Do you know the long song of laughter?

Chapter 501: Hating iron but not steel

Just then, a servant called out from outside the door: "Master!"

Yan Xiang frowned slightly and said, "Come in!"

He had already instructed his servants not to disturb him. If he came here at this time, it must be something important.

Therefore, even though he was unhappy, he suppressed his anger and did not show it.

Soon, a servant came in and saluted, saying, "My Lord, General Gu's uncle from his mother's clan has beaten the drum to accuse him of usurping the Bai family's assets."

"Is that true?" Yan Xiang was surprised and looked at Fu Yang.

Although there was no communication, both of them understood what each other meant - opportunity!
"This is true. I sent someone to investigate. After the Dengwen drum sounded, many people came to watch the excitement. Before the officials from the Dengwen Drum Court arrived, the man told the onlookers about the injustice he had suffered.

When General Gu embezzled the Bai family's property, they were afraid of the Gu family's power and dared not speak out, so they could only rely on them. However, this time General Gu accompanied King Huan to Yangzhou to thoroughly investigate the salt business, and was eager to make a contribution, so he framed them for selling private salt.

He realized that the situation was not right, so he escaped and came to Bian Jing to file a complaint! "

After listening to this, Yan Xiang waved his hand and said, "You can leave now."

The servant bowed and left.

"What does Lord Fu think about this?" Yan Xiang asked.

Fu Yang pondered and said, "I have also heard about this matter. In order to pay off the debt owed to the Ministry of Revenue, the Gu family married the daughter of a salt merchant in Yangzhou. The salt merchant passed away a few years ago, and the family property was inherited by Gu Tingye. For the sake of the Gu family, he is still issued salt permits."

Although one has to pay to get the salt permit, it does not qualify just because one is rich.

Salt is a business that is sure to make money, and the various states of the Song Dynasty had long been divided up.

These salt merchants must sell private salt for them in order to continue to be salt merchants.

Logically speaking, after Old Master Bai passed away, there was no one in the Bai family to take over and continue the smuggling of salt, so it should have been banned.

However, out of consideration for the Gu family, the Bai family's status as salt merchants was not revoked.

"It's normal for the Bai family to be unwilling to accept that a person from another family inherits the huge family business. However, this matter has happened for many years, and they are only now complaining and deliberately making a big fuss. There must be someone behind this."

"I don't care whether anyone gives me advice or not. It's a good thing to make the water more muddy at this time. This is a good opportunity. Gu Tingye is here to protect His Royal Highness Prince Huan. He is in trouble. Let's see if we can continue to investigate the salt affairs." Yan Xiang sneered.

"Yes, we can contact some people to write letters to impeach those who have received benefits. They will be willing to do so. After the emperor ascended the throne, he has always relied on people from the Yuzhou residence. These people are all military men, and many people in the court have their own opinions. Although Gu Tingye is not a minister of the Yuzhou residence, he is very close to the emperor. They will not let go of such a good opportunity even if we don't say anything." Fu Yang said with a smile.

"Haha!" Yan Xiang was in a good mood.

After the two discussed for a while, Fu Yang left in a hurry.

Yan Xiang was not idle either. He quickly left home and went looking for someone everywhere.

The next day, the impeachment papers against Gu Tingye piled up on the imperial desk like snowflakes.

When the officials saw these sticks, they were both angry and upset.

He was angry because he knew these people were making a fuss about this matter.

If I am angry, I will be angry with Gu Tingye again.

No matter what the reason is for the Bai family to come and complain, Gu Tingye cannot escape the blame.

Zhao Zongquan suppressed these concerns and ignored them. He sent people to Yangzhou, on the one hand to understand the situation, and on the other hand to urge Zhao Ceying to break the impasse quickly.

Taking the salt business by surprise and allowing a thorough investigation to proceed was only the first step.

The second step is to find out some problems quickly.

As long as the problems were found, the ministers would have no reason to stop, and he would also have reason to persevere.

But if he fails to make a breakthrough, the pressure he will face will be too great.

Although it is unlikely that the ministers will force the Queen Mother to abdicate, the Queen Mother may not be willing to stay in the deep palace and not take care of affairs.

Once he loses the support of the people, he will be in trouble if the Queen Mother wins over these people.

Zhao Zongquan wanted to delay, but those people would not give him a chance.

There was no response for several days, so those people went directly to the palace to ask for an audience.

Zhao Zongquan had no choice but to summon him. If he didn't meet him, the trouble would be even greater.

After meeting Zhao Zongquan, these people had only one purpose: the salt administration had been investigated for such a long time but no problems had been found. Instead, someone among those who were conducting a thorough investigation of the salt administration had a problem, and the investigation should be stopped.

Zhao Zongquan naturally couldn't agree to this, so he had to persuade the man to leave temporarily.

After the people left, Zhao Zongquan rubbed his head with a headache.

"Your Majesty!" Eunuch Li came in and saluted, saying, "Noble Concubine Liu requests an audience!"

"Let her in." Zhao Zongquan said.

"Yes!" Eunuch Li responded and walked out.

After a while, Concubine Liu came in, followed by a palace maid carrying a tray.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!" Concubine Liu bowed and saluted.

"No need to be polite." Zhao Zongquan waved his hand and asked, "What is it that my beloved concubine came to see me for?"

"I heard that Your Majesty has been upset recently, so I specially made soup for Your Majesty."

Concubine Liu took the soup bowl from the tray carried by the palace maid behind her and placed it on the imperial desk.

Zhao Zongquan picked up the soup bowl and said, "I have a headache, my beloved concubine, give me a massage."

"Yes!" Concubine Liu stepped forward and came to Zhao Zongquan's side. She stretched out her hands and pressed on both sides of Zhao Zongquan's head.

Zhao Zongquan squinted his eyes comfortably and drank the soup.

"My dear, your soup-making skills have improved again." Zhao Zongquan said.

Concubine Liu kept moving her hands. She smiled and said, "If Your Majesty likes it, I will make soup for you every day."

"No matter how delicious something is, you will get tired of it if you eat it every day. When I first entered the palace, I felt that the food there was simply heavenly. Now I don't have that feeling anymore. If you have time, you should spend more time with the Empress Dowager and show your filial piety to me." Zhao Zongquan said.

"I understand. I was there yesterday." Concubine Liu said with a smile.

"Oh?" Zhao Zongquan said calmly, "Did the Madam blame me for not paying respects to you these days?"

It’s not that Zhao Zongquan didn’t go, but that the Queen Mother didn’t want to see him.

Otherwise he would show his filial piety every day.

In ancient times, filial piety was the guiding principle for governing a country, and even the emperor had to observe filial piety.

The two are not biological mother and son, so this kind of face-saving project must be done well.

"The Empress didn't say these things. She just teased Yong'er and didn't say anything else." Concubine Liu said.

"Oh." Zhao Zongquan nodded and said, "Then you should go there more often in the future and have a good chat with the empress."

"Yes, I know." Concubine Liu looked at Zhao Zongquan's face and asked, "Your Majesty, are you worried about the salt business?"

Zhao Zongquan opened his narrowed eyes and said calmly, "The harem is not allowed to interfere in politics. Don't ask about such things in the future."

"Your Majesty's forgiveness!"

Concubine Liu quickly let go of her hand, knelt down in front, and said, "I didn't mean to ask about the government affairs, but I heard some discussions in the palace. Normally, even if I heard it, I shouldn't ask too much. It's just... just..."

"Just what?" Zhao Zongquan frowned.

"A few days ago, I summoned my elder sister and my third sister to the palace to reminisce about the past. My elder sister said that Lin Chaozhong, a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, had come to my house and said that he could help my elder sister get some salt permits. Your Majesty also knows that salt is a business that will definitely make money, and my elder sister was also somewhat tempted.

But my elder sister always felt something was wrong and didn't dare to agree. She told me that day. I was short-sighted and didn't know the deep meaning of it. But I was a concubine and my elder sister was a relative, so naturally I couldn't do business, so I let my elder sister refuse.

Now that I think about it carefully, there might be something wrong." Concubine Liu said.

After listening to this, Zhao Zongquan said, "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Concubine Liu stood up after expressing her gratitude.

"You did the right thing. A batch of tributes was sent to us recently, including some top-quality South Pearls. I'll have some sent to you later, and you can give some to your sisters." Zhao Zongquan said.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward." Concubine Liu looked happy.

"I still have things to do, you go back first." Zhao Zongquan said.

"I'm leaving now!" Concubine Liu bowed and left.

Zhao Zongquan looked thoughtful. After a moment's silence, he sneered.

Since Concubine Liu was favored, it was not uncommon for people to give benefits to her family.

But what was sent was salt, and Zhao Zongquan didn't believe it at all when he was told that there was no problem.

But this is also a good thing for him.

Now he is very troubled by those officials. If he finds out the problem with Lin Chaozhong and uses him as a warning, these people will probably be more honest.

Thinking of this, Zhao Zongquan called Li Neiguan and whispered a few instructions to him.

…………

"Minglan, your Chu boy has grown up a lot in the past few days. He had dimples when he was little, which was really cute." Yu Yanran held Minglan's child, stretched out her hand to tease him, and said with a smile.

Dimple marks are cheek dimples. Li Jiangchu is chubby. Although he was born not long ago and has not fully grown yet, he has two dimples when he smiles.

"hehe."

Minglan was holding Yu Yanran's son in her arms, but the little guy was sleeping soundly. Hearing this, she smiled and said, "Mother Cui said that newborns who are a little chubby will smile a lot, but that may not be the case when they grow up."

"Wow wow..."

Li Jiangchu, who was in Yu Yanran's arms, stretched his weak little hand towards her chest. Although he was only a few days old, he knew where the cafeteria was.

At this time, he was hungry and instinctively wanted to eat, but his hands had no strength and were short, so he could not grab anything. He cried in panic.

Yu Yanran's child was born a few months earlier than Minglan's, and she is now quite skilled in taking care of children.

Check that his diaper is not wet, and you will know that he is hungry.

Just then, Mother Cui came forward to hold the child, so she gave the child to Mother Cui.

Mother Cui took the child to the wet nurse to feed him.

Maybe it was because of Li Jiangchu’s crying that disturbed him, but Xu Ge’er in Minglan’s arms also started crying.

"Xu is hungry too."

Minglan checked and gave the child to the wet nurse brought by Yu Yanran. She asked the maid to lead the wet nurse to the compartment to feed the child, and then sent the other maids in the room away.

"Sister Yanran, I see that you don't look well. Did you not get enough rest, or did something happen?" Minglan asked.

She and Yu Yanran had somewhat similar situations before getting married, which is why they could become good friends.

Although the two have different personalities, their similar situations make them choose to keep things in their hearts when faced with certain things.

But Minglan kept it in her heart, and it was difficult for outsiders to see anything.

Yu Yanran was different. Although she kept things in her heart, her expression showed something.

When Yu Yanran came over today, she noticed that something was wrong with Yu Yanran's expression.

Yu Yanran smiled bitterly and said, "I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

"Sister Yanran, what happened to you?" Minglan asked.

"My husband's former mistress is here." Yu Yanran said.

"Wasn't she sent away? Why is she here again? Where is she now?" Minglan asked.

"In the orange orchard." Yu Yanran said.

"You kept her here?" Minglan asked anxiously, "She came to your house, you just ignored her, how could you keep her here?"

"But she was brought here by her mother-in-law, and she begged bitterly, and was very miserable, and just wanted to see the child, I..."

"You were so soft-hearted that you kept her here?" Minglan said angrily, "Sister Yanran, didn't your husband tell you how Man Niang came to your husband and how she left?"

She heard from Li An that Man Niang put a lot of thought into going to Gu Tingye and giving birth to a child for him.

Later, Gu Tingye deliberately set a trap for her and told her that he was kicked out of the house and wanted to find a place to live in seclusion with Man Niang.

As a result, Man Niang wanted to steal the jewelry left by Gu Tingye's mother and sell it, preparing to abandon Gu Tingye and run away.

At that time, Man Niang didn't think about the two children, which shows that she didn't care about them at all.

Who would believe me if I say I just came to see the child?

Yu Yanran was soft-hearted and kept the person.

Regardless of whether Man Niang has come to her senses or not, the mere fact that she was sent there by Xiao Qinshi is problematic.

"My husband told me that, in fact, I felt a little regretful after I agreed." Yu Yanran said with a gloomy look.

She is a little soft-hearted, but she is not really stupid.

Man Niang begged desperately, and she softened her heart. Afterwards, she realized that it was inappropriate to keep the person.

That's why she brought the child to Minglan and asked Minglan to help her make a decision.

"If she just wants to be a concubine, it's okay for now. But if she has other ideas, you and Xu Ge'er will be in danger." Minglan frowned.

If Man Niang only wants to be a concubine this time, it’s fine.

But since she is mixed up with Xiao Qin, things won't be that simple.

Man Niang may not have the intention of harming Yu Yanran and the child. After all, she would not end up well if she did so.

But what about Xiao Qin?

Xiao Qin had been planning for many years but failed. How could she be willing to accept this?

Man Niang is most likely Xiao Qinshi's knife.

Even if Man Niang didn't do it, Xiao Qinshi might arrange for someone else to do it. As long as Man Niang died in the end, everything could be blamed on her.

Anyway, there is no proof of death.

The more Minglan thought about it, the more she felt that Yu Yanran was in danger.

But it would be fine if Yu Yanran didn't agree, but since she has already agreed, things would become difficult.

"Minglan, what should we do now?" Yu Yanran turned pale with fright when she heard this.

"Sister Yanran, don't be anxious. Listen to me!" Minglan held Yu Yanran's hand and said, "Go back and ask Shitou to guard the yard. Don't let her enter your yard. Make sure a trusted maid keeps a close eye on her food and drinks. Don't see her and have someone keep an eye on her. Also, send someone to deliver a letter to your husband."

"Okay!" Yu Yanran was also at a loss now, and nodded repeatedly when she heard it.

(End of this chapter)