Selling wife for fame? Kick out the scumbag and marry the new emperor to enjoy the harem of favors

Chapter 166 Adding Fuel to the Fire
"You've dared to interfere with my affairs," Zhao Xingjin said.

The tone was teasing.

Xie Jiu raised an eyebrow. "Of course I have to take care of that. I'm in charge of the Imperial Kitchen, which means I have to oversee His Majesty's meals. I'll make sure His Majesty eats more at lunch today."

"Look at this, the new broom sweeps clean, and now it's even reaching me," Zhao Xingjin joked with a smile.

Yang Zhian stood beside him, also smiling obsequiously.

"Consort Jin is concerned about His Majesty's health. She's trying to find a way to make sure His Majesty has a good meal."

Without needing an explanation, Zhao Xingjin naturally understood, so after offering his compliment, Yang Zhian voluntarily withdrew and went to guard outside the hall.

With only the two of them left in the room, Xie Jiu took the initiative to start a conversation.

“Yesterday, Prince Yi of Xichi Kingdom led his men to my mother’s home. His Majesty must already know about it.”

"How come you've heard the news today too?" Zhao Xingjin fiddled with his jade thumb ring, looking nonchalant. "I heard your sister-in-law sent some New Year's gifts and congratulatory gifts to the palace."

These words were meant to tell Xie Jiu that he knew about the situation at Ninghua Palace.

However, Xie Jiu already knew this, so he didn't care and just continued talking.

"Yes, my sister-in-law sent a message to the palace to inform me of this matter. She said that the people from Xichi Kingdom mentioned that they wanted to ask my father and brother to put in a good word for me with the Emperor in order to reduce the tariff by a few percent, but my father did not agree."

"They took advantage of the previous dynasty, and if it weren't for me breaking the previous treaty, they probably wouldn't have come to Dajing to pay their respects." Zhao Xingjin said indifferently, his eyes filled with coldness.

During Emperor Hui's reign, he was incompetent and tyrannical at home, but weak at abroad. He was afraid that the Western Chi would send troops to attack and make him the ruler of the fallen country, so he was always polite and could be said to give him whatever he wanted.

In truth, Xie Mingshen, as the Grand Secretary, did do quite a few things that were good for Emperor Hui; otherwise, it's questionable whether the Great Jing Dynasty would have its current territory.

However, every time Xie Mingshen took action, it was for his personal benefit, and not for the sake of the country and the people.

Xie Jiu naturally understood his meaning: "Xichi has abundant mineral resources but little timber and vegetation. In the past, we had to purchase a lot of iron ore from Xichi to smelt weapons. Now that we have our own mines, we can gradually break free from their control. However, they are short of medicinal herbs, and there is no good way to solve this problem. Therefore, Dajing still has the advantage. Now, the initiative is in our hands."

“They can also purchase medicinal herbs from the neighboring Dayu,” Zhao Xingjin said.

“They did use these words to threaten my father. However, the border between Yu and them is a snow-capped mountain. If they want to do business with Yu, they have to cross the mountains first, which will cost much more.”

Xie Jiu disagreed and pointed out the reasons.

Zhao Xingjin raised an eyebrow. "You know quite a lot, don't you?"

In response to his words, Xie Jiu snorted and pouted.

"Your Majesty always treats me like a student, testing me even though I know the answers perfectly well. If I can't answer them, he'll probably think I'm stupid again."

"If you're stupid, then everyone in my harem is probably not smart."

Zhao Xingjin made a joke, then suppressed his smile, picked up the teacup beside him, took a sip, and asked casually.

"Did you come here today just to say these things?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Jiu knew that the information she provided had not met the other party's expectations.

So she answered directly, "Of course it's not just these. What I'm trying to say is that if Father doesn't refuse without hesitation, it means there's still room for negotiation. It's just that the benefits offered by the other party didn't meet his expectations."

Just like Zhao Xingjin at this moment, he was still waiting for more. Sure enough, upon hearing this, Zhao Xingjin's eyes flickered.

"You mean Xie Mingshen is still waiting for the Xichi people to offer a high price? Does he have that much guts? At worst, that would be treason."

"Even if he doesn't have it now, what if we add fuel to the fire?"

Xie Jiu's beautiful eyes shone brightly as she stared directly at Zhao Xingjin.

“Your Majesty, a cat that has stolen fish will not easily give it up. He has profited from this before and has not been discovered, which shows that he already has methods. The Xichi people approached him directly, not necessarily because he is the main contact official. Perhaps the two sides have had secret dealings before, who knows.”

It was clearly a gentle and bright face, and her tone was soft and gentle, but at this moment, when Zhao Xingjin looked at Xie Jiu, he felt that a kind of instinctive vigilance had been aroused, and he seemed to be subconsciously on guard.

"A femme fatale," Zhao Xingjin suddenly thought of the term, but then felt it was inappropriate, because the person in front of him looked genuinely gentle at the moment.

Xie Jiu noticed his subtle emotions, and soon the light in her eyes faded, replaced by a slow seepage of hatred, filled with resentment and bitterness.

"As long as we find evidence of his treason, no matter what methods he uses, he is doomed."

By revealing these things, she wanted to tell Zhao Xingjin that no matter how much she wanted to do, it was only to seek revenge against Xie Mingshen.

Zhao Xingjin naturally understood her meaning, and lowered his eyes to conceal his emotions.

She gently patted Xie Jiu's hand and whispered comfortingly, "That day will come."

"Mmm." Xie Jiu lowered her eyes and responded softly, her voice filled with deep weariness.

It seems that doing all this has exhausted all her mind and energy, making people feel that when that day comes, she will lose her support and collapse as well.

Her appearance made Zhao Xingjin frown, and he suddenly became worried about Xie Jiu's condition, and his previous vigilance and suspicion dissipated.

"There's still a long way to go. In the future, let Wenxi spend more time with you. If you'd like, I can also have her move to Jingming Palace to live next to you."

"How can this be?" Xie Jiu shook her head, then forced a smile. "His Majesty has already decided to have Princess Zhaoqing and Princess Lingyi move out of Weiyang Palace to Ruiyu Palace. How can we let Princess Wenxi follow me? Your Majesty, don't worry, I'm fine."

Zhao Xingjin thought about it and agreed, so he didn't say anything more.

Just then, Yang Zhian came in and said that lunch was ready, so they sat down to eat.

After lunch, Zhao Xingjin did not ask Xie Jiu to stay in Chengming Hall any longer.

I've been busy lately.

Xie Jiu didn't pester him and politely withdrew.

However, she did not expect that after she left, Zhao Xingjin continued to review memorials in the afternoon and saw several memorials related to Xie Jiu.

There are essentially three things involved.

Firstly, he felt that Xie Jiu had only been in the palace for a short time, had made no significant contributions, and had not given birth, so she should not be made a concubine. Secondly, he said that Zhao Xingjin favored Xie Jiu and even the Xie family father and son too much, and that the maternal relatives might become too powerful in the future.

Finally, even if Xie Jiu were to be made a concubine, her title should not use the character "Jin," because the "Jin" in Zhao Xingjin's name is a homophone of "Jin," which would violate the taboo of the emperor's name.

After reading it, Zhao Xingjin chuckled, "These people don't focus on politics, but they love keeping an eye on my harem."