123Hongmen Banquet
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Chapter 123 The Feast at Hongmen
Shen Yulou nodded, "I feel the same way. I've never had any dealings with the Minister of Revenue. For him to suddenly invite me to dinner, could it be a Hongmen banquet?"
"What is a Hongmen banquet?"
"Uh... it's when they pretend to invite us to dinner, but actually intend to harm us."
Qingqing said, "Could it be that a child in his family is sick and he wants to ask for your help?"
The Princess nodded, "That possibility can't be ruled out, but it's better to be careful."
Shen Yulou said, "Exactly. This time, we'll bring ten manor guards and have them follow from a distance.
Once inside his residence, with Song Hu accompanying us, we shouldn't have too much to worry about."
After the discussion, they took a carriage to the residence of the Minister of Revenue, Feng Yusi.
As soon as they arrived at the entrance, Feng Yusi personally came out to greet them.
"Welcome, Princess, welcome, Lord Shen. It is an honor for my humble abode to have you both grace us with your presence."
Shen Yulou had seen this Lord Minister of Revenue a few times in court.
He was around fifty years old, somewhat gaunt, with dark skin, looking at first glance like a peasant who had worked in the fields all year.
If not for his luxurious clothes, one wouldn't have recognized him as the current Minister of Revenue, a high-ranking official in charge of the empire's finances and grain.
"Lord Feng, did you invite me to your residence today to discuss something?"
Feng Yusi had already prepared his explanation, "My grandson is two years old this year, and he's been crying a lot lately. I wanted to ask Lord Shen to come and take a look. I would be immensely grateful!"
After all, they had no prior connection, so suddenly inviting Shen Yulou to dinner would surely arouse suspicion.
Using this reason, however, made it much more plausible.
Although Shen Yulou was suspicious, what the other party said was impeccable. In any case, it was just a free meal; if anything were to happen, he just needed to be careful.
"It's a small matter, not worth mentioning. Lord Feng is too polite."
As Shen Yulou and the others entered the residence, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion. He truly was the Minister of Revenue.
Even the Minister of Personnel probably wasn't as wealthy as he was, right?
Being in charge of the empire's finances, grain, and land, the illicit gains were substantial.
After entering and drinking a few cups of tea, Feng Yusi brought out his two-year-old grandson.
Indeed, the child had a minor ailment, but it didn't warrant such a fuss, did it?
Even those incompetent Imperial Doctors could easily solve this minor problem.
However, if Minister Feng intended to befriend Shen Yulou, doing so was not really objectionable.
After Shen Yulou prescribed a remedy, Minister Feng repeatedly expressed his gratitude.
"Lord Shen's medical skills are indeed superb. Today, you must drink a few more cups in my humble abode. My few unworthy sons all admire Lord Shen greatly.
They insist on drinking until they're drunk with Lord Shen. I hope Lord Shen will not decline."
Shen Yulou frowned, "Lord Minister, this subordinate is not good at drinking. Let's just drink in moderation."
"Of course, of course. As for you young people, I, this old man, will not participate."
As Minister Hu had said, after the dishes were served, he ate a few bites, toasted Shen Yulou twice, and after fulfilling his duties as host, he left the table.
He left his sons to drink with Shen Yulou.
During this time, these few men kept trying to get Shen Yulou drunk, but Shen Yulou managed to politely decline.
When drinking with these people who had ulterior motives, one naturally had to be cautious.
Seeing that Shen Yulou absolutely refused to drink, these young masters eventually gave up.
But even so, he still felt slightly tipsy.
After leaving, the Princess said,
"I always feel something is off. I don't know what his purpose was in inviting us."
Shen Yulou also nodded, "Perhaps we'll find out soon enough."
At the same time, Li Huai, having completed the procedures with the Fake Princess, left the Imperial Palace in a carriage.
Li Huai was trembling with fear all the way. The pain in his body had only just subsided a little, and now even walking was somewhat difficult for him.
He only wanted to finish this assignment and quickly retire to his hometown. The wealth he had accumulated during his many years as Director of the Imperial Medical Academy was enough for him to live out his remaining years.
If anything went wrong, he would be finished.
And the Fake Princess was also trembling in the carriage, "Lord Li, my child..."
She was also at her wit's end, only wanting to cure her son, but she hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
Li Huai said impatiently, "The prescription is in my pocket. Once we leave the Imperial City and complete the task, I will give it to you. Your son's minor illness is no problem at all."
The Fake Princess nodded, "Thank you, Lord Li!"
Li Huai drove the carriage and waited at the intersection for a while, finally seeing Shen Yulou's carriage.
As the carriage passed, many commoners stepped aside.
After all, this was Minister Hu's carriage, very luxurious and eye-catching, with a very high rate of people turning their heads to look.
As the two carriages passed together, the commoners all discussed animatedly.
Seeing the expressions of the people around him, Li Huai nodded with satisfaction. This was the effect Consort Shu wanted.
Just as Shen Yulou's carriage was about to reach home, Song Hu suddenly frowned.
"An ambush, be careful!"
Shen Yulou pulled open the curtain and glanced outside. There seemed to be some people ambushing in the alley. This time, he had brought some manor guards and Song Hu was by his side, so even if someone attacked them, it shouldn't be a big deal.
However, to their surprise, until they had passed through this section of the alley, those ambushing people did not emerge.
The Princess's face was solemn, "Could it be aimed at the carriage behind us?"
"Possibly. Let's pass quickly and try not to cause trouble."
Just as the carriage was about to speed up, a sudden voice made it stop again.
"This is Lord Shen and the Princess's carriage, isn't it?"
Hearing this familiar voice, Shen Yulou quickly pulled open the curtain. The speaker was none other than Eunuch He Shun, who had taken leave.
"Eunuch Shun, are you feeling better?"
He Shun said with a smile, "Thanks to Lord Shen, much better. I can walk without problems now."
"Are you returning to the palace?"
He Shun nodded, a cold glint in his eyes, "I heard that Dezhong boy is a bit dishonest. I'm afraid if I don't return soon, I won't have a chance to serve His Majesty anymore."
Shen Yulou also noticed that Dezhong had shown no regard for Eunuch Shun's instructions.
He recounted the events that had occurred in the palace over the past two days to He Shun, who gritted his teeth in anger.
"Lord Shen, don't worry. That boy Dezhong was brought into the palace by me when I entered. He can't stir up any trouble."
"Alright then, Eunuch Shun, please proceed."
After bidding farewell to Shen Yulou, He Shun continued towards the palace.
After only a few steps, he saw another carriage approaching, and by chance, Li Huai was just pulling back the curtain to look ahead.
They were almost at the ambush point, so why had Shen Yulou's carriage stopped?
Could this guy have discovered something?
As he pulled back the curtain to look out, he coincidentally met He Shun's gaze.
Li Huai was startled. The person he most feared meeting today when leaving the palace was an acquaintance, so he hadn't lifted the curtain the entire way. Yet, with just this one glance, he ran into He Shun!
How could he be so unlucky!