In the imperial study, Emperor Yongming was holding a special, thick, book-like memo in his hand, flipping it back and forth, saying, “Good, good” from time to time. He had three crystal cups in front of him, one had green Longjing tea, one had purple goat milk wine, and the last had golden chrysanthemum tea. The three cups looked very good together. 

“Old Master, you have a good student and a good adopted son. The things in Jiang Kangning’s mind are really good and excellent!” Master Weng said, “Jiang Kangning is indeed the most intelligent of my students and he also thinks of the imperial court and the emperor.  This teacher will not hide it from the emperor. Although this was what Kangning thought and wrote, it was also inspired by the farmer who made this tea and wine. This peasant’s son also had a miserable life experience, which made Kangning empathize with him and later recognize him as his adopted brother. The two also quite like each other, so with his influence, Kangning began to have such thoughts.”

With Shao Yunan’s status, getting too much attention, especially from the emperor, was definitely not a good thing. It could easily become a curse. So Jiang Kangning said bluntly that he needed to take this credit into his own hands, while Shao Yunan understood that Jiang Kangning doing so would bring him benefits and no harm. Master Weng was also fully aware of this matter since Jiang Kangning did not hide it from him. 

Master Weng also approved of Jiang Kangning’s approach. Since these business ideas came from Shao Yunan, in order to avoid certain troubles that may be brought in the future, Master Weng would not mention Shao Yunan in front of the emperor for now. The emperor understood why Jiang Kangning valued those two peasant sons when he briefly mentioned the matter of Shao Yunan and Wang Shijing. He also didn’t pay too much attention to Shao Yunan’s uniqueness, as he appreciated Jiang Kangning. 

When Jiang Kangning went to the imperial study, Emperor Yongming asked him in detail about his idea of using tea as a starting point to gradually develop the business of the Great State of Yan. Emperor Yongming was very short of money, so short that after he ascended to the throne, he did not have enough money to repair the palace. So short that even his own private coffers were almost empty. If you asked the emperor if he was envious of Hengyuan Marquis’ money, the answer was absolutely yes. But he could only envy, since he could not raid another person’s house.  For this reason, the Yongming Emperor would get angry every time he saw officials fight for power and profit in the court, not caring about his worries. 

Every time the Ministry of Household cried to him that he needed money, saying where the money was most needed, made Yongming Emperor want to kick him. But now someone finally thought of him. Emperor Yongming, who was in a good mood, ate two more bowls of rice for lunch, completely forgetting that Jiang Kangning was still freezing and starving outside. 

Jiang Kangning’s meeting with the emperor lasted until it was dark. Emperor Yongming, who was in a good mood, even ate a meal together with Jiang Kangning. The business idea might have been proposed by Shao Yunan, but Jiang Kangning still pondered over it for several nights. Therefore, Jiang Kangning answered the emperor’s various questions in great detail. 

Emperor Yongming was extremely satisfied with Jiang Kangning and Master Weng also showed a proud expression. It was not until the palace gate was about to close that Master Weng and Jiang Kangning walked out of the imperial study and left the palace.

After teasing the last sip of wine in his cup, Emperor Yongming stood up. “Someone, take these things to ‘Jingyou Palace’. I will rest there tonight.” 

“Yes, your Majesty.” Jingyou Palace was the Empress’s bedchamber. In the second year of Emperor Yongming’s ascension to the throne, he abolished the Empress, who was previously crowned as the Crown Princess and installed a man from the side branch of the Dai family as the Empress, which caused a shock and controversy in the court. But Emperor Yongming didn’t change his decision and after removing the hats of several officials who reacted most vehemently, the matter was suppressed with the help of Master Weng’s faction. 

But the new empress was not accepted by the ministers, because the new empress was already twenty-five when he was crowned and now two years had already passed but he still did not conceive a child. Emperor Yongming only had two concubines and one princess so it was said that he had no heir. 

Emperor Yongming was also already thirty-three so the court never stopped asking Emperor Yongming to take more concubines. But Emperor Yongming has been delaying the selection of a concubine on the grounds that the treasury was empty, always spending his nights at the Empress’s palace. The officials did not dare to say anything against the Emperor, so they pointed their finger toward Qiyou, the descendants of the emperor, and by extension, at the Dai family.

When walking into Jingyou Palace, Emperor Yongming Mu Rongkun sent away the palace eunuch and walked in alone. Dai Qiyou, who had already received the news, came forward to undress the emperor with a light smile on his handsome face. “I heard that the emperor and Elder Weng stayed in the imperial study for the whole day and were in a good mood. Did something good happen?” Dai Qiyou asked curiously.

Murong Kun was not annoyed with the Empress prying into political affairs and just replied with a smile, “Yes, there is something good. Have the things I sent over arrived?”

“It was delivered.”

“Come, I will tell you what is good.” Holding Dai Qiyou’s thinly calloused hand, Murong Kun walked towards the inner hall. Looking at the Emperor’s face which showed rare, relaxed joy, Dai Qiyou also showed a smile, his heart filled with curiosity.

After leaving the palace, Jiang Kangning went back to Master Weng’s house, the two of them talking for a long time before Jiang Kangning temporarily bade farewell to his father and left. He boarded the same carriage he came from and drove it into another street. The carriage stopped in front of the gate of an ordinary mansion, then immediately someone came up to take the horse and lifted the curtain. Jiang Kangning got off the carriage as the housekeeper who came out to meet him immediately said, “You’re back, Second Young Master, the Eldest Young Master has been waiting for you all day.”

“Has Elder Brother slept?”

“No, he has been waiting for your return.” Jiang Kangning stepped into the mansion with hurried steps and went straight to his Elder Brother’s residence. Jiang Kangchen, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, continued to pat his son, who was already asleep, in a distracted manner. Hearing a knock on the door, Jiang Kangchen’s hand paused as he immediately got up. 

When he opened the door and saw the person outside, Jiang Kangchen excitedly pulled the person in and asked in a low voice, “Kangning, is something wrong?” Jiang Kangning closed the door with his hand and soothed, “Brother, it’s fine, I came to the capital this time because I had something good to report to the emperor, so I didn’t have time to visit you first.” Jiang Kangchen was relieved to hear this and hurriedly asked, “Have you eaten? I’ll have something prepared for you.”

“I have eaten, I ate at the palace. Where is Xie’er?”

“Xier is asleep. Kangning, is there really nothing wrong?” Jiang Kangchen was still a little uneasy. “There’s nothing wrong. But the matter is so important that I was not comfortable with sending someone else here. Brother, are you okay? Is there any trouble for you over there?” Jiang Kangchen smiled: “No, Xier and I are fine.” 

Instead of exposing his brother’s lie, Jiang Kangning said, “Brother, if you’re not tired, go to study. I have something to tell you. It’s a big deal.”  Upon hearing that his brother had something important to say to him, Jiang Kangchen immediately said that he was not tired. Then two brothers went to Jiang Kangchen’s study. While on the bed, the child, who was about seven or eight years old, was sleeping peacefully with a piece of wood in his hand.

Edited by: Jaisland

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