As the sun sets behind the pavilion, clouds begin to rise over the stream; a mountain rain is imminent, and the wind fills the tower.
Huo Baichuan scooped up a spoonful of the white and tender double-skin milk and was about to eat it when Little Fatty came running over in a hurry, "Young Master, Young Master, something bad has happened! The guards have come out of the Sun residence and are on their way to the Yong Prince's residence to report the news. I think that with the Princess's temper, she will definitely ruin your good deed."
"Just send a message, why are you in such a hurry? Besides, what's meant to be will be, and a loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise." After saying that, he took a bite. "It's too sweet. The chefs at Prince Yong's mansion are much better. Let them go to Prince Yong's mansion to learn from their skills."
Little Fatty was so anxious he was practically in a panic. Seeing Huo Baichuan's indifferent expression, he sighed and realized he was worrying about something that wasn't his business.
"What's the Yan family up to?" Huo Baichuan asked casually, as if he felt sorry for the chubby boy, to prevent him from getting internal injuries from holding it in.
The chubby boy's eyebrows lit up with joy, and he hurriedly replied, "Young master, the young lady from the Yan family went to the Sun residence, carrying your white jade hairpin, and she was very happy."
After saying that, she carefully observed Huo Baichuan's expression. Seeing that he looked normal, she couldn't help but sigh again. The young lady from the Yan family is your admirer, young master. She never hides it. Why don't you take a second look at that lovely girl?
Given his firm denial of accepting bribes, it must be said that Little Fatty was destined to be a worrywart. Huo Baichuan thought for a moment, stood up, dusted off the dust on his wide sleeves, straightened his hair ornament, and said, "Enter the palace."
Little Fatty hurriedly replied, "Yes."
The two left the Huo residence shortly afterward. Huo Baichuan rode in a carriage, while Xiao Pang rode a horse. On horseback, Xiao Pang pondered deeply, wondering whether he should tell the young master about this matter, since Prince Yong had just come by.
"Are you hiding something from me?" Huo Baichuan lifted the carriage curtain, revealing one eye.
Little Fatty was startled by his sudden voice. He patted his chest, spurred his horse closer, and said, "The people below said that Prince Yong came by just now, met with Aunt Dan, and left shortly afterward."
Huo Baichuan listened in silence, and soon saw the red high-strength glazed tiles in the distance.
There's a saying that "pulling one hair affects the whole body," and that's no exaggeration. Yan Ruyu went to the Sun family, Huo Baichuan entered the palace, so how could the old party leaders Wei Caitao and Yang Zhong not gather together to discuss countermeasures?
The two met at a teahouse owned by the Yang family. It was quiet and safe, with numerous hidden sentries protecting them. They could speak freely without fear of revealing secrets.
The page boy served the two tea, snacks, and fruit, then closed the door and left. The doors and windows were tightly shut, and in the four corners were four small, openwork carved tripods filled with ice, making the room as cool as a morning after rain.
"Brother Yang, are you sure the Ma family gave such an important thing to that young girl?" Wei Caitao really didn't believe it. The Ma family had been passed down for many years since the Warring States period, living in Taizhou and never participating in any disputes. Logically speaking, if Ma Caishi were smart, he would definitely restrain his descendants to be law-abiding and not get involved. He did this very well. His precious daughter had been married into the capital for more than 20 years, and he, like the previous Ma family heads, never set foot in the capital until his death.
But what puzzled him was that the family heirloom could be passed down to his granddaughter? It was truly incomprehensible and unbelievable.
Yang Zhong took out a two-finger-wide strip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Wei Caitao. "When the Ma family passed down to Ma Caishi's generation, there was a lack of successors. The eldest son was mentally challenged, and the younger sons were all daughters. They had no choice but to adopt a son, who was also very ambitious. You don't know that the second master of the Ma family is now on very good terms with Prince Jing. That's why Ma Caishi couldn't bear it any longer and passed the family heirloom to his sixth grandson."
Wei Caitao read the contents of the note and suddenly realized, saying, "So that's how it is. The Ma family of Taizhou are just craftsmen, and they have always been law-abiding. I, your foolish brother, did not pay attention and almost caused a great disaster. Please accept my bow, my virtuous brother." After he finished speaking, he stood up and bowed.
Yang Zhong waved his hand, "I only learned about it by chance. I have a good-for-nothing nephew who had malicious intentions towards Sun Liu at Jingxin Garden that day. It's shameful to say."
“Brother, please don’t say that. He’s just my nephew. What does it have to do with you? I wonder what will happen next?” Wei Caitao comforted Yang Zhong, easing his embarrassment.
Yang Zhong took a sip of tea and continued, "That nephew only met Sun Liu once, and he suffered a setback. After returning, I thought about it carefully and felt something was wrong, so I sent someone to investigate. Sure enough, I found out that Sun Liu had control of the Ma family's secret guards."
"Really?" As the head of the Wei family, Wei Caitao understood all too well what the family's secret guards represented. The family's secret guards were only in the hands of the family head. The fact that the Ma family's secret guards had fallen into Sun Yun's hands meant that the family heirloom must be in Sun Yun's possession.
He stood up in shock. “In that case, the Ma family’s things must not fall into the Emperor’s hands. The Crown Prince found a gold mine years ago. Although it has not been openly mined in recent years, the Emperor must have been mining it in secret. If he gets the Ma family’s formula, disaster will surely follow!”
"In your opinion, brother, what should we do?" Yang Zhong looked at Wei Caitao, their eyes met, and they nodded at the same time.
"The Sun family's troubles stem from internal strife, and in principle, we shouldn't interfere. But internal strife can spread to all corners of the world, so we can't worry about too much now." Wei Caitao slammed down his teacup, cupped his hands in greeting to Yang Zhong, and said, "Brother, I take my leave."
Yang Zhong also stood up, shook his robes, and said, "See you at the palace."
The two left the teahouse and traveled away in separate carriages to their respective residences. Orders were issued one after another, and elite assassins were dispatched.
Such a major move naturally alarmed Wei Tingsi, who was at Wang Jiyang's residence at the time. He heard Wang Jiyang say, "The Emperor has ordered Lord Qiu to establish a new engineering department, which is a good thing. But it takes ten years to plant a tree and a hundred years to cultivate people. How can we expect results so quickly?"
"Among the four arts of rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics, archery is merely used for self-cultivation. If a subject is added to teach martial arts and military strategy, the overall quality of our army's senior generals will definitely improve significantly within fifteen years." Wei Tingsi ignored Wang Jiyang's words. Regardless of whether he would still be leading the troops fifteen years later, he felt that doing so would greatly benefit the country and the people, so he wanted to put it into action.
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