91 Change of clothes
◎A graceful figure behind the screen◎
Shu Yao took a quick glance and saw two huge night-shining pearls hanging on the eaves of the ship, lighting the way for the ship. The hull was inlaid with countless pearls, and even the deck under her feet was made of the finest golden nanmu wood. You can imagine how luxurious it was.
They landed at the bow of the boat, and people often passed by. Look, a drunk nobleman was staggering out. When he saw Shen Jing'an, he came up and put his arm around his shoulders with a smile: "Why are you outside in the cold wind, Master Shen? It's hard for the beauty inside to wait." After he said that, he saw Shu Yao standing beside him.
He looked her up and down, confusion flashing across his face.
Shen Jingan frowned slightly, blocking his view.
The noble young man laughed drunkenly twice: "Master Shen, why is this beauty so plain today?"
Chen Jing'an held Shu Yao in his arms, pushed him away with his shoulder, and walked towards the cabin: "Young Master Wang is drunk, be careful not to fall."
Prince Wang looked at the two figures, took another sip of the wine in his hand, and muttered, "Chen Wanku, you spend all day hanging out with beauties, take care of yourself."
The two of them had just crossed the threshold when Shu Yao heard these words and looked up secretly at Chen Jingan, but found that he was also looking at her. She quickly lowered her head and pretended to look at the road.
Chen Jing'an smiled, and the two of them walked through the long corridor and stopped in front of a house called "Bieshuijian".
Chen Jing'an opened the door, half-bent down and gestured for invitation: "Xiao Yao'er, please come in."
Shu Yao hesitated and took a look at the house. It would have been fine if she hadn't looked, but she was shocked when she did.
What caught her eye was the golden tassels hanging in front of her eyes, shining so brightly that it hurt her eyes. Through the gaps in the tassels, she could vaguely glimpse the scene inside the house.
Very noble.
She raised her hand to lift the tassel, only to feel as if a thousand pounds of gold were pressing on her hand. The life of the rich was different. Even gold could be used to make door curtains. She couldn't even imagine it.
The room was spacious and bright with two night lights on. All the furniture inside was valuable. Even the blankets on the floor were made of the finest white fox fur, and each one cost over a thousand taels.
Shu Yao looked up at Chen Jingan: "Why did the prince bring me here?"
Chen Jingan opened the wardrobe and took out a lavender Yanluo Liuxian dress from it, holding it in front of her like a treasure: "Xiao Yaoer, change your clothes, I will take you to play in the front."
Shu Yao quickly waved her hand to refuse, saying that she couldn't afford to pay for it if it got damaged or snagged.
Chen Jing'an simply put the skirt on the rosewood lattice fan inlaid with ivory and said: "Xiao Yao'er, you change first, I'll wait for you outside." After that, he walked out.
Shu Yao felt helpless. She couldn't escape on this big ship. She took the skirt. The delicate touch was softer than any fabric she had ever touched. She walked behind the screen and slowly took off her cloth clothes.
Her perfect figure was outlined on the screen, she pushed her hair back and started to put on her skirt.
Chen Jing'an, who was outside, suddenly remembered that there was something he hadn't told her, so he gently pushed open the door. When he saw the figure on the screen, he was stunned for a moment, his eye color changed, and his Adam's apple rolled slightly. Finally, he lowered his eyes and slowly closed the door.
Shu Yao changed her dress and walked out. She stood in front of the double-grain mirror and looked at the person in the mirror. A flash of surprise crossed her eyes. She unconsciously took two steps closer and looked at the person carefully.
When she first came here, she was pale and thin. Although she was pretty, she was not stunning enough. But in just half a year, her sallow skin gradually became whiter, her figure became more plump, and her delicate facial features became more and more beautiful.
She hadn't looked in the mirror for a long time and didn't realize how much she had changed.
Loving beauty is a woman's nature. She couldn't help but touch her cheek. Wow, she almost fell for herself.
Looking down, this dress seemed to be tailor-made for her, every part of it was just right. The lavender color made her skin look even whiter, and there was even a unique charm in her eyes.
The neckline of the skirt was decorated with layers of tassels, which covered her chest. She pulled the neckline up, and the hem of the skirt was designed as a fishtail, which swayed gracefully when she walked.
She tilted her head to look at herself in the mirror, always feeling that she was too ostentatious, so she let her hair down, and the black hair around her ears covered half of her beautiful face.
Opening the door, Chen Jing'an turned around and looked over. His peach blossom eyes were filled with ripples, and the amazement in his eyes could not be hidden. He raised the corners of his mouth and resumed his usual romantic look: "Xiao Yao'er is so beautiful today."
Shu Yao felt a little awkward in this dress, so she asked, "Can I change back into my own clothes?"
Chen Jingan hugged her, lowered his head to smell the fragrance of her hair, and said in an intoxicated tone: "Xiao Yaoer wants to wear your cloth clothes to see the emperor?"
"Today, everyone on the ship is rich and powerful, royal family. Are you trying to stand out from the crowd, Xiaoyaoer?"
"I don't want to see the emperor," she said.
"When the emperor is angry, millions of corpses will float on the surface." If anything goes wrong, she doesn't want to lose her life here.
Chen Jing'an gave her a reassuring look and said, "Don't be afraid, Xiaoyao'er. Just stay with me. Nothing will happen." He paused and whispered in her ear, "If anything really happens, I will risk my life to protect you."
Shu Yao didn't expect him to say that. While she was still in a daze, the two of them had already walked to the door of the hall. Looking at the tightly closed carved and gilded door in front of them, orchestral music and beautiful singing voices continued to come out from inside.
She stopped where she was, touched her face, and asked the maid next to her for a veil. She didn't want to show her face in such a big scene.
Chen Jing'an looked at her actions without saying anything, then took her in his arms and pushed the door open.
Shu Yao thought she would see the emperor and a group of ministers drinking and having fun, but unexpectedly, the ministers were all sitting in an orderly manner. There was a scroll on each person's table, which recorded the recent major events. They had to write down their own solutions to the problems. If they couldn't think of one, they would be fined one month's salary.
The ministers scratched their heads and some were so anxious that they were sweating.
The dancers were dancing gracefully in the hall and the singers were singing beautifully, but the people present had no interest in appreciating them and were only focused on Chen Shu.
Shu Yao didn't dare to look up, for fear of meeting the emperor's gaze.
Chen Jing'an took her in his arms and walked to the front to sit down. There was also a scroll of old books scattered on the table. He read it slowly, but the more he read, the tighter his brows furrowed.
Shu Yao also leaned over to take a look and saw more than a dozen places circled in cinnabar. "Drought, famine, refugees..."
I saw Shen Jing'an picked up the pen, and just as he was about to put it down, he stopped again. He pursed his lips, as if he didn't know how to start writing.
The people around him handed in their books one after another, but Chen Jing'an still hadn't put pen to paper.
Shu Yao took a piece of white paper from the side and drew a canal on it. She marked on the side how to store water and how to use the canal to feed the crops.
She handed the paper to Shen Jingan.
He took it and looked at it. His expression changed from calmness at first to surprise and then to confusion: "Xiao Yao'er, what is a canal?"
"For water pipes, build the source of the canal at the water inlet, divert the water to the canal, and then use the canal to distribute it to various dry lands."
“Even if it doesn’t rain, we can use the water from the lake to irrigate our crops.”
She then briefly told him about modern irrigation technology.
After hearing the latter part, Chen Jing'an suddenly understood and couldn't help but admire the delicate woman in front of him. He picked up his pen and wrote eloquently, and handed over the paper that Shu Yao had drawn.
Shu Yao sat in her seat properly. Occasionally, one or two eyes looked at her, but she just lowered her head, not looking at others, trying to reduce her presence as much as possible.
The singing and dancing girls all retreated, and everyone was silent. The only sound was the rustling of papers in the upper seat. Then a book was thrown out. An elderly minister immediately stood up and knelt on the ground, forehead pressed to the ground. He said in a terrified voice, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Allow me to think of a solution."
"Fanzhou is plagued by corruption, the government treasury is in deficit, and the people are starving. Left Prime Minister, do you really not know what to do? Or is this your handiwork?" A powerful voice came from the seat of honor. The voice was cold and carried an irresistible majesty that made anyone who heard it tremble in fear.
The left prime minister raised his head in disbelief, his lips trembling, and he couldn't utter a word for a long time. Most of the silver embezzled by Fanzhou went into his pocket. He felt that he had done this matter perfectly. How did the emperor know about it?
He knew the young emperor's methods and his face turned pale.
"Left Prime Minister, if I remember correctly, you have been Prime Minister for forty years. It is time to rest."
"I have already bought a house for you in Fanzhou. You can go there with your family to live out your retirement."
Zuo Xiang sat on the ground like a lost soul, his eyes empty. It was over, all over. All the glory and wealth of so many years were gone in a flash. How could his delicate children bear the bitter cold in Fanzhou? In addition, the refugees over there suddenly rose up. If they knew that he had embezzled their money, the consequences would be unimaginable.
He crawled forward two steps and kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Majesty, please have mercy."
The young emperor simply waved his sleeves, and two armored guards came in and dragged the left prime minister out.
Shu Yao said "tsk tsk" in her heart. The emperor was so decisive in handling the matter. The prime minister demoted her as soon as he said so. She really admired him.
Seeing this scene, the ministers all sat in their seats with their necks shrunk, trembling for fear that their names would be called. They had seen the emperor's methods. In just two years since he came to power, he had already dealt with dozens of veteran ministers and used thunder-like methods to govern the country, causing the originally corrupt economy to begin to recover and the people to live in peace and contentment.
No one dared to challenge the emperor's bottom line, but there were still some people on the verge of death, such as the left prime minister who had just been dragged out.
The hall was silent for a long time. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they thought Chen should have almost finished reading the book.
But at this moment, the young emperor picked up a dark red book and carefully looked at the records on it. His brows gradually frowned. There was a piece of paper inside. He picked it up and looked at it with a solemn expression.
The ministers were worried again, fearing that the one being taken was their own.
Then the emperor raised the thing in his hand and asked, "Which of you wrote this, my dear minister?" His voice showed no emotion.
The ministers looked at each other in confusion.
Chen Jing'an stood up slowly.
Shu Yao then realized that the document the emperor had taken was written by them. Was there something wrong with the method she had just proposed?
Wouldn't that implicate Shen Jing'an?
No, no, everyone has their own consequences. The suggestion was hers, so she should be the only one to be punished.
So she stood up too.
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