Chapter 89 The Prince Leaves the Capital
Two or three days later, Chu Jiubian became somewhat afraid of Qin Xiao.
At noon and in the evening, even during breaks from reviewing memorials in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, as long as no one was in the room, Qin Xiao would find opportunities to kiss and hug him. Back in the room, he could do whatever he wanted.
However, Chu Jiubian never asked him to go to the final step.
It wasn't just fear of pain, but also some awkwardness and rejection that he himself didn't understand.
Perhaps, in the end, he still can't completely accept someone.
Or perhaps he still feels unworthy, fearing that if he gives himself away completely, the other person will no longer care about him.
Qin Xiao saw things clearly and knew that it would take him a long time to pry open that door, so he never crossed the last red line.
But the feelings and desires suppressed in my heart grew deeper and deeper day by day.
Chu Jiubian felt that the occasional glances from the other party made his heart pound.
He couldn't help but recall the character Qin Xiao was portrayed as a sinister villain in the original novel.
It's one thing to be malicious, but why is he being targeted by all of these malicious schemes?
Is this reasonable?
==
Chu Jiubian found a time before the prince left the capital and went to the Southern Frontier Prince's Mansion to give the bottle of Gu worms to Si Tu Anli, asking her to help identify them.
Si Tuanli took the Gu worm back to the backyard, leaving Baili Hao to accompany the guests.
Baili Hao was a fairly talkative person, and he never let the atmosphere become awkward.
Chu Jiubian naturally kept the conversation flowing and the two chatted back and forth quite well.
During the conversation, when the drought in southern Xinjiang came up, Baili Hao's words became more probing, as if he suspected that Chu Jiubian and the "High Priest" were the same person.
Chu Jiubian remained silent, but he could tell that Baili Hao's mind was no less sharp than that of the Drunken King Liang, and that he must have made a guess.
People who are too smart are able to see through appearances to the essence of things.
For example, Lu Yao never suspected that they were two different people.
Si Tuanli came out shortly afterward, looking somewhat tired, but still in good spirits.
“My lord, this Gu worm is indeed of the same lineage as the Gu worms of my Southern Frontier.” Si Tuanli recounted a past event she knew.
It turns out that during the previous dynasty, a line of Gu masters from the southern border took advantage of the war to leave the southern border, and their whereabouts have been unknown ever since.
Si Tuanli had only heard about it once from the older generation, and only remembered it after confirming that the Gu worm came from the Southern Frontier.
However, no one knows where this lineage ended up; they probably headed north.
Having obtained the answer, Chu Jiubian left the Southern Border King's Palace and returned to the Ministry of Personnel.
Before he could even return to his office courtyard, Physician Wang Yu came looking for him.
He handed the document in his hand to Chu Jiubian and said, "My lord, Minister of Rites Wang Zhiyuan wrote this, wanting to recommend Wang Wenyao, the second son of the Wang family patriarch, for officialdom."
Chu Jiubian raised his eyebrows, took the document, and glanced at it.
The recommendation document was very formal, praising Wang Wenyao extensively, and finally recommending that he enter the court and take a position in the Ministry of Rites.
Wang Zhiyuan is now working for both Wang Qichen and Chu Jiubian.
However, his current recommendation of the son of the patriarch Wang Huanzhi, who has some talent, for officialdom is certainly not a defection to Wang Huanzhi, nor could it be for the sake of the Wang family.
There are plenty of talented people in the Wang family; Wang Wenyao is really nothing special among them.
Chu Jiubian pondered for a long time and roughly understood the other party's purpose.
Wang Huanzhi's limelight has been overshadowed by Wang Qichen, so he will definitely look for a breakthrough elsewhere, and getting his son into officialdom would be a good way.
He must have appealed to Wang Zhiyuan's emotions and reasoned with him about family honor and interests, and Wang Zhiyuan "reluctantly" agreed.
But Wang Zhiyuan agreed, not to help him.
On the contrary, he wanted to use Chu Jiubian and Qin Xiao to suppress Wang Wenyao and completely suppress the family head lineage, so as to take this opportunity to put Wang Qichen in the position of family head.
This aligns with Chu Jiubian's objective.
As the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Chu Jiubian had considerable authority and naturally approved it directly.
The next day, Wang Wenyao appeared in the imperial court, standing among the officials of the Ministry of Rites, and became a junior official.
Seeing his triumphant appearance, Chu Jiubian calmly withdrew his gaze.
To suppress him, we need to find a good opportunity. Let him be happy for a few days first.
==
The death of the Prince of Jiannan did not cause a stir in the capital, and the people paid no attention to it. What they cared about was still the lively horse parade, the handsome top scholar, and the outstanding third-place scholar's wife.
This is such a lively topic that you could talk about it for half a month without getting tired of it.
But soon, they had a new topic to discuss—
The princes are leaving the capital.
The group, who were supposed to leave in the first month of the lunar calendar, stayed until the end of the palace examination.
Now that everyone had no reason to stay in the capital, they naturally prepared to say goodbye and leave.
Before leaving the capital, they all went to the palace to say goodbye to Baili Hong.
Baili Hong smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with them. Then he said that he didn't know when he would see his uncles again after leaving, and he was reluctant to part with them. He had prepared a gift for everyone.
"This is also for my cousins whom I have never met," Baili Hong said. "I hope they can all live a wealthy and peaceful life in the future."
The child's sweet, childlike voice left everyone somewhat bewildered, and even gave them a bad feeling.
“Hong Yu.” Baili Hong looked at Xiao Yuzi beside him.
Xiaoyuzi then took the imperial edict from her hand, raised it high with both hands, and handed it to the leading King of Huguang.
The Prince of Huguang took it and quickly scanned the contents of the imperial edict. His expression changed drastically, and he looked at it twice more incredulously.
Seeing his reaction, the Prince of Dongjiang accepted the imperial edict and, after reading it, his expression was no better than that of the Prince of Huguang.
Qin Xiao, sitting to the side, said upon seeing this, "His Majesty, mindful of family ties, wished to grant all his relatives a life of wealth and peace, and thus drafted this decree of grace. The imperial edict has already been sent to the fiefdoms of the princes, and should have arrived by now."
"The young masters must be extremely grateful at this moment. Why don't you all quickly express your gratitude?" Qin Xiao said calmly.
The imperial edict has already been issued and has fallen into the hands of those illegitimate sons in their fiefdoms, so there is no possibility of it being taken back.
The matter was settled, and the King of Huguang and the King of Dongjiang stared at Qin Xiao with gloomy eyes.
Finally, they bowed to Baili Hong to express their gratitude and accept the reward.
The King of Southern Xinjiang only had one son and one daughter, so this decree of grace did not affect him much.
The residence of Prince Anhuai, Baili Ming, was also spotless, so he naturally didn't care.
The King of Pingxi, Baili Zheng, and the King of Zuiliang, Baili Yan, were both shocked and filled with mixed feelings.
They gazed intently at the three people seated inside the hall.
This "Decree of Grace" is truly an unsolvable, overt scheme that prevents them from continuing to grow stronger. Starting with the next generation, they will inevitably become weaker and weaker, and in the end, there will definitely be no more "vassal kings".
The Prince of Dingbei smiled, but his reaction was not as great as Baili Ming's, making it impossible for anyone to understand his thoughts.
"By the way," Chu Jiubian said, looking at Zui Liang Wang, "Although the matter of Jian Nan Wang did not lead to any bad consequences, it did make Zui Liang Wang really anxious."
"His Majesty, thinking of making amends, left behind the imperial edict concerning the Min-Zhe region."
As she spoke, Xiaoyuzi handed another imperial edict to the Drunken Liang King.
Chu Jiubian continued, "The royal decree will be taken back by the Drunken Liang King himself, and he will read it aloud when he has some free time, so that your children can have some fun."
That's an interesting point.
The meaning of "find a free time" is that Baili Yan should find a time to announce this matter himself, but if the other party is always "unavailable", then this imperial edict will not be valid in the Min-Zhe region.
So this was a blatant way they granted the Drunken King Liang this privilege, ensuring that his illegitimate sons in his fiefdom wouldn't cause trouble.
On the contrary, because the imperial edict was in the hands of the drunken Prince Liang, the illegitimate sons would try to please him even more, and at least before they received the edict, they would not dare to break off relations.
Of course, even if they tricked their way into obtaining the imperial edict, it would be useless, because the edict required the drunken King Liang to read it himself; if he didn't read it, it would be invalid.
Clearly, this was a "reward" for the Drunken King Liang's defection to the imperial court.
Baili Yan accepted the imperial edict with a smile and expressed her gratitude. She felt delighted and paid no attention to the gazes of the other vassal kings.
The King of Huguang, the King of Dongjiang, and the King of Dingbei have now realized that this edict of grace is ultimately aimed at only the three of them.
It really seems like things are about to come to a head...
The princes left the palace, and news of the imperial edict of favor spread.
The reactions of the parties upon receiving the news varied. For example, the Wang family still had two groups with their own plans, while the Xiao, Lu, and Qiu families each received invitations from certain vassal kings.
A few days later, at the border between Henan and Shanxi, the princes will part ways to go to their respective fiefdoms.
They arranged for the heads of these families, including Wang Huanzhi of the Wang family, to meet together in Wanglai Town, which is located at the border.
The letter from the Drunken King of Liang was also sent to the palace. To express his gratitude to His Majesty, he planned to clear out all the salt fields on his fiefdom and wait for the court to take over.
This is tantamount to giving concessions to the imperial court.
Qin Xiao and Chu Jiubian wouldn't let him suffer a loss, so they authorized him to take over the management of the section of the canal on their fiefdom.
This portion of the canal management rights is actually the section of the canal that the Qiu family had previously obtained.
This is how they seized the Qiu family's last canal rights by using the drunken Liang King.
If the Drunken King Liang were to take action, he would be working for the imperial court and would also gain profits from the canal, which would be even greater than those from the salt fields.
If he doesn't take action, he will get nothing.
Upon receiving the reply, the Drunken King Liang couldn't help but sigh.
These two are truly adept at using overt schemes, but this matter is something he finds hard to refuse.
He had been eyeing the profits from the canal for a long time.
No one knew what the princes were thinking. The next day, they set off one after another.
The long convoy drove along the main street, passing by students of the Imperial Academy dressed in sky-blue robes in the busiest part between the East and West markets.
A place of wealth and splendor, heading far out of the palace.
One figure, as slender as a green bamboo, walked towards the city.
That evening, Chu Jiubian invited Si Tu and his sister, who were preparing to set off again the next day, to meet at Qingyun Tower.
The siblings were a little nervous, but mostly curious.
However, they did not expect that Chu Jiubian, who looked aloof, was very gentle when speaking to them, making them feel as if they were facing a high priest, and extremely close to him.
Chu Jiubian was thinking that since the two children had come to the capital, he hadn't spoken to them alone, so he gave them some delicious stir-fried dishes as a proper farewell.
The siblings were a little reserved at first, but they gradually became more lively.
The main reason is that Si Tu Zhaoling is lively, while Xiao Yao, the younger brother, is more composed.
They talked a lot over the meal, mostly about gossip from the capital, such as whether Minister of Works Jian Hongzhuo really only had one male wife, whether the handsome General An really planned to never marry, and whether Chu Jiubian and Qin Xiao were really having an affair.
Seeing the cautious look in the eyes of the siblings, Chu Jiubian smiled and said, "At such a young age, you should read more books and study more."
The siblings didn't get the answer they wanted, but they didn't dare to ask any further questions.
"And what about you and that person?" Si Tu Zhaoling lowered her voice and pointed to the sky.
This naturally refers to the high priest.
Chu Jiubian laughed and said, "It's a relationship of sharing life and death."
The siblings looked at each other, as if they had bumped into each other.
Chu Jiubian: "..."
The bizarre relationship he created actually got people hooked up with him.
The meal was a pleasure for both the host and guests.
The three went downstairs, said goodbye, and prepared to part ways.
However, when the siblings looked up, they saw a tall and imposing figure standing at the door. The man had an incomparably handsome face and a cold demeanor.
It is Prince Ning.
Qin Xiaochong nodded slightly to the siblings, and then went out with Chu Jiubian.
Both were dressed in crimson official robes, and when they walked through the crowd, they were more than half a head taller than the people around them. Their shoulders were close together, and they looked like a perfect couple.
"Wow—" Si Tu Zhaoling cupped her face, momentarily "drunk," then quickly patted her cheeks. "No, no, I must firmly uphold this—"
High Priest!
Si Tu Zhaoyao was somewhat confused by her sister's expression.
However, that didn't stop him from patting his face, just like his sister.
Seeing his reaction, Si Tu Zhaoling chuckled and reached out to ruffle his hair, saying, "You silly goose."
Si Tu Zhaoyao wasn't annoyed and said, "Sister, we still need to say goodbye to him."
He pointed in the direction of Jinxiufang.
"Let's go." The two had to say goodbye to Wang Qichen, as they would officially set off from Beijing the next day.
The next time we meet, it will only be in the realm of the gods.
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