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

The voices of the three people discussing the matter became lower and lower, as if they were afraid of disturbing someone. After an unknown amount of time, Emperor Jian finally said in a deep voice, "That's it. Let the Ministry of Rites submit a memorial tomorrow. I will approve this matter."

"Then I'll take my leave." Before Shen Yuan turned around and left, he glanced at Xie Chengze casually.

Xie Chengze, who was peeking, received the signal and immediately said, "Father, one hour is up! I'm leaving first!"

After saying this, without waiting for a reply, he hurriedly picked up his robe and chased after him.

After paying his respects, Xie Jinyu also quickly left the imperial study.

Emperor Jian wiped his face helplessly, "Does he like Shen Yuan so much?"

Eunuch Zhao smiled and said, "Lord Shen is indeed a rare talent. Your Highness has a very good eye."

"It's not that I don't want to let him go, but the court is in chaos right now. If he gets along with Shen Yuan, it will definitely attract people with ulterior motives to encourage him to fight for the throne." Emperor Jian sighed, "I can give him everything except the throne."

"The Second Prince is smart, I think he knows how to deal with it." Eunuch Zhao consoled him, "Didn't the Second Prince just pretend to be stupid in the court before?"

"But he is not a fool. Look at what he is doing now. Which one of them is unpopular? What they want is a puppet, not a wise ruler. What if those people realize their mistake and want to harm him again?" Emperor Jian said worriedly.

Eunuch Zhao sighed, "The Crown Prince is kind and will protect the Second Prince."

"I hope so. If the two of you can work together to clean up the court, I will not be unwilling to let go in the future." Emperor Jian raised his hand and picked up the memorial that Xie Chengze had just approved, wondering whether he should open it and take a look.

He was afraid that after reading it, the pure love for the people expressed in the words would make him feel even more guilty.

After a long while, he asked, "Zhao Quan, do you think Ze'er really has no interest in the throne?"

Eunuch Zhao thought for a moment and said, "If the Second Prince really had that in mind, why did he hide his incompetence for so many years?"

Emperor Jian thought so too.

He finally unfolded the memorial, ready to see what problem had made Ze'er so scratching his head, and what kind of eye-catching solution Ze'er had given. Then his eyes were touched by the very eye-catching greeting at the beginning:

"Your Majesty, are you feeling well? Is the food to your liking?"

Emperor Jian:?

Emperor Jian had a bad feeling.

He continued to look to the left and found that the columns next to him said autumn harvest, and local specialties were already being presented as tribute, hoping to get a reply as to whether he liked it or not.

Why does Ze'er have such a headache over such meaningless content?

Emperor Jian continued to look to the left, and then his mouth twitched: ...

Xie Chengze replied: "I don't know whether the emperor eats well or not, but I have recently eaten crab stuffed orange, fried mandarin duck tripe, three crisp soup, five treasures sashimi, honey fried kumquat, crystal sashimi, crispy bone fish, melon minced meat, Manshanxiang, Jinyu soup..."

There are nearly a hundred dishes...

Emperor Jian finally understood why Xie Chengze had such a headache just now. It was really difficult for him to come up with so many dish names!

"Look at him! He is always so sly!" Emperor Jian threw the memorial to Eunuch Zhao with a smile, "I see, the reason why he wrote so slowly is just to kill time. He rarely approves a memorial!"

Eunuch Zhao took a quick glance and couldn't help laughing. "The Crown Prince is calm, kind and moderate, the Second Prince is smart and doesn't take credit for himself, the Fourth Prince is kind and has a backer, the First Prince is loyal and protects the border, and the four princes work together. Your Majesty should be happy."

"You." Emperor Jian was happy to hear that, but he could only shake his head helplessly, "Well, since this kid doesn't like to review memorials, I won't embarrass him in the future."

Eunuch Zhao nodded, "Your Majesty is kind and benevolent, the Second Prince will surely be happy."

……

Outside the imperial study, Shen Yuan stopped and waited for Xie Chengze to catch up with him before continuing to walk slowly forward.

Xie Chengze took his arm warmly, "Minister Shen, are you free later? Let's go to Cheng Huan Palace and have some tea together?"

Shen Yuan raised his eyebrows and reminded him, "Your Highness, it seems that my relationship with you is not good enough for us to have tea together in private?"

Aren't you afraid that getting too close to him might be dangerous? What's the trick he's trying to play by suddenly showing goodwill?

"How can our relationship improve if we don't get together for tea?" Xie Chengze secretly pinched his waist, winked, and whispered, "Cooperate."

Shen Yuan lowered his eyebrows and indulgently did not pull his hand away, "I obey your command."

Xie Jinyu walked over and saw how familiar the two were with each other. He lowered his eyes slightly and fixed them on their intertwined arms.

The guards he sent to Yizhou to protect Xie Chengze clearly said that the two had a distant relationship, so why did they seem to be so familiar with each other now?

Could it be that the guards missed something?

"When did the relationship between Second Brother and Minister Shen become so good?" Xie Jinyu walked up to Xie Chengze and smiled gently and friendly.

"After all, we have been together in Yizhou for half a year. Isn't it normal for us to have a good relationship?" Xie Chengze smiled at Xie Jinyu, "I borrow Minister Shen for you. The prince brother shouldn't mind, right?"

"Of course I don't mind. I just wonder if you can have an extra teacup." Seeing Xie Chengze smile, Xie Jinyu took off all the false kindness and gentleness on his body, like a lone wolf that has shed its sheepskin after hunting, carefully hiding its edge, and fell headfirst on the kitten raised privately in the cave, and intimately held Xie Chengze's other arm.

The man's slender fingers slowly slid across the young man's white and thin wrist, reaching towards his palm, pulling him towards himself, and then said with a smile, "Second brother was stabbed, I was afraid that seeing me would affect his mood to recover, so I never came to visit him. Now that second brother has recovered, I dare to ask him for a cup of tea from Cheng Huan Palace."

Realizing that Xie Chengze's body seemed to be pulled towards Xie Jinyu, Shen Yuan looked up in confusion, and then met the dangerous and warning look Xie Jinyu gave him.

Shen Yuan:?

Why was the prince looking at him like that?

Ever since his rebirth, Shen Yuan had vaguely felt that it was becoming increasingly difficult to survive under the prince's tutelage. In his previous life, the prince was clearly a man who was open to talented people and humbly accepted advice. In the ten years that they had been together as monarch and subject, except for occasional disputes over Xie Chengze, he was always gentle and kind, and never showed his displeasure.

But now they treat him coldly at every turn, as if he had done something taboo.

Shen Yuan couldn't help but look at Xie Jinyu again, but unexpectedly this time, he saw that Xie Jinyu's drooped brows were full of joy and dependence.

Looking in the direction of those eyebrows and eyes, it was Xie Chengze's little face.

Different from the gentle smile in his previous life which always seemed to be mixed with provocation and hypocrisy, and different from the sadness and distraction as if he had lost something when Xie Chengze made a big mistake and scolded him in his previous life, the prince at this moment was looking at that person sincerely, exuding his dependence on the other person.

Shen Yuan had never seen the word "dependence" in Xie Jinyu's eyes.

What can he rely on Xie Chengze for?

and many more?

Who to rely on? Xie Chengze?

Shen Yuan felt as if his head was hit hard by something. He looked at Xie Jinyu and then at Xie Chengze in astonishment, feeling that he had missed some information.