The logic makes sense, but Tang Shiyue still feels unsafe: "How do you know it won't happen? What if he tampered with the exam? What if he tampered with it in some way that I can't see, and then made you fail the exam?"
"What tricks can make people fail? Even if it's a stinky shed, it's just disgusting." Yan Shirui asked back: "Besides, if he wants to do something, even if he can hide it from you, won't Mr. Xu notice it? What about the emperor?"
He patted her head and said, "Don't worry. The emperor obviously wants to use them and won't let anything happen to them. Lin Fujian is a smart man and he will see it."
He paused and said, "Even if there is something wrong, it is something that happened after entering the government. It is inevitable and unavoidable for people in the court to scheme against each other."
Tang Shiyue thought so too, so she went to sleep. Yan Shirui pondered for a moment and went to find Yan Chengyuan.
Yan Chengyuan was still in the study, and Yan Shirui got straight to the point and said, "Dad, I was wondering if you would like to adopt Tang Shirong as your adopted son?"
Yan Chengyuan frowned: "It's too early to say this now."
"It's getting late." Yan Shirui said, "The emperor wants to use Tang Shirong because he is Yue'er's elder brother, so they both have the surname Tang or Yan. On Yue'er's side, the emperor obviously wants her to recognize her ancestry, so Tang Shirong must also have an explanation... Dad, it is most appropriate for you to recognize him."
Yan Chengyuan said: "How do you know that the emperor doesn't want to use Xu Wenqu?"
"It shouldn't be," Yan Shirui said, "Dad, believe me, the emperor will definitely send Tang Shirong to Qinzhou. As for Xu Wenqu... I have met him, and he is a man of great talent and plans. I guess the emperor would prefer him to stay in Chang'an."
...
...
He advised him gently: "Dad, Tang Shirong is an honest and upright person, different from Yan Liangchou, you don't have to worry."
Yan Chengyuan didn't say anything else, and Yan Shirui walked out.
In fact, Tang Shiyue went to bed early at night. She really planned to go to Deshan Garden. She thought, why don’t she stick to it for three days before giving up?
But no one in the family called her, and when she woke up, it was already noon...
Tang Shiyue thought about it and felt that there was not much difference between persisting for one day and three days.
So she slept for a while, got up directly to eat lunch, and after lunch, she sent someone to bring Xiao Guoer and Xiao Yuaner over. The three of them rolled around together for a while, and then Tang Shiyue suddenly had the urge to eat wafers...
So she took the two little ones and the two balls to the kitchen and instructed Eunuch Liu how to cook.
Eunuch Liu was not very old, fair-skinned and thin, but he had a belly like a praying mantis, and it was obvious that he was a glutton.
As Tang Shiyue was instructing him, he started to make the pancakes. Tang Shiyue brought the two kids to play for a while and then came over to watch. They played for a while again and then came over to watch again. By the fourth time, Eunuch Liu had already made the pancakes.
Then he asked his little apprentice to beat the cream. Tang Shiyue thought that Emperor Ming Yan and Yan Chengyuan didn't like sweet food, so he asked someone to make yam puree, and added crushed dried fruits and walnuts as the topping.
When Meng Min came over, he saw three people standing at the door of the kitchen, each holding a small plate and eating.
Meng Min was helpless and went over to collect the plates: "The emperor is here. He is in the east study."
Tang Shiyue said "oh", washed her hands, took two kinds of wafers and went over.
Emperor Ming Yan was sitting there drinking tea and looking at the words she had written over the past few days.
Tang Shiyue put the wafers on the table and leaned over: "Aye! I haven't seen you for a long time. I miss you so much."
Emperor Mingyan raised his eyebrows and smiled: "You are guarding your own father, and you still think of me?"
Although these words sounded sour, Tang Shiyue was amused. She hugged his arm and rubbed it, then took the wafer and asked him to taste it.
She had some small silver forks made, which had one more tine than today's fruit forks and were very convenient for eating snacks. Emperor Ming Yan tasted one and said, "Not bad."
"Not bad!" Tang Shiyue was very happy, "You all like to eat this kind of crispy and not too sweet snack."
Emperor Ming Yan nodded.
Tang Shiyue was a little surprised and looked at his face: "Aye, are you unhappy?"
Emperor Mingyan did not answer, but put his hand on her head, and after a while he said, "Do you still remember that Zhen Yu who hurt you?"
Tang Shiyue nodded, and Emperor Ming Yan sighed softly, "I originally thought it was just an ordinary palace secret. After returning, I arrested the maid next to her, but couldn't find anything, so I arrested her as well. She confessed that she was in league with a eunuch in Yonghe Palace..."
He paused, then changed the topic, "She is from the same hometown as a eunuch, and because that eunuch was incompetent, I ordered him to be executed. She was resentful of this and wanted to kill you. The medicine was given to her by the eunuch's brother, and even the imperial physician could not find the cause of the disease."
"But when I ordered people to capture that 'brother', I couldn't find him. And after investigation, I found that the eunuch didn't have a brother at all. Until then, I didn't realize anything was wrong. It was just because these people harmed you and I hated them so much that I ordered a thorough investigation. Who would have known..."
He sighed, "Who would have known that among the people Cheng Yuan caught two days ago, there was that person! I became suspicious and asked someone to check that person's home. I found a small bottle of secret medicine and asked a death row prisoner to test it. Just one drop, in just a moment, can cause a person to die suddenly, and the cause of death cannot be found."
Tang Shiyue looked at him in surprise.
Emperor Mingyan's voice was floating, "I just checked the pulse case in the palace today. My sixth son and the third princess..."
Tang Shiyue felt heartbroken and held his hand, "Aye! Aye, don't be sad."
Emperor Ming Yan closed his eyes slightly, and said after a while: "I have no idea when these people sneaked into the palace. If it wasn't for the coincidence that you, Yue'er, had a strange dream to warn me, I'm afraid I would still be unaware of it until today." He smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Looking at his expression, Tang Shiyue really didn't know how to comfort him for a moment.
She whispered, "But why would they do this?"
Emperor Mingyan said, "That mountain is in a special location, very close to the west city gate, but the road is relatively secluded. I guess these rebels must have chosen that place to occupy, waiting for an opportunity to plot evil, and I don't know how long they have been entrenched there."
Tang Shiyue held his hand tightly and suddenly asked, "Sixth Master and Third Princess, how long has this been going on?"
Emperor Mingyan was slightly startled. "If the third princess were alive today, she would be eighteen years old. The sixth and fifth sons are the same age, but they were less than a year old when they died."
In other words, the latest one was thirteen years ago.
Tang Shiyue asked, "Is it possible that after discovering the silver mine, these people gave up on harming the people in the palace?"
She looked at him quietly: "Father, killing the heir to the throne doesn't seem like a means, but more like a revenge. But people who have nothing dare to do anything, and those who have a mountain of gold are not many who are willing to risk their lives."
Although her speculation was completely unfounded, it must be said that Emperor Ming Yan felt much more at ease after she said this.
This feeling of having tigers and wolves lurking around you is really terrible.
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