"Besides, there's something I'd like to report to Your Majesty," Xiao Tian changed the subject.
"Speak."
Little Dezi served a plate of fried spring rolls. The emperor couldn't help complaining, "I'm the emperor, yet the food I eat is not as good as yours. I kind of miss the dishes cooked by Yi Qing..."
"Not possible," Xiao Tian refused bluntly. "After her hand was scalded by the hot oil when making fried meatballs last time, I've forbidden her to cook anymore. She just cooks out of her own fancy. How can her cooking compare with that of the imperial kitchen? It's just that Your Majesty finds it fresh since you've only had it a couple of times."
"Stop talking nonsense. Come and have a taste! Come and have a taste!"
He wasn't senile yet! Don't try to fool him with such words. Xiao Tian just didn't want Yi Qing to cook for him and wanted to enjoy her cooking all by himself.
What "sharing weal and woe". Tsk tsk, it was all just fake brotherhood.
Xiao Tian really stood up and took a spring roll. He thought to himself that it tasted really bad, but said, "The taste is excellent. Your Majesty should think that there are still many people who can't even get enough to eat."
"Get out!"
"I'll get out after I finish talking."
He wanted to go home and eat the food cooked by Yi Qing.
"Speak quickly and get out quickly."
"The matter of the Yianbo Mansion was originally my own business, but now Yi Qing has to run around for it. I should do something myself. If I do something that crosses the line at that time, please turn a blind eye, Your Majesty."
The spring roll in the emperor's mouth, which didn't taste good in the first place, became even more unpalatable. He threw it onto the plate and said, "You've learned badly from Yi Qing. You tell me half and hide half. Be honest with me. What on earth do you want to do?"
"Lord Yian," Xiao Tian's eyes were filled with coldness.
"What about him? Didn't you say before that you'd live in peace with him?"
"But now I've changed my mind. Because I didn't have Yi Qing and Baozi before," Xiao Tian said.
They both knew very well why Lord Yian had returned to the capital.
After his "death", Lord Yian couldn't wait to bring Lady Sima back to fight for the inheritance. The targets were his woman and son. How could Xiao Tian swallow this insult?
The emperor sighed and said, "Xiao Tian, listen to my advice. Let it go. Just don't let them succeed. There's no need to confront them head - on. After all, he's your biological father who gave birth to and raised you. If you make a scene, you'll feel guilty in the future."
Xiao Tian didn't say a word, but his attitude showed his resistance.
"Fine. Family affairs are like drinking water. One knows whether it's cold or warm. I won't say anything more," the emperor said in a rare serious tone. "Then tell me. What do you plan to do?"
"Cooperate with Yi Qing."
After hearing what he said, the emperor said, "Then wait until this matter is over before you leave the capital. It'll save you from seeing the chaos in the Yianbo Mansion and feeling uncomfortable in the end."
Xiao Tian agreed.
The next day, the empress dowager really asked the emperor to show mercy to Xiao Jinghong.
The emperor pretended to be in a difficult position and refused the empress dowager.
The empress dowager was also very shocked when she heard that it was smuggling. She murmured, "But Lady Sima told me that it was just because Xiao Jinghong was young and ignorant and was deceived by his friends."
The emperor said, "Naturally, Lady Sima is cunning. She thought you didn't understand and tried to deceive you. Fortunately, I know the ins and outs of this matter. Otherwise, I would definitely have agreed to you. By then, I'm afraid I would have been in a passive position."
The empress dowager said fearfully, "I almost made a big mistake. I trusted her so much. I never expected that she would deceive those above and hide the truth from those below!"
The emperor said, "Lady Sima is not a good person. Have you forgotten what happened back then?"
The empress dowager felt ashamed in front of the emperor. Naturally, she was in a bad mood towards Lady Sima when she got back. She sent a female official to the Yianbo Mansion to severely scold Lady Sima, saying that she had failed to educate her son and had deceived those above and hidden the truth from those below, and asked her to stay at home and reflect on her mistakes.
Lord Yian knew nothing about what Lady Sima had done. He didn't find out what Lady Sima had done until after the empress dowager's reprimand. He couldn't bear it anymore and said, "Are you stupid? You wanted to use the empress dowager to set a trap for the emperor. What good could you get?"
Lady Sima looked at him in disbelief. She couldn't accept that the one who spoke rudely to her was her cousin who had been so affectionate with her back then and was willing to do anything for her.
Lord Yian flicked his sleeves and left. Before leaving, he left a sentence, "Stay at home and reflect on your mistakes properly."
Lady Sima cried loudly.
Her son was arrested, her daughter ignored her, and her husband despised her... All these things pressed down on her, and Lady Sima felt dizzy.
But she couldn't fall. Her Hong'er was still waiting for her to save him.
At present, the only straw to clutch at was Nanny Wu.
One hundred thousand taels of silver... That was beyond her savings; and one hundred thousand taels of silver couldn't be wasted.
Lady Sima was spurred into a bit of fighting spirit. She asked someone to fetch water for her to wash up, and then carefully planned.
Although the empress dowager had issued the order of house arrest, she wouldn't really send someone to watch over her.
To save her son, defying the imperial edict didn't matter much.
Lady Sima asked someone to send a visiting card to the Deng Mansion. Fortunately, she quickly got a reply, asking her to go the next day.
While waiting for the reply, she had already asked the accountant to calculate the assets of the mansion.
The real estate in the capital and the surrounding land that could be quickly sold were worth about thirty or forty thousand taels of silver in total; Mrs. Fan had brought four shops as her dowry back then. They were all located in the most prosperous areas of the capital and had been making money continuously over the years, like four golden - laying hens.
If sold, these four shops could be worth one hundred thousand taels of silver; but if sold in a hurry, they would probably be undervalued, and the price would be about seventy or eighty thousand taels.
Actually, Lady Sima herself had more than fifty or sixty thousand taels, but this was her private treasury, and she didn't intend to use it at all.
She thought she had seen through it. Men were unreliable, so she had to hold more silver in her hand.
Lord Yian would definitely be very angry if he knew that she was selling the family assets, but compared to the pain of taking out her own silver, Lady Sima decided to make Lord Yian angry.
But the best idea was obviously not to touch the silver of the Yianbo Mansion at all and let the General's Mansion bleed instead.
Lady Sima made multiple preparations. On the one hand, she asked someone to inquire about the price, and on the other hand, she inquired about the news of the General's Mansion, ready to go to the General's Mansion at any time.
She had everything planned out. The next day, she quietly left the mansion in the carriage that the servants usually took and headed straight for the Deng Mansion.
Unexpectedly, the doorman of the Deng Mansion was very arrogant. He said he would go in to report but didn't even greet her.
Lady Sima could only wait anxiously in the carriage, secretly lifting the curtain from time to time to look outside.
She didn't know how long she had waited. It was so long that she had begun to doubt when suddenly there came the sound of horses' hooves.
Lady Sima looked out and saw more than a dozen imperial guards in red flying - fish uniforms escorting Deng Xiao, who was in regular clothes, riding towards the mansion.
She didn't know Deng Xiao, but she knew it was him.
Deng Xiao dismounted neatly. The servants of the mansion ran out to take the reins and whip and bowed respectfully to him.
Deng Xiao didn't react at all. With a blank face and looking straight ahead, he lifted his feet and walked inside.