Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 1514: Legend of the Hidden Sea 34

Zhuang Zhifu had experience in gift-giving, and he directly suggested, "When I was the Minister of Works, I was responsible for the construction of the Zhongzhou dam. Although I lost my job because of it, no one knows the hydrological conditions of Zhongzhou better than me. Princess Canghai of Qinghe has now gone to Zhongzhou to serve as the River Patrol Censor. I believe she also needs this information."

However, Jiang Xiang keenly realized that perhaps there had been some unpleasant things between the Zhuang family and Zang Hai. Even though those unpleasant things had been revealed with the death of Zhuang Luyin, Zang Hai had indeed stood behind Zhuang Zhixing at the time, and this must be taken into consideration.

But Zhuang Zhifu's wife thought that what Zhuang Zhifu said was right. "I think everyone in the capital knows what kind of person our husband is. Now we just need to express our gratitude to the King of Qinghe openly. It would be great if our husband could provide a little help to the Tibetan Censor."

Jiang Xiang swallowed his thoughts. Anyway, as long as the current banker was not conspicuous, it would be great.

Xiao Jinyue, who received the thank-you gift, realized for the first time the talent of Zhuang Zhifu, a corrupt and stingy man. "I didn't expect this guy to be so good at accounting."

Shen Mudan smiled and said, "Why don't you hire a proper accountant for our school, Your Majesty?"

Don't mention it, Xiao Jinyue really had such an idea, "I'll leave this matter to you. Go ask Zhuang Zhifu if he is willing. Otherwise, it would be a good idea to let him look after the accounts under you."

Seeing that Xiao Jinyue was serious, and considering the grudge between Zanghai and the Zhuang family, Shen Mudan would not let Zhuang Zhifu stay under her nose. Besides, it was already very good to be able to work in the Charity Bureau under Xiao Jinyue's name as a teacher to teach how to read, do and calculate accounts. The Zhuang family should not covet other things.

Shen Mudan extended a helping hand, and Jiang Xiang couldn't help but cry for joy. Originally, she would never have wanted to think about going to a place like the Charity Bureau to teach a group of children who couldn't take the imperial examinations, but who could have made her family of four now have to rely on the remaining influence of her mother's family?

What's more, Zhuang Zhixing is about to rise, and she has to consider the impact that Zhuang Zhixing will bring.

Zhuang Zhifu was just a nobody, but the data and information he provided about the river embankments in Zhongzhou were really useful. Zang Hai went through life and death and increased the remuneration for the people. Only in just half a year did he rebuild the river embankment and plan the location of the reservoir, waiting for the construction to start.

For this reason, almost all officials in Zhongzhou were replaced, and many high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works were also dismissed. Otherwise, Zhuang Zhifu, who had already had an outburst, could not be pushed out to take the blame again.

By the time Zang Hai returned to Beijing, nearly a year had passed since he set out on an inspection tour of the Zhongzhou rivers.

At the wharf outside Beijing, Xiao Jinyue went out early after receiving the news to wait in person to pick someone up. The luxurious carriage of the Qinghe Palace was not the most beautiful scenery at the wharf; the tall cargo ships coming and going were.

These days, there is no clear distinction between cargo ships and passenger ships, but there is a distinction between high and low. The tall cargo ships are right in front of us, and coolies traveling between them are working hard to carry heavy loads with their bare chests in the cool breeze. On the other side, separated by two docks, is the dock that is agreed upon by everyone and is for the nobles to dock.

Here, there was also an endless stream of servants coming and going carrying boxes and parcels, but at least from their clothes and faces one could tell the huge gap between them.

These people were neatly dressed and their faces were naturally much fairer than those of the coolies over there. Even the coolies hired temporarily were selected from those who were strong and well-groomed and neat, to avoid offending the nobles.

Although Zang Hai went to Zhongzhou on official business, he always had some free time. When he went out, Xiao Jinyue generously gave him a lot of silver notes. Zang Hai was willing to spend money, and whenever he saw a specialty that he thought was good, he would always buy some.

But even though they exchanged a lot of letters, and even though he was far away in Zhongzhou, he still had enough clothes and hadn't seen Xiao Jinyue in person. Sometimes Cang Hai felt very uncomfortable and wished he could grow a pair of wings so that he could travel between Zhongzhou and the capital overnight, so that he wouldn't be separated from Xiao Jinyue every day.

Shen Mudan, the chief historian of the Qinghe Palace, personally stood at the dock to welcome Cang Hai off the boat, "Your Excellency is finally back, the prince has been looking forward to it--"

Both of them are fifth-rank officials. Although one belongs to the outer court and the other to the inner court, they always have to be polite when they meet. Zang Hai was overjoyed and stretched his neck to look behind Shen Mudan.

Seeing Zang Hai so impatient, Shen Mudan couldn't help but laugh secretly, "The prince is waiting for you in the carriage in front."

After hearing this, Zang Hai immediately left his master Gao Ming and senior brother Guan Feng behind, lifted his clothes, stepped over Shen Mudan and ran towards the luxurious carriage.

Shen Mudan covered her mouth with a smile and hurried to follow. Gao Ming, with an embarrassed and amused look on his face, described for his apprentice: "This Cang Hai, it's because he was away for too long this time--"

Shen Mudan cleared her throat and said, "Master Gao is right. Our prince is also thinking about you. He has postponed many things and come to pick you up in person."

Gao Ming didn't have any other intentions. He was quite happy to hear Shen Mudan say that. He wasn't young anymore, and he just hoped that after taking revenge, Zang Hai could live his life in peace and contentment. It would be best if he had a wife and children and a warm bed.

In the past, when he saw that Xiao Jinyue had no feelings for Zang Hai, he was secretly worried that such a passionate marriage would not last long. Fortunately, no matter how much feelings Xiao Jinyue had for Zang Hai, she was willing to cooperate. He could see Xiao Jinyue's intentions and felt relieved.

Xiao Jinyue also invited Liu Chu to join her in welcoming Zang Hai at the Qinghe Palace, but Zang Hai had to report to the palace first, so Xiao Jinyue accompanied him and told Zang Hai about the situation in the capital in the carriage.

But Zang Hai just felt wronged: "Don't you miss me, my lord?"

"I calculated the time and took a shower early this morning—"

Xiao Jinyue smiled and moved closer to smell it. She really smelled the faint fragrance with a hint of greenery that she liked. She immediately praised it, "This fragrance smells like roses mixed with the scent of greenery. It sounds special."

Zang Hai took Xiao Jinyue into his arms and secretly sniffed the fragrance of Xiao Jinyue's hair. The minty scent was refreshing and made him feel at ease.

Xiao Jinyue also held Zang Hai's other hand on his knee and secretly decided to put the matter of the child on the agenda.

It would take time for Zang Hai to return, but fortunately the welcoming banquet had taken this into consideration and was scheduled in the evening, so he could still have a meal in the palace at noon. It was also a good opportunity to give Emperor Zhenshun a tight rein and tell him not to let himself go too much. If he started to harm the common people outside, she would not tolerate it.