Chapter 177: Storytelling

Wei Yuan this operation is a bit tart ah …. The middleman to earn the difference in price is also too much …. However, it also shows that chicken essence can definitely make a lot of money as long as it is mass-produced.

Do I count this as a mistake that started a path to become a rich man with many concubines and plain and simple?

“It’s true that there are specialties in the arts… I should have known better than to mess around on my own and give direction to the magicians of the Sitian Supervisory Authority, while I sit behind the scenes and enjoy the draw… Unfortunately, it’s too late… ….” Xu Qi’an sighed silently.

From the tax and silver case to the Sangpo case, and now, he has offended too many bigwigs in the court, and has been dead tied to Wei Yuan.

In such a situation, all he had to do was cultivate, as well as assist Wei Yuan. The more solid Wei Yuan’s position was and the more power he had, the more benefits Xu Qi’an himself would reap. There really wasn’t much energy to tinker with alchemy.

…. Well, it’s not completely out of time, we’ll talk about it later when we have some free time, for the sake of today’s plan, it’s to step into the God Refining Realm first.

Huaiqing took a sip of tea to moisten his lips more and said in a very calm tone, “Recently, the fights between the various parties in the imperial court have suddenly subsided. The reason for this is that Duke Wei and Chief Minister Wang have joined forces in an attempt to clear out the large and small parties in the courtroom.”

“That’s a good thing.” Xu Qi’an’s eyes lit up.

Huaiqing shook his head, ”Father gave a block, the chaotic situation in the courtroom is beneficial to him. The more intense the fight between the various parties, the more he can be at ease with his monasticism. If one family is dominant, or two families are dominant, the dynastic situation will be out of Father’s control.”

To be able to say this to me, Huaiqing is treating me as one of her own …. Why does it feel like she’s overly trusting of me…Although I lick well, I haven’t licked you a few times in total…Xu Qi’an nodded his head and chimed in:

“Party rivalry is a double-edged sword, it can maintain His Majesty’s position, but it can also stir up the dynasty. The more parties there are, the more intense the fights become, and in the long run, no one will care about political affairs, and all they will think about is how to conspire and plot to bring down their opponents.”

As she spoke, Xu Qi’an had been observing Princess Huaiqing’s face, and if she showed displeasure or revulsion, Xu Qi’an would just nod off.

Instead, Xu Qi’an used his pseudo-historian knowledge to have a good chat with this princess, boosting his feelings and earning her more attention.

Well versed in history books, Princess Huaiqing narrowed her eyes, deliberately set up a trap: “Directly put an end to party disputes will not be the end of the trouble.”

Xu Qi’an shook his head, “There are no parties within the dynasty, and there are a thousand strange things.”

There is no party in the dynasty, a thousand strange …. Princess Huaiqing savored these words over and over again in her heart, her eyes glowing, the corners of her mouth unconsciously hooked up in a smile.

Seeing this, Xu Qi’an immediately said, “My humble servant has some shallow opinions, I wonder if the Eldest Princess is interested in hearing them.”

Princess Huaiqing sniffed, quietly straightened her sitting posture and nodded, “But there is no harm in saying so.”

Xu Qi’an deliberated, “Actually, Your Majesty’s way of checking and balancing the court is inappropriate ….”

He saw Princess Huaiqing narrow her eyes, but did not shout to stop, just staring straight at him. Then he continued:

“If you want to check and balance the court, you don’t need so many parties, just three evenly matched parties. Because triangles are the most solid in any field …. Well, except for marriage.”

“Triangle?” Huaiqing heard an unfamiliar word.

Xu Qi’an built a triangle with her hand, and she said indistinctly, “This kind of structure often appears in the erection of palaces.”

The eldest princess is really smart …. Xu Qi’an let out a “hmm” and said, “If there are only two parties, they may form an alliance in private, incompatible on the surface, but colluding behind the scenes. But if it’s a triad, it’s hard for them to agree on their interests, and the dynasty will be relatively stable, making it easy to check and balance.”

Princess Huaiqing pondered for a long time, seemed to have figured out something, laughed lightly, and then quickly converged, resuming her high and cold posture:

“Cloud deer academy of the great Confucian said you are reading seed, this palace thought you just write good poetry, unexpectedly have such high opinion, the world students, can be like you, only a few. Yunlu Academy’s great scholar’s eyes like a torch, is this palace underestimated you.”

No, they also just think my poetry is good, and you didn’t underestimate me …. I’m a keyboard warrior, I can point to the mountains and the mountains and the words, and I’m invincible with a single keystroke.

Xu Qi’an smiled back haughtily.

“In fact, apart from the fact that the parties are all over the place, there is another very fatal problem with the court…Your Highness, forgive me, my humble servant’s use of words was inappropriate.”

Princess Huaiqing smiled lightly and said, “When family members talk behind closed doors, there is no need to worry too much.”

Her cold, bright eyes, cold as pools of water, gazed in a manner that expressed a desperate desire to listen, but no words were spoken.

Xu Qi’an was instantly reassured, saying, “His Majesty can easily manipulate the princes above the court, the elevation and dismissal of officials, but he cannot manipulate the officials at the bottom and the xuxu mandarins, and the latter, in particular, are responsible for the withering of people’s livelihoods.”

This question seemed to speak to Princess Huaiqing’s soft underbelly, making her instantly solemn and interjecting, “This palace also agonizes over this issue.”

“In fact, there are two reasons why the ills of the Dafeng’s xuxu officials have accumulated to this day: one, the intense partisan rivalry in the imperial court and the negligence of management, which, to put it bluntly, means that they are only fighting and not doing anything. Two, it’s been twenty-one years since His Majesty’s cultivation, and the court’s control over the lower echelons has slipped severely, which has led to the lawlessness of the Xu officials.”

Princess Huaiqing nodded: “You share the same view with this palace, this palace has thought about this problem more than once, nay there is no solution.”

You’re a princess, what’s the point of thinking about such things …. Xu Qi’an said, “With regards to the matter of the Suxian, my humble suggestion is to centralize power.”

“Centralization,” Princess Huaiqing said with an unconsciously inquisitive tone, for it was another unfamiliar word.

“Although today’s His Majesty is firmly in control of the dynastic situation, he maintains a situation where the parties are mixed up, he has to give the appropriate power, and His Majesty’s power is simply too decentralized ….” Xu Qi’an did not go on, he believed that with the wisdom of the eldest princess, she could understand the meaning.

Similarly, how to change the status quo? Either Emperor Yuan Jing returns to his prodigal son and is diligent in his political affairs. Or he can abdicate.

Xu Qi’an interrupted the conversation for this very reason; to continue, it was simply not inevitable to talk about this taboo topic.

The two of them chatted for a long time more, Princess Huaiqing was impressed with this gong, Xu Qi’an likewise, this princess was not only smart, but also learned and quoted classical sentences, talking to her was both pleasant and overwhelming.

Seeing that it was almost time, Xu Qi’an proposed to say goodbye. Can’t talk any more, there really isn’t a drop left, if we keep talking I’ll have to break up socialism with you.

Princess Huaiqing nodded her head, and there was an unfinished business in her eyes.

…..

Leaving Princess Huaiqing’s palace garden, Xu Qi’an twisted his head and went to find Lin’an, and soon received a summons to enter the mansion under the guards’ guidance.

It’s now two minutes past the sixth hour (9:30 a.m.), and Prosper in her fiery red dress is playing shuttlecock with the courtesans.

If Xu Suoyin was talented in the field of eating, framing was just gifted in the area of playing, and she was now better at kicking the shuttlecock than Xu Qi’an, who practiced martial arts.

The flaming red skirt fluttered, the small waist twisted and twisted, and the slender legs looked like they had their own GPS, always catching the shuttlecock and kicking it back up into the air.

So if this chick had been born in his time, she would have been a little club queen who traveled and clubbed every day.

The skirts of this era are too conservative, and all wear pants underneath …. Xu Qi’an, who hadn’t seen anything, belabored in his heart and cupped his fists, “Your Highness.”

Seeing Xu Qi’an come to visit, she kicked the shuttlecock to the palace maid and pinched her waist, “Didn’t you say that after the case is over, you’ll come over every day to ask for peace.”

“This palace is not something that humble servant can just say enter…” as Xu Qi’an walked towards the direction of the gazebo, Princess Lin’an also followed.

She took the sweat towel handed to her by the maid and wiped her little face, smoothing out her otherwise delicate eyebrows.

“This palace wants to go out of the palace for fun recently, you accompany me.” Lin An returned the sweat towel to the maid and washed her hands again.

Xu Qi’an slanted a glance at her, “Don’t.”

Lin An instantly glared, “Dog slave.”

The two began to play the simmering eagle routine again, with the framed attempting to overwhelm Xu Qi’an with her flirtatious and amorous peach blossom eyes, and Xu Qi’an fighting it off with her dead fish eyes.

As expected, she was still the first to admit defeat, her round goose face slightly shy, averting her gaze and saying angrily, “If it’s Huaiqing, are you obedient?”

Huaiqing will not let me do this kind of death penalty okay, abducting the princess out of the palace is to be beheaded …. Xu Qi’an fished out the porcelain vase from his bosom:

“I recently stumbled upon a little something that I add to my cooking to enhance the flavor. It’s called chicken essence.”

In front of the framed, he was more casual and never referred to his humble position, and the Second Princess never cared about that.

“Chicken essence…what a strange name.” Lin An smiled and said, “There is no silver to spend again right, this palace will reward you with another painting, well, the treasury sent an ivory pen, it is said to be quite valuable, I don’t love to write either, so I will give it to you.”

Xu Qi’an immediately said, “Your Highness has misunderstood, I didn’t come here for the reward, I willingly worked as an ox for the princess.”

Prosper was a sucker for sweet talk and was instantly delighted, “So what do you want?”

“Please, Your Highness, convert it into silver.”

“To silver also into ….” Framing her hand on her cheek, she gazed at him with a smile, her mesmerized peach blossom eyes as if she were gazing at her lover.

“This palace is bored, the shuttlecock is tired of playing, you tell me a story, just tell me that last time that Journey to the West.”

“Okay your highness, this time with you to talk about the three borrowed banana fan.” Xu Qi’an sipped the tea served by the palace maid, moistening his throat with examples:

“One day, the Tang Monk and his disciples came to the Flaming Mountain, where the fire was so great that they could not fly over it. The Land Lord told Sun Da Sheng that if he wanted to extinguish the flames of the Flaming Mountain, he had to ask for a banana fan like Princess Iron Fan. Speaking of that Princess Iron Fan, she was the wife of the King Bull Demon.”

“King Bull Demon? It’s Sun Da Sheng’s sworn brother.” Framed had a good memory and shouted out in a petulant voice.

“Yes, so Sun Da Sheng and Lady Cow, there is also an unknown connection.”

“What origin?”

“Princess and listen to me continue ….” Xu Qi’an glanced at the courtesan, “Go wait outside the pavilion.”

The courtesan behaved herself and left.

Xu Qi’an was relieved and continued, “When Sun Da Sheng came to Basho Cave, Princess Iron Fan warmly welcomed him in, but was not willing to lend him the banana fan. So the two engaged in a fierce physical fight.

“Sun Da Sheng turned into a worm and burrowed into Princess Iron Fan’s stomach and said, Sister-in-law, I am already inside you.

“Princess Iron Fan rolled on the ground in pain and gave in, offering her banana fan as long as Sun Da Sheng came out.

“Sun Da Sheng said, “Sister-in-law open your mouth, my old Sun is coming out.

“And that’s when the Bull Demon King was right outside the door, witnessing it all.”

“Then who does he help?” Lin An said bitterly, “One is a sworn brother and the other is a sworn wife. It’s hard to choose between the two.”

“No, King Bull Demon and Princess Iron Fan have made up.”