Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

It turned out to be her.

Realizing that they had known each other for a long time, Chang Sun Yan suddenly felt a sense of loss in his heart. He raised his eyes and looked at Lin Xi who was staring at him quietly. His eyes flickered slightly and he said with a difficult tone, "So that's why you proposed to me, sir?"

Lin Xi seemed to have not expected him to ask this question. She was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted and looked at Changsun Yan. Instead of answering, she asked, "Runshi wants to ask, is it because you have helped me before that I asked His Majesty to allow me to marry you?"

Chang Sun Yan looked back at her without answering, but the slightly pursed corners of his lips revealed his inner thoughts.

"Of course not." Lin Xi suddenly chuckled, and her eyes seemed to pass by Changsun Yan's fingertips that were unconsciously grasping the cloak. Her face suddenly became serious, "Runshi, do you remember that three years ago, Li Yanjun, the governor of Shuzhou, was reported by a subordinate for treason."

She changed the topic so suddenly that Changsun Yan was slow to react. He thought for a moment before nodding hesitantly.

Li Yanjun was my mother's student. I had met him several times when I came to Changsun Mansion to study as a child. Later, he passed the imperial examination and became an official in the court. With my mother's support and his own talents, he became the governor of a state in just seven years.

When he was the governor of Shuzhou, he led the people of Shu to build plank roads, cultivate fertile fields, and raise silkworms and mulberry trees, and he made considerable achievements. However, when his three-year term was about to expire and he was about to return to Beijing for performance appraisal, he was sent to prison after receiving a secret letter of accusation from a subordinate.

Shuzhou is a place with natural barriers that has made it easy to defend but difficult to attack since ancient times. The people of Shu are also very brave and often rebellious. Therefore, Shu has always been a major concern for the imperial courts of all dynasties.

That humble official has always been trusted by Li Yanjun, and his name has appeared many times in Li Yanjun's reports on his work, so the credibility of that secret letter of accusation cannot be underestimated.

But Chang Sun Mei naturally did not believe that his family's student, Fu Xiaoquan, who was in Beijing, would risk the destruction of his entire clan and choose to rebel. Therefore, he wrote to the emperor many times to petition him, hoping that he would send someone to investigate the matter and not kill loyal ministers by mistake.

The emperor would naturally not believe one-sided words in such a major case that is rare in decades. However, due to the long distance to Shuzhou, high mountains and dangerous waters, and Li Yanjun being deeply loved by the military and civilians of Shuzhou, if he dealt with it rashly, it would probably backfire.

In the court, officials debated for several days, and finally the emperor made the final decision to send an imperial envoy to investigate the truth.

Due to his male status, Changsun Yan naturally could not serve as an official in the court like his mother and sister and get first-hand information. But as the son of a cabinet minister, he would naturally not be blind to the major events happening in the court. Therefore, when Lin Xi mentioned it, he naturally recalled what happened in the past.

When the imperial envoy returned to the court, he brought a piece of news that shocked the court and the public. There was indeed a rebel in Shuzhou, but it was not the prefect Li Yanjun, but the subordinate who reported Li Yanjun.

That humble official was originally from Shu, and according to his qualifications he should have been promoted long ago. However, he was suppressed by the previous prefect and had no hope of promotion. He finally contrived a plan to get rid of the previous prefect, thinking that he would definitely be able to climb up, but the court ended up sending Li Yanjun.

The depression of having no hope of promotion coupled with her jealousy towards the young new prefect eventually led him to act like the thief crying "stop thief". When the imperial envoy arrived, she had already imprisoned Li Yanjun and instigated a group of confused soldiers and civilians to prepare to attack the imperial envoy and his entourage who came to investigate.

Fortunately, the imperial envoy was alert and realized something was wrong early on. He set a trap in advance and not only cut off the official's head, but also quickly suppressed the rebellion.

Moreover, according to the imperial envoy, Li Yanjun not only did not plot treason, but as soon as he discovered that something was wrong, he sent an urgent secret report to the court and organized his personal soldiers to launch a counterattack. However, he was eventually imprisoned because he was outnumbered, and the secret letter was not delivered to the emperor for some reason.

In this way, Li Yanjun, who was originally charged with treason, suddenly became a hero in the fight against the rebels. Because of her good reputation as an official, she was directly promoted by the emperor and appointed to the cabinet.

After recalling the entire incident, Chang Sun Yan still didn't understand how this incident was related to what the other two had said.

Fortunately, Lin Xi did not continue to keep the secret. Seeing Zhang Sun Yan's confused look, she lowered her voice and said, "Although His Majesty sent an imperial envoy to Shuzhou in public, he secretly sent me to investigate first."

"This matter was originally kept secret, and only Your Majesty and I knew the inside story. But the night before we set out, Elder Changsun came to my house in person..."

Lin Xi did not say the rest of the story, but Chang Sun Yan was so smart that he understood the unspoken meaning of her words in an instant.

Although he had not read Lin Xi's letter to vindicate his mother, Chang Sun Mei, as a cabinet minister, would naturally not do as he did and hand a letter of unknown origin to the emperor.

Therefore, unlike Changsun Yan who had long forgotten the matter, Changsun Mei always knew that she owed Lin Xi a debt of gratitude for redressing her mother's wrongdoing.

Therefore, when she learned that Lin Xi was going to Shuzhou secretly to investigate her student's case, she went to Lin Xi in person and asked Lin Xi to save Li Yanjun in exchange for the favor she had done her in the past.

And from the final result, not only did Lin Xi save Li Yanjun, she even bribed the imperial envoy with some unknown method, and cleverly arranged an identity for Li Yanjun as a loyal minister who was loyal to the court and wanted to kill the enemy but was unable to do so. This allowed her to rise rapidly and become the youngest cabinet minister in the entire dynasty, adding a capable general to Chang Sun Mei's command.

"So... it was you who vindicated my senior sister." Chang Sun Yan suddenly raised his head and looked at Lin Xi with burning eyes.

He naturally believed that Li Yanjun had no intention of rebellion, but Shuzhou was mountainous and long, and the situation was unclear. Without Lin Xi's full support, the situation would have been completely different by the time the imperial envoy arrived.

"Lord Li is innocent to begin with, so why should he be 'rehabilitated'?" Lin Xi shook her head, her tone calm.

It seemed like it was the first time that Chang Sun Yan faced such a cruel but realistic truth. He was stunned for a long time before he finally calmed down.

"If it's not for a favor, then why on earth did you ask for my hand in marriage?" Although he already had the answer in his mind, Changsun Yan still couldn't believe it. He raised his eyes to meet Lin Xi's calm eyes, and stubbornly wanted an answer.

"Because I like you." Lin Xi's eyes were open and there was no evasion. "It's not for favors or anything else, it's just because I like you."

"I'm telling you this tonight not to take credit for it." Having said this, Lin Xi paused before continuing, "It's just because I don't want to hide anything from you."

"I know you are thoughtful. If I don't explain everything to you now, you will definitely be upset and resentful of each other after we get married."

"But what I want in this life is to be close to you and understand you."

"This matter has nothing to do with anything else, it's just that I feel pity for Qingxin and am pleased with the stone."