The Prodigal Son

The Imperial City of Daning.

On the third day after returning to the capital, Lü Si brought a pair of gold bracelets to the palace to present to the Empress Dowager.

He knew that to the Empress Dowager, a mere pair of gold bracelets meant nothing.

This was just a small token of his appreciation.

The main problem is that the gold used to make this bracelet was stolen from the State of Chu!

This has a different meaning!

When Lü Si arrived, the Empress Dowager was resting in the warm pavilion.

Winter has already arrived in the capital, and it's chilly in other parts of the city, but the Empress Dowager's warm pavilion is cozy and cozy.

Lü Si followed the palace maid in and respectfully bowed to the Empress Dowager: "Nephew greets Aunt."

Get up!

The Empress Dowager patted the cushion beside her, gesturing for Lü Si to sit down. "How is your mother?"

Lu Si took off his mink cloak and sat down next to the Empress Dowager. "Reporting to Aunt, my mother is doing well. She originally wanted to come to the palace with me to visit you, but unfortunately, she is not feeling well. She asked me to convey her regards to you."

The Empress Dowager shook her head and smiled, "It's enough that she has the intention. At her age, with such a big belly, she shouldn't run around! She mustn't harm the fetus."

Lu Si nodded repeatedly, "I will definitely tell my mother about my aunt's instructions later."

Despite appearing like a street ruffian in front of Qin Yu and the others, Lü Si was very particular about etiquette in front of the Empress Dowager.

At first glance, it has a somewhat warm and jade-like feel.

The Empress Dowager looked at Lü Si with a kind expression and asked with a smile, "Did you gain anything from your negotiations with the State of Chu this time?"

"Of course!"

Lu Si chuckled, "I was just about to present it to my aunt!"

"Dedicated to me?"

The Empress Dowager looked puzzled.

I wanted to test him to see if he had gained anything, and what he meant by offering his gains to me.

Shouldn't this harvest help him grow on his own?

Meeting the Empress Dowager's gaze, Lü Si chuckled again, and like a treasure, took out a box containing gold bracelets from his person and opened it, "I obtained some gold from the envoy of Chu, and I specially ordered someone to make a pair of bracelets to present to my aunt..."

Upon seeing the pair of bracelets, the Empress Dowager's face twitched.

Is this his... harvest?

That bastard!

Is this what you mean by "gain"?

As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face!

Lu Si obtained gold from the Chu envoy and immediately gave it to me as a pair of bracelets upon his return. I couldn't very well scold him harshly!

Seeing that the Empress Dowager's expression was somewhat off, Lü Si assumed that she disliked his gift, so he quickly said sincerely, "I know that Aunt certainly doesn't lack these pieces of jewelry. This is just a small token of my appreciation, please don't find it offensive..."

Seeing Lü Si's sincere appearance, the Empress Dowager found it even more difficult to lash out.

"What do you mean by 'dislike' or 'not dislike'!"

The Empress Dowager smiled and accepted the bracelet, saying with satisfaction, "Have I not seen many rare and precious treasures? I don't care whether this thing is valuable or not. The fact that you have this thought makes my love for you worthwhile."

Hearing the Empress Dowager say this, Lü Si finally felt relieved. "I remember all the kindness my aunt has shown me! It's just that Qin Yu swindled me out of half of my gold, otherwise I would have definitely given my aunt a pair..."

"etc!"

The Empress Dowager abruptly stopped Lü Si, "Didn't you all reconcile? How did you get tricked by Qin Yu again?"

I've been scammed so many times!

Why can't you learn from your mistakes?

"I……"

Speaking of this, Lü Si couldn't help but feel frustrated, saying bitterly, "It's not that I was tricked by him, it's just... I just didn't expect that bastard to be so ruthless!"

"ruthless?"

A sharp glint flashed in the Empress Dowager's eyes as she sized up Lü Si. "He hit you?"

No, no.

Lu Si waved his hands repeatedly, "It's just a bet with him, and I lost it..."

After humming and hawing for a long time, Lü Si finally told the Empress Dowager about the bet he had made with Qin Yu.

After hearing Lü Si's words, the Empress Dowager was both amused and curious. "What did he say to you? You have legs; if you don't want to, do you think he can make you run back with just a word?"

"That bastard is too cruel to himself!"

Lu Si replied dejectedly, "He said he was planning to cause some big trouble so His Majesty would punish him. If I wasn't afraid of being implicated, I would follow him! He has such great merits, even if he is punished, it would be a matter of merits offsetting demerits. But I don't have his merits, and if I am implicated, I will most likely be in trouble! So I came back..."

"Intentionally causing trouble?"

The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes slightly. "What, is he afraid that His Majesty will suspect him?"

"no!"

Lu Si shook his head slightly, "That bastard just doesn't want a promotion! Aunt, you have no idea how shameless he is. He even tried to get the Chu envoy to bribe him with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver..."

Empress Dowager Lü Si vividly recounted Qin Yu's shameless deeds.

The more enthusiastically he spoke, the happier the Empress Dowager became.

Qin Yu went to great lengths to cause trouble and leave himself vulnerable, all to avoid being promoted.

OK, OK!

She has absolutely no worries about Qin Yu's talent!

She was afraid that Qin Yu's ambitions were too great!

As a result, Qin Yu actually chose to do these things in order to avoid being promoted?

No lust for power!

He comes from a respectable family, is skilled in both literature and martial arts, has no siblings, and has no desire for power!

This is simply a match made in heaven for that girl!

"Auntie, Auntie..."

Lü Si's call rang in the Empress Dowager's ears.

The Empress Dowager snapped out of her reverie and asked with a smile, "What do you think of Qin Yu?"

"what?"

Lu Si looked at the Empress Dowager, puzzled as to why she had asked such a question.

The Empress Dowager glared at Lü Si with a smile: "What 'ah'? Just say it directly in front of me."

"oh."

Lu Si thought for a moment and replied, "I used to find him utterly unpleasant, but I've spent more time with him this year, and I don't think he's so hateful anymore. Besides, he's a man of his word; at least he's never broken his promises to me! But this bastard is greedy, lustful, and full of bad intentions; sometimes he's really annoying..."

Hearing Lü Si's evaluation of Qin Yu, the Empress Dowager was even more pleased.

Lu Si and Qin Yu used to be sworn enemies!

It's extremely rare for him to make such a comment about Qin Yu!

"So do you really think Qin Yu doesn't want a promotion?"

The Empress Dowager asked again.

"I definitely don't want to!"

Lu Si said confidently, "Aunt, just you wait and see. I reckon Qin Yu will definitely cause a big stir before he returns to court, so His Majesty will make his merits and demerits cancel each other out..."

He has a lot to say about this!

When it comes to being an official, he and Qin Yu are definitely the same kind of people.

They didn't want to be high-ranking officials, and especially didn't want to get up before dawn to go to court.

In this cold winter and hot summer, it's much more comfortable to sleep soundly until dawn, eat and drink to your heart's content, and do whatever you want. Isn't that better than standing stupidly in the court and suffering?

However, he couldn't think of any trouble Qin Yu could possibly cause.

"That damned bastard!"

The Empress Dowager chuckled and scolded, then earnestly instructed Lü Si: "Although this scoundrel has a lot of bad habits, there are still many things you can learn from him! Learning from him will not do you any harm."

"Uh-huh!"

Lü Si nodded repeatedly and chuckled, "The method I used to get gold from the Chu envoy was learned from Qin Yu..."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately became interested. "If you hadn't told me, I would have forgotten to ask. How did you obtain the gold from the Chu envoy?"

Lü Si did not hide anything and immediately boasted to the Empress Dowager about how he had tricked the Chu envoy out of gold.

Upon hearing Lü Si's account, the Empress Dowager burst into laughter!

These bastards are all so despicable...