usatvline Chapter 156: Soft Rice Man
Chapter 156: Soft Rice Man
Seeing the dishes and chopsticks placed in front of him, Xie Qingzhi did not move, but turned to look at Xie Ci'an who was picking up food for the queen.
The rumors outside were indeed true. The emperor was bewitched by the queen. Not only did he favor the queen in the Pepper Room, he even picked food for her. Is this acceptable?
She had never seen this in any emperor.
This also shows that her choice to please the queen was right.
"I came here to ask for another favor from the emperor." Xie Qingzhi rubbed her fingers back and forth unnaturally under her sleeves.
Asking for help for the first time made Xie Qingzhi feel uncomfortable all over.
[The eldest princess is confused.]
[Once you see the true face of that scumbag, you'll definitely regret asking for help. Sometimes it's quite satisfying to see others suffer socially.]
Xie Ci'an acted as if he didn't know what to say, "Oh, elder sister, why don't you tell me first?"
Xie Qingzhi organized her words, "I've recently met a very talented scholar. He's already passed the provincial examination, but he's always dreamed of attending Yousong Academy. I've heard that Yousong Academy has very high requirements for students and won't be recruiting until autumn. I'd like to ask the Emperor for some leniency and arrange for him to attend Yousong Academy. Waiting for him to pass the examination will be a great help to the Emperor, right?"
The princess really loves finding men in garbage dumps. Expecting someone who spent three years studying to finally pass the provincial examination to come back as the top scorer is worse than expecting a sow to climb a tree.
A man who only wants to cling to the princess and live off her, must know he's incompetent. He's only trying to gain some luster by entering Arimatsu Academy. If he fails the exam, he can continue to rely on the princess and use Arimatsu Academy to climb a ladder.
[However, this scumbag has a habit of stealing and keeping mistresses outside. With these bad habits, he would be a complete disaster if he entered Arimatsu Academy.]
"Eldest sister is really confused. Even if I have some rules that cannot be broken, there are still one or two months before the autumn election. Although Yousong Academy has extremely high admission requirements, people with good character and sufficient abilities only need to prepare well and there will be no problem." Xie Ci'an's aura was extremely cold.
Seeing Xie Qingzhi's face darken, Gu Jianchu smiled and came out to play the good cop, "Since my elder sister is so optimistic about this person, I think he is a person with both good character and good academic performance. He will definitely be able to pass the assessment of Yousong Academy. It's just a matter of waiting for a month or two. Why bother my elder sister to make a trip?"
Before Xie Qingzhi could refute, Gu Jianchu added, "Even if the emperor shows leniency, he still has to go through the normal assessment process. Eldest sister, why not go back and let him prepare well? One or two months is just right."
"Even if we relax the test for him now, there's a high chance he won't be able to get in without any preparation."
Gu Jianchu's words instantly left Xie Qingzhi speechless.
[I didn't expect that the Emperor and I work so well together. As for the matter between the eldest princess and the young servant, it seems I'll have to find another way to inform the Emperor.]
Xie Qingzhi's face didn't look very good.
She rushed into the palace, not only did she fail to get things done, but she also lost a set of headgear. Doesn't she have any face?
A feeling of anger was piling up in my heart with nowhere to vent.
Seeing Cheng Song coming in, Xie Qingzhi shouted, "How's the investigation going?"
Cheng Song was frightened by Xie Qingzhi's attitude and looked at the emperor with a look of help.
[Oh, this is Chunchun, unable to catch the rabbit, hitting the dog to eat. She doesn't dare to vent her anger on me and the emperor, so she takes action against Cheng Song.]
[Nothing can be done, let's just call it bad luck for Cheng Song.]
[There will be someone even more unlucky soon. After all, all social demise is caused by one person.]
Gu Jianchu tried hard to suppress the smile on his face.
Cheng Song said truthfully, "Princess, the Five Cities Military Affairs Department has sent word that they found two South Sea pearls in Xiushuifang, along with some items that closely resemble items from the Princess's mansion. However, they can't confirm the details, so they've brought the items here for the Princess to identify. Miss Xiazhi is leading the team to continue searching other shops to see if they have any of the Princess's belongings."
"Bring all the people and things in." Xie Qingzhi's previous anger was instantly diverted.
When Cheng Song went out and came back in, the man who was tied up and brought in was behind him.
And a guard carrying a tray of items.
The man was the owner of Xiushuifang. He was a wealthy man, over forty years old, with a small mustache. There were still wet stains on the front of his robe, which he had peed when he was scared when he was arrested.
Especially when he saw the emperor and empress sitting at the dining table, and the eldest princess with a fierce look on her face, his legs instantly went weak. Even though he was being supported by two guards, his legs hung down as if they had no bones.
After being released by the guards, the shopkeeper kowtowed instinctively, but soon his forehead was red from knocking. "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I run a small business and I know nothing about it."
Gu Jianchu waved the folding fan in his hand and said gently, "You don't have to be afraid. I brought you into the palace just to ask you a few questions. Just answer truthfully later."
"I will tell you everything I know." The shopkeeper crawled on the ground with his head almost buried in his knees.
Cheng Song personally took the tray from the guard and handed it to the princess. "These are the things we found in Xiushuifang. I wonder if they are the ones that were lost in the princess's mansion."
Xie Qingzhi took a closer look and saw that in addition to the two South China Sea pearls, there were also many gold hairpins and jewelry, some of which were the dowry given to her by the late emperor and the late queen when she got married.
"There is no doubt that these are the things lost in the princess's mansion, but there is more than that." Xie Qingzhi swept his cold eyes over the shopkeeper who was kneeling on the ground.
The shopkeeper who was originally brought to the palace was still confused and didn't know what he had done wrong. Now he couldn't react and realized that these things in his shop were related to the eldest princess.
The shopkeeper adjusted the direction of his kneeling and kowtowed again, "Princess, please understand. The things lost in the Princess Mansion have nothing to do with me."
"Why would something that has nothing to do with me be found in your shop?" Xie Qingzhi suppressed the anger that wanted to take action.
"These... these things were sold to me by a scholar. He brings some here every three to five days. I think these things are extremely precious and worth a lot of money. The scholar seems to be in a hurry to use the money, so he wants these good things at very low prices."
"I had a bad idea. I wanted to buy the things at a low price and sell them at a higher price. But before I could sell them at a high price, the soldiers came to search my house."
"Every word I say is the truth. I am definitely not a thief. If I knew these were the princess's things, I would never dare to accept them even if I had a hundred guts."
Seeing that the three masters remained silent, the shopkeeper looked at Cheng Song in panic.
But seeing that Cheng Song wasn't looking his way, he continued tentatively, "I saw that the scholar was dressed rather poorly, yet he was able to produce so many fine things. I couldn't help but ask a few questions, but he explained that they were his wife's dowry, and that he was selling them because his family was in urgent need of money. I didn't think much of it."