Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 22: The Sixth Rate of the Eastern Palace
On the blue mailbox, there is a painting of a golden skull holding a knife.

Li Zhao touched the pigeon's head, took out the tube and spread out the paper, and looked at it for a long time without moving.

The air around them was condensed, and everyone looked at each other, feeling a little scared.

"Your Highness?" Guan Ya tested cautiously.

Li Zhao responded calmly, "That's a good idea."

The tone was calm and uneventful, leaving Guan Ya completely bewildered.

Was this a good idea brought by the pigeons?
The little white dove cooed and moved around on Li Zhao's saddle, as if urging him to ride, or acting coquettishly.

Li Zhao observed it for a moment, then turned over and dismounted neatly. The white dove cooperated and jumped onto his shoulder, tilting its head and rolling its eyes. Li Zhao glanced at it, raised one corner of his mouth, threw the reins to Guan Ya, and walked towards the barracks of the Weishufu without looking back.

The six commanders of the Eastern Palace are the personal soldiers of the Crown Prince. They are responsible for the weapons, ceremonial guards, patrols, and scouts of the Eastern Palace. Each commander is scattered throughout the city and takes turns to be on duty at the Eastern Palace. Today, Li Zhao came to the Guard House for training, and the left and right guards specially selected some elite soldiers from the army to help the Crown Prince.

The training on the training ground is in full swing.

Each of the young men had broad shoulders and straight backs, and were as agile as dragons. Their shouts of killing shook the earth.

Li Zhao liked training troops very much.

Although the East Palace's Chancellery, the Left and Right Spring Offices, and various bureaus and departments are fully staffed and can be regarded as a miniature court that only serves the crown prince, there are good and bad people among them, and not everyone is on the same page with the crown prince.

If an accident really happens, only the six generals of the Eastern Palace and these more than 10,000 personal soldiers can be the Eastern Palace's life-saving reliance.

"Your Highness."

A handsome man in armor came over and saluted Li Zhao with his fists clasped.

He was Fan Bing, the Right Guard Commander, a fourth-rank official, tall and strong, and one of Li Zhao's capable generals.

"The mastermind of the Xiaohan Society's assassination attempt has been captured. He only confessed to the leader of the Laojun Mountain bandits and refused to admit to anyone else..."

Li Zhao said: "Chop it up and feed it to the dogs. Don't waste a day's food."

"Ah!" Fan Bing stood there in shock. After hearing that the cold voice didn't sound like a joke, he responded, "Yes."

He actually had doubts in his heart.

Such a bold attempt to assassinate the crown prince was most likely instigated by Prince Duan.

Why doesn't the prince conduct a thorough investigation and report the evidence to His Majesty?
Li Zhao brought the little white dove into the barracks. Lai Fu hurriedly ground ink for him and handed it to him with a wolf-hair brush with both hands.

"Your Highness."

The little white dove was walking around on the table, quite comfortable. Li Zhao stood as tall as a pine tree, holding a pen in one hand, moving the pen tip gracefully on the paper.

"Using me as a chess piece, planning and arranging things, can you bear the consequences?"

The handwriting is like the person, with a sharp edge hidden. After writing, he leaned forward slightly, blew away the ink marks that had not yet dried, and smiled. A hint of the unique spirit of a young man was faintly revealed on his cold face.

Eunuch Lai Fu had not seen such an expression on the prince's face for a long time since he came of age, and he could not help but sigh.

What a pity for that smart girl.

The prince is like a solitary moon in the sky. He likes to look down on people's hearts and hates being used and held hostage the most.

Anyone who attempts to get close to the prince for profit will be ruthlessly chopped to pieces by him, and no one will have a good ending.

The girl mistakenly thought that she could get a bright future by clinging to the prince, but she didn't know that she was just a lamb in a jar...

Right now, this gentleman is just trying to find something new...

If there is any displeasure in the future, disaster may befall you.

Stay away from the prince to stay safe!

Lai Fu felt compassion for no reason, bowed slightly, and said with a smile: "Forgive me for saying so much. Your Highness is a noble, a rare talent, why would you care about a lowly girl?"

Li Zhao didn't say anything, but narrowed his eyes in pleasure.

In fact, he didn't remember Xue Sui's appearance very clearly.

Both meetings took place at Youhuangju.

One was at night, and another time the weather was bad. The woman stood in front of him, with a faint red layer at the corners of her peach blossom eyes. She did not look delicate and lovable, but rather ruthless, like a lone wolf in trouble. Perhaps it was because her eyes were too eye-catching, and apart from her dazzlingly white skin and those shocking scars, everything else was blurry.

"What do you know? A girl who has been bullied since childhood, has the ambition for revenge, and is extremely courageous..."

The waist is also slender? Li Zhao dismissed the strange thoughts that suddenly popped up in his mind and sneered.

Backed by a group of desperate criminals of unknown origin in the old mausoleum, it was enough to stir up trouble in the backyard. He wanted to fight his way out of the treacherous court power center with his courage and revenge, but he was still a little short of it.

"Might as well give her a push."

Li Zhao personally tied the letter tube, raised his hand nonchalantly, and released the white dove from the window as if he was handling the trivial and complicated affairs of the Eastern Palace.

Seeing the white dove spread its wings, I thought it was just a coincidence.

Little did I know that we would meet again year after year...
-
The Xue Mansion was very quiet for the next two days.

In Lixiang Courtyard, Xue Sui was cooking in the small kitchen in the courtyard with a few maids and Xue Ji.

An iron pot was placed outside the kitchen door, with a wooden table on it. Porcelain bowls were filled with longan, red dates, chestnuts and other things. A big, white and plump pig's trotter was boiling in the pot, emitting an enticing aroma.

The spring sunshine illuminated the ground, casting mottled shadows, and everyone was laughing.

At this time, there was a sound of crying coming from outside, wailing loudly, with no regard for decency at all.

Xue Sui glanced at Ruyi, and Ruyi understood what he meant.

"I'll go take a look."

They didn't know before that Ruyi was very popular in the mansion. She was talkative and likable. It didn't take her long to find out the news and she came in happily.

"Girl, look who's here."

The person who came was Jinshu. Her expression was exactly the same as Ruyi's, both of them were smiling.

Xue Sui asked: "Who is crying?"

Jinshu replied, "It was Qingzhu from the fourth young lady's room. She just went to ask the first lady for her monthly allowance and was scolded by Madam Liu. The fourth young lady has been having a hard time these days and went to the master to complain. Since it was related to the first young lady, the master refused to side with her and let the first lady give her face."

Xue Ji sighed, "I didn't realize that the fourth lady had such a mind."

Jinshu glanced at Xueji who was completely clueless and said with a smile, "I am here to congratulate the Sixth Miss."

Xue Sui smiled and said nothing more.

Seeing that she didn't care and wasn't curious, Xue Ji asked, "What's the good news? Tell me quickly, aunt."

Jinshu smiled and said, "I also heard it in the old lady's room. The iron-faced censor in the capital impeached His Royal Highness Prince Duan, saying that His Royal Highness violated the rules in selecting concubines and intended to make friends with ministers. The Imperial Concubine was originally planning to stuff several concubines and maids into the back house of Prince Duan's mansion, but this letter gave Her Royal Highness a break and praised the eldest girl for her virtue."

Xue Ji asked, "Then where does my sixth sister's happiness come from?"

Jinshu was not in a position to reveal the truth, so he only said, "It was the eldest girl who advised the Imperial Concubine to quietly return the names of the girls from various families and mansions before the incident happened. Originally, it was not a big deal for Prince Duan to choose a few concubines, but this censor made His Majesty embarrassed, and His Majesty was furious. Later, he couldn't find any big mistakes made by the Imperial Concubine. Do you think it's clever or not?"

It's quite clever.

Both ends were calculated just right.

The imperial concubine returned those women and cried a few more times about her grievances, and the emperor naturally would not pursue the matter any further.

But he couldn't tell what he was thinking...

After receiving advice from Xue Sui and praise from the imperial concubine, Xue Yuechen immediately sent someone to deliver a letter to the Xue Mansion, instructing the first lady to prepare the sixth lady's dowry well.

It is not easy for Mrs. Fu to be the head of the family. There are hundreds of people in the house, and everyone needs to eat and drink, and everything costs money. After receiving the letter from the eldest girl, Mrs. Fu was bullied from both sides, and did not want to spend any more money on the house, so she had to be mean to Xue Yueying again.

"The eldest lady has just informed the old lady, and will go talk to the fourth young lady later. The two shops that the old lady gave to the fourth young lady will also be taken back."

Ruyi couldn't help but gloat over his misfortune.

"I don't know how aggrieved he will be."

Xue Sui didn't say much, and said to Xiao Zhao: "Pack the cakes we steamed and take them back to Aunt Jinshu, so that the old lady can have a taste of them too."

Xiao Zhao agreed and did as she was told. Jinshu left with the food box, smiling.

The yard was filled with laughter, but Xue Sui did not move.

Some things are not that simple. No matter how angry the eldest lady is, she will not deduct Xue Yueying's monthly allowance. It is too undignified for a mistress to do this, unless she does it for everyone to see.

The eldest lady hated her so much that if one plan failed, the next one would only be more vicious.

(End of this chapter)