"Let's stop here for today. Let's adjourn the court... Official Fu will stay."
Your Majesty's words made all the ministers look at Fu Xiaoguan with new respect.
I still remember that when this guy first entered the Golden Palace last year, His Majesty also said the same thing. It seems that this kid may really have won the emperor's favor, so the story between this kid and the Ninth Princess that was circulating in Shangjing may be true.
All the people who were leaving bowed with a smile on their faces when they passed by Fu Xiaoguan. Fu Xiaoguan stood calmly, thought for a moment and then returned the greeting.
"I'll take you to the Ministry of Internal Affairs this afternoon to meet your colleagues... If you have any difficulties in the future, please come to me and talk to me. You must have a clear understanding of His Majesty's twenty-word policy. You must think carefully about it these days."
Sure enough, this old fox had this very idea in mind when he got himself into the Secretariat.
"Thank you, Mr. Yan, for your promotion. I will be waiting for your arrival at the Secretariat this afternoon."
"Don't give me these empty words..." Yan Beixi glanced around. When most people had left, he asked in a low voice, "What have you thought about my granddaughter's matter?"
Fu Xiaoguan was embarrassed. He still had the underwear at home and was thinking about whether he should find time to return it to Yan Xiaolou. Thinking of the little girl's blushing face, he thought, well, she was so beautiful that it was a feast for the eyes.
"Prime Minister Yan, I will tell you the truth. Between me and Her Royal Highness the Ninth Princess..."
Yan Beixi waved his hand: "I don't care about your nonsense. Anyway, you have to remember that my granddaughter's heart is already with you, and I don't want to see her sad." Yan Beixi raised his head and said meaningfully: "You will work in the Secretariat in the future, right under my nose. If you want to live a more comfortable life, you can do this for me. I won't force you. This year, I will give you one year. If you let my granddaughter down, I guarantee that you will suffer in the future!"
After saying that, Yan Beixi walked away.
"Hey, hey, hey..." Fu Xiaoguan called out three times. Yan Beixi didn't turn around, but a smile appeared on his old face that Fu Xiaoguan didn't see.
Shit, this old man got himself into the Secretariat and yet he still has such dirty thoughts!
Miscalculated!
"Well, little official, what did Yan Zai say to you just now?"
At this moment, only His Majesty, Eunuch Jia, and Fu Xiaoguan were left in the Golden Palace. Fu Xiaoguan touched his nose and replied, "Prime Minister Yan said... that I should handle the matter of His Majesty's twenty-word policy."
This old guy is really cunning!
"Are you having trouble?"
"Your Majesty, there are indeed difficulties."
"Oh, that's right, if it were easy, Yan Zai wouldn't have entrusted this burden to you."
No, Fu Xiaoguan thought that after he told his majesty about his difficulties, the majesty would make a decision for him and let Yan Beixi find someone else, but he didn't expect that the majesty seemed to think so too.
He didn't have a chance to argue. "Noble Concubine Shang wants to see you... You haven't even come to the palace during the New Year. Are you busy with that?"
That incident referred to the bloody battle in the long street the day before yesterday and the banquet in front of Prince Hui's mansion yesterday.
"Your Majesty, this is my fault, but I've been too busy these days to spare any time. I'll go and apologize to the Imperial Concubine later."
"Okay, go ahead."
Fu Xiaoguan left happily. Emperor Yu Yin looked at his back and suddenly asked, "Do you think... can he bear this burden?"
Eunuch Jia quickly bowed and replied, "Since your majesty has chosen him, he can certainly do it."
Yu Yin smiled, "You old thing, you are becoming more and more cunning. I haven't punished you for the crime of falsely conveying the imperial edict yet."
With a thump, Eunuch Jia knelt down and said, "I acknowledge my crime. Your Majesty, please punish me."
"Alright, alright, that matter... you did a good job, it won't happen again."
…
It is as warm as spring in Dieyi Palace.
There was a table full of exquisite dishes, including Fu Xiaoguan's favorite braised lion's head, and of course his favorite stew.
"I think you are hungry too. Let's eat first." Concubine Shang smiled, Yu Wenjun looked shy, but Yu Wendao glared at Fu Xiaoguan.
Why?
Mother is biased!
Normally, when you come to my mother's house for a meal, you will have at most three dishes and one soup, but today, since they said that Fu Xiaoguan was coming, they actually prepared eight dishes and one soup!
Lady Shang ignored him and said to Fu Xiaoguan, "I heard that you spent the New Year at Shulan's house?"
"To be honest, Your Majesty, I'm feeling quite lonely in the capital, so... Minister Dong invited me to his home for the New Year."
Concubine Shang raised her eyebrows, "Really?"
"Well, not entirely. It's mainly because I'm thick-skinned."
Yu Wenjun burst out laughing, and Concubine Shang also laughed. "I don't mean to blame you. After all, there are many things to do in the palace during the New Year, and it's not appropriate for you to come here. Come and try my braised lion's head. How does it taste? Compared to Madam Dong's cooking... tell me about it later."
How can I say this?
Both sides are mothers-in-law, but you can't offend either one!
Fu Xiaoguan picked up a piece of braised lion's head and put it in the bowl and ate it carefully, then praised it repeatedly: "Mm, delicious, delicious, you guys try it."
"Why don't you tell me about it?"
"This...the braised lion's head made by the imperial concubine is delicate and refreshing, fatty but not greasy."
"Then what about what Mrs. Dong did?"
Concubine Shang looked at Fu Xiaoguan and thought to herself, let’s see how you answer.
"Mrs. Dong's cooking is refreshing and delicate, not greasy but not fatty!"
Yu Wenjun laughed again, and Concubine Shang shook her head, "You... you really can fool people with your mouth."
Slippery talk! Yu Wendao glared at Fu Xiaoguan again and also picked up a lion head. Hmm, it tasted really good. This kid didn't say anything nonsense.
After the meal, the palace maids cleared away all the dishes and the four of them sat down at the tea table. Yu Wenjun made a pot of tea.
"You don't have to worry about Prince Hui's affairs. I just want to ask you, how did you know that Shuiyue Temple has an underground passage leading to Prince Hui's mansion?"
"Yesterday I went to Shuiyue Temple and saw a well in the courtyard. There was a layer of snow on the water wheel, but when I came out of the main hall, the snow disappeared. It was obvious that someone had moved the wheel, but Master Bu Nian was in the main hall at the time, so I believe there must be a secret passage there. As for why it leads to Prince Hui's palace... that's just my guess."
Concubine Shang pondered for a moment and had no doubts.
However, Fu Xiaoguan did not reveal the details.
The fact is that some time ago I entrusted my eldest brother to get a city defense map of Shangjing City, but instead of getting the city defense map, I got a renovation map of the previous dynasty of Jinling City.
This thing is quite old. The paper has turned yellow. If you trace it back, it has a history of at least three hundred years.
On this renovation map, the streets and alleys of Shangjing City are marked in detail, as well as the underground drainage structure of Shangjing City.
It was through this map that Fu Xiaoguan discovered that there was an abandoned drainage channel under Prince Hui's Mansion, which led to the southern area. So he went to Shuiyue Temple and determined that the end of this channel was just under Shuiyue Temple.
Since Yan Beixi said that Ji Linchun was hiding in Prince Hui's mansion, it was obviously not a lie. However, Su Rou went to Prince Hui's mansion and searched for a whole night, but did not find Ji Linchun.
Fu Xiaoguan believed that when Prince Hui was doomed to fail, Ji Linchun escaped to Shuiyue Temple through this underground passage.
So he decided to search Shuiyue Temple, and he used the excuse of losing a cat to search the rooms, but found nothing.
So Fu Xiaoguan used the underwear to threaten Master Bunian again, with the intention of getting the government to seal off the place so that he would have enough time to search. However, Master Bunian voluntarily handed over Ji Linchun under this threat, so he concluded that there must be someone more important than Ji Linchun in Shuiyue Temple.
There were people from Xiyu Tower watching Shuiyue Temple all the time, and Master Bunian must have known about it, so this person would definitely go to Prince Hui's Mansion through the underground passage, because Prince Hui's Mansion had been closed at that time.
So Fu Xiaoguan set up a banquet in March Alley in front of Prince Hui's mansion, waiting for those people to come out.
As expected, these people came out. Su Su used her zither as a sword to kill one, wounded eighteen, and let two escape. One of the two who escaped was a woman, and the other was a young man. Because they were wearing veils, Fu Xiaoguan didn't see their appearance, but it didn't matter, because Su Rou followed them from a distance.
They went to Yuhuatai!
Then Su Rou waited and secretly brought the boy back when he went to the toilet.
Through Ji Linchun's confession, Fu Xiaoguan learned that the woman was Nan Batian, but the young man Ji Linchun did not know his identity. It seemed that this person had a very high status in Yuhuatai.
And now, Su Jue is waiting outside Yuhuatai. I wonder if Su Jue will bring him good news after returning.
"I think the Empress Dowager will summon you to the Cining Palace tomorrow. You don't have to worry. All of Prince Hui's crimes are already on the Empress Dowager's desk. Plus, every day people go to the Jinling government office to beat drums and complain about their grievances. The Empress Dowager is someone who values her reputation. Even if she's deeply displeased, she can't publicly protect Prince Hui."
"Prince Hui cannot die. You need to remember this. Your matter with Wen Yun still requires the Queen Mother's approval, and this is a deal."
Concubine Shang took a sip from her teacup. "...Or perhaps it's the Empress Dowager's compromise."
Fu Xiaoguan still felt a little regretful. Prince Hui did not die and went to his fiefdom in Lingnan, a place far away from the emperor. If he caused any trouble there, it would be a big trouble.
"Do you want to do it when Prince Hui is on his way to his fiefdom..." Fu Xiaoguan's eyes flashed, and Concubine Shang shook her head.
"No, that would cross the Queen Mother's line. Besides, Your Majesty doesn't want to bear that bad reputation. Let him go. It won't cause any big trouble."
Fu Xiaoguan nodded. Since Concubine Shang had expressed her opinion, the matter would end here. Being able to use this matter to make the empress dowager compromise was already an unexpected gain for him. Then, there would be no more obstacles between him and Yu Wenjun.
"If I touch Yuhuatai, what will be the consequences?"
"There will be consequences you can't afford!"
Concubine Shang's expression turned serious. "You can investigate the matter of Yuhuatai, but you can't take any action. This matter... ask and do it."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
