Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2383: Unusual Movement (II) Using the Killing Stick

"How many feet has the snow fallen? Have there been any reports of collapsed houses in the counties near the city?" Gao Youshi gasped, his voice quite weak, but he still insisted on speaking: "Tell Shuntian Prefecture not to sit in the government office waiting for reports, but to send people to various places under its jurisdiction to understand the situation. Once the disaster situation is confirmed, those who need supervision will be supervised, and those who need assistance will be sent.

If you are short of manpower, you can come to me and ask for a warrant to go to the Five Military Governor's Office to temporarily call in the Production and Construction Corps to help. If you are short of money, come to me, the Ministry of Revenue still has some emergency money..."

"Master!" Menggu Zhezhe interrupted, "You are so sick, why do you still care about these trivial matters? The capital is the best place, and Shuntian Prefecture is such a big government office, it can't be that it can't even handle such a small matter. You still have to work hard for them, what's the matter?

Master, just take good care of yourself. The sky won't fall. When you are well again, you can check how they did their job. You are the ruler of the world, how can you ruin your health for such a small matter? ... Come, drink this bowl of ginseng soup first."

Gao Fusi frowned and said, "I just have a cold, why should I drink ginseng soup?"

"The cold is just a symptom... The professors said that the root cause of your illness this time is that you have been overworked recently and have not slept enough, which has damaged your vitality. Ginseng is the best for replenishing vitality, so the government immediately made some ginseng soup for you."

Gao Youshi was a little averse to "taking medicine for a minor illness" and still frowned, "In that case, I'll go to bed early tonight and get some sleep, so why should I drink it?"

Menggu Zhezhe looked a little unhappy, and pouted, "This was personally selected from the finest ginseng presented by the Yehe tribe, and I personally watched the maids who came with the dowry carefully brew it..."

"Uh, then... this bowl then." Gao Fusi coughed twice and gestured with his hand. Menggu Zhezhe hurried over with the bowl to feed him. Unexpectedly, Gao Fusi smiled bitterly and said, "I'd better do it myself. I just caught a cold and it seems like the sky is going to take me away..."

Menggu Zhezhe's face changed drastically, and she gently pressed her hand on his mouth: "Don't talk nonsense." Seeing Gao Fushi's surprised expression, she was frightened again, and quickly withdrew her hand, and said nervously: "Master, I am impolite."

Gao Fusi shook his head and said, "We can do this kind of impoliteness more often." Then he took the bowl of ginseng soup from her hand, put it to his nose and smelled it, saying, "Such a strong smell of medicine..."

Even so, he still drank it all without hesitation, then handed the empty bowl back and said, "Are you satisfied now?"

Menggu Zhezhe pursed her lips and smiled: "Well, I am satisfied."

Gao Fusi snorted and said, "In that case, I will go to sleep first according to the professors' wishes..."

Menggu Zhezhe was about to agree when Gao Mo's voice suddenly rang out from outside the door: "Master, the Queen brought His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Concubine Zheng, and Chen Zhangyin, and came to visit on the emperor's orders."

Gao Youshi was a little surprised. He looked at Meng Guzhezhe, who also had a strange look on her face, and asked, "The Queen and Concubine Zheng?"

Gao Mo's answer came from outside the door: "Yes, the Queen and Concubine Zheng came together, and the Queen is holding the Crown Prince."

What's going on? Gao Youshi was a little puzzled. After thinking for a while, he suddenly guessed something and asked Meng Gu Zhezhe, "After I return to the mansion, there should be many people who come to inquire about the situation. What is the mansion's reply?"

Menggu Zhezhe said: "Because the professors had to rush in from outside the city, it took some time, so the mansion remained silent and said nothing."

Gao Fusi patted the edge of the bed and sighed, "It's broken."

Menggu Zhezhe was surprised and asked, "Isn't this the wrong way to handle it?"

Gao Fusi shook his head, but did not answer this question immediately. Instead, he said, "Uncle Mo, come in."

Gao Mo was already in a "semi-retired" state at this time. He was still in good health, but had a slight hunchback. Upon hearing this, he pushed the door open and walked in. He came to the bedside calmly as he did in previous years, with his hands slightly lowered, looking as if he was ready to take orders at any time.

Gao Fusi knew that he usually recuperated in Jianxinzhai Villa outside the city. Today, he probably came into the city with the professors of the medical department. After entering the city, he was waiting outside his door. Considering his age, this was somewhat tiring, but whenever he stood in front of him, he always looked ready to be on duty at any time, which was really touching and sad.

"Uncle Mo, thank you for your hard work." Gao Fusi sighed.

"There are probably few people in the world who work harder than you." Gao Mo also sighed, "Most people in the world work with their hands, but you have always worked with your mind. Although this was the case in the past, it was not a big deal because you were young. This time, you even fainted in the street, which shows how much you work.

"Master, please don't blame me for being too talkative. Although you have always been healthy, you are not yet forty and you have this disease. You really have to be careful. You are now the head of the country and you are responsible for the well-being of the people. From now on... you really can't work as hard as you did this year."

Gao Youshi smiled bitterly and said, "It is precisely because I am the Prime Minister of the country and I am responsible for the well-being of the people that I have to work so hard... However, we will talk about these things later. Uncle Mo, let me ask you, when you entered the city, what was going on in the various prefectures in the capital?"

Gao Mo chuckled and said calmly, "All the prefectures in the capital sent people to the Jingguo Mansion to inquire, and they seemed very nervous - more nervous than if their own master was sick. However, as soon as I entered the city, I sent people to keep an eye on them, and found that they had closed the doors early. It seemed that they were eager to hang up a notice with a message saying 'My master has gone to bed.'"

Gao Youshi smiled slightly: "Really? That's not bad." After a pause, he asked again: "How is the Jingbei Camp?"

Gao Mo frowned slightly, his face became more cautious, and after a pause he answered, "Commander Ma is very nervous. He has ordered all activities to be cancelled and all officers and soldiers of the Imperial Guard to return to the camp immediately. In addition, he requires everyone, including the sentries, to hand in their ammunition and keep the camp gates closed. Without his order, no unit is allowed to move without authorization, and those who disobey will be executed."

Gao Fusi nodded and said, "Not bad."

"However, during the period when the entire army returned to the camp and closed the camp gates, the Ningyuan Earl's Mansion sent someone to meet with Deputy Commander Li Rumei." Gao Mo said in a calm tone but with a vigilant look.

Gao Fusi's right hand fingers tapped rhythmically on the edge of the bed, and he quickly asked, "Ziqing...what are you doing?"

Gao Mo shook his head gently: "No action. The servants of the Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion met with Deputy Commander Li. From entering the camp to leaving the camp, it took no more than half an incense stick of time. After that, Deputy Commander Li did not make any move, as if he had never seen this person."

"What news has been reported by the secret agent in the Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion?" Gao Youshi asked again.

"No news yet." Gao Mo frowned and shook his head slightly, but added: "Do we need to strengthen monitoring?"

Gao Youshi thought for a moment and said, "Okay, but we need to carefully select capable personnel and remember not to reveal our whereabouts."

"Yes, sir, I understand." Gao Mo nodded slightly, a rare gleam of light in his turbid old eyes.

"Back to the topic." Gao Youshi asked, "I don't know what the rules are for the Queen and Concubine Zheng to come to my place. You can go and negotiate with Master Chen to see how the etiquette should be determined." "Yes." Gao Mo nodded and asked, "What instructions does the master have?"

"I am very ill, so it is inconvenient for me to get up to greet you. Oh, bring some medicine to my room, and boil it. Tell the servants..." Gao Youshi thought for a moment, and said, "Just tell them that I have wind evil in my bones, my qi is weak and my body is hot, and I faint from time to time."

Gao Mo was stunned for a moment, and Menggu Zhezhe's eyes widened, but Gao Fusi waved his hand and said, "That's it."

"Yes, does the master have any other instructions?" Gao Mo asked again.

Gao Fusi waved his hand and said, "No more, Uncle Mo, go quickly. After all, it's the Queen herself who's here, and we can't let her wait too long."

Gao Mo responded and left. After he left, Menggu Zhezhe asked in confusion, "Are you pretending to be sick, Master?"

"I am sick, am I not?" Gao Fusi said unhappily, "How can I pretend?"

Menggu Zhezhe stuck out her tongue and said embarrassedly, "I mean, Master, are you trying to act serious on purpose?"

"So what if it is, and so what if it isn't?" Gao Youshi asked back.

Menggu Zhezhe asked in confusion, "But, Master was obviously a little dissatisfied after hearing about the response of the government just now. In other words, Master originally hoped that the outside world would not worry about Master's illness... Why is it suddenly the other way around now?"

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Gao Youshi's throat was a little blocked, so he coughed twice before saying, "As the saying goes, there is no constant state of war, and there is no constant shape of water. Showing the enemy your strength will deter them from making rash moves; showing the enemy your weakness will deceive them and make them expose their weaknesses."

Menggu Zhezhe thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "I understand. The master originally wanted to 'terrify the enemy' and let the outside world know that the master was fine, so they dared not act rashly. Unfortunately, the mansion's response was wrong, which had caused the outside world to misunderstand, so the master changed his mind and simply made the best of a bad situation, pretending to be seriously ill, luring certain people to do...something, and then catching them all in one fell swoop!"

Gao Fusi nodded, then shook his head and said, "You guessed correctly before, but the last sentence may not be correct. I mean, whether we should 'catch them all in one fell swoop' depends on how the situation develops and... who will jump out."

Menggu Zhezhe thought about it, and then asked curiously, "Then who do you think will jump out?"

Gao Fusi shook his head and said, "Under normal circumstances, I would indeed list all the possibilities and then make plans accordingly. But right now, I don't have the energy, so I won't guess... Anyway, I can handle it."

Although Gao Youshi looked a little weak at the moment, Menggu Zhezhe felt that what he said was particularly confident. She couldn't help but reveal a little bit of infatuation and whispered, "Master is really a great hero."

"Ok?"

She said this in a low voice, and Gao Fusi didn't hear it clearly for a moment, so he asked, "What?"

"Ah, what I mean is..." Menggu Zhezhe's face was burning, and he replied: "Even if the master is sick, he is not comparable to those scoundrels."

"Oh, you have a lot of confidence in me." Gao Youshi shook his head and said, "I have confidence because I have arranged it and received corresponding feedback. I don't know where your confidence comes from."

Menggu Zhezhe said: "Who would not have confidence standing with the master?"

Gao Fusi couldn't help laughing, and said helplessly: "Blind belief and blind obedience are not good..." Before he finished speaking, Gao Mo's voice came from outside the door: "Master?"

"Come in."

Gao Mo then pushed the door open again, and this time he brought some maids with him. They took various utensils and quickly set up a "scene" for decocting and boiling medicine in the room.

After they left, Gao Mo reported, "Master Chen said that in an emergency, we must act accordingly, and now is not the time to be entangled in etiquette. He also said that the emperor was very anxious after hearing the news, and he was furious in the Yikun Palace, blaming the palace for ignoring your health... Therefore, the emperor approved Concubine Zheng's proposal and asked the queen and the prince to come to visit."

"Concubine Zheng's suggestion?" Gao Youshi frowned and asked thoughtfully, "Is that what Master Chen said?"

"Yes, and Master Chen deliberately emphasized this point." Gao Mo replied.

"Interesting, interesting." Gao Youshi couldn't help coughing again, but his face showed a little excitement. Then he subconsciously suppressed it and pondered with his usual calmness. After a moment, he asked: "Master Chen should have something else to say, right? I think he should explain how Concubine Zheng came here."

Of course, even the queen was not allowed to meet with court officials, let alone Concubine Zheng, who was just a concubine?
"Master, your plan is perfect." Gao Mo bowed and said, "Master Chen did say that Concubine Zheng came to you in the name of reforming herself and apologizing to you in order to obtain the emperor's permission, and that's why she was allowed to travel with the Empress and the Crown Prince."

"Haha, hahahaha..." Gao Youshi suddenly let out a series of laughs. Although his volume was not loud due to his weak body, it was obvious that he was laughing happily.

Menggu Zhezhe was somewhat surprised and even more alert, and reminded: "Master, does Concubine Zheng really want to reform herself?"

"Hahahaha..." Gao Youshi laughed even more happily, but after he finished laughing he asked, "In her opinion, her son had the chance to become the crown prince and the future emperor, but I - I personally destroyed her dream. Do you think she will 'admit her mistake' to me?"

Menggu Zhezhe breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Master, you are wise. I also think she won't." After a pause, she showed a puzzled look and asked, "But if that's the case, why are you laughing?"

"I'm just laughing. Although she is a little clever, she always doesn't understand one thing." Gao Fusi sighed and shook his head, "She can be so clever in front of the emperor, not because these tricks are so brilliant, but because the emperor dotes on her and is willing to think the best of her. Even if he has already seen through her tricks, the emperor is not willing to point them out personally... That's all."

Menggu Zhezhe was surprised and asked, "Does the emperor know that she has ulterior motives?"

"The emperor openly said that he was my classmate, but in fact... I even taught him myself." Gao Youshi suddenly stopped smiling and said expressionlessly, "He not only saw through Concubine Zheng's intentions, but he even chose the ending for her."

Menggu Zhezhe's hair suddenly stood on end, and he stammered, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty wants to borrow your knife..."

"No." Gao Youshi said coldly: "Your Majesty is not borrowing a knife, he is just borrowing my killing stick."
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PS: After comparing myself, I think my condition is more serious than Gao Youshi’s.