Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1648 Dinner Party
Yijing, the Imperial Palace

In the imperial study, Ye Mingsheng was looking at the memorial in his hand. At this moment, Ye Cheng walked into the room and said:

"Your Majesty, Minister Cui did not pay homage to Zeng Yang!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng looked up and asked:

"Didn't you send anyone?"

"Yes!"

Hearing Ye Cheng's affirmative answer, Ye Mingsheng pondered for a moment, then asked again:
"Who went?"

"Left Censor-in-Chief Wang Huaiyi, Right Censor-in-Chief Xuan Yifeng, and almost everyone in the Censorate went to pay tribute to Zeng Yang, except for two people who were at home on sick leave. Wang Du, the Reader of the Hanlin Academy, Yang Huai'en, the Lecturer, and most of the Hanlin Academy also went to pay tribute to Zeng Yang!"

Although he had expected that these clean officials would take this opportunity to demonstrate, when he really heard about this situation, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but frowned slightly and asked:

"Six Ministries, Dali Temple, where are these officials?"

'Minister Su of the Ministry of Works, Minister Liu of the Ministry of Justice, and Minister Zhu Xiaowen of the Supreme Court sent people to pay tribute to Zeng Yang. Minister Su of the Ministry of Rites went to Zeng Yang's home in person. Only Minister Cui and Minister Gu neither went in person nor sent anyone to go!'

"In addition to these few people, some of the assistant ministers of the six ministries also went to pay tribute to Zeng Yang in person or sent people to do so! As for the remaining deputy ministers, doctors, and principals, most of them went to pay tribute to Zeng Yang!"

Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but sneer when he heard this:

"This Zeng Yang is so prestigious! This bastard probably never thought that most of the court would be worshipping him!"

Ye Cheng seemed to want to say something after hearing this, but after hesitating for a while, he closed his mouth.

Although Ye Mingsheng said so, Ye Mingsheng knew very well that the reason why these Shangshu, Shilang and a lot of other people went to pay tribute to Zeng Yang was not because Zeng Yang had any name. Zeng Yang was just an ordinary censor in the Metropolitan Censorate. He was a figure among ordinary people, but he didn’t even have the qualifications to speak in the court...
Therefore, those people who went to worship Zeng Yang were not really doing so sincerely!
On the surface, these people are taking advantage of Zeng Yang's death, treating it as a political incident and expressing their views, and even putting pressure on Ye Mingsheng to severely punish him.

But the deeper reason is that Ye Mingsheng wants to promote reform, but the core of the reform, layoffs, involves the interests of middle and lower-level G employees and affects their jobs. Therefore, many middle and lower-level G employees, facing Ye Mingsheng's layoff requirements, are somewhat hypocritical and say one thing in front of others and another behind their backs!

Ye Mingsheng thought of some ways to solve this situation, but unfortunately they had little effect. For this reason, Ye Mingsheng had to reuse the Unified Coordination Office and let this secret agency promote reform.

Therefore, those G members who were already dissatisfied with the Coordination Office hated it even more!
They had wanted to find an opportunity to attack the Coordination Office before, but under Ye Mingsheng's protection, the Coordination Office was safe. However, this time Zeng Yang's incident gave these people an opportunity, and they naturally did not want to miss this chance to cause trouble!
Although the Coordination Office is Ye Mingsheng's dirty gloves, it is currently an important driving force for reform. Therefore, as long as the Coordination Office is taken down, the reform led by Ye Mingsheng will hardly make any progress...
Honestly speaking, Ye Mingsheng could understand why those middle and lower level G employees expressed their attitude by paying homage to Zeng Yang. After all, the layoffs were mainly aimed at them. In recent years, layoffs were like a sword hanging over their heads, and many people were under great pressure!

So now that they have a chance to deal with the sword hanging over their heads, they naturally don't want to miss it easily!
But what surprised Ye Mingsheng was that Liu Ning, Su Junjie, Su Yi, and Zhu Xiaowen actually paid tribute to Zeng Yang. Although the four of them did not go in person, the fact that they sent people to go also spoke volumes!
But what surprised Ye Mingsheng the most was not that the four of them sent people to worship Zeng Yang, but that Cui Shao did not send anyone to worship Zeng Yang!
It is normal that Gu Sansi did not send anyone to pay tribute to Zeng Yang. After all, Gu Sansi was the reformist leader he promoted himself, so at this time Gu Sansi must stand firm!

But it was very surprising that Cui Shao did not send anyone. After all, Cui Shao was a recognized conservative leader!
Even Ye Mingsheng suspected that all the current disturbances in the court were secretly fueled by Cui Shao!

That day, Xuan Yifeng and Fang Shi led the censors of the Coordination Office, carrying Zeng Yang's coffin to block the door of the Coordination Office. In the end, censor Liu Rui was shot and killed. After learning about the situation carefully, Ye Mingsheng always suspected that Cui Shao directed and acted this out!

After all, Cui Shao firstly had a great political influence on Xuan Yifeng, Fang Shi and other censors of the Censorate. Secondly, Cui Shao went there at such a coincidence that day. At that time, Xuan Yifeng and Fang Shi had lost their minds because Liu Rui was shot, and they wanted to lead people to rush into the Coordination Office.

Fortunately, Gu Sansi and Cui Shao arrived in time and persuaded Xuan Yifeng and Fang Shi to go back, so that the situation did not escalate out of control...

Although Cui Shao had a positive image in this incident, Ye Mingsheng was still very confused as to how Cui Shao could get the timing so accurate!

Ye Mingsheng asked Gu Sansi about this, and the Minister of Personnel told Ye Mingsheng that when he heard that Xuan Yifeng and Fang Shi brought people carrying Zeng Yang's coffin to block the door of the Coordination Office, he knew that things were going to be bad.

Gu San wanted to stop the situation from getting worse, but he also knew that he didn't have that much face in front of Xuan Yifeng, Fang Shi and others, and it would be useless if he went alone, so on the one hand he sent a message to Ye Mingsheng, and on the other hand he found Cui Shao!
After learning about the incident and Gu Sansi's purpose, Cui Shao followed him to the Coordination Office and stopped the actions of Xuan Yifeng, Fang Shi and others, bringing the matter to a temporary end.

After learning about the role Cui Shao played in the incident, Ye Mingsheng's suspicion of Cui Shao was reduced, but in order to be conservative, Ye Mingsheng did not conduct a high-profile investigation, but asked his subordinates to conduct a low-key investigation.

The results of the investigation are not ideal at the moment. Apart from uncovering a few small-time figures, the mastermind behind the scenes has not yet been uncovered!

This made Ye Mingsheng doubt Cui Shao again. After all, Cui Shao, who could do things so cleanly and plant nails in the Coordination Office, was definitely number one.

But now Cui Shao did not go to pay tribute to Zeng Yang. This undoubtedly shows Cui Shao's attitude. This pillar of the Daqian court did not put pressure on Ye Mingsheng like others did, trying to make Ye Mingsheng severely punish the Coordination Office and stop the reform...

In Ye Mingsheng's expectation, if Cui Shao was the mastermind behind the scenes, he would definitely not miss such an opportunity! The newly established Daqian has some internal and external troubles, and now is the most likely time for him to compromise. If Cui Shao really wants to stop the reform, then he should add insult to injury!
But now Cui Shao did not do so, which made Ye Mingsheng doubt whether his idea was wrong!

Could it be that the mastermind behind this is not Cui Shao, but someone else?
But apart from Cui Shao, who else could stir up trouble in the court?
Thinking about this question, Ye Mingsheng frowned even more tightly, but at this moment Ye Cheng said:

"Your Majesty, there is one more thing I need to report to you!"

"Anything else?"

"Mr. Jiang has come to Yijing! She said she wants to see His Majesty."

"What's wrong with her?"

"This Jiang Dongjia didn't say anything, he just said he wanted to see you for something!"

Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but frown again when he heard that. He originally thought that Jiang Yuyan was not a woman who was willing to be lonely. Since he gave her freedom, she should be very happy to accept the order and express her gratitude. But why did this woman seem to be clinging to him now?
Although Jiang Yuyan is quite attractive, given their current identities and Ye Mingsheng's limited energy, he can't take care of her. And for some reason, every time Ye Mingsheng thinks of Jiang Yuyan, he will think of Jiang Cong...

Therefore, Ye Mingsheng didn't want to have anything to do with Jiang Yuyan anymore. The relationship between the two was a bad one, and now it was time to end it!

Thinking of this, Ye Mingsheng instructed Ye Cheng:
"Tell Jiang Yuyan that I have said everything I should say. Let her take care of herself and live her life well. Some things should be forgotten!"

"Yes!"

After resolving these issues, Ye Mingsheng buried himself in his work again. Because he had been drinking Pei Zhixiu's tea continuously, Ye Mingsheng felt that the heat in his body had not been so severe in recent days, and his cough at night had also eased a lot. Therefore, during this time of turmoil in the court, Ye Mingsheng had to hold on to power even tighter.

Two hours later, the sun gradually set. Ye Mingsheng finished his work for the day and prepared to find a place to rest for the night.

But at this time, the nanny beside the Queen Mother Ye Cui came and said that Ye Cui wanted Ye Mingsheng to have dinner with her.
Ye Mingsheng thought about it and realized that it had been a while since he had had dinner with Ye Cui. The last time was when Furen Palace was completed. Now it has been more than ten days. So after tidying up his clothes, he went to Furen Palace.

After entering the banquet hall of Furen Palace, Ye Mingsheng met An Miaoyi and Jingren, but what Ye Mingsheng did not expect was that Murong Qingwu, Murong Xinyun, Ye Keyin and Ye Jingyan were also sitting there, which surprised Ye Mingsheng!
After all, in the past Ye Cui had only invited him, An Miaoyi, and Jingren to have dinner together, but now the Murong sisters, Ye Kexin, and Ye Jingyan are all here, which is a bit unusual!
After greeting each other, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but glance at An Miaoyi. Under Ye Mingsheng's gaze, An Miaoyi looked calm on the surface, as if nothing had happened. However, as her bedmate for more than ten years, Ye Mingsheng could still feel An Miaoyi's true feelings!
Just when Ye Mingsheng wanted to figure it out further, Ye Kexin threw herself into Ye Mingsheng's arms.

"Daddy, Ke Xin misses you so much..."

Hearing Ye Kexin say this, Ye Mingsheng suddenly felt a little guilty.

Although Ye Mingsheng has always wanted to treat his eight children fairly, in practice, it is difficult for Ye Mingsheng to treat them equally!

Among his eight children, Ye Mingsheng cared about Jingren, Jingxuan and Yiren the most.

As for the remaining Jingcheng, Jingheng, Jingyan, Xingtong, Kexin, and Ye Mingsheng cared less about them. Jingyan and Kexin were okay as they could still see each other once a month, but Ye Mingsheng really couldn't take care of Jingcheng, Jingheng, and Xingtong!

Seeing Ke Xin at this time, Ye Mingsheng also smiled and interacted with the child. However, at this time, Ye Jingyan also walked towards Ye Mingsheng at the instruction of his mother Murong Qingwu, and then stood beside Ye Mingsheng and said timidly:

"Daddy!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng also looked at his youngest son, and after looking him up and down, he said:

"Jingyan, you've grown taller again!"

Although Ye Mingsheng gave Jingyan a name that contained the word "Yan", the two-year-old Jingyan looked very quiet and a little timid. Perhaps because he had little contact with Ye Mingsheng, he even seemed a little at a loss when he was looked at by Ye Mingsheng.

Without saying a word to Ye Mingsheng, Jing Yan ran back to her mother Murong Qingwu. Seeing this, Murong Qingwu couldn't help but show some helplessness on her face...

Although Jing Yan is also Ye Mingsheng's son, he is not close to Ye Mingsheng because he has not had contact with Ye Mingsheng for a long time. Murong Qingwu wanted to take this opportunity to let Jing Yan and Ye Mingsheng interact more and increase the father-son relationship, but she never expected Jing Yan to be so disappointing that he ran back without saying a few words!

Thinking of this, Murong Qingwu couldn't help but sigh in her heart, and could only tell herself not to be anxious and to take it slow!
Murong Qingwu was in a bad mood, but An Miaoyi on the other side had a slight smile on her face. She had not expected that today Ye Cui would call the Murong sisters, Ye Kexin, and Ye Jingyan together!
Although she didn't know what Ye Cui was up to, An Miaoyi was a little annoyed when she saw the four people opposite her appear here. But now seeing Ye Jingyan running back to his mother without saying a word, An Miaoyi finally felt a little happy!

Although Jingren is the crown prince, An Miaoyi always feels a sense of crisis because Jingren is not very talented!

Among Ye Mingsheng's five sons, An Miaoyi feels that Jingcheng and Jingheng are both out of favor and cannot threaten Jingren's position as the crown prince at all. As for Jingxuan, although he is smart, An Miaoyi feels that he is not a concern because of his mother Pei Zhixiu!
As for the rest, there is only Ye Jingyan. Although he is still young, he has the support of the Murong family behind him. If he has outstanding qualifications in the future, he may threaten Jingren's position as the crown prince!
So An Miaoyi was a little worried about the youngest Jingyan. But seeing Jingyan so timid, An Miaoyi felt that she was worrying too much. As the saying goes, one can tell a person's future from the age of three. Jingyan might not be as talented as Jingren, let alone outstanding in talent...