I was given the contraceptive soup and became the emperor's white moonlight

In the Dali Temple Yamen, light shone into the room through the door. Li Zhao was sitting quietly in front of the desk. There were several memorials on the table, all of which were about impeaching Su Minglang.

Li Zhao picked out a few of them and put them aside. Most of them were memorials blaming Su Minglang for bringing disaster to the country and the people and being a beauty, with line after line of eloquent writing on them.

Li Zhao was playing with a short blade, the blade sparkling in the sunlight.

"Sir!" A man dressed like a Dali Temple bailiff came in and clasped his fists and said, "Your order has been fulfilled. The two lords Li and Sui have agreed not to submit petitions again, even though they are unwilling."

"But there are still some ministers who remain silent, neither saying they agree nor disagree."

Li Zhao's hawk-like eyes suddenly opened and pierced him, and a bit of sharpness appeared in his eyes. "Prepare the horses. I need to go out for a while."

"Yes!" The man was frightened by Li Zhao's gaze and ran out without any delay.

Li Zhao put the short blade back into the scabbard, took off a cloak and walked out.

The groom had brought Li Zhao's horse to the door. Li Zhao jumped on it without saying a word. Before leaving, he told the yamen runner beside him, "I'm going to go out for a while. If anyone comes to look for me, just say I'm not here."

"Yes!"

At the call of the yamen runner, Li Zhao rode away. Fortunately, the Dali Temple was located on West Street and there were not many pedestrians on the street. Li Zhao rode all the way out of the capital through a small gate.

The weather was freezing cold, and the soil was frozen hard by the Cold Dew. Horses' hooves galloped across the frozen road, leaving behind a series of "clack clack" sounds.

After a while, his figure appeared next to the boundary marker of a village.

There is a river in the east of the capital. There is a small pond in the upper reaches of the river. The water in the pond gurgles up from the bottom, like a spring, and is called Qingquan.

Not far from the clear spring lies a small village, and since the village depends on the spring, it is simply called Qingquan Village.

Qingquan Village is located in the upper reaches of the river, with higher terrain. The villagers live by the mountain and make a living. Although it is not prosperous, at least everyone lives and works in peace and contentment.

There is another forest to the west of Qingquan, which extends to the foot of the mountain. Between the two, not far from the village, there is a fenced yard with the gate slightly closed. A small garden has been tidied on one side of the fence, but since it is winter, nothing is planted.

There was a well on one side of the yard, with stones pressing down on wooden boards to seal the well. There were some scattered things on the shelves nearby, and the yard was empty.

Li Zhao asked along the way and led his horse to the gate of this courtyard and knocked on the wooden door. After a while, a young voice came from the house. When the person opened the wooden door, he was stunned for a moment, "Li, Lord Li?"

Li Zhao couldn't help but feel a little surprised when he saw the person in front of him, but his years of experience helped him to quickly calm down and nodded expressionlessly, "Is the Prime Minister here?"

"This..." While the young man was hesitating, an old man walked out of the room. The old man had white hair but was not hunched over. He was over 70 years old but did not even need a cane. His steps were steady and his expression was gentle and powerful.

"Let him in, Birch."

"Yes!" Zhou Linsu immediately turned aside to make way upon hearing that. Li Zhao walked in. The furnishings in the yard were simple but had everything needed for life.

Wen Xiang, the old man, led Li Zhao straight into the house. Unlike the freezing cold outside, the stove in the house was burning brightly and the aroma of tea was wafting in the air.

Completely different from the small courtyard of the farmer's house outside, the house was filled with calligraphy and paintings of landscapes. A long wooden table was placed in the side room, on which was an unfinished landscape painting.

The faint scent of ink and the aroma of tea filled the air, and Li Zhao instantly felt that he had arrived at the Wen Mansion. The old prime minister's study was just like that. However, he had never imagined that even after going to the countryside to recuperate, Prime Minister Wen was still obsessed with calligraphy.

"Your servant Li Zhao greets the Prime Minister." Li Zhao glanced at the luggage, which looked normal, and said hello, "How are you feeling recently?"

Minister Wen had heard some rumors about this young and promising Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, but unlike other people, he paid more attention to what he saw with his own eyes. The decent appearance of the man in front of him reduced the prejudice in Minister Wen's heart.

"Please sit down." Wen Xiang waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need to say anything more, and ordered Zhou Linsu to bring a stool for Li Zhao.

Li Zhao sat down obediently. The Minister of Culture personally poured him a cup of tea before he spoke: "I am no longer in the court, so Lord Li does not need to address me by my title."

"The Prime Minister just doesn't attend the morning court. The affairs of the court still depend on the Prime Minister's intervention." Li Zhao replied with a smile.

"I am old, and I have the will but not the strength. I will ask Your Majesty to retire and return home in the spring of next year. Now I am just adapting in advance." The Minister of Culture smiled and ignored his compliment.

"The officials in the government are always concerned about their people. Your Excellency is so empathetic and experienced in the lives of the people. I am ashamed to say that I am not as good as you." Li Zhao continued, "But now it is almost the New Year, why doesn't the Minister of Culture return to the capital?"

"Of course I will go back then." Minister Wen looked at Zhou Linsu standing beside him and smiled with satisfaction: "Every generation has talented people. Your Majesty is in his prime now, and you young talents are around him. I should have been relieved a long time ago."

"Teacher!" Zhou Linsu frowned.

Ever since he met Zhou Linsu in this yard, Li Zhao probably knew about their relationship. However, he didn't expect Zhou Linsu to be so unconcerned and actually reveal their identities in front of him. He didn't know whether he was naive or ignorant.

As the emperor's lackey, Li Zhao was very self-aware. He was extremely unpopular. Even though they had never interacted with each other, he couldn't believe that the top scholar didn't know his name.

"Lord Li, you won't come to my palace unless you have something to ask. Just say it directly." Wen Xiang acted as if he didn't hear what Zhou Linsu called him. He neither admitted nor denied it.

However, Li Zhao knew that he had tacitly agreed. In the future, Zhou Linsu would bear the name of the Qi family. It was indeed the dream of all scholars in the world to be a disciple of Prime Minister Wen, but when thinking about the current situation of the Wen family, he didn't know whether this opportunity was a good thing or a bad thing for Zhou Linsu.

Li Zhao did not let Wen Xiang wait too long, and immediately made his purpose clear: "I am here for your students."

Minister Wen was slightly surprised when he heard this. He knew that Li Zhao was someone close to Xiao Heng, and he didn't know what could have caused Li Zhao to come to him in person. "Master Li, why don't you speak frankly?"

Li Zhao was about to speak when he met Zhou Linsu's gaze. He was silent for a moment, and seeing that the Minister of Literature had no intention of sending him away, he said, "I wonder if the Prime Minister has heard about the Fengshan event that has been making a lot of noise in the court recently?"

"Fengshan? Aren't these things always managed by the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Academy? What is there to argue about?"