The Regent Princess has run away again

Nangong Ye didn't say anything. He took a sip of tea and then put the teacup on the coffee table beside him.

"Okay, let me get back to business. You mentioned that Princess Kangle's proposal for universal education is indeed very bold, but I am still looking forward to how she will implement it."

Just as Xia Yu finished speaking, the voice of the eunuch reporting came from outside the door.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Zhao requests an audience."

"Let her wait in the side hall. I will go there later."

"Yes."

After the eunuch left, Xia Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, the sneer on the corner of his mouth became even more intense, and his fingers tapped on the table from time to time.

"Aye, it seems that some people can no longer bear it. Cai Jinzhong's death is a big blow to them."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. We have everything under control."

At this point, Nangong Ye looked at Xia Yu, his eyes more thoughtful, "Your Majesty, how do you plan to deal with Concubine Rou?"

"Why? Are you afraid that I will be attracted to Concubine Rou?"

"Your Majesty is wise, I dare not make random guesses."

Xia Yu glanced at him. Although Nangong Ye called himself a minister, there was no panic in his eyes. He was calm and composed, as if the words just now did not come from his mouth.

"Don't worry, Concubine Rou is still useful to me, and I know my limits."

After Xia Yu finished reviewing the memorial, Nangong Ye stood up to say goodbye, and You followed him out, with a eunuch holding a lantern in front to light the way for him.

Concubine Zhao looked much more haggard these days, with dark circles under her eyes. She leaned against the window frame and looked out, her handkerchief having been crumpled beyond recognition.

The palace maids on both sides lowered their heads, and no one dared to speak at this time. They stood by trembling with fear, fearing that the imperial concubine would be unhappy and punish them again.

"The Emperor has arrived!"

This sound was like thunderclap out of the blue. Concubine Zhao hurriedly walked out of the side hall and knelt down to greet the emperor, with an extremely humble attitude.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May you be blessed with good health and happiness!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live! Long live!"

"No courtesy, stay on your own."

"Yes!!!"

Xia Yu personally stepped forward and helped Concubine Zhao up. He smiled and joked, "Concubine Zhao, you didn't kneel down to greet me before. How come you've learned your lesson now?"

The eunuch at the back quickly signaled to the other palace servants, and everyone lowered their heads, bowed, and stepped back.

Concubine Zhao finally let go of the worry that had been hanging in her heart. She lowered her head and her tone became more pitiful.

"I know I was wrong, I hope Your Majesty will forgive me. Your Majesty, can you give me some time? I am not greedy, as long as Your Majesty can think of me in his heart, I will be satisfied."

A trace of contemplation flashed across Xia Yu's eyes, but this emotion was fleeting. With a smile in his eyes, he helped Concubine Zhao up and said, "This is my fault. Don't worry, my beloved concubine. You are special to me."

"Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty."

As Concubine Zhao spoke, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and the grievance in her eyes almost drowned her entire body.

Xia Yu patted the back of her hand as if to comfort her, "I really wronged you, how about I go to your place tomorrow night?"

"I am eternally grateful for your kindness, Your Majesty," Concubine Zhao said as she leaned lightly on Xia Yu's chest. Where no one could see, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, without any trace of grievance in her eyes.

Inside the Fengluan Hall, a chessboard is placed on a square pearwood table, dotted with jade-like chess pieces. An emerald phoenix-shaped horizontal painting screen appears even more mysterious under the flickering candlelight. Goose yellow silk curtains hang on both sides of the rosewood bed, and a plate of blooming peonies is placed near the window frame, the color of the flowers is bright red and attractive.

The queen picked up a black chess piece with her bare hands and placed it steadily on the board, and the outcome became clear at once.

Concubine Shu threw down the white chess piece, took the teacup handed to her by the palace maid, and handed it to the Queen with a little more admiration in her eyes.

"Your Majesty is worthy of being a disciple of the chess master. I am really inferior to you in skills. I apologize for my humiliation."

The queen took the teacup and moistened her throat. After putting it aside, she took a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her mouth. Then she said slowly, "Shufei, you are too kind. I have only been learning from my master for a while."

"That proves that the Queen is extremely intelligent. Her chess skills have been so superb for a while. If she continues to learn, she will be even more invincible."

"Don't be proud and complacent. Remember, I am an outsider. My chess skills are not that great."

When Concubine Shu was about to say a few more compliments, the palace maid outside the door came in and saluted, saying, "Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen and Her Majesty the Concubine Shu."

The Queen took a quick glance and recognized that the maid was Concubine Shu's woman.

"Get up, what's the matter?"

After the palace maid stood up, she glanced at Concubine Shu, who was stammering and not knowing where to start.

Concubine Shu frowned, her tone becoming a little sharper, "If it's urgent, why don't you tell me quickly? What's the point of doing this? Be careful or I'll peel off your skin!"

"Empress Shufei, please spare my life. I will tell you the truth now," the maid was so scared that she immediately knelt down and begged for mercy, then told what she had seen.

After she finished speaking, Concubine Shu waved her hand to signal the maid to leave. She could no longer conceal her inner anger. She snorted coldly and said, "The Zhao family is really overreaching. They sent their illegitimate daughter into the palace so quickly. They really think others are blind."

"Shufei, the walls have ears."

The queen stood up and walked to the peony plate and fiddled with it, speaking casually, but the pressure of being the master of the harem was released invisibly.

"Your Highness, the Queen has taught me, and I will keep it in mind."

Shufei only felt her neck tighten. Even though the Queen didn't look at her, she felt as if the air was stagnant and she couldn't breathe.

"Well, it's windy at night, so I won't keep you any longer."

"Yes, I will take my leave first. I hope the Queen will have a good dream."

After Concubine Shu left, the Queen put down the scissors in her hand and looked toward the flower garden outside the window, where the flowers were in full bloom, which was particularly pleasing to the eye.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has come to report on his studies."

"Well, let the prince come in."

......

Xue Zhiyu and her group rested well and felt much better. Mingzhi tied the small package on his back, walked out of the inn and shouted upstairs: "Junior sister, the car is ready!"

"Okay, I'll come down now." Xue Zhiyu and Kankan didn't have much to take with them, so they packed one or two pieces of their clothes and went downstairs.

Mo Chenru dressed up today. The dark green brocade robe with rattan pattern made him look even more slender like jade. His hair was tied up high, and his handsome face suddenly became radiant. He no longer looked as disheveled as he had in the past few days.

"Why are you dressing up today?"

"Aren't we going to Penang to see Governor Jiang? We must not be disrespectful to others. We must dress up."

Xue Zhiyu looked at the smoky-colored dress she was casually wearing, which made her seem a little casual.

The journey was a bit long, and along the way, Kankan talked about what she saw and heard in the Western Regions in her unfluent Chinese. When she talked about this, her eyes were full of nostalgia.

Although Xue Zhiyu was somewhat tempted by Kankan's persuasion, she had too many things to do at the moment, so she had to implement this idea first.

The residence of Governor Jiang is quite a distance from Yuyang County, and we arrived there around dusk.

Governor Jiang had been waiting in front of the mansion for a long time. When he saw the carriage stop, he hurried over and said respectfully, "My lord, you have worked hard on the journey. I have asked someone to prepare tea. Please take a good rest."

"Thank you, Governor Jiang," Xue Zhiyu lifted the carriage curtain and stepped out of the carriage on a footstool.

Several people followed Governor Jiang into the main hall. The servants prepared tea and then left. Xue Zhiyu drank the tea slowly and said, "Governor Jiang, you have worked hard during this period. Fortunately, everything has been resolved. The people of Yuyang County can live a comfortable life now."

Governor Jiang shook his head. He never took credit for himself. He did not contribute much to this matter. He just sent more manpower to them, which was nothing.

"This is all thanks to the princess. I am just a small role and didn't help much."

"As long as I have contributed, it counts as a credit. And this is not something I can accomplish alone. It all depends on everyone's help."

The two exchanged pleasantries for a while before Xue Zhiyu got down to business: "Sir Jiang, I have something I want to discuss with you. What do you think?"

"But it doesn't matter."

"I plan to implement universal education in Penang so that people who do not have enough money can also afford to go to school, regardless of gender or age."

Governor Jiang didn't expect her to say this. He was stunned for a moment and then said with a little doubt: "This is the first time I have heard of your idea, but I'm afraid it will be difficult to implement."

"It is true that Governor Jiang is worried, so I wrote a detailed article. You can take a look at it."

Xue Zhiyu handed over the paper she had written in the car from the small package.

After receiving it, Governor Jiang was a little disapproving at first, but as he read on, his frowning brows suddenly relaxed, his eyes filled with excitement. He raised his head and asked seriously, "Princess, could you show me this paper again? This is indeed possible!"

"Of course, Governor Jiang, just take it and have a look. I believe Governor Jiang is a smart man. I will stay here for another two or three days. If you have any questions, you can come to me at any time. I am at Lai Fu Inn."

Governor Jiang carefully placed the paper in front of his chest and cordially invited, "Please stay here, everyone. I have already had the rooms prepared. If you don't mind, you can stay for a while."

"In that case, I'll trouble Governor Jiang."

"As it should be. It is an honor for me that the princess is willing to do me a favor. If you need anything else, just let me know."

After Governor Jiang finished speaking, he immediately called a few servants to help bring the luggage over and take it to the wing room.

Mo Chenru looked around for a moment and found that it was indeed slightly different from Qi Yueguo, but in the final analysis there was still not much difference. He looked around for a few seconds and then looked away.

It was the first time for Qianqian to come here. She looked around curiously, with unstoppable excitement in her eyes. She moved closer to Xue Zhiyu and lowered her voice to ask, "Princess, this place is really beautiful. How did you get those mountains?"

Xue Zhiyu looked in the direction of her finger towards the rockery. There were indeed several rockery with strange rocks beside the pond. The green moss was like dripping paint. The scenery in front of her looked even more poetic and picturesque from a distance.

The servant seemed to have heard Qianqian's question, and he said respectfully while leading the way, "This rockery has a great origin. Our governor's ancestors were merchants, and some foreign friends gave them stones as gifts. They thought it was interesting, so they put it here."

The wing room is in an excellent location. When you open the window, you can see the garden full of flowers. Sometimes butterflies fly into them. The summer light shines obliquely into the room, lengthening the shadow of the flower table beside the bed.

"The rooms on both sides have been cleaned up. Feel free to call us if you need us."

"Well, thank you for your hard work."

After Mingzhi and the other servants left, he threw the package on the table and sat down on a rosewood chair beside him, feeling tired.

Mo Chenru glanced outside, then closed the door and walked in front of Xue Zhiyu, his expression more serious than ever before.

"Are you really ready to do this?"

"Well, I think that in a strong country, education must also keep up. Not only the scholars, but also the common people can receive education."

"Then have you ever considered that your idea won't go so smoothly? After all, how could those old stubborn people allow this to happen?"

Xue Zhiyu walked to the coffee table next to her, poured a cup of tea and handed it over, her eyes were very firm, "I will not back down."

Mo Chenru stared at her for a long while, then sighed helplessly, took the teacup from her hand and drank it all in one gulp.

"Just tell me if you need anything."

Mingzhi sat up and looked at Xue Zhiyu and said, "Junior sister, you must be careful of the people in the Ministry of Rites. They are not happy to hear this news and will probably make things difficult for you. Although the Minister of Rites is a conservative person, he would not resort to such despicable means."

"Okay, I'll be more careful next time."

They chatted for a while until a servant came over and said that Governor Jiang invited them to have a meal. Then they straightened their clothes and went out.

Before I knew it, it was already dusk. Sheep-horn glass lanterns had already been hung on the corridor. The dim twilight enveloped the small trees in the backyard, as if they were covered with golden gauze as thin as a cicada's wing. Occasionally, koi carps jumped out of the water, breaking the dusk. Ripple-like fragments floated on the water, and then miraculously pieced together again.

Walking through the corridor, you can see that the main hall is already brightly lit. Governor Jiang is standing in front of the door waiting, and servants are constantly coming in with plates of dishes.

Several people went up to pay their respects, and Governor Jiang quickly asked them to stand up, saying in a casual tone, "You must have been exhausted from the journey, come in and have your meal."

"Thank you for the invitation, Governor Jiang. I will invite you to Baiweijia for a taste someday."

"Hahahaha, Princess Kangle is too polite. I will definitely go and show my support to you some other day."

Several people followed him into the main hall, and only sat down after Governor Jiang took his seat.

Xianxian glanced at the dishes on the table, her eyes almost filled with confusion, but she couldn't hold it back any longer, so she quietly approached Xue Zhiyu and lowered her voice and said, "Princess, what are these dishes? They look a little different from those in Zhaoyuan City."

“Penang is also known as the City of Hundreds of Na, so naturally the food in Penang is somewhat different from that in Zhaoyuan City. There are delicacies from every place.”

After dinner, Governor Jiang hurriedly stopped Xue Zhiyu and said, "Princess, wait a minute. Regarding the issue of universal education that you mentioned, I have also read the specific implementation plan you wrote. It is indeed worthy of consideration. I will submit it to the Minister of Rites, and it can be officially implemented after he agrees."

"Well, then I'll have to trouble Governor Jiang," Xue Zhiyu was a little bit incredulous that Governor Jiang answered so quickly. She thought she would have to wait a few more days.

But it's better this way, she can do other things.

......

That night, a figure quietly slipped to the side of the small workshop, and soon a bright flame suddenly ignited, slowly engulfing the entire room.

The figure soon disappeared. He looked back and a hint of satisfaction appeared on his face under the black clothes, but he soon disappeared again into the night.