In the midst of the hustle and bustle, time flies in the blink of an eye. Unconsciously, it had been more than three months since the separation from Murong Chong, and the Rongwang Mansion began to prepare for Lin Ruo's birthday banquet.

Although they are separated from each other, the correspondence between the two is two a month, and they never stop.

Last time, Murong Chong said in his letter that Daiguo had agreed to send peace talks, although he did not say it explicitly, but Lin Ruo thought that the other party was planning to come back before her birthday, and he was happy in his heart, and he was also happy that the palace was preparing lively.

"Princess Rong is here later, wait for the old slave to go in and report to the emperor."

"There's Lao Chen's father-in-law."

Lin Ruo bowed slightly and waited respectfully outside the imperial study.

After noon, news came from the palace, saying that the emperor had summoned him, and Lin Ruo was busy changing his clothes and entering the palace.

Seeing the father-in-law who passed the message with a happy face, he guessed that it must be a good thing, and stuffed a lot of tips in the past, and the other party confided that it turned out that the emperor had received a military report from Prince Rong from the north.

In this way, it seems that the peace talks are going quite smoothly, and Murong Chong will soon be able to return to Beijing in triumph!

Thinking of this, the corners of Lin Ruo's mouth unconsciously rose, and the corners of his eyebrows and eyes were smiling.

"Princess Rong, please."

The old eunuch Chen Guan came out after a while and led Lin Ruo into the imperial study.

"Minhui see the emperor, long live my emperor, long live, long live."

"Arro is here? Get up. Chen Guan, sit down! ”

When Emperor Mingzong was in a good mood, he treated Lin Ruo especially kindly.

Lin Ruo returned the thank you grace appropriately, looked at the emperor with a smile, and asked curiously: "The emperor is happy today, but what is the happy event?" ”

Emperor Mingzong smiled: "Well, what is the joy of guessing?" If you guess right, you will be rewarded! ”

Lin Ruo thought for a moment and asked, "Minhui is brave, this happy event is related to Minhui?" ”

Emperor Mingzong didn't say anything, but the smile in his eyebrows and eyes was stronger, and some old naughty children were naughty, nodded Lin Ruo, and said, "Guess again!" ”

"That's ......" Lin Ruo frowned and thought about it, and then said happily, "Ah! Could it be that the prince is coming back? ”

"You're a girl, you're really smart!" Emperor Mingzong took Murong Chong's military report in his hand, and shook it at Lin Ruo, "The eight hundred miles sent by Chong'er are urgent, and Daiguo has agreed to hand over the gold mines in Danzhou to Donglu, and the contract can be signed in two days." ”

"Great!"

Lin Ruo clapped his hands and applauded, and by the way, he sang praises to Emperor Mingzong, and praised Emperor Mingzong's dragon heart, and his hearty laughter could be heard outside the door of the imperial study.

"Chong'er's errand is beautiful! However, you don't have to give you a lot of credit. After you returned from the North, I promised that if Chong'er snatched the gold mine back, I would reward you for your meritorious deeds, along with the credit for solving the hidden dangers of the Northern Thi Royal Court! No jokes. Have you thought about what reward you want? ”

Lin Ruowu's eyes rolled and said, "Your Majesty, it is within the scope of the matter to eat the king's fortune and share worries for the king." The emperor and the emperor's grandmother are kind to Minhui and the Lin family, and the Lin family is dead. Now, the Lin family is not short of food and clothing, and they enjoy wealth and wealth, and it stands to reason that they should not ask for rewards. Since the emperor said that the king has no jokes, then the emperor's reward, Minhui should receive it. However, Minhui wants to ask the emperor for one thing first, and then decide what reward to want, I don't know what the emperor wants? ”

"What the hell are you talking about? Tell me about it! ”

"Your Majesty, before I say it, Minhui wants to ask for a favor first." Lin Ruo habitually puffed out his cheeks and cautiously put forward his request, "Your Majesty, you know, Minhui is straight, and what he says is straight, if there is anything wrong, please don't be angry." ”

Emperor Mingzong smiled: "You, it's like this every time." Forget it, I've grown up and know you can't hide words in your heart. Say, I, try not to get angry. ”

Lin Ruo grinned, with a child's coquettishness in his clear eyes: "Then I'll say it?" ”

Emperor Mingzong leaned on the dragon chair leisurely, looked at Lin Ruo for a long time, and said half-jokingly: "Well, let's say, I want to hear it, what kind of 'big rebellion' do you have." ”

Lin Ruo took a deep breath and asked, "Your Majesty, is the treasury very short of money?" ”

"What?"

"Your Majesty, don't be angry when you say it's okay! No jokes! ”

Seeing Emperor Mingzong raise his eyebrows, there were faint signs of anger, and Lin Ruo hurriedly offered his promise.

Emperor Mingzong's gaze looked straight at Lin Ruo, and after a while, he asked, "Who told you that my treasury is short of money?" ”

Lin Ruo blinked and said frankly: "Lord Shen......"

"Shen Di?"

"Yes, that's him."

"How could Shen Di tell you this?"

"It's not Lord Shen who said it personally, it's Lord Shen who sent someone from the household department to the grain store to find the shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper came to the palace to relay it to me."

"What did he say?"

Lin Ruo swallowed his saliva, confirmed that under the prestige of Emperor Mingzong, he was faintly suppressed in anger, slightly uneasy, and hesitated for a while before he said: "The shopkeeper said that Lord Shen asked the official messenger to tell him that the treasury was empty, so the price of grain collected by the household department was reduced to twelve taels per stone. ”

Emperor Mingzong's brows furrowed.

The adjustment of the price of grain collected by the household department must be agreed by the household department, and the fold shall be sent to the cabinet, and after the approval of the cabinet, the fold will be sent to the imperial study, and the price can only be adjusted with the consent of the emperor himself.

However, Emperor Mingzong has never seen the fold of adjusting grain prices, so where does the price adjustment come from?

This Shen Di is really bold!

Emperor Mingzong lowered his eyes and asked, "Is it really someone sent by the Ministry of Households?" ”

Lin Ruo nodded: "Come to face the person, the shopkeeper has a little more attention, I am afraid that someone will deliberately impersonate and frame the blame." So after the people left, I secretly sent a guy to follow behind the other party, and watched him enter the household with my own eyes, and then came to the palace to inform me. By the way, the guy also secretly inquired, the man's surname is Zhao, and he is a principal. ”

No matter how detailed it is, there will be no more.

In fact, it was easy for Lin Ruo to find out the detailed identity of Director Zhao, but she only clicked to the end.

To put it bluntly, it is better to leave some room to be more believable.

Looking at Emperor Mingzong's gloomy face, Lin Ruo spoke more carefully: "Your Majesty, Minhui also thought about it carefully, last year Shangyu suffered a flood, and transferred troops to the north, and the disaster relief and military salaries increased a lot; Coupled with the emperor's gift, the Lin family was exempted from business taxes for one year, and this increase and decrease made it possible for the treasury to be empty. But ......"

"But what?"

"Your Majesty, the Lin family owes the emperor's grace, if it is for the people of the community, even if the wealth of the Lin family is poured out, the Lin family will have no words. However, Ah Ruo didn't want to give up this favor and credit to Lord Shen. That's why I had the courage to ask......"

Emperor Mingzong's face became heavier and heavier, and Lin Ruo's voice became softer and softer.

In the end, Lin Ruo simply left the chair seat, knelt on the ground, and did not say a word.

People's hearts are greedy and unpredictable, so they keep an extra eye, so as not to die without a place to be buried.