The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 1179: Crown Prince Jiang Wei

"Sister Yuan, Sister Yuan!"

Sheng Yuan had just returned to the Ministry of Revenue from the Five Military Commanders' Office. Before he could even sit down in his chair, he heard An Yu coming in excitedly from outside.

An Suiyun, who sat down next to her, stopped talking, looked at the energetic An Yu with a smile, stroked his beard and said to Sheng Yuan: "Wen Zhen, think carefully about what I said, and tell me whether you agree or not before leaving."

An Yu didn't expect to see her superior in Sheng Yuan's office, and she greeted him quietly.

An Suiyun nodded in return, said "I won't bother you any more", and walked away tactfully.

"Sister Yuan, what does this old stingy man want you to consider?" Seeing the other party walking away, An Yu leaned close to Sheng Yuan's ear and asked in a low voice.

Sheng Yuan motioned him to sit down while tidying up the documents on the desk: "Isn't it time to prepare for the next Spring Examination? The emperor intends to select officials from the six ministries to work with the scholars of the Hanlin Academy to set the examination questions."

An Yu clicked his tongue several times: "Once you become the examiner, I'm afraid you won't be able to go home for a month or two, right? Does the old man want you to take his place?"

Sheng Yuan glanced at him and said, "Oh, you guessed wrong this time!"

"Yo?!" An Yu was quite happy, "What do you mean by that?"

"On the contrary, he wants me to take charge of the Ministry of Revenue on his behalf, and he himself will be the examiner."

"..." An Yu's eyes lit up and he immediately clapped his hands in approval.

Sheng Yuan heard the applause and stared at him for a long time in silence. He said unhappily, "How can you be so happy about this? Do you think he is stupid? It is obvious that he wants to hide! He pushed me to the front by pushing me forward."

"You are not afraid of trouble! Being pushed to the front may not be a bad thing! No matter he makes further progress or retires at the peak of his career, the position of the head of the Ministry of Revenue will definitely be yours." An Yu's understanding is very simple, that is, when serving as an official in the court, if you can be the top leader, you should not be the second in command.

Sheng Yuan felt that he didn't know how expensive food and firewood were until he took charge of the household. "When he was the minister, there were still two assistant ministers, Yang Wennong and I, to share government affairs. If he left now, and Yang Wennong was not around, I would be the only one in charge of the entire Ministry of Revenue... Not to mention that the Five Military Commanders' Office still had a lot of official business to review and discuss, it was almost the busiest time for the Ministry of Revenue. We had to keep a close eye on the grain tax receipts, the treasury income and expenditures, and the appropriations and expenditures of various departments."

Thinking of the busy scenes of the Ministry of Revenue staff, Sheng Yuan felt overwhelmed.

"It's easy to keep and check accounts, but dealing with those old hands who are asking for money... Even Mr. An is scratching his head! I've been in the Ministry of Revenue ever since, and I've seen with my own eyes how his belt has become loose and his body has become haggard in order to deal with all the debtors!"

An Suiyun's annual dark and thin image has almost become a classic in Sheng Yuan's memory.

"You are you, and An Suiyun is An Suiyun. They can deceive a gentleman with their own methods, but they may not dare to do this to you."

An Yu's original intention was to comfort Sheng Yuan, but he didn't expect that his words would leave Sheng Yuan speechless.

"Brother Yu, when you said 'you can deceive a gentleman with your own methods', I don't know whether you were mocking him or me!"

Sheng Yuan rubbed her head, feeling exhausted. Her superior was not a good person, and the man beside her was still obsessed with officialdom; she had countless official duties and endless documents to deal with in the office. She was really tired and had a hard time!

"Hey, Sister Yuan, think positively. You have to do it no matter how hard or tiring it is! You can't bear to resign anyway."

  "...Are you the terminator of the topic of further study today?" Although Sheng Yuan agreed with what he said, it was too unpleasant to hear. What did she mean by "reluctant to resign"? It was obvious that she was responsible and ambitious, and was unwilling to escape at the last minute!

"Tell me, what's the matter that made you come here shouting and yelling just now?" Sheng Yuan didn't wait for An Yu to respond, and hurriedly asked him why he came here to find her.

"Oh, if you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten about it!" An Yu slapped his forehead, his emotions returned to normal, and he said excitedly to Sheng Yuan.

"Didn't you tell me last time that the Queen ordered the inner guards and the three judicial departments to jointly investigate the matter of Concubine Cen reporting to Grand Princess Hong'an? Hey, let me tell you, there is news today!"

"So fast?!" Sheng Yuan was not surprised that An Yu was more informed than her. She was just surprised at the efficiency of the Internal Guards and the Three Law Enforcement Departments.

"It's fine that the inner guards are quick to act, after all, it's a common practice; but why are those old foxes from the Three Law Departments so proactive? I thought that since it involves Grand Princess Hong'an, they would at least try to drag their feet."

An Yu waved his hand indifferently: "The Queen's attitude is there. They must be cautious before they can get a clear picture of the situation... After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the inner guards are in the Queen's hands. If they make a move under the inner guards' noses, I'm afraid they will be questioned by the inner guards before the case of Princess Hong'an is fully investigated!"

"That's right." Sheng Yuan thought about the characteristics of the officials in the Censorate and nodded, continuing the previous topic, "Didn't you just say that you had news? You haven't told me yet!"

"I'm telling you, the inner guards seem to have found a spy in the palace!" An Yu thought of the news he had heard and immediately whispered to Sheng Yuan, "Guess how they found out?"

"..." Sheng Yuan looked at him with a question mark on his face, "Although I am very smart, you don't have to think so highly of me. I am just a little bit smart, but not to the point where I can predict the future."

An Yu also realized that he had revealed too little information. He touched his nose in embarrassment and continued to mutter, "When the inner guards checked the outer garden, they found that the prince of Zhao, who lived alone, was poisoned! I heard that the entire Imperial Medical Bureau was alarmed at the time. The Imperial Medical Officer, the Imperial Doctor on duty, and the doctors, female doctors, pharmacists, and medicine boys in the bureau all followed them. After a thorough investigation, they finally found the clues."

"Then the Prince of Zhao..." Sheng Yuan thought of this child, sympathizing with him and feeling a little worried. "He is the only heir to the Zhao Palace, the Prince of Zhao's posthumous child. If something happens to him, people will not say that it was caused by evildoers, but will say that the emperor and empress bullied the orphan and widowed mother for the position of crown prince."

"I'm afraid it's that simple. By then, not only will there be people in the court stirring up trouble, but there will also be people outside who won't give up." An Yu reminded Sheng Yuan, "Don't forget that the prince of Zhao is the son of Zhao's concubine Shu, and she is your eldest sister-in-law's biological sister! My father told me before that my eldest sister-in-law has quarreled with my eldest brother for them."

"..."

Sheng Yuan thought of the Shu family and couldn't help muttering, "Oh my god, internal and external troubles!"

……

"I didn't know that there were so many palaces in the inner and outer gardens of the imperial palace that there might be such hidden dangers!"

Sheng Ran closed the report handed over by the inner guards and slammed it on the table with a cold voice: "I don't care what method you use, three days, only three days! Whether it's Concubine Cen or Princess Hong'an, you must have an explanation!"

Upon hearing this, the commander of the internal guards showed no sign of embarrassment and responded decisively with a "yes".