From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 111 That ray of hope
East Palace, Small Garden
Li Chengqian sat in his beloved little wheelchair, smiling as he looked at Lin Gong who was standing respectfully in front of him.

"Minister Lin is so polite. It's just a small matter. There's no need to be so formal."

"Father said that Lang Tao is a world-renowned ninth-grade expert. This time, if the Crown Princess hadn't intervened, Wan'er would have been in danger. His life-saving grace is greater than heaven. From now on, if the Crown Prince has any instructions, the Lin family will go through fire and water and will never shirk responsibility."

"Haha, Prime Minister Lin is Prime Minister Lin." Li Chengqian smiled and pointed to the stone bench beside him. "Don't stand there, sit down."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Lin Gong carefully moved half of his buttocks onto the stone bench and sat up straight.

"We haven't seen each other for several years. Are you still blaming me for what happened last time?"

"I dare not!" Lin Gong quickly stood up, his face filled with shame. "I was too young and ignorant back then. If the Crown Prince hadn't woken me up in time and pointed out a clear path, I don't know what kind of trouble I would have caused my father now. After returning to the capital, I have always wanted to come to see the Crown Prince, but I really don't have the face to come. I beg Your Highness to forgive me."

Compared to when he was driven out of the Eastern Palace, Lin Gong is now much more mature. This maturity is not only reflected in the two little mustaches on his face, but also in his calm mentality. It seems that he has learned something from studying behind closed doors in Wuzhou in recent years.

"I heard you're doing a good job editing books in the Hanlin Academy."

"This is my job. I'm a dull person, so I can only do some clumsy work."

"Just be patient. Prime Minister Lin is still in office, and my old man is in his prime. It's not impossible for young people to step forward, but the risks are too great. You are Prime Minister Lin's son, so your starting point is naturally high. There's no need to compete with them. Just be patient and endure for a few years."

"Yes!"

"You are also a brother, so you should worry about Wan'er's affairs. It doesn't matter if Prime Minister Lin is inconvenienced. You should spend more time with the Fan family, especially your brother-in-law. Even though he is just a illegitimate son, he is very valuable in the eyes of some old guys. There is no harm in building a good relationship with him."

"Yes!" Lin Gong was shocked. He was actually not satisfied with his brother-in-law. He was just an illegitimate child. Although Lin Wan'er was also an illegitimate daughter, it also depended on who gave birth to her.

Lin Wan'er is the daughter of the eldest princess, of royal blood, and has been conferred the title of princess. What is Fan Xian?
He is just Si Nanbo’s illegitimate son, and even his mother doesn’t know who he is. How can this be compared?
He felt sorry for his sister, but now the prince's words woke him up. It was obvious that Si Nanbo's illegitimate son was not simple either.

At this time, a figure appeared silently in the courtyard.

"Your Highness, the people from the Overwatch Council are here."

"Who?"

"The host is Zhuge."

"Zhu Ge, let him in." Li Chengqian nodded.

On the surface, the Supervisory Commission is run by the old paralytic and seems to be watertight, but is it really like an iron barrel?

not always.

This Zhuge is the eldest princess's man, or in other words, he is most likely a nail planted by the old man in the Supervisory Office.

In the original novel, he was killed by the old paralytic through Fan Xian because he leaked Yan Bingyun's information.

"Your Highness, I'll take my leave." Lin Gong was very perceptive. After Mao Qiwu disappeared, he stood up and said goodbye.

a moment later

Zhuge, dressed in black, came to the small garden under the leadership of Mao Qiwu.

"Your Highness, Zhuge, pays homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Zhu Ge, I heard that your dean secretly returned to Beijing. Is this true?"

Although Zhuge is the eldest princess's man, he is not his man, so there is no need for him to be close to Zhuge.

Zhu Ge showed an embarrassed look on his face. Before, Chen Pingping said that he was going back to his hometown to visit relatives and left Kyoto. That was a legitimate departure. Now he came back quietly. Not many people knew about it, and he just found out about it.

After an awkward dry cough, Zhuge said, "Your Highness, I am here on the orders of the dean..."

As he was speaking, Zhuge felt the Crown Prince's gaze on him as if it were real and extremely cold. He trembled in his heart and closed his mouth.

"If there's anything, have him come and talk to me in person," Li Chengqian said coldly. "Sending a subordinate to the Eastern Palace to discuss matters, aren't you looking down on me, the Crown Prince?"

Cold sweat oozed from Zhuge's forehead, "No... I dare not, Dean..."

"Go back and tell your dean not to act so arrogant all the time. I can still afford to dismantle the Supervisory Commission." "Yes!" Zhu Ge retreated.

※※※

"My family fell into poverty and I was forced to break off my engagement. I bravely ventured into Kyoto to make a name for myself."

"The president returns home in glory and meets his friends and family, but regrets it too late for a widow to remain alone in the monastery."

"Thirty years to the east of the river, thirty years to the west of the river, don't bully young people into poverty!"

………………

…………

There was silence in the Linhu Palace.

Emperor Qing quietly flipped through the newspaper in his hand, his eyes seemingly drawn to its contents, a rare expression of rapt interest. After a long while, he turned to the last page, on which were written twelve large characters: "To know what happened next, please wait for the next chapter."

"Heh—" He let out a long breath, put the newspaper aside, and looked at Chen Pingping, who looked a little embarrassed in the hall. "I can't believe you had such a story back then!"

"No." Chen Pingping gritted his teeth and spat out two words fiercely, "I arrived in Beijing a long time ago. This is not the case."

He gets angry when he talks about this.

In order to increase sales, the palace tabloids made up a piece of gossip about his first love when he left Beijing. This was nothing, because most palace newspapers were only circulated in Kyoto, and there were not many of them, and they were not very bold. He didn't need to care about such things at all. Logically speaking, when he came back, these rumors and gossips would naturally disappear.

But who could have imagined that after he returned to Beijing, these gossips not only did not disappear, but intensified, and became more and more outrageous and exciting. In particular, the sentence "Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west, don't bully the young and poor" was widely circulated and was likely to become a catchphrase among the young gangsters in Kyoto.

The most embarrassing thing is that he seems to have become the idol of these Kyoto wandering boys. Who can he go to for justice?

Fan Jian, sitting nearby, smiled but remained silent. His gaze on Chen Pingping grew increasingly strange. Could what the newspapers said about the old paralyzed man's furious expression be true? Could he have such a flirtatious side?
"Have you offended Cheng Qian recently?" Emperor Qing asked with a headache. The newspaper was published by the palace, so he naturally knew who wrote it. However, based on his understanding of the prince, the prince would not target someone for no reason, unless that person offended him.

"Crown Prince? I haven't had any contact with the Crown Prince since I returned to the capital. However, earlier today, I sent Zhuge to the Eastern Palace to negotiate the matter of the wolf peach. It wasn't very pleasant, and Zhuge was kicked out by the Crown Prince."

"Lang Tao?" Emperor Qing's eyes flashed. "Is he still in the Eastern Palace?"

"Yes, he was taken directly to the Eastern Palace by Qin Yuan, and there has been no news since then." Chen Pingping said, "He is Ku He's first disciple and the martial arts teacher of the young Northern Qi emperor. He holds a very high status in Northern Qi. If we can get him, it will be of great benefit to Nan Qing."

"Isn't Lang Tao's purpose in coming to Kyoto just for Wan'er?"

"From the news coming from Northern Qi, it really is all about Princess Lin," Chen Pingping replied. "Northern Qi's salt administration is nearly overwhelmed by the green salt in the inner treasury, even the payment of border troops has become a problem. Lang Tao's goal is to kidnap Princess Lin and obtain the secret recipe for a new salt-making method from the princess, thereby reducing Northern Qi's salt-making costs and alleviating this crisis."

"A secret recipe?"

"Yes, a secret recipe." Chen Pingping smiled wryly. "It seems that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is very far-sighted. Who could have imagined that a small secret recipe and a reform of the salt administration would directly endanger the government of Northern Qi? Conquering the enemy without fighting, causing Northern Qi to fall into chaos without a fight, this method is really powerful!"

"First, Northern Qi sent assassins to kill a minister's son. Now, the commander of the Imperial Guards has openly assassinated and abducted the princess of Daqing in Kyoto. This is intolerable. Let's make Ye Zhong take action. This time, we're going to give them a hard time." Emperor Qing tapped the armrest of his chair, a cold glint in his eyes, as if he was thinking about something. After a while, he turned to Fan Jian and asked, "You are familiar with the Ministry of Revenue. Tell me, if we increase the smuggling of green salt, can we really destroy Northern Qi's finances?"

"This..." Fan Jian raised his head and thought for a moment. "Ever since the incident with the Northern Qi salt administration, I've also thought about this issue. The salt administration is very important to Northern Qi, but it's only very important. It certainly hurts the country's vitality, but it's probably not enough to destroy Northern Qi's finances. After all, the salt tax is only one of the sources of revenue for the court. What's more, even without the salt administration, there are still salt merchants. The salt merchants in Northern Qi are as wealthy as those in Daqing!"

"Hmm!" When the salt merchants were mentioned, Emperor Qing understood.

Daqing cleaned up the salt merchants, but he was so full that he couldn't use up all the salt.

If he could do the same thing, the Northern Qi court could naturally do it as well, and would do it even more ruthlessly.

When the people at all levels are extravagant, they plunder the people. When civil unrest is imminent, they plunder the merchants.

This is a truth that all rulers understand.

"So, it's not the time yet!" He sighed softly, but the light in his eyes was brighter than ever before.

Because he saw some hope, some possibility.

(End of this chapter)