How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

"Your Majesty." Cao Qingran leaned forward, her entire upper body leaning on Emperor Jian's head, her black eyes staring straight at him, her face thoughtful, "You slept so soundly that you didn't even notice that I was here."

Emperor Jian: ...

I want you to be a widow.

Emperor Jian pushed her away, got off the bed, and stretched out his hand generously, "Change my clothes."

Cao Qingran did not refuse this time. While putting on the dragon robe for Emperor Jian, she said calmly, "I plan to go and see the Ice Sculpture Festival."

"Very good, very good." Emperor Jian knew she would go, and he nodded, "Then I'll ask someone to buy you some new clothes. There should be a lot of cloth left in the treasure house of Cheng Huan Palace. You can pick whichever one you like."

Cao Qingran paused while adjusting his belt, raised his head and looked at Emperor Jian in astonishment, "Cheng Huan Palace?"

Is there something wrong with his brain?

Didn't he always dislike others using things in Cheng Huan Palace? Why did he suddenly become so abnormal?

Could it be that he was also——

"Yes." Emperor Jian looked at his handsome self in the bronze mirror, posed a few handsome moves, and then said angrily, "Doesn't that kid think I'm not good to you? This year, Jian'an has suffered many disasters, and I don't have anything good to give you in my inner treasury. Since he is so filial, I will give you this gift from Chenghuan Palace!"

After saying that, he added, "Just go and get it secretly by yourself, and don't let other palaces know."

Cao Qingran: ...

Speechless!

-

On the other side, the night before.

In the luxurious mahogany room, the candlelight flickered slightly. A young man was dressed in luxurious purple clothes. His sharp and flamboyant eyebrows were filled with an indelible arrogance, which made people feel that he had no humility at all. However, he was already a senior official of the court at a young age, so it was natural for him to be a little arrogant.

At this moment, he was looking at the thick stack of letter papers strung together into a book with thread in his hand, and was subtlely silent for a moment.

The confidant who came to deliver the book was also surprised and said, "Sir, I didn't expect Hu Lai to be so conscientious and write so much about the Second Prince's whereabouts. I believe that it contains all the details, which will definitely help you judge whether the Second Prince is worthy of cooperation!"

"Hmm..." The man in purple put his hand on the book, but thought to himself, isn't this too much written?

He always felt something was strange in his heart, and when he turned to the first page, the man in purple finally felt relieved.

What kind of bullshit is this!

Looking at the word "water" between the lines, the man in purple was so angry that he laughed. His lips formed cold lines and his index finger tapped the table lightly. The very slow rhythm showed his displeasure.

The confidant took a quick look and saw that something was wrong, so he hurriedly and carefully asked, "Sir, is there any problem?"

"Heh." The purple-clothed man sneered, his eyes slightly lowered, and continued to look back, "No problem, just a little too much nonsense."

The man in purple could read ten lines at a glance. Although there was a lot of nonsense in the book recording the travel notes, it also contained a lot of key information, which was consistent with the news brought by his subordinates.

It seems that Hu Lai can continue to be with the second prince.

The purple-clothed man waved his hand and continued flipping through the book, "You go down first."

"Yes." The confidant bent down and backed out of the room.

The next morning, the confidant came back with important news. Seeing that the candle in the room was still lit, he was slightly surprised and knocked on the door quickly, "Sir? Are you still there?"

My lord, you are very skilled in martial arts, so nothing should happen to you, right?

"Come in." The voice of the man in purple came from inside the room. The confidant pushed the door open quickly and saw his master sitting on a wooden chair, holding the book "The Travels of the Second Prince" in his hand. Judging from the thickness of both sides, he had only read two-thirds of it.

"Sir, you didn't sleep all night?" Seeing that his lord's eyes were dark, the confidant couldn't help but asked in surprise.

"..." The purple-clothed man rubbed his tired eyes. He had never been poisoned by storybooks. He had been familiar with boring strategies since he was a child and had only great ambitions in his heart. But he was fascinated by the storybooks.

too frightening.

It's simply a new type of Wu Shi San. I have withdrawal symptoms if I stop taking it.

The purple-clothed man put down the Second Prince's Travels in his hand and said, "Tell Hu Lai not to write like this again next time."

"Yes." The confidant replied, but he was confused in his heart, why was it not allowed to write like this?

"Tell me, what's the matter that brings you to see me at this time?" The man in purple looked at his confidant.

"I heard that he will bring his concubines to Liaozhou on the New Year's Day to attend the ice sculpture banquet hosted by the Second Prince." The confidant told him the news he had just received. "He is drawing up a list of people to go with him. I heard that he will bring some officials with him. My lord, half of the imperial guards guarding the capital will be taken away by then. Perhaps this is a good opportunity for us to take over the capital."

The confidant stepped forward and whispered, "Should we make arrangements in advance..."

The purple-clothed man knocked on the table, thinking for a long time, then frowned and said, "No."

Thanks to the help of the Crown Prince and Shen Yuan, he had most of the private soldiers kept by officials wiped out. Even if he took action personally and had the upper hand against half of the imperial guards, if the emperor brought the remaining half of the imperial guards back to the capital, and the eldest prince's army from the border also returned to the capital, he would not be able to sit firmly on the throne.

Not to mention, the royal family also controls gunpowder, which has extremely destructive power.

Although Emperor Jian did not clearly state the reason why the Huns surrendered, he did not deliberately conceal the fact of the gunpowder explosion. This information could still be found out by sending people to inquire in the military camp.

If he wants to achieve his goal, he must get the formula of gunpowder from the second prince, and incite the eldest prince to rebel and make him work under his command, so that he can take control of the military power.

The eldest prince has always been aloof from others, but he is slightly close to the second prince. If one wants to win over the eldest prince, cooperation with the second prince is urgent.

The purple-clothed man continued to ponder. In fact, he had long wanted to cooperate with Xie Chengze. It was just a pity that the crown prince was too strict with people. He was afraid that after making friends with the second prince, he would be targeted by the crown prince and get into trouble, causing his eight years of hard work to go to waste.

Now, Xie Chengze is in Liaozhou and the prince is in Yingzhou. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to establish a personal relationship with the second prince.

It seems that he must go to Liaozhou in person this time.

……

In the court, Emperor Jian said that he wanted to go to Liaozhou to celebrate the New Year's Day. The ministers were shocked and tried to dissuade him, but Emperor Jian had made up his mind. He ordered Eunuch Zhao to issue an order to determine which ministers should go with him.

Hearing his name, the man in purple curled his lips slightly.

This is great, he doesn't need to worry about it anymore.

"Your Majesty, if you leave, who will be the regent?" an old minister asked anxiously.

A country cannot be without a king for a day. How can Your Majesty be so willful?

"Isn't there still Prime Minister Li?" Emperor Jian smiled at Li Ren, the emperor's son. His smile was very kind and malicious. "Prime Minister Li, you must supervise the country well and remember to review the memorials for me."

Li Ren: …

I want to go to Liaozhou!

I don't want to work!

"Your Majesty, the snow is still falling in the north, and the roads are inevitably slippery and difficult to travel. Can you temporarily reduce the cumbersome application process for salt transportation to help various places spread salt as soon as possible? In addition, open additional salt permits to merchants to make up for the loss of coarse salt to clear the roads."

At this time, an official from the Salt and Iron Department stepped forward and said earnestly, "This will also speed up the journey and reduce the time your majesty has to leave the capital."

All the ministers nodded after hearing this, "This makes sense."

"I was just about to say this." Emperor Jian raised his lower lip almost imperceptibly, then raised his hand and agreed, "Let's do as you say, release the salt permits, simplify the process, and clear the road as soon as possible."