Red Mansion and Crimson Pearl

Chapter 277 Entering Jiangning

The pursuit lasted only a day before the Highness heard that the Queen Mother was on her way to where he was, and he became extremely depressed.

But the person has already come, and there is almost no possibility of tricking him away.

Tai Shang was very troubled.

He naturally wanted to uncover the Jiangnan situation and rectify it. But he didn't want to uncover all of it, but to cover up some of it.

Nowadays, officials in Jiangnan, and even Emperor Zhaoming in the capital, would probably agree with his half-revealing and half-covering behavior.

Even if there were those who disagreed, he was sure that they would not dare to say it openly, such as his son Emperor Zhaoming.

For example, Prince Zhongshun, Prince Yu and others.

However, the Queen Mother was different.

The Queen Mother is a fearless person, and she also has a meddlesome temper.

The worst thing is that she is extremely smart.

So I either have to lift them all up or cover them all up. Otherwise, once she finds out, the matter will be ruined!

The more Tai Shang thought about it, the more headache he got.

Dai Quan glanced at Feng Tang, who was also frowning, and then at Ding Mingyi, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, who was puzzled, and had no choice but to step forward and offer his own advice:

"That's fine. The last few times I came to Jiangnan, it was spring or autumn. The Empress Dowager has never seen the scenery of Jinling in winter.

“Speaking of which, Princess Yimin’s ancestral home is Jiangning, so it would be better to directly order the people in Jiangning to serve the Queen Mother, and by the way, let Princess Yimin have some fun.

"What do you think?"

Tai Shang’s eyes lit up!

Yup!

This woman has been carefree in the past years, that's because she doesn't care about anything else and no one else except herself!

But now she has the two girls that are dear to her heart with her!

This thing is available!

The Supreme smiled and said, "Dai Quan, I'll leave this matter to you. Go meet her in the evening, and you can arrange the rest!"

Dai Quan smiled and bent over: "Yes."

Sure enough, when the sky was filled with sunset glow, the Supreme Lord met the Queen Mother and her entourage on the river.

The sampan was used to welcome the people over there, and everyone exchanged greetings. The Emperor smiled and took the Empress Dowager's hand to ask about her well-being:

"I heard that you got sick after you came ashore? Did you catch a cold from the sea breeze? Or did you eat seafood for several days?"

The Queen Mother felt guilty and bravely showed off her strong body: "Oh! It's all because of Ziying's filial piety. He got scared when he heard me cough twice.

"Don't believe him, I'm fine! I just ate too much seafood and had a cough for two days. I was all better in two days."

Will you cough if you eat too much seafood?

Tai Shang looked at Aunt Meng in confusion.

Aunt Meng, feeling the same guilty conscience as the Queen Mother, said hastily, "Yes! Yes! It's already healed!"

Tai Shang's eyes suddenly turned cold.

Aunt Meng then shrank into a real-life quail, her body almost half a head shorter, and whispered, "The emperor is right."

The Queen Mother glanced at her, gritted her teeth and cursed in a low voice: "Traitor!"

Aunt Meng's face was full of bitterness, and she almost cried: "You know, I am most afraid of being too high..."

Daiyu and Tanchun were at the back, tilting their heads to look at this strange sight curiously - it was so rare to see Aunt Meng being timid.

Fortunately, the Supreme Lord did not argue with them and just gently rebuked them:

"Forget about the rest. Your health is the most important thing. Don't be so playful in the future. You need to take good rest during this period."

The Queen Mother agreed repeatedly.

Aunt Meng took the opportunity to retreat and hid far away.

Dai Quan immediately joined in the conversation, frowning and saying, "It's just that the Queen Mother has not finished her official business yet, and I'm afraid she will have to run around in the next few days. What can the Queen Mother do?"

The Queen Mother heard the music and laughed through her nose. She pulled her hand out of the hands of the Grand Master and looked at Dai Quan with a half-smile:

"Since you mentioned it, you must have an idea. Come on, tell me. I will follow Prime Minister Dai's arrangements!"

Daiyu and Tanchun were behind, looked at each other and smiled quietly.

Trying to play tricks in front of the Empress Dowager is just like showing off one's skills in front of an expert, isn't that just showing off one's skills in front of an expert?

Dai Quan, however, had developed a thick skin over the years, and he bowed again without changing his expression, and said respectfully:

“You are teasing me again.

"I was just thinking that the Queen Mother loves her daughter now. Princess Yimin is from Jiangning, so why not ask the Queen Mother..."

"Well, I was just about to tell His Majesty." The Queen Mother interrupted him and turned to His Majesty. "I boasted to the two maids the other day that the food in Jinling is not inferior to that in Suzhou. Since they are here, I must take them to see it for themselves.

"Your inspection of the dike is official business, and it is inappropriate for me to follow you closely.

"Why don't I take them both to Jiangning? The small garden at the weaving yamen is nice, we can live there."

Tai Shang nodded with satisfaction: "Okay! Good, good, good!"

The Queen Mother snorted and said in a low voice that only the Supreme could hear:

"I am the Queen Mother after all, so you think I am so incapable of considering the overall situation?"

Tai Shang smiled without saying anything, but quietly held her hand again.

Daiyu, behind everyone, breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, she no longer needs to spend time trying to get the opportunity to go to Jiangning.

From boat to car, everyone headed straight to Jiangning.

Both Yingtian Prefecture and Jiangning County received the notice and hurriedly went outside the county boundaries.

The empress dowager frowned when she saw Yingtianfu, and turned back to ask Daiyu, "Is your so-and-so teacher in Yingtianfu after he was reinstated?"

Daiyu looked at her in surprise: "How did you know?"

"There was nothing going on on the ship. Xiao Meng was just chatting with me."

The Queen Mother explained, and when she turned to Ying Tianfu, who was a little scared, her expression changed and she said coldly,

"Okay, I'm going to Jiangning, you just follow the Supreme and do your job, you don't have to serve me!"

Yingtian Prefecture retreated reluctantly.

The Supreme Emperor looked at the Queen Mother in surprise and laughed, "Why are you still angry at the current one? He has nothing to do with that Jia."

The Queen Mother snorted: "I am not happy when I hear Yingtian!"

He immediately looked at the other person standing quietly and respectfully with his head down: "Are you from Jiangning County?"

"Yes, I am Cao Yu, the acting magistrate of Jiangning County. I am a Jinshi this year and have just taken office for more than half a month."

Although the young man lowered his head, his voice was clear and pleasant. The Queen Mother was delighted when she heard it and said with a smile: "From your accent, you are from the capital?"

"Yes. My brother is Cao Feng, the Minister of Personnel." When mentioning his elder brother, Cao Yu's voice softened for a moment.

The Queen Mother raised her eyebrows, then suddenly frowned. After thinking for a long time, she turned around and asked Tanchun, "Have we heard this name somewhere before?"

Tanchun took a half step forward and whispered, "The official who followed the Northern King to bully Sister Zhaoqing started to blame others when he was caught, saying that this person was the Northern King's confidant."

The Supreme also heard this, frowned, looked at Dai Quan with a slightly cold gaze, and asked, "Where was he before, and why did he transfer to Jiangning?"

Even I stopped asking.

Dai Quan smiled, stepped forward and said, "Cao Yu, courtesy name Kuangru, is the last in the second class of this year's exam.

"He was formerly the lieutenant of Danyang County. Because of his extensive knowledge and strong understanding, he made remarkable achievements in this flood.

"The Northern King originally wanted to be appointed as the Tongpan of Yangzhou Prefecture, and he had already written a petition. He himself said that no matter how meritorious he was, he could not violate the rules and skip the promotion.

"It just so happened that Jiangning County dismissed him for negligence, so he was nominated to take over."

After hearing this, the Supreme Lord still looked at Cao Yu's head coldly and asked sternly, "You have been here for more than half a month. Have you sorted out the affairs in Jiangning?"

Cao Yu lowered his head and said, "I have finished reading the archives and the clerks are halfway familiar with them. But I still can't say I have it all sorted out."

Everyone was shocked at once!

More than half a month, have you finished reading all the files?!