"You should take good care of your health and give me a grandson as soon as possible. As for matters of the court, let the Emperor worry about them."
"Yes." Hai Ling replied, secretly wondering if her mother's words were a reminder or if she had heard something. However, she knew that her mother disliked her getting too involved in politics. In fact, Hai Ling did not resent her at all, because women were not allowed to interfere in politics. As Ye Lingfeng's mother, she naturally had to take some responsibility for her son's country.
"I heard that the young princess of the Cangwang Mansion came to the palace yesterday. Do you know her, Ling'er? Why did you decide to bring her to the palace?"
The Empress Dowager's face was full of loving smiles, making it impossible to discern any ulterior motives she might have.
But Hai Ling knew that the Empress Dowager was definitely not incompetent. She had been treating her very well all along. One possibility was that she was genuinely kind, and another possibility was that she was only being kind to her because of Ye Lingfeng. This latter possibility meant that she had her own reservations.
They may not be satisfied with many things in front of them, but they refrain from expressing any opinions because of the emperor's domineering nature.
"Actually, I was too bored in the palace. Once I met the young princess of the Cangwang Mansion, so I felt close to her and brought her into the palace to keep me company."
"oh."
The Empress Dowager nodded, but did not continue the conversation about the young princess. Instead, she brought up another matter.
"If Ling'er is feeling down, you can have west Yuan come to the palace to keep you company."
"Your subject understands."
Hai Ling really couldn't figure out what the Empress Dowager was up to, so she brought her over to give her some pointers, but she didn't get to the point.
However, she didn't have to guess for long before the Empress Dowager continued speaking, her words carrying a heavy tone.
"Ling'er, I heard there have been many things going on in the court lately. How can the Emperor handle it all by himself? You should tell him to take it easy. Also, he should be discerning in his judgment of people. He can use the right people right now, but if he uses someone else, people will start to criticize him."
As soon as the Empress Dowager said this, Hailing knew what she meant by going around in circles. It must be that someone from the Western Mansion had come to the palace. Now that the position of Minister of Revenue was vacant, the people from the Western Mansion had come up with a plan and came to the palace to seduce the Empress Dowager.
To be honest, although the west family has some influence in the court, they don't have much real power. If they could get the position of Minister of Revenue and control the economy of Northern Lu, that would be a lot of real power. No wonder they are interested.
However, Hai Ling didn't have a good impression of the Xi family. Although the Empress Dowager was nice, the Xi family hadn't made any achievements, and there were many rumors about them behind their backs. They didn't have much positive reputation. Furthermore, the Xi family was allied with powerful families like the Marquis of Huguo, and who knew what they might do in the future? So she wouldn't get involved in such matters. Thinking of this, Hai Ling smiled and spoke.
"What the Empress Dowager says is true; the Emperor knows what he's doing."
It's absolutely impossible to get her to say anything; Mother has made a mistake.
They first gave her a dressing down, then tried to get her to speak, but she didn't even think about it.
The Empress Dowager's face darkened slightly. She said nothing more and chatted with Hailing about everyday matters. Then, she pretended to have a headache and sent Hailing back to Qingqian Palace.
Inside Cixi Palace, in her bedchamber, Granny Ying saw that the Empress Dowager looked troubled and, knowing what was wrong, tried to comfort her.
"Your Majesty, please don't be troubled. His Majesty will surely act with discretion."
"Of course I know that, but as a mother, I know Feng'er's principles. He would never give the vacancy in the Ministry of Revenue to the Xi family. They've already asked for it, and it's not fair that I, a grown woman, can't help them at all."
She had originally wanted Hailing to speak up, but Hailing didn't respond. Hailing was so smart; she must have known what she meant, but she pretended not to know, which made her uncomfortable.
"Your Majesty, rest now, don't think about those things."
After Zhou Nian and Zhao Zhu were killed, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of War concentrated their forces to investigate, but unfortunately the enemy's plan was flawless, so there was no way to investigate.
Because of their deaths, the entire court was filled with gloom and panic. The emperor's face was extremely grim, and he ordered a continued investigation, vowing that if the truth was revealed, no one would be spared.
Ye Lingfeng's secret investigation team didn't find much of a result. However, the people from the Zhou and Zhao families, though heartbroken, dutifully managed everything in their residences.
Upon hearing Shi Zhu's report, Ye Lingfeng suddenly curled his lips into a calculating smile. Since they remained silent, he would force them to make a move.
With that thought in mind, he ordered Shizhu to serve.
"Go, spread rumors immediately, saying that the Zhou and Zhao families have a register that was left behind by Zhou Nian and Zhao Zhu."
He refused to believe that the person in the shadows wouldn't be anxious and take action.
"Go to the Ji family and have Ji Shaocheng lead the Ji family members to cooperate with your operation. You must capture the person behind this."
"Yes, I will do it immediately."
Shi Zhu went out to handle the matter himself.
The day passed quickly and busily. Ye Lingfeng led his men back to Qingqian Palace. No matter how many troublesome matters there were in the court, as soon as he entered the gates of Qingqian Palace, his face was radiant with joy, and he would never let Hailing see how busy he was.
The two ate together and then returned to their palace to rest. Hailing remembered what the Empress Dowager had mentioned during the day, so she pretended not to care and spoke up.
"Night, the position of Minister of Revenue is currently vacant. Do you have a good candidate in mind?"
"Well, I actually already prepared a list of available people. They are all people with good character. They will be transferred up tomorrow."
“Oh,” Hai Ling nodded. Seeing her concern about this matter, Ye Lingfeng assumed she had someone on her side: “Do you have someone on your side?”
"No, no. I was just curious and wanted to ask if His Majesty had considered giving important positions to people from the west family?"
"The west family?"
Ye Lingfeng frowned. The Xi family was his mother's clan, so it was only right for him to help his maternal uncle. However, he had investigated the Xi family thoroughly and found that they were not upright. During the reign of the late emperor, they had accomplished nothing. This could not be said to be due to the late emperor's suppression of them, but rather that they simply lacked the ability. Since they lacked ability, he could not promote them just because they were related to him. He wanted to build a capable Northern Lu, not to cultivate relationships with his close associates.
"I will not be giving important positions to the west family members in the short term."
Ye Lingfeng spoke directly, and Hai Ling agreed with his opinion, because the Xi family was indeed somewhat frivolous. Not to mention others, just take Xi Yan for example, she was willful and capricious. If it were a proper and well-mannered family, they would never raise such a willful and unruly young lady.
As night deepened, the two people in the room talked and then went to rest.
A day later, rumors circulated in the capital that Zhou Nian and Zhao Zhu had left behind an account book before their deaths, which contained many unknown secrets and was related to many officials in the court.
This stirred up a strange undercurrent in the court of Northern Lu.
Everyone was filled with fear and panic, wondering who would be the next unlucky one. If this account book fell into the Emperor's hands, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to execute the entire family.