Pei Wenxuan looked at Li Rong in silence.

Li Rong hurriedly said, "One is five taels. Look at how many there are."

“I can’t help you.”

Pei Wenxuan's smile fell, and he stood up straight: "Sleep."

"Oh, no," Li Rong hurried over, "You were fine just now, why did you suddenly fall asleep?"

Pei Wenxuan ignored her, got on the bed, lifted the quilt, lay down on the bed, covered himself with the quilt, and closed his eyes.

Li Rong sat to the side and gently pushed him: "It's not a big deal. Just tell them. They won't turn you down. If the young master of the aristocratic family doesn't sign, it should be ok for an ordinary scholar, right?"

"No, it's embarrassing."

Pei Wenxuan closed his eyes and spoke decisively. Li Rong thought about it and thought that there might be some rules between men that she didn't understand. Pei Wenxuan always went along with her and said that if he couldn't go, it was probably because it was really inconvenient, but it wasn't a big deal, so she gave up. She put the stack of paper on the table, washed and undressed, and returned to the bed.

Pei Wenxuan fell asleep beside the bed, so Li Rong patted him and said, "Make way, I'll go in."

Pei Wenxuan turned his back to her, wrapped in a blanket, motionless, and said with his eyes closed: "No, crawl on your own."

Li Rong was irritated by this attitude. She stood beside the bed and said coldly, "Will you let me go?"

Pei Wenxuan didn't say anything. Li Rong reached out to pull him. Pei Wenxuan felt that she was going to take action, so he stood up and sat cross-legged, making room for her.

Li Rong gave him a mocking look and got on the bed gracefully. Pei Wenxuan felt a little aggrieved by her look, and always felt like he had lost. Seeing her lying down, he muttered softly: "Just give in, why are you so fierce?"

After saying this, Pei Wenxuan felt that he had won the game, and he finally felt satisfied and lay down to sleep.

Li Rong got up the next morning and returned to the Inspection Office with the stack of papers. When Shangguan Ya saw Li Rong coming, she stepped forward with hope: "Your Highness, what happened? Is it so fast?"

"Pei Wenxuan is not happy to do this and feels ashamed."

Li Rong handed the paper to Shangguan Ya and said directly: "Don't bother with these things. Hurry and give me Liu Hangchun's information."

Shangguan Ya wailed when she heard this: "Your Highness, you don't keep your word..."

"When did I ever promise you that I would take it back?"

Li Rong raised her hand and tapped Shangguan Ya on the head with her fan, then sat back down beside her desk. "I'll give it a try for you, but don't push your luck."

Shangguan Ya sighed when she heard this, and didn't dare to bother Li Rong anymore. She sat down and put Liu Hangchun's information on the table, sighing, "It's all here."

In the imperial court, if one serves as an official for a long time, there will be some things that can be investigated. Li Rong asked the Inspection Department to investigate Liu Chunhang specifically, and Shangguan Ya quickly compiled a batch of information.

Liu Chunhang was in the Ministry of Personnel. He made no major mistakes, but a lot of minor ones. Li Rong was too lazy to even look at such cases. It just so happened that Liu Chunhang was in charge of the transfer of officials below the fifth rank in the Ministry of Personnel. Pei Wenxuan wanted to join the Ministry of Personnel, but Wang Houwen was in charge. It would be best if he was below the fifth rank. This way, the list would not have to be submitted to the Minister of Personnel Wang Houwen for review.

At present, the imperial examinations were not taken seriously, and if one entered the Ministry of Personnel and became a Deputy Director of the Ministry of Examinations, he would be arranged to preside over the imperial examinations and be the chief examiner.

In the previous life, the imperial examination of this year was a list of the best and the worst, and many talented people emerged. If Pei Wenxuan became the chief examiner of this imperial examination, many of his disciples would serve in the court in the future, and he would become more powerful.

In the previous life, not so many things happened. These disciples had to hone their skills in unimportant positions for several years before they began to show their talents. But in this life, she has arrested so many people, and so many positions have been vacant in the court. If these disciples enter the court, and with a little effort, they will be promoted much faster than in the previous life.

Li Rong had planned Pei Wenxuan's route clearly in her mind. She took a quick look at Liu Hangchun's information, asked the secret guard to report Liu Chunhang's location, and then went to the street to block him herself.

According to the secret guards, Liu Chunhang was hiring dancers for entertainment in a restaurant, so Li Rong went to the restaurant next door, booked a private room, and then asked someone to notify Liu Chunhang.

Li Rong was drinking tea in the room alone. After a while, she saw Liu Hangchun rushing in. He knelt on the ground and said anxiously, "Your Highness, I didn't know you were here. I'm sorry for not coming to greet you. I hope you will forgive me."

"We are just here for a meal, Sir Liu, please don't be so polite."

Li Rong smiled and raised her hand, saying, "Master Liu, please sit down."

Now was a time for official transfers. Although Liu Hangchun's rank was not high, he held an important position in the Ministry of Personnel. Naturally, he knew that Li Rong would not come to see him in person just to have tea and chat.

Li Rong poured him tea personally. Liu Hangchun sat there cautiously, wiping the sweat from his head with his hand, not daring to speak.

"We don't have much time, so I won't beat around the bush with you, Mr. Liu. I'll just get straight to the point."

The sound of brewing tea echoed in the room. Li Rong's tone was calm, as if she was chatting casually: "I came here this time to ask Lord Liu for a favor. I heard that the transfer of officials below the fifth rank in the Ministry of Personnel is entirely up to Lord Liu. I have a person here who is outstanding in talent and good in character. I want to recommend him to Lord Liu to be the person in charge of the examination. I wonder if Lord Liu can help with this?"

"Your Highness," Liu Hangchun showed an embarrassment, "The position of the head of examination and merit assessment is currently full, and the Ministry of Personnel has no plans to recruit for this position."

"If there is no position, we can create one," Li Rong laughed. "Isn't the Ministry of Personnel short of a doctor now? Move the Yuanwailang to the Langzhong position, and select a merit examiner to move to the Yuanwailang position, and then we will have the position, right?"

"Your Highness, why are you going to so much trouble?" Liu Hangchun suggested, "Why not send the person you recommend directly to the position of doctor?"

Liu Hangchun didn't want to take this hot yam. Li Rong listened to him and looked at him with a smile: "Master Liu, are you refusing?"

"I dare not," Liu Hangchun knelt down hurriedly and said anxiously, "Your Highness is in trouble, and I will naturally do my best to help, but the position of the head of the examination is too low, Your Highness..."

"But I think he doesn't have enough qualifications. A merit assessment officer is enough. I want him to be that position."

Liu Hangchun did not answer. He knelt on the ground, trying hard to think of how to respond. Li Rong picked up the teacup and said slowly, "Master Liu, there is a box on the table. Open it and have a look."

Liu Hangchun was more than happy to get away from this topic. He breathed a sigh of relief, quickly stood up and opened the box.

As soon as the box was opened, the color of the gold bars came into view. Liu Hangchun was stunned for a moment, and then immediately panicked. He let go of the box, and the lid of the box snapped shut again. Liu Hangchun knelt down hurriedly, kowtowed desperately and said, "Your Highness, please spare my life. Please don't embarrass me anymore."

"Master Liu, you must be joking. Am I trying to embarrass you?"

Li Rong used the tea bowl to stir the tea leaves, leaned on the table, and said leisurely: "I know the rules of Lord Liu, so I brought the gold bars here specially. Today, I will give Lord Liu a choice. Either Lord Liu accepts the gold bars. Or," Li Rong put down the tea bowl, leaned forward, and said with a smile, "Lord Liu, can I go to the Inspection Office?"

Liu Hangchun froze, Li Rong leaned back in her chair, and said nonchalantly: "You know my style. You helped me with this. If Wang Houwen asks about it, you just do your job well and he can't do anything to you. If you don't help me, it doesn't matter to me. I'll just replace you with someone who helps me. Mr. Liu, you can't go both ways. You have to choose one. You see, do you want gold, or go to my Inspection Office for a cup of tea?"

"My husband is a talented man," Li Rong said, lowering her head and touching her dyed nails. "As long as you don't do anything bad, he will be more than qualified to be the chief examiner. I just want you to be fair and just. Sir Liu, do you still choose to take the crooked path instead of the righteous one?"

Liu Hangchun was silent for a long time. He finally made a decision. He took a deep breath and said, "Your Highness, I cannot make the decision on this matter. Whether he can enter the Ministry of Personnel and become the person in charge of the examination depends entirely on the consort. I can only do my job impartially. I hope Your Highness can rest assured."

Li Rong understood what Liu Hangchun meant. Since he would offend both sides, he might as well not help anyone.

However, with Pei Wenxuan's talent, no one would help him. He was more than qualified to be the person in charge of the examination.

So Li Rong smiled and responded, "Since Lord Liu said so, I feel relieved."

Liu Hangchun breathed a sigh of relief: "As long as Your Highness is satisfied, I am glad. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave first."

Li Rong nodded and raised her hand, saying, "Master Liu, take care."

Liu Hangchun bowed respectfully, then stood up and left, wiping his sweat. After he left, Shangguan Ya came in and saw Li Rong smiling, so she knew it was done. She sat down and said happily, "The list of personnel transfers in the Ministry of Personnel is almost finalized. It will only take a few days. Liu Hangchun only needs to add the name of the consort to the list. Even if Wang Houwen finds out later, it will be a done deal."

Li Rong nodded and said slowly, "Pei Wenxuan has joined the Ministry of Personnel, Xie Lanqing has left, and Pei Liming is now temporarily serving as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice. When the list of transfers from the Ministry of Personnel is released, the list of transfers from the Ministry of Justice should also be released. Pei Liming's position as the Minister of Justice should be secure."

"The Pei family will fill the position that the Shangguan family has retired, and His Majesty will feel much more at ease. However, Your Highness, I have a question."

Shangguan Ya held up the cup, and Li Rong responded, "You say."

"Your Highness, are you confident?" Shangguan Ya looked up at Li Rong, "Can you absolutely control the Pei family?"

Li Rong didn't say anything. She drank her tea with a calm expression.

"Your Highness, let me remind you one more thing," Shangguan Ya took a sip of tea and spoke in a gentle tone, "I support your Highness in building a harmonious relationship between husband and wife. It's great. But raising a cat is cute, but raising a tiger requires more consideration."

"I understand your concerns."

Li Rong answered slowly, "It's just that in extraordinary times, we always need some people. The Shangguan family is too conspicuous to occupy those positions. After the Pei family fills them, His Majesty will be able to relax his vigilance. In the past few years, he has been thinking about suppressing the Shangguan family and seizing the military power for Concubine Rou. In the past six months, apart from Chuan'er's marriage, has he rarely asked about these things?"

"He now thinks that I am competing with Chuan'er for power under Pei Wenxuan's instigation. He thinks that Pei Wenxuan, as a member of a poor family, is willing to use me for his own benefit. So we will play this drama for him. The Shangguan family will temporarily avoid the conflict and support the poor family as he wishes. When he finds out that Pei Wenxuan is also one of ours," Li Rong laughed, "I don't know what he will think."

"I'm afraid he wants to kill Pei Wenxuan."

Shangguan Ya also laughed, but she thought for a moment and said, "However, His Majesty cannot completely trust Pei Wenxuan. Now he is indulging Your Highness because he thinks that no matter whether Your Highness and Pei Wenxuan are sincere or not, they are indeed cleaning up the pests in the court. If Pei Wenxuan has any ulterior motives, he will stop the damage in time. But Your Highness, His Majesty can stop the damage in time, but you... also have to be on guard."

Li Rong looked up at her after hearing this and asked, "What are you worried about?"

"I'm worried that His Highness will be seduced by beauty."

"Your Highness," Shangguan Ya said seriously, "I hope that Your Highness can be harmonious and happy in your relationship, but I also hope that Your Highness can remember your status. After all, the honor and disgrace of the Shangguan family all depend on Your Highness."

"Don't worry," Li Rong said slowly, "I know more about this matter than you do."

"Very good," Shangguan Ya nodded and said happily, "I feel relieved to have such a wise master like Your Highness leading the way. Well, today's work is done, I will go and get busy first."

Li Rong was a little curious after hearing this: "What else are you busy with?"

"Since Your Highness won't help me, I have no choice but to find another way out."

Li Rong raised her eyebrows and looked at Shangguan Ya, "Your Highness, I will withdraw first."

Having said that, Shangguan Ya walked away. Seeing Shangguan Ya's look, Li Rong couldn't help but have someone follow her to see what Shangguan Ya was going to do.

The secret guard followed Shangguan Ya all the way and saw Shangguan Ya arrive at the casino. She found Su Ronghua and handed a stack of papers to Su Ronghua: "Here are the papers. Find the people whose names are written on them and ask them to sign their names or write something. Each paper costs 50 taels. After the deal is done, we will split the profits 50-50."

Su Ronghua looked at the thick stack of papers that Shangguan Ya was holding and raised an eyebrow: "Shangguan family's eldest daughter, are you working so hard for such a small amount of money?"

"I lost all my money in gambling a few days ago, and I have no money for this month." Shangguan Ya said seriously, "I plan to save some money, go back and fight again, and earn my money back!"

"You'd better not give the money?" Su Ronghua frowned, and Shangguan Ya looked up at him, "Master Su, look at me, are you going to help me or not?"

"Hmm," Su Ronghua thought for a moment, "Whose name do you want to sign?"

"Will you help?"

Shangguan Ya was delighted. She handed a stack of papers to Su Ronghua: "This is mine. Ask them to write a few more sentences. Look, I want Cui Yulang, Lin Zifan, and Xie Shangqing..."

Shangguan Ya reported a bunch of names, and Su Ronghua kept smiling. After listening, he nodded, took the paper back, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I'll take care of it."

"Really? Thank you so much."

"You're welcome."

Su Ronghua said gently: "It is my duty to help you correct your vision. Otherwise, the eldest daughter of the Shangguan family would go blind at such a young age, which is not good."

Shangguan Ya was a little confused, and saw Su Ronghua holding the paper and walking away.

At night, Su Ronghua asked someone to send the paper back to Shangguan Ya. Shangguan Ya happily went to the door to receive the paper. After receiving it, Shangguan Ya's face changed instantly.

I saw the same handwriting on every piece of paper.

It says:

Su Ronghua, the most handsome man in Huajing

Su Ronghua is handsome

Su Ronghua is both talented and beautiful

Su Ronghua...

Shangguan Ya quickly flipped through the pages, wanting to see if there were any pages written by others. When she reached the end, she saw Su Ronghua's wild cursive handwriting:

Please repeat and recite the entire text above.

By the way, a handsome side profile portrait of him was also included, with a note next to it: It is recommended to frame it in the bedroom for daily viewing.

Shangguan Ya was so madly angry at this narcissistic act that she didn't care that she was still at the door. She tore up all the papers and left only the portrait. Then she pointed at the boy who brought the papers and said in a trembling voice, "Go back and tell him, tell him to wait, he's dead, he! Is! Dead!!"

These things were passed on to Li Rong by the spy at night. After listening to the spy's explanation, Li Rong spat out a mouthful of tea and said with a smile, "Su Ronghua, are you really so unreasonable?"

Pei Wenxuan was reviewing documents nearby. He overheard what was said. He looked up at Li Rong and heard Li Rong continue, "But seriously, how about the portrait that Su Ronghua sent to Shangguan Ya? Is it good-looking?"

The dark guard thought for a moment and replied, "It seems pretty good."

"Then I'm a little curious. Hey, is the painting torn up?"

The dark guard shook his head: "It's not torn, Miss Shangguan asked for it to be framed."

"Are you really going to frame it and look at it?"

Li Rong was a little confused about what Shangguan Ya meant. Pei Wenxuan was listening beside her, collected the letter, and said calmly, "Stop talking, let's go to sleep."

Seeing that it was getting late, Li Rong waved and asked them to leave first.

Li Rong slept for a while, and the next day, she went to the Inspection Office to meet Shangguan Ya. Before going home, she coughed lightly and casually asked, "Well, I heard that Su Ronghua gave you a portrait, and you framed it? What do you mean?"

"Do you know why I framed it?" Shangguan Ya sneered. Li Rong turned to look at her. Shangguan Ya clenched her fists and said, "I put it in the bedroom. Whenever I feel upset, I shoot it with darts or whip it to relieve my anger!"

"You..." Li Rong didn't know what to say for a moment. She thought for a long time and could only say, "You have quite a lot of ideas."

Shangguan Ya nodded and sneered, "He'd better not let me catch him, or I will make him pay."

Li Rong just listened to this and nodded: "Yes, I know, you are very strong."

The two chatted and went home. Pei Wenxuan came back early recently. Li Rong entered the princess's mansion and did not see Pei Wenxuan coming to pick her up, so she turned around and asked Jingmei: "Where is the prince consort? Why didn't he come to pick me up?"

"The Prince Consort is busy."

Jingmei smiled and said, "The Prince Consort brought home a lot of his own portraits today and hung them in the bedroom, dining room, lobby and garden."

"What is he doing?!" Li Rong exclaimed in shock. As she spoke, she saw Pei Wenxuan painting something on the screen in the bedroom. Li Rong hurried forward. It was her favorite screen with peonies and dancing butterflies and golden silk clouds. She was afraid that Pei Wenxuan would go crazy, so she hurriedly asked, "Pei Wenxuan, what are you doing!"

Pei Wenxuan smiled and turned around to look at Li Rong: "Your Highness."

Li Rong looked through the gap between his body and saw a self-portrait of Pei Wenxuan climbing a height to admire the moon. Pei Wenxuan had a gentle smile on his face. "Yesterday, I heard about Master Su's deeds. I thought about it and felt that Master Su was right. Recently, scholars in the capital have been coming and going frequently, and women are impetuous. I am afraid that the ugly faces from the outside world will pollute your eyes, so I think it is better to place more portraits of me in the place where your Highness is, so that your Highness can improve his aesthetic taste and clear his eyes."

"You guys..." Li Rong looked at the screen in shock, "Did you guys discuss this?"

"I have indeed asked several of my good friends, and they have all returned home to give their portraits to their wives recently."

Li Rong: “…”

Li Rong was silent for a long time. In order to make Pei Wenxuan more sober, she raised her hand and said to someone by her side, "Go get the darts."

Pei Wenxuan looked confused.

Li Rong said seriously: "Since you have discussed it, then we have also discussed it."