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At this time, in the living room of Shen Mansion, Chief Assistant Shen Changmao was receiving guests.
This guest is a young scholar with a handsome appearance and an impressive temperament. However, he is still young, only in his twenties. In Shen Changmao's eyes, he is classified as "young, ignorant and insecure", so Shen Changmao looks at this person. His eyes were full of scrutiny and criticality.
Shen Changmao has always had a cold and stern personality, which makes people fearful. Now he is the chief minister of one person and more than ten thousand people. Under Shen Changmao's scrutiny, even a mature official with rich experience and training for many years, Most people would be frightened and at a loss, but this young scholar remained calm and calm.
After examining him for a long time, even though he was as cold and stern as Shen Changmao, a hint of appreciation flashed in his eyes.
Speaking of which, after the young scholar came to Shen's mansion to ask for an audience with Shen Changmao, Shen Changmao did not receive him immediately. Instead, he left him outside the mansion for more than half an hour. When Shen Changmao finally received him, he He neither sat down nor served tea, but just allowed the person to stand awkwardly at the bottom of the living room. Even after the person saluted and said hello, Shen Changmao didn't say anything and just looked at him coldly.
If an ordinary person encounters such a situation, he or she will become angry, frightened, or at a loss. However, this young scholar behaved calmly. Faced with Shen Changmao's deliberate humiliation and neglect, his expression changed. Still calm, he just looked at Shen Changmao without being humble or arrogant.
Seeing such a performance of the young man, even Shen Changmao couldn't help but admire him in his heart - among the young heroes in the court, except for Zhao Junchen, perhaps the only one in front of him could have such a palace.
In addition to admiring him, Shen Changmao's attitude became a little more polite. He finally stopped observing in silence and slowly said, "Since you're here, let's sit down and talk."
However, although the young scholar was allowed to take his seat, Shen Changmao still did not let his order serve tea to the young scholar, and his neglect was still undisguised.
"Student, thank you, Mr. Shofu."
After hearing Shen Changmao's statement, the young scholar showed due respect. After bowing again, he sat down at the end of the guest seat.
Shen Changmao looked at this person again and asked, "Speaking of which, I heard that you moved into the Prince's East Palace after being stripped of your honor and official position by His Majesty for leaving the Southern Patrol Team privately. I have become a guest of the Crown Prince and am highly valued by His Highness. I am regarded by His Highness as his right-hand man and top guest. I have been very busy. How come I have time to visit me today? But what does His Highness mean?"
It turned out that the guest who came to visit Shen Changmao turned out to be Zhao Shancai!
Shen Changmao also had some understanding of Zhao Shancai's origins and talents, so he deliberately humiliated and neglected him before, just to test Zhao Shancai's foundation. However, he did not expect that Zhao Shancai's city far exceeded the estimate and did not reveal any flaws. On the contrary, it seemed that Shen Changmao was narrow-minded.
At this time, after hearing Shen Changmao's inquiry, Zhao Shancai smiled softly and replied: "If the student comes on behalf of His Royal Highness, how can you, the Chief Assistant, make the student wait outside the mansion for more than half an hour? The student's request to see Mr. Chief Assistant this time is just the student's personal idea, and His Highness the Crown Prince is not aware of it."
Shen Changmao snorted lightly, not paying attention to Zhao Shancai's vague sarcasm, and just said slowly: "If that's the case, I seem to have nothing to talk about with you."
Zhao Shancai shook his head gently and said: "Not necessarily. As you just said, Mr. Chief Assistant, the students are now responsible for advising His Highness the Crown Prince and are deeply trusted by His Highness the Crown Prince. Many of His Highness the Crown Prince's decisions are also deeply influenced by the students, so On certain matters, students can still cooperate with Mr. Chief Assistant."
"Oh? Certain things? What specific things are you referring to?" Shen Changmao asked with a glint in his eyes.
Zhao Shancai smiled softly again and said: "For example, dealing with Zhao Junchen! After all, Zhao Junchen is the common enemy of the Chief Assistant and His Royal Highness. You and I have the same interests in this matter."
"Oh?" Shen Changmao looked noncommittal and asked, "Since the interests are aligned, why did you bypass His Highness the Crown Prince and contact me alone?"
Zhao Shancai looked calm and sighed: "Master Chief Minister, you also know the character of His Highness the Crown Prince. His character is too upright. His Highness has always resisted and disdained many conspiracies! But this is a worldly matter. , it is the most complicated, and many times one must resort to any means to achieve the goal..."
Having said this, Zhao Shancai shook his head slightly, then raised his eyes and looked directly at Shen Changmao, and continued: "Now, the student has a plan in his mind that can greatly frustrate Zhao Junchen's development momentum, but in this plan, There are many things that require the cooperation of the First Assistant, so the students come to the First Assistant for help! Of course, this plan is by no means your alone, the First Assistant. The students will also secretly influence His Highness the Crown Prince's mind and make His Highness the Crown Prince actively cooperate. , take the initiative to participate, but there are many conspiracies in this plan, but it is inconvenient for His Highness to know, otherwise His Highness may not be willing to cooperate, so the students believe that the core part of this plan is to bypass His Highness. Mr. Shofu can just discuss it with the students."
After hearing Zhao Shancai's explanation, Shen Changmao sneered: "As the prince's trusted aide, you want to hide the truth from the prince and use the prince. Haha, it is rare for the prince to trust you so much... That's right, the prince has always been Your virtuous reputation spreads far and wide, and you don't want to damage the prince's reputation, so you have to use my hands to deal with some dirty and dark things, but is that so? In this way, the prince does not have to worry about his reputation being damaged, he only needs to Sitting back and enjoying the benefits is really a good calculation."
Zhao Shancai did not explain Shen Changmao's rhetorical question, but he did not refute it either. He seemed to acquiesce.
Indeed, Zhao Shancai bypassed Prince Zhu Heyu and contacted Shen Changmao alone. In addition to worrying that Prince Zhu Heyu would not accept his plan, he also considered the reputation of Prince Zhu Heyu. It can be said that he had good intentions, and Shen Changmao After all, he was a wily and discerning person, but he could see through Zhao Shancai's thoughts at a glance.
In fact, Zhao Shancai did not deliberately hide his true thoughts, because Zhao Shancai knew very well that Shen Changmao only focused on practical interests and did not care so much about his reputation.
Sure enough, after seeing Zhao Shancai's acquiescence, Shen Changmao didn't care much. Instead, he became interested in the "plan" Zhao Shancai talked about.
Therefore, Shen Changmao finally stopped neglecting Zhao Shancai and ordered the servants around him: "Serve Mr. Zhao tea!"
After saying that, Shen Changmao turned his eyes to Zhao Shancai and said slowly: "Now, I will give you a cup of tea. Let's talk about your plan."
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…(To be continued.)
