Chapter 44: All the People Under the Bamboo Are Greedy for Money

In the Liu family courtyard, Master Liu hurried in and asked the servant to borrow a carriage.

"Let's borrow a spacious one. Madam, come with me."

The Liu family has been favored recently, and Master Liu has been promoted too quickly, so the family has not prepared a carriage and has rented one.

"What?" This is the first time that Old Lady Liu saw the old man yelling.

The last time he did this, it was because his little granddaughter said he was stupid.

"Why should I eat bamboo shoots? If I want to eat them, I won't go to the market to buy them? I have to go to someone's house to dig them. Isn't that immoral?" Although Old Lady Liu followed the old man, she came from the village.

But she is also the daughter of a teacher in the village. She has read books and has knowledge.

She can't do such a shameful thing for eating.

"You went to Xu Jijiu's house to dig them. Why don't you let us dig them in the emperor's garden! You think of it!" Old Lady Liu refused.

Master Liu sighed and winked immediately.

Old Madam Liu thought in an instant, "It's our little granddaughter..."

Mr. Liu looked around and nodded.

Mrs. Liu immediately went to the inner room and gave the servant money for renting a carriage.

Just as she was about to catch Mr. Liu to ask him about it, she heard a loud laugh from outside.

"Is Mr. Liu at home? What are you doing today? I'm here to see you."

Mr. Liu frowned quickly, looked at Mrs. Liu, and lowered his voice, "I'll go to the front to take a look, you go to prepare a gift for Xu Jiji's great-grandson's full moon."

After that, he went to the front.

The person who was welcomed in by the doorman was none other than Hong Xing, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, with whom Mr. Liu now worked.

Mr. Liu is now temporarily serving as the Right Censor-in-Chief, although he is a fourth-rank official like Hong Xing.

But in the Censorate, the left is the most respected, and Hong Xing has more power than Mr. Liu.

"Sir Hong, what brings you here?" Master Liu was a little anxious.

What's the plan?

The intelligence boost his granddaughter gave him only lasted for one day.

He had to catch Xu Jijiu, the bribe-taker!

Hong Xing laughed, "Of course I came to see you. You just came back from the fiefdom of King Liao, okay?"

Master Liu was smart now, "Well, the emperor was considerate and let me go to the palace to see his daughter, and then let me come back and let me rest for three days."

The implication was that you should leave quickly, he wanted to rest.

Hong Xing raised his eyebrows, reached out to pick up the tea bowl, pretended not to understand, and sighed, "Alas, His Royal Highness the Fifth Prince is too young after all."

Master Liu stared.

With his intelligence doubled, his memory also increased sharply.

Suddenly he remembered that when he was in the Imperial College, he heard someone say that Hong Xing, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, was a student of the Queen's father.

Hong Xing was a member of the Queen's party.

What does it mean?

The fifth prince is young, and the eldest prince is just the right age! ?

The queen wants their Liu family to see the situation clearly. The fifth prince has no chance of succeeding to the throne, so it is better to assist the eldest prince to ascend the throne?

Mr. Liu immediately blew his beard and glared.

Hong Xing smiled and said, "Lord Liu, the current emperor seems gentle, but he is actually very smart. Since ancient times, the mother's family of the prince, especially the mother's family of the crown prince, has been difficult to be reused."

"Lord Liu is in the limelight now, but do you know that twenty years ago, the chief minister Tong Ge Lao was in a high position and presided over three imperial examinations. He was the most trusted minister of the late emperor."

Mr. Liu narrowed his eyes.

The previous chief minister Tong is the father of the queen and the grandfather of the current eldest prince!

"But after the birth of the eldest prince," Hong Xing put down the teacup, "Lord Tong resigned and went home to recuperate."

"Now, except for the eldest son, who is serving as the prefect of Jinzhou thousands of miles away, the rest of the Tong family are great scholars, and none of them are officials in the court."

The eldest prince's mother's family is far away from the court.

It's just to gain the emperor's trust and show off.

Even if the eldest prince succeeds to the throne in the future, the Tong family will only assist him wholeheartedly, and will never cover the sky with one hand in the court, let the relatives take charge, and let the Xiao family's royal power exist in name only.

"Lord Liu, do you understand?" Hong Xing looked at Liu Wenchang, "You can't have your cake and eat it too."

"If you want the Liu family to be famous in history and do something, then the fifth prince is too young."

Master Liu closed his eyes.

Is this asking him to choose between the two?

Do you want to be a high official yourself, or let your grandson be the emperor?

"You are doing so many things for the emperor now, do you understand what the emperor means?" Hong Xing lowered his voice.

"The name of the crown prince behind the plaque, the possibility of the fifth prince is too low."

Master Liu resisted the urge to look at him like a fool.

"A man of insight is a hero. Master Liu might as well make plans for the fifth prince early and find him a support in the future."

Hong Xing smiled mysteriously.

Who is the support? Naturally, it is the eldest prince and the queen!

Master Liu couldn't listen any more.

He didn't want to argue with a fool.

Please, let's figure out the situation first!

His granddaughter said that the eldest prince was not on the emperor's draft!

"Master, the rented carriage has arrived. Shall we set off now?" The servant came in and interrupted in time.

Master Liu took the opportunity to stand up, "Master Hong, I'm in a hurry to go to congratulate Xu Jijiu on his grandson, so I won't accompany you."

Hong Xing looked grim, "Master Liu, are you rejecting my kindness?"

Master Liu laughed, "Hmm? Master Hong, what do you mean, what did you just suggest to me?"

"Ah, the car rental company, charge me according to the time, I can only talk to Master Hong in detail another day."

Hong Xing was so angry that he left with his sleeves.

Mrs. Liu came out of the hall, worriedly asked the servant to carry the gift, and got on the carriage with Master Liu.

"Are you okay, Master? If we offend them, will we make enemies for our grandson?" Mrs. Liu was very worried, "What this man said makes sense, what if the eldest prince... ascends the throne in the future..."

Master Liu stretched out his hand to stop her from talking.

He lowered the curtain of the car, and whispered to his wife with the noisy sound of the wheels rolling over the gravel road outside.

"My granddaughter said that our Xiaowu is the prince."

"!"

Old Lady Liu almost threw the teacup on the carriage!

What?

She was the daughter of a teacher in a village, and she suddenly became the grandmother of the prince.

She will be the grandmother of the emperor! ?

Oh my!

Her daughter, Channiang, will be the queen mother in the future!

Seeing his wife's uncalm eyes widening, Master Liu shook his head, "Look at you, you are so useless."

"I... Such a big happy event, you were not excited when you heard it?" Old Lady Liu pinched Master Liu fiercely.

But Master Liu told her in a blink of an eye, "Don't be happy too early, hey."

He looked in the direction of the car, "Our Xiaowu, took over the government of a country that is about to perish."

"......!"

Old Lady Liu also remembered that when her granddaughter was one month old, she heard her granddaughter say it when she entered the palace.

It's terrible!

"Now the treasury is out of money, natural disasters continue, the harvest is poor, and several foreign tribes are eyeing us covetously. Our army is also in a mess and we have no money to support the soldiers."

Old Lady Liu raised her eyebrows.

It was like she finally turned over and took over the power of the family from her mother-in-law, but found that the family not only had no rice, but also owed a lot of debts. It would be better not to have this power of the family!

"Then what should we do, old man?"

"Don't worry, aren't we thinking of a solution step by step now? The first step is, you go dig bamboo shoots."

"!"

*

The home of Xu Jijiu of the Imperial College looks more upright than Master Liu. It is a three-story house.

This house is clean and honest everywhere, with ordinary blue bricks and wooden doors. Even the plaque with the words "Xu Mansion" written on it has faded a little.

The doorman is still a gray-haired old man, who looks like the cheapest kind of servant.

"Wenchang, Madam Liu, please come in quickly."

Xu Jijiu received the news and came out to greet him with a happy face. He was wearing a patched cloth and the cotton wool was already visible on his black shoes.

Master Liu's mouth twitched.

This man is really good at pretending! If he hadn't heard his granddaughter's voice, he would never have guessed that this kind of person had one million taels!

"I have long wanted to come to Master Xu's bamboo garden to take a look. I think he must have the perseverance of a scholar."

After a brief greeting, Master Liu took his wife and followed Xu Jijiu into the bamboo garden where he entertained guests on a daily basis.

But as soon as Master Liu entered and stepped on the muddy ground, he felt something was wrong!

My goodness, the ground in this bamboo garden is dug and turned every day? Why is it so loose!

There is really something underneath!