Chapter 551 Unusual
Outside the house, Song Jinsheng held Hao Ting in his arms, rode on his neck, held onto his legs, and ran wildly in the yard.
Hao Ting held the candy in one hand and covered Song Jinsheng's head with the other, laughing very happily.
Seeing this, Mu Qiu hurriedly reminded him.
"Be careful not to drop Hao Ting."
Song Jinsheng smiled and replied, "Don't worry, even if I fall, I won't fall on him."
…
Even though Mrs. Meng asked everyone she could, Meng Xinyue finally went to Chongsheng Temple, and was explicitly asked not to return to the Shangshu Mansion until three days before the wedding.
Although people in Beijing knew that it was Meng Xinyue's fault in this incident.
But just because he beat a maid, he ended up going to Chongsheng Temple to learn the rules from Concubine Fu. It was obvious that the emperor was partial to the Xu family and the Princess of Le'an.
Minister Meng worked in the Ministry of Revenue, a third-rank official, and held a high position in the court. Even Prime Minister Zhuang had to be polite when facing him.
I didn't expect that Lord Xu would be so tough for his wife.
So much so that if others want to go against her, they have to think twice.
It was no secret that Madam Meng brought Meng Xinyue to the Xu residence to plead for mercy, and everyone in the capital knew about it.
Minister Meng therefore felt that the Xu family was too disrespectful to him as the Minister, and he opposed Xu Qingye's advice in the court and even reported him whenever he got the chance.
It made the emperor extremely annoyed.
But the other party was the Shangshu after all, and the emperor could not sit idly by, so he summoned Xu Qingye to the imperial study.
"I wonder why Your Majesty wants to call me?" Xu Qingye bowed to Li Junyao.
Li Junyao handed the letter to Fan Chihai who was standing beside him.
"Take a look at this first."
Xu Qingye took it, glanced at it, and knew its contents.
"Because of the incident with Miss Meng last time, I did have a grudge with Minister Meng. He said that I messed up my work because of alcohol and sex, but I dare not admit it. Although I occasionally have social events, I never dare to slack off on court affairs. Others don't know about this, but Your Majesty knows it."
Li Junyao nodded.
"Of course I know." He raised his eyes, "But Princess Le'an doesn't know. Did she quarrel with you after hearing the rumors? Do you need me to testify for you to dispel Princess Le'an's suspicion?"
Xu Qingye raised his hand and bowed.
"After hearing the rumors in the capital, I was probably sad for a while, but my wife has always been a decent person and didn't make a fuss with me. Now that the matter has been resolved, Your Majesty doesn't need to worry about it."
"Oh?" Li Junyao looked at him curiously, "How to solve it?"
Xu Qingye looked in his direction.
It seemed like she didn't expect him to ask this question.
The emperor's mind is always hard to guess.
But the fact that a king of a country cared so much about the wife of a subject made Xu Qingye smell something unusual.
Although he had never seen the late queen, judging from the expressions of his teacher and his mistress when they saw Tang'er, they obviously regarded her as the shadow of the late queen, so Tang'er and the late queen must have some similarities.
It is hard to guarantee that the emperor will not treat Tang'er differently for this reason.
He showed no emotion on his face, hiding all his emotions in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, please forgive me for not being able to elaborate on the matter between me and my wife."
Realizing something, Li Junyao looked a little embarrassed.
"I asked unnecessary questions."
Xu Qingye and Song Yuntang are a serious couple. What is there that he doesn't understand about the things between husband and wife?
Li Junyao raised his eyes.
"Does Lord Xu know about the time when Princess Le'an came to the palace and presented me with the recipe for fireworks?"
Xu Qingye nodded. "My wife once mentioned this to me, and I never interfere with her decisions. If this formula can be used by Your Majesty, it will be considered a contribution to Daxia."
When talking about political affairs, Li Junyao's expression became serious.
"The King of Zhenbei is at the border. In his letter, he kept delaying the northern border reinforcements with various excuses, and kept crying poor to me, intending for me to allocate funds to him again. I'm afraid he did it on purpose."
"Fortunately, the Western Territory has sufficient food, fodder and medicine for the time being, and the new recruits have outstanding performance, so we can still make it."
He looked at Xu Qingye.
"In the memorial submitted by General Zhenxi to me, he praised Xu Qing's brother many times, saying that he has a quick mind on the battlefield and is a talented general. He has made many military achievements recently and has been promoted to deputy general by General Zhenxi. You two brothers, one is good at literature and the other is good at martial arts, have relieved me of a lot of worries."
Xu Qingye raised his hand and bowed.
"It is thanks to General Zhenxi's ability to recognize talents and assign them to the right positions that he has given my younger brother such an opportunity."
Li Junyao stood up from behind the desk.
"The good-for-nothings in the Ministry of Industry took the fireworks formula given by the Princess of Le'an and spent several months to finally develop the formula for gunpowder. Now they are just waiting for the final test so that they can be used on the battlefield."
He came in front of Xu Qingye.
"It will take some time to test and produce gunpowder. Three months later, I want to send Lord Xu to the Western Territory with gunpowder to meet with General Zhenxi. After using gunpowder to scare off the Western Region army, I want to send Lord Xu as an envoy to negotiate a truce with the Western Region. What do you think?"
It’s not that he doesn’t dare to continue fighting.
First, he had summoned the King of Zhenbei back to the capital many times, but he refused with various excuses, which showed that he had ulterior motives. Although they now had gunpowder, there would be casualties as long as they fought.
The King of Zhenbei has an army of 800,000 at his disposal, so he has to preserve the strength of the Western Territory as much as possible so that the reinforcements from the Western Territory can play a key role when the King of Zhenbei marches into the capital in the future.
Second, gunpowder was extremely expensive, which was why its development was so slow.
The national treasury is now empty and cannot withstand the consumption. It is urgently needed to recuperate after the war in order to deal with the Zhenbei Army.
He had given much thought before entrusting the peace talks with the Western Regions to Xu Qingye.
Xu Qingye has been in officialdom for a short time, and his thinking is not as old-fashioned as those of the old officials.
He was also an upright person, and his analysis of problems in the court was sharp and every word he said was wise. In addition, when he summoned Tang Jingshan for a secret talk two days ago, he also strongly recommended him.
Therefore, Xu Qingye is one of the most suitable candidates for the mission of diplomatic mission to the Western Regions.
But Xu Qingye is young after all. In order to cover up his tracks, he will have to choose another veteran official from the court to be the leader.
Since the emperor had entrusted him with a task, Xu Qingye naturally could not refuse.
"I will follow your majesty's instructions."
…
As the weather gets warmer, people in Beijing have changed into summer clothes.
Sleepy in spring and tired in summer.
Song Yuntang has been feeling sleepy every time he finishes the work at hand recently.
Hao Ting was also more attached to her than usual.
As he is about to go to the western border, Xu Qingye has been very busy with official duties these days.
Sometimes I came home a little late, thinking that the couple had not communicated much recently, and wanted to talk to her, but when I got back to the room, I found that she had already fallen asleep, so I had to tiptoe to the ear room to wash up and then return to the room to lie beside her.
Looking at my wife's well-behaved and docile appearance after she fell asleep, I felt a little distressed and a little guilty.
Since I came to the capital, I haven't been able to spend enough time with her except during holidays.
I went to Hongjiang City last year and stayed there for two or three months.
In a few days we will set off for the western border, and the journey will take a lot of time. I don’t know whether the subsequent negotiations will go smoothly. It will probably be close to the end of the year before I return to Beijing.
The Chinese Valentine's Day is coming soon. I have to ask for leave from His Majesty before leaving so that I can spend more time with her and Hao Ting.
As if feeling the man's gaze, Song Yuntang opened his eyes dazedly and muttered.
“I’m back.”
Xu Qingye looked at her with a smile.
"I'm back now. Go to sleep if you're tired."
Song Yuntang hummed, hugged his arm, found a comfortable position and fell asleep again.
…
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