Xue Rui alighted from the carriage in front of the residence. Just as a silver sedan with a dazzling silver cover left the door, the second-in-command of the Xue family, Xu Li, stood on the stone steps and watched respectfully as it left. When he turned his head and saw Xue Rui, he came down the steps to welcome him. "Eldest Young Master has returned."
Xue Rui looked at the sedan that was moving further away and turned his head. "Whose sedan is that?"
For a sedan to have a dazzling silver cover, it must be an official of the third rank and above. There were only a few of them in the imperial court.
Xu Li answered, "It is the Junior Supervisor of the Celestial Commissioner, Sir Ren."
"Oh?" Xue Rui was slightly surprised. The Celestial Commissioner, Ren Qishu, was the first person appointed by the Grand Advisor. He held a high position but was eccentric. He did not have much contact with the Xue family. He did not know why he had come today.
"Where is grandfather now?"
"Sir is meditating in the South Pavilion."
Xue Rui turned to enter the residence and went to the South Pavilion to see Xue Lingnan.
Minister Xue had just received a guest and there was still tea left on the stone table. A gold-plated lion-head cauldron had been lit not long ago. He was burning incense. When he saw Xue Rui enter the pavilion, he asked, "You did not return last night?"
"He drank a few cups with the Ninth Highness and the others, so he had a hangover in the restaurant." Xue Rui looked at the extra teacups on the table and asked, "I saw the junior supervisor's sedan leaving just now. May I know why he came today?"
Xue Lingnan shook his head. "Just talking about an old matter."
Xue Rui saw that he did not want to talk about it in detail, so he did not pursue the matter. He talked about the announcement he saw on the way back. After Xue Lingnan heard this, he said, "I already know about this matter. This is an errand that the Emperor assigned to the Celestial Commissioner. There is no need to care about it. Leave it to others to worry about."
With the status of the Xue family in the imperial court, they did not need to do these extra things to please the Emperor. However, Xue Rui deliberately mentioned it in front of Xue Lingnan. He had other thoughts. "I have never heard that the son of Yun Hua had a descendant. Have you heard about it long ago?"
Xue Lingnan recalled, "This matter was spoken of a long time ago. No one has mentioned it in recent years. Back then, Yun Hua and Princess Luyue did indeed have a son. After the couple passed away, the son was sent to Taoism by the royal family. It was said that he was carrying out the wishes of his parents. This matter gradually faded from people's minds.
Xue Rui asked suspiciously, "Then why did you not send someone to receive him? Instead, you allowed him to go back and forth alone. He disappeared without a trace and then came back to look for him so openly?"
Xue Lingnan pinched the tip of his beard and looked at him. After a moment of silence, he slowly told him the hidden story. "Why did you not send someone to receive him? What do you think Prince Xiang did when he left the capital last year? He used the excuse of sightseeing to go to Mount Longhu to receive the Daozi. Who knew that he would come back empty handed. Prince Xiang returned to the capital alone. He had brought the portrait of the Daozi with him. On the way, he searched for him but he returned empty-handed. Even the portrait was lost on the way. Because of this, His Majesty flew into a rage. Prince Xiang admitted that he did not do his job well and closed his doors."
When Xue Rui finished listening to the whole story, he was very shocked. After thinking for a moment, he came to a sudden realization: "In that case, the lost item that I asked someone to help Your Highness find during the Grand Examination this year was that Daozi's portrait?"
Xue Lingnan nodded.
Xue Rui was bewildered in his heart. Since the portrait was lost, then where did the portrait on today's announcement come from? Could it be that the portrait was found? That's not right. It hasn't been long since the scroll of the Grand Examination was sealed, so how could it be that fast? He pondered in his heart and felt that there was another possibility, so he probed, "All these years, could it be that the Ninth Prince has been cultivating together with the descendants of Yun Hua?"
A few days after the Ninth Prince returned to the capital, the Celestial Commissioner posted a notice to look for the descendants of Yun Hua and Princess Luyue. There was even a portrait. This made it hard for Xue Rui not to link these two matters together.
"Yes, they are cultivating with the same sect." Not only did Xue Lingnan's words affirm Xue Rui's guess, it also made Xue Rui think even more in his heart. The Ninth Prince, Liu Tan, was younger than Xue Lingnan and was the only son of his aunt, Imperial Consort Xue. Due to his frail body, Liu Tan left the capital to learn the Dao at a young age and returned to the capital once every three years. Since childhood, Liu Tan and Xue Lingnan were cousins, so they could be considered to be close. It wasn't that Xue Lingnan hadn't heard Liu Tan talk about the matters of the Dao all these years, but he had never heard Liu Tan mention the descendant of Yun Hua Yi and Princess Lu Yue. Now it seemed like Liu Tan had intentionally concealed it.
Looking at his grandfather's attitude, it did not seem like it was the first day he found out about this, yet he did not mention a word about it, and only told the Daoist today when he returned to the capital. Xue Rui pondered over it, and suddenly, he understood.
He understood why his grandfather asked him to befriend the Seventh Prince, Liu Hao, and why he asked him to find an excuse to turn against the Seventh Prince.
It was inevitable to talk about the situation in the Imperial Harem. The current Emperor had one empress and three concubines. The eldest son was the Empress, but he died young. The Empress was sick and weak. There was only one daughter left, and there was no hope for her to continue.
Then, there was his aunt, Imperial Concubine Xue. More than ten years ago, she gave birth to a son, Liu Tan. She lived in the mountains all year round. Because she was far away from the court, the important officials didn't pay attention to her.
There was also Concubine Lv Xian, who gave birth to three sons. Unfortunately, the Third Prince died of an illness at the age of six, the Fifth Prince drowned at the age of four, leaving behind the Eleventh Prince, who was young and immoral, who followed behind Liu Hao all day without any limelight.
Finally, there was the Seventh Prince, Liu Hao's birth mother, Concubine Yin Shu. Concubine Shu came from a military family. Her father was the First Assistant of the late Emperor's Cabinet. He was bestowed the title of Tiger General who protected the country. He was good at fighting and had outstanding military service. Six years ago, when he died, the Emperor personally sent him off with his coffin. After his death, he ordered his son, Yin Peng, to inherit the title of Duke. The Yin family was a noble family. They were only below the Emperor's surname. They were the most prosperous family in the capital. Even the Xue family, who had served the Emperor for six generations and three generations of elders, had to temporarily follow behind them.
The Crown Prince had not been appointed, and the Eastern Palace had no ruler. However, everyone in the court knew this. Most of them privately saw Liu Hao as the future Emperor. There were countless people who wanted to flatter him. Because Liu Hao was talented in both literature and martial arts, no prince could compare to him.
When Xue Rui and Liu Hao were friends, he was still young and full of vigor. He once thought that Liu Hao was courting the Emperor and showing weakness to the Yin family. He had no intention of taking the position. Now, it seemed that Liu Hao's actions that day were just to deceive people and confuse them. It was not that he did not want to, but it was just not the right time.
Two months ago, he and Liu Hao had a falling out, so the two families did not have any contact. Although there were discussions in the capital, they were only rumors and did not involve anything important. It was probably because Liu Tan was still in the mountains and no one knew about it. Xue Rui thought that his grandfather must have known that Liu Tan was going to return to the capital at that time. After he returned this time, there was no need for him to go back. Therefore, he let him and Liu Hao cut off contact in advance. It was better than having a falling out now and being criticized by others. It was so that outsiders could not understand the position and attitude of the Xue family.
How could such a painstaking arrangement not have any ulterior motives?
After thinking about this, Xue Rui looked at the old man in front of him again. He was in awe and a little heavy.
"Cheng Bi, you were brought up by grandfather. Your father passed away early and your mother was weak. Grandfather knew that you were smart and sensible and you were more competitive than others since you were young. Therefore, he did not hide many things from you. We are the only branch of the Xue family, but we do not have many children. Your Second Uncle is like that, so we cannot count on him. Grandfather has always been strict with you because he has high hopes for you. In the future, the rise or fall of the Xue family, whether it is a blessing or a curse, depends on whether you live up to expectations. "
Xue Lingnan suddenly sighed with emotion, and then he stood up from the cushion before raising his hand to pat Xue Rui's broad shoulder. As he looked at this grandson of his that was even taller than him now, there was a gratified and worried expression in his eyes, and then he sighed before shaking his head and leaving.
Leaving Xue Rui alone in the pavilion to think.
After drinking the medicine soup, Yu Shu woke up in the afternoon. Her headache was much better, but her throat was dry and her nose was blocked. She still had cold symptoms.
Seeing that she had woken up, Xiao Die and Xiao Qing hurriedly poured tea for her and helped her up from her seat. After a while, Lin Fu heard the news and came in. He stood outside the door and reported that the Ji Family and the Xia Jiang Family had each sent a box of silver this morning. They took the IOUs and asked her how she was going to deal with the large sum of money. In fact, because the two boxes of silver were personally asked by Yu Shu last night, he didn't dare to make the decision to keep it in the account.
Yu Shu felt uncomfortable, so she did not think about what Lin Fu was thinking. She said in a rough voice, "Just take it into the income of the restaurant. How much did we lose yesterday? Let me have a look at the account book."
Hearing this, Lin Fu beamed with joy, "Including this money, we actually made more than 400 taels yesterday. I will go and get the account book for you."
Originally, when they opened the restaurant on the first day, they planned to lose money with the excuse of free food and wine. Unexpectedly, they made a profit after the two suckers paid the bill.
After a while, the detailed account book of yesterday was sent to Yu Shu. She glanced through it and did not find anything wrong. Then she asked Lin Fu about the business today. Hearing that there were many customers, she was relieved. She was afraid that the customers yesterday would be scared by the price of the dishes in the Forgotten Airport and would not dare to come again. It seemed that there were still many rich people in the north of the city.
After dealing with the business, Yu Shu asked Lin Fu, "Is the kitchen busy now?"
"I'm not in a hurry. The excitement of lunch has passed. Miss, you must be hungry. What would you like to eat? I'll ask the kitchen to make it." Lin Fu's attitude towards Yu Shu was obviously warmer and more attentive than yesterday.
The first reason was that he had seen Yu Shu's temper at the banquet table with the nobles yesterday. He knew that she wasn't someone to be trifled with, so he was afraid of her. The second reason was that she had dealt with those two troublemakers with just a few words last night. He had seen Yu Shu's methods and knew how powerful she was, so he was convinced.
"See if there is any light porridge soup. Bring me a bowl and make a few vegetarian dishes. Find a food box to put them in." Yu Shu paused and said, "No matter how much you spend, put it on my account. Don't confiscate it."
Lin Fu hesitated for a moment. He remembered that Yu Shu asked him about the sea bass soup last time, so he did not say anything and left.
Yu Shu put on her clothes and sat up from the bed. She asked the maidservant to fetch water for her to wash up, changed into a clean robe, and combed her hair. Xiao Qing saw that she was ready to leave after tidying up, so she persuaded, "Miss, are you going back? Young Master ordered you to rest here for two days. It is more convenient with this maidservant serving you."
At this time, Yu Shu was thinking about Jing Chen. Now that her body had recovered, she could get down from the bed. How could she be willing to stay any longer? She coaxed them a little and called Gui Liu over. She gave him some silver to hire a sedan chair. After eating the porridge, she carried the food box and left on the sedan chair.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
