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

Chapter 256

After lunch, everyone took a short rest.

The Empress was rebuffed and did not invite Zhao Xingjin to rest at her place at noon. She left immediately after the banquet ended.

Zhao Xingjin then called Xie Jiu and went to his tent.

To be honest, Xie Jiu's place was still a bit too small.

The emperor's tent was three times the size of Xie Jiu's tent, and was indeed much more spacious.

"Your Majesty, please have some tea to aid digestion. You ate a lot of venison for lunch, which was quite oily and hard to digest." Xie Jiu brewed the tea and brought it over.

Zhao Xingjin gestured for her to put it down first, then looked at him and said, "Don't you have anything to say to me?"

When he asked this question, his face was very calm, as if it were just a casual question.

However, Xie Jiu didn't think so. After all, the matter of He Anshi hadn't been resolved yet.

Zhao Xingjin must genuinely admire He Anshi, but he was also uncomfortable about Xie Jiu having contact with He Anshi.

He Anshi is different from Du Qian before. Du Qian had only survived by relying on him and had no connection with Xie Jiu or the Xie family. Xie Jiu recommended Du Qian, and Du Qian was indeed capable, so Zhao Xingjin appointed him.

But as the Empress said, it is normal for He Anshi, a student of the Xie family's Donglin Academy, to become the top scholar in the imperial examination and to be close to the Xie family, but it is not a good trend.

With him, a top scholar from Donglin Academy, leading the way, all the newly appointed Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) who came from Donglin Academy would develop a desire to get closer to the Xie family. If this is not controlled, the Xie family can rely on these students to regain control of many connections in the court and gradually become more powerful. Xie Wei may become the next Xie Mingshen.

Zhao Xingjin wasn't afraid of these students getting close to the Xie family; what he feared was losing control. After all, he kept Xie Wei around precisely to use Xie Wei and the Xie family's reputation to win over students from all over the country and control their hearts.

Therefore, a one-size-fits-all approach is impossible; instead, there will be constant reminders and warnings. For example, right now, he wants to hear Xie Jiu's explanation for meeting He Anshi in private.

"Your Majesty still remembers? I thought this little matter was long gone."

Unexpectedly, Xie Jiu's words carried a hint of complaint.

However, before Zhao Xingjin could even frown, he heard Xie Jiu sigh again.

"If I had known this trouble would come, I should have avoided Scholar He. If I hadn't happened to see my brother and missed him so much that I wanted to say a few words, and if it hadn't been for the fact that it was broad daylight and the presence of other men wouldn't have mattered, I certainly wouldn't have said a word to Scholar He and caused all this trouble."

She did not steer the conversation toward politics, but rather on the strict rules governing the separation of men and women.

It seems that Zhao Xingjin's displeasure today was simply because she had contact with a man outside the palace, rather than anything related to the harem interfering in politics.

It was as if she originally only wanted to see Xie Wei, and that meeting He Anshi was just a coincidence.

Zhao Xingjin withdrew his gaze, his face still devoid of a smile, and simply picked up his teacup and took a sip.

"Is this He Anshi now very close to your brother?"

"I have never heard of that."

Xie Jiu told the truth, while looking helpless.

"My brother is not good at socializing. He can only get along with people whose style of doing things is very similar to his. Because of this, he has very few friends. If it weren't for the large number of relatives in the family and the inevitable interactions with his colleagues in the officialdom, I'm afraid that he wouldn't be able to afford a few tables of wine for any happy occasion at home."