She rarely showed such timidity; on the contrary, she displayed a particularly charming girlishness.
My timely concession last night and my relentless pursuit this morning have yielded considerable rewards.
Otherwise, where would you get to eat the food she cooks herself?
Su Wanwan picked up a piece of food and tasted it; the flavor was just average.
He praised her to an extreme degree.
After dinner, Lu Xingjian arranged for Su Wanwan and Yan Ge'er to go out together.
Yan Ge'er probably caught a bit of a cold from playing in the snow yesterday; he looks a little listless today.
But when I heard we were going out to play, I was so excited I almost jumped for joy.
Su Wanwan hadn't planned to let Yan Ge'er go out, but seeing Lu Xingjian's meaningful look, she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
She longed to see Yan Ge'er so much.
Fortunately, the place arranged by Lu Xingjian was not far away, just outside Donghua Gate, in the East Garden, where Yan Ge'er is now studying and receiving his early education.
Qian Ning arrived with several little boys who were bundled up tightly.
However, Qian Ning's complexion wasn't very good, as if she had something on her mind.
Yan Ge'er was wrapped up tightly, dressed the same as Qian Yong'an and Qian Jie, making it easy for others to mistake them for three brothers.
Yan Ge'er glanced at Su Wanwan and Yan Ge'er, who was being led by the hand, then lowered his eyes, a hint of grievance in them.
He suppressed the urge to cry and followed the others in bowing.
Lu Xingjian kindly told everyone to dispense with formalities, and glanced around at the iron cages containing rabbits, foxes, and several eagles that the eunuchs had prepared, and was quite satisfied.
"reward."
"Are we going hunting?" Su Wanwan frowned; the little ones were too small.
The little ones looked completely bewildered, not knowing what was going to happen.
Lu Xingjian was in high spirits and ordered the fox to be released first: "A real man should be exposed to riding and archery from a young age."
The kids weren't interested in the archery activity at all last time; they were only thinking about the snacks.
This time he changed his strategy and specifically asked the eunuchs to arrange some interesting entertainment.
The fox hesitated before leaving the cage, but instead of fleeing immediately, it brandished its paws at the crowd, baring its teeth as if it intended to harm them.
Especially when he made eye contact with several little boys, his eyes became irritable and fierce.
Qian Ning and the others drew their swords to guard against the fox attacking them.
Yan Ge'er was so frightened that he hid behind Su Wanwan.
Seeing that the other children were standing still, he mustered up his courage and stepped forward.
Yan Ge'er's gaze fell on Su Wanwan's hand holding Yan Ge'er's hand, and he pouted, his eyes filled with disappointment.
Seeing that the humans had no intention of catching it, the fox turned and darted away to a secluded spot.
The East Garden was a royal garden, with small bridges, flowing water, and numerous flowers, trees, and shrubs. The fox was about to disappear into the bushes.
Lu Xingjian swiftly and decisively drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and shot it.
The movements were executed in one smooth, effortless motion.
The fox's pitiful howls came from the bushes.
The little boys cheered and were eager to try.
Yan Ge'er also shook off his previous dejection, his big eyes blinking with great interest.
This is much more interesting than shooting at targets.
Su Wanwan: "..."
Lu Xingjian ordered the rabbits to be released from the cage, and gave each of the little ones a bow to see if they could shoot the rabbits.
As for the few agile eagles, he thought for a moment and decided to have the eagle trainers hold them up and keep close to the little ones to see if the little ones would take the initiative to command the eagles.
He followed slowly behind.
Yan Ge'er is timid and a little scared.
Su Wanwan squatted down, patted his head, and smiled encouragingly, "Let's see if we can catch a little rabbit. How about we add some dishes to our meal tonight?"
Yan Ge'er had already caught a rabbit. He grabbed the rabbit by the ear and ran over pantingly with his short legs, handing the rabbit to Su Wanwan:
"Eat rabbit!"
He forced himself not to call out "Mother".
Su Wanwan: "..."
My son is really fierce!
Unable to suppress her impulse any longer, she hugged Yan Ge'er tightly and kissed his little face hard: "You're so amazing!"
Lu Xingjian was looking over here when Qian Ning whispered something.
He simply gestured for Qian Ning to wait a moment, then strode over, his lips curling into an uncontrollable smile.
"You little rascal, you're pretty good. You caught a rabbit so quickly?"
They weren't shot with arrows; they caught them with their hands.
He truly is my son!
Yan Ge'er felt a strong sense of crisis and quickly grabbed Su Wanwan's leg.
Su Wanwan pulled the two little ones into her arms and gave them a warm hug:
"How about you catch a few more rabbits? We'll have rabbit hot pot tonight."
Yan Ge'er's dark eyes lit up instantly. Could he have dinner with his mother?
He nodded vigorously: "Okay!"
She grabbed Yan Ge'er's hand and ran.
Lu Xingjian reached out to pat his little head, but he turned his head away to avoid it.
Lu Xingjian: "..."
You heartless little brat.
I wasted my time helping you with the wood carving yesterday.
Qian Ning paused for a moment, then walked over and repeated what she had just said: "A secret report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard: Zhou Yue, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, committed suicide on the Peach Blossom Boat."
Lu Xingjian's smile gradually disappeared, his eyes turned cold, and he looked at Qian Ning.
Su Wanwan, who was nearby, also heard Qian Ning's words, and her expression changed slightly.
The Censor-in-Chief was a seventh-rank official who spoke out against wrongdoing, but he wielded considerable power.
Their main duties included overseeing the administration of the Six Ministries and rejecting imperial edicts.
They could supervise the administration of the Six Ministries to ensure its legality and compliance; if they believed that the emperor's decree was inappropriate, they could even seal it up and return it.
"Continue," Lu Xingjian said, his gaze falling on the children who were busy at work not far away, his thin lips slightly pursed.
Qian Ning took out a letter from her bosom. Most of the handwriting on the letter was blurry and messy, and only about ten words such as "Prefect Zhao misled me" could be recognized.
Lu Xingjian was puzzled.
Qian Ning said, "Prime Minister Liu is now known as the Nine Thousand Years Old. He demands bribes from all officials who come to the capital for performance evaluations and from all imperial envoys who go out to the capital. The price is openly set at ten thousand taels of silver."
"Many officials couldn't afford the money, so they had to try every means to borrow it from various places."
“Zhou Yue, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, had a past relationship with Zhao Jun, the prefect of Huai’an. Zhao Jun promised to lend Zhou Yue a thousand taels of silver, but broke his promise.”
"Zhou Yue had nowhere to go and was worried that he would be harassed by Liu Jin after returning to the capital. He committed suicide out of grief and indignation."
Su Wanwan was stunned.
Has corruption in the government become so blatant?!
Lu Xingjian narrowed his eyes slightly: "Why didn't the Ministry of War report this matter?"
"Minister Cao is on good terms with His Majesty the Ninth Prince now, so naturally this matter must be put aside."
Su Wanwan sensed something was amiss: "Why was it Lord Qian who reported this to the Emperor?"
"Someone reported this to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the task of reporting it ultimately fell to this humble servant," Qian Ning replied, forcing a smile.
There are too many people in the Embroidered Uniform Guard who only hold the title of Commander; most of them are honorary positions with salaries.
Even the fathers of eunuchs Zhang Yong, Ma Yongcheng, and Gu Dayong were all commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
At present, the powerful Liu Jin, the Ninth Prince, is at the height of his power, and no one dares to offend him. The task of reporting to the Emperor has finally fallen to Qian Ning.
Qian Ning is Liu Jin's "adopted son," and his identity is too sensitive for him to report this case.
Once Liu Jin labels someone as "ungrateful," they'll face dire consequences.
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