Prime Minister

Chapter 22 022 [The Precious Item]

"You may all leave."

At Jiang Li's command, the maids bowed respectfully and filed out.

Now that the man and woman are alone in the room, Xue Huai remains calm and says with a composed expression, "Your Highness, I made a promise earlier that I owe you a huge favor. If Your Highness needs my help in any way, please speak up, and I will do my best."

Jiang Li raised an eyebrow and said, "Xue Huai, how can a life-saving grace be so easily repaid? My request this time is not so serious as to make you go through fire and water, so exchanging it for a list of seven people is reasonable in my opinion."

In other words, when she needs Xue Huai to repay that favor someday, Xue Huai may have to pay a considerable price.

Seeing Xue Huai remain silent, Jiang Li chuckled and said, "What, are you scared?"

"It's not fear."

Xue Huai remained calm and slowly said, "I was just thinking about what kind of problems in this world could possibly trouble Princess Yun'an. What I can't understand is, if even Your Highness can't solve these problems, how can a mere seventh-rank compiler like me possibly help Your Highness?"

Jiang Li said, "What's so strange about that? Although I am a princess, there are still many things I cannot easily get involved in, otherwise it would be against the rules. You should understand this. Of course, if I really want to achieve a certain goal, it's not impossible, but compared to the final reward, the price I pay is not worth it. That would be a losing proposition."

"clear."

Xue Huai nodded, a faint smile appearing in his eyes: "So, can I assume that Your Highness needs my help this time?"

That sounds a bit strange.

Jiang Li gazed into his eyes and asked curiously, "Don't you want to know who is suspected of framing the Xue family?"

"I would like to know."

Xue Huai did not mince words, and continued, "I have been thinking about this issue these past few days. To be able to simultaneously lay out plans in the Ministry of Works and the Hanlin Academy without anyone noticing, and even the Jing'an Division was unaware, the person behind this scheme must be exceptionally powerful. However—"

"But what?"

"Logically speaking, with such substantial resources, he could have orchestrated this scheme more meticulously, instead of placing all his bets on people like Gu Heng and Liu Pingshun."

"That's because the person behind the scenes didn't expect you to survive, let alone that your counterattack would be so swift, flipping the table before the storm could escalate."

Jiang Li looked at him with a half-smile, a hint of admiration on her fair face: "In the end, the other party underestimated you. That's to be expected, after all, your impression on the world these past two years has been quite poor. You have guts but lack tact, especially your ability to deal with people is a complete mess. If it were based on your previous performance, when that servant in the Hanlin Academy framed you, you probably would have just spoken harshly and used classical allusions, but you wouldn't have been able to find an effective way to refute him."

Xue Huai had no way of explaining this matter.

Jiang Li thought for a moment and asked, "Do you think the person behind this is someone powerful, and that you can't do anything with your current strength, so you don't want to create trouble for yourself?"

Xue Huai answered truthfully: "That's one point. The other point is what I said earlier. The things Your Highness has ordered will definitely be difficult to accomplish. I don't believe in my own abilities."

"In the end, it all boils down to them not wanting to do anything for me."

Jiang Li seemed unconcerned, and said leisurely, "I thought you were so frightened by this incident that you would only dare to hide in the Hanlin Academy as a pedantic scholar. Although your answer is not entirely satisfactory to me, it is not the worst answer."

Xue Huai was slightly puzzled.

The two had only met once before today, and during that first meeting, Jiang Li was extremely critical of him, and her words were full of sarcasm. How come she suddenly started to care about his situation after only a few days?
Xue Huai wasn't presumptuous; he just didn't quite understand what it had to do with this favored woman of heaven how he became.
"Since you don't want to know, I'm going to make you know anyway."

Before Xue Huai could refuse, Jiang Li continued, "First of all, I have no intention of belittling your father, but I hope you can understand that in this incident, both your father and you have suffered an unexpected disaster. The person behind the scenes did not set up the scheme against your Xue family, but used the Xue family as a pawn. The ultimate target is the entire Ministry of Works and Xue Minglun."

"The situation at court is complex. Xue Minglun, as Grand Secretary Ning's right-hand man and in charge of the Ministry of Works, a lucrative department, must have many people who want to get rid of him, such as the Second Grand Secretary Ouyang Hui. I once heard His Highness the Crown Prince say that Second Grand Secretary Ouyang's greatest wish in life is to become Grand Secretary. However, Grand Secretary Ning's position is as stable as Mount Tai, and he will not be so easily shaken. Perhaps Second Grand Secretary Ouyang can only take a step back and start by targeting Grand Secretary Ning's right-hand man."

"Besides Vice Minister Ouyang, the nobles and military leaders of our Great Yan are also suspects. The Ministry of Works is in charge of arms manufacturing and military settlements, and it is said that there is a great deal of shady dealing involved. If it comes to cunning and manipulation, how can those roughnecks in the army be a match for the officials of the Ministry of Works? In recent years, conflicts have frequently occurred between the two sides, but His Majesty has suppressed them all, and they have not caused any serious consequences. I think that the nobles may not be able to swallow this insult, and it is reasonable for them to dig a pit for Xue Minglun." At this point, Jiang Li paused, looked at Xue Huai who seemed to be deep in thought, and couldn't help but smile slightly.

Two figures flashed through Xue Huai's mind: Xie Jing, Duke of Wei, and Qin Wanli, Marquis of Zhenyuan. The former was the most senior nobleman in the Great Yan, while the latter represented the backbone of the state.

More than eighty years ago, Emperor Taizong unified the country. For nearly a century, the Great Yan Dynasty enjoyed peace and prosperity. The northern Tartars could not pose a substantial threat, so the status of the nobles in the court gradually declined and could not be compared with that of the heyday.

If it were back then, how could the Ministry of Works have dared to encroach on the military's interests?
Jiang Li picked up her teacup, raised her hand to cover her mouth with her sleeve, took a small sip, then stood up and walked slowly to the window, saying slowly, "There is another person who is a suspect. In fact, you know him better than I do. That is your mentor, Shen Wang."

Xue Huai shook his head slightly and said, "Teacher wouldn't do that."

"Because he won't harm the Xue family, and he certainly won't harm you?"

A cryptic smile appeared on Jiang Li's face. Her slender white fingers brushed over the files on the table as she said calmly, "Shen Wang is indeed unlikely to be the mastermind, but not for the reason you think. Rather, as you just said, this scheme is very crude, which is not Shen Wang's style."

This time, Xue Huai did not refute him head-on.

Jiang Li continued, "Aside from these three possibilities, there are four other suspects: my four imperial brothers, excluding His Highness the Crown Prince."

The current emperor has many children, including five adult princes. Apart from Crown Prince Jiang Xuan, the other four are the Prince of Chu, the Prince of Wei, the Prince of Dai, and the Prince of Liang.

According to Xue Huai's memory, these princes were all formidable figures. They either possessed powerful maternal clan influence, had extensive connections in the court, or enjoyed outstanding prestige among the common people, all of whom posed a threat to the Crown Prince.

However, Xue Huai did not let Jiang Li continue speaking. He stood up and said, "Your Highness, I cannot listen any further about matters concerning the Prince."

"It's just casual conversation, why are you so nervous?"

Jiang Li chuckled lightly, then said, "It's a good thing that you've become more composed after this ordeal, but it would be rather boring if you became timid as a mouse. Let's get down to business. His Highness the Crown Prince is currently gaining experience in the court, and His Majesty has arranged for him to observe the administration of the Ministry of Works this year. Although the deficit in the Ministry of Works won't affect His Highness the Crown Prince, Gu Heng's actions will likely negatively impact His Majesty's perception of him."

“My four elder brothers are in different situations, but they certainly wouldn’t mind joining forces temporarily when it comes to targeting His Highness the Crown Prince. After all, they only have a chance if the position of Crown Prince changes. Among the four elder brothers, Prince Chu is the most arrogant. He has always been proud and aloof, so he should look down on such methods.”

"In comparison, the possibility of the Prince of Wei and the Prince of Dai is greater. As for the reason... the Prince of Wei appears to be taciturn, and His Majesty once said that he likes to do bad things behind people's backs; the Prince of Dai, on the other hand, is somewhat extreme in temperament due to his childhood experiences, and likes to take unconventional actions."

At this moment, Xue Huai had a vague feeling that Princess Yun'an, who was standing gracefully not far away, was like his teacher, sparing no effort and even resorting to any means to stuff all the secrets she knew into his brain.

Jiang Li is actually a year or two younger than him.

"That's roughly the situation."

Jiang Li returned to the main seat, slightly raised her smooth chin, and looked at Xue Huai, saying, "Now you should know how naive and childish it was for you to keep clinging to those officials who were considered the prime minister's cronies for the past two years, right?"

Xue Huai remained unperturbed and calmly asked, "Your Highness, what exactly do you intend to do?"

Jiang Li asked curiously, "Why do you ask that?"

Xue Huai said calmly, "After listening to Your Highness's analysis, I have only one feeling. In fact, Your Highness does not want me to do things. This is just a pretext. What Your Highness really wants to do is to make me understand the complex situation in the court."

"In short, it seems that Your Highness is intentionally grooming me."

"But Your Highness seems to have forgotten that I am the third-ranked scholar in the Hanlin Academy, personally appointed by His Majesty, and my father is a loyal and upright man known throughout the world."

After saying this, Xue Huai quietly gazed into Jiang Li's clear, spring-like eyes.

There was one more thing he didn't say: who did he think he was to get involved in the conflicts between the Crown Prince and the princes?

Even high-ranking officials like him would avoid such a vortex, let alone a minor official of the seventh rank.
(End of this chapter)