Chapter 152 Entering the Palace to Meet the Saint
"All the affairs at the mansion have been dealt with!"
In the back hall of Longshou Palace, Jia Cong had been waiting for a while, until Emperor Longxing put down the memorial in his hand, and then he opened his mouth to ask.
"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I have already taken care of it. I will send an official to Nanjing in three months!" Jia Cong said respectfully, "I came to see Your Majesty today. First, I want to thank Your Majesty for taking good care of this matter. Everyone in the mansion is grateful for Your Majesty's kindness. Second, it is about observing mourning..."
Jia Cong had just started talking when he was interrupted by Emperor Longxing. "Don't say more about this matter. Jia Jing and the others died first, and then you were adopted. Why should you observe mourning? Besides, didn't you just open the ancestral hall to be adopted a few days ago? Strictly speaking, the previous events have nothing to do with you. Observing mourning is unnecessary!"
"Besides, you are now in charge of the Five Cities Military Department, and you have a heavy responsibility. You should focus on state affairs!"
Jia Cong hesitated for a moment and then agreed. He was really unwilling to observe mourning for those masters. It would take three years to observe mourning according to the etiquette. He might as well just do nothing. The situation he had planned with great difficulty was ruined in an instant.
"Now that your affairs at home have been settled, you can focus on the real business!"
"Your Majesty, last month I discussed the business with the eight dukes and twelve marquises, and the various prefectures have already agreed. I estimate that the business will be ready in about a month! By then, I will personally present the monthly accounts!"
"I know you are loyal, and I am relieved to leave these trivial matters to you. Besides, I have already taken advantage of you, so why should I look at the accounts? Do everything according to your wishes. If it succeeds, it will be the best. Even if it fails, you will still be my subject."
"Merchants are only minor businesses after all. Your future lies in the court and on the battlefield. The court is indeed short of money, but there are some things that cannot be replaced by money. You must not lose the big picture for the small."
"Your Majesty, I will follow your instructions!"
"Well, all right. You will be on duty in two days. The Military Department will be patrolling the entire city. I will not be at ease if you don't keep an eye on me! In addition, there is one more thing. In a dozen days, on April 18th, I intend to hunt at Tiewang Mountain. You, a brave general, will not be absent. I will allow you to accompany me with your personal guards."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Go ahead, and don't forget to visit Daming Palace. Father has been talking about you several times."
After Jia Cong left, Emperor Longxing looked at Jia Cong's back and pondered for a long time. Suddenly he said, "How about letting Jia Qing take charge of the Jinyiwei?"
Xia Shouzhong, who was standing by, was slightly stunned, and then said, "These matters are naturally decided by your majesty in the court!"
"Well, it's just that my father thinks highly of Jia Qing, but I can't ask him directly!"
Xia Shouzhong nodded thoughtfully, but did not ask any more questions. He was the emperor's close associate, so he naturally understood the meaning of the emperor's words.
"Master Jia is here!"
Outside the Daming Palace, Dai Quan, the internal minister, was very enthusiastic. He waved away the eunuch who was leading the way and personally led Jia Cong forward. "Recently, the emperor has often mentioned Lord Bo."
A banknote was silently transferred to Dai Quan's sleeve. Jia Cong also smiled and said, "My ancestors often mentioned to me that the old minister in the palace has always been on good terms with my Jia family. Now that the emperor is concerned about his subjects, it is because the old minister helped to speak well of him."
"Moreover, the Emperor has always been a benevolent and holy monarch. He has been very kind to the Jia family and even remembers the kindness of his ancestors. The Jia family has no way to repay him, so we can only be loyal to the two majesties and die for our Daqian!"
Facing these old guys in the palace who were full of tricks, Jia Cong did not dare to relax at all. He thought about every word several times in his mind before speaking it out loud.
"If everyone in the world thinks this way, then our Daqian will be peaceful and prosperous!" Dai Quan said with a smile.
As they were talking, the two had already entered the hall. Jia Cong naturally shut up and just followed Dai Quan slowly forward.
The Emperor was sleeping on a soft couch. Dai Quan approached carefully and whispered in his ear, "Your Majesty, Master Jia is here!"
The Emperor slowly opened his eyes. "You little monkey, you are still thinking about me and come to see me. If you don't come again, I will let Dai Quan catch you and beat you with a stick!"
Jia Cong smiled awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to the emperor's affection!
"Alright, hurry up and sit down. You don't have to be as restrained here as you are here with your emperor. Dai Quan, why don't you bring some tea?"
"Use the dragon and phoenix tea that was delivered a few days ago, and wrap two cakes in it. I'll give them to him later!"
Dai Quan hurriedly smiled and said, "Your Majesty really likes Master Bo. Your Majesty only has six cakes of this Dragon and Phoenix Tea. The other day the Emperor came over and wanted to ask for one cake, but the Emperor was reluctant to give it to him!"
Dragon and Phoenix Tea is produced in Fujian and got its name because of the pure gold dragon and phoenix patterns carved on its surface! This tea was a tribute tea hundreds of years ago and is well made and extremely precious.
Jia Cong bowed down hastily, "Your Majesty, thank you for your kindness!"
"Okay, it's just two cups of tea, is that worthy of your thanks? Sit closer to me and tell me how things are going at home."
After accompanying the emperor for nearly an hour, the emperor finally let him go! Jia Cong was holding two cakes of tea, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He didn't have much contact with the emperor, but every time the emperor was very close to him, he thought about it and even suspected that the emperor had some plan for the Jia family, but no matter how he thought about it, it was not worth it for the emperor to treat him like this.
"Does the retired emperor treat me as his own son or grandson?" Jia Cong said speechlessly. Fortunately, although the retired emperor was affectionate, he rarely mentioned state affairs. This way, he would not arouse the vigilance and hostility of the emperor. On the contrary, this kind of relationship was beneficial to him.
After leaving the palace, Jia Cong visited several military headquarters and found that there was nothing else to do, so he returned home early.
"Master is back?" When they arrived at Ningzheng Hall, Qingwen came out to greet him!
"Did Xiao Que go out to play?" Jia Cong asked with a smile.
"When Master left, he took Little Jixiang and Little Jiao'er with him. They didn't even come back for dinner. They only said that they had dinner at the Madam's. Xiangling went to the Madam's. The Madam sent someone to look for her, saying that she was just there to talk and would be back later."
Jia Cong stretched out his hands and held Qingwen in his arms, "So, there are only you and Qingwen in the family?"
"What is the master going to do?" Qingwen twisted uncomfortably in Jia Cong's arms.
"What do you want to do? Doesn't Qingwen know?" As he said this, he moved towards Qingwen's lips. Jia Cong didn't stop until Qingwen was sweating profusely and had no strength left in her body.
Holding her in his arms, Jia Cong asked thoughtfully, "What do you think of your eldest grandmother?"
