Gu Chengyu knew this was not sothing that could be decided imdiately. After all, this matter was thankless; perhaps he was being too naive.
Having figured this out, he didn’t feel disappointed. Gu Chengyu smiled, stood up, and took his leave.
After digging a pit for the Crown Prince, he left leisurely, just as he had co lightly. With a wave of his sleeve, he left behind a conflicted Crown Prince.
After returning to the mansion from his scattered position, Gu Chengyu took out the previous morandum and improved it slightly, seeing as it was still too general.
Now, he only awaited the Emperor’s summons, estimating that the Emperor should have so free ti tomorrow.
In the past two years, the Emperor’s health had worsened compared to before; he was never very healthy to begin with. As he aged, his body recovered slower.
In the past couple of days, because of the hot weather, the Emperor’s health further deteriorated, and there was no court session this morning.
This kind of situation had occurred quite often over the past two years. Gu Chengyu was sowhat worried; how many more years could such an elderly Emperor endure?
Up till now, his official rank was only Secondary Fifth Rank, far too slow! Next year, when the Hanlin Academy disperses, he is certain to be promoted, moving into the Six Ministries.
But Gu Chengyu was not satisfied with the pace of promotion; he wanted to rise to within Second and Third Rank before the new emperor ascended the throne.
After all, now the Emperor sowhat relied on him, but who knew if the new emperor would continue to employ him after the Emperor passed away?
Take the Crown Prince, for example; after becoming an official in the Chamberlain’s Office in the past two years, the Crown Prince didn’t particularly favor him. Although the Emperor played a significant role in this, after the Emperor’s demise, would the Crown Prince have no qualms about him?
Therefore, Gu Chengyu felt he must seize the ti. Now, the heavy rain incident in Jiangnan was an opportunity.
If he could list asures to prevent the collapse of the dike one by one, and after the Emperor ordered their execution they produced evident beneficial effects, that would be half the success.
The rest could be slowly planned; he would surely find a chance. Gu Chengyu suddenly rembered that a few days ago, so courtiers ntioned during court assembly that ever since Prince Jing went to the sealed Fengqing Prefecture, the taxes in Fengqing Prefecture had been much less than in previous years.
Fengqing Prefecture was never a prosperous place; before it barely managed to pay taxes. In the past two years, it declined even further, still owing the court several tens of thousands of silver coins in taxes.
Several ministers petitioned the Emperor to send officials from the Ministry of Revenue to audit the account, to see if Fengqing Prefecture was truly in such difficulty.
The aning in the words was clear to all, blatantly suggesting that Prince Jing was pocketing the funds, those silver coins went to Prince Jing.
Gu Chengyu also analyzed that Prince Jing’s days in the fief over the past two years were not necessarily going well.
The place was originally dominated by factional forces; suddenly it beca a place under Prince Jing’s jurisdiction; could those people remain peaceful?
Therefore, for the first two years, Prince Jing had to expend so effort to understand and resist those local tyrants, and speaking of taxes, the silver coins were probably indeed embezzled by Prince Jing.
Back then, when the Emperor ordered the princes to go to their fiefs, he granted Prince Jian Mansion about fifty thousand silver coins, in addition to the annual salary.
A prince’s annual salary calculated amounts to about ten thousand silver coins; ten thousand may sound like a lot, but the annual expenditure of a princely mansion is substantial.
Relying solely on ten thousand silver coins cannot support the expenses of a princely mansion.
The prince’s fief must pay taxes to the court, and the prince can only receive a small portion according to the proportion.
Therefore, when princes reached their fiefs, they would go to great lengths to gather silver coins in their domains. Prince Jing reaching for taxes is understandable.
In a place like Fengqing Prefecture, silver is spent massively, not to ntion contending with other local tyrants; it all requires spending considerable manpower and resources.
Moreover, if hands do not reach towards taxes, there is no other place to gather silver coins.
Perhaps the Emperor still felt pity for Prince Jing, so he turned a blind eye to the matter.
...
Inside Chengqian Palace, the Emperor leaned against the bolster, his eyes half-closed, seeming asleep yet not asleep. Seeing this, De’an hurriedly stepped forward to re-cover the blanket slipping from the Emperor’s waist.
The Emperor was startled awake by De’an’s action, slightly regaining his spirits.
"What hour is it?" His voice was sowhat hoarse, speaking seed much more laborious than usual.
"Reporting to the Emperor! It’s already the early evening. Would you like to rest now?" De’an cautiously observed the Emperor’s expression, softly replying.
"So late? Has there been any reply from Tianji Taoist?" The Emperor sat up, and De’an imdiately stepped forward to assist.
"None yet!"
The Emperor furrowed his brows, then let out a big yawn. As one ages, one’s energy dwindles!
Two years ago at this hour, he was still reviewing morials, but now?
The more the Emperor pondered, the more he felt he hardly had many years left to live, the thoughts in his heart becoming ever more intense.
"Go invite Tianji Taoist over!" The Emperor pushed De’an aside and lay back down.
De’an glanced at the Emperor and could only respond as he exited Chengqian Palace.
Impatiently waiting inside Chengqian Palace, the Emperor finally saw Tianji Taoist arrive an hour later.
Tianji Taoist had crane-like hair and youthful features, radiating an aura of righteousness, and walked with remarkable ease.
The Emperor’s face lit up instantly; he looked eagerly at Tianji Taoist’s hands, but they were empty, causing the Emperor to feel disappointnt.
"Is it unsuccessful?"
Tianji Taoist approached the Emperor, bowing in courtesy.
"This humble one greets the Emperor!"
The Emperor, sowhat impatient, said, "Rise! Grandmaster, is it not successful again?"
Tianji Taoist stood up and smiled mysteriously. He stroked his beard, "Emperor! What do you see here?"
With that, he pulled out a porcelain bottle from his chest and handed it to the Emperor.
The Emperor rejoiced, "This? Is this what you called the elixir of immortality?"
Excited beyond belief, with a trace of disbelief on his face, he reached out, trembling, eager to grab it.
To his surprise, Tianji Taoist pulled his hand back, not handing the porcelain bottle to the Emperor.
The Emperor was very puzzled, even slightly dissatisfied. What did this an? Was Tianji changing his mind?
"Emperor! The elixir of immortality you speak of is not so easily crafted. I have concentrated on its research for decades and have yet to find the thod."
Tianji Taoist sighed, his brows furrowed, speaking with a touch of helplessness.
Upon hearing this, the Emperor’s heart sank terribly. Tianji Taoist had been in the palace researching elixirs for over a decade, and he too had studied this alchemy technique with Tianji Taoist.
It was just a pity his aptitude was limited and he had no leisure, always failing to grasp the thod.
Furthermore, every year his private treasury provided precious herbs and silver coins for alchemy, spending greatly, already unable to support two people simultaneously practicing alchemy.
Thus, over the past couple of years his interest had waned sowhat, placing all his hope on Tianji Taoist.
But now Tianji Taoist’s aning was that after investing so much financial resources, hadn’t he even reached the threshold of the elixir of immortality?
Tianji Taoist instantly grasped the Emperor’s thoughts, his heart tensing, and promptly said, "Although we cannot craft the elixir of immortality right now, I have reached the threshold. Plus, the elixir in my hand has uses that the Emperor cannot even imagine."
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