In ancient times, the powerful and wealthy seized power step by step.

The headquarters of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was located in the alley north of Donghua Gate, while the office of the Grand Secretariat was in Wenyuan Pavilion, which was in Wenhua Hall behind Donghua Gate. The two were very close to each other.

Since it was Gu Zhao's urgent matter, Shen Xu dismounted, took the letter, and said to Xiong Kun:

"Give it to me. Keep an eye on the horse for me. I'll deliver the letter to him and then come out."

Xiong Kun quickly led the horse:

"Yes, thank you, Lord Shen. Please make sure to deliver this letter to the young master personally. This letter is very important to the young master, and we must not delay it."

Shen Xu waved his hand to indicate that he understood, took the letter, showed the guard his waist token for entering the palace, entered the Donghua Gate, walked a few steps into the Wenhua Hall, went around the main hall, entered the Wenyuan Pavilion, and arrived at the duty room of the Inner Cabinet.

At this hour, it should be time for officials to be on duty after court, but in the cabinet office, not a single Grand Secretary could be seen, and Gu Zhao was nowhere to be found.

Shen Xu randomly called out to someone and asked:

"Have you seen Minister Gu?"

The person called out was startled, thinking he had committed a crime and was being arrested by the Imperial Guards. He stammered, "..."

"His Majesty has just summoned Minister Gu to the Qianqing Palace for a meeting."

Seeing how scared he was, Shen Xu glanced at him again.

Just one extra glance was enough to make one's legs tremble; if not for holding onto the table, one would have fallen off on the spot.

Everyone is so afraid of him.

He was just asking a question.

Once upon a time, everyone was so afraid of him.

But now, at least one person is willing to show him compassion.

Although Gu Zhao was involved with her, it didn't matter. As long as she agreed to marry him, he would talk to Gu Zhao.

Gu Zhao, surrounded by noble ladies from the capital, had many choices, but he only had this one. Gu Zhao would understand him.

With the letter between his fingers, Shen Xu turned around expressionlessly. In a good mood today, he decided to go all the way and went to the Qianqing Palace to find Gu Zhao.

I wonder what urgent matter could be happening in Shu that would make Gu Zhao so worried.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard has eyes and ears all over the world. If something really important happened, there's no reason why Shen Xu wouldn't know.

The only major issue in the west right now is the unrest caused by the barbarians, but that's still a long way from Sichuan.

Thinking this, Shen Xu wandered to the Qianqing Palace and could hear a commotion coming from inside.

However, this is normal. Imperial meetings are not like dinner parties. Even in front of the emperor, the Grand Secretaries can argue every few days because of differing political views or interests, sometimes even to the point of physical altercations. Shen Xu has encountered this many times.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. If the people below are noisy, the emperor might not be unhappy. But if there's only one voice among them, then the emperor would be furious.

The eunuch Qiu, who was guarding the door, remained calm and even greeted Shen Xu with a smile.

"The Grand Secretaries are having a meeting at a crucial moment. If you wish to reply, please wait a little longer."

Along with Eunuch Qiu's voice, a senior official in the hall shouted angrily:

"Building the Huiyi Temple would benefit the present and future generations, bringing blessings to posterity. Why have you repeatedly obstructed such a beneficial undertaking for the country and its people? What are your true intentions?"

Another Grand Secretary spoke slowly:

"Jianhui Medical Temple is Jianhui Medical Temple, and salt law reform is salt law reform. Don't confuse the two. Jianhui Medical Temple is a great thing, so of course it's the best thing. I'll take the lead and donate five hundred taels of silver to help build it. But salt is the foundation of the nation. Reforming the salt law by hastily abolishing the salt permits and replacing them with tickets is too rash. If we're not careful, we'll be touching the very foundation of the nation."

The old minister, who had been cursing, wouldn't let it go:

"You're being unreasonable and stubborn, refusing to reform the salt administration. Where will you get the money to build Huiyi Temple?! You think you can build it with just five hundred taels of silver?!"

The leisurely Grand Secretary continued at his leisurely pace:

"Look, look! Who's the one making trouble and refusing to reform? Why is there no money? Didn't Lord Gu just arrest a few heinous salt merchants a while ago?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Xu, who had been uninvolved and indifferent, suddenly felt his heart pounding and a sense of foreboding washed over him.

Gu Zhao's voice rang out from inside the hall:

"The salt merchants' families involved in the smuggling case have had their property confiscated and confiscated by the state treasury some time ago, and the funds have been allocated to the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Office for shipbuilding."

Shen Xu's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He kept thinking, "Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it."

If the Emperor suddenly remembers Zhang Shen in the imperial prison, according to the Grand Secretary's opinion today, Zhang Shen will likely be sentenced to immediate execution, and the Zhang family's silver will be confiscated to alleviate the current shortage of funds for the construction of Huiyi Temple.

If he were to be executed immediately, he would have no room to maneuver and would have to break his promise to Lady Zhu!

As fate would have it, the Emperor spoke:

"Now that you mention it, I remember there's another one, what's his name again? I've had the Embroidered Uniform Guard keep him under wraps and haven't interrogated him yet. Someone, go to the Embroidered Uniform Guard and bring Shen Xu here."

Before Shen Xu could even react, Eunuch Qiu had already pushed open the door and gone in to report:

"It must be said that His Majesty is wise and powerful, and his foresight is unparalleled. Lord Shen is just waiting outside for a reply."

The palace doors opened, and before the Emperor, Shen Xu had no chance to hesitate or delay, and followed Eunuch Qiu into the palace.

As soon as Shen Xu entered the palace, Gu Zhao immediately looked over, but in front of the Emperor and the Grand Secretaries, there was no opportunity for the two of them to speak or exchange messages.

Upon seeing Shen Xu, the Emperor still couldn't recall his name and said:

"You've come at the right time. Last time, in the salt smuggling case, the one I had you detain and interrogate there, what was his name again? Bring him here later."

If it weren't for the emperor, but someone else, Shen Xu would have had eight hundred ways to refuse.

But in front of the Emperor, the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard could not, much less should, utter a single word of dissent.

Shen Xu bowed and replied:

"Yes, Your Majesty."

At this moment, Gu Zhao spoke again:

"After being locked up for so long, I don't know how filthy she has become, Your Majesty. Bringing her up like this, with her kneeling on the ground, would only offend your eyes. Why don't we have her cleaned up today and bring her up again tomorrow?"