Chapter 46 Leaving the Palace Again

"What?"

"Your Majesty, why on earth would you make such a wager with that old dog Zhao Siwen in the imperial court?"

"That is a staggering sum of tens of millions of silver taels!"

"If you fail to deliver, do you really intend to abdicate of your own accord?"

"Then—then wouldn't all your previous planning have been in vain..."

Inside the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Xiao Anzi's eyes widened as if struck by a bolt from the blue, staring at Ning Chen in absolute disbelief.

Ning Chen reached out his small hand, patted Xiao Anzi on the shoulder, and smiled, "Rest assured. If I did not have absolute certainty, how could I possibly have accepted this wager?"

"B-But..." Xiao Anzi remained deeply uneasy.

Ning Chen's expression turned solemn. "Do you know that today I deliberately provoked Zhao Siwen, baiting him into a wager with me?"

Xiao Anzi blinked, stunned. "Y-You deliberately..."

"Your Majesty, this..."

Ning Chen chuckled. "Without doing this, how could I have a legitimate reason to eliminate Zhao Siwen? The Imperial Guard is already in my hands, and the position of Minister of Revenue must also be firmly grasped within my grasp!"

"I have been plotting this day for a long time. Why else do you think I personally visited the commercial house before?"

Xiao Anzi was dumbfounded. Although it was hard to believe, he once again saw that familiar, confident smile on the face of the nine-year-old young emperor.

He knew that whenever such a smile appeared on the young emperor's face, whatever it was, it would surely succeed!

Meanwhile.

Inside the Palace of Fengyi.

The old wet nurse looked at the Empress Dowager with equal astonishment. "Your Majesty, did that young emperor really accept the wager?"

"Isn't he being far too arrogant and conceited?"

"This, this..."

Facing the incredulous old wet nurse, the Empress Dowager sneered, "That is not arrogance!"

"It is sheer stupidity!"

"Stupid to the core. Even with the old master teaching him, it is nothing more than a waste of effort!"

"It seems I overestimated him after all..."

The old wet nurse could not help but laugh. "If I had known that a mere provocation would cause him to offer his abdication as a wager, Your Majesty, you should have used this trick long ago. Why waste so much time and effort?"

The Empress Dowager smiled, "Indeed!"

"Since this little good-for-nothing has voluntarily made a wager with Zhao Siwen, it allows me to stand back and watch the show. This feeling is quite pleasant; I shall simply wait for him to step down of his own accord."

"However, Zhao Siwen actually has some competence, knowing how to use this provocation against Ning Chen!"

"Making him prime minister in the future wouldn't be out of the question..."

As she spoke, the old wet nurse suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, forgive this old servant for speaking out of turn!"

"If—and this old servant is merely supposing—if Zhao Siwen loses, do you truly intend to let him commit suicide?"

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager burst into hearty laughter. "Commit suicide?"

"Ha, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"How could that little good-for-nothing Ning Chen possibly pull it off?"

"Rest assured, Zhao Siwen cannot possibly lose..."

The old wet nurse nodded, then smiled again. "Your Majesty, speaking of which, since the young emperor is so confident, this old servant is truly curious as to how he plans to make money."

The Empress Dowager dismissed it with a contemptuous smile. "There is nothing to be curious about. Let him thrash about as he pleases; I must focus my energy on dealing with those rats!"

"By the way, is Fan Dayou unharmed?"

The old wet nurse replied, "Rest assured, Your Majesty, this old servant has already ordered people to serve him with the finest food and drink..."

Meanwhile.

In the inner courtyard of the Ministry of Revenue.

Gao Xiu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, looked at Zhao Siwen with a deeply flattering expression. "My lord, your move was truly brilliant!"

"With just a few simple words, you provoked that little puppet into making a wager, even using his own abdication as stakes!"

"Brilliant, truly brilliant!"

Zhao Siwen sneered, "That little good-for-nothing brought this upon himself. He has repeatedly and openly made an enemy of me, and even insulted me publicly on multiple occasions!"

"If I did not assert my authority, that wet-behind-the-ears brat really would have taken me for a toothless tiger!"

Hearing this, Left Vice Minister Gao Xiu immediately chimed in with a sycophantic smile, "Naturally. You are the Empress Dowager's absolute confidant, My Lord, and the position of Prime Minister in the future will surely be yours!"

"However..."

Zhao Siwen frowned and pressed, "However what?"

Gao Xiu said, "However, when the young emperor loses, will the Empress Dowager really let him abdicate?"

Zhao Siwen smiled. "Rest assured, I understand Her Majesty's mind all too well!"

"All we need to do is follow the Empress Dowager closely and swear allegiance to her unto death; our wealth and honor will be secured forever..."

Gao Xiu nodded repeatedly without hesitation. "This subordinate may not reach the Empress Dowager's level, but this subordinate knows that as long as I follow closely in your footsteps, my wealth and status will endure!"

With that, Gao Xiu produced a small wooden box from his robes and said with a somewhat sheepish expression, "My lord, regarding the matter of my son, Gao Wenbin, being transferred into the Ministry of Revenue, if you could..."

Zhao Siwen did not reply immediately. He opened the wooden box to reveal a pair of supreme-grade luminous pearls.

He arched an eyebrow, closed the box again, and said with a troubled air, "Difficult, this is most difficult..."

"For father and son to enter the Ministry of Revenue simultaneously somewhat violates the rules..."

Gao Xiu immediately plastered his face with a wide smile. "My lord, with you here, what could possibly be difficult? Isn't this humble subordinate's position as Left Vice Minister also thanks to you..."

At this, he pulled a thick stack of bank notes from his sleeve. "I must trouble Your Lordship to lend a hand. This humble subordinate and my son will forever be at your beck and call..."

Zhao Siwen took the banknotes—there were a full million taels!

The two of them then exchanged knowing smiles...

Early the next morning.

Before the imperial court session, Ning Chen went straight to the Empress Dowager to request permission to leave the palace.

The Empress Dowager was all maternal affection. Not only did she completely avoid mentioning his recent exposure at the pleasure house, but she also used the previous assassination attempts as an earnest pretext to advise him against leaving the palace.

Had Ning Chen not known her true character, he might genuinely have been moved by her concern.

"Mother Empress, Chen'er already made a wager with Lord Zhao yesterday in front of all the civil and military officials. Although I know the chances are slim, I wish to try my utmost!"

"Mother Empress, I beg you, just let me go out and try. Chen'er merely wishes to share your burdens..."

Ning Chen widened his clear, watery eyes, pouting slightly as he reached out to tug at the hem of the Empress Dowager's sleeve, looking entirely like a spoiled child seeking favor.

After much pleading, the Empress Dowager seemingly relented and reluctantly agreed, without pressing him on what he intended to do outside the palace.

She merely smiled, praised Ning Chen's filial piety, and reminded him to be careful and return to the palace early.

Yet the moment Ning Chen skipped away happily, the Empress Dowager's benevolent smile instantly transformed into one of utter contempt, and she disdainfully flicked the sleeve that Ning Chen had just touched.

She muttered, "Little beast, so arrogant yesterday, yet today you still have to come begging to me!"

"Keep playing your little games, go right ahead..."

However, what she did not know was that the moment he stepped outside, Ning Chen likewise dusted off his chubby little hands in disgust.

What Ning Chen had not anticipated, however, was that the Empress Dowager would order Cao Dahai himself to lead a disguised escort to protect him.

This actually worked out rather well, as he had not yet had a proper chance to interact with Cao Dahai!

He had only two purposes for leaving the palace this time: one was to inspect the progress of the commercial house and his cousin's side.

The other, far more important purpose concerned Zhao Siwen...

Perhaps wary of the two assassination attempts Ning Chen had previously suffered, Cao Dahai had made extremely thorough preparations this time.

Numerous guards, both overt and covert, were deployed, leaving no opportunity for anyone to assassinate Ning Chen.

Taking this in, Ning Chen was inwardly quite satisfied; Cao Dahai's administrative capability was indeed exceptional!

Thus, he contentedly resumed his journey of eating and sightseeing.

Inside the carriage, Xiao Anzi poked his head out to look outside, then pulled it back and nodded at Ning Chen.

Ning Chen understood immediately and asked in a low voice, "Are there any of the Empress Dowager's people among our entourage?"

Cao Dahai replied, "The personnel were personally chosen by the Empress Dowager!"

Ning Chen nodded and asked, "How is Fan Dayou?"

Cao Dahai respectfully answered, "Your Majesty, this servant has already checked. Fan Dayou is locked up within the palace, and the Empress Dowager has people serving him with the utmost care—he's living far more comfortably than this humble general!"

"To be honest, this humble general is almost envious of him..."

Ning Chen was slightly taken aback, not expecting Cao Dahai to possess such a dry sense of humor!

He quickly turned serious, saying, "As long as he is safe, you must not act rashly. Wait for my command!"

Fan Dayou seemed somewhat unreserved, entirely lacking the usual stiffness and awe that military generals held toward superiors. "Understood. The old master already instructed that whatever Your Majesty commands, this humble general will execute—I am not even afraid of death!"

Ning Chen smiled and asked, "By the way, how did you and the old master..."

Just as he spoke, Fan Dayou suddenly sighed and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty. This humble general is already your man, in life and in death."

Ning Chen arched an eyebrow: Cao Dahai was indeed sharp-witted!

Since the other man chose not to elaborate, he would press no further.

"Your Majesty, how on earth do you plan to make money?"

"Such a vast sum, I fear..." Cao Dahai worried aloud.

Ning Chen smiled. "Rest assured as well. Since you are my man, I will never let you down!"

"Remember, you have only one task from now on: you must gain complete control of the Imperial Guard as quickly as possible and figure out which members of the guard still belong to the Empress Dowager!"

Cao Dahai smiled. "Your Majesty, rest assured, this humble general has already figured that out!"

With that, he handed a small booklet to Ning Chen.

Ning Chen took it and inwardly praised him once again: Cao Dahai is truly clever; fortunately, I didn't choose to force a palace coup outright back then...

Before long, the carriage stopped near a commercial house.

After lingering and sightseeing for quite a while, Ning Chen acted as if he had just stumbled upon the establishment by chance, walking toward it with great interest.

Cao Dahai, who had been tailing them closely, very sensibly remained outside with all the guards.

Ning Chen and Xiao Anzi entered the main hall of the commercial house. The shopkeeper immediately came forward to greet them, exchanged a few polite pleasantries, and then—under the pretext of showing them merchandise—led Ning Chen and Xiao Anzi into the back room.

"This humble subject Zhang適 pays respects to Your Majesty!" The shopkeeper knelt respectfully before Ning Chen.

Ning Chen quickly stepped forward to help him up himself. "No need for this, rise!"

"My time is limited, let's keep it brief."

"Have the goods been made?"