“Aiyo.” Su Mingfeng exclaimed, “Why did you elbow me? I wanted to remind her just now, but she drank so quickly. What can I do?” Su Mingfeng sized up Xie Jingxing. “Besides, she’s the one who’s taken advantage, not you. What’s there to be angry about?”
Xie Jingxing ignored him and sat down at the table. He asked with a deep gaze, “Is what she said about the war horse true?”
Hearing this, Su Mingfeng’s expression turned ugly. Under Xie Jingxing’s sharp gaze, he said with difficulty, “It’s true.”
“Why did you hide it from me?” Xie Jingxing asked aggressively. Su Mingfeng shook his head and smiled bitterly. “Only my father and I have discussed this in private. I didn’t tell anyone, and nor did my father. I wanted to tell you after we figured out a way… But how did Miss Shen know about this? Could it be that she knows someone in the war horse stable? But the people there are all very royal to my father.”
Xie Jingxing glanced at Su Mingfeng. Although Su Mingfeng was also a talented person, he had been protected by the Su family since he was young and had never experienced any storms. Speaking of which, Shen Miao had countless trump cards in her hands, which exceeded his expectations time and time again. Xie Jingxing gave Shen Miao a strategy to “retreat”, but he did not expect Shen Miao to not use his strategy at all. Working with the Su family and other ministers who were close to the Su family could indeed save Shen Xin. However, the emperor was unpredictable. This time, even if he let Shen Xin off, given how powerful the Shen army was, he would sooner or later get rid of the thorn in his side.
However… had Shen Miao really not thought of this? Xie Jingxing did not think so.
Seeing that Xie Jingxing did not speak, Su Mingfeng became nervous. He knew that although his good friend was usually indifferent to politics, he knew the situation in the imperial court better than anyone. Su Mingfeng asked, “Why? Is there a problem?”
Xie Jingxing shook his head. “What are you planning to do?”
“It’s indeed very likely that the horse disease will eventually become a plague. This is a serious matter. My father is the commander in charge of war horses. If anything happens, the Su family will be the first to bear the brunt.” Su Mingfeng said, “If Miss Shen really isn’t lying to me, I think I’ll give it a try. Although it’s a little difficult to convince my father,… I’ll do my best.” After a pause, Su Mingfeng looked at Xie Jingxing. “What do you think of this deal?”
Xie Jingxing raised an eyebrow. “You’re definitely not the biggest winner in the deal, but you won’t suffer a loss either.” He glanced at Su Mingfeng. “Do as she says.”
Su Mingfeng lowered his head and was a little hesitant. “But… if the ministers join forces to impeach Shen Xin, won’t it give the emperor a good reason to punish him?”
“Didn’t you notice?” Xie Jingxing said with a faint smile, “She knows the emperor’s thoughts better than you.”
Su Mingfeng did not say anything. When he saw Xie Jingxing stand up, he asked, “Where are you going?”
Xie Jingxing returned to his usual lazy self. “I have to tell the Marquis of Lin’an of my upcoming departure to war.”
…
Outside the door of the Su mansion, Shen Miao put on her bamboo hat and asked Mo Qing, “Did you notice the presence of someone else in Su Mingfeng’s room just now?”
Mo Qing was stunned. “I didn’t notice anyone else’s presence. Miss, did you find anything?”
Shen Miao shook her head. Mo Qing’s martial arts were outstanding. If he did not notice anyone in the room, there should be no one. However… Shen Miao found it a little strange that Su Mingfeng kept glancing at the partition. Although she did not have any martial arts skills, she was very good at reading people’s expressions.
