There has been a recent disaster in the south, and the emperor asked officials in the DPRK and China to donate silver.
Most of those officials had nothing to lose, so they focused their attention on these merchants.
There are not many merchants left under the emperor's own hands, so he has set his sights on the Zhou family.
He specially invited Zhou Ruiyuan, Zhou Feng, Du Wanchun and Han Yaner to a banquet. ?.?????.???
Zhou Feng was still the emperor's nominal adopted son. He had been an idle prince these years, but the emperor had not treated him badly.
As the saying goes, it takes a thousand days to raise an army, but it takes only a short time to use it. It's time to put it to use.
There was also Concubine Li at this banquet.
The emperor asked the palace maid to pour a glass of wine for each of them and told them about the disaster relief.
Zhou Ruiyuan put down his wine glass, stood up and said, "Your Majesty, there is a disaster in the south. We have donated silver to the local people."
The emperor was very surprised, "Have you donated it?"
Zhou Ruiyuan replied: "To return to the emperor, my wife sent people to deliver money and supplies to the disaster area three days ago."
They have to donate it anyway, so why wait for the emperor to ask for it. If the emperor gets the money, he will definitely deduct half of it. By then, he will get the name and the money, but the Zhou family will have nothing.
Du Wanchun had expected this. When he learned about the disaster in the south, before the emperor came to them, they prepared money and supplies and sent people in the name of Zhou Ruiyuan to personally distribute them to the victims one by one.
Although a lot of money was spent this time, it was necessary to save the people from danger.
The emperor's face changed drastically after hearing this, and he slowly sat down with lowered eyes.
He originally planned to rebuild a separate courtyard after getting a sum of money from the Zhou family, but it seemed that this was going to come to nothing.
Concubine Li on the side took over Zhou Ruiyuan's words and said, "Master Zhou is dedicated to serving the people. He is really good."
After finishing speaking, he specifically said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, you don't have to worry about disaster relief anymore. The Zhou family has done us a big favor."
The emperor was still unhappy because of Zhou Ruiyuan's actions, but after hearing what Li Fei said, he put away the anger on his face, raised his glass again and said, "Master Zhou and Shopkeeper Du are really loyal."
His words sounded a little sour.
Zhou Ruiyuan and Du Wanchun listened silently, wanting to laugh slightly.
Zhou Feng and Han Yan'er ate silently aside, as if the emperor's words had nothing to do with him.
This made the emperor so angry that he put down the wine glass again.
Fortunately, Concubine Li was there to smooth things over and let the dancer come up to dance.
Everyone's expressions gradually softened.
After Du Wanchun and the others left.
The emperor was so angry that he almost smashed everything on the table, "This Zhou family is getting more and more outrageous."
Concubine Li quickly advised: "The Zhou family has done nothing wrong. They spent a large amount of their money to provide disaster relief, which is also to reduce the burden on our court. There is no need for the emperor to be angry."
The emperor raised his eyes and said: "I..."
He was hesitant to speak, but it couldn't be said that it was because he didn't benefit from it.
He didn't want Li Fei to know, so he didn't say any more.
Du Wanchun and Zhou Ruiyuan left the palace in a carriage.
This time, the Zhou family not only gained fame, but also benefited.
After the emperor came back from Concubine Li's palace, he was in distress for a long time. Just as he was about to fall asleep, the secret guard in the palace sent news.
"Your Majesty, the assassin has been found."
The emperor was overjoyed, stood up quickly, and asked excitedly: "Where is he?!"
The secret guard bowed and replied: "Returning to the emperor, we have temporarily found out that the assassin went to Qingzhou Mansion."
The assassin he mentioned was Wang Qiu.
Wang Qiu faked his death to avoid Concubine Wu's eyes, but nothing was foolproof. If the emperor wanted to find out, he could naturally find out.
"Qingzhou Mansion..." The emperor muttered silently, his brows gradually frowning.
"Why is it this place again?!"
The secret guard asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, is there anything strange about this place?"
The emperor recalled all the past events and replied: "Many people I have sent out over the years have gone to Qingzhou Prefecture, but they all returned without success."
The secret guard thought for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty, do you think the Queen will be here?"
The emperor said seriously: "But I have been looking for it for many years, but I still can't find it."
The secret guard said meaningfully: "The weirder the place, the more suspicious it is."
As he spoke, he rolled his eyes and continued: "Since no one is found every time I look for him, is there an informant around His Majesty from time to time?"
After hearing this, the emperor became suspicious.
He thought carefully about Eunuch Liu and Eunuch Zhang in the past.
