Shengyang Teahouse was the most famous teahouse in Shengyang City. People from all walks of life in the city would go there to drink tea and chat when they had nothing to do. From the powerful royal officials to the hardworking commoners, the business of the teahouse had always been very good. The boss, Tong Sao, was sincere and practical. She had received a lot of praise.
The teahouse had three floors, and there were additional seats on both sides of the door. These seats were for guests who didn't stay for long to drink tea. Most of them wanted plain water, which was very cheap. There was a big porcelain bowl for one coin. The boss was a good person. He would also provide cooling herbal tea to relieve the heat in summer, but the price wouldn't increase. If the passers-by weren't really in a hurry, they would stop to drink tea before leaving. It was also to take care of the boss 'business.
The first floor was decorated in a simple and unadorned manner. There was only a pot of green plants in a corner. There were about 20 square tables that could accommodate more than 100 people. There was a purple clay tea set on each table. Most of the people sitting here were commoners or small families. After a hard day's work, they would come here to order a pot of tea and snacks to rest. Small families would come here to rest while shopping or doing business.
There were all kinds of aged tea leaves, and the price of desserts was generally between one to five taels of silver. It was very affordable for customers who had a few spare money on hand. The boss would not replace it with tea. Although the taste was not very good, it could satisfy them. After all, they knew that they could not go to the second floor with their own money, so there were few disputes.
The decoration on the second floor was fresh and elegant. The square tables were separated by screens. The tea set was made of high-quality porcelain. Elegant poems or pleasing paintings were hung on the walls. Flowers were placed against the wall between each screen. In order not to disturb the guests, the boss hung a bead curtain against the wall.
There was a lot of tea provided here, and the desserts were more exquisite than those on the first floor. It depended on the customer's request. Of course, they could also order the old tea leaves on the first floor. However, most of the people who came here to drink tea were scholars with some family background, or officials who were very particular about tea. Therefore, they all wanted the new leaves that were picked in the past. The cost was between ten to fifty taels of silver. The waiter usually received a tip of one to two taels of silver when he fulfilled the boss's request to protect himself.
The third floor was actually decorated into four rooms by the boss, named after plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum. The interior was also decorated with these four words as the standard. Those who came here to drink tea were the rich and powerful people, generally the royal family, first-class officials, and wealthy people. Although it was not as crowded as the two floors below, the income was one against ten.
The best tea leaves were brewed with snow mountain water or dew. There were even professionals who brewed them. Usually, a pot of tea would cost nearly a hundred taels. Adding on the delicacies that were even more exquisite and delicious than the ones below, it would cost more than a hundred taels at least. The person who served them was the shopkeeper of Shengyang Teahouse.
Everyone in Shengyang City knew that the owner of this teahouse was not the owner. They only knew that the owner of the teahouse was very mysterious, but they never thought that this mysterious owner of the teahouse would be their wise and mighty emperor, Gu Moran.
At this moment, Gu Moran and his brothers were sitting on the second floor of the teahouse, listening to the surrounding discussions about the autumn examination. The three of them frowned tightly. They never expected to unexpectedly hear about the corruption and bribery of the officials of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs after leaving the palace.
"Do you think His Majesty made King Jing the chief examiner because he knew that the officials in the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs were bribed?”
"Who knows? Sigh, you'd better not say it. If word gets out, you'll definitely be in trouble.”
"What are you afraid of? His Majesty can't hear you in the palace. The two princes are also busy every day, so it's fine. Ai, this young master originally wanted to send some money to the chief examiner to buy the examination questions, but I didn't expect that Yuanling would be so stubborn. Tsk, he received a lot of money during the last autumn examination. Now that the chief examiner has changed, he's become timid.”
"Hey, you can't say that without evidence. Be careful that Yuanling won't let you go to high school on purpose.”
" Humph!" The candidate snorted coldly and really shut up. He was probably afraid that Yuan Ling would make things difficult for him.
Gu Mo Xi immediately stood up and walked out of the cubicle. With a wave of her hand, a person appeared out of thin air in front of her. He was dressed in black, his knife-like face did not have any fluctuations. He stood there quietly, his steady aura undetectable. This was the hidden guard, a guard hidden in the dark, loyal to only one master for his entire life.
However, this secret guard named Yan was not ordinary. He led the secret guards of King Jing's Imperial Residence. Other than protecting King Jing's Gu Moxi, he also had to carry out the king's orders. He was very capable in all aspects among the secret guards. He had followed Gu Moxi since he was young and could be said to have grown up with his master. Now, Gu Moxi only needed to make a move or a look to understand his meaning. Just like now, he understood the king's meaning with just a wave of his hand. In a flash, he went downstairs to the examinee who had just spoken.
Gu Mo Xi turned around and returned to her seat. Her slender and delicate fingers broke the pastry and placed it by the black cat's mouth. She watched as it licked the crumbs off its palm bit by bit. Its warm and slippery tongue accidentally touched her skin, making her inexplicably greedy for this touch. Her charming phoenix eyes were as gentle as water.
"Hey, this cat is eating snacks. I'll feed it too.”Gu Moyan looked at it in surprise, his bright peach blossom eyes filled with infinite interest. As he spoke, he and his second brother also broke the snacks and handed them to the black cat's mouth, looking at it with great anticipation.
Lan Xi couldn't take it anymore and her lips twitched. She turned her head and continued to curl up into a ball to sleep, ignoring Gu Moyan who seemed to have been wronged. He looked at the powder in his palm and then at the black ball. He could only pat his palm and continue to drink his tea in frustration. His pair of hurt peach blossom eyes occasionally glanced at the black cat sleeping soundly on his second brother's lap.
Gu Moxi could not help but feel satisfied. When his third brother reached out his hand, he was really worried that the black cat would eat it. Just thinking about it made him feel uncomfortable. He hoped that Xi 'er would only eat what he fed her and only rely on him. He even wanted to take away that dazzling paw. His inexplicable possessiveness showed up at this moment.
Yan returned very quickly and bent over to whisper in Gu Mo Xi's ear. After that, he cupped his fists and quietly retreated. He continued to hide in the dark and waited for orders. His eyes fell on the black cat and immediately moved away. Ever since the black cat appeared, he felt that His Highness had changed. His seven emotions and six desires were controlled by the black cat. Basically, he was happy and angry with the black cat's joy and anger, and his hobbies were his hobbies. For example, His Highness didn't like to eat fish, but ever since the black cat came, half of his daily meals were fish food. His Highness would even eat a few mouthfuls himself.
He didn't know whether to describe this change as good or bad. The frustration in his heart couldn't be described with words. He thought it might be because of the black cat. If the black cat was a woman, it would be too easy to understand. However, the black cat wasn't. In addition, he vaguely felt that the black cat was not simple. Sometimes, the eyes it revealed were not something that animals could have. When he looked at it in the dark, he almost thought that it was a human.
The next day, the exam began again. It was still in the crowded examination hall, but the number of students who came to take the exam was much less. Although the other students felt strange, they did not think too much about it. They thought that those people had given up and went back. They focused on answering the questions with what they had learned, hoping to be able to pass the exam and glorify their family.
Today, Gu Moxi and Yuan Ling, the head of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs, were a little nervous. Gu Moxi, who seemed to be observing Yuan Ling in the dark, and Yuan Ling, who seemed to be calm but was secretly nervous, both of them attracted the attention of the Prime Minister on the right. He raised his eyebrows or smiled strangely. He had his own conclusion.
Finally, time passed nervously in Yuan Ling. The papers for the second round of the exam had been put away and sealed. Some of the students who left had ugly expressions, some were extremely relaxed, and some were full of confidence. Gu Mo Xi and the Prime Minister left together without even looking at Yuan Ling, which made Yuan Ling somewhat confused.
After lunch, the Emperor suddenly issued an edict to summon all the civil and military officials to the palace for a meeting. The officials did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly changed into their court clothes and rushed to the Virtue Martial Gate. They were thinking about what important matter had caused the Emperor to issue an edict at this time. The officials who knew that they had committed a crime felt guilty.
Coming to Shangyang Palace for the second time in a day, the young and handsome young Emperor Gu Moran was already sitting on the dragon throne. On his left and right sat the equally young and promising King Jing Gu Moxi and King Wu Gu Moyan. Seeing this, the officials knew that something big was about to happen.
On the high seat, Gu Moran saw that all the officials had arrived and went straight to the point." This time, I have summoned all the beloved ministers to come because of the bribery of the Ministry of Personnel during the autumn examination last year, King Jing.”
There was a commotion among the officials, especially the officials from the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs. They hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down. Their arms that were supporting themselves on the ground could not help but tremble, and their faces turned pale. The other officials immediately understood what had happened and cast disdainful looks at them. Although they did not contribute much, they were conscientious officials. At least the Emperor would not do anything to them. They could still get their salaries. They were greedy and got caught.
The officials of the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs were all extremely regretful. They were originally clean officials, but their superior, Yuan Ling, not only accepted bribes but also pulled them down from their seats. After a while, they had colluded with each other. Now that the Emperor had exposed them, they all cast resentful gazes at Yuan Ling.
Gu Moxi didn't care about what the officials were thinking. She stood up with the sleeping black cat in her arms. Her voice was as mellow and magnetic as wine, and it was now cold. Her sexy thin lips spat out words that made people tremble in fear," This Prince was ordered to be the main examiner of this autumn examination. I accidentally heard that an official from the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs had accepted bribes. Now that it has been verified, I have handed over a group of witnesses and physical evidence to my Imperial Brother."”After saying that, he sat down and lowered his head to stroke the black cat's shiny fur, ignoring what happened next.
All the officials were shocked. They looked up at the Emperor's personal eunuch, Little Yuanzi, and only then did they realize that he was holding a stack of account books. The kneeling officials knew that they were doomed because they had only seen the account books yesterday, and now they were in the Emperor's hands.
"Your Majesty, I was forced by Yuanling. Please show mercy.”An official from the Ministry of Official Personnel Affairs shouted loudly. He had really been forced. He did not wish to live now. He only hoped that the Emperor would spare his family.
As soon as the official opened his mouth, the others followed suit and begged for mercy. However, Yuan Ling did not say a word, as if he had already accepted his fate.
Gu Moran thought silently for a while, but in the end, he did not soften his heart. Corrupted officials could not be left alive. He signaled Little Yuanzi to listen to him read out the decree that had long been drafted, and then watched the guards drag away the officials who kept begging for mercy. From the beginning to the end, he was unmoved, once again letting everyone present witness the young emperor's fierce means.
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