I made a fortune by marrying a sickly woman!

Qin Chi first thought that someone was targeting him.

Just at this moment, Old Li came in and said, "Sir, someone sent you a note, saying it was from the Li Mansion."

"Li House?"

Qin Chi took the invitation and opened it. "Hey, Mr. Rong is back in Beijing. He invited me to his house for a gathering."

Mr. Rong is Li Huarong.

The former president of the Hanlin Academy and Grand Secretary of the Cabinet was dismissed from his post because of his straightforward advice to Emperor Cheng of the Ming Dynasty, which displeased the emperor. Qin Chi met him once at Helian Pu's place in Huangshan, and later received his guidance on the imperial examination. After he won the top spot in the imperial examination, he visited him again.

Afterwards, Li Huarong went out traveling again.

The two of them have a teacher-student relationship.

Qin Chi asked Old Li to prepare a gift, and then he got on the carriage and set off.

When they arrived at Li's house, the doorman already knew that Qin Chi would come, so he let him in directly, and there was also a servant who led Qin Chi inside.

No accidents.

In the study, Qin Chi met Li Huarong.

Li Huarong was sitting at the desk writing something. When he saw Qin Chi coming in, he looked up and said, "Find a chair and sit down."

"Meet Mr. Rong."

Qin Chi still stepped forward politely and bowed.

Li Huarong hummed lightly, but did not stop writing. Qin Chi did not care, and sat down near the charcoal stove, where boiling water was still boiling, ready to make tea at any time.

Qin Chi looked up at Li Huarong who was busy. Seeing the tea set and tea leaves placed aside, he started to clean the tea set and make tea.

When Li Huarong finished writing the last word and put down the brush, he looked up and saw Qin Chi drinking tea leisurely not far away. He couldn't help but smile silently, then stood up and walked over.

He sat down in front of the charcoal stove.

Qin Chi poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him, "Sir, have some tea."

"You seem to be at ease." Li Huarong picked up the tea and warmed his hands first. "Your uncle and I were worried that you would not be able to adapt to the officialdom for the first time. Who knew that you would be so successful in the officialdom? It seems that you are born to be a talent for this job."

"Thank you for your compliment, sir." Qin Chi smiled modestly.

Li Huarong drank half a bowl of tea and sighed comfortably, "It would be so comfortable if I could have a cup of warm tea in this weather."

"You can drink now if you want."

"Forget it. It's boring if I drink and you don't."

"I'll have no problem having a drink."

"No, no, I'm afraid your uncle will find out and blame me." Li Huarong knew that Qin Chi's body was not suitable for drinking.

Qin Chi chuckled, "When did you return to Beijing, sir?"

"It was that person who summoned me back two days ago." Li Huarong meant that Emperor Mingcheng suddenly summoned him back to the capital. "The court is short of people now, and I got a great bargain."

The downfall of the Yang, Yuan and Liu families implicated a large number of officials.

Many vacancies were vacated in the court, and most of them had been filled, including Lü Yanji and Lu Bozhou, who, with the help of Qin Chi, found an opportunity to transfer out of the Hanlin Academy and were promoted slightly. However, not everyone can hold an important position.

Yang Ge Lao committed suicide, and the Ministry of Works was left without a Minister.

Li Huarong was originally a cabinet minister.

When Emperor Mingcheng had no one else available, a eunuch happened to mention Li Huarong's name, so he sent someone to recall Li Huarong who was traveling outside. When he returned to Beijing, he could either re-enter the cabinet and take over Yang Ge Lao's previous work, or serve as the Minister of Works.

Both positions are very important.

Generally speaking, it is not possible to hold both positions.

When talking about the situation in the court, Li Huarong mentioned the matter of restoration.

Qin Chi asked: "Where do you want to go, sir?"

"I was in the cabinet before, and I think His Majesty will let me return to the cabinet." Li Huarong's previous responsibilities had already been replaced by someone else. This time he returned to the cabinet, it was most likely to replace Yang Zhengkai. "To be honest, I would rather go to the Ministry of Industry to serve as the Minister, but the possibility is not high."

"It all depends on your majesty's wishes."

Qin Chi suddenly had the illusion that he was showing off.

There are few civil servants who don't want to join the cabinet, as this is the ultimate goal of serving as an official in the court.

Qin Chi asked again: "Sir, do you know Luo Sicheng of the Dali Temple? I checked him out and found that he is from the same period as you."

"Why are you asking about him suddenly? Did he offend you?" Li Huarong asked this, obviously knowing Luo Sicheng.

Qin Chi told the rumors outside.

Li Huarong's face was solemn when he heard this. "I'm not sure who he is. He and I didn't have much contact. It was just before the imperial examination, when I attended a poetry gathering, that I saw that he was quite impressed by Yan Jiangnan's article, and his words were full of respect."

"Then he is from Yan Jiangnan?" Qin Chi knew that this was not a reliable estimate.

As expected, Li Huarong shook his head, "There were many scholars who admired Yan Jiangnan's talent and learning back then, so this is not a valid basis."

When Emperor Mingcheng ascends the throne, he will naturally clear out the remnants of the former crown prince's faction. Li Huarong did not say this, but Qin Chi could understand it.

Qin Chi poured more tea for Li Huarong, stood up and walked to the door, opened the door and saw Qin Ba guarding outside, then closed the door and walked to the window and stayed for a while.

Li Huarong saw his actions and understood what he meant. He said, "I have dismissed the people around me before. No one is approaching the study room now. Oh, except for the people you brought with you."

"alright."

Qin Chi was indeed not eavesdropped by anyone.

He returned to sit in front of the charcoal stove again.

He spoke in a low voice and told Li Huarong about the affairs of the former crown prince, Yan Jiangnan and others.

Before coming to the capital last year, he went to Huangshan to meet Helian Pu.

Helian Pu told him that Li Huarong could be trusted.

Li Huarong was shocked that the former crown prince was still alive. "Are you sure? I was also there when the former crown prince died—"

The following words stopped abruptly.

Qin Chi's eyes flickered when he saw this.

Li Huarong's attitude clearly shows that there is something wrong?

After a long while, Li Huarong said in disbelief: "Your Majesty personally stared at the corpse for a long time, and called three groups of people to check the corpse. They all said that the deceased was the former crown prince. He also specially called several imperial doctors to check, and they were very sure that there was no trace of disguise."

Therefore, he never doubted that the former crown prince was not dead.

Qin Chi just wanted to say, if he couldn't even deceive outsiders, how could he deceive Emperor Ming Cheng?

"I heard that many people have a stand-in since childhood."

Li Huarong suddenly thought of this.

Qin Chi smiled and did not deny his words.

But the two of them knew very well that it was not so easy to train a stand-in, let alone a completely imaginary one. Many of them just looked for someone with a somewhat similar face, plus some disguise techniques. The imperial physician would be able to find out these through careful examination.

A mystery that is not quite certain for the moment.

The two of them agreed not to pursue the matter any further.

Before night fell, Qin Chi said goodbye.

When he just returned home, Old Man Hong handed him another note, "A note from the East Palace."

Qin Chi was surprised when he heard it was the Eastern Palace.

Then a light bulb went off in his head, and thinking about the rumor that had been spreading secretly, he suddenly understood the malicious intent of the person behind the scenes.

Kill with a borrowed knife.