Chapter 112 The Heart of an Emperor "What is Li Zhao doing here again?!"...
It's no wonder that Lord Ji returned to his residence in a great mood. During the morning court session, he brought up the "Song of the Big Rat" as planned, and soon the ministers echoed his sentiments.
Who knew that the man surnamed Zhuang would actually laugh at him.
Old Zhuang recounted the incident of the Imperial Guards vandalizing the teahouse in front of the Emperor. He hadn't known about it beforehand and was therefore unprepared. The ministers who had previously echoed his sentiments also scratched their heads, realizing that this hadn't been rehearsed yesterday.
But the old man's disciples rose up in response, their voices of defection booming, and he was unable to withstand them.
In the end, Li Zhen won the prize.
After he left the palace, he went to pay his respects to his sister, who was in a terrible temper. His nephew also spoke sarcastically, showing no regard for the fact that he was his uncle.
Unbeknownst to him, the moment he left Consort Li's palace, his own nephew scoffed, "Utterly worthless. Mother, no offense, but Uncle has become increasingly useless these past few years, relying on Mother's comforts."
Consort Li's fingers curled slightly, her blood-red nails digging into her palms. Though she remained silent, her expression clearly showed her approval of her son.
In just a moment, he said, “Son, when you achieve success in the future, your uncle probably won’t be able to help you much. You’ll need to support your own trusted confidants. We should be wary of that ungrateful man surnamed Zhuang.”
The fourth prince lay half-reclined on the couch, peeling pine nuts. "Hmph, the old man doesn't know what's good for him. Mother, don't worry, I have my own plans."
Upon hearing this, Consort Li smiled and said, "This time they've gotten the better deal, so you'd better hurry up, because I'm counting on you."
Li Zhao seemed bored and got up from the couch. "I'll go back first."
Consort Li thought of something and said, "Why are you leaving in such a hurry? Are you going to cause trouble again? Your father has been in a bad mood lately, so be careful not to give anyone a handle to use against you. If necessary, add two concubines to your household and don't go to those places anymore."
His words were blunt, and the maids in the room all lowered their heads, some of the younger ones blushing. Li Zhao touched the maid standing by the door, his eyes darkening, "Among the maids here in Mother's house, it's rare to find one who is pleasing to the eye."
Consort Li slammed her hand on the table and cursed, "You scoundrel!"
Li Zhao smiled indifferently and left. Only Consort Li glanced at the maid from before and softly called out, "You, come here."
The maid was terrified, kneeling down and begging for mercy, "Your Highness, spare me! Your Highness, spare me!"
Despite the commotion in the palace, Li Yang focused solely on leading the group in renovating the teahouse. It was infuriating that the Imperial Guards from yesterday had not only smashed the tables and chairs, but also damaged many of the doors to the private rooms.
Seeing the dilapidated state of the place, Liyang had no choice but to temporarily suspend operations for renovations.
He then planned to lead the staff to reorganize the teahouse for a few days before reopening it.
Seeing that she kept sighing, Youfeng advised her to rest and that she could handle these matters herself.
Li Yang: "I'm not tired, it's just a pity about these things."
Youfeng looked around and saw that a perfectly good bench was missing a leg, and a perfectly good table had been cleaved in two. He couldn't help but feel his eyes well up with tears.
Seeing her like this, Li Yang didn't know what to say. He looked around and asked, "I haven't seen Xiao Lu these past few days. Do you know where she went?"
Youfeng suddenly shook her head.
Just then, a servant from the Zhuang family delivered a letter, and Li Yang and Chen Junbai quickly opened and read it.
Zhuang Ziyang's letter was not long, but it was basically about how he debated with the group of scholars and defeated them all, suppressing Lord Ji and his disciples until they could not speak recklessly.
"Why is Grandfather so long-winded?" Li Yang said impatiently as he watched Zhuang Ziyang boast about himself.
Chen Junbo smiled and said, "At least the letter from my maternal grandfather contained good news."
Looking back, he saw the words "The Second Prince is fully responsible" and the Second Prince's own words, and then he felt relieved.
Chen Junbo: "It seems the Imperial Guards won't be coming again."
Li Yang snorted, "It's already smashed like this, aren't you afraid they'll come back again?"
Chen Junbo was amused by her ungrateful attitude. "It was only with the help of my maternal grandfather that we managed to escape this time. I'm afraid the other party won't let it go."
Li Yang: "Mm."
Chen Junbo: "I've dragged you into this."
Li Yang was puzzled, but then he heard him say, "If you hadn't offended Zhang Youdao, Madam Zhang wouldn't have cut off your sales channels, let alone gone to the capital and made things difficult for you."
He was an extremely intelligent man. The two of them had just arrived in the capital and opened a teahouse without offending anyone. Suddenly, all these incidents came at them. Upon closer examination, it could only have been caused by offending Zhang Youdao.
"I see." Li Yang didn't think much of it, only muttering, "I was worried that my insistence on disaster relief would implicate you."
Seeing her nonchalant attitude, Chen Junbo could only laugh awkwardly.
You'd think this girl wouldn't hold grudges, but the Imperial Guards have been cursing at her hundreds of times in the last two days.
You might say she holds grudges, but I often feel she's a bit heartless.
I never heard her mention her mother again, nor did I see her belittle me so coldly this time.
He has a personality that means he'll settle a score once he's done it, and then it's over.
Chen Junbai was right. Li Yang's personality was just like her mother's. The woman, who was both confused and calculating, was currently in the study, poking at the wool felt on Zhuang Ziyang's desk and saying fiercely, "Are we just going to let them off so easily? Father, do you have no choice but to skin them alive and feed them to the dogs?!"
Zhuang Ziyang looked at his daughter speechlessly. His granddaughter was already married, but his daughter was still the same as when she was a child, making a fuss over nothing.
He handed over the scalpel, saying, "Here, take the scalpel. Go ahead and cut yourself. I will visit you in prison."
Seeing this, Zhuang Shutong gave a cold look and said, "I knew it. You don't love Zhaozhao. My poor daughter, if her mother were still alive, she would never let her granddaughter be bullied like this."
"Alright, alright." Zhuang Ziyang couldn't stand her mentioning the deceased Old Madam Zhuang. "What exactly do you want?"
Zhuang Shutong turned around and sat down on the stool with a smug look on her face. "Father, this time they rushed to order the Imperial Guards to cause trouble at Zhaozhao's teahouse. Next time they might dare to do something else."
Zhuang Ziyang nodded. "I didn't expect them to be so bold as to smash up a teahouse in broad daylight. These people are simply lawless! I must find the Second Prince and investigate this thoroughly. I will not let the person behind this escape the investigation."
Zhuang Shutong smiled, revealing eight bright white teeth. "I knew it! Dad still loves my Zhaozhao the most!"
Zhuang Ziyang was amused by her; who was it that was crying and wailing just now?
Li Yang was unaware of her mother and grandfather's scheme. Only when the shop assistant came to ask if they would continue to send food and water to the camp in the northern suburbs in the next few days.
Although she replied without hesitation and insisted on having it delivered, her heart felt as if it were being cut by a knife.
Chen Junbo noticed her pale face and asked, "What's wrong?"
"The money!" Li Yang slumped onto the table, utterly exhausted. "The money only goes out every day, never comes in, it just slips away from me like water."
Chen Junbo laughed out loud, "I'll have Bi Fang reimburse you for the disaster relief efforts these past few days. Consider it a way for the Chen family's salt business to repay the debt."
"Really?" She immediately looked up, her eyes sparkling, just like when she first heard about the monthly allowance. "It's all for the saltworks?"
Chen Junbo was amused and exasperated by her. Was this girl kidding herself? "Really, really, I'll write to Bi Fang right away!"
"Okay, okay, hurry up and write it down." She quickly got up to make room for Chen Junbai, and brought over paper and inkstone. She shouted to Youfeng, "Youfeng, write down all the expenses for the past few days and report them to the young master."
Little Deer, who was wiping the table nearby, exclaimed happily upon hearing this, "Okay!"
Chen Junbai was speechless at her actions. How could he forget that his wife was like a greedy pig when she saw money, only taking in and never giving out?
Finally, she kept pestering him until he had no choice but to hastily write a letter to Bi Fang, asking his family to prepare money to help the disaster victims in the capital.
When Bi Fang received the letter, he was completely baffled. What kind of disaster had struck the capital? Xiao Lu hadn't written to him in a long time, and now he was utterly clueless.
If he knew that the 'disaster victims in the capital' his young master was referring to was actually his young mistress, who knows what kind of expression he would have.
Zhuang Ziyang wrote a visiting card and sent it to the residence of the Second Prince Li Zhen, and then received a visiting card from Li Zhao.
"What is Li Zhao doing here again!" These days, Zhuang Shutong has been living in her father's study. Zhuang Ziyang doesn't hide these things from her. Moreover, this daughter is exceptionally intelligent and can often help him analyze and make judgments. It's just a pity that she is not a boy.
Zhuangzi's face was filled with deep contemplation.
"Why don't you pretend to be sick tomorrow, Father?"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Ziyang's face broke into a slight smile. Oh well, this daughter is a bit dim-witted. It's a pity that neither of the Zhuang family's children inherited his intelligence and wit.
Seeing that her father was ignoring her, Zhuang Shutong said, "However, it's good that he's come to us. We haven't settled accounts with him for Zhaozhao's matter yet. If he dares to talk nonsense again, Father, write it down and report it to the Emperor!"
Truly, the most poisonous heart is that of a woman!
Zhuang Ziyang couldn't help but glance at his daughter. He had never considered reporting the Fourth Prince's attempt to win over ministers and seize the Crown Prince's position to Emperor Qing. Now that his daughter had brought it up, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
Emperor Qing is suspicious. He has watched his two sons compete for power for many years, yet he has not appointed a crown prince. He claims to be observing the two princes, but in reality, he is holding onto power, fearing that one of his sons might become too powerful and threaten his authority.
Knowing full well Emperor Qing's intentions, he remained steadfastly neutral, regardless of the repeated lobbying from both factions. His loyalty lay solely with the Emperor. As for the princes, that was not his concern.
However, the fourth prince has become increasingly eccentric in recent years, and his behavior has become more and more disregardful of others. Many court officials have been tormented by his maternal family. Now, if anyone dares to offend his family, he will make them taste the bitter fruit.
Having made up his mind, he let out a cold snort and threw the invitation on the table without even glancing at it.
Seeing his father's reaction, Zhuang Shutong seemed to have a solution, so he didn't say anything more and went to the storeroom to select some nice jewelry.
She was not by her daughter's side when she got married. These past two days, she has been thinking about this matter and decided to prepare a set of jewelry for her daughter. She remembered that her mother once passed down to her a fine kingfisher feather and ruby headdress. It was a pity that she had pawned a pair of kingfisher feather and pearl earrings. Otherwise, it would have been so much better to give the whole set of jewelry to Zhaozhao.
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