Joy of Life: I'm really not a saint

The words of the two were like the first domino, and then all the ministers responded one after another. The people in the "deer circle" responded the fastest. Perhaps they wanted to avoid the reckoning later, but Li An didn't care.

The drama has come to an end, and such an ending always makes people feel that something is missing.

But how could Ang Lee disappoint everyone?

He took two steps forward, saluted and said, "King Jing privately raised 20,000 soldiers and hid them in the farms of his fiefdom in the suburbs, and there are hundreds of death warriors in his mansion."

"He is behind the scenes and controls the underworld forces in Shangjing City. Even the surrounding counties have been affected and his influence has spread far and wide."

"He sent his daughter Zhan Xuqing to run a number of brothels and gambling houses, including Hongxiulou, behind the scenes, collecting all kinds of intelligence from the court and secretly selling it to other countries, leaking many state secrets. And through women and gambling, he secretly got hold of the secrets of many ministers in the court and controlled many ministers in disguise."

"Every one of these things is tantamount to rebellion, not to mention that they take human life lightly. Countless women have died at their hands or been trafficked. Such behavior is outrageous to both humans and gods!"

"Among them, those who colluded with the rebel King Jing included the governor of Langya County, the lieutenant general of the garrison, the minister of rites, and the minister of revenue."

"Everything has been found out by Lord Xiao En, and the evidence is solid! General Shangshan has also ordered his deputy to lead troops to surround the Jingwang Mansion and his fiefdom outside the city under the order of Your Majesty. Your Majesty will decide what to do next!"

"Take them all!"

Zhan Doudou's face suddenly became full of fatigue, with reluctance and disappointment. She became a little lazy at this moment, and even the Queen Mother's reminder was not heard clearly. She just emphasized: "First, take everyone in Prince Jing's mansion to the Dali Temple, and then I will personally interrogate them!"

"As for the 20,000 soldiers, persuade them to surrender first! If they lay down their weapons and nothing happens, we will forgive them. If not... then we will kill them all!"

She didn't mention the hundreds of assassins. Since they were all assassins, it would be better for them to die.

The Minister of Rites Mu Yun and the Minister of Revenue He Suoqi both felt their legs go weak and fell to the ground. Similar to them were several court officials who had joined in the discussion this morning.

The guards in the palace came forward to arrest several people. The officials who were involved in the incident became as nervous as frightened birds, fearing that they would be implicated as well, and they all stepped away.

While dodging, he was muttering in hindsight: How could they be so arrogant and dare to go against the national teacher who is a grandmaster!

Mu Yun and He Suoqi looked ashen, and allowed the guards to take them down. They did not cry out for injustice, but they did not expect that they would not even be able to face the retribution in the future, and were beaten up by Li An on the spot.

Wang Yun, the Minister of Justice, and other six ministers felt grief for the loss of the rabbit and the fox. They were alert in their hearts and wondered if they had been involved with King Jing in the past. They were fine, but they were afraid that the women in their families had received some benefits from King Jing in private.

I have to ask carefully when I get back home this time!

Several people were suppressed. Zhan Doudou stood up with an unexpected look on his face, said a few words of encouragement to the officials who were about to return to their jurisdiction, and then announced the end of this "company annual meeting".

After that, he turned around and left without even looking back. He was so fast that people would believe he ran away!

The eunuch Yu Wenyun behind him was holding rice paper with names written on it and hurried after him, but he couldn't catch up.

The Queen Mother lifted the pearl curtain, her face full of helplessness, but she still nodded to Li An and then walked towards the harem.

Li An gave some instructions to Wang Shisanlang, and then asked Yan Xiaoyi to go back home first. He himself gave some instructions to the eunuchs and went to the harem. Of course, there were eunuchs accompanying him along the way. Although he had been to the palace many times, the rules still had to be followed.

In the Queen Mother's bedroom, the Queen Mother and Haitang Duoduo, who had finally caught up with the Emperor, were whispering something to him. However, the little Emperor's complexion did not improve for a long time. The two of them were just sighing when they heard a eunuch outside report that the Imperial Master wanted to see him.

The three of them tidied their clothes and asked someone to bring Li An in.

"Your Majesty, your servant Li An, pays respects to the Queen Mother."

When he said "greeting", he just bowed and nodded to Haitang Duoduo, "Hello, Miss Haitang."

"Hello, Mr. Li." Haitang Duoduo responded.

"Is there anything else, Imperial Master?"

Seeing that Zhan Doudou ignored Li An and was still angry, the Queen Mother could only take care of it herself, so she spoke first and asked.

Li An didn't say anything, but just glanced at the eunuchs and palace maids standing beside him.

"Everyone, please step back!"

The eunuchs and palace maids who were still serving immediately stopped what they were doing and quickly left the palace.

"Master, if you have anything to say, please tell me."

"Yes."

Li An carefully arranged his robes, bowed deeply to the Queen Mother and said, "I came to see you this time to propose marriage to you, the Queen Mother!"

"You are shameless!"

Zhan Doudou was so embarrassed that she quickly got up and ran out of the palace.

Haitang Duoduo smiled softly, then quickly stopped, obviously feeling very uncomfortable. With a strange look on her face, she blinked at Li An, then went out and caught up with the running little emperor.

"Haha, this is a good thing!"

The queen mother's eyes were like the moon, and she smiled and spoke. The change in her eyes was like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law, and the more she looked, the more she liked him.

Chapter 180: Proposing marriage.

This has been the knot in the Queen Mother's heart for many years. For the sake of the Zhan family's imperial power, she has sacrificed her daughter's happiness and taken away her freedom as a woman. It must have been hard for her to endure humiliation and pretend to be a man for so many years!

Faced with the gradual doubts in the court, although Zhan Doudou married four commoner women and brought Si Lili, a descendant of the former royal family of Nanqing, into the palace, she still did not give birth to a prince for many years.

Now there has appeared a man who is a perfect match for her daughter in terms of status, appearance, talent, and even martial arts skills. Moreover, this man happens to be the one her daughter likes. How could the empress dowager not be happy?

"I heard that Master Ku He mentioned this in a letter. But now is a time of trouble. Although I also want to restore my daughter's status as soon as possible, I also know that now is not the time."

She seemed a little distressed, but she changed her identity and said, "Li An, I will call you this from now on. Are you really sure?"

What the Queen Mother was talking about was obviously what happened in the court today.

"I am somewhat confident." Li An shook his head and said, "I also know that it is not the right time to come here to propose marriage. As for the marriage, it will take three years, but I am here today anyway."

"Your Majesty, you should know that what I said should still be somewhat credible. However, today's proposals are related to the future development of Da Qi. How many people can fully predict the future evolution and outcome?"

"After the farce, I came to ask the Queen Mother for marriage just to comfort her and His Majesty. Although today's measures have temporarily shut up the ministers in the court, if I want to implement all of this thoroughly, I'm sure the resistance I'll face in the future will not be small. All of this is only possible because the Queen Mother and His Majesty trust me."

Li An expressed his thoughts without reservation. As for what would happen next, it would depend on the decision made by the Queen Mother.

"I understand your intentions." The Queen Mother hesitated to speak. Things had become so bizarre only because of the cause she and Ku He had planted more than a decade ago. She simply said, "Please let go of what's going on! If it's good for Da Qi, I'm sure the late emperor would agree if he were still alive!"

Countless memories flashed through the Queen Mother's eyes. She sighed and said, "It's just that His Majesty is still angry with you for calling a horse a deer today."

"It's good to have the Queen Mother's support!"

Li An cupped his hands and smiled bitterly: "I will explain to His Majesty, and I hope the Queen Mother can forgive my nonsense today. After all, time is not waiting for me. In my opinion, in two years at most, Qing will make a comeback. I don't think the Queen Mother wants to see that Qi is not ready to resist in two years, right?"

Afterwards, Li An explained the smuggling issue in detail.

In the final analysis, Fan Xian was also thinking about himself. He would get married after returning to Nanqing, and he would be able to take over the financial power of the inner treasury soon after the beginning of the year. However, this would completely cut off the financial resources of Xinyang and Jiangnan. What would the princess have to support the prince in his fight for power?

Although nothing happened on Fan Xian's way back to Nanqing, it was only because of his influence that many things happened ahead of time. Fan Xian also completed his mission in the shortest time possible. At this time, the Second Prince and the Crown Prince in the capital of Qing had not received any news from Northern Qi, so there was no way they could kill Fan Xian.

But Fan Xian's life will definitely be more difficult after he returns to Nanqing.

In addition to the Second Prince and the Crown Prince making trouble for Fan Xian, the Princess would never sit back and watch Fan Xian take over the inner treasury. In addition to putting obstacles in the way of Fan Xian taking over, Fan Xian would also have to deal with all the accounts in Nanqing and the various deficits in secret. If he couldn't handle it in the end, Fan Xian would have to bear the consequences himself.

"The inner treasury is indeed a mountain of gold, but it is also a basin of sewage." Li An's explanation here is very clear. It is impossible to replenish the national treasury through smuggling in a short period of time, unless the transaction object becomes Li Yunrui.

"Then why did you agree to this matter before?" The Queen Mother changed her official address to Li An again and seemed very anxious.

"The power of the inner treasury is already a foregone conclusion and it's just a matter of time. Just because we can't make money in the short term doesn't mean we can't in the future." Li An frowned and said, "The reason I agreed to this was first to paralyze Fan Xian and Qing State, and second, of course, to buy time to develop the country."

The inner treasury was so valuable that Fan Xian could openly advertise it to increase his chances of completing his mission. So why couldn't he do the same?

Agreeing to cooperate in smuggling in the Northern Qi imperial palace, where even words are leaked, will surely be known to the world in no time. Won't all the merchants come rolling in by then? This matter has both advantages and disadvantages. In addition to losing some reputation, Li An's "calling a deer a horse" today can also show his strength. And these will enhance the sense of security and confidence of those merchants.

The Queen Mother nodded thoughtfully and said, "Thank you for your hard work, sir."

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. I just want to let you know that you should not think that I have become a saint just because Ku He has created momentum for me. If you want to accomplish something, you need the cooperation of many parties." Li An smiled self-deprecatingly: "The Queen Mother may not believe me, but I really just want to do something for these people."

The Queen Mother looked at Li An quietly for a long time.

Li An also looked at him fearlessly. After a moment, the Queen Mother agreed, "I will ask Zhuang Mohan to write an article."

"Thank you, Queen Mother!"

Li An said goodbye and left without going to see Zhan Doudou. Instead, he returned to Wanshizhai and started preparing.

On the second day, many carriages loaded with goods drove out of Wanshizhai and into the deep palace, attracting the curiosity of countless people.

······

More than a month has passed since the last court meeting, and the news of Fan Xian's marriage in Qing Kingdom has also spread back, but now both countries do not have much energy to target each other.

The reason is that the Spring Examination has begun.

According to the original development of the situation, Fan Xian will experience various changes in the court and rectify the Supervisory Office after returning to the country. In addition to taking over the Supervisory Office, he also has to resist the difficulties from the second prince and the crown prince.

The reasons for making things difficult were all ready-made. The news that Shen Zhong brought to Qing Kingdom was: Sean was not dead!

After this incident, he will preside over the Spring Examination of Qing State, and some major events will happen one after another: the Spring Examination fraud case, going to Jiangnan to check the account books

And this period of time is Ang Lee's opportunity.

Countless eyes were attracted to it, and the pressure and resistance from Qing State was much smaller. However, Li An of Northern Qi did not intend to participate in the Spring Examination, as he was still busy with the construction of those newly created departments.

It took these departments a month to build only a framework, but filling it with staff was the biggest headache for him.

It's just that the ministers and officials of Qi State are not good at other things, but they are very good at adapting to the situation and taking advantage of opportunities. In such a short period of time, a large number of grassroots officials entered the office, and in the early stage, there was not only no shortage of manpower, but also a surplus.

They also understood that these newly created departments would dominate Northern Qi for a dozen or even dozens of years, so they did not hesitate to arrange for as many of their own people as possible to get a piece of the pie.

Ang Lee did not stop this from happening, but was happy to see it happen.

He even happily thought that the more the better, and when faced with the grassroots officials who came, he accepted all of them at once.

Just when he was about to do something big, good news came from Qing Kingdom!

Chapter 181 Why is it so smooth?

Wanshizhai was Li An's residence in Shangjing City of Northern Qi, which was known to many dignitaries.

This garden is much bigger than the Wanshizhai in Qing Kingdom, and the scenery is even more pleasant. However, on the contrary, it is far less popular than the latter.

Although the courtyard in Kyoto is small, there is a constant stream of people coming and going, and customers who want to have their fortune told need to make an appointment and queue up.

But now, the residence of Li An, the national teacher of Qi State, is deserted and few people come.

But today, someone unexpectedly came to the door, which surprised Li An.

After a while, Butler Chen brought the guests to the pavilion in the garden, which was Li An's favorite place to stay.

It was almost dusk, and the cold sunlight shone into the courtyard. The not-so-bright light shone on the faces of the two leading women, making them look pale. The two women chatted in low voices while sitting restlessly, and after a while they laughed one after another, appearing to be in a very good mood.

When Li An heard the servant coming to report to the courtyard, all his worries seemed to disappear. He laughed a few times, and came to the pavilion like a phantom, greeting people with a smile.

"Miss Ruoruo!"

"Xiao Tong'er, and you little guys, when did you arrive in Shangjing City?"

The disciples turned around in surprise. Although they knew it was the teacher who came, they still couldn't believe it. Zhao Tong'er and Fan Ruoruo looked up and saw this familiar figure. They had different expressions, but they still stood up and bowed, saying:

"Meet sir!"

"teacher!"

Li An was in a good mood. He touched the heads of his disciples one by one and asked with a smile, "How have you been recently?" Seeing Xiao Tong'er's tightly furrowed brows, he felt a little distressed. He walked up to her and rubbed her smooth brows, and asked, "Why are you holding your mouth?"

Zhao Tong'er's face turned pale at first, tears welled up in her eyes, but she still tried hard to hold back her tears and said, "Finally, I see the teacher again. I'm so happy!"

The other disciples also came forward to greet him one by one, and Li An nodded with a smile.

After seeing that his disciples had calmed down, Li An asked Fan Ruoruo, "Miss Ruoruo, why did you come to Northern Qi? Didn't your brother get married not long ago? Why did you go on a long journey instead of staying at home with your sister-in-law?"

Fan Ruoruo no longer had the spirit she had when they first met. She only looked weak after the hardship of traveling. Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times, and she smiled bitterly and replied, "It's a good thing for my brother to get married, but it's not so good for me."

It turns out that Fan Xian, as the eldest son of the Fan family, is not a direct descendant but has a great reputation. Not only is he very popular in the literary world of Qing Kingdom, and is regarded as a benchmark for Li An's literary status in Northern Qi, his political future is also very promising. He has now taken over the first department of the Supervisory Council, and will soon take over the financial power of the inner treasury. Therefore, his marriage with Chen County Princess Lin Wan'er is held as the top priority of the Fan family.

But after Fan Xian, Fan Ruoruo's marriage, which had been delayed for many years, was put on the agenda.

Before, Fan Ruoruo could use the excuse that her brother had not yet started a family to avoid this issue, but now that Fan Xian was married, she no longer had any shield.

She was betrothed to Li Hongcheng, the prince of Jingwang.

Although Fan Ruoruo had a decent relationship with Li Hongcheng, she had never thought about it that way. When she first heard about this, the first thing she thought of was to escape. After discussing with Fan Xian, she left for Northern Qi under the pretext that she was going to study medicine under Li An and Ku He.

"Isn't this good for Li Hongcheng?" Li An was a little surprised. As far as he knew, after he reminded Li Hongcheng before, Li Hongcheng had a big change. Not only did he change his weak and languid temperament, but he also joined the army and went to the border. He had a good reputation in the circle of the second generation of Qing Kingdom. Why was Fan Ruoruo unwilling?

Fan Ruoruo smiled bitterly and said, "Li Hongcheng is not a bad person, but Ruoruo doesn't want to get married so soon. Please take me in, sir, so that Rong Ruoruo can follow and learn by your side."

Fan Ruoruo's status was not ordinary. As the eldest daughter of the Fan family, she was deeply loved by Fan Jian and the old lady of the Fan family. Not to mention some favors in the palace, because of Fan Xian's relationship and her own talent, she was not much different from a princess in the current Qing Kingdom.

Ang Lee thought about it and realized that there was such a plot in the original novel.

Fan Ruoruo escaped from her marriage and was arranged by Fan Xian to be Ku He's disciple. In addition to the transaction between the two of them, it was more because Fan Ruoruo did have a talent in medicine, which was why she was able to successfully become Ku He's apprentice.

But strictly speaking, these many extra twists and turns were also Fan Xian's work.