Chapter 1263 Slap

The next morning, at the gate of the Duke's Mansion, the retired emperor and the empress dowager had not left yesterday. As a result, everyone in the capital, whether they had to come or not, arrived.

Zhulan was considered to have arrived early. The carriage had already stopped at the entrance of the alley, and it took a while to walk to the Duke's Mansion.

As for Zhou Shuren, he would come to the Duke's Mansion alone.

Su Xuan came with us, "This line of carriages is too long."

Shen Xing came back first and said, "The Emperor and the Empress have been here."

Zhulan was surprised that the new emperor and the empress had also come. This was to tell all the dignitaries that although the Duke had passed away, the Ning family was still the royal family and no one was allowed to bully them.

When Zhulan went in, she didn't see the Empress Dowager, but only Song and Ning Zhiqi.

Yes, the future will have to be taken care of by Ning Zhiqi and his wife.

Zhulan came out very quickly and didn't even see Xuehan. On the way home, Zhulan saw Yao Xin on the street. Yao Xin was holding the child in one hand and carrying snacks from the vegetarian shop in the other.

Zhulan stopped the carriage and said, "It's rare to meet you on the street."

Yao Xin seldom goes out, so it was a bit surprising to see Yao Xin taking her children shopping instead of riding in a carriage today.

Yao Xin knew that Madam Yang had gone to the Duke's Mansion, so she said while carrying snacks, "The weather is good today, so I brought the children here to buy vegetarian snacks. I plan to visit my brother at the temple tomorrow."

Zhulan saw Yao Xin's smiling eyes. It seemed that Yao Xin's brother was doing well in the temple. "Very well."

Yao Xin was extremely satisfied with her current life. She and her husband had been through thick and thin together and their relationship was good. Her child was healthy and her brother was alive. She had no more desires. "Madam, you can try the snacks here. They are pretty good among the vegetarian snacks in the capital."

Zhulan smiled and said, "Okay, I'll buy some to try."

Yao Xin left quickly with the child. Even after they had walked a long way, Zhulan could still hear Yao Xin talking to her son, saying that she was going to check out some cotton and donate some to the temple to make quilts.

Zhulan couldn't help but smile as she listened to the children's words. She asked Qingxue to buy some snacks. After returning home, she tasted them and found them delicious, so she distributed them to each room.

In the following days, due to the death of Duke Ning, the tension in the court eased a little.

Duke Ning died in great splendor, and after the burial, Ning Zhiqi became the new owner of the Duke's Mansion. The first thing Ning Zhiqi did was to replace the plaque himself without waiting for the Ministry of Rites to come. Although the Ministry of Rites would not come personally to urge them to do so, the Ning family had integrity and would not do anything shameless.

After the emperor knew about it, he took out the list of officials from the Ministry of Commerce who were to be separated and raised Ning Zhiqi's rank to the third grade.

Rongchuan saw the changes with his own eyes and continued drinking his tea.

The emperor put down the list, "Ning Zhiqi would never have thought that he would take the initiative to change to the Marquis' Mansion. Ning Zhiqi's character is good for helping me."

Rongchuan came to think of it, yes, Ning Zhiqi represents the emperor's maternal family, and the maternal family all followed the rules and did not shirk their responsibilities. How could you old guys be so shameless? Ning Zhiqi didn't know that he had done something embarrassing, but the emperor was happier.

This means that the Ning family abides by the rules, and it also makes some of the old guys who rely on their seniority seem shameless. Now the slap in the face is louder.

The emperor said quietly, "My uncle didn't interfere this time."

He had a very good impression of his uncle, not only because he raised him, but also because his uncle was aware of current affairs.

Then the emperor asked, "Have you been back to your wife's family recently?"

Rong Chuan touched his nose, he felt that his father-in-law had angered him, "I went back, but this minister left after a short while."

The emperor knew what was going on. Zhou Shuren invited them to tea. These old guys were not stupid. They did not reply to the invitation to tea. "I heard that your father-in-law likes antiques."

Rong Chuan thought to himself, "My father-in-law likes everything that's valuable, not just antiques." He said, "I like him very much."

The emperor continued, "Lord Zhou has high standards. Although I have inherited my father's private treasury, the most he left me was silver. These antiques seem to have been moved to the Qin Palace. I also heard that my father opened a private treasury in the Qin Palace, and the things that were recently presented to my father were all placed in the private treasury."

The implication of a biased father is too obvious. This was all intended to be given to Rongchuan. Fortunately, I suffered too much in the past and finally returned to the royal family. He also enjoyed his father's favoritism, so he didn't have any thoughts in his heart. But that doesn't mean he doesn't hate the rich!

Rong Chuan understood this time. The emperor wanted to bribe his father-in-law with his things. Tsk tsk, the emperor's son has not grown up yet. The first thing he plucked was his own brother's hair. "I will go back and look for him."

The emperor looked at him with a deep gaze, "Do you still need to look for it? The shelves in your study are arranged so haphazardly. Even my study is not so haphazard."

Thinking of this, the emperor looked at the antique shelves and thought, wow, his father's study was tidy after he abdicated, and all the things he had set his eyes on before were moved away.

Rongchuan, "......."

He has many fathers. One is the retired emperor, and the other is the Marquis of Ning. Both are rich and are representatives of the Qin Palace's wealthy people in the capital!

At the Ministry of Revenue, Zhou Shuren was writing a letter with a pen, sneering in his heart. Fine, if no one responded after he posted a message with nice words, he would have to use other means. He would not write one letter after another. He would use a template with only the name and the agreed date changed.

The emperor watched Zhou Shuren's operation and stroked his beard. He had never done this before.

In these letters, Zhou Shuren did not write about how much property the family had, but only wrote about the monthly expenses of the descendants of these old ministers. For the Minister of Revenue, these accounts were trivial matters, and the expenses of the descendants in the family could very intuitively reflect the current situation of a family.

Finally, the Emperor looked at Zhou Shuren writing a note, "!!"

Zhou Shuren wrote his leave note in one go. Of course, the thing he was most comfortable writing was leave notes, but it was a pity that he didn't have many opportunities to write them.

The Emperor said quietly, "Your leave application will not be approved."

Zhou Shuren rolled his eyes in his heart, "I can't invite someone to tea and leave in a hurry, that would be too insincere."

After getting the list, he did sufficient homework. Among the names circled by the emperor, he went back and looked up who was related to whom by marriage, how their relationship was, which families were connected, and who had any grudges or hatreds with whom.

The emperor took the letter and only then noticed the names on it. He then asked, "I remember that some of the people you invited have a lot of grudges against each other."

Zhou Shuren smiled innocently, "Yes, it's hard to persuade someone if there is no grudge. Think about it, if we invite ministers from two families with grudges, the trust between them is fragile, and they will definitely doubt who was persuaded by the ministers."

The retired emperor has understood Zhou Shuren's intention, and expressed that the emperor has seen through your bottom line. If you continue to hold on, some people will inevitably be sacrificed. The two families have grievances. If something happens to one of them, there is no guarantee that the enemy will not add insult to injury in the future. They all have their own thoughts, and persuading them step by step will only make them more suspicious. Tsk tsk, Zhou Shuren deserves the title of old fox.

Zhou Shuren didn't know about Ning Zhiqi's actions yet. He would be happier when he found out. Now that he had been slapped, his lobbying would be easier.