In the pavilion in the middle of the lake, Li Yi was cracking melon seeds. Occasionally, he would throw a few melon seeds into the lake to attract a few fish. The proud Lolita, with her sharp eyes and quick hands, caught them with a small net. She then quickly ran to her private courtyard and put them in a transparent fish tank.
When only the two of them were left in the pavilion, Li Mingzhu stood up from the stone bench and said slowly, "Grand Tutor Chu has been going around these days. He has gathered some influential scholars and encouraged the scholars in the capital and the vicinity of the capital to write a letter to ask father to recall the King of Shu from Shuzhou and have him enter the Eastern Palace to preside over the court."
"What did His Majesty say?"
Li Yi had already peeled a plate of melon seeds. He picked up the plate and gestured to her.
Her Royal Highness took the plate and gathered all the melon seeds that he had spent a long time peeling into her hands. Li Yi secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva and wondered if he had expressed the wrong intention just now. When he handed the plate to her, he clearly wanted her to pinch a few seeds as a gesture …
The Princess ate all the melon seeds in a way that made Li Yi envious. Then she said, "Father has not expressed his opinion, but this matter has greatly affected the scholars in the capital. It is not a long-term solution to leave it like this. Moreover, Grand Tutor Chu has already begun to visit some officials in the court. It should be for this matter. Many of those people were his students. After all, they have a righteous cause, and Grand Tutor Chu has personally come forward, I'm afraid …"
The same method used by the Cui family and Grand Tutor Chu had a completely different effect.
After all, the latter was simply the benchmark in the hearts of the scholars of the Jing Kingdom. With a casual wave of his hand, countless people would echo him. There were peaches and plums all over the world. To be precise, the old emperor was also one of those peaches and plums.
Grand Tutor Chu's influence in the Jing Kingdom could no longer be described as a hundred people at a single call.
If it weren't for the fact that the King of Shu had made such a grave mistake, which could be described as a bastard or a rebellion, he wouldn't even need to make such a big fuss. All he had to do was stand out and make his stand clear. Naturally, countless people would follow him.
But then again, Li Yi also felt that the old Emperor treated the King of Shu and the Cui family differently from the other princes. It was even somewhat out of line with his usual style of doing things. They had been monarch and minister, or friends for so long, and there was a tacit understanding between the Cui family and the King of Shu.
"Don't worry. You know His Majesty's temperament." Li Yi smiled and said, "What he has decided is not so easy to change."
The tsundere loli had already released the fish, washed her hands, and ran over. As soon as she entered the pavilion, she asked Li Yi, "Sir, where are the melon seeds you peeled for me? I want to eat them all at once …"
Then she saw the empty plate on the table.
"Sir …" She pouted and looked at Li Yi with an aggrieved expression. Li Yi looked at MIngzhu, and the proud Lolita followed his gaze to look at MIngzhu. MIngzhu stared blankly at Li Yi, and the proud Lolita's gaze shifted to him again.
"Sir …"
Li Yi helplessly pinched her face and said, "Okay, okay, okay. I'll peel more for you right away …"
On a grassy slope across the lake, a figure crawling there finally put down the binoculars in his hands.
"Something's wrong, something's wrong indeed …" Li Xuan hung the binoculars around his neck and slid down the slope.
Through many long-distance observations, he could already confirm that MIngzhu and Li Yi did not have the kind of relationship that he had always thought. They were using this relationship to cover up something, something that they did not want him to know.
What was it that made MIngzhu willing to put down her reputation? The fire of curiosity in his heart burned even more intensely.
On the way back to the Academy of Sciences, he ordered a guard behind him. "Bring me the person from yesterday."
The guard responded. Not long after, a skinny old man was brought in.
After walking into the room, the old man immediately bowed respectfully. "This commoner greets Your Highness!"
"Dispense with the formalities." Li Xuan waved his hand and looked at him. He asked suspiciously, "You said that you can guess what other people are saying by looking at their lips?"
The old man immediately said, "Your Highness, this commoner has studied 'lip-reading' for decades. Although I can't say that I can guess everything correctly, I can roughly guess it."
"Teach me." Li Xuan looked at him and said, "Didn't you want to pass down your unique skill? I'll leave a place for you in the Academy of Sciences …"
The old man was stunned. He immediately knelt on the ground and said repeatedly, "Thank you, Your Highness! Thank you, Your Highness!"
…
The Chu family.
The middle-aged man helped the violently coughing Grand Tutor Chu back to his room. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Father, why don't you not go out for the next two days? You've just recovered from your cold. The doctor said that you should rest well at home …"
"Since it's already begun, it can't be stopped …" Grand Tutor Chu covered his mouth and coughed. "How has Ping 'er been these days?"
The middle-aged man sighed. "He locks himself in his room every day and doesn't say a word … But this makes me even more worried."
Grand Tutor Chu turned to look in a certain direction and murmured, "It's my fault. I've restrained him too much in the past …"
"Everyone, let's not be restrained today. We won't go home until we're drunk!"
At the Cui family banquet, Cui Qingming faced the crowd and laughed. He then raised his cup and downed it in one gulp.
"Lord Grand Tutor is willing to help us. This time, we definitely won't lose."
"Lord Grand Tutor is still the best. We usually don't even get to see those great scholars, much less ask them to help us."
"This time, even His Majesty will have no choice but to agree to recall the King of Shu back to the capital …"
"The letter of the people has been presented. Now, we're just waiting for an opportunity …"
…
In these two years, the King of Shu's faction had suffered a series of blows. If they didn't do something to raise their morale, they would probably never be able to regain their confidence.
And to them, what could be more important than helping the King of Shu return to the capital?
"Come, Brother Cui, let me toast you."
The crowd repeatedly toasted Cui Qingming. Although he was the second son of the Cui family, during this period of time, the family head, Cui Qingze, had been depressed. Cui Qingming made all the decisions in the Cui family. Although he wasn't the family head, he was no different from the family head.
In a corner of the banquet, Ceng Shichun turned to look at someone beside him. "Why aren't you drinking?"
Chen Chong shook his head. "This wine doesn't have any taste."
"I think so too." Ceng Shichun smiled and picked up a purple clay teapot. "They drink wine, we drink tea."
Qin family.
After dinner, Qin Yan raised his head to look at the old man and asked, "Lord Father, what Grand Tutor Chu said today …"
Qin Xiang glanced at the person below, who was engrossed in eating. He shook his head and said, "My Qin family will not participate in this matter."
Although the brothers of the Qin family who were officials in the court still had countless doubts, since their lord father had already spoken, they could only nod.
On the way back to the room, the large man asked the Qin family's Fifth Master in surprise, "Fifth Master, who is that old man who came to our house today? Why does even the Prime Minister have to bow to him?"
The Qin family's Fifth Master explained, "That is Grand Tutor Chu. When Lord Father was young, he was also his disciple."
The large man still wanted to ask more, but the Qin family's Fifth Master's footsteps paused. Then, he quickened his pace and walked to the door. Seeing a figure at the door, he asked in surprise, "Lord Father, why have you come?"
"I couldn't sleep, so I took a walk." Qin Xiang shook his head and said, "It's getting late. You should rest early."
The Qin family's Fifth Master nodded. Qin Xiang turned to leave, but his footsteps paused again. He turned his head and asked, "He 'er, what do you think of the current court?"
"Didn't Father say that the current court has rarely been so clear in decades, and that I shouldn't listen to the nonsense of outsiders?" The Qin family's Fifth Master paused, then said, "Moreover, I'm not in the court, so I really can't see clearly …"
Qin Xiang raised his head to look at the dark clouds covering the night sky, where not a single star could be seen. He sighed and muttered, "The sky is about to change. I just can't see clearly …"
… …
The proud lolita who had recently come to their house to freeload frequently looked at her dazed husband and reminded him, "Sir, the meat in the pot is cooked."
Li Yi came back to his senses. Looking at the slightly curled up lamb meat in the pot, he shook his head and said, "There's no rush. Let's wait for it to float up …"
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