Chapter 606 - 384: How Could He Not Feel Guilty?
At the time, Fu Shiyin had been wary of the Empress Dowager. After weighing his options, he gave the stones to Gu’en Houfu first, figuring he would immediately make it up to Marquis Wenxin’s Mansion once the next shipment of stones arrived.
But sometimes, luck just runs out. This year, it rained incessantly in the south, making the roads difficult to traverse. The transport date for the Lake Tai stones was pushed back again and again, and they still hadn’t reached the Capital City.
Hearing Song Nanzhen bring this up, how could he not feel guilty?
Fu Shiyin immediately said, "Mr. Song, rest assured, as soon as the Lake Tai stones enter the Capital City, I’ll make sure to send them to you first. You know as well as I do, the south has been rainy and the roads are slick. It’s truly too dangerous to transport such heavy stones on roads like these. My hands are tied. I can’t just send them out on a dangerous journey."
Song Nanzhen nodded upon hearing this. "That’s only natural. The journey north is long, so of course, you must be extremely cautious."
Fu Shiyin breathed a slight sigh of relief. Just as he was about to offer a few more compliments to express his goodwill, he heard Song Nanzhen speak again. "I don’t mean to rush you, Mr. Fu. I just heard that you had also prepared a stone for me back then, but it’s a shame the Tao Family had it shipped away first."
Fu Shiyin: !
"It wasn’t for the Tao Family’s use, it was for Gu’en Houfu," Fu Shiyin explained. "A Lake Tai stone in Gu’en Houfu’s rear garden had cracked, and they had notified the Ministry of Industry about it long ago. It was truly just a coincidence."
"That’s true. There’s an order to things."
Fu Shiyin smiled. "I was just following procedure."
’This way, I don’t offend either side.’
Song Nanzhen had no intention of making things difficult for him. His real goal was to bring up the Tao Family, and after subtly probing Fu Shiyin for some information about them, he left, satisfied.
Fu Shiyin breathed a sigh of relief after seeing him off. ’Marquis Wenxin really is an easy person to get along with.’
Song Nanzhen returned to the Ministry of Revenue and immediately gave a few instructions to his personal attendant, who nodded and left at once. Only then did he pick up his official documents to continue his work. Less than an hour later, someone from the Left Minister’s office came to summon him. Song Nanzhen had no choice but to set aside his work and go see the Left Minister.
He ran into Qiao Tai on the way. Both were a little surprised to see each other. Qiao Tai cupped his hands in greeting. "Lord Qiao, are you also on your way to see the Left Minister?"
Song Nanzhen smiled and nodded. "Lord Qiao, you too?"
Qiao Tai nodded.
Their eyes met, and both felt a sense of foreboding.
’One of us manages troops, the other provisions. Summoning us at the same time... this must be something big.’
Without another word, the two of them quickened their steps toward the Left Minister’s office.
Meanwhile, Song Nanzhen’s personal attendant went to see the Great Madam. He handed her the item the Marquis had given him and said, "The Marquis asks that the Great Madam find a way to deliver this to Her Ladyship in the palace. This item is extremely important and must not fall into anyone else’s hands."
The Great Madam’s expression grew serious. She immediately asked, "Did the Marquis have any other instructions?"
The attendant shook his head. "The Marquis only said to ask the Great Madam to have this done as quickly as possible."
"I understand. Go back and tell the Marquis he can rest assured."
"Yes."
After the attendant left, the Great Madam looked at the object in her hand. She didn’t open it but carefully put it away. ’Her third brother-in-law wanted her to deliver this to Yun Zhao in the palace, and quickly. It must be something very important.’
The Great Madam immediately sent a request for an audience to the palace.
Yun Zhao was playing with Feng Ze when she heard from Xiangxue that her aunt had sent a request and wanted to enter the palace to pay her respects. She knew something must be up, so she granted the Great Madam entry.
The Great Madam had already changed her clothes. Upon receiving word from the palace, she boarded her carriage and went to the palace.
With the Emperor away from the Capital City, the harem seemed much quieter. Even the Palace Attendants passing by kept their heads down and hurried along.
Last year, a large batch of Palace Attendants had been let go. After this year’s selection, a new group had been chosen to enter the palace. Now, as the Great Madam looked around, every face seemed unfamiliar.
She clenched her jaw and made her way to Yaohua Palace.
Song Yunzhao was very happy to see her aunt and told Feng Ze to greet her.
Feng Ze tilted his head to look at the Great Madam and obediently called out, "Grand-aunt."
Seeing that the Eldest Prince was being raised to be strong and sturdy, with bright, dark eyes, the Great Madam said, "The Eldest Prince is growing to look more and more like you did as a child, Your Ladyship."
Feng Ze was the restless type. He had no patience for listening to his mother chat with guests and ran off after just a few sentences.
Song Yunzhao said helplessly, "I don’t know who this child takes after. He can’t sit still at all, just like a little monkey."
"All children are like this when they’re young. They’ll settle down when they’re a bit older. It’s a good thing he can run, jump, eat well, and drink well. That’s how children grow up healthy and strong," the Great Madam said.
Song Yunzhao smiled and agreed. She didn’t have much experience raising children. For one, she listened to Nanny Yu’s advice. For another, she had also watched quite a few parenting videos from her past life. She had never put them into practice, but they sounded very reasonable. She tried to raise her son this way, but soon discovered that theory and practice were a mismatched couple, always at odds with each other.
’Raising a child isn’t as simple as other people make it sound. It really is quite difficult.’
"Aunt, you came to the palace so suddenly. Is there something important?" After a bit of small talk, Song Yunzhao got to the point.
The Great Madam’s expression turned serious. She took out the item and handed it over. "Your father asked me to bring this to you."
Song Yunzhao saw that the object was wrapped up tightly and knew her aunt hadn’t opened it. She unwrapped it and saw it was a booklet. She casually flipped it open and glanced at it, and her expression immediately turned serious.
Looking at Yun Zhao’s expression, the Great Madam also grew worried. ’Could something major really be happening?’
Song Yunzhao couldn’t help but flip through the pages faster. By the time she reached the end, she couldn’t contain the scornful look on her face.
’No wonder. I was wondering why they were stirring up trouble for no reason. So this is the work of Gu’en Houfu. They’re targeting me.’
Seeing the Great Madam’s worried face, Song Yunzhao briefly explained the situation. The Great Madam was immediately furious. "This is outrageous! We can’t just let this go!"
Song Yunzhao calmed her aunt down a bit before saying, "Of course we can’t let this go, but the Emperor isn’t in the Capital City. Let’s focus on gathering solid evidence for now."
"This involves Gu’en Houfu, and the Empress Dowager is backing them. I’m worried the Empress Dowager will shield Gu’en Houfu when the time comes," the Great Madam said.
Song Yunzhao nodded. "Exactly. That’s why, before the Emperor returns to the Capital City, we first need to take down the Tao Family, their lackeys."
"Do you have a plan, Your Ladyship?" the Great Madam asked.
"I don’t need to lift a finger against the Tao Family. Father will take care of it," Song Yunzhao said.
Remembering that it was her third brother-in-law who had asked her to deliver the item, the Great Madam nodded. "Then is there anything I can do?"
"’Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated.’ I’ll have to trouble you, Aunt, to help me gather some information on the Tao Family." The agents Song Yunzhao had dispatched had not yet returned to the Capital City, so she still lacked her own intelligence confirming the Tao Family’s connection to the events in the south.
’It would be difficult to make a move against Gu’en Houfu right now, but clipping their wings is certainly doable.’
’I never would have thought Gu’en Houfu would come up with a scheme like this to deal with me. And they almost succeeded.’