"Chen Hong said that we could improve it by installing floor heaters upstairs, but it would cost 40,000 to 50,000 taels of silver. I thought it was too expensive, so I didn't agree." Emperor Longqing muttered in confusion, "Can't they improve the heating cage and let it burn a little longer?"

Feng Baoxin said of course it was possible, but if so, how would Chen Hong earn money for the renovation?

But the rules in the palace have always been to see through but not to speak out, especially among the eunuchs. Even if they quarreled fiercely in private, they could not undermine each other in front of the master, otherwise everyone would lose everything.

This is a bloody lesson.

Therefore, although Feng Bao and Chen Hong did not get along well, he could only change the subject awkwardly and asked, "Master, are you combing your hair now?"

"No rush, let's wait until it warms up." Long Qing curled his body into the quilt, leaving only his head sticking out.

"Yes." Feng Bao waved his hand and dismissed the eunuch who was carrying a basin of water, a face towel and other things.

Then he made a new hot water bottle and replaced the one that had already gone cold in Longqing's quilt.

With his feet on the hot water bottle, Long Qing squinted his eyes comfortably and asked him, "Is there any progress on that matter?"

"I was just about to report this to my master," Feng Bao put down his work, knelt down in front of the bed and whispered, "Yesterday, the people from Shuntian Prefecture arrested another candidate from Yingtian Prefecture, but they didn't expect that candidate's prestige was too high. As a result, hundreds of candidates went to the government office to ask for justice, which scared Cao Sanyang so much that he quickly released the man."

"Even my Shuntian prefect is involved in this matter?" Longqing took a breath and suddenly became sober.

"It's hard to say now. We are only keeping an eye on the magistrate Ni Dahong." Feng Bao shook his head and said carefully, "But the matter has become so serious that Cao Sanyang must have known about it. Let's see what he does."

"Yes." Longqing nodded, and said in shock: "No matter what, we can't use people from the southeast as the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. Replace them with someone from somewhere else at the beginning of the year, otherwise I won't be able to sleep peacefully."

"Master is wise. Only by being careful can you sail safely for a long time." Feng Bao praised lightly.

If Cao Sanyang knew that he, a third-rank official, had lost his position as the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture and had been put on the wrong list by Emperor Longqing because of Zhao Hao's commotion and Eunuch Feng's remarks in front of the emperor, he would not know whether he would regret why he was so reckless and arrested Zhao Shouzheng.

~~

The bedroom became warmer and Emperor Longqing finally sat up. He asked Feng Bao to help him comb his hair while he continued to report.

"Ni Dahong met with the man from the south again. Unfortunately, they were talking in a moving carriage, so the children couldn't hear them. But now we can be sure that he is the man planted in the court by the south."

After a pause, Feng Bao asked in a deep voice: "Master, why don't we find an opportunity to capture him? He will surely be able to answer many of your questions."

"Don't alert the enemy." Emperor Longqing said decisively: "Have you forgotten what Master Gao said before he left?"

"Mr. Gao said that our enemies are everywhere, so we must not act rashly." Feng Bao said solemnly, "Otherwise, we will not only alert the enemy, but may even repeat the incident of Renyin..."

"Yes." Long Qing nodded, and said solemnly: "My father also told me before he died. He fought with those people in the southeast for twenty years because of the sea, but there was no winner. He almost lost his life in the hands of those people. My father was very wise and good at using power, but in the end he had to compromise. I am just an average person, and I am indecisive. I can't beat them by myself."

Feng Bao's mouth twitched. His Majesty spoke so frankly that he couldn't flatter him.

He can neither say, Your Majesty is too modest, I think you are capable and can fight them; nor can he say, Your Majesty is absolutely right, you are a loser... Isn't that courting death?

He could only silently fix the emperor's hair and insert a jade hairpin. Then he listened to Longqing saying to himself:

"I know myself well. I can only rely on Master Gao for this matter. Unfortunately, he just proposed to lift the maritime ban, but he was attacked by that group of people and had to step down sadly."

"Fortunately, before leaving, Shaobao Gao managed to open up the gap at Yuegang. Now, the Fujian people will no longer be united with the Zhejiang and Guangdong merchants, right?" Feng Bao said admiringly, "Fujian is right between Zhejiang and Guangdong. Let's see how they can unite and collude with each other now."

"Yes, Master Gao's move was really brilliant." Long Qing couldn't hold back his admiration, he stood up and said with a proud smile: "You are worthy of being my Master Gao! If anyone can win this battle and complete Zhu Wan's unfinished business for the court, it must be him!"

"Then Your Majesty, when will you invite Master Gao back?" Feng Bao asked respectfully.

"Uh..." Long Qing paused and said, "I'm afraid we'll have to wait a little longer."

"Yes." Feng Bao nodded. Even though he wanted to invite Gao Gong back, he had to see whether Lord Xu agreed first.

As for Lord Xu, he would definitely disagree...

"You must protect my Master Gao and never let anything happen to him!" This was something Longqing emphasized to Feng Bao for the umpteenth time.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Gaojiazhuang is full of people from the Eastern Depot. No one can touch a hair of Shaobao Gao." Feng Bao hurriedly made this assurance for the umpteenth time.

"Well, we just need to prepare step by step according to the strategy he left behind, and wait for him to come back and start everything." Emperor Longqing looked at the still young face in the mirror and said confidently:

"Fortunately, I am still young, and I will definitely wait until the day of success!"

"I firmly believe this as well, and am willing to sacrifice my life for my master's plan." Feng Bao knelt down to express his opinion. This was a good opportunity to increase intimacy and trust. How could the shrewd eunuch Feng miss it?

"You're good." Long Qing really showed a gratified smile, patted his shoulder and said: "I originally thought you only knew how to take care of children, but I didn't expect you to be good at this job."

"I am ignorant and afraid of failing to live up to your majesty's trust. I can only try my best." Feng Bao quickly sang in a high-sounding tone, but his eyes glanced at Long **, the book "Biography of Ruyi Jun" that Emperor Longqing had just read.

Feng Bao has always aimed to become the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department. He has studied hard and read widely over the years. Otherwise, he would not have served as the enlightenment teacher of the emperor's eldest grandson when he was in the palace.

He naturally knew what kind of book it was...

Seeing where his eyes were, the emperor covered the book with a quilt in embarrassment and said, "This was presented by Meng Chong. I just flipped through it and made some comments when I was bored."

"Your Majesty only criticizes, I didn't see anything." Feng Bao couldn't help but sigh inwardly, after all, he could not be as outspoken and courageous as Senior Li Fang.

The most we can do is not to follow the likes of Teng Xiang, Chen Hong, and Meng Chong in competing with each other to please Your Majesty with the things in the bedroom.

"Don't tell the imperial concubine." The emperor warned again.

"Of course. I will never disclose anything about Your Majesty." Feng Bao quickly expressed his opinion.

"Yes." Long Qing was finally relieved. He pointed at Feng Bao, who looked serious, and said with a smile, "You are too serious. You look like a member of the Imperial Academy. It's hard for people to get close to you."

"I will definitely change." Feng Bao hurriedly smiled flatteringly.

“Uh…” Looking at his twisted smile, Long Qing waved his hand and said, “Stop laughing. It’s too ugly.”

"Yes." Feng Bao returned to his original expression with grievance. He didn't mean to put on a stern face, but his parents raised him like this, and he looked like everyone owed him eight hundred dollars.

What can the disciples do?

ps. The fifth update, 6200 votes and an extra update. Actually, I write more than 11,000 words every day, but people still think it’s too little. Do you really treat monks like animals? (Aggrieved face)

I am a writer who takes his time to produce fine work! (Shameless face)

Please give me some monthly tickets and recommendation tickets to comfort me~~~ (cute face)