Chapter 303 Southwest
Spreading the map on the table, Su Qingqing used a brush to apply cinnabar and outline the location of Duke Xue's mansion.
In the past, when the late emperor was still in power, the ones who fought most fiercely with Rong Que were the Duke of Zhenguo and the Second Prince. Rong Que's mind was almost entirely on the Duke of Zhenguo.
Besides, Duke Xue has always been a rich and dissolute man, eating, drinking, having fun, riding horses and . Not to mention Rong Que, even Rong Que's father has never paid too much attention to this dissolute marquis.
But now Su Qingqing circled the location of Duke Xue's Mansion on the map. Rong Que hugged Su Qingqing around the waist, resting his chin on her shoulder, looking at the map in front of him, and was stunned for a moment.
Sensing Rong Que's mood change, Su Qingqing put down her brush and asked, "Did you see that?"
Rong Que loosened his arms around Su Qingqing, walked around to the table, picked up the brush, and drew a few red lines along the location of Duke Xue's mansion.
"Each of the moats in Kyoto is connected to each other, and each of these moats has a road leading to Duke Xue's Mansion."
The Xueguo Mansion outlined in red is like a sun, and the roads leading to the moats in all directions are like rays of light emanating from it.
Realizing this, Rong Que immediately looked for other mansions of noble families in Kyoto.
Be it the previous Duke Zhenguo Mansion, the Marquis Rong'an Mansion, or the Third Prince's residence, none of them was like Duke Xue's Mansion.
"What does he mean?" Rong Que threw the pen on the table, supported his hands on the table, and stared at the map in front of him.
If he said that this was a coincidence during the construction, he would definitely not believe it. But over the years, no one has discovered the specialness of Duke Xue’s Mansion?
"Duke Xue had only one son. When he was young, he had a fever and his brain was not working well. When he grew up, Duke Xue sent him to a farm in the countryside to be raised.
He did have several daughters, both legitimate and illegitimate, and the families these daughters married into were not wealthy or powerful. He seemed to have been avoiding sensitive relationships.
All of his daughters said that they followed the children's wishes and married husbands chosen by the children themselves, and they all married far away.
His first wife died a few years ago, and he never remarried, so he kept seven or eight concubines in his house, and I heard that it was a chaotic situation. "
Rong Que shared with Su Qingqing everything he knew about Duke Xue.
Before he ascended the throne, he had never paid attention to this old dude.
Su Qingqing tapped the table with her index finger. "When you realized that Duke Xue was not as harmless as he seemed, what did you investigate about him?"
Rong Que said, "We checked the industries of his subordinates, his business over the years, his assets in other places, and his dealings with the major families.
The eight great families in Kyoto seem to be fighting each other openly and secretly for their lives, but I discovered that it is as if these eight families have made an agreement that every fifteen years, two of them will produce a group of outstanding people.
For example, now the Xu family occupies the position of Minister of Rites, and the Xue family occupies the grain and salt businesses.
And before them, there were the Zhao family and the Gu family.
No matter how the eight great families fight, these businesses have never fallen into the hands of outsiders."
Su Qingqing raised her eyebrows. "To be in charge of the circulation of grain and salt, isn't that equivalent to strangling the lifeblood of the entire country? Your Majesty, don't you care about such a business?"
The "Your Majesty" that Su Qingqing was referring to was the late emperor, and Rong Que naturally understood that.
"Of course I care. Duke Xue is smart and capable in business. The grain and salt that circulate in his hands are not like those of Marquis Rong'an, who always suffers from deficits. Duke Xue can bring rich benefits to the court every year.
This is one of them.
Second, as I just said, there is nothing intimidating about him.
He has only one son who is mentally ill. All his daughters married out and all of them were married to small families. He himself did not belong to any party. Before, when the Second Prince and I had a dispute to that extent, he still walked his birds and fought crickets every day. He didn't think about anything except business. He just played every day. You say that this kind of person, be on guard against him for one day and be on guard against him for two days. He will always be like this forever. Who will be on guard against him? "
A duke who controls the country's grain and salt industries can make people let down their guard against him. Not only the emperor is not on guard against him, but also the third prince, the second prince, the Duke of Zhenguo, and King Yu. No one is on guard against him. This is real ability.
Su Qingqing looked at the red lines Rong Que had drawn on the map, which led from Duke Xue's mansion to the various moats. "What do you think he's going to use them for?"
Rong Que was also puzzled, "For escaping at a critical moment?"
After all, he is not really a playboy who only knows how to do business as he appears to be. In case the truth comes out, he must give himself a chance.
Su Qingqing shook her head. "No, it feels like it's transporting something."
Building his own mansion to be so well connected, doesn't it look more like a transportation hub, a large one at that?
Of the eight great families, except for the Xu and Xue families who hold high official positions, all of them now live in Kyoto with their entire families. As for the remaining families, although there are also children of the families serving as officials in the court, because their official positions are not high, those families have not moved their entire families here.
Su Qingqing found the house of the Minister of Rites on the map, circled it, and stared at the map for a long time but could not figure out any connection between the Shang family of the Ministry of Rites and the Mansion of Duke Xue.
Rong Que suddenly picked up the brush and tapped the location of the imperial palace. Then he drew a horizontal line between the imperial palace and Duke Xue's mansion, forming a straight line between the two points.
Su Qingqing's eyelids jumped suddenly. "Southwest direction?"
Rong Que nodded, "Looking southwest from the Imperial Palace, Duke Xue's Mansion is right here."
In other words, when the woman was in a daze before, she was persistently heading towards the southwest, or maybe it was towards Duke Xue’s Mansion?
And this possibility is very high.
Rong Que and Su Qingqing were like two little birds that flew into a dense forest shrouded in thick fog. They clung to each other and relied on each other, hoping to see the light of day amidst these evil spirits.
Before the Hundred Flowers Festival, Su Qingqing's enthronement ceremony came as scheduled.
Adhering to the principle of not alerting the enemy, Su Qingqing immediately agreed to the enthronement ceremony set for her by the Imperial Observatory and the Ministry of Rites.
Early in the morning, a special teaching nanny arrived at Su Qingqing's bedroom.
The last time a teaching nanny appeared in front of Su Qingqing was when she and Rong Que got married, and the Queen sent the teaching nanny to embarrass her.
The nanny was completely beaten up by Jixiang and finally left in humiliation.
Time passes.
Now Su Qingqing has become the queen, and although this teaching nanny was not a good friend of the teaching nanny at that time, she had also heard about what happened at that time. The moment she stepped into Su Qingqing's bedroom, she lowered her head and looked submissive, fearing that she would do something wrong and provoke a scolding from Aunt Jixiang.
