Chapter 1000 - 995: Encountering Yuancheng
The lengthy discourse of the Protectorate Duke was simply that Jin Zijin had returned from abroad, and furthermore, his previous identity was indeed a member of the Dao Family. His disaster relief efforts might well lead the common people to attribute this merit to the Dao Family, which had nothing to do with the Imperial Court in the end.
After all, Jin Zijin’s influence within the Dao Family far exceeded that of the Imperial Court.
But King Jin was different. He was the mutual child of the Emperor and Empress, of unmatched noble status. It would be a grand display of the Emperor’s grace for King Jin to make an appearance, truly representing the Imperial Family and the Imperial Court.
The Emperor, seeming enlightened, listened to the Protectorate Duke finish his lengthy speech, then nodded, saying, "The Protectorate Duke has deep foresight and speaks very sensibly. Let Xiaoran go together with Huanzhi for disaster relief, and if they encounter Zijin..." The Emperor sighed and said, "If they meet him, have him return at once!"
The Protectorate Duke’s concerns were not unknown to the Emperor; however, it was not yet the time to compete with them for merits.
Moreover, the severity of this disaster meant the merits were not so easily contended for.
Nonetheless, they were indeed mistaken. Jin Zijin had no intentions of competing for merit; he was merely accompanying his newlywed wife to fetch her maternal relatives.
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