Du's carriage stopped at the gate of the palace, and Chang Ying and Jiu Er came out to welcome it.
"Changying, please entertain His Royal Highness Prince Yu first, and I'll go see the princess. Mingshu, follow me."
Chang Ying took a step behind and took Zhou Zhan to the living room. Shen Mingshu's eyes were fixed on Zhou Yu. Seeing that he seemed to be looking at Chang Ying differently, she stopped and glared at Chang Ying.
Du Shi turned around and said displeasedly: "Since I'm not here to see your eldest sister, why don't you stay with His Royal Highness Prince Yu?"
Du Shi spoke mercilessly. Shen Mingshu noticed that Zhou Yu's gaze had become strange. Shen Mingshu was thinking in her mind. She ran over to hold Du Shi's arm and explained in a low voice: "Mother, this is the first time my daughter came to Prince Zhan's Mansion. She was dazed for a moment. It’s not that I’m not worried about eldest sister…”
She probably wanted to see a joke... Du Shi looked away. She didn't care to let Zhou Yu know that she didn't want to see Shen Mingshu. Shen Mingshu was a concubine, and he had already fallen into a lower class by rushing to propose marriage.
What's more, he had no good intentions to begin with.
"Mother..." Shen Moran greeted Shen Mingshu at the second door and pretended to be unhappy, "Why are you here?"
Shen Mingshu looked back and saw that Changying had already taken Zhou Yu to the living room. The three of them had always made no secret of their dislike for each other at home.
She simply stopped pretending, let go of Du's hand, and said arrogantly: "Of course I am accompanying my mother to see my sister. I heard that His Highness King Zhan is in poor health. As a sister, I have to come to comfort my sister. Your Highness has been frail and sick since childhood, so please don’t worry too much..."
Shen Moran raised the corners of her lips and said in a cold voice: "Then thank you sister for your kindness. I heard that something happened in the Bao Mansion, but I haven't congratulated my sister yet. Maybe she will become the royal concubine of Prince Yu from now on. When we meet in the future, I will have to call her sister." "Fifth sister-in-law..."
Shen Mingshu raised her tail to the sky, not hiding her pride.
Shen Moran rolled her eyes at her, pulled Du aside, and whispered: "Mom, I have something to ask you for help..."
Shen Mingshu was listening to the two of them talking with her ears open. Shen Moran suddenly stopped, glanced at her warily, and then lowered her voice, "Due to the relationship with the Protector's Palace, His Highness and his mentor Mr. Xie Yunxie have not seen each other for many years. His Highness is not feeling well at the moment and would like to see Mr. Xie..."
Her voice was lowered again, and Shen Mingshu didn't hear the rest of the words clearly, but she heard her mentor, heard Xie Yun, and heard Shen Moran said that the current emperor personally asked Mr. Xie to come out, but he was rejected... Explanation Xie Yun is a capable person.
If His Royal Highness Prince Yu can obtain such talents... he will definitely be even more powerful!
She held her breath and listened carefully to the conversation between Shen Moran and Du.
"He is living in seclusion in a manor at the foot of Mawei Mountain, fifty miles outside the capital. Mother, I have to take care of His Highness. Can you please go there yourself and beg Mr. Xie to come to the capital?"
Shen Mingshu didn't say anything after hearing the key information. She followed Du into the room and took a look at the unconscious Zhou Zhan, and then took a peek at the haggard Shen Moran. It was rare that she didn't cause any further trouble.
"Okay, mother, go now."
Shen Moran did not go to see Zhou Yu, so Du turned around and entrusted Shen Mingshu to Zhou Yu, asking him to help send her back to the prime minister's house, so as to create an opportunity for her to tell Zhou Yu what she heard.
"Can you make this plan work?" Du asked, "After all, Zhou Yu has your father's support. Your father has great power. Xie Yun doesn't even have an official position. Will your father let him create a political enemy for himself in the court? ?”
Shen Panxing was greedy and wanted to go one step further, but he was already the prime minister, inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people. If he went up further, he could only be Cao Mengde, who held the emperor hostage to order the princes.
But Zhou Yu is the descendant of Emperor Yao after all. Although he has not yet made a fortune, he does not like to be controlled. He uses the emperor's balance method very smoothly.
Shen Moran knew him well enough to dare to use this trick. He was sure that Shen's case would not fall on anyone else except him, so he was confident.
She happened to take advantage of this and planted a seed for their future separation between the king and his ministers.
Zhou Yu is ambitious and will definitely try his best to invite Mr. Xie to come out. When the time comes, Xie Yun will follow the trend and draw all attention to him.
This is a move that kills three birds with one stone.
Shen Moran smiled and said: "Mom, don't worry, Zhou Yu will make Shen Shanxing agree."
Du Shi was worried.
"Why are you doing this? Do you really want to help Zhou Yu? Or... my mother told you not to go into this muddy water!"
Shen Moran hugged Mrs. Du and choked up: "Mom, I know, I understand everything you said, but I don't want to leave my destiny to others. Under the imperial power, no one can protect me and His Highness, we can only Rely on yourself."
Mrs. Du was affected by her sudden emotion. She thought about the last time she was sent to the family temple by Shen Shenxing. She met bandits on the road. If it hadn't been for Si Yiluo, the consequences... I really don't dare to think about it.
She has had enough of my life of fish and meat!
"Okay, Mom, help you."
In order to put on a show, Du's carriage wandered a long way outside the city and turned back the next morning. Zhou Yu, who had been paying attention to Prince Zhan's palace, sent someone to quietly leave the city.
With the detailed location, it is not difficult to find out where Xie Yun lives.
The manor at the foot of the mountain is very conspicuous. If you ask people nearby, you will know who the owner is.
Shen Mingshu had never heard of Xie Yun's reputation, but Zhou Yu knew that every drop of blood in his body was excited. Xie Yun was a famous scholar in the world. If he could invite him to come out, maybe even his father would look up to him!
With Xie Yun at his disposal, are there any worries that no officials will support him?
The position of Pavilion Elder cannot be filled except by Xie Yun!
After thinking about it for a moment, the blood cooled down again. There were two major problems in this matter. The first was naturally to ask Xie Yun to come out, and the second was whether he would offend Shen Panxing because of this?
Zhou Rong had the support of his father-in-law, Yu Shibo. Yu Shibo served as the Secretary of the Imperial Academy and had many friends all over the world. There were many supporters of Zhou Rong in the imperial court.
But Zhou Chen is the legitimate son of the middle palace, and he has the support of the Duke of Song Dynasty. He has the heritage of a century-old family and a prominent family background, so he has the most supporters.
Shen Panxing supports either of them. After success, he is not the person that the new emperor trusts most. He can only maintain his current honor and favor.
Shen's case was so long that he was still willing to support him, which shows that his ambitions don't stop there.
Except for Zhou Rong and Zhou Chen, there is not much difference in the value of the other princes. Zhou Zhan was backed by the Protector's Palace and could have competed, but his body did not live up to expectations. In order to check and balance, his father gave him Bao Wanyu as the principal concubine. , Shen Mingshu became his concubine, which gave him an advantage.
Therefore, Shen Panxing had no other way out except supporting him.
After understanding this, Zhou Yu breathed a sigh of relief. What he now has to consider is how to persuade Xie Yun to come out and how to appease Shen Ganxing.
He was racking his brains to think of countermeasures. At the same time, Xie Yun also received a letter.
Ziyan placed the food box containing breakfast on the stone table in the pavilion and said, "Sir, do you still want to dance with the sword? Autumn is coming, so you can have breakfast first while the porridge and steamed buns are still hot."
The sweat on Xie Yun's body was almost gone. Seeing the smile on his lips, Ziyan asked curiously, "Is it a letter from senior brother Jin Yi? Senior brother Jin Yi hasn't been here for a while."
As the young man spoke, he put the food on the table. Xie Yun slapped the letter on the table with a bright look in his eyes.