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

"Chengze!" Looking at the little white tiger and then the sleeve arrow, Emperor Jian was very envious, so he looked at Xie Chengze expectantly, "Where is my New Year's gift?"

Xie Chengze immediately looked at Emperor Jian in shock, and said angrily, "What did you say?"

"Your New Year's gift? Isn't this Ice Sculpture Festival the best New Year's gift I can give you? If you are not satisfied, what else do you want?"

"You want my brain, which is smart and wise, and unrivaled in the world? Or my beauty, which is incomparable and peerless? Oh, that won't do. After all, I have been working hard for half a year, and a lot of my hair and eyebrows have fallen out. I am too ugly to be called peerless anymore!"

Xie Chengze said angrily, "Also, Father, where is the New Year's gift you gave me?"

Emperor Jian, who was beaten up, said: …

Emperor Jian, who had never thought of preparing any gifts, turned his head away guiltily and pretended to be hard of hearing, "Ahem, the wind is so strong that my ears don't work well. Concubine Rou, will you go ice skating with me later?"

Concubine Rou: ...Don't use me as a shield!

Xie Chengze couldn't help but roll his eyes.

This old guy is not very good at governing the country, but he is very good at pretending to be stupid.

Lowering his head and wanting to continue teasing the little white tiger in his arms, Xie Chengze suddenly felt a strong gaze staring at him. He couldn't help but look up, and then met a pair of eyes full of complex emotions.

She is……

Queen?

His eyes fell on the golden phoenix robe on the other person, and Xie Chengze recognized her identity.

Cao Qingran, the daughter of the Cao family, has a very low presence in the original novel and has always been a vegetarian and worshiping Buddha.

To be honest, Xie Chengze, who had read some political novels, was very clear that the characters who were vegetarians and worshipped Buddha were usually involved in bloody affairs. However, Cao Qingran, the queen, had very few roles, which was really suspicious.

Is the author too lazy to write, or...

What details did he miss when he was reading?

When meeting Xie Chengze's gaze, Cao Qingran's eyes suddenly shrank back as if touched by a flame.

His hands clenched slightly under his phoenix robe, and Cao Qingran lowered his eyes, unable to suppress the emotions churning in his heart.

he……

Sure enough, he came back.

The former second prince would never be so smart and attractive, always attracting everyone's attention and making everyone fascinated by him.

Cao Qingran smiled bitterly and said, Hua Ning, even though your son has been away from home for several years, he is still so smart that it makes people jealous. As soon as he came back, he became the center of the court and overshadowed the prince.

If you were still alive, you would be very happy.

Too bad you can't see it.

Cao Qingran felt both pain and joy in her heart. Her nose was sore, but the smile at the corner of her lips was extremely sarcastic. She didn't know whether she was laughing at herself or Hua Ning.

……

The day's activities finally ended, and Xie Chengze began to count the accounts.

But it’s not about money, it’s about people.

"Why don't you follow the prearranged lines?"

Xie Chengze sat on a wooden chair with a sullen face, and in front of him, Li Dongyao was kneeling on the left, and Shen Yuan was kneeling on the right.

Shen Yuan knelt upright, his handsome face full of innocence, as if the mistake had nothing to do with him. "Yes, Li Zhifu, why don't you follow the pre-arranged lines?"

"Your Highness, please forgive me!" Li Dongyao fell to the ground and cried out in injustice, "It was Lord Shen who said before that he would praise you as much as possible! So I thought about it day and night, and finally came up with this line about the five great immortals and returning to heaven! I personally think that this line is easier to deceive the people than the original line, so I took the initiative to change the statement!"

"Then why didn't you discuss it with me in advance!" Xie Chengze put down the teacup heavily, as if slamming a gavel.

Li Dongyao trembled, "Because I feel that Your Highness is too modest and will definitely not agree to this! But if you want to achieve great things, how can you not show your edge? The people's support is so important. Your Highness should seize the opportunity and firmly control the people of Liaozhou in your hands, so that when you recruit soldiers in the future..."

"Wait, wait?" The more Xie Chengze listened, the more he felt something was wrong. "What do you mean by accomplishing great things? What do you mean by recruiting soldiers?"

He subconsciously looked at Shen Yuan, but saw that Shen Yuan turned his head slightly and his shoulders began to shake again.

Xie Chengze:?

"Of course it's the throne!" Li Dongyao said as a matter of course, "Second Prince, don't worry, I will be your vanguard from now on, and I will definitely help you get the position of crown prince, and then sit on the highest position!"

Xie Chengze: ???

"Who wants to ascend the throne?" Xie Chengze growled weakly, "I must be stupid to want to be the emperor!"

"Ah?" Li Dongyao looked up in confusion. "You have done so many practical things, and you also asked me to praise you as a lucky star sent from heaven to His Majesty, the officials and the people. Isn't it just to earn a reputation among the people so that you can get the support of the people when you ascend the throne in the future?"

"No..." Xie Chengze covered his face weakly, "You...you don't have to say it anymore."

His heart is so tired.

"I understand, I understand." Li Dongyao showed an understanding look, "Things like plotting for the position of crown prince must not be told to others, we can just talk about it in private."

"Puchi..." Shen Yuan on the side laughed even more obviously.

Xie Chengze couldn't help but kick him, and then said to Li Dongyao, "You go down first, remember, don't talk nonsense! I have no intention of coveting the position of the crown prince!"

"I understand, I understand~" Li Dongyao smiled as if he didn't understand anything at all.

Xie Chengze became more and more upset. He watched Li Dongyao leave and immediately glared at Shen Yuan, "Shen Yuan! Was this your doing?"

"What does it have to do with me? Your Highness, please don't wrongly accuse me!" Shen Yuan turned his head back, his black eyes smiling like blooming spring flowers, he said seriously, "I just said that the Second Prince always likes to be praised, and Governor Li should say a few good words about him. Your Highness was there at the time, and he clearly heard it."

Xie Chengze stared at him suspiciously, "Why don't I believe it?"

"But I do know why Magistrate Li is like this." Shen Yuan was tired of laughing, so he said seriously, "Your Highness, do you want to know?"

"Hurry up and tell me." Xie Chengze urged, raising his foot and gently bumping the man's knee, and said, "Hurry up and get up."

It’s so cold kneeling on the ground.

Shen Yuan slowly stood up, but did not give an answer immediately. Instead, he poured himself a cup of warm tea and then slowly said, "Before we talk about this, I have one more thing I want to ask."

"What?" Xie Chengze looked up, and his clear eyes met the man's teasing gaze.

He secretly thought bad.

This dog minister must be holding back some big trick.

Just when I was about to say "Why don't you shut up" the man approached me and said slowly, "Your Highness the Fourth Prince has received a New Year's gift, what about mine?"

Xie Chengze: ...

"That's because Xiao Miao gave me a gift, so I..."

"I have also prepared a New Year's gift for Your Highness." Shen Yuan leaned down, his slender shadow covering Xie Chengze's whole body. He lowered his eyes and casually took out a small box from his sleeve, saying in a sad tone, "It seems that Your Highness is not thinking about me in his heart."

Xie Chengze: ...

Xie Chengze has always been fair in his dealings, including in friendship. Shen Yuan specially prepared a gift for him, but Xie Chengze didn't have such thoughts, which made Xie Chengze feel a little guilty.

He really deserves to die! Shen Yuan thought so much about him, but he didn't think about Shen Yuan!

"Okay!" In the narrow space between the wooden chair and the man leaning over, Xie Chengze coughed twice and held the handles of the wooden chair tightly with both hands. "Actually, I have prepared a gift for you, but I need to make it now."

Shen Yuan raised his eyebrows, "Oh?"

"You wait here!" After saying that, Xie Chengze quickly got out of the man's confinement and ran out the door, "I'll be back soon!"