Hearing Consort Shu's words, the Fifth Prince breathed a slight sigh of relief. He did not want to see Yuwen Wuji give the Crown Prince important positions because of that Qingxu Zhenren, but if the Crown Prince suffered the consequences, then Yuwen Wuji would have no adult princes.
He can win without a fight.
My mother is right. Some people's fates have already been decided, but they just haven't realized it yet.
People can be consumed by their own desires.
Will my mother and I also be consumed by our own desires?
——
In early August, Shen Qingque successfully arrived in Jiangzhou. Before that, he had survived various assassination attempts. If it weren't for the fact that the entire team of Imperial Guards were all outstanding individuals, and that Prince Xuan didn't trust him and had given him a secret guard, he might have already lost his life.
Upon arriving in Jiangzhou, Shen Qingque immediately realized that the officialdom there was far from simple.
Jiangzhou is a place that experiences major floods every five years and minor floods every three years, resulting in the drowning of several people every year. Yet, despite these circumstances, the local officials here have remained largely unchanged for over a decade.
In a place where natural disasters are so frequent, the county magistrates not only live well, but are all obese and bloated.
The people of Jiangzhou City, at first glance, were mostly thin and frail. Even the young and middle-aged men were all emaciated, with their vertebrae protruding from their backs.
Shen Qingque couldn't help but feel a sense of irony, wondering whether the floods in Jiangzhou over the years were a "natural disaster" or a "man-made calamity".
"Lord Shen, Magistrate Liu invites you to his place for a small gathering tonight." Shen Qingque's attendant came to deliver the message and saw his master sitting in the room, carefully wiping the imperial sword in his hand.
The sword gleamed with a cold light, clearly a precious sword capable of cutting through iron like mud.
Chang Sui assumed that his master would treat this imperial gift as a precious artifact. However, along the way, he had personally witnessed his master using this sword to slay many assassins as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.
Now that his master was wiping the sword like this, he had a premonition that the sword would drink blood again tonight.
"Understood." Shen Qingque wiped the sword clean and then sheathed it. "Go and prepare your clothes for tonight's banquet."
Chang Sui was a little surprised. After all, he had been in Jiangzhou for several days and several county magistrates and prefects had come to invite him, but he had not accepted any of them.
"yes!"
Shen Qingque rubbed his temples. Lately, he had been extremely cautious, even when drinking water, fearing he might be poisoned. It was clear that his trip involved the interests of too many people, who would stop at nothing to protect their own interests and would do anything to kill him.
Shen Qingque thought coldly that these people not only wanted to kill him, but also wanted to destroy the Great Chen Kingdom.
Without removing the rotten flesh, how can the torso be restored?
Meanwhile, Peng Si arrived in Jiangzhou City early. During this time, he was forced to inspect his own shop and then forced to adopt a vegetarian diet.
It's all Hua Liufang's fault! He actually said he'd gotten fat!
"What kind of hell am I living now!" Peng Si cursed as he took a big bite of corn. The thought of not having a single punch to throw that night made him feel utterly exhausted.
How can a person be so exhausted?
"Master, we've received a message from our restaurant saying that the prefect has booked a large private room for us tonight to entertain distinguished guests."
Peng Si sighed, and when the servant mentioned the restaurant, he couldn't help but swallow.
I want to eat braised fish, braised pork, braised duck...
"Okay, have him reserve a private room for me next door. I'll go over later." After saying that, he continued chewing the grass in his mouth with a look of utter despair.
As I chewed, I thought to myself, "Horses are truly wonderful creatures; they can travel a thousand miles a day just by eating grass. And cows are the same; they can work all day just by eating grass."
No wonder people like cattle and horses.
In the evening, Shen Qingque arrived as promised, and Peng Si was already waiting in the private room.
He ordered some braised beef and ate it slowly with a pot of tea.
The servant removed a partition from the wall to make it easier to eavesdrop on the conversation.
However, he didn't hear much of what was being said next door. Instead, he heard a clattering noise from next door. He quickly got up and asked the waiter to check what was going on next door. He saw someone in the next private room shouting, "Assassin! Assassin!"
When the group rushed into the private room, the prefect and three county magistrates inside were already dead. Only Shen Qingque was unharmed, with three Imperial Guards protecting him tightly behind him.
Upon seeing the blood all over the ground, Peng Si's eyes rolled back and he fainted.
When the news reached the capital, the powerful families there were in an uproar.
"This Shen Qingque is utterly lawless! He even dares to kill officials appointed by the imperial court!"
"Ha, was it murdered by him? It was the 'assassin' who killed him!"
"It's unbelievable that he managed to reach Jiangcheng safely! I hired the most powerful assassin organization in the martial arts world!"
"He's all talk and no action! No matter how powerful he is, can he be more powerful than the Imperial Guards? Can he be more powerful than the top experts in the palace? Prince Xuan probably gave him the people around him to take away."
"So, King Xuan has no one by his side?"
"Even if King Xuan has no one else by his side, he is still beyond our ability to deal with."
"Dealing with Prince Xuan is actually very simple. As long as the emperor loses his trust in him, this prince will be finished."
"Now is not the time to deal with King Xuan. Why should we make enemies for ourselves? Our goal now is to kill Shen Qingque!"
"No." Wang Xuan, who had been silent until now, spoke again. "Shen Qingque is so bold because he has the Emperor's backing. If the Emperor were gone, what would he be?"
"But our relationship with the Emperor is not good right now. Even if we set up a scheme, the Emperor probably won't believe it."
Upon hearing this, Wang Xuan smiled enigmatically.
"Who says the Emperor won't believe it? Doesn't the Emperor now have complete faith in Master Qingxu?"
Upon hearing this, everyone was speechless and exclaimed, "Is Master Qingxu actually one of the Grand Secretary's men?!"
Wang Xuan stroked his goatee and nodded, saying, "I will find an opportunity to have Qingxu sow discord between the Emperor and Prince Xuan, and then we will naturally take our anger out on Prince Xuan's son-in-law."
Everyone nodded.
Time flies, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner. This year's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet is different. This year, Yuwen Wuji is turning forty, and foreign dignitaries have come to offer their congratulations. For a time, the streets of the capital city have become very lively.
Song Yaozhu didn't like going out. She stayed home to take care of her child and would occasionally go out with Yongle and the others to listen to operas and drink tea. Time flew by.
"It's gotten cold in the blink of an eye." Yongle touched the thicker fabric of his clothes. "Shen Qingque has been gone for so many days, and he hasn't sent a single letter."
"No news is good news," Song Yaozhu comforted her. "If someone had tampered with the letter he sent you, wouldn't that have harmed the whole family?"
Upon hearing this, Yongle nodded earnestly.
"You're right, I'll just wait for him to come back quietly!"
As the two were talking, they saw many foreigners walking on the street from the teahouse window.
"These foreigners will be more enthusiastic than anyone else when it comes to the Emperor's birthday celebration."
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