Seeing Xiao Chen follow Wang Xiaosi out of the East Factory Hall, Duan Tianming also stood up and said goodbye.
"Mr. Factory Master, my subordinates will go to the Dongchang Prison to re-examine all the persons involved in the case and their confessions." Duan Tianming said respectfully with both hands in mind.
"Go ahead and verify carefully. If there are any omissions or ambiguities, please report them to me in a timely manner."
"Yes." Duan Tianming turned and left.
Looking at the huge Dongchang hall, Lin Shangli felt inexplicably empty in his heart.
Glancing at Xiao Lizi who was standing respectfully next to him, Lin Shangli ordered: "Little Lizi, go get the half bottle of wine left from last time."
"Yes." Xiao Lizi responded and left.
After a while, Xiao Lizi returned to the hall.
He placed the exquisite glass cup on the table, picked up the wine bottle with both hands and poured half of the glass into it, then placed the wine bottle on the table and stepped aside respectfully.
"Go down." Lin Shangli said softly, looking at the blue sky outside the door.
"Yes." Xiao Lizi responded and exited the hall.
Picking up the glass cup on the table, Lin Shangli took a sip.
For some reason, today's wine has a bitter taste in the mouth, followed by a sour aftertaste.
Lin Shangli shook his head, with a bitter look on his face.
No wonder Westerners sell this wine so expensively. It turns out that the best thing about this wine is that you can taste it according to your mood.
Looking back on my life, I have basically reached the peak. With the trust of the emperor and the compliments of the ministers, why am I still so eager for quick success?
In fact, it is a great trust for the emperor to allow him to serve as the owner of the East Factory. What he has to do is to run the affairs of the East Factory in a down-to-earth manner and share the emperor's worries. The real
Become the emperor's right-hand man and help him govern the world.
Thinking of this, Lin Shangli's frustrated mood improved a little.
The lifelong battle with Liao Xianghe ended in his own defeat.
When he was in the cell, when he saw Liao Xianghe's confession, he happily thought that he had completely won. But now, he truly understood that Liao Xianghe, who was beaten out of a dark place like the prison, was far better than relying on taking pictures of the emperor.
The one who has to climb to the pinnacle of power is much better.
Although Liao Xianghe is now just a death row inmate in Dongchang Prison, nothing he owns has escaped his control.
Why would a eunuch who didn't even have any heirs break his head to fight for the emperor's favor? Perhaps, Liao Xianghe saw exactly this in himself, so he dug this hole and let himself jump in unconsciously.
Tomorrow, this old opponent who has been fighting with him for more than ten years will be challenged outside the Meridian Gate. This old opponent who is infinitely better than himself will never fight openly or covertly with him again in the future.
Thinking of this and looking at the empty hall in front of him, Lin Shangli's heart suddenly became empty.
It turned out that what I was really disappointed with was not the emperor's dissatisfaction, but the lack of competition.
Once a person's mind is completely relaxed, all things will become dispensable, and all motivation to strive for improvement will gradually disintegrate.
This Liao Xianghe is really cruel.
Pushing the glass cup on the table towards the wall, Lin Shangli stood up, and all the negative emotions on his face were wiped away.
"Tomorrow, you can no longer be my sparring partner. Today, we will face each other head-on again."
Raising his head, Lin Shangli put his hands on his back and walked towards the Dongchang Prison.
In the imperial palace, in the huge imperial garden, Ming Chengzu was wearing a black mink velvet cloak, standing on the arch bridge, looking at the lake covered with a layer of snow in front of him, majestic and solemn.
Following Wang Xiaosi, Xiao Chen came under the arch bridge.
"Your Majesty, Xiao Chen is here." Wang Xiaosi stopped three steps away from Ming Chengzu and said softly.
"Um."
Seeing the emperor's response, Xiao Chen waved his hands in a palace salute: "Lieutenant of the Thirteenth Military Service of Dongchang, please see the emperor."
"Well, get up and take a look at the scenery with me." Ming Chengzu didn't look back, still looking into the distance.
Xiao Chen walked forward and stood three steps lower than Ming Chengzu, looking at the vast expanse of white snow.
Gusts of cold wind swept across the lake, picking up a layer of floating snow, spinning and drifting into the distance.
With his left hand resting on the cold white marble guardrail of the arch bridge, Ming Chengzu was silent for a long time before finally speaking.
"Tell me, what did you see?"
"It's all white."
"What about beyond the white snow? Didn't you see the vague pavilions and pavilions?" Ming Chengzu smiled faintly and continued to look into the distance.
"Your Majesty is standing on this lake, and your subordinates' eyes are only on the snow on the lake. I don't dare to look at the distance, and I can't look at it," Xiao Chen replied softly.
"Oh?" Ming Chengzu turned around and looked at Xiao Chen with a smile, "Are you blaming me?"
Xiao Chen hurriedly knelt down: "I don't dare. I said that in our Ming Dynasty, the etiquette between the monarch and his ministers must not be messed up."
"The etiquette between monarch and minister must not be messed up. Do you still want to say that the etiquette between superiors and subordinates must not be messed up?" With a smile on his face, Ming Chengzu took back his left hand that was resting on the guardrail and slowly carried it on his back.
Under the cloak behind him.
"Before I came to Dongchang, my subordinates had been working as guards in Jinyiwei. As subordinates, they could only unconditionally obey the orders and decisions of their superiors. This is the responsibility and code of a captain. I always kept this in mind and never dared to go beyond it.
." Xiao Chen said hurriedly.
Ming Chengzu slowly turned around, nodded, and looked at Xiao Chen.
"You are right. If the distinction between superiors and subordinates is chaotic, how can we command and fight a war?"
Hearing what Ming Chengzu said, Xiao Chen, who was kneeling on one knee, did not answer.
He knew that this was just the emperor's introduction, and the next words were the main topic.
"However, if you use this as an excuse to watch Xiao Linzi hand over a confession that I am not satisfied with, isn't it a bit too much for you to do so?"
Ming Chengzu's face instantly became majestic.
"This subordinate is just an ordinary captain of Dongchang. He does what a captain should do. I believe that I have done nothing wrong." Although he lowered his head, Xiao Chen's tone did not flinch at all.
"Haha." Ming Chengzu was not angry, but smiled.
"I once promised you a purple garment, and I will keep my word. If you want to use this as an excuse to take off this purple garment, I'm afraid you will fail to live up to my high hopes."
"If you refuse the purple robe, you are disobeying the holy will; if you watch your superiors making mistakes but do not stop them, you are just drifting with the crowd; if you watch the people in the world being harmed, but choose to keep silent, you are selfish and living an ignoble existence."