The night is already dark, and with the breeze, the sweltering heat of the day will be reduced, and a little bit of coolness will be born.
Traveling the mansion, Yuan Chongsheng stepped into the antechamber with strides, and there were already people waiting there.
"My lord, why did you send the officials here in such a hurry?"
The person who spoke was Mr. Cao from the Xuntai Mansion, Yuan Chongsheng's confidant brought from the capital.
Although it was nighttime, the temperature had dropped a lot, but rushing all the way here still made him sweat all over. He pulled up his sleeves and wiped it off. A little cautious.
Yuan Chongsheng's face was ashen, and he threw something on the table, which was the account book.
Master Cao hurriedly stepped forward to pick it up, flipped through a few pages, frowned, and glanced at Yuan Chongsheng cautiously,
"My lord, this..."
Yuan Chongsheng stretched out a finger and focused on the case on the table: "This is the account book that King Guang'an gave you, Mr. Shangfeng."
"This...isn't this the account of Lingnan Zhuangtian?" Master Cao was shocked, and he couldn't help but carefully flipped through a few pages. The details on it made him even more surprised, "Where did the account book of King Guang'an come from... So detailed?"
Yuan Chongsheng sneered, narrowing his eyes slightly: "After all, I underestimated him. I thought that the son of a concubine in the cold palace could be so capable. Now it seems that his seven years in Lingnan are not in vain. of."
In the ups and downs of the officialdom for more than ten years, Yuan Chongsheng understands one truth best - since ancient times, the more confused the official accounts, the better. If no one can understand, it will be even better. But now that King Guang'an holds the account of Zhuangtian in the whole of Lingnan, it means that Xuntai Mansion is not so agile.
Master Cao was also alert. He raised his eyebrows and said, "Could it be that the King of Guang'an came to beat us with this account book?"
Seeing him and himself thinking together, Yuan Chongsheng became more vigilant in his heart. He thought over and over again what happened tonight, but still couldn't figure it out.
"I don't know if there is any intention of beating, but King Guang'an never mentioned it... He only asked me to do him a favor."
"Why are you busy?"
The corners of Yuan Chongsheng's lips pursed slightly, with waves in his eyes, he said slowly: "Let the Xuntai Mansion handle all the income from the Zhuangtian, and their Guang'an Palace will not touch this Zhuang Yin from now on."
Master Cao didn't understand for a while: "What? Could it be that they stopped paying the New Year's Eve to the imperial court?"
Yuan Chongsheng sneered: "Master Cao is confused, how can the court refuse to accept the yearly offering!"
He clicked on the account book: "What this guy means is that in the future, the income of these bankers will be managed by the Xuntai Mansion, and the silver taels for the annual donation, hmph, naturally we will also pay together."
"Isn't this King Guang'an crazy? "Although the bluffing of this matter sounds like nothing harmful to Xuntai Mansion, but when something goes wrong, there must be a monster. How can someone cut off his arm without making a profit.
According to the usual practice, the tax and silver of the fiefdom and Zhuangtian are collected by the Xuntaifu in various places, and the income is shared with the territorial vassals. Those who return to the local patrol mansion are used to support soldiers and horses, and belong to the part of the vassal king. Most of them are used as the annual salary to pay tribute to the capital every year, and the rest naturally falls into the pocket of the palace. The division can be regarded as a lot of mystery.
When he first came here, this Zhuang Yin was the first to perform the surgery. The previous Xuntai didn't know whether it was cowardly and incompetent or for some other reason. Apart from saving enough money for local soldiers and horses, all the Zhuang Yin received was allocated to the Guang'an Palace. How could he continue to use such a useless share, and naturally carried out a drastic reform of Zhuangtian taxation, and transferred most of the income to Xuntaifu.
Unexpectedly, the King of Guang'an was surprisingly generous, and he even gave the rest of it to the Xuntai Mansion, which made him feel at ease.
I still remember the man's smiling face, and he was so beautiful: "The king of this book is a headache to read. Every year, I will be asked to remove two layers of oily skin when I handle this year's salary... Mr. Xuntai, I will leave all of this room to you I hope that my lord will help me with this favor."
At the beginning, he only thought that the king of Guang'an had been beaten a few times, and Tete came to beg for the Xuntai mansion.
So he pushed the boat along the way, casually talking about the incident of being bumped by a group of children in the neighborhood today, and was "shocked" to know that these children were actually from the Guang'an Palace, and then staged a "big anger" , scolded that He Jian, and then apologized to Li Yuanmin with embarrassment, patted his chest and promised to release these children quickly.
When King Guang'an was sent out of Xuntai's gate, he also woke up a little bit from the alcohol, and more and more chewed to find out that something was wrong.
If it was other vassal kings, he would not be so suspicious. However, this vassal king in Lingnan is not favored. Thinking of love, they will allocate official money to supplement the expenses of the vassal prince's mansion, but Guang'an prince's mansion obviously does not have such treatment, not to mention the distribution, and every year, at least 30,000 years old salary is fixed to pay tribute.
The only big income has been handed over. How can the huge Guang'an Palace be supported
Thinking of this, Yuan Chongsheng even lost the last half of his drunkenness, and his back was covered in cold sweat. The more he looked at the account book, the more flustered he became, so he immediately sent someone to call Master Cao to discuss it.
Master Cao also realized that something was wrong. He thought about it for a long time, but he couldn't find any reason. Considering that they came to Lingnan for a short time, he didn't know what was wrong.
He bowed his head and said: "My lord, I will send someone to investigate this matter tomorrow."
Yuan Chongsheng nodded: "Okay, the sooner the better."
Seeing that the night was getting dark and he had to arrange official duties tomorrow, Master Cao did not stay any longer, so he bid farewell to Yuan Chongsheng immediately. Yuan Chongsheng thought for a long time in the study alone, but he really couldn't think of a reason, so he called his servants to carry the lamp and walked to the inner courtyard.
As soon as he stepped into the inner courtyard, he saw a man swaying in front of him humming a flower song, and the servant beside him was struggling to support him. When the servant heard the movement behind him, he turned his head and turned pale.
"grown ups!"
He panicked and pushed the man beside him. The man turned around drunk, saw Yuan Chongsheng's terribly dark face, and immediately sobered up.
"father!"
This man is Yuan Chongsheng's eldest son, Yuan Fu. He is about the age of a weak crown. He is as thin and tall as Yuan Chongsheng.
"Evil!" Yuan Chongsheng was furious.
If you say that your son has grown up, it is putting gold on the face of the ancestors of the eight generations. The other side is nothing. After half a month in Lingnan, he has found out all the kilns in the dark streets and dark alleys.
He was already worried about the account books, but now he was even more furious. He immediately called the servants to tie up this evil person, threw him to the ancestral hall and knelt down for a night without mentioning it.
***
The carriage stopped in front of the two stone lions in Guang'an Palace without hurrying.
As soon as the curtain of the sedan chair was lifted, a young servant immediately came up to greet him carrying a lantern.
Yi Lie hugged him tightly, got out of the carriage lightly, and ordered people to prepare sober soup, hot water, towels and other things.
After entering the dormitory, he put the flushed man on the soft bed. The man on the bed frowned sadly, struggled, opened his eyes slowly, and took a few breaths.
"Help me to clean the room..."
Yi Lie immediately took him to the clean room for urination. There was a pattering sound behind the curtain. Yan Lie walked outside, trying not to pay attention to the sound.
After a while, Li Yuanmin came out staggeringly. Seeing that he was about to fall, Yan Lie hurriedly grabbed his waist and picked him up.
"Ariel..." Li Yuanmin leaned against the chest in front of him helplessly. The young man's muscles were tight and well-proportioned, with solid strength, and the familiar breath had a kind of relaxing magic power.
The smell of alcohol rose to his mind, and he let himself fall into the mist that floated like warm water. This was the only time he could let himself go. He didn't have to think about anything, and he didn't have to be on guard against anything. While walking, he thought drowsily, as long as Ariel was around, he would be safe.
They are each other's chest and back, and they are two people who depend on each other for life in this world.
Can't help rubbing against each other, muttering in a nasal voice: "Ariel..."
Yi Lie looked down at the drunken man in his arms, and hugged him even tighter.
When he went back, Li Yuanmin became even more drunk, and couldn't even open his eyelids. When the hangover soup came, Yan Lie coaxed him to drink some. Perhaps the soup was a bit pungent, so Li Yuanmin couldn't help but struggled slightly, and a lot of soup was spilled There were some wet spots on the shirt, Yan Lie sighed, handed the bowl to the servant woman at the side, and ordered her to go down.
"Your Highness..."
Yi Lie called him softly, held his face and pressed his head against his neck. He seemed to be hesitant, but he quickly reached out and tore off the embroidered belt on the thin waist. He took off his outer shirt, leaving only his moon-white silk coat inside.
The smell of alcohol on his body was not pleasant, but after taking off his coat, the smell of alcohol faded a little, and a cold fragrance penetrated into his nostrils—he seemed to be born with this pleasant fragrance, from snow-white As if born out of the flesh, Yan Lie couldn't help but get closer, letting the faint fragrance envelope him.
Li Yuanmin felt his face was very hot, hot and dry. Thinking about something, he struggled in a daze.
"Bring water... bathe..."
Yi Lie knows that he loves cleanliness by nature, not to mention the hot and humid spring and summer climate.
Perhaps because of his special body, he always bathes at his own discretion and never pretends to be subordinates. However, a drunken person does not distinguish between heaven and earth, so how can he bathe by himself.
Yi Lie's tone unconsciously coaxed: "Your Highness, let's take a bath tomorrow."
Li Yuanmin frowned, and let out a dissatisfied sound. His face was flushed with alcohol, and his snow-colored neck was also smudged with deep and shallow pink.
Yi Lie's eyes flickered, and his Adam's apple moved up and down: "...then I will wipe it off for His Highness."
Take a deep breath and put him flat. The towel was already fertile, emitting a slight heat, Yan Lie's fingers pinched the lace of the little coat, but it was stuck there, and after a while, it was gently pulled away.
His pupils shrank suddenly, and something that had been suppressed for a long time exploded in his heart.
Under the dim candlelight, Yan Lie's breathing was unsteady, his movements were a little clumsy, and his hands that could draw a bow with hundreds of stones trembled unconsciously.
He looked away, wiped it hastily, and put on a clean little coat for him.