[R18] Will drink wine – “About Wine” Chapter 270 [English]

Chapter 258 Xiaoxian

The prince led all officials to pray for rain, but the rain still did not fall in Yongcheng.Jiang Qingshan was raising food from everywhere, while Liang Dishan was still checking Tuncheng’s accounts.Marquis Helian was frightened and fell seriously ill after Han Cheng’s death. He dared not even go out for the past few days.

“I can’t deal with this account,” Marquis Helian sighed as he lay on the bed, “The Queen Mother is under house arrest in the palace again. God is going to kill me, Fei!”

The young Marquis Fei Shi was frightened by Li Jianting at the banquet that day, and he did not dare to run around anymore. He guarded his father and blamed him: “Why are you greedy for so much? Such a large amount of money can’t be filled now even if you want to.”

“How can you blame me? Who am I doing for?” Old Marquis Helian burst into tears. He managed to stand up and pointed at Fei Shi, “Why should I ask for help if you want to gain some energy? Look at you, you are incompetent in writing and martial arts, and you will just wait to die when you inherit the title. If I don’t follow the path, what will we Fei do in the future?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Fei Shi heard He’s father gasping for breath, and hurriedly helped Helian Hou down again, “I’m a bastard, I’m an idiot, don’t make yourself faint.”

Hou Helian held his chest to calm down, and said with tears in his pillow: “If this is a house raid… I don’t even dare to think about it…”

Princess Zhaoyue held the child in her arms, with white flowers on her temples.After she divorced, she stayed at home. When she heard the bad news about Pan, she felt very haggard.She handed the baby to the wet nurse and signaled to everyone who was waiting on her to get down.

“If I had known now, why bother in the beginning,” Princess Zhaoyue’s almond-shaped eyes were slightly red, “How many people have been killed by this account.”

“Yes, this account has indeed killed people,” Hou Helian wailed, “but without this account, how could you marry into the Pan family? Your honor is due to this account. When the Hua family was at its peak, Hua Siqian had all the power, so we relied on others and had to board a pirate ship. After Hua Siqian died, I was hoping that Shi’er would be able to hold an official position and at least be able to speak in the court, but he is fooling around all the time, and there is nothing I can do about it.”

There are very few heirs of the Fei family in Trenteng, and the only direct lineage is Fei Shi. If Marquis Helian doesn’t plan in advance, they will be the second Xue family.But even if the Xue family declined, there was still Xue Xiuzhuo. On the other hand, the Fei family was truly unrivaled.

Thinking of this, Marquis Helian got up again and asked, “What was the name of the boy who used to be a servant in Jinyi Guard?”

Fei Shi said: “You mean Fei Sheng?”

“Yes, yes! Fei Sheng,” Marquis Helian said, “I guarantee that he can succeed in his father’s duties. Han Cheng promoted him because of my face. Later, he ran away with Xiao Chiye, and now he is serving Shen Zechuan at Zhongbo.”

Fei Shi’s expression changed and he said: “That’s a rebel! If you have anything to do with him, you will be beheaded.”

“Such a big hole cannot be repaired,” Marquis Helian raised his voice. “Not only will the family be confiscated, but they may also be beheaded. Look at the Pan family, how many people are still alive now? Even if they are exiled, they will die halfway.” The more he talked, the more he felt sad, “It is better to switch to Zhongbo… Tao Ming from Huaizhou has run away…”

Fei Shi sat dumbfounded, he was born in a gold and silver nest, he was still a young marquis, and he had always been a minister of the Zhou Dynasty. Suddenly he was asked to hang out with rebellious ministers and traitors, which actually gave rise to a sense of absurdity and ridicule.He sat blankly for a long time and said: “No, how can I be a slave of the third surname? I did not commit treason until my death. He and I are close friends, and we cannot do such disloyal and unjust things. Besides, Shen Zechuan is a scheming man who is not easy to get along with, and Fei Sheng is greedy for fame and power… It won’t work.”

“When disaster is imminent, who cares about loyalty?” Marquis Helian hated the fact that iron cannot become steel, “You didn’t learn what you should learn, but you learned all about Pan Lin’s sourness!”

“I won’t leave anyway,” Fei Shi stood up. “You are a marquis after all. I don’t believe that the cabinet dares to take action.”

“Why don’t you dare?” Princess Zhaoyue wiped her tears, “Without the Queen Mother, the prince will investigate and handle the matter according to the law. As soon as the cabinet notes come, the house will be confiscated and beheaded overnight.” She thought of Pan Yi, covered her face and cried, “Pan just did it.”

“Look at your sister, she still has a child with her,” Marquis Helian said with tears streaming down his face. “You can’t bear to see your father executed, your sister exiled, and your whole family a mass grave.”

“But it’s not possible to leave,” Princess Zhaoyue raised her head and wiped her tears, “Shi’er is right, Fei Sheng is very good at working in Jinyiwei. He is greedy for fame and power, and he can’t be moved by any good. Dad, listen to me, now that there is a drought in Yongcheng, □□shan is raising food for the capital, and Tao Ming from Huaizhou has run away again, and the court is in trouble. You might as well sell your village and use the money to raise food for the court.”

Marquis Helian said: “But there is no food everywhere right now. Even if I have money, I won’t be able to raise it.”

“Whoever sells daddy’s grain is the one who buys it back from.” Princess Zhaoyue tucked the veil away, “As for Fei Sheng’s path, if it really comes in handy, we’ll talk about it later.”

***

A few days later, the ice basin was replaced in Meigli Hall.Li Jianting was reading the book, and Fuman was waiting beside him, holding a fan to gently fan the prince.

“Your Highness has been watching for an hour,” Fuman said softly, “Take a rest.”

Li Jianting closed the fold, but before he opened his mouth, Fuman turned around and shouted outside: “Bring up the chilled sour plum soup – Your Highness, it’s hot, drink some sour plum soup to cool down the heat.”

Fuman has been favored recently, but Li Jianting seems to be still angry with Fengquan, so Fuman is the only one left to serve him.He was so proud of the spring breeze that he never dared to make decisions for the prince before. After several trials, he found that the prince did not blame him, so he became bolder.

While Li Jianting wiped his hands, Fuman cleared the table for the prince.Li Jianting saw that he had arranged the folds one by one, sorting them by region and department, and asked: “Why are these Ming Zang folds put together with Yuan Fu? I remember that he and I are not from the same hometown.”

“Your Highness doesn’t know, you are teachers and students,” Fuman said with a smile, “Master Ming’s promotion is Yuan Fu’s promotion.”

Kong Qiu served as the Yuanfu of the cabinet, and there were countless officials from various ministries evaluated during the inspection. According to the rules, these officials could all be called “teachers.”Li Jianting had just taken over the government affairs not long ago. He really didn’t know that there were so many officials in various ministries. It would be difficult to remember such things unless he paid special attention to them.

Now Fuman is just waiting in front of the emperor. When the prince ascends the throne, he may become a pen-holding eunuch, who can hold the ink pen for the emperor.However, Li Jianting was not Emperor Xiande. She was in charge of government affairs and was still young. There was no need for eunuchs to handle such important affairs for her. Fuman knew these relationships by heart, which shows his ambition.

Li Jianting understood and said: “You know better than me.”

Fuman was slightly startled when he heard this, and responded very quickly: “The servant is not working in the previous court. This matter was mentioned by Yuan Fu once in the mission courtyard last time, and the servant remembered it when he was waiting on the side.”

“It’s a good thing,” Li Jianting said with a gentle expression, “I can’t remember it clearly, and you will have to remind me in the future.”

Fuman took a sneak peek at Li Jianting while he was picking up the bowl, and saw that the prince’s expression was normal and his words were modest, just like usual, so he felt relieved and said: “I am very lucky to be able to share your worries with you.”

“Gentlemen, are you here?” Li Jianting said, “Let me in when you are here.”

Kong Qiu, Xue Xiuzhuo and others who had just arrived outside Mingli Hall heard the news and entered.They all kowtowed and said: “I will see you, Your Highness.”

“You gentlemen are all my teachers,” Li Jianting motioned to Fuman to help Kong Qiu up. “Why should Yuan Fu be polite when he enters the hall? It’s my turn to give Yuan Fu the student courtesy.”

Kong Qiu sat down and said with a smile: “Your Highness is different from the past. You no longer have to follow the rules of teachers and students. Mingli Hall is the place where government affairs are handled. There are only monarchs and ministers here, and ministers dare not overstep.”

Li Jianting looked at Kong Qiu and couldn’t help laughing: “Something good happened today.”

Kong Qiu was a serious man, mature and prudent, and rarely looked so happy.Sure enough, the next moment I heard Kong Qiu say: “I heard from Jiang Qingshan this morning that the relief food for Yongcheng has been raised.”

“It’s so fast,” Li Jianting was overjoyed, “Did you borrow the food from Hezhou?”

“It’s Marquis Helian,” Kong Qiu said with a smile, “Marquis Helian knew that the land tax was wrong. In order to give His Highness a lighter punishment, he sold the farm and raised food on his own to solve the problem for the people of Yongcheng.”

The Tuncheng field tax was a tacitly discussed case in the hall. The court wanted to recover the part of the loss and return the farmland to the people. Marquis Helian must bear the responsibility, but if he did this, the cabinet would also have to make a decision as appropriate.

“The so-called law is not merciful. Your Highness cannot let the villain take any chances and follow the opinions of the ministers.”

Cen Yu is an old minister and an old minister from a poor family, but at this moment he wants to protect Marquis Helian precisely for Li Jianting.Marquis Helian raised food for disaster relief. No matter what, he had a reputation for benevolence in Yongcheng. If Li Jianting insisted on copying He Manchu, the remaining aristocratic families who were still waiting would have to fight to the death.

As early as when he was tracing Dancheng’s account, Cen Yu repeatedly advised Kong Qiu to slow down.Now that Duanzhou is victorious, all six states are under Shen Zechuan’s command. Once the war is settled in Peking, the capital will be next.As the saying goes, a drop of water can penetrate a stone. Since the family is seriously ill, it cannot be hasty, otherwise it will damage the heart and soul. How can there be spare power to deal with the disaster?Moreover, Dan City had to re-check the yellow records of the people’s land. If the court wanted to concentrate on treating diseases, it had to do so under the premise that there was no external trouble.

“The imperial court left room for the hens during the Xianden years, but the Eight Cities intensified their efforts, which led to the reselling of official grain.” Xue Xiuzhuo said, “If you can’t kill the chickens to scare the monkeys, how can you scare the hens?”

“Now the country is in danger,” Cen Yu also knelt down, “Libei and Zhongbo have rebelled one after another, rebellious parties have gathered in Jiangye, and Shen Zechuan——”

Cen Yu raised his head and said earnestly: “The strong medicine has been administered. Pan, Han, Hua, and Wei have collapsed, and the control of the aristocratic families is no longer as good as before. If foreign troubles are not eliminated at this moment, it will definitely become a disaster. Your Highness, governing a big country is like cooking small vegetables!”

Li Jianting was silent in thought.

The heat wave was rolling outside the hall, and the silence was breathtaking.After a long time, the little eunuch walked quickly to the front of the hall with a hurried expression and Fu Er said something to Feng Quan.

“Your Highness!” Fengquan said as the bead curtain shook wildly, “The Queen Mother is critically ill!”

Everyone in the hall changed their minds.