Xu Bo was fifty-eight years old this year. He pondered Yuwen Linyuan's words for a long time but still couldn't understand their meaning, so he had no choice but to prostrate himself in respect.
He spoke tremblingly, "This old servant is foolish and ignorant; please enlighten me, Your Highness."
He absolutely must not offend the Crown Prince and cause trouble for the Grand Eunuch.
Yuwen Linyuan cleared his throat: "What I'm saying is, what do you think of me as a coachman?"
For a moment, Xu Bo wondered if he had misheard: "Huh?"
Although it was absurd, they dared not offend Yuwen Linyuan, so they were forced to dismiss all the applicants.
After seeing the Crown Prince off, Xu Bo breathed a sigh of relief, but still felt he should report this matter to the Grand Eunuch.
However, upon entering the room after receiving permission, he saw a dignified beauty wearing only an undergarment, her eyes closed, and on the table was a jade pendant that the Crown Prince often carried.
Tears welled up in her eyes, and in a moment, she bent her knees and knelt on the ground: "Young Master!"
Before the original owner became an official, Uncle Xu always addressed him as "Young Master".
The old man lost his son early in life and had always treated the original owner of the body as his own son. At this moment, however, he tearfully advised, "Being an eunuch is too difficult. How can we have to sacrifice ourselves to feed the crown prince? Let's resign and return to our fields."
This finally made Si Jin laugh. He waved his hand and said, "It's not time to offer myself to the Crown Prince yet, so there's no need for that for now."
"Let him be the driver. If you're worried, you can secretly find another one, just don't let him find out."
"Yes, young master." The old man wiped away his tears and stood up. As he walked to the door, he suddenly remembered something and asked with red ears.
"Young master, would you like to take a bath?"
Who knows what that scoundrel of a prince might have done to Jinjin? After a bath, I feel so refreshed (┯_┯)
Si Jin: ...
"No need for now, you can go."
… …
On the other side, Yuwen Linyuan returned to the palace and went to the old emperor's bedroom first.
As Si Jin had predicted, Sun Wuyang, his eyes red from crying, knelt on the ground pleading, "Your Majesty, the laws of the Great Zhou state that high-ranking officials are exempt from punishment. I only have one son, Si Yuan. Even if he has made a mistake, I can apologize to the Grand Eunuch myself. I beg Your Majesty to save my son's life!"
Although Si Jin was also a son, eunuchs could not carry on the family line. They could be used to consolidate their power, but in other respects, Si Jin was far inferior to Si Yuan.
Seeing that the old emperor was wavering, Yuwen Linyuan decisively bowed and said, "Your subject requests an audience with Your Majesty."
The old emperor paused slightly, the words of pardon stuck in his throat, and after several hesitations, he finally said, "Come in."
Yuwen Linyuan had already lost his goodwill towards Sun Siyuan during the day, and now he was even less polite: "Father, today I accompanied Eunuch Gu on a case. Not only did Sun Siyuan, the son of the Grand Secretary, hire someone to assassinate Eunuch Gu, but after being discovered, he refused to admit it. He not only insulted the people of the Eastern Depot, but even insulted me and you. His crime is unforgivable!"
Sun Wuyang: ? ? ?
That shouldn't be the case. Si Yuan has always been timid and afraid of trouble. How could he dare to scold the emperor or the crown prince?
He instinctively felt that Yuwen Linyuan was lying, so he had no choice but to argue his case: "Your Majesty, my son had no such intention. Please investigate thoroughly!"
"So, does Chief Minister Sun think I'm lying?" Yuwen Linyuan glanced at him, his eyes sharp as knives. "You just said that the law does not apply to high-ranking officials. May I ask, what kind of official is Sun Siyuan, a good-for-nothing who couldn't even pass the county-level exam?"
"Governor Gu is directly under the Eastern Depot and holds the rank of third grade. He was personally promoted by my father and is a close minister of the emperor. For a commoner like him to assassinate the governor is a blatant slap in the face to my father."
"How can we let someone who insulted my father and slapped him get away with it?"
Yuwen Linyuan's words were clever, directly linking Si Jin's safety with the emperor's dignity, and subtly criticizing Sun Wuyang for questioning the crown prince, a crime tantamount to deceiving the emperor.
Sun Wuyang was immediately enraged, his face turning ashen, and he hurriedly kowtowed to admit his mistake.
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