The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 324

Chapter 324: Section 176: Practicing Medicine (Second Update)

The Emperor left the soon-to-be incumbent official without a backward glance.

He was on his way to look for the elder ritual wine official.

The elder official hadn’t included his address in his letter, but the Emperor was not incapable of finding him.

The messenger who delivered the letter had said he was just running an errand for a guest staying at the Eastward Inn.

Eastward Inn, splendid.

The Emperor personally went to the Eastward Inn, but found that the elder official had already left by the time he arrived.

“When did he leave?” The eunuch by His Majesty’s side asked.

The innkeeper replied, “He left a while ago. He goes out every day and only returns late.”

“How many days has he been staying here?” The eunuch probed further.

The shopkeeper glanced at his ledger and replied, “Five nights.”

The Eastward Inn was an unremarkable inn, one so downtrodden that was scorned even as a lavatory for the Emperor.

The Emperor felt deeply saddened when he thought about how the elder official had humbled himself and stayed in such a place for so long.

Green tea indispensable skill number one: self-pity!

The elder official was absolutely proficient in green tea!

The Emperor patiently waited at the Eastward Inn for most of the day, but the elder official never returned. He couldn’t really continue to wait indefinitely, after all, there was still a stack of reports waiting for his attention in the Imperial Study Room.

With a sense of regret, the Emperor left.

If he could have seen him, it would have been alright. But not having seen him, the Emperor felt as if something was left unfinished, always pricking his mind.

This was another trick of the green tea: leaving him eagerly anticipating.

The elder official never failed to impress in his cunning tactics on the officialdom. Back in the day, he had used the same mind game to send the Emperor’s mother, the Empress Zhuang, to the Cold Palace.

Although Zhuang was restored to her position within half a year, he still became the first official in the dynasty to have ever successfully conspired against her.

As soon as the Emperor left, the elder returned to the inn… Truth be told, he had never strayed far; just hiding across the street at a tea house, observing the Emperor.

“Sir, someone came looking for you” The shopkeeper politely informed him.

“Hmmm.” The elder responded, not surprised.

The shopkeeper continued, “Will you be staying tonight? Should I arrange for dinner to be sent to your room?”

The elder official replied, “No, I won’t be staying.”

Why stay and waste money when his purpose was already achieved?

Though the inn was shabby, it still costs two to three hundred copper plates per night.

Recently he had been running low on funds. There were expenses to cover at home, and then there were extortion charges to pay to someone else.

Having been away from court for so long, the Guozijian was not as it had been three years ago, and neither was he the same worry-free ritual wine official. He had more enemies now, other than Empress Zhuang who could awaken any time, and possibly many more. _{ƒreewebηoveℓ.com}