Splash splash splash

  Under the bright lights, Li Peinan heard Fei Yi directly reveal the emperor's secrets, including those unspoken ambitions, and smiled, breaking the cold silence in the room: "This can't be said in front of the emperor."

  "That's natural."

  Li Peinan said seemingly unintentionally: "It seems that this Min An matter is not small, one night has not passed, and two people have come to me to recommend his name."

  Fei Yi didn't care who the other person was and just said: "I'm here not because of Min An."

  Li Peinan replied: "I know that except for Father Wang and Xiaoxue, no one can invite you."

  Fei Yi said faintly: "If the young master says another sentence to me, I will also work tirelessly to do things for the young master."

  Li Peinan stood up: "I'll remember this. You go to the side hall for dinner, no need to come back up. I will meet with Min An myself."

  Fei Yi understood that Li Peinan was sending off the guests, and also knew that his "will" was actually a test for Min An. Thinking that things had already gone halfway, he didn't say anything else and directly walked out the door.

  Li Peinan took two steps back, turned around to the bookshelf, and then turned his head to ask Lijun, who was standing behind the screen: "Who is the eyes and ears that Wangye has planted in this place?"

  Ligong thought for a moment and replied, "The stake in Qingquan County has never been opened before. If it weren't for you mentioning it now, I almost forgot about it. Logically speaking, that should still be the old man sent by Wang Ye eleven years ago, a clerk named Li Feige."

  Eleven years ago, the former emperor of China made a ruling on the impeachment case of Min Chang, the governor of Jiangsu Province, which caused turmoil in the imperial court and among officials. At that time, Li Jingzhuo, who was still in hiding in Yangzhou, used money to bribe the Ministry of Personnel and arranged for nine trusted followers to be scattered throughout nine important provinces and counties. These people held positions of varying importance, communicating with government officials and gathering information, monitoring officials, and reporting back to Li Jingzhuo. After eight years, two of his followers retired and returned home, formally relinquishing their duties; three others were dismissed by the former emperor and went home to grow medicinal herbs. Three years later, the former emperor passed away, and Li Jingzhuo re-emerged as a powerful official, taking control of the imperial court and relocating himself to Chu State, which was rich in resources and vast in territory. He also transferred his remaining three followers to Chu State, promoting them to fifth-rank or junior fifth-rank officials. The only follower who remained unchanged was Li Feige, because he had been in Chu State all along and had not sought advancement for many years, rising from a minor clerk to the position of chief clerk, known as a "siyi".

  Li Peinan promoted his trusted followers after his father Li Jingzhuo, he returned for only two years and promoted two people. One was Jingmen Zuo Qianquan and the other was Changping Fu Xiao Zhongqing. The rest of the large group stayed in the Western Frontier, mostly from a military background, good at charging and breaking through battles. Li Peinan needed civil officials to assist with governance, after hearing Fei Jinwan mention Min An's name that night, he suppressed his inner dislike and decided to meet Min An, then decide whether Min An would stay or leave.

  "Go and invite Lǐ Fēi Gé over, be discreet about it." Lǐ Péi Nán gave the order.

  Ligong saw that the young master of his own family had been busy all day and hadn't even had time to eat dinner, so he specially went to see Lefeige, to deal with a pile of miscellaneous things. He hurriedly opened his mouth and said sympathetically: "Young Master, it's not too late to have a bowl of hot soup, I'll go invite Mr. Li, and it will take a while."

  Li Peinan waved his hand: "Since you want to give Second Master a bit of face, then you should settle the matter sooner rather than later."

  Li Qun bowed and backed out, personally summoning a small sedan chair with a blue cloth canopy. Under the cover of darkness, he invited Li Fei Ge into the second floor of the inn. Li Fei Ge had been a clerk for a long time and had developed a somewhat melancholic temperament. Upon seeing Li Pei Nan, he merely bowed in greeting, then stood silently, his arms folded across his chest.

  Li Peinan asked Li Fei to sit down and have a cup of tea, then directly asked: "What does Mr. think about Min An?"

  Li Fei felt at ease after hearing this, because he was the clerk who had privately told Min An about Wu Ren's case. He had been in the yamen for eleven years, without befriending anyone or offending anyone, and it was the same with Min An. The reason he could inform Min An ahead of time that Wu Ren had committed a crime was mainly because Wang Huaili, the magistrate of Qingquan County, looked down on scholars, believed in his concubine's rumors, and had recently expelled all his staff from the government office, often ordering the clerks around, which had offended this clerk.

  Li Fei coughed and said, "I'll first talk about the two disadvantages of Xiao Xiang Gong. Would you please lend me one ear to listen, Young Master? Firstly, Xiao Xiang Gong has a silver tongue that can talk people to death. As long as there's an opening, he can take advantage of it and make you believe him, thinking he's being extremely kind. Secondly, he loves to act on impulse, gathering crowds to gamble, forming gangs, flirting with other people's wives, shooting cannons at monkeys, and passing the trouble on to neighboring villages... Many of the secretly reported cases are related to him."

  Li Peinan frowned upon hearing this: "Following one's nature is difficult to accomplish anything."

  Li Fei paused for a moment, then slowly said: "The young master is just a bit too casual, but he still has the foundation to help the official handle affairs. In Chu Prefecture, there are 110 counties, big and small, each of which hires six or seven clerks to be in charge of criminal cases, finance, documents, and accounting. Only Huangshi County has hired only one person, the young master, for three years, who has handled trials, taxation, security, customs, and education perfectly, without any flaws. Just looking at this point, the young master is already better than the entire group of clerks in Chu Prefecture."

  Li Peinan felt relieved after hearing these reassuring words, and he glanced at Li Qun. Li Qun understood the hint, sent Li Fei away, and then dispatched someone to the post house to summon Min An. He himself waited in person at the gate tower, saying to Min An: "Later when you meet the young master, be cautious with your words, absolutely do not speak carelessly."

  Min An hastily lowered his head and replied, "I understand, thank you for reminding me, Imperial Guard." He had been waiting anxiously at the post house, worried about Master's case. Suddenly, he heard the Imperial Guard announce that the Crown Prince wanted to see him, so he immediately rushed out of the door with joy. He thought his words had taken effect and that Wang Huaili had invited the cold-faced Crown Prince.

  However, before meeting Li Peinan, Min An had to go through another round of trouble. He was still wearing the long gown and jacket that Hua Cui had helped him tidy up yesterday, with sweat all over his body mixed with various smells of smoke and fire. He didn't think much of it, but the little maidservants in the courtyard below covered their mouths and laughed, keeping a distance from him, which suddenly made him realize how dirty he must be, losing face for Hua Cui even from a hundred miles away, all the way to the inn.

  Min was so anxious and uneasy, feeling that he couldn't suddenly face such beautiful young girls, so he hastily hid behind a pillar. When the maid invited him to go and wash his hair, he blushed and thanked her.

  The bath was in a room that was not ventilated, with water being very particular, first using soap and then adding medicinal flower petals, making it convenient for guests to take a bubble bath. Min An sent away the crowd, sat in the hot soup and soaked for a moment, feeling that all the pores on his body were open, before picking up a nearby soap ball and rubbing it up and down. In no time, a layer of dirt floated up in the water, and his body was stained with a layer of floral fragrance.

  Min An felt refreshed after washing, put on a new set of clothes from the clothes rack. The undergarments provided by the prince's mansion were made of white silk, thin and soft, with a hint of fragrant scent. The outer robe was a light blue color, with narrow sleeves and a slim waist, embroidered with flowers and grasses in the same color on the collar, cuffs, and belt, which brought out Min An's noble air. After dressing up, he walked out of the door, like a sprig of fragrant snow orchid, his appearance had changed completely.

  Li Qun glanced at him from afar, thinking that this appearance could meet the young master. The person under the exquisite clothes indeed had some spirit. He made a gesture to invite them upstairs from a distance, and the maid pulled on Min An's sleeve and smiled softly: "Don't be in a hurry, before meeting our young master, Young Master still has to go through a certain procedure."

  That process is incense.

  Min An originally thought he was already fragrant enough, more so than the fragrance he had made in his entire life. However, as he followed the maid into the warm pavilion, he realized how far off he was.

  Inside the pavilion, four corners each stood a golden lacquered pole with a golden phoenix-shaped incense burner, slowly spewing out fragrance. The most ingenious part was that every now and then, maids would sprinkle fragrant liquid, using the central carved flower-leaf censer to heat it up, causing the fragrant liquid and surrounding air to blend together, forming misty vapors that sprayed out in all directions. Min An was pushed forward into the pavilion, standing amidst the misty vapors for a while, his clothes were filled with the fragrance of incense. He took over the lotus-handled incense holder handed by the maid, holding it in his hand to scent his sleeves, and couldn't help but lower his head to take a sniff. His nose could first distinguish the scents of agarwood, sandalwood, and aloeswood, then as the heat dissipated, transformed into the fruity aromas of cassia bark and white musk, and finally when it settled down, he could still faintly smell a hint of musk and tonka bean fragrance.

  These flavors are familiar, and they are the same as the sachet that Fei gave him in the courtyard of the post house last night.

  Min An raised an eyebrow, immediately thinking that these incense skills might be the work of Xiaoxue. The maid smiled lightly and said in a soft voice: "Young master, you can see for yourself, so many spices are ground into fine powder, mixed with clear wine to dry, and then blended with white honey to form these delicate incense balls. If there's even a slight mistake, the entire plate of spices will be wasted. You're the first guest to receive our precious spices, so when you meet our young master later, just stand more and speak less, and you'll definitely avoid making mistakes. Not to mention, our young master loves the fragrance made by Qilian girl the most. Although she's not here, her scent can still calm his temper."

  Min nodded: "Got it."

  Thank you for Day Month Bright's hand grenade - 3 -

  Girls who want to chase after love don't forget to collect this article, thank you!

  Insert Bookmark