"The Emperor Emeritus and the Imperial Concubine are both well, but they are tired from their journey and have already rested."
During dinner, the Emperor Emeritus and Old Man Lu had a few drinks, and Consort Liu took them back to the courtyard to rest. It was already dark, and it would be impolite to wake them up now.
Fortunately, the emperor's trip was not specifically to see the retired emperor. He mainly wanted to ask about Lu Baichuan's situation, so he didn't exchange any pleasantries with the Lu family and went directly to the study with Lu Baichuan.
"It's good that everything is alright, then I can rest assured."
The emperor breathed a sigh of relief and continued to ask, "What's wrong with the islanders? For so many years we've kept to ourselves, so why have they suddenly become so restless and insist on meddling in everything?"
Previously, it was just the four countries of the east, west, south, and north fighting each other. After all, they were close to each other and had many interests involved, so it was normal for them to fight. But the island nation is so far away from here, and the sea is dangerous. Even a single trip could result in death. What is the meaning of their frequent visits to Beiyan?
Lu Baichuan personally poured the emperor a cup of tea before saying, "Nationwide, natural disasters are frequent and resources are scarce. It is estimated that the natural disasters have been severe in recent years, so they have turned their attention to us."
"I believe that they have come not only to Beiyan, but also to several other countries. I just don't know if they have discovered it yet."
What Lu Baichuan didn't say was that he suspected his wife's little black ball was too powerful, destroying all the island's resources, which is why these island nations were desperately trying to cause trouble in other countries.
However, it cannot be ruled out that the islanders are inherently ambitious, and even without these factors, they would not give up their aggression, which is what my wife hates most about them.
"You said they've been demanding that you hand over the Pangu Jade, so they must know about the treasure. But the treasure is just a rumor, so how come they only want the Pangu Jade and nothing else?"
The emperor was puzzled. They wanted to invade, and they had many other things they wanted to seize, so why did they only want the Pangu Jade?
Not to mention that obtaining the Pangu Jade does not guarantee finding the treasure; whether the treasure even exists is another matter entirely.
"There may be some involvement of Dongting and Nantai in this. Of course, the most serious thing is that I suspect there are spies in the court. Otherwise, they wouldn't know that the Pangu Jade is on my wife. This time, the kidnapping of the Emperor Emeritus and the Empress Dowager was just to contact us."
Lu Baichuan calmly analyzed the situation and realized that even though he had failed to resign, he would still have to serve the court after returning.
He could ignore the infighting within the court, but he had to deal with things that threatened the safety of the nation.
The emperor's expression also turned serious. The matter of the Eastern Court had just been resolved, and now an island nation had emerged. There was never a moment of peace for this country.
"Baichuan, you are the person I trust the most. I don't feel comfortable entrusting this matter to anyone else. Only you can investigate. To avoid alerting the enemy, you must investigate secretly. You can transfer personnel whenever needed. I will fully support and cooperate with you."
As he spoke, he handed Lu Baichuan a token, which was a transfer order representing the emperor's identity. With this, he could transfer people to any place he wanted without having to ask for permission.
Lu Baichuan did not refuse. He was the one who brought the retired emperor back, and he was also the one who discovered the Japanese. He had originally planned to investigate this matter himself. This was his achievement, and it would be a fool to give it away.
During the two years he was away, only the eldest son, Lu, lived a lowly official life at home, completely unaware of the affairs of the court. The emperor focused on cultivating new talents, so to outsiders, the Lu family was no different from being out of favor.
Before they came back, the more low-key the family was, the better. But now that he's back and has the opportunity to move forward, he won't back down anymore.
Blindly yielding is meaningless; one must remain at the pinnacle of power, making the emperor think twice before acting out of fear.
Therefore, this case is the first battle he needs to fight to turn his life around after returning.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will do my utmost."
Lu Baichuan accepted the order and then spoke about some of the people's livelihood issues he had observed outside, reflecting on the situation. As for how to proceed, that would depend on how far the emperor could go.
There were good and bad moments; the emperor was sometimes angry and sometimes happy. The two talked until late at night before the emperor left.
As for the retired emperor, he can send someone to pick him up after he has rested; there's no need to make a fuss in the middle of the night.
When Lu Baichuan returned to the room, he found that his wife was still awake. He asked curiously, "What are you thinking about? Why aren't you asleep so late?"
"I'm just curious, did the emperor entrust this matter to you?"
Jiang Jiuniang leaned her cheek lazily, clearly very sleepy, but couldn't resist gossiping.
"Um."
Lu Baichuan nodded.
"I knew it."
Jiang Jiuniang rolled her eyes. This kind of troublesome matter should definitely be left to Lu Baichuan, because no one else can handle it at all.
“I was originally going to take this case too, but I don’t trust anyone else to handle it.”
Lu Baichuan smiled, not caring.
Having obtained the information she wanted to know, Jiang Jiuniang got up and lay down on the bed, saying lazily, "Then you go and do your thing. I haven't had enough fun yet. Let's get down to business later."
She realized that not only Youya was getting old, but Tingya and Jiezi were also looking for partners. So she had to hold more banquets, because she wouldn't have time to hold banquets every day when she got busy.
"It's okay, you can play if you want, I'll handle things."
After Lu Baichuan finished washing up, blew out the lamp, went to bed, and held the person in his arms as they slept.
Tonight, Xiangxiang will sleep with her grandparents, giving them a rare chance to spend some time alone together.
Unfortunately, the two of them were too exhausted from traveling for days to think about anything else, and they fell asleep in each other's arms after a short while.
The news of Lu Baichuan's return to the capital spread the next day, and many people came to visit. However, the Lu family refused to see any guests, saying that they had just returned and had not yet settled in. They would hold a banquet in a few days to invite everyone to their home.
In reality, Lu Baichuan secretly escorted the Emperor Emeritus and Consort Liu back to the palace, and then that very evening he invited Qin Jian and Prince Jing to a small gathering at his home.
Qin Jian's son took Peng Yuan's surname and was named Peng Ke. He began his early education at around three years old.
Unfortunately, this kid is playful and doesn't like to study. He had just been scolded by Qin Jian when he arrived, and there were still tears on his face.
He was still an infant when Jiang Jiuniang's family went out to play. He didn't have much contact with them normally, but he grew up listening to stories about Jiang Jiuniang's family, so he wasn't unfamiliar with them.
The dog, which everyone praises, is his nightmare. Because he doesn't like studying, people always compare him to the dog, which annoys him to no end.
Upon their first meeting, the adults were extremely excited and sat together chatting. However, Peng Ke was the most unhappy. From the moment he entered the door, he glared at Gou'er with a long face, as if Gou'er owed him money.
"Ke'er, I'll tell you again, it's wrong for you to glare at people like that."
Peng Yuan has said this three times since she entered the room, and her patience has been completely exhausted.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com