Chapter 519: Bright Wind and Moon
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
These simple words warmed Yu Youyao’s heart. She quickly said, “I drank a big bowl of ginger soup in Grandmother’s house. I don’t have to drink it anymore!”
Zhou Linghuai was caught between laughter and tears. “I didn’t ask you to drink the ginger soup. Yin San hunted a stag. Nanny Xu personally cooked the deer soup and simmered it on the charcoal fire. Have a bowl to warm your body.”
Every day, she would drink ginger soup with a bitter expression. Her expression was as if she was facing death.
That was why he had asked Yin San to hunt the deer.
However, this deer was not easy to hunt. It depended on luck. There were some families in the capital who specially raised deer in their manors. However, a deer was not easy to raise.
Yu Youyao’s eyes lit up. “Eating deer in autumn and winter is superior nourishment. The deer’s entire body is a treasure. Deer meat can nourish the spleen and stomach and nourish the blood and qi. Eating deer meat in autumn and winter is both warm and nourishing. Cousin, you should eat more. Deer blood is good too. It can be made into deer blood wine to nourish your weakness, regulate blood vessels, and dissipate the cold. It can also be made into deer blood powder. It’s good for your health…”
It was clearly venison soup that had been prepared for her, but the first thing she thought of was the benefits of deer to him.
Zhou Linghuai took the venison soup from Chun Xiao. “Have some soup first.”
Yu Youyao took the bowl but put it aside. She scooped another bowl of soup from the bowl Chun Xiao had brought and handed it to her cousin. “Cousin, have some too.”
Zhou Linghuai’s lips curved.
Nanny Xu’s culinary skills were very good. The deer meat soup was fragrant and not greasy, and the meat was also very soft. There were ginseng, angelica, licorice, fungus, large dates, and other medicinal herbs in it. As soon as the soup entered her mouth, she felt a dryness in her body. This dryness came and went quickly. When the dryness disappeared, she felt comfortable all over.
Yu Youyao liked it very much. “Let’s set up a charcoal stove in the house at noon and roast the venison, okay?”
Zhou Linghuai nodded. “I still have some grape wine from last time. I can have a glass or two with the roasted meat.”
At the thought of the sweet and strong taste of wine, Yu Youyao’s eyes lit up again. “Cousin, you actually hid the wine from me.”
Real wine was rare. Her cousin had distributed some to everyone in the residence and also given her a small bottle. Nanny Xu did not let her drink it during the day, but she would let her drink a small cup every now and then before she fell asleep at night. She would finish it not long after.
She had thought that the wine was gone.
A smile appeared in Zhou Linghuai’s eyes. “Since you like wine, I kept a little more. If I hadn’t hidden it, how could I have kept it until today?”
Yu Youyao smiled. “Since it’s reserved for me, it’s all mine.”
Seeing her teary eyes, Zhou Linghuai couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s yours. It’s all yours. I’ll get Chang An to send it to you later.”
Nanny Xu knew her limits and wouldn’t let her drink too much at once.
Yu Youyao was overjoyed. “Thank you, Cousin. By the way, have there been any families with the surname Lu in the court who have been dismissed or demoted in recent years?
She was just asking casually.
Zhou Linghuai’s gaze flickered. “There are at least dozens of officials surnamed Lu in the Imperial Court. I don’t know everyone who has been dismissed or demoted, but one of them is a little special.”
Yu Youyao quickly asked, “Who is this person?
To be able to take out such an ambitious person like Ji Feng, he did not look like an ordinary court official no matter how she looked at it. Perhaps he was the person her cousin had mentioned.
Seeing that she was curious, Zhou Linghuai said, “The former Minister of Justice, Lu Guangren, came from a poor family. He was a lucky scholar who entered the Hanlin Academy and became the Minister of Justice and Grand Secretary of the Jianji Hall. The previous emperor valued Lu Guangren very much and every time he was entrusted with a heavy responsibility. His reputation in the cabinet had once far exceeded that of the Grand Secretary, Xia Yansheng. He was on par with Xia Yansheng and kept each other in check, so they were fine.”
Yu Youyao’s eyes widened. “What happened next?”
Zhou Linghuai smiled and said, “Four years ago, when the emperor invited the
King Li of Zhou into the capital, Lu Guangren objected strongly. However, at that time, Xia Yansheng said that he was sick at home, and there were people in the cabinet who colluded with the officials and nobles of the North. The Marquis of Weining and the Marquis of Changxing helped to encourage him. Lu Guangren was alone, but in the end, he couldn’t persuade the emperor.”
She did not expect that Lu Guangren was really related to King Li’s case. Yu Youyao frowned. “With Elder Lu’s status in the court at that time and his status as an elder of the two dynasties, persuading the emperor to retract his order was only to fulfill his duties as a minister. It seems a little unreasonable to dismiss him from his official position. Is there any inside story after that?”
For some reason, she had an inexplicable feeling that Lu Jifeng’s grandfather was probably this elegant Elder Lu.
Zhou Linghuai nodded. “King Li of Zhou committed suicide in the golden hall.
The court officials only wanted to hide the truth. Lu Guangren was furious and spouted nonsense in the royal court, pointing out that the emperor was unworthy of being the king and shaking the country. As his words were alarmist and treasonous, the emperor convicted him of offending his superiors. On account that he was an elder of the clueless dynasty, he was asked to resign in his old name.”
Yu Youyao sighed in her heart. “What hurts an old minister like him the most is that the king he’s loyal to doesn’t have the heart to guide the country and rule the world, but he only knows how to look at the sky from a well and play with power. On the other hand, in the court, he’s greedy for power and has caused a loyal minister to die in vain. He even has to bear a bad reputation. It’s probably fine if he doesn’t become an official.”
Otherwise, with Elder Lu’s status, it probably wouldn’t be so easy for the emperor to remove him from his official position.
Zhou Linghuai nodded. “Not long after Elder Lu was dismissed from his position, his whereabouts were unknown. Previously, the court was very secretive about King Li of Zhou’s case, and very few people mentioned it. It was naturally the same for Elder Lu, who had resigned because of King Li of Zhou. Even though King Li of Zhou has been rehabilitated, Elder Lu has resigned because of his old age, so no one mentioned him.”
Elder Lu’s arrogant words back then had now been verified. For the sake of the emperor’s face, no one dared to mention this person.
As an elder of two dynasties, he had once been an official and a deputy minister. He had contributed to the country and was virtuous. It had only been three to four years since the dynasty, but no one had cared about him. Perhaps someone had deliberately downplayed Elder Lu l s previous achievements in the dynasty and deliberately tarnished his previous reputation. This was simply a great irony.
Just by looking at Lu Jifeng, she knew that this Elder Lu, who used to be in charge of the court, had probably long been buried in the soil.
Yu Youyao felt stifled and sneered. “Did no one mention it, or did no one dare to? The cabinet has agreed on the follow-up to the King Li of Zhou’s case. Most of the people who were implicated in King Li of Zhou’s case back then were avenged, but only Elder Lu was bypassed. No one will believe that there’s nothing fishy.”
It was obvious that Xia Yansheng had something to do with Elder Lu’s official position.
If Xia Yansheng did not mention Elder Lu, who in the court would dare to?
Then, she thought of all these years of inaction by the cabinet. How could Yu Youyao not know that Xia Yansheng had suppressed Elder Lu, causing the originally clear rules of the court to become more and more toxic?
Zhou Linghuai changed the topic.. “Why are you suddenly asking about this?”
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