The leaves fall without parallel

"Lord Lin! I didn't know the Prime Minister's Mansion was so generous. How come? When donating, Lord Lin only donated one thousand taels of silver, and then complained to me about being poor. Now your daughter has money to buy things, and she's giving back a hundred thousand taels. Aren't you deceiving the emperor?"

After hearing this, the prime minister began to kowtow in panic.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me, Your Majesty, please forgive me. I really didn't know that my daughter took 100,000 taels to buy things."

He is in the mansion today, and the treasury does not have 100,000 taels of expenditure. Generally, such a large amount must pass through his hands.

He thought about it for a moment. Could it be that she was asking her mother for money? This rebellious girl! The Lin family would be defeated by her sooner or later.

"Your Majesty, my daughter may have asked her mother for money. Since her mother married into the Lin Mansion, she has always kept her dowry herself. I cannot interfere. The mansion has indeed been living frugally, so she naturally would not ask for money from the mansion. Therefore, her money is her mother's dowry. I have not deceived the emperor. I beg Your Majesty to see clearly."

The emperor was also a shrewd man, and he could see that the prime minister was shirking his responsibilities, but in order to maintain the peace, he had to say

"Of course, I don't care about the Prime Minister's household affairs, but husband and wife are one body. You and your wife are both over fifty years old, and you still manage money separately. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at? In any case, this money came from your Lin Mansion. What you are doing is slapping me in the face!!"

The emperor was so angry that he threw a cup down

How could he not know that these court officials were all complaining about being poor, but in fact their families were rich as hell, and it was he who should be complaining about being poor.

Although the court collected taxes every year, the border wars continued in recent years, and a large amount of food and soldiers were needed every year. Floods in the south and droughts in the north made it difficult for the treasury to support the situation. The palace had to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, and only then did it ask the ministers to donate money and materials.

Prime Minister Lin's donation was small, and his daughter was so extravagant, which was clearly a slap in his face.

The prime minister was in a panic. He said that he must not let the emperor investigate this matter further. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if he found out that he was extremely wealthy.

"Your Majesty, please calm down. The things my daughter bought are all jewelry. I will ask her to return them and donate the 100,000 taels of silver. My daughter lives in seclusion and is unaware of state affairs. I beg Your Majesty to have mercy on my daughter. I will definitely go back and teach her a lesson. Please have mercy on her, Your Majesty."

The prime minister avoided the main issue and successfully diverted the key point. He used the sentence "My daughter doesn't know what's going on in the court" to divert the emperor's charge of deceiving the emperor.

Xiao Lingche wanted to say something, but was glared at by the emperor.

"Since Lord Lin is willing to donate 100,000 taels, then let's put this matter aside. However, this matter was caused by her, and General Ye's daughter acted out of self-protection. She will bear the consequences herself."

The emperor said so, Prime Minister Lin could only bite his teeth and swallow his anger. Who told him to have such a useless daughter? Not only did she stir up trouble all day long, but she also almost dragged the Lin family into trouble.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy!"

"If you have nothing else to do, please leave."

"Lord Ye, please step down as well."

"Your Majesty, please leave!"

……

"Father, why did you stop me just now? He was clearly trying to clear himself of the charges."

Xiao Lingche asked, if possible he would go to Lin's house to confiscate the property, maybe he could solve the urgent problem of the court.

"How could I not see through his thoughts? It's just that I don't have enough evidence right now. I'm pretending to believe him first to let him down so I can collect evidence."

"I understand. Do you need me to investigate..."

"Not yet, you go down first."

"Yes, I will take my leave. Please take care of yourself, Father."

The emperor rubbed his temples. He must have been overworked recently, and his whole face was full of fatigue.

The emperor waved his hand to signal him to leave

At this time, the prince came out from behind the screen pushing a wheelchair

"Father"

Seeing the prince coming out, the emperor put on a smile

"Is my son satisfied?"

"Your son thanks your father."

"You don't have to thank me. The Lin family's daughter was originally at fault in this matter, but..."

The emperor looked at the prince in confusion

Half an hour ago, Ling Ye suddenly came to find him and said that the Prime Minister would come to the palace to complain and asked him not to punish the daughter of the Ye family under any circumstances.

He remembered the daughter of the Ye family, who became famous with her dance at the Queen Mother's birthday banquet that day. She was indeed a rare beauty.

Seeing how nervous his son was just now, could it be that he has fallen in love with that girl? No wonder he was so anxious to break off the engagement with Lin Ruoyue.

"Could it be that Ye'er likes Miss Ye?"

"Yes, I can't hide it from my father. I really like Miss Ye."

The prince made no secret of it, which made the emperor feel happy and worried.

I am happy that Ye Er can finally open his heart and accept others, but I am worried that Miss Ye will not like him.

"But Ye'er, Che'er's performance just now seemed to indicate that he also liked Miss Ye. You guys..."

The prince saw his father's worry. He was most afraid that his sons would kill each other.

"Don't worry, Father. I will compete fairly with my third brother and will not embarrass you."

Ling Ye has been sensible since he was young, and since he can't walk, his father, the emperor, naturally favors him.

Now that he finally likes a girl, he said he wants to compete fairly with Ling Che. The emperor is afraid that Ling Ye has no chance of winning.

He couldn't help but say

"If Ye'er really likes that girl, how about I arrange for you to get married?"

It's not that he's worried about Ling Ye not being good enough, but he's afraid that Miss Ye has high standards. After all, she was very good at talking and behaving that day, and she had an air of nobility.

"Absolutely not, Father. I thank you for your kindness, but Miss Ye is an independent-minded person. She is unwilling to accept arrangements made by others. If you grant me a marriage, I'm afraid she will be disgusted and even hate you. I will pursue her in my own way and beg you to grant my blessing."

He remembered Qingge had said that their world was equal. If he asked her to accept the arranged marriage, she would definitely not be willing. Then what was the point of talking about love? She would definitely hate him.

Seeing Ling Ye's determination, the emperor had no choice but to give up. Granting a marriage was the quickest way, but Ling Ye refused. He couldn't get close to Miss Ye normally, so how could he pursue her?

You said you were competing fairly with Ling Che. Ling Che could go out and look for Miss Ye anytime. What would you do? Would you rely on a fleeting glance at every palace banquet or gathering? His silly son, he didn't know what to say.

But he didn't want to say it directly, lest it make him sad again, so he could only shake his head helplessly.

It seems that the Queen has to step in. Otherwise, if Ling Ye relies on himself, he can only see her once in a while. It would be strange if he can catch up with her.

"Since Ye'er wants to pursue her on his own, I, your father, can't help you much. But I can ask your mother to help you make some connections, so that you two will have a chance to meet."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration. However, I haven't told my mother that I like Miss Ye yet. I'm afraid that if she finds out, she'll call me into the palace at any time, and it would be bad if she gets scared."

After hearing this, the emperor became even more confused. If neither way worked, how on earth were you going to pursue this girl?