuanzhao stopped teasing him and instead strolled over to a soft couch, where he sat down lazily.
"The fact that Wang Qiao presented those three men was revealed to Cui Shiliang by my own people."
Pei Huaijin was taken aback upon hearing this, and subconsciously blurted out, "Your Highness, what is this...?"
Li Yuanzhao looked up at him and said slowly, "Since the Wang family wants to pledge allegiance to me, they should be wholeheartedly loyal. What I despise most are those who try to please both sides and play both sides."
Before he could finish speaking, Pei Huaijin already understood.
Following this incident, the Cui family openly impeached Wang Qiao for "flattery, currying favor, and forming cliques for personal gain." Under such serious charges, the Cui and Wang families completely broke off relations.
Regardless of whether Wang Qiao had any doubts before, he now had no choice but to wholeheartedly follow His Highness.
This plan effectively cut off Wang Qiao's other escape routes, which can only be described as brilliant.
He bowed deeply, his voice full of admiration, "Your Highness is wise; I admire you."
Li Yuanzhao picked up the teacup and slowly sipped it.
"Pass down the message: tell our people to behave themselves these days. No matter how much the Emperor berates or reprimands them, they should just accept it obediently and not argue."
"Yes," Pei Huaijin replied respectfully.
He knew that His Highness was deliberately feigning weakness to lower the Emperor's guard.
After Pei Huaijin left, the hall returned to silence.
A faint, almost imperceptible sneer flickered across Li Yuanzhao's lips.
After all these years, doesn't she understand her own father, the emperor?
His greatest skill is nothing more than "pulling one faction, attacking another, and then secretly supporting the third."
Is he angry today because of a mere Lin Xue'an? Or because of the presumptuous phrase "Long live the Princess"?
What angered him was simply that her power had recently become too great, and she was gradually becoming difficult for him to control.
The heart of an emperor is most averse to "imbalance." If his power becomes too great, it is by no means a good thing for him.
Moreover, this is happening at a critical juncture when he is focused on paving the way for Li Yuanyou.
So regardless of whether the Cui family impeached him today or not, the Emperor would find a reason to reprimand him sooner or later.
Rather than making him rack his brains to think of a crime for himself, it's better to voluntarily "offer" himself a fault.
This not only fulfilled his wish to "balance the court" but also gave him a legitimate opportunity to support Li Yuanyou.
Isn't her "considerateness" another form of "filial piety"?
As for whether Li Yuanyou can win popular support and accumulate political achievements through disaster relief as his father wished...
That would probably disappoint his father, the emperor.
The drought in Hebei Province seemed to be no big deal on the surface; it was just a matter of opening granaries to distribute grain and comforting displaced people, and it would be quelled in a month or two.
But she had dealt with those local officials more than once and knew that what they were best at was "reporting good news and not bad news".
If the disaster was truly as "controllable" as reported, why would they have repeatedly submitted memorials, earnestly and even urgently requesting the court to send an imperial envoy to oversee disaster relief?
Sure enough, the people she had secretly sent to investigate sent back news.
The extent of the disaster in Hebei Province has far exceeded what was reported in the official report.
In several severely affected counties, farmland yielded almost nothing, and grain prices soared to ten times their usual level. People could no longer afford grain, and a wave of famine escapes had begun.
Even worse, in some prefectures and counties, the official granaries had already been misappropriated and embezzled by local officials, with actual grain reserves less than 30% of what was on the books, leaving them completely unable to cope with the disaster.
Seeing that the situation was about to spiral out of control and that they were powerless to clean up the mess, these local officials came up with the idea of finding a "scapegoat".
If things get out of control in the future, the blame for the inadequate disaster relief will fall on the imperial envoy for "incompetent management" and "lack of thorough understanding."
If the disaster worsens, public resentment boils over, and the people are driven to the brink of despair, and a riot is "accidentally" triggered, her younger brother, who was raised in the deep palace and has never experienced any storms, will "accidentally" die at the hands of the mob.
When that time comes, who will Father Emperor turn to for tears?
Thinking of this, Li Yuanzhao's lips curled into a cold smile.
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