What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 230: Revealing Her Feelings! The Empress is Deeply Moved!
Su Mo felt that Ding Yu was sick, with an even more severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder than himself!

This disease is indeed difficult to cure, as Su Mo has experienced firsthand.

Whenever he sees a beautiful woman with a great figure and high looks, he can't help but want to touch her!
Even with the advancements in medicine in later generations, mental illnesses such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, germaphobia, and paranoia are still difficult to treat.

However, Su Mo didn't need Ding Yu to manage the accounts; he could just be his advisor, the more cunning and treacherous the better.

Just as Su Mo and the others were talking, Lin Moyin returned from the Zhang residence.

Seeing Su Mo in the house, they were naturally surprised.

Upon learning what had happened, Lin Moyin's face instantly darkened.

Su Mo didn't care about the Military Supervisor, but Lin Moyin didn't see it that way.

Her husband was schemed against by Wang Zongwang, and not only did he fail to get promoted through the imperial examination, he also gained the impression of being a petty person who had achieved success, which hindered his future career path.

Perhaps in the eyes of the Wang family, this was just a small lesson for Su Mo.

But in Lin Moyin's eyes, this was an irreconcilable and deep-seated hatred!
When has the Right Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard ever suffered such a great loss!
He immediately turned and walked out with a dark expression.

Su Mo quickly called out to Lin Moyin, "Madam, what are you doing?"

Lin Moyin's pretty face was frosty as she turned to look at Su Mo and said coldly, "Go investigate Wang Zongwang!"

Ding Yu and Wang Xiuzhi's expressions instantly turned strange.

As expected, people who are not family will not enter the same door.

Su Mo is vengeful, and Lin Moyin, the first wife, is not much different.

Now that they've got their eyes on him, Wang Zongwang, that clever fellow, is probably in for a rough time.

With Lin Moyin holding real power and Su Mojian on the emperor's side, it's no wonder Wang Zongwang isn't afraid!
Seeing that Lin Moyin was clearly angry and unwilling to give up, Su Mo said, "A gentleman can wait a month to take his revenge; there's no need to rush."

"Hmph! I'll find Wang Zongwang's weakness sooner or later."

"By the way, Madam just arrived at the Ning Duke's residence. Did anything happen?"

Lin Moyin's attention was indeed diverted by Su Mo, and she frowned and said, "It's nothing."

"Knowing that my lord has been selected as the military commander and cannot come to the Zhang residence, Zhang Zong did not show up. It was Zhang Zong's wife, Cui, who received me."

After a pause, Lin Moyin said with a hint of sourness, "That Cui woman is from the Cui family. She is the cousin of Cui Xian, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. She is well-educated, polite, and elegant. I am not as good as her."

"My lord has just become the military supervisor, but he was dismissed before the grand examination even began. He'll probably become a laughingstock for her and others!"

As a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Lin Moyin naturally understood the principles of opportunism and currying favor with the powerful while belittling the weak in officialdom.

In the future, when the people from the Su family go out, they might all be ridiculed!

Su Mo sighed inwardly.

The relationships among powerful and influential families are indeed intricate and complex.

He also wanted to contact Zhang Xuzu, leverage his connections with the Ning Duke's Mansion, and rally them to oppose the Wang family.

That seems a bit naive.

The Cui family is one of the five prominent families and seven noble clans. Cui Xian's cousin will one day be the mistress of the Ning Gong Mansion.

It's not impossible that Zhang Zong would join forces with him to deal with the Wang family.

But the price to pay might be something I can't accept.

Su Mo frowned, then changed the subject, saying, "Our second uncle has come to our house. Madam, you should go and see him later."

Lin Moyin's pretty face also changed slightly: "Second Uncle is here?"

Su Mo nodded: "My second uncle has left the palace and should not return."

"I didn't see my second uncle earlier. He must have gone out with Shu'er to buy necessities. We'll talk about it when he gets back home."

Afterwards, Su Mo said goodbye to Ding Yu and Wang Xiuzhi, and went to the study to have a private talk with Lin Moyin.

There are some things that are not suitable to say in front of Wang Xiuzhi and Ding Yu.

Sure enough, in the study, Lin Moyin was taken aback after hearing Su Mo's words, her eyebrows twitching slightly: "Chi Wulei?"

"Why does my lord wish to know about the Tearsless Pool?"

Su Mo didn't want to tell Lin Moyin the reason for the system mission, so she said, "Anyway, I'll be of great use to you!"

"Tell your husband in detail about Chi Wulei's situation, especially her family and clan!"

The Embroidered Uniform Guard naturally had detailed information on officials in the capital, not to mention high-ranking officials like Chi Wulei from the Ministry of Personnel, who were second only to the Minister and the Left and Right Vice Ministers.

Lin Moyin pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Chi Wulei is from Baoshan Prefecture in Tiannan Dao. He was the top scholar in the imperial examination of the first year of Fengchu and a key minister promoted by His Majesty."

"If nothing unexpected happens, he may succeed the Minister of Personnel in the future, or even join the cabinet!"

Su Mo was immediately startled.

Unexpectedly, Lin Moyin gave Chi Wulei such a high evaluation.

There's even speculation about him joining the cabinet!

A female official entering the cabinet—this has never been heard of before in all of history!
Next, Lin Moyin explained Chi Wulei's situation to Su Mo in detail.

Su Mo frowned slightly: "Chi Wulei has no one at home, only a seriously ill younger sister, they depend on each other for survival?"

Lin Moyin nodded: "That's true."

"This is also one of the reasons why the Empress values ​​Chi Wulei so highly."

“A loyal minister who is not bound by his clan is less likely to be won over by the gentry or powerful families.”

Su Mo nodded: "Do you know the specifics of her sister's condition, what illness she suffers from?"

Lin Moyin immediately said, "He has a lung disease."

"His Majesty has repeatedly invited imperial physicians from the Imperial Medical Academy to treat her, and used many precious medicines, but they could only suppress the lesions and could not cure them completely."

"The imperial physicians of the Imperial Medical Academy once said that Chi Wuyou had at most a year to live, and now half of that life has already passed."

Su Mo's brows furrowed even more.

Lung diseases cover a wide range and are generally quite difficult to treat.

Those who are given only one year to live are probably suffering from tuberculosis or lung cancer!
The imperial physicians must have had genuine skills and expertise.

There are many methods in this world, and Su Mo cannot easily make a judgment.

Su Mo had personally witnessed the Nine Spirit Elixir that Nangong Sheyue had taken out. While it couldn't be said to bring the dead back to life, it was not much different from a divine medicine.

Lung cancer is not mentioned.

As for tuberculosis, Su Mo definitely can't produce a specific drug, but he might be able to make allicin, which has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

I need to go and see for myself before making a decision.

However, the mission prompt mentions that a miraculous doctor has arrived at Datong Temple, who might be able to cure Chi Wuyou's lung disease, eliminating the need for allicin.

Of course, it would be good to develop allicin, just in case.

Su Mo pondered for a moment, then asked Lin Moyin about the situation at Datong Temple and the divine doctor.

However, Datong Temple was not under the jurisdiction of the Right Guard, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard was not truly omniscient.

Lin Moyin was unaware that a divine physician had come to the temple; she only briefly explained the situation of Datong Temple to Su Mo.

After listening to Lin Moyin's introduction, Su Mo was secretly surprised again.

This Datong Temple is quite famous in the capital, with countless believers. It is said to own tens of thousands of acres of land and earn thousands of taels of silver a day from incense money.

Su Mo was speechless.

A temple actually makes more money than his own Baiyujing and Yanyulou combined!

This is a profit without any investment!
Who said the people of Dawu are poor?

They donate money to the temple without hesitation!
There are at least ten temples like Datong Temple in the capital!

If the Empress really needs money in the future, we might suggest she confiscate the temple's property; she could probably get ten million taels of silver from it!
Of course, Su Mo was just thinking about it.

Even a fool could guess what enormous stakes lie behind these temples.

Now that he's already facing the Wang family clan, why would he go looking for another powerful enemy to make things more difficult? Even a madman like Su Mo wouldn't do that!
Alcohol is indeed a good thing, with many uses.

For example, it can be used to extract aromatic oils, artemisinin, and allicin.

Just do it.

This also allows us to recreate the nitroglycerin that we used on Wang Xiuzhi last time.

This time, Su Mo was much more cautious.

They drove everyone out of the backyard, activated the Green Wood Technique just in case, and finally only extracted about ten grams of nitroglycerin.

Fifty grams is too much; Su Mo is afraid he won't be able to withstand it. Ten grams is just right; even if it explodes, it probably won't kill him.

Extracting allicin is simple.

There's garlic in the kitchen; just crush it and put it in alcohol to extract the extract.

Since we didn't have glass bottles, we had to use porcelain bottles.

Once Ding Bashi has refined the coke and raised the furnace temperature, perhaps he can try making glass.

It's really inconvenient not having glassware.

Su Mo dared not leave the prepared nitroglycerin untouched. She immediately took out flour and honey, diluted the medicine, and kneaded it into pills.

Pick up a pill and throw it out.

It didn't explode!

The stability is acceptable.

He then placed the pills in a brocade box, returned to his study, and hid them under the bookshelf.

Then, when I turned around, I was startled.

A slightly pale face was less than a centimeter away from the tip of my nose! We almost bumped nose to nose.

The Empress appeared as soon as she was mentioned; she truly is elusive!

Su Mo quickly distanced himself from the Empress, looking at her with a wry smile: "Lord Leng, could you please give me a heads-up next time? You can scare people to death!"

The Empress covered her mouth and chuckled: "Just like how you made Wang Zongwang faint?"

As she spoke, she looked curiously at the brocade box that Su Mo had hidden under the bookshelf: "May I ask, Mr. Su, what is this that you need to hide so carefully?"

During this time, the Empress secretly peeked at Su Mo's secret booklet several times, only to find that Su Mo had become smarter. The booklet was filled with all sorts of random things that the Empress couldn't understand!
Now that they've discovered Su Mo hiding things under the bookshelf, they've naturally become curious.

Su Mo gave a wry smile: "You've come at just the right time, sir."

He picked up the brocade box: "This is the medicine that I told you can treat angina. Please take it, sir."

"If you experience sudden chest pain, you can take one pill; it might be effective."

The Empress smiled sweetly: "Then this concubine thanks Su Lang!"

Taking the brocade box, just as he was about to open it, Su Mo quickly said, "My lord, be careful!"

The empress was stunned.

Su Mo immediately explained, "These pills need to be handled with care and stored in a cool place, otherwise... they might explode!"

The Empress was immediately dumbfounded: "It'll explode?"

If it were anyone else, this one sentence might have been enough to drag them out and subject them to severe torture by the Northern Garrison Command!
Is the explosive medicine meant to blow up the Empress's intestines?

This is regicide!

Su Mo didn't think too much about it: "It might explode if it gets too hot, but if it's stored properly, there shouldn't be any problems."

The Empress blinked and suddenly asked, "I just saw servants repairing the wall at Su Lang's residence."

"What happened?"

Su Mo immediately became depressed: "Don't even mention it."

“Yesterday, my concubine’s brother-in-law came to my house and secretly tested my skills, and ended up blowing up the wall.”

The Empress exclaimed in astonishment, "Su Lang's methods are truly formidable!"

"Could it be that Su Lang has already refined the Vajra Pestle?"

Su Mo stopped the topic. Given the Empress's personality, if she knew about nitroglycerin, she would definitely want to get to the bottom of it.

It wasn't that Su Mo was reluctant to reveal the nitroglycerin formula.

But this thing is too dangerous. Others don't know the situation, and it might cause serious problems.

Therefore, Su Mo smiled and said, "As a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I must have some means of protecting myself."

As he spoke, Su Mo's eyes darted around, deciding to first sow discord among the Wang family.

He then snorted and said, "Today, this humble servant has suffered a great loss!"

"My lord, you must do me justice!"

Upon hearing this, the Empress couldn't help but laugh and said, "So, Su Lang has suffered a great loss?"

"That Wang Zongwang, he even lost his position as deputy chief examiner!"

Su Mo thought to himself, "As expected, nothing can escape the Empress's notice." He then said resentfully, "This is different!"

"I was dismissed from my post as military commander because of that Wang fellow's scheme."

"That deputy examiner surnamed Wang, he didn't want him himself!"

Upon hearing this, the Empress was indeed taken aback: "What do you mean by that, Su Lang? Did he plot against you to make you lose your position as Military Supervisor?"

Su Mo's face darkened, and he immediately said, "That's exactly right!"

"However, I have only suffered an undeserved misfortune."

"It's just because I was preparing to research how to make paper that the Wang family used me, this chicken, to warn Lord Chi, that monkey!"

The Empress's expression instantly turned serious, and she immediately asked, "Young Master Su, do you want to make paper? Do you know the art of papermaking?"

"Also, you said that Wang Zongwang deliberately fainted, and his real target was Lord Chi?"

Su Mo nodded: "This humble servant does indeed have some knowledge of papermaking techniques. Whether it can be successful still needs to be tested."

"Furthermore, based on my guess, Wang Zongwang is indeed after Lord Chi."

"His real purpose was to have Scholar Zhu take over his position as deputy chief examiner, thereby suppressing Lord Chi's achievements."

As Su Mo spoke, his voice lowered slightly, and his expression became serious: "This subordinate suspects that the Wang family behind Wang Zongwang is targeting not only Lord Chi, but even..."

The Empress's expression changed slightly: "Even the Emperor behind Chi Wulei?"

Su Mo nodded slightly: "That's possible!"

The Empress frowned, recalling the behavior of the Grand Secretaries in the Hall of State Affairs earlier, and the more she thought about it, the more likely Su Mo's guess was!

What a fine Wang family!
What a fine Wang Hao.

Their schemes weren't just against Su Mo and Chi Wulei, but also against themselves, the saint!

The Empress gave Su Mo a deep look: "Did you just think of this, Su Lang, or did you know it from the beginning?"

Su Mo smiled wryly and said, "This humble servant is not a god, how could I have thought of so many things?"

"After I returned, my advisor heard about this matter and felt that there was something fishy about it. As a Taoist sorcerer, Wang Zongwang would not be so easily angered to the point of fainting, so he thought of these things."

He paused, then said, "This humble servant can introduce the clerk to you, sir."

“When I was in Tianchang County, I received his guidance many times, which enabled me to fulfill your request.”

The Empress blinked her beautiful eyes: "Is Su Lang referring to Ding Yu?"

Su Mo nodded: "It is indeed Mr. Ding!"

The Empress smiled and waved her hand: "I have also heard of Ding Yu's name. I only knew that he was good at arithmetic, but I did not expect that his strategy was also amazing."

"But I'm not in a hurry to see him."

Ding Yu had met the emperor and knew the empress's identity.

It would be inconvenient to meet him directly, as it would easily reveal one's true identity. One should inform him in advance or meet him while masked.

The Empress stopped mentioning Ding Yu and looked at Su Mo with great interest: "Young Master Su knows the art of papermaking. With your talent and knowledge, you must be able to make it."

"Wang Jiading shares the same view as I do."

"He probably only sees Su Lang as a scapegoat, while you, Su Lang, are the monkey."

“These powerful and influential families control the papermaking and bookmaking industries, and no one is allowed to get involved with them.”

"I think it would be better for you, my lord, not to make paper."

Su Mo was stunned for a moment, staring at Leng Liuxi in astonishment: "Even Lord Leng told me not to provoke the Wang family?"

"Is the Wang family really so powerful that even adults are somewhat afraid of them?"

The Empress's expression turned serious: "The Wang family is one of the Five Surnames and Seven Noble Families. In the clan records, they rank even higher than Your Majesty's Leng surname!"

"The head of the Wang family is also the second-highest-ranking official in the cabinet. How could I not be afraid?"

Su Mo was dumbfounded.

Was the Empress not joking with him?

Is she really afraid of the Wang family?

It shouldn’t be!

He hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help but say, "Lord Leng, you are His Majesty's own sister, the eldest princess of the court. How can you be afraid of a mere royal family?"

The Empress's pretty face dimmed slightly, and she sighed, "The court is not ruled by His Majesty alone, let alone by me!"

"To govern the country, we still have to rely on our ministers."

"Taking down one official from one of the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families is easy, but taking down all of them is simply impossible!"

She gave Su Mo a deep look: "Do you know how many officials in the court belong to the Five Clans and Seven Families, and how many officials are related to them by marriage?"

Su Mo's brows furrowed instantly!

The Empress was his greatest asset in waging war against the royal family.

Now that even the Empress is afraid of the Wang family, what's the point of fighting?

He was studying how to persuade the Empress to understand the harm caused by the Five Clans and Seven Noble Families, and to inspire her ambition to fight against the powerful clans.

Suddenly, the Empress blurted out, "How does Su Lang's papermaking technique compare to that of the Wang family?"

Su Mo's eyes suddenly lit up.

As expected, the Empress was faking it!

An empress who rose to power through force, combining the qualities of Li Shimin and Wu Zetian, how could she be afraid of powerful clans!

Without hesitation, he proudly declared, "I'm not boasting!"

"In a fair competition, I can utterly crush the Wang family!"

The Empress narrowed her beautiful eyes slightly: "Is what you said true, my lord?"

In the past, Su Mo always spoke cautiously and rarely made definitive statements.

Now that they are so certain that they can defeat the Wang family so badly that they can't even tell which way is which, the Empress finds it hard to believe!
Su Mo snorted: "In terms of making a living alone, let alone the mere Wang family, even if the five surnames and seven noble families were to unite, in my eyes they would all be..."

He drew out his words and forcefully presented the Empress with a pledge of allegiance, demonstrating his firm stance in the Empress's struggle against the powerful clans!

"Clay! Chicken! Earthenware! Dog!"

(End of this chapter)