spend time

Chapter 495 Inspection (IV)

"The princess is still in the craftsman's room?"

In the spacious and elegant signing room, Minister Zhou frowned, his tone revealing displeasure. Perhaps, there was also a bit of uneasiness mixed in with the displeasure.

The attendant replied in a low voice: "Yes, the princess has been staying in the craftsman's room for half a day without moving."

Shangshu Zhou held the pen in his right hand, but the tip of the pen was slow to touch the official document. A drop of ink fell, staining the document with a pool of black ink.

Minister Zhou was furious and threw the document to the ground: "Have someone rewrite it."

The attendant responded meekly, picked up the document and left the signing room.

Minister Zhou put down his pen and paced back and forth in the signing room with his hands behind his back. Of course, the Ministry of Works had some minor problems that were not serious, such as deceiving superiors and subordinates, having two sets of account books, and retaining some of the money and grain allocated by the Ministry of Revenue. Another example was purchasing inferior materials as good ones, etc.

This is a common thing in the officialdom, and it is not surprising. It is impossible to cover up all the traces in just a few days. If Jiang Shaohua is determined to investigate, he will definitely find out the problem.

He thought Jiang Shaohua would start with the account book, or inspect from top to bottom. He never expected that Jiang Shaohua would unexpectedly go to the craftsman's room. How much did Zhao Dahong and the others reveal in the past half day?

Minister Zhou waited anxiously until dark, and finally received the news that the princess had left.

Minister Zhou breathed a sigh of relief and went to the craftsman's room.

As the Minister of Works, he would usually hand over any errands to the two assistant ministers, without having to deal with low-level craftsmen, let alone go to the craftsmen's room in person.

In the huge craftsman's room, four candlesticks were burning, and more than twenty craftsmen were mixed together. The strong smell of sweat mixed with body odor formed a strong and pungent smell.

Minister Zhou subconsciously held his breath. Even he couldn't help it. How could Jiang Shaohua, a princess of great wealth and status, stay for half a day?

"Zhao Dahong, Fang Yu, come here."

Minister Zhou's attendant gave the order in a deep voice. Zhao Dahong and Fang Yu came over with confused faces, lowering their heads and waiting for the Minister to ask questions.

"The princess has been here for half a day. What did she ask you?" Minister Zhou said coldly, "Tell me everything. Don't hide anything."

Zhao Dahong lowered his head and replied, "The princess asked me eight questions in total." Fortunately, he had a good memory and he memorized all the eight questions word for word.

Fang Yu said, "The princess asked me six questions." He then repeated all the questions.

These issues are all related to the construction of river embankments and the management of river channels, and not a single word involves money or account books.

Minister Zhou frowned even more tightly: "That's all?"

Zhao Dahong replied tremblingly: "I dare not lie, the princess asked these questions."

As for the occasional slip of the tongue when he's answering, it's better to keep silent.

Fang Yu and Zhao Dahong have a good relationship, so naturally he has to cover for Zhao Dahong: "Sir Shangshu, please understand. We don't know anything else but these. These are also what the princess asked."

Minister Zhou was silent for a moment, said nothing, and suddenly turned and left.

Zhao Dahong secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Fang Yu whispered, "If the princess comes again tomorrow and asks about repairing the river bank, just tell her how to repair it. Don't say anything else."

Zhao Dahong was still frightened: "How dare I say anything nonsense." Then he whispered expectantly: "This is such a dirty and chaotic place, the princess should be patient for half a day. Even if you come to the Ministry of Works tomorrow, you should stay in the signing room of the Shangshu or the Shilang." Fang Yu put his hands together and bowed several times in the direction of the west: "Buddha bless, the princess, please don't come again tomorrow. I still want to live a stable life."

……

The Buddha in the West Heaven obviously did not receive Zhao Dahong and Fang Yu's sincere prayers, or even if he did, he did not care.

The next afternoon, the princess came again.

The dark-colored princess's daily clothes set off the princess's white jade skin, black eyes and red lips, making her as beautiful as a painting. Zheng Sheren, who was standing next to her, was wearing a low-grade green official uniform. Others would look pale in this uniform, but Zheng Sheren was as graceful as a delicate orchid and a jade tree.

Unfortunately, Zhao Dahong and Fang Yu did not know how to appreciate each other. They just felt a headache when looking at this pair of noble young girl and boy.

Jiang Shaohua glanced at the two craftsmen's slightly painful faces and smiled slightly: "You don't have to accompany me today, go and do your own work. I can just look at it myself."

The princess gave the order, and they had no right to question it. Zhao Dahong and Fang Yu each made up their minds and simply went about their business.

Once he got busy, he forgot everything and soon forgot that there was a distinguished princess beside him. He slammed the table and cursed, spitting all over the table.

Jiang Shaohua sat aside and watched with great interest.

Zheng Chen frowned and finally couldn't help asking in a low voice, "What is the princess looking at?"

Jiang Shaohua said casually: "See how the craftsmen design the river bank and how they make emergency plans. They also make sand tables and models. Watching these is much better than looking at fake account books."

Zheng Chen: "..."

Zheng Chen's mouth almost twitched, and he lowered his voice and said, "The Empress Dowager wants the princess to check the account book."

Jiang Shaohua finally turned around and looked over: "If this princess can see the problem with the account books in the Ministry of Works, then Minister Zhou is too useless."

Zheng Chen was choked and speechless again.

"I have my own reasons and intentions for what I do." Jiang Shaohua looked calm, with a very arrogant attitude: "If the Emperor and the Empress Dowager ask, I will answer them. You don't need to worry about it, Mr. Zheng."

Zheng Chen couldn't stand it any longer: "Jiang Shaohua, don't use your status as a princess to pressure me."

Jiang Shaohua pulled the corner of his lips: "Zheng Chen, in what capacity are you talking to me?"

You are not the powerful Prime Minister Zheng. I am not the Madam Wang who is detained in the inner house. Why can't I, the Princess of Daliang who is trusted and respected by the emperor, use my power to bully others?
Two pairs of eyes stared at each other, one was sharp as a knife, the other was angry out of shame.

Chen Jinyu, who was standing next to Jiang Shaohua, couldn't help it and reminded him coldly: "If Mr. Zheng dares to offend the princess again, don't blame me for being rude."

Zheng Chen glared at him: "You are so sharp-tongued and don't know how to respect others."

Chen Jinyu sneered and shot back, "Same here. If you want to argue, come to me, the princess's servant. Our princess doesn't bother to pay attention to you. Zheng Sheren might as well carry a bronze mirror with you from now on and look at yourself from time to time, so as not to lose your dignity and sense of propriety."

Zheng Chen was very angry.

Jiang Shaohua deliberately put on a stern face: "Mr. Chen, you must not be rude to Mr. Zheng. You should consider the owner when beating a dog. Do you need me to teach you?"

Chen Sheren quickly admitted his mistake: "Yes, I know I was wrong. Please calm down, my lady. From now on, I will not pay attention to the barking of dogs, and I will not bite them."

Zheng Chen: "..."