"Grandfather, do you know what's written in the letter?"
Chuanwen was a little puzzled. She hadn't said anything yet, but the old man's behavior made it seem like he knew what was written in the letter!
Marquis Changxing stumbled after taking two steps and turned back to say, "I... I don't know, but this kind of message sent through the belly of a fish might be some kind of conspiracy. I have to present it to the emperor as soon as possible and explain that my family has nothing to do with this matter, so as not to get involved in any trouble."
Marquis Changxing quickly came up with a reason in the blink of an eye.
"oh."
Chuanwen seemed to agree with what he heard, but, "Grandpa is being far too cautious! There's no conspiracy involved."
Marquis Changxing then instructed Chuanwen to stay home and leave. As he turned to leave, he slowly let out a long sigh of relief, realizing he had almost given himself away!
Marquis Changxing took the white silk and called Chuanhai, and the two went to the palace together.
When the emperor looked at the white silk, still smelling of fish, presented on the desk, and then at Marquis Changxing and Chuanhai, he asked, "So, how did you discover this?"
The emperor considered many possibilities, such as the fishmonger finding the strip of cloth, or the fishmonger finding it while cleaning the fish, but in general, the rumor must have circulated outside for a while before reaching the palace.
But how come the rumor-spreading stage was skipped, and this thing went straight into his hands?
Marquis Changxing was embarrassed, so he recounted in detail how he was given fish and how Chuanwen wanted to eat fish.
After hearing this, the emperor rubbed his forehead, feeling a bit annoyed. That feng shui master was really persistent, still using this trick after so many days, and even sending out messages. Sigh, wherever she was, there was bound to be some drama!
The emperor raised his eyes to look at Marquis Changxing and Chuanhai, "Why didn't you bring Chuanwen along?"
This has been going on for generations, how is he supposed to investigate! Call Chuanwen over to listen for clues!
Marquis Changxing slapped his forehead. He had been so focused on presenting the white silk to the emperor that he had forgotten to ask his granddaughter for clues! Oh dear, spending so much time with his granddaughter had made his brain malfunction from time to time.
Soon, Chuanwen was brought to Ganlu Hall.
How did you discover this white silk?
The emperor coughed and asked Chuanwen in a low voice.
"Ah, this white silk! When my uncle and I came home from court, we saw my grandfather staring at a fish at the door. My uncle asked him if he wanted to eat fish, and he said he didn't. But when I saw that fish, so white and plump, I wanted to drink fish soup..."
Chuanwen recounted his discovery of the white silk in great detail, leaving the Emperor and the Marquis of Changxing somewhat embarrassed, realizing that such a detailed account was unnecessary.
After Chuanwen finished speaking, the group remained silent for a while. Seeing that they were all frowning and deep in thought, Chuanwen also pretended to be deep in thought, but in reality, he was mentally analyzing the situation of the feng shui master.
【Hmm...this...hahaha! The feng shui master isn't a descendant of Princess Jingmin; his ancestors simply stole a family genealogy book during a time of fleeing from disaster. That genealogy book was stolen from Princess Jingmin's true descendants.】
The emperor's eyes darted around, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily it wasn't him, otherwise he wouldn't know how to deal with this troublesome thing.
However, he had a new question: what about Princess Jingmin's real descendants?
Princess Jingmin was Emperor Shunzong's most beloved daughter, and her fiefdom was the most prosperous place, namely Jinzhou in Jiangnan. However, during the reign of Emperor Suzong, the southern princes rebelled, almost reaching the capital. The Jin Dynasty also experienced a brief five-year period of internal strife during that time. Many members of the imperial family and noble clans in the fiefdoms either died or fled. Princess Jingmin's descendants disappeared after that, and it is unknown whether they died or fled.
But Chuanwen seemed uninterested in Jingmin's true descendants, and paused for a moment, because she thought of a question.
[Wait a minute! If the feng shui master isn't a descendant of Princess Jingmin, would this story of a message being delivered through a fish's belly still be considered a beautiful tale? Would I, the one who discovered the white silk, still be celebrated by everyone?]
Chuanwen was a little discouraged, but then cheered up again, "I know the feng shui master isn't a descendant of Princess Jingmin, but the emperor doesn't know that!"
As Chuanwen pondered this, he secretly glanced at the emperor, who was still lost in thought, staring at the white silk. Chuanwen thought to himself, "This happened so many generations ago; there's probably no way to trace it now. The emperor might actually believe it. Didn't that simpleton believe Yi He's memorial before?"
emperor:......
"It's just a cheap trick to fool people, don't believe it."
The emperor tossed the white silk aside, and Marquis Changxing and Chuanhai quickly agreed.
"Alright, you can all go back now. Just don't get involved in this kind of thing again."
The emperor waved his hand to dismiss the group. Sigh, he was exhausted every day. There was a mountain of official business to attend to, and he still had to find time to deal with these trivial matters. Even when he was dealing with the important things, he still had to endure the disdain of that girl, Chuanwen.
Chuanwen was pulled away by Marquis Changxing and Chuanhai, one on each side, and he was incredibly puzzled. [Huh? Why don't they believe me?]
Seeing that Chuanwen still wanted to turn back and persuade the emperor, the two quickened their pace and hurriedly pulled Chuanwen out.
Seeing that Chuanwen had finally left, the emperor gritted his teeth and cursed Yi He's ancestors in his heart once more. However, he sighed again. He didn't care whether Princess Jingmin was a true descendant or a false one. Wasn't the construction of the Great Jin Dynasty enough of a headache for him?
The emperor looked at the letter from the crown prince on his desk. Although the crown prince had built several factories, the machinery, steel and other resources produced by those factories were all used to build the Great Jin Dynasty, and there was no profit. So maintaining these factories would cost money.
There are also several power plants built in the western region, which also require money to maintain. Moreover, if the Great Jin wants to popularize electricity, those few power plants are definitely not enough. If they want to build more, they need more money!
The Crown Prince's letter this time was just asking for money.
The emperor poured a small pill from a nearby bottle, put it in his mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it. This pill was made by Tian Wanyin to regulate his body and prevent hair loss.
The emperor sighed; he felt that he was losing hair again because of all the worry about money he had been having these past few days!
Or how about we get Wen Yatou to come and arrest a few more corrupt officials?
The emperor thought this, but then shook his head. In the past three years, thanks to the imperial edicts, there were practically no corrupt officials left. Even those who were corrupt before didn't dare to now. Besides, even if a few corrupt officials were investigated and punished, it would be a drop in the ocean, far from enough.
This method didn't work, so he thought of the gadgets the research institute made. Those things could be sold on the market for a considerable amount of money, but he shook his head again. The research institute also consumed a lot of resources and money, and the income was only enough to make more for them.
Sigh, what a worry!
When the emperor was worried about money, Chuanwen returned to his residence and sat under the eaves of his courtyard, resting his chin on his hand and frowning. [He couldn't understand why the emperor wouldn't believe him this time.]
Wenxue, standing to the side, silently ate grapes. Hmm... she knew nothing about it.
While Chuanwen was puzzled, Su Xiu was also puzzled.
Another day has passed, and there's still no news.
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