The Jinyiwei's office was located in the alley north of the Donghua Gate, while the Grand Secretariat's duty room was in the Wenyuan Pavilion, situated right within the Wenhua Hall behind the Donghua Gate. The two places were very close to each other.
Since it was an urgent matter for Gu Zhao, Shen Xu dismounted, reached out for the letter, and said to Xiong Kun,
"Give it to me, and look after my horse. I'll just deliver this to him and come right out."
Xiong Kun hastily took the reins.
"Yes, thank you, Lord Shen. Please be sure to hand it directly to the Heir Apparent. This letter is crucial to him, and it must not be delayed."
Shen Xu waved his hand to show he understood. He took the letter, showed his palace entry token to the guards, and entered the Donghua Gate. A few steps later, he was in the Wenhua Hall. Bypassing the main hall, he entered the Wenyuan Pavilion and arrived at the Grand Secretariat's duty room.
At this hour, court should have been dismissed and they should have been on duty. Yet, not a single Grand Secretary was in sight in the duty room, and Gu Zhao was nowhere to be found.
Shen Xu casually grabbed someone and asked,
"Have you seen Vice Minister Gu?"
The man jumped in fright, thinking he had committed a crime and was being targeted for arrest by the Jinyiwei. Trembling and stuttering, he replied,
"The Emperor just summoned... summoned Vice Minister Gu to the Qianqing Palace to discuss matters."
Seeing him so terrified, Shen Xu gave him a second glance.
Just this extra glance made the man's legs tremble so violently that if he hadn't been holding onto the table, he would have collapsed straight under it.
Everyone was so afraid of him.
He was only asking a question.
It had always been this way; everyone had always feared him.
But now, there was at least one person willing to offer him tenderness.
Although Gu Zhao was also entangled with her, it didn't matter. As long as she agreed to marry him, he would be the one to talk to Gu Zhao.
With all the noble ladies in the capital, Gu Zhao had many choices, whereas he only had this one. Gu Zhao would understand him.
Holding the letter in his hand, Shen Xu turned around expressionlessly. He was in a good mood today, so he decided to see the good deed through to the end and headed toward the Qianqing Palace to find Gu Zhao.
He wondered what earth-shattering emergency could have happened in Shu that made Gu Zhao so anxious.
The Jinyiwei had eyes and ears all over the world. If there were truly a major event, there was no reason Shen Xu wouldn't know about it.
Right now, the only major issue in the west was the unrest among the western barbarians, but that was still far from Shu.
Thinking this, Shen Xu strolled over to the Qianqing Palace. From a distance, he could hear a clamor inside.
This was normal, though. Discussing matters before the Emperor was not a dinner party. Even in the Emperor's presence, the Grand Secretaries would argue constantly over different political views or conflicting interests. Sometimes they even came to blows; Shen Xu had witnessed it many times.
It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The Emperor might not even be displeased by the arguments below. If the subordinates only ever had one unified voice, that would be when the Emperor would truly unleash his divine wrath.
Eunuch Qiu, who was guarding the door, looked completely unbothered. Seeing Shen Xu, he even smiled and greeted him,
"The Grand Secretaries are debating a matter, and it is at a critical juncture. If Your Excellency needs to report, you might want to wait a little longer."
Over Eunuch Qiu's voice, a Grand Secretary inside the hall shouted angrily,
"Building the Huiyi Temple benefits the present age, achieves merit for millennia, and blesses future generations! Why do you repeatedly obstruct such a deed that benefits the country and the people? What are your true intentions?"
Another Grand Secretary replied unhurriedly,
"Building the Huiyi Temple is one thing; salt law reform is another. Do not muddle the waters and confuse the two. Building the Huiyi Temple is a great endeavor, and naturally, it couldn't be better. I will take the lead and donate five hundred taels of silver to help fund it. However, salt is the foundation of the state. To rashly abolish the salt certificates in favor of a ticket system for the salt law reform is far too reckless. The slightest misstep will shake the very foundation of our nation."
The angry Grand Secretary was unrelenting.
"You are being utterly unreasonable and stubbornly obtuse! Without the salt law reform, where will the silver to build the Huiyi Temple come from? Do you think your measly five hundred taels will be enough to build it!?"
The unhurried Grand Secretary remained unhurried.
"Look at you, look at you. Who is the unreasonable one here? How can you say there is no silver without reform? Didn't Lord Gu just arrest a few heinous salt merchants a while ago?"
Hearing this, Shen Xu, who had been staying out of it and minding his own business, suddenly felt his heart pound wildly. An ominous premonition surged in his chest.
Gu Zhao's voice rang out from within the hall.
"The properties and wealth of the salt merchants involved in the smuggling case were confiscated and entered into the state treasury some time ago. They have already been allocated to the Quanzhou Maritime Trade Commission for shipbuilding."
Shen Xu's heart was beating so fast it felt like it would leap out of his chest. He chanted in his mind: Don't remember, don't remember, don't remember.
If the Emperor suddenly remembered Zhang Shen in the imperial prison, judging by the intentions of the Grand Secretaries in the hall today, Zhang Shen would likely be sentenced to immediate execution, and the Zhang family's wealth would be confiscated to solve the current silver shortage for the Huiyi Temple.
If the immediate execution were ordered right now, he would have no room to maneuver, and he would end up breaking his promise to Doctor Zhu!
As it turned out, what he feared most came to pass. The Emperor spoke up,
"Now that you mention it, I remember there is another one... what was his name? I had the Jinyiwei detain him, and he hasn't been interrogated yet. Men, go to the Jinyiwei and summon Shen Xu."
Before Shen Xu could even react, Eunuch Qiu had already pushed the door open and replied,
"I must say, Your Majesty is truly wise, martial, and foresighted. Lord Shen happens to be waiting outside to report right now."
The main doors of the hall were pushed wide open. Before His Majesty, Shen Xu had no opportunity to hesitate or delay. He followed Eunuch Qiu into the hall.
As soon as Shen Xu entered, Gu Zhao immediately looked his way. However, in front of the Emperor and the Grand Secretaries, there was absolutely no chance for the two of them to speak or exchange messages.
Seeing Shen Xu, the Emperor still couldn't recall the name and said,
"You came at the perfect time. The one from the previous illicit salt case, the one I told you to lock up and interrogate... what was his name again? Go fetch him shortly and bring him here."
If it were anyone other than the Emperor, Shen Xu would have eight hundred ways to make excuses.
But before the Emperor, the Commander of the Jinyiwei could not, and absolutely should not, utter a single word of refusal.
Shen Xu bowed and replied,
"Yes, Your Majesty."
At this moment, Gu Zhao spoke up again.
"He has been locked up for days, and who knows how filthy he has become. Your Majesty, if we bring him up just like this, allowing his lowly body to step on this noble ground, I fear it will sully your eyes. It would be better to have someone clean him up today and bring him here tomorrow."
