Shen Yi stood at the door.
At some point, he stood up straight and stopped bending slightly subconsciously.
There was no expression on his face, he just looked up quietly at Concubine Hui who was sitting in the main hall.
Gu Hengbo felt uncomfortable looking at him and frowned subconsciously.
"What is Lord Shen looking at?"
Shen Yi shook his head slightly and said in a calm tone: "Your Majesty taught me a lot today and made me understand that strife in the palace is not much simpler than in the outer court."
"We are old friends, and I will teach you a lesson, too."
Shen Yi's voice was calm: "First of all, the empress is a noble concubine in the palace, and I am a foreign minister. We are not on the same road."
"Furthermore, if the empress walks on this road, there may indeed be no way out."
Shen Yi's voice was calm: "But I have it."
"Don't talk about the future. If I resign now, I can go back to Jiangdu and live a happy life. The great thing is that I will lose my official position and title."
"I haven't broken any laws, and I can't lose my honor."
"In the future during the Northern Expedition, one day the imperial court will be defeated and Shen will be sent to Jiankang from the northern border. There is a high probability that he will be dismissed from office."
"And that's it."
Shen Yi looked calm and said, "The empress just said that this is a rare opportunity."
"This is because the empress doesn't know much about the outer court and me."
Shen Yi looked up at Gu Hengbo and said, "If it were the situation in the north, there would naturally be some opportunities at this time, but the eldest son of the emperor is only four years old after the new year."
"Your Majesty is in his prime."
"There is no way to talk about opportunity."
Unconsciously, Mr. Shen had his hands behind his back. He raised his head slightly and looked at Concubine Hui, and said lightly: "Besides, I no longer need the illusory opportunity that Concubine Hui said."
Gu Hengbo sat in the main hall, frowning slightly.
Shen Yi continued: "Your Majesty is a very smart person. I can see that Master Gu has a close relationship with me."
"Indeed, when I was taking the exam, Master Gu helped me a lot, and also helped my younger brother a lot. Without Master Gu, even if my two brothers could get Jinshi, their rankings would probably be pushed back a lot. It might be a few years later."
"For Master Gu's sake, I respect your Majesty very much. If it's something small that I can do, I'll be happy to help you if Shen can help."
"but…"
Shen Yi looked at Concubine Hui and said softly: "However, Master Gu cannot be a means for the queen to restrict me, nor should it be a means."
When facing people from the royal family, Shen Yi always maintains superficial respect.
Because he doesn't really want to cause trouble.
But Gu Hengbo, this woman...
Repeated attempts to manipulate him have made Lord Shen feel uncomfortable.
Although Concubine Hui is smart and very scheming, she is not very up to date in terms of the overall situation. She cannot make sense of many things.
If she can express her friendship with Shen Yi through Old Man Gu, this will actually be a good relationship.
Mr. Shen raised his head and looked at Gu Hengbo with a calm expression: "In fact, your Majesty, there is no way to restrain Shen now."
"This is true whether inside or outside the palace."
"on the contrary…"
Shen Yi said softly: "Your Majesty, you should understand in your heart that what happened back then was not seamless. Many interested people want to investigate, and it is not difficult to find some clues."
Hearing Shen Yi's words, Concubine Hui's expression suddenly changed.
She naturally understood what Shen Yi was talking about.
It's about her identity.
Her surname is Gu, not Lu.
Born into a prostitute.
Although with her current level of favor, she may not necessarily be dealt with by the palace after her identity is exposed, but once this matter was brought to light, the possibility of the emperor's eldest son Li Wang completely eliminating the possibility of succeeding to the throne.
It was impossible to talk about Gu Hengbo's future in the palace.
Concubine Hui, who had "the pearl of wisdom", suddenly stood up from her chair. She stared at Shen Yi and gritted her teeth and said, "That matter is inseparable from Lord Shen!"
Shen Yi didn't even frown.
"Do you think that if this matter is spread by someone who is interested, the imperial court will dismiss me from my position or take away my position as the head coach of the Northern Expedition?"
Shen Yi lowered his eyebrows slightly: "I'm afraid not even."
Gu Hengbo clenched his fists fiercely and gritted his teeth: "Shen Qi, I have shown kindness to you many times, but you repay kindness with hatred!"
Shen Yi shook his head slightly: "Your Majesty is smart by nature, but when used in the court, she still seems too childish. In this case, you have repeatedly tried to push the eldest son of the emperor on me."
"This is not an overture."
Shen Yi lowered his head slightly and said: "Shen has a good temper. If it were other officials in the court, I am afraid that he would have fallen out with the empress."
Seeing Gu Hengbo's face full of anger, Shen Yi continued: "There's no need to be angry, the empress. I still say the same thing. We were friends before, but now we can be regarded as old friends. In addition, Master Gu's face is still there. In the future, whether it is the empress or the eldest son of the emperor, , Shen will do whatever he can to help."
"but…"
Shen Yi looked up at Gu Hengbo and said slowly: "Shen has never been restrained by others, let alone form cliques with others. Please don't do whatever you want, Madam."
Gu Hengbo angrily passed Shen Yi and walked towards the door. When he passed by Shen Yi, she sneered: "Isn't your lordship bound by the Holy One?"
Regarding this question, Shen Yi smiled slightly and did not answer.
Walking all the way to the door of the private school, the imperial concubine didn't know whether her anger had subsided or she had figured it out. She stopped, looked back at Shen Yi, and bent over to give him a blessing.
"I'm looking after you. Thank you Uncle Shen for taking care of me."
After saying this, she slowly turned around and left.
Shen Yi stood in the front yard with his hands behind his back, watching the imperial concubine go away, shook his head slightly and sighed.
"she left?"
Shen Yi was startled by these three words. When he turned around, he saw that Old Man Gu was already standing behind him. Master Shen breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Just left."
Mr. Gu sighed and spit out a mouthful of white mist because of the cold weather.
"Before I left, I didn't come to see me."
Shen Yi patted the old man's shoulder and said comfortingly: "She has suffered since childhood and grew up in a brothel. It is inevitable that she will become a philistine. Master Gu, please don't be sad."
"Her nature shouldn't be bad."
"It doesn't matter whether your nature is bad or not."
Old Man Gu sighed again: "My heart is really big."
"I'm afraid she will get into trouble because of this."
Shen Yi looked back at the little old man and said with a smile: "This Master Gu is biased. It makes no sense for men to be ambitious, just because they have great ambitions, and for women to be ambitious, it brings trouble."
"It's a good thing that she's ambitious."
Old Man Gu frowned and said, "Then you have to stand upright."
"Concubine Hui is the eldest son of the emperor of this dynasty. Now the queen has no children. It is not surprising that she has this idea, and her body is not crooked."
Shen Yi smiled and said: "Anyway, as long as it is done, everything will make sense."
At this point, he paused and said softly: "It's just more difficult to do."
Mr. Gu sighed: "Whether it's done or not, I can't see it anymore."
He looked at Shen Yi and warned: "At that time, Zi Heng should ignore her and let her do it by herself. Anyway, by then, my bones will probably have rotted away and I will no longer be able to see her."
Shen Yi pulled the old man's sleeve and said with a smile: "You old man, you think too much."
"Today is the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, and the Chinese New Year will be celebrated tomorrow. I probably won't be able to come here tomorrow. I will treat you to a drink today, and we will celebrate the New Year together."
When he heard about drinking, Old Man Gu felt better and nodded happily.
"That's right, don't think about that."
"Go drink!"
…………
The next day, New Year's Eve.
As in previous years, the emperor would hold a banquet in the palace to entertain officials. At the same time, the queen would also hold a banquet in the palace to entertain the ladies of the court.
Shen Yi and Lu Ruoxi each changed into formal clothes and entered the palace in the evening.
Lu Ruoxi went to the harem, while Shen Yi and others had dinner in Deqing Hall.
After the banquet, there were musicians, singers, dancers, etc. from the Jiaofang Division, singing and dancing in Deqing Hall to add to the fun. The entire Deqing Hall looked peaceful.
This year's New Year's Eve banquet is different from previous years. Shen Yi, who was not popular last year, has become a big hit this year, and people come to toast from time to time.
Shen Yi has a pretty good drinking capacity. Usually when people come over, he will give them face and have a drink with them.
It didn't take long for his face to turn red.
After a round of drinking, Changning's uncle, Sun Yanchang, came to Shen Yi's table with a wine glass in his hand, with a smile on his face: "Master Shen, Sun will give you a drink."
“A safe new year.”
Shen Yi looked at the middle-aged man and sighed slightly in his heart.
This is the biological father of the current Empress Sun, the cousin of the Empress Dowager Sun, and the father of the country, Sun Yanchang.
Shen Yi stood up, raised his glass and said he didn't dare.
"Have a safe new year, my father-in-law."
After the two of them drank a glass of wine, they saw Lu Zheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, seemed to be about to stand up. Mr. Shen took the initiative, picked up the wine glass, sat down next to Jiang Shangshu of the Ministry of War at the table, and said with a smile: "Old man, I’ll toast you.”
Jiang Jian picked up the wine glass, glanced at him, and said angrily: "You kid, you are getting more and more arrogant. You don't even address him by name!"
After the two of them finished the glass of wine, Mr. Shen said with a smile: "You don't dare, I respect you very much, and I'm waiting for you to retire and return to your hometown as soon as possible, and let me be the Minister of the Ministry of War. "
Jiang Shangshu looked around and scolded with a smile: "You are so dishonest to avoid the limelight."
"If you can do it, I will retire and return to my hometown tomorrow, and let you be the Minister of War."
Shen Yi smiled slightly and did not answer.
The little old man gave him another glass of wine, keeping his eyes on the dancing dancer, and said lightly: "The feeling of being hot is not too good, isn't it?"
Shen Yi took a sip of wine and felt the same.
"It's better than all the enemies in the world."
“But it’s not as good as being ignored.”
When Old Man Jiang heard this, he glanced at him and scolded him with a smile: "You're a poor talker."
"Forget it this year."
"I must bring my grandson back next year!"
Shen Yi smiled and nodded.
"I obey your orders."
