Love Affairs in Chang'an - Chapter 135

Chapter 135 Court Envoy
Immediately, Li Ke wrote a table, eight hundred miles to play changan. At the latest, the Emperor would be able to see this watch by this time tomorrow.

After taking care of this matter, Li Ke and Qin Mubai felt relieved.

The two of them thought in their hearts at the same time, Someone actually took the initiative to help us clean up the mess and solve the last bit of trouble, how comfortable!

Then, as if nothing had happened, the two of them symbolically sent people to the homes of the three deceased to pay their respects and continue their daily work.

At noon on the third day, the messenger of the Imperial Court finally arrived.

“This is coming down so quickly!” Qin Mubai and Li Ke couldn’t help but laugh. Perhaps, the Emperor was also very anxious to quickly tidy up the matters here, right?

It was not ordinary eunuchs or officials, but the living lang beside Li Shimin-Zhui Suiliang.

The living man was an official who often followed the emperor and recorded every word and deed of the emperor with a pen and paper. He was a little like a historian, a little like an advisor, and sometimes the personal secretary of the emperor.

Chu Suiliang also had a great background. His father, Zhuiliang, was one of the eighteen scholars in the Li Shimin Mansion of the Qin King, and was also a member of his Intelligence Group. After Li Shimin ascended to the throne, most of the old bureaucrats in the Qin Manor had ascended to the top, and were trusted by the Emperor. Now that ZhuLiang was old, he was still in charge of the confidential think tank department, Hongwen Library, to recruit scholars and wise men for the emperor.

Zhui Suiliang, on the other hand, was a rising star in the past two years. Yu Shinan was once Li Shimin’s “secretary”, but he was old and could only teach Li Zhi in the harem.

Li Shimin loved Yu Shinan’s calligraphy so much that he was not used to it by his side. Someone recommended Zhui Suiliang to Li Shimin, saying that his calligraphy was deeply rooted in Wang Xizhi’s essence. Li Shimin summoned him to the scene to test the pen and found that it was indeed true. He was immediately overjoyed and appointed Zhusuiliang as his living husband. He helped to draft the imperial edict beside him and recorded his words and deeds for recording in historical records.

Therefore, even though Qiju Lang was not a big official, he was like a gong nail in the key part of a precision instrument. It was extremely important. Moreover, no one dared to underestimate this small living man. He accompanied the Emperor almost every day. He was most likely aware of the Emperor’s handling of government affairs. It was no exaggeration to say that he was the Emperor’s confidant.

Qin Mubai and Li Ke were surprised that Li Shimin had sent such a confidant to declare the decree.

Without time to think, Li Ke first let Zhui Suiliang into the king’s tent.

Zhui Suiliang was around forty years old, and his figure was thin and long, and his appearance was more refined and elegant, and he looked like a scholarly scholar. Qin Mubai was quite familiar with him, so they were both people who stayed by the Emperor’s side. They would often meet each other, but they didn’t know each other well.

After hence good came in, first public and then private, immediately read the emperor imperial edict. Li Ke received the decree together with Qin Mubai and the Jiangzhou-sized officials.

The imperial edict was rather long, to the effect that it “deeply deplored” the flood in Jishan and appreciated the hard work of Li Ke, Qin Mubai, and especially the officials of Jiangzhou. And the reward was explicitly given in the imperial edict. Li Ke had restored the food city that had been cut off because of excessive hunting. Qin Mubai rewarded him with five hectares of land and bestowed him with the rank of a rank six high-ranking “warrior commandant” (purely a military official to commend his merits, the same as Qin Qiong’s rank two Shangzhu Kingdom). Jiangzhou Shangguan Jiang, in addition to Cheng Songnian and Ma Kun, have their own rewards.

After the imperial edict was issued, everyone heaved a sigh of relief-it seemed that the Emperor was no longer prepared to investigate the Jiangzhou case further. He had adopted a method of “settling matters peacefully” to appease the officials who might be subordinate to Zhang Tianci, Cheng Songnian, and the others.

Only Qin Mubai and Li Ke knew in their hearts that the emperor was not compromising to anyone. He was tolerant, but it did not mean that he was raising adulterers. At that time, Zhang Tianci and Cheng Songnian covered the sky with their hands in Jiangzhou, and if they did not submit to their officials, they would not be able to “survive”. Now that the two of them had fallen, this batch of officials were originally like frightened birds, afraid of catastrophe, but now they were rewarded by the Emperor. Fortunately, how could they not be grateful and repay the Emperor’s death?

There are two advantages to doing so. First, the emperor had completely subdued the hearts of all the officials in Jiangzhou. Second, if he really carried out a thorough investigation, who could replace most of the officials in Jiangzhou immediately and patrol the prefecture on behalf of the heavens and govern the prefectures and counties? If that happens, it may be more troublesome than flooding. Therefore, Li Shimin probably used a “slow-moving strategy”. Let’s calm these people down first. As for whether they will settle their debts in the autumn or not, we don’t know.

The officials received the rewards and left happily. Only Li Ke, Qin Mubai and Zhui Suiliang were left in the king’s tent.

“Mr. Zhui must be tired from traveling thousands of miles. Why don’t you rest? Little Wang has someone arrange a military tent for you. How about you settle down first?” Li Ke said politely.

“Your Highness is too courteous. I have been ordered by the Emperor to do some work, so I dare not say that I have worked hard.” Zhui Suiliang bowed and greeted him respectfully.

Li Ke nodded and smiled, asking, “Zhui Suiliang is a close minister of my father. Did father entrust you with ordering Little Wang before he left?”

“No dictation, there is a secret decree.” Zhui Suiliang said seriously, “Your Highness King Wu, accept the decree!”

“I accept the decree!”

Zhui Suiliang took out a letter from his bosom and handed it to Li Ke. Li Ke took it down, opened it, and looked at it with a surprised expression on his face.

Qin Mubai and Zhui Suiliang were also puzzled, but did not ask what was written in the decree. Since it was a secret decree, there was no reason for others to pursue it.

“Mr. Zhui, in the Royal Father’s secret decree, you are instructed to temporarily take over the position of Governor of Jiangzhou, and will immediately send an imperial official to assist the imperial official in investigating the cause of Zhang Tianci’s and the others’ deaths.” Li Ke said.

“Your Majesty arranged this?” Zhui Suiliang was slightly surprised for a moment, then immediately cupped his hands and bowed, “This lowly official obeys the decree!”

“Qin Mubai, His Majesty’s secret decree is for you to temporarily replace Ma Kunjiang Prefecture as a commandant and continue to lead these soldiers to help the victims build the dam. If anything happens, you can kill them first and then kill them later!” Li Ke received it again.

“This lowly official has issued a decree!” Qin Mubai cupped his fists and promised, thinking to himself, “The Emperor’s moves are really endless!”

“As for this king … leave for Chang’an immediately.” Li Ke slightly knitted his brows and said with a gloomy expression, “You must also bring Quan Wanji, who was imprisoned by me …”

With Li Ke’s words, both Zhui Suiliang and Qin Mubai understood-the emperor was going to transfer Li Ke back, leaving the civil matters to Zhui Suiliang, a trusted aide that had just been sent here, and leaving the martial matters to Qin Mubai to deal with temporarily, so Li Ke was not allowed to interfere in this matter!

Because Qin Mubai had secretly told the Emperor about the incident between Li Ke and Quan Wanji. Moreover, the emperor knew that Li Ke had concealed Zhang Tianci without reporting it. It seemed that after Li Ke returned to the dynasty, it was very likely that the emperor would “repair” him!

The outcome that Li Ke, Qin Mubai, and Quan Wanji had set long ago was finally about to appear. The Jiangzhou case was settled, and after Li Ke was publicly rewarded, it was time for him to return to the Emperor and “accept his guilt”.

At this moment, Li Ke looked a little worried. He hesitated for a few steps and asked Zhui Suiliang, “Mr. Zhui, why did Father suddenly transfer me away at this moment?”

“Your Majesty’s intentions are unknown to me.” Zhui Suiliang shook his head, obviously not wanting to say anything to Li Ke. If he couldn’t even keep it a secret, he wouldn’t be called a “secretary”.

Actually, Li Ke and Qin Mubai both knew that the reason why the Emperor sent Zhusuiliang to take over Jiangzhou meant that he must know the cause and effect of everything and must have listened to the Emperor’s sacred will to do things. Otherwise, with the sensitivity and nervousness of Jiangzhou and Li Shimin’s caution, it would be impossible to send a foolish person to take care of the aftermath.

Li Ke purposely asked Zhui Suiliang in order to make the play more lifelike and show that he was very hesitant and guilty.

“Jun Ling Ru Shan, I have no choice but to leave for Chang’an immediately!” Li Ke knitted his brows and whispered to himself, “I wonder if it’s a blessing or a disaster …”

Qin Mubai took the words and said, “Your Highness has been busy with disaster relief ever since he arrived in Jiangzhou. Even if he has no function, he still has to work hard. The Emperor’s heart is like a bright mirror. He must have been rewarded by His Highness Xuan after he returned to the court.”

“I hope so!” Li Ke smiled bitterly, “Since I was impeached last time, I am now a little like a bird in fright.” Not long ago, I imprisoned Quan Wanji on impulse. In fact, I regretted doing so afterwards. Although Quan Wanji’s words were too harsh on me, his motive was also for my own good. Furthermore, he was my teacher after all. “I am indeed a bit disrespectful to my teacher and not respectful to him.”

“Your Highness, why do you think so much? You’ll know when you go to Chang’an, won’t you?”

“Yes, yes.”

Qin Mubai and Li Ke asked and answered like two springs, insisting that the knowing Zhusui Lianggan should stand aside and be embarrassed-to tell the truth, revealing the sacred intent, then he definitely wouldn’t be able to afford to eat it. Don’t tell Li Ke, Li Ke will definitely hold a grudge against him when he remembers it in the future!

What a dilemma!

‘”Cough” Zhui Suiliang lightly coughed and attracted the attention of the two of them. He smiled and said, “Your Highness, there’s no need to worry too much. Although you’ve gone too far in imprisoning Quan Wanji, on the whole, you’ve performed very well since you arrived in Jiangzhou. The Emperor has praised you more than once in front of all the officials!”

“Really? Then this king can rest assured to return to Chang’an, haha!” Li Ke laughed heartily and winked at Qin Mubai. At the same time, he scolded in his heart, “Chu Suiliang is also a fox. He has to hide something from Qin Mubai.” Although he said a nonsense that everyone seemed to know and didn’t matter, he had the intention of secretly reminding Li Ke that he was “safe from danger”.

This Zhui Suiliang was also a smart person!

Although this play was endlessly noisy, fortunately, there was no big deviation in the ending, just like Li Ke, Qin Mubai, and Quan Wanji had planned!