Drunk Bamboo

"Yunling, ask the kitchen to cook a few home-cooked dishes for Mr. Zhang. It doesn't have to be too many, just two or three to whet his appetite. I guess he doesn't have much of an appetite right now."

Yun Ling nodded obediently and said carefully, "I'll bring a bowl of iced lotus seed soup to quench Master Zhang's thirst first."

Xie Yuzhu smiled with satisfaction.

Hua Qinfeng crossed his arms unhappily.

Xie Yuzhu pulled his arm and said, "Your Highness, this is also to win over Lord Zhang. Everything is for Your Highness."

Hua Qinfeng was immediately deflated.

After a while, Chaoyang took Zhang Xinghe into the wing room.

As soon as Zhang Xinghe sat down, Hua Qinfeng asked directly: "What have you learned since entering the palace?"

Xie Yuzhu said calmly, "Master Zhang must not have eaten yet. Have a bowl of lotus seed soup first, and the dishes will be here soon."

Zhang Xinghe's face hasn't looked good since he came in.

Normally he had a stern and serious face, but today it was particularly different, as if he was suppressing something.

"No matter how busy or chaotic things are, people have to take their time to deal with them. If you don't have enough food, how can you have the energy to do things? Master Zhang, have some soup first."

After Xie Yuzhu finished speaking, Yun Ling considerately brought the lotus seed soup to Zhang Xinghe.

Zhang Xinghe finally calmed down and replied, "Thank you, Princess."

Yun Ling stood beside Zhang Xinghe, ready to serve him.

Zhang Xinghe: "No need to follow the palace rules. I don't need anyone to serve me in the mansion."

Xie Yuzhu asked casually: "How did Lord Zhang know that Yunling came from the palace? Have you seen her in the palace before?"

Yun Ling, who had returned to Xie Yuzhu's side, was stunned.

"Yes. I've seen her in the Imperial Concubine's palace." Zhang Xinghe didn't look at Yun Ling. He was calm and explained, "Outsiders are not allowed to enter the harem. That time when His Majesty summoned me, it was my first time to enter Fu'an Palace, so I remember it clearly."

"Master Zhang has a very good memory." Xie Yuzhu didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Zhang Xinghe did not touch the bowl of lotus seed soup. He picked up the tea beside him and took a sip.

"Your Highness just saw Lord Luo beside me. His Majesty promoted Lord Luo to be the deputy prime minister to be in charge of investigating the Crown Prince. Lord Xun will make the decision, Lord Wu will review the matter, and the three of them will supervise and check each other. In order to ensure the truth of the matter, officials related to the Crown Prince are not allowed to interfere. From now on, the Crown Prince will suspend all his affairs and return to the capital to accept the investigation."

Straight to the point, no nonsense.

Then, he added: "Although His Majesty did not hide it, he did not let me participate."

The room suddenly became quiet.

Hua Qinfeng came back to his senses and said in surprise: "Deputy Prime Minister? Doesn't that mean there are two prime ministers?"

Xie Yuzhu said calmly: "He wants to weaken Prime Minister Wang's power."

Zhang Xinghe raised his eyes: "Princess, you can see clearly that your Majesty is taking this opportunity to weaken the Crown Prince's power."

Hua Qinfeng opened his eyes wide: "Where is the evidence? Father believes it?"

He sneered: "Evidence? It's just a letter Wang Qingming sent to Han Jian before his death."

"Wang Qingming killed people and robbed silver. He is a criminal. How can his letter be used as evidence? Han Jian has ulterior motives. Father should investigate Han Jian!"

Hua Qinfeng slammed the table and stood up.

Anyone who hears such a thing would find it suspicious.

And he is a prince who has always been honest.

Just because of a letter written by a heinous criminal?

This in itself is like a joke.

The emperor actually believed it?

Zhang Xinghe's lowered eyes concealed coldness and sneer.

"Your Majesty sentenced the prince based on a letter without any reason. He did not investigate the authenticity of the letter in Han Jian's hand, nor did he question the ultimate purpose of Wang Qingming writing this letter. Instead, he was just angry at the prince for being so reckless. Then he promoted a deputy prime minister to investigate without telling the court officials. Two old officials who seemed to have great power but had no interest in government affairs for a long time monitored the decision-making. When everyone knew about it, they had nothing to say."

It was too obvious that the Emperor was targeting the Crown Prince.

After hearing this, Hua Qinfeng suddenly calmed down and sat in his previous position in silence.

"He made the decision without telling the prime minister and other officials, only because he was afraid that the prime minister would get to know about it and lead the officials to oppose it. He was afraid of chaos in the court. Your Majesty has done a perfect job." A clear and light voice came.

Xie Yuzhu sneered, "Ask the prince to go back to Zhongdu for an investigation? Your Majesty seems to be fair and impartial, but in disguise he is admitting that the prince is corrupt."

To be honest, she spoke the truth.

What was hidden in Zhang Xinghe's heart was instantly revealed.

He raised his dark, angry eyes: "The Crown Prince is devoted to the people, will he be disappointed? The Prime Minister is impartial and upright, will he be disappointed? The Queen Mother is the mother of the country, will she be heartbroken?"

It was the first time that Xie Yuzhu saw Zhang Xinghe so angry, and she didn't know what to say.

His eyes shifted to Hua Qinfeng beside him, but he stood there motionless like a stone, not knowing what he was thinking.

Fortunately, someone knocked on the door and the food was ready.

Xie Yuzhu signaled Yunling to bring the food.

"Who can stop your majesty from doing what he wants to do? Lord Zhang has done his best. If even you lose your majesty's heart, how can you accomplish what you should do?" Xie Yuzhu symbolically comforted him and moved the dishes brought by Yunling, "Let's eat first."

Zhang Xinghe had no appetite at all and stood up to leave.

"Don't worry, my lord and princess. The Ministry of Justice still has a lot of official business to attend to. I've already told you. I'm leaving now."

Xie Yuzhu knew that Zhang Xinghe should not be able to say those words just now.

But they didn't even ask, Zhang Xinghe told them everything.

This is enough to show his trust in the emperor, or his opposition to the emperor's actions this time.

Xie Yuzhu has done her best. After all, her friendship with Zhang Xinghe is not that deep.

The moment he pushed open the door of the box, Hua Qinfeng said:

"Zhang Xinghe, do what you should do. No one can decide who the father wants to give the throne to. No matter who sits in that position, Rao Country is still Rao Country, the people are still the same people, you are still Zhang Xinghe, and I am still King Feng. You are still investigating cases for the people in Zhongdu, and I am still guarding the people in the west."

Hua Qinfeng's tone and demeanor were calm and steady, completely different from the anger he had just shown the moment before.

The hand pressed against the door trembled, and Zhang Xinghe's eyes became deep.

He turned his back to me, and after a moment he said calmly, "Your Highness has changed so quickly. He has become so open-minded in just half a day. At dawn, I said these words, but now it is Your Highness who told me. Times have changed, and what he said is indeed true."

When Zhang Xinghe walked, his back was straight.

"I have never seen Lord Zhang look so angry and disappointed."

Looking at the table full of untouched food, Xie Yuzhu felt it was a pity.

Hua Qinfeng was unusually calm: "In the past, no matter how partial or wary my father was, he never went that far."

She raised her eyes to look at him: "Where's the prince?"

Are you also like Zhang Xinghe, feeling cold in your heart at this moment?

"Maybe I've never had any hope, so I'm not that disappointed." Hua Qinfeng looked indifferent, lowered his eyes, and looked at her nervously, "Yuzhu, do you think I'm cold-hearted?"

Shaking her head, she said gently, "I hope that Your Majesty will be more ruthless and cold-blooded towards those people in the palace. That way, when they hurt you, you won't feel any pain."

"Yuzhu, you and the people in the mansion are enough."