Chapter 13 Winning people's hearts requires subtlety and quietness
Li Yuanji was overjoyed that Chen Shanyi was willing to talk to him, which was definitely something worth being happy about.
This shows that Chen Shanyi has begun to forgive him.
"Madam Chen, my father has an order for you. Please come with me to receive it."
Li Yuanji said with a hearty smile.
Chen Shanyi was a little surprised and didn't understand why Li Yuan gave her the imperial edict, but she nodded and followed Li Yuanji to kneel in front of the incense table.
After Li Yuanji and Chen Shanyi knelt down, Liu Jun unfolded the imperial edict in his hand.
"The decree says..."
Liu Jun recited aloud a large number of gorgeous words, most of which were words praising a person for being affectionate, loyal, and kind-hearted.
It was not until the end that Liu Jun read out: "I confer the title of Lady Chen Shanyi as Lady Ciyi. I decree this."
Chen Shanyi was shocked and looked at the imperial edict in Liu Jun's hand in disbelief.
Li Yuanji rolled his eyes speechlessly.
Li Yuanji was very happy to hear that Li Yuan had named Chen Shanyi as Lady Ciyi.
But when Li Yuanji heard that there was nothing else to say after Madam Ciyi, he was speechless.
Li Yuan only gave him an empty title and nothing else.
Is this Madam Ciyi an imperial decree or a title of honor?
Or something else?
Which female titles are equivalent to this one?
What rank?
If it has no rank or grade, then it would be worse than even the lowest level imperial edict.
Li Yuanji was complaining madly in his heart, but Chen Shanyi was so shocked that he couldn't speak.
After Liu Jun finished reading the imperial edict, he respectfully handed it to Chen Shanyi.
"Mrs. Chen?"
Li Yuanji reminded Chen Shanyi.
Chen Shanyi came to his senses and welcomed the imperial edict.
Liu Jun then handed the mahogany plate to the maidservant of Prince Qi's mansion and hurried away .
Chen Shanyi hugged the imperial edict tightly, his eyes red.
Li Yuanji didn't know whether Chen Shanyi felt aggrieved or touched.
Li Yuanji did not disturb Chen Shanyi, but instructed Ah Jiu, "Go and tell the princess to choose a quiet place for Chen to live and send some maids."
Ah Jiu agreed: "Yes..."
Chen Shanyi heard Li Yuanji's order and hurriedly said, "No... no need, I'm used to being alone."
Li Yuanji chuckled and said, "You are already a lady, and you should be taken care of. Don't refuse."
Chen Shanyi hesitated for a moment and said nothing more.
Although Li Yuan only gave Chen Shanyi an empty title, Li Yuanji did not mind making the most of this empty title.
In the past, Chen Shanyi had no status and could not marry a maid, as it was against etiquette to do so.
Now that Chen Shanyi has become famous, no one will say anything even if Li Yuanji assigns her a maid.
"Madam Chen, will you talk to me?"
Li Yuanji took the initiative to invite Chen Shanyi to sit down and chat to strengthen their relationship.
“No… no.”
Chen Shanyi hesitated and rejected Li Yuanji's invitation.
Li Yuanji did not force it.
Chen Shanyi is already willing to talk to her, so it won’t be too late to keep in touch later.
Chen Shanyi bowed to Li Yuanji and slowly walked out of the hall holding the imperial edict.
After taking two steps, he paused, hesitated for a moment, turned around, and whispered, "Your Highness should spend more time with the Second Prince..."
After saying this, he hurriedly left the hall without waiting for Li Yuanji to speak.
Li Yuanji stood there in a daze.
"Madam Chen, what is this..."
What did you see?!
Or did she make certain judgments based on her perception of the personalities of Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng, and Li Shimin?
Li Yuanji became suspicious and wanted to chase after him to find out what was going on. However, he remembered that Chen Shanyi had been very decisive when he left just now and was obviously unwilling to say more. If he chased after him, he probably wouldn't get any answers.
"I can only look for another opportunity ..."
Li Yuanji felt that Chen Shanyi probably didn't have that kind of vision, otherwise he wouldn't have been dismembered by that fool of his predecessor.
She must have made some judgment based on the personalities of Li Yuan, Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin.
Li Yuanji ordered people to remove the incense table and returned to his long table to continue studying "Treatise on Febrile Diseases".
At noon, I had a simple meal.
Li Sixing and Xie Shufang returned to the Wude Hall one after another.
Li Sixing did not come back alone, he brought two guards with him, carrying something that looked like a stretcher.
After reporting, Li Sixing entered the main hall of Wude Hall and saluted Li Yuanji.
"Your Highness, I, Li Sixing, greet you."
Li Yuanji felt that Li Sixing was definitely a talent, so he gave Li Sixing a big smile.
"Li Changshi, there is no need to be so polite. Please take a seat."
Li Sixing was a little flattered by Li Yuanji's attitude.
In the past, he was the least welcome person in Prince Qi's Mansion.
Today, not only did I get a big smile, I was also given a seat.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Li Sixing suspected that Li Yuanji had some conspiracy, so he thanked him and sat on a cushion on the side of the main hall with a nervous mood.
After Li Sixing sat down, he bowed and said, "Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission. I have brought Xue Bao back to you."
As he spoke, Li Sixing waved to the two guards carrying a stretcher outside the hall.
Two guards carried a stretcher into the hall.
The stretcher was covered with a white sheet.
Judging from the outline drawn by the white cloth, there should be a person lying on it.
When Li Yuanji saw the stretcher, his heart skipped a beat.
If he was right, the person lying on the stretcher should be Xue Bao.
To be precise, it should be Xue Bao's body.
Li Yuanji had known for a long time that the palace was a place of "cannibalism" and was filled with bloody cruelty.
But he didn't expect to see a dead person so soon.
And it's related to him.
"A guard died just like that..."
Li Yuanji sighed.
Although the guard was a meritorious official, his rank was not low, being the third rank. Among the ranks of honor, he was only below the Shangzhuguo, Zhuguo, and Shanghujun.
A third-rank guard was killed at any moment.
This gave Li Yuanji a new understanding of the struggles in the palace.
When Li Sixing heard what Li Yuanji said, he thought that Li Yuanji was dissatisfied with him for bringing back a corpse, so he hurriedly said, "I have done my best..."
Li Yuanji waved his hand, indicating that Li Sixing did not need to explain, "You have done very well."
Li Sixing felt relieved when he saw that Li Yuanji didn't seem to be speaking against his will.
"Come with me to look at the body."
Li Yuanji took a deep breath, stood up and invited Li Sixing.
Li Sixing didn't understand what Li Yuanji was up to, but he still stood up and walked towards the stretcher.
Li Sixing took the initiative to lift the white cloth on the stretcher, revealing a slightly pale face.
Li Yuanji gritted his teeth and observed carefully.
Since you are in a place where people are eaten, if you don’t eat people, you will be eaten.
Then Li Yuanji could only force himself to endure the discomfort, to touch the corpses and get used to them.
Although Li Yuanji had seen countless corpses in his previous life's memories, it was like watching a movie and he did not have any intuitive feeling.
Now seeing a corpse with his own eyes, Li Yuanji's heart was beating wildly, so he didn't say a word.
Seeing that Li Yuanji didn't say anything, Li Sixing took the initiative to introduce Li Yuanji, "I have seen it, it was suicide by taking poison."
Li Yuanji nodded and said, "I see no other scars on his body, nor any signs of being forced, so he must have committed suicide by taking poison voluntarily.
My eldest brother was able to get him to voluntarily commit suicide by taking poison, which means that he had reached some kind of agreement with him. "
Li Sixing agreed: "Not bad."
Li Yuanji pondered and said, "I don't know how much information he has betrayed to the mansion."
Li Sixing's pupils shrank. "Your Highness, do you want to continue investigating this?"
Li Yuanji shook his head. "It's pointless to pursue this further as it doesn't affect my wife and children."
There is no need and no result.
Since Xue Bao was able to reach an agreement with Li Jiancheng, there must be a clause in it to accommodate his family.
By now, Xue Bao's family should have been arranged by Li Jiancheng to a place where he can't find them.
Li Sixing glanced at Li Yuanji with some surprise. He was really surprised that His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi, who was known for his cruelty, would actually let Xue Bao's family go.
Xue Bao is a traitor.
Even if Li Yuanji killed Xue Bao's entire family, no one would say anything.
"Your Highness is kind and benevolent. If Xue Bao knew about this in the afterlife, he would be grateful to Your Highness."
Li Sixing admired sincerely.
Although Li Sixing looked down on Li Yuanji, he looked up to Li Yuanji because he let Xue Bao's family go this time, and he didn't mind flattering Li Ji.
"I don't need a thief to be grateful to me."
Li Yuanji laughed at himself, glanced at Li Sixing, and said, "In Li Changshi's eyes, am I the kind of person who would kill an entire family if I disagree with him?"
do not you?!
Li Sixing secretly complained in his heart, but under Li Yuanji's gaze, he could only say against his will: "Your Highness has always been kind..."
"Hahaha, do you believe this?"
Li Yuanji laughed out loud.
Li Sixing looked embarrassed.
Li Yuanji ordered people to cover Xue Bao's body, put his hands behind his back, and said proudly: "I did do a lot of infuriating things in the past, but I won't do it again in the future.
Li Changshi is the chief secretary of my mansion. We share the same fate.
Please continue to support me in the future.
If I do anything wrong in the future, Li Changshi can tell me directly, I won’t blame you.”
Li Sixing didn't know how much truth there was in Li Yuanji's words, so he immediately said perfunctorily: "I dare not, I dare not..."
Li Yuanji didn't say much, and ordered people to carry Xue Bao's body out and send it to Xue's Mansion.
Once Xue Bao died, the grudge between him and Xue Bao was settled, and he would not use Xue Bao's corpse to vent his anger.
As for Li Sixing's perfunctory attitude towards him, he didn't care.
No matter what, Li Sixing was a meritorious official of Taiyuan Yuanmou who rebelled with Li Yuan, and it was not so easy to subdue him.
It’s not that Li Sixing would immediately kneel on the ground and call him lord just because he said a few words.
To conquer someone like Li Sixing, you have to proceed step by step and take your time.
After Li Yuanji sat back on the long table, he told Li Sixing to sit down and said, "Li Changshi, I have discovered that the female officials and subordinates in the mansion have done a lot of evil things recently.
I have already sent Xie Shufang to investigate, and he has uncovered a lot of evidence of crimes, as well as a lot of floating assets and land.
Most of their floating wealth and land were obtained through their plundering.
You are the chief official of the mansion, so you will be in charge of returning the floating wealth and land to their original owners.
If the original owner has passed away and has no relatives, then all the land and floating assets will be exchanged for food and distributed to the families of the Qi Wang Mansion's servants who died in the battle.
I will also ask the princess to take out some money from the palace, and send them some cloth and salt on New Year's Day (the first day of the first lunar month, also known as the New Year's Day). "
