Quick Wear: After Binding the Boss

Xing Zhou, who was sitting on the bed, took out a Tianshan snow lotus, which was a thousand years old.

It feels icy and tastes bitter.

A huge amount of true Qi flowed, widening the Star Boat's meridians, and the Dantian also passively expanded a bit.

Xingzhou began to practice the "Five Elements Return to Origin Gong". As the small and large circulations were running, the medicinal effects of the Tianshan Snow Lotus were divided into the power of the five elements and integrated into the five internal organs.

Three hours passed in a flash, and the medicinal effects of the Tianshan Snow Lotus had completely disappeared.

Xingzhou did not wake up. He used his soul power to take a drop of spiritual milk, swallowed it, and continued to practice.

After returning from class, the third prince came to Xingzhou's courtyard in person.

"Aunt Qingying, has the fourth child gone to bed?"

"Reporting to the Third Prince, His Highness has fallen asleep." Aunt Qingying nodded slightly without elaborating.

The third prince asked again if Xingzhou was okay, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he got the answer that he was fine.

"That's fine, that's fine."

The third prince felt much more at ease. He returned to his own courtyard and ordered his servants to get his share of apples.

He thought that the apples that the fourth brother took out should be very rare, and maybe the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs didn't know about it, otherwise they wouldn't have sold them to the fourth brother just like that. He decided to get some back and see.

Qianqing Palace, Imperial Study.

"So, Xiao Si suddenly found gold while digging lotus roots?"

Although Emperor Cheng An was nearly sixty years old, he looked like a middle-aged man with a full head of black hair. Sitting on a chair, he looked majestic without being angry, and was listening to the information sent back by the secret guards.

"Who do you think put the gold there?"

Emperor Cheng'an asked the eunuch chief steward Ge Zhengqing who was serving beside him. Ge Zhengqing lowered his head and said softly, "I don't know."

Ge Zhengqing knew that Emperor Cheng'an was angry. It would be fine if there were only a few coins in the box, but he learned from Dongwusuo that there were two thousand taels of gold, which was a problem.

The emperor's biggest fear is that things will get out of his control.

Now Dajing's annual fiscal revenue is only 30 million taels of silver, and this is after converting the price of grain, cloth, etc. In terms of silver alone, it is only 4 million taels a year. These two thousand taels of gold are equivalent to 20,000 taels of silver.

Still in the shadows, the most important thing is the shadow that entered right under his nose.

How can you expect Emperor Cheng An not to be angry?

"It seems that the harem is living too well. Go tell them that the national finances are tight and the monthly allowances of each palace will be cut by 30%, no, 40% from now on."

"Yes." Ge Zhengqing responded quickly.

"As for Xiao Si, he actually skipped class to dig lotus roots and said he had some insights. Ha, let him come to my place tomorrow after his literature class. I want to see what he has realized."

Just then, a young eunuch came to report.

"Your Majesty, the imperial concubine is here."

"What is she doing here?" Emperor Cheng An pinched his eyebrows, looking quite impatient.

"Let her... forget it, let her in." Perhaps he thought of something, and Emperor Cheng An asked someone to invite the imperial concubine in.

"Your Majesty, I made the Hundred Flowers Seven Return Cake. Please try it."

The imperial concubine bowed, opened the lid with a smile, took out the cake and gently placed it on the table.

The pastry is delicate, with a subtle scent of potpourri, and is something that takes a lot of effort to make.

Emperor Cheng'an gave Ge Zhengqing a look, and Ge Zhengqing understood and led the palace maids away, leaving only the emperor and the imperial concubine.

The imperial concubine walked lightly to the side of Emperor Cheng'an and gently pinched his shoulders.

Since the imperial concubine didn't say anything, Emperor Cheng'an pretended to know nothing and dealt with official documents.

After half an hour, the imperial concubine was exhausted.

"Official, I..."

"My dear, if you have anything to say, just say it directly."

"I want to ask for a favor. Ran'er is also old enough to get married. I think..."

"Oh? Whose daughter is she?" Emperor Cheng An knew it very well, but he would not let him say it out loud.

"The legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo."

"Hmm? From the Zhenguo family? Is it the Zhenguo eldest daughter Shi Jingjing who is quite talented in writing poetry?"

Emperor Cheng An had heard of Shi Jingjing a long time ago. He often wrote poems and drank with those scholars and was very casual.

Because everyone in this world is a martial artist, even farmers working in the fields know some basic external skills. Although there is a lot of repression on women, they are not forbidden to go out or meet men outside the family.

Therefore, Emperor Cheng An did not have much aversion to Shi Jingjing who mingled with the scholar group. However, through the investigation of the secret guards, Emperor Cheng An could sense that this woman was an ambitious and scheming person.

But his literary talent is indeed good, and the poems he wrote are all very good.

"This matter involves the Duke of Zhenguo, so I can't issue an order directly. Let me ask the Duke of Zhenguo for his opinion first."

Even if the marriage was arranged, Emperor Cheng An could not just issue an order casually, otherwise the two would not be able to become relatives but would become enemies instead.

Moreover, Emperor Cheng An did not like the Prince of Yan very much. He always felt that he was too weak and did not have any of the aura that a royal family should have.

"Yes, thank you, officials."

The imperial concubine didn't care and bowed slightly to thank Emperor Cheng'an.

Anyway, Ran'er has already told him that he and Shi Jingjing are in love with each other, and the Duke of Zhenguo also has that intention. It would be a favor and would also save His Majesty from getting angry if he could get a clear way with the emperor.

Then when she returned to the palace, she received the bad news that her monthly salary was cut by 40%. For a long time, the other concubines looked at her with strange eyes.

The imperial concubine is really speechless.

Without further ado, the next morning, Xingzhou woke up early and expelled a lot of filth from his body. He hurriedly asked someone to boil water for washing. After his whole body smelled fragrant, he laughed happily.

In just one night, he reached the fifth level of innateness. Moreover, because the five elements differentiate the five internal organs, it is equivalent to him having six dantians, and the content of true energy is not much different from that of a grandmaster.

Xiao Lingzi and Qingying looked at each other, obviously knowing that their prince had gotten good things. They also had some foundation in martial arts, so they naturally knew that their prince had clearly cleansed his essence and marrow. It was obvious that he really had some insights yesterday and was not lying.

"Your Highness, let's eat."

Qingying served food to Xingzhou. Since they had spent money today, the food was of a higher quality. There were three dishes, one soup, and exquisite pastries. It was very comfortable.

As expected, the lotus roots I picked myself tasted delicious.

"Your Highness, please take these cakes with you for lunch."

Qingying had already packed the pastries and put them in the bookcase.

"Ok."

Xingzhou took light steps and soon arrived at the study.

"Fourth Brother, are you feeling better?" The Third Prince quietly pulled Xingzhou over, looked him up and down, and whispered, "That apple of yours is very rare. I sent people to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to look for it yesterday, but there was nothing like it."

"Oh? Really?" Xingzhou pretended to be surprised.

"I suspect that there is some rare variety of apple in the world, but people don't know about it yet. It would be great if we could get this apple tree. Then we wouldn't have to worry about food and clothing."

The third prince fell into deep fantasy.