Chapter 14
"If I misunderstood you, I apologize. But you also said that I don't know you, so it's understandable that I misunderstood you."
"What do you mean? It's still my fault?" He looked at her silently for so long that it made her feel a little uneasy.
"I'm not the only one who thinks you're a playboy, am I? Shouldn't you reflect on yourself? What on earth did you do to cause people to misunderstand you?" She was a little annoyed.
"If Miss Gong thinks so, I think it is necessary for you to get to know me better." She didn't have the slightest remorse at all.
"What do you want to do?" She suddenly became uneasy.
"Oh..." Li Fei sighed. She was a sensitive and insensitive person. There were some things he couldn't tell her, and some things she didn't believe. If he fell in love with her, he could only wish for good luck.
"What else can I do? Please, Miss Gong, give me a chance to prove my innocence!"
"Uncle Li, you are so pitiful." Xiaoyue, who was watching the show at the side, cast a look of pity.
"Xiao Yue'er also feels sorry for your uncle, right?"
"But, Uncle Li, Aunt Xue is a good person, she will forgive you." As she said this, she patted Li Fei's shoulder with her little hand.
Wait, is that the point? She admitted that she could be quite blunt sometimes, but everyone had the right to express their opinions, right? Why did she act like she was bullying him?
She glanced at him sideways. Although she was not a perfect person, she could still correct her mistakes.
"If my inappropriate remarks have displeased Young Master Li, I apologize. Regardless of anything else, between you and me, I am the one at fault, and I do not deny that."
Has this girl changed her personality? She was so friendly and pleasant that he didn't know what to say.
"It's no big deal for you to apologize to me. However, if Miss Gong feels bad about it, please grant me one favor."
"What is it?"
"I haven't thought about it yet, but it doesn't matter if you don't want to agree. It's just a jade pendant at most."
If the word "blackmail" meant she had leverage over him, well, she did! It was her fault for crushing the imperial jade pendant.
"Okay." She agreed with gritted teeth. There was a road to heaven but she refused to take it, and there was no door to hell but she insisted on coming in. She was a typical suicidal person.
"What jade pendant?" Xiaoyue looked around at the two of them with her curious little head.
"Don't ask so many questions, kid. Just eat your meal."
"Uncle Li, why do you call Aunt Xue 'Miss Gong'? It's so strange." You won't let me say it? I insist on saying it.
"Then tell me, if not Miss Gong, what should I call my uncle?" He wanted to see what tricks this little girl was up to.
"Daddy calls Aunt Xue 'Xue', so uncle can call Aunt Xue 'Xiaoxue'?" Xiaoyueer suggested to Li Fei.
Smart! Xiaoxue?
"Can I call you Xiaoxue?" Without waiting for her to agree, he changed his words.
"Also, Xiaoxue, don't always call me Young Master Li. Second Young Master Li has called me now. You can just call me Li Fei." She made up her mind and felt much better.
Did the wolf and the hyena ask for her opinion? Did they just make the decision on their own?
"Xiaoxue, do you have anything else to do today?" He said this while his hands were busy serving food and ladle soup to the two beauties.
"Uncle Li, are you going to take us out to play?" His eyes were bright, like stars..."
"Xiaoyue, do you like osmanthus?" Looking at her body, traces of osmanthus can be seen in many places.
"like."
"Then after dinner, Uncle Li will take you to Dongshan to see the osmanthus flowers, okay?"
"Auntie Xue? Can I go?" He looked at her pitifully.
Since she asked this, what else could she say?
"Then go ahead."
"Yeah."
"Uncle Li, do you like Aunt Xue?" She winked at him with interest.
"Xiao Yue'er!!" When she saw the smile on his face, her heart suddenly shook. She couldn't understand why he approached her. If it was just because of the jade pendant, it didn't make sense.
This little girl is quite clever! Li Fei smiled and gave her an appreciative look.
"Uncle likes it, but I don't know if your aunt Xue likes uncle too?" Li Fei answered half-jokingly.
"A good girl is afraid of a crazy man, Uncle Li, keep going." The smart boy also gave some advice.
There was obvious astonishment in the eyes of both of them, and Li Fei looked at Gong Mingxue again.
Wasn't today supposed to be an auspicious day? Why was everything going so wrong for her? The meal was actually delicious! She was so embarrassed she wanted to dig a hole in the ground and bury herself.
Gong Yuchen and his men hid their whereabouts all the way, avoided taking official roads, and acted in a low profile. They finally arrived at the imperial garden at four o'clock in the morning and met King Cheng "Yi Luohui" without alerting anyone.
"Are you saying that my royal brother has already taken action?
“That’s right, I was just surprised. I didn’t expect that they would be unable to contain themselves once Gong Yuxian arrived in Yidu.
"It's hard for Brother Gong Yu to rush here to tell us this at night, but we still don't know what they're planning to do. The worst case scenario is that they're just trying to get rid of me."
"Judging from the current situation, it probably won't happen yet. Even if the wise king wants to get rid of you, it's still too early. He won't do anything without confidence, given his personality."
"The reason is that my father is in poor health and my sister is choosing a husband." Yi Luohui saw it clearly.
"The wise king has begun pressing forward. Excessive impatience will only give us an opportunity to take advantage. In the past, we have been keeping a low profile, adopting a strategy of using stillness to control movement, in order to avoid revealing our strength too early."
"In that case, what should we do next? Time is running out for us to plan. Only by seizing the initiative can we have a chance of victory."
"Please keep this letter first."
"This is?"
"I asked Princess Cheng to write a letter. When daybreak comes, you return to Yidu first, and I will handle the rest."
"No, this is the Imperial Garden. After all, you are a hostage of the Western Barbarians. Interfering in the affairs of the Imperial family is presumptuous. Moreover, they are here to target me."
"You and I have known each other for many years. Although we are not brothers, we are better than brothers. So no matter whether it is true or not, you should be more careful. I don't want to lose you as a friend too soon." Gong Yuchen patted Yi Luohui's shoulder.
"If I retreat whenever I encounter trouble, how can I win the support of the people in the future? Don't worry! I will be careful."
He had also suspected that the virtuous king would kill him, but this suspicion would damage their brotherly love, so he had always avoided the issue. The two brothers had always been fighting openly and secretly, but it had never escalated to the point of wanting to eliminate each other.
"Whatever they plan to do, we'd better prepare for the worst. I just hope you won't be too optimistic, otherwise the disappointment will be even greater."
Gong Yuchen understood his concerns, but for the sake of peace in Yi State, especially the disaster that would befall the Western Yi if Yi Luoyao ascended to power, he chose to support King Cheng. King Cheng was magnanimous, of pure character, close to the virtuous and distant from flatterers, and sympathetic to the people. He would be a rare and wise ruler in the future, so he had to speak openly to warn Yi Luohui of his dangers.
"You're right. Perhaps my expectations were too high." Although they were enemies now, they were still bound by blood, a bond that couldn't be severed easily. As a member of the royal family, faced with various interests, even if he wanted to give in, he had no choice, because the decision-making power had never been in his hands.
"In the past few years, you have been in charge of agricultural affairs, which have damaged the interests of many people. These people are not easy to deal with. You know it without me explaining it in detail, especially Zhang Yuantai, the agricultural officer of Minzhou, who you impeached a few days ago." He reminded him and told him what happened in the court some time ago. Although he was not in the court, he knew everything he should know.
"You mean..."
Gong Yuchen nodded.
"Although the position of Minzhou Nongcao is not high, Minzhou is an important grain storage area for the Yi people. Only the Minzhou Nongcao knows how much grain and grass are handed over to the national treasury and how much is consumed each year."
"If the position of Minzhou Nongcao is lost, what impact will it have on the wise king?" King Cheng Yi Luohui asked with concern.
"The loss of his position as the Minister of Agriculture in Minzhou is not a big deal. The trouble is that the virtuous king has embezzled a lot of grain through him in the past few years, and the whereabouts of this grain is what he is most worried about being discovered." He said with a serious expression.
"You mean, the wise king is secretly hoarding food?"
"I'm afraid it's not just about food..."
"Your Highness?"
Gong Yuchen was halfway through his words when he was interrupted by someone outside the door. The person's tone was very urgent, as if he was running towards him.
"What is it?"
"We have discovered something unusual in the stables and granary."
A stable? A granary? He could understand the granary, but a stable? Why?
"What's wrong?"
"We found some dead branches and hay nearby."
It is understandable that there is hay in the stable, but what is the use of dead branches?
"Have you spotted anyone suspicious?"
"Not yet."
So, they were planning to set fire? He could understand setting fire to the granary, but why the stables?
"King Cheng, do you know what's so special about this stable?"
"It's nothing special, just a dozen royal horses."
Imperial horses? ...A good imperial horse is comparable to a war horse.
"Your Highness King Cheng, can you take me to see those horses?" Gong Yuchen seemed to have thought of something.
"Okay, come with me."
The stables, located along the eastern wall of the Imperial Garden, were connected to the East Corner Gate. Outside the gate lay the pasture. On weekdays, the horses could be released onto the pasture by simply opening the corner gate.
"Gong Yuchen walked around the stable.
"It is indeed so."
"Brother Gongyu, what do you mean?"
"I see your horses are not in this stable?"
"This is where the imperial horses live. The other horses are mostly in the north courtyard."
"King Cheng, do you know that besides beautiful jade, we Western Yi have another little-known treasure: horses?"
"You mean, the war horses of the Western Yi?" The war horses of the Western Yi are superior to those from other places in terms of physical strength and speed.
"To be more precise, it's 'horse breeding'."
"Horse breeding?"
"Western Yi have a vast territory, and few men, women, young or old among us know how to ride and shoot. The fierceness of their warhorses is due to their horse breeding techniques."
"But what does this have to do with the stables here?"
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