Chapter 150 Li Qin'er Comes to Find Shen Pingjin
When Shen Pingjin saw what was written on the imperial edict, she was stunned.
"Yan Jue, I know you are not with me now, but after several days of incognito investigation, I and the other ministers have found evidence of the smuggling of salt. Tomorrow, you must return with Shen Pingjin, and remember to be careful!"
“The Emperor Anqing actually knew that the two of us weren’t inside.” Shen Pingjin frowned. “Furthermore, he said he had found evidence. Tell me, what exactly is going on?”
They followed the clues to Fang Shengde, but the Emperor had already found evidence of the smuggling of salt. What happened to the Emperor while they were away?
Yan Jue was also deep in thought. "No rush. We'll know everything when we get to the Emperor tomorrow."
At the same time, a guess secretly began to emerge in his mind...
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Kyoto
Looking at the renovated Glass Pavilion, Li Qin'er was overflowing with excitement; she was truly overjoyed!
However, when she went to the Regent's Palace to look for Shen Pingjin a few days ago, she was told that she was not in the palace at the moment.
So when will the grand opening be held?
She has already prepared the menu and is just waiting for Shen Pingjin to come and give it to her for review.
She added many more snacks to the menu, including the previously available spicy crayfish, crystal soup dumplings, and crystal pan-fried dumplings. There were also home-style dishes, teppanyaki, barbecue, snail rice noodles (the taste of which could only be roughly replicated), hamburgers, and even a dessert!
Not only bread dough, but also cream cakes, strawberry cakes, mango cakes, mango mochi, and bread milk sticks!
Just hearing about it makes your mouth water. In fact, Li Qin'er invented a number of drinks to compete with Zui Xiang Lou, including sugar water to cut through the greasiness, refined wines made from ancient wines, lemon ice that tastes like Sprite and Coke, and fresh milk squeezed from fresh pastures...
To ensure the product stays fresh for a sufficient period, Li Qin'er also plans to make ice cubes. After all, she was a science student who studied chemistry, so making ice cubes using her knowledge shouldn't be too difficult.
But having the menu wasn't enough for her. The owner behind the Glass Pavilion was Shen Pingjin, so she still planned to show the menu to Shen Pingjin and ask him if it was feasible.
But after waiting for several days, the servants in the mansion all said that Shen Pingjin was not there, and had gone out with the Regent.
This made Li Qin'er somewhat puzzled.
She carefully recalled what had happened during this period. As far as she knew, the Spring Banquet was approaching, and the Emperor had gone on a private visit, where he executed the Minister of the Court and his entire family, exiled him to the northern frontier, and also... secretly plundered the wealth of the rich in Jiangnan.
Dongyue Kingdom was a centralized feudal imperial state where the emperor was the supreme power center, possessing supreme authority. Salt and iron were state monopolies, as they were the lifeblood of the country.
However… Li Qin'er suddenly remembered something. It was during this incognito visit that the regent Yan Jue, who had always been looked down upon in the book, stood up from that moment on!
Although the Emperor has gone to Yangzhou in Jiangnan and others do not know his identity, it is inevitable that some dark forces will appear and have assassination intentions towards him.
In particular, strange forces such as the Northern Barbarians and Southern Barbarians have emerged.
They were just hoping for chaos in Dongyue so they could take advantage of the situation.
What has Chen Pingjin been doing all this time...?
Li Qin'er frowned slightly. She clearly remembered that if Shen Pingjin had followed the original development, as the Crown Princess, she should have first helped Consort Shu arrange the Spring Banquet, and then accompanied the Crown Prince Su Xuanmao on a private trip to Jiangnan.
But now she is the Regent's wife...
Li Qin'er realized that it must be that he accompanied Regent Yan Jue on a private visit!
The book does not explain how Regent Yan Jue managed to turn his reputation around, so Li Qin'er could only pray for Shen Pingjin in her heart, hoping that she would return safely from Yangzhou in Jiangnan.
"I refuse to believe that there are no other people in the Regent's Palace who know me. I must give this menu to Shen Pingjin for her review!"
With that in mind, Li Qin'er decided to visit the Regent's Palace again.
She dressed herself up as Young Master Qin again, packed up some food from the Glass Pavilion, and went to the Regent's Palace again, following the route she remembered.
Above the fine mahogany door of the Regent's Palace hung a striking gold-plated plaque. Li Qin'er took a deep breath, walked to the door, and politely knocked three times.
This time, the maids guarding the door were none other than Nian'an and Nianning. When they heard the knocking, they felt a little uneasy, since neither the Princess nor the Prince was in the mansion, and they didn't know who had come looking for them.
Nian An asked, "Nian Ning, should we open the door?"
Nian Ning replied, "Should we open it?"
"But the princess and the others aren't here now..."
"What if the people outside are looking for the Princess and the others and we delay their business by not opening the door?" Nian Ning asked again.
Nian'an nodded: "Nian Ning, I think you're right, so let's open it!"
"good!"
Nian'an and Nian Ning nervously opened the door. Nian'an sighed for a moment, wishing Ye Ting were here.
If Ye Ting were here, no matter who came outside, Nian Ning and I wouldn't have to be afraid!
The door slowly opened, and the people inside and outside were all filled with trepidation.
However, Nian'an was slightly taken aback when she saw who was standing outside.
"You are...Young Master Qin?"
The man in front of me was dressed in a light blue brocade robe, with a fine mutton-fat jade pendant hanging at his waist. His dark hair flowed behind him, and he held many things in his long, slender hands with distinct joints.
Upon seeing that the person in front of him was Nian An, Li Qin'er finally felt relieved. He bowed slightly to the two maids and said, "I am Young Master Qin. I have come here to see your princess about something."
Nian'an and Nian Ning had been to the Liuli Pavilion and Zuixiang Tower with Shen Pingjin, so they naturally knew Li Qin'er.
Nian An glanced apologetically at Young Master Qin and said, "Young Master Qin, I'm sorry, our Princess Consort is not in the manor for the time being. When she returns, Nian Ning and I will personally go to the Glass Pavilion to find you, how about that?"
Li Qin'er glanced at the empty Regent's Palace, knowing that Nian An and Nian Ning hadn't lied to her, and sighed, "This is the umpteenth time I've come here. Nian An and Nian Ning, I know you two. Tell me the truth, has something happened to the Regent's Consort recently?"
Nian'an and Nian Ning, who followed Shen Pingjin, were not very cunning. In addition, they knew that their princess had a cooperative relationship with Young Master Qin, so they simply told her what they knew.
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