Prime Minister

Chapter 261, Page 260: [Heart Removal]

Late April, southern Hangzhou.

In late spring, Phoenix Mountain is lush with vegetation, its new green leaves layered upon layer.

A mountain breeze blows from the Qiantang River, carrying moist air and a faint floral fragrance.

Princess Yun'an's residence was set up in a secluded and elegant royal villa with a wide view on the mountainside.

The pavilions and towers are built along the mountainside, and you can enjoy a panoramic view of the vast river and the bustling city of Hangzhou just by opening the window.

The hall was filled with the elegant fragrance of sandalwood. Jiang Li leaned against the chaise lounge by the window, playing with a warm white jade pendant in her hand, but her gaze was somewhat vacant as she looked at the layered mountain scenery outside the window.

Su Erniang stood to the side, holding a secret report that had just been sent from Yangzhou by express courier. She said softly, "Your Highness, this is a secret letter sent by Xue Tongzhi."

Jiang Li did not turn around, maintaining her posture of looking out the window, but her originally lazy and casual gaze seemed to freeze for a moment.

A subtle silence fell over the flower hall.

They arrived in Hangzhou a month ago, and Jiang Li focused her energy on the prayer ceremony until three days ago when she finally completed all the rituals.

Throughout the process, Jiang Li remained focused, and Su Erniang followed her instructions, ensuring that nothing was disturbed except for a few very important pieces of information, including the engagement between the Xue and Shen families.

Su Erniang still remembered the slightly strange expression on Jiang Li's face when she told her about it three days ago—the engagement between Xue and Shen had indeed been decided long ago, but Jiang Li didn't seem to mind at all; on the contrary, she seemed to find it somewhat amusing.

At that moment, Su Erniang did not know whether she should feel at ease or uneasy.

She knew that Jiang Li had an extraordinary interest in Xue Huai, even some kind of unspeakable affection. In addition, Jiang Li did not like others to be out of her control. Logically speaking, the fact that she could calmly view Xue Huai and Shen Qingluan's marriage should be a cause for celebration. However, Su Erniang always felt that things were not so simple.

In other words, she is finding it increasingly difficult to understand Jiang Li's thoughts.

Time seemed to be stretched.

Jiang Li finally turned her head slowly, her expression calm and her voice devoid of emotion, still in her usual languid tone: "Secret letter? What did it say?"

Su Erniang understood her meaning, so she opened the envelope, took out the letter, and said with slight surprise, "Prefect Xue wants to ask Your Highness for a favor, which is related to the Lianghuai Salt Industry Association."

"This guy……"

Jiang Li sat up, reached for a cup of warm pre-Qingming Longjing tea from the small table beside the couch, took a small sip, and smiled, "He only comes to us when he needs something, and ignores us when he doesn't. It's getting more and more outrageous. Tell me, what trouble has he run into this time?"

Su Erniang felt relieved and smiled apologetically, "It's not a big problem. This matter is related to the Hangzhou Maritime Trade Office. The salt merchants of Lianghuai are planning to build a fleet. They submitted their application for ship permits to Ma Shun, the eunuch in charge of the Hangzhou Maritime Trade Office, but it was blocked."

"Ma Shun?"

Jiang Li thought for a moment and then said, "I remember he was the adopted son of Zhang Xian, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial?"

"Your Highness has a good memory."

Su Erniang praised him, then said, "Ma Shun is greedy and has a huge appetite. Moreover, the inner court and the outer court are not connected, so he is not very afraid of Xue Tongzhi and Shen Shangshu. Xue Tongzhi said in his letter that Ma Shun has been delaying and refusing to comply, using the excuse that salt transport is related to the national economy and people's livelihood and needs to be carefully verified. If he just wanted to get some benefits, that would be fine, but Ma Shun has subtly revealed his attitude of wanting to take a share, which is obviously not a condition that Xue Tongzhi and the Lianghuai salt merchants can accept."

"hehe."

Jiang Li gave a soft snort.

It's not surprising that Ma Shun has such a long reach; most palace eunuchs behave this way once they are transferred to the outside world. After all, they have to give most of the money they earn to the officials in the Directorate of Ceremonial. As long as the higher-ups are willing to put in the effort to protect them, they don't even have much fear of the censors in the outer court.

Ultimately, as the emperor's servants, these eunuchs, as long as they were loyal enough, were treated with far greater leniency by the emperor than the court officials.

Thinking of this, Jiang Li turned to Su Erniang and asked, "What do you think?"

Su Erniang knew that this question was asking her opinion on the formation of a fleet by the salt merchants of Lianghuai. After a moment's thought, she replied, "Your Highness, Magistrate Xue has a grand vision. From the moment he took office in Yangzhou, he first purged the bureaucracy, then investigated corruption in the salt administration, and now he is preparing to address the long-standing problems in the canal transport system. It is clear that his goal is not merely to govern Yangzhou, but rather..."

"But what?"

Seeing that she hesitated, Jiang Li said meaningfully, "But you want to remove the first two words of the Yangzhou New Policy?"

This topic is somewhat sensitive. Throughout history, those who sought reform and change have generally met with bad ends.

Su Erniang said softly, "Perhaps Xue Tongzhi hasn't thought that far ahead. He's just dealing with the immediate problem. According to reports from our spies in Yangzhou, Jiang Fangzheng, the son of the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner Jiang Jizhou, is stirring up trouble in Yangzhou. The Grand Canal Administration has obviously noticed the actions of the Lianghuai salt merchants, and there will inevitably be a struggle between the two sides."

"They really are a handful."

Jiang Li shook her head slightly, then calmly said, "Issue my imperial decree to summon Ma Shun, the eunuch in charge of the Hangzhou Maritime Trade Office, to come to the Phoenix Mountain headquarters for an audience immediately."

"Yes! I obey my command!"

Su Erniang perked up and immediately agreed to step down and make the arrangements.

afternoon.

The atmosphere in the main hall of the headquarters was solemn.

Jiang Li sat upright in the main seat, dressed in ordinary clothes yet exuding an air of authority. The palace servants and eunuchs standing in the hall all held their breath, so much so that a pin drop could be heard.

Ma Shun, the eunuch in charge of the Maritime Trade Office, walked in with a bow. He had a fair complexion and a slightly plump figure. He was wearing a brand-new python robe and his face was full of fawning smiles.

"This servant, Ma Shun, pays her respects to Princess Yun'an! May Your Highness live a thousand years!"

Ma Shun knelt down with a thud and bowed deeply in worship, his expression extremely submissive.

"Get up."

Jiang Li's tone was indifferent, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Thank you for your grace, Your Highness!"

Ma Shun carefully stood up, still bowing, not daring to look directly at the princess's face.

"Ma Shun".

Jiang Li picked up the teacup beside her and gently skimmed off the foam with the lid. Her movements were elegant and slow, yet they put immense pressure on Ma Shun. She said leisurely, "Before I left the capital, His Majesty specifically instructed me to ask you how you were doing with your duties at the Hangzhou Maritime Trade Office?"

Ma Shunxin's heart tightened, and he quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I am deeply grateful for the Emperor's great favor in managing the maritime trade. I have worked tirelessly day and night, fearing that I might fail to live up to His Majesty's grace. All matters are handled in accordance with the regulations of the court, and I dare not slack off in the slightest."

"Oh? You dare not slack off?"

Jiang Li put down her teacup and said coldly, "Then let me ask you, why hasn't the application for a ship permit from the Lianghuai Salt Industry Association been approved yet? Is it because their documents are not in compliance with regulations? Is the ship unqualified after inspection? Or are the sailors incompetent?"

Ma Shun's mind raced, and he recited his prepared explanation: "Your Highness, the salt transport is of paramount importance. This servant was thinking that we must thoroughly verify everything to ensure that there are no mistakes before issuing the ship permits, so as to avoid any oversights that could damage the court's salt tax revenue and betray His Majesty's trust—"

"enough!"

Jiang Li interrupted him coldly, her noble and stern aura evident: "In front of me, put away your high-sounding nonsense! I know that a powerful eunuch like you wouldn't take a princess like me, who only has the title, seriously. When I return to the capital, I will naturally go to find that Zhang Bingbi and ask him how he managed to train such an audacious servant like you."

"thump!"

Ma Shun's legs went weak, and he knelt down again, kowtowing repeatedly: "Your Highness, even if I had the guts of a bear and the gall of a leopard, I would never dare to be disrespectful in front of you!"

"Don't you dare?"

Jiang Li stood up, walked slowly to Ma Shun, looked down at his trembling body, and said coldly, "Do you think you can hide the things you've done in Hangzhou from anyone's eyes?"

Ma Shun was truly terrified. If he had known beforehand that the salt merchants of Lianghuai could get in touch with Princess Yun'an, how could he have dared to manipulate them?

Although Princess Yun'an was not the emperor's legitimate daughter, the emperor doted on her beyond measure, and the princes and nobles treated her like their own sister. Neither Zeng Min nor Zhang Xian in the Directorate of Ceremonial dared to be negligent in front of Jiang Li, let alone a mere eunuch like him.

Ma Shun was so frightened that he could only kowtow repeatedly, saying, "This servant is guilty, please have mercy, Your Highness!"

Jiang Li snorted coldly and said indifferently, "I can spare you this time, but do you know what you should do?"

"Understood! This servant understands!"

As if granted a pardon, Ma Shunru quickly replied, "Thank you for your mercy, Your Highness! This servant will return immediately and take care of it without the slightest delay. I will ensure it is done perfectly! Please rest assured, Your Highness!"

"get out."

Jiang Li waved her hand in disgust, not giving him another glance.

Ma Shun practically tumbled and crawled away.

People like them, the emperor's servants, were completely different from the ministers of the outer court. Their lives and deaths were entirely at the mercy of the nobles. Although Jiang Li couldn't directly order his death, as long as she went back and acted coquettishly in front of the emperor and empress, even her godfather Zhang Xian couldn't protect him. Therefore, he didn't dare to hesitate any longer and wished he could fly back to the Maritime Trade Office immediately to settle that matter.

Jiang Li walked to the window and gazed at the lush scenery of Phoenix Mountain outside, as if lost in thought.

Su Erniang stepped closer and carefully chose her words, saying, "This time, His Highness has once again done Xue Tongzhi a great favor. I think he will understand how much His Highness values ​​him."

"Haven't I helped him enough before? Apart from one lousy song... humph, I've never seen him put in any effort at all."

Jiang Li's words left Su Erniang both amused and exasperated, wondering to herself if it really was a terrible poem.

If it were truly a flawed poem, why would Your Highness bring it along on your journey south?
Of course, she wouldn't expose the matter, but simply followed Jiang Li's words and said, "If Xue Tongzhi were the kind of person who flatters and fawns, why would Your Highness place such high hopes on him? Only a young official with both excellent character and ability like him is worthy of Your Highness's high regard."

Jiang Li did not refute this statement. She knew that Su Erniang's words hit the nail on the head, but...

After a moment, Jiang Li suddenly asked softly, "Second Aunt, how can one person remember another person forever?"

Su Erniang was taken aback.

Because she was standing to the side and behind, she didn't see the cunning and dangerous glint that suddenly appeared in Jiang Li's beautiful eyes.

(End of this chapter)