Chapter 476: Do I look like a pig?

Gu Jiu Ling had never slept soundly, only waiting for Xiao Yin's news.

Later she was simply too exhausted to stay awake, and fell asleep leaning on the pillow.

Until a faint footstep sound approached and startled her awake, she hastily lifted her gaze and met Xiao Yin's eyes.

Xiao Yin had just returned from the palace, his dark purple court robe still not taken off, his clothes carrying a hint of night's chill.

"Your Highness?" Gu Jiu Ling hastily sat up, but Xiao Yin grabbed her arm.

"No need to get up, just stay lying down!"

"I originally didn't want to disturb you, but I thought you were also troubled and couldn't sleep well, so I came over to check."

"Are the children asleep?"

"They're sleeping with the wet nurse," Gu Jiu Ling still got up to help Xiao Yin take off his court robe, and ordered someone to bring hot tea and snacks in.

Today Xiao Yin drank too much, and was summoned to the palace in the middle of the night; she had the tea made stronger.

After drinking the hot tea, Xiao Yin's complexion eased somewhat.

He worried Gu Jiu Ling would catch cold, so he let her continue lying under the covers on the bed.

The season is now deep autumn, and the weather has turned cold.

He lay on the outer side of the bed beside her, in a protective posture.

Gu Jiu Ling slowly said, "Is there bad news?"

Xiao Yin took a breath and said, "Your brother is really ruthless!"

Gu Jiu Ling raised her eyebrows, not understanding what Xiao Yin meant.

Xiao Yin gave a wry smile: "That brat this time is an Imperial Envoy, bearing the Imperial Sword to Jiangnan to investigate the salt merchants."

Gu Jiu Ling nodded and said, "That brat is capable; besides him, there really is no one more ruthless in the court! He could even lay hands on his own father, let alone the salt merchants."

Xiao Yin raised his brows and glanced at Gu Jiu Ling.

These two siblings are both ruthless; initially Gu Shijie was demoted and left Shang Jing, but before reaching his fief, the silver ingots Gu Kang had given him were exposed, attracting bandits who seized them all.

Fortunately, Gu Shijie was rescued, but he was covered in wounds, and aside from a loyal servant, he had nothing else.

In his youth he relied on his wife and father-in-law to build wealth, later rising smoothly, but he never expected to end up like this in middle age.

This time Gu Shijie doesn't know how many letters he wrote to Gu Jiu Ling and Gu Kang's children; they all sank like stones.

The two children: one is a high official of Southern Qi, the other is the principal consort of Rui Wang Fu; neither is willing to save him from his misery.

After all, he is his old father-in-law; Xiao Yin secretly sent people to deliver ten mu of poor land to Gu Shijie, letting him farm in the countryside to cultivate his temperament.

Xiao Yin sighed: "But your brother, in front of the emperor, said that if he goes to Jiangnan to rectify the salt merchants, he still wants to bring someone along."

Gu Jiu Ling hastily turned her face to the man beside her: "Could it be that he wants to bring you, Your Highness?"

Xiao Yin gave a wry smile: "My disastrous brother-in-law really never forgets me, his brother-in-law, wherever he goes!"

Gu Jiu Ling frowned deeply; if the salt merchants were rectified according to convention, that would be a lucrative post.

Anyway, whatever is reported to the court later is up to the Imperial Envoy to decide.

If they find one million taels of silver, at most they'll report two hundred thousand to the court.

The rest goes into the Imperial Envoys' pockets; this trip is just for lining their own pockets.

But Southern Qi is different; the salt merchants have all been placed under the Cao clan's name, effectively a regional separatist regime.

An Imperial Envoy going there would only find a dead end!

The key is that Xiao Yin's power base is in the north; Jiangnan is not his turf.

"Will the Prince lead troops?" Gu Jiu Ling asked, hitting the core of the matter.

Xiao Yin gave a wry smile: "This time they want to kill me; how could they let me bring troops?"

"Your brother also wants to use my hand to wipe out the second‑greatest of the Eight Great Clans, the Cao family; he has both hands prepared."

"If the Cao family is destroyed, he will take the chief credit."

"If the Cao family gains the upper hand, we will all die there; he could even push me out and still escape unscathed."

"Your brother is now a fierce hound at Emperor Longqing's side; perhaps this time the emperor also wants me dead, and your brother is merely smartly going with the flow."

Gu Jiu Ling's brows knotted tightly; she rose and was about to get off the bed.

Xiao Yin hastily supported her: "What are you going to do?"

"Beat my brother!" Gu Jiu Ling's face turned ashen; she really wanted to give him a thrashing.

"Not cooperating with his brother‑in‑law would be bad enough, but he actually used his brother‑in‑law as the first sacrifice for his rise to power."

Xiao Yin quickly laughed and held her in his arms, softly consoling: "Why are you angry with him?"

"If I were in his position, I might be even more ruthless than he is."

Gu Jiu Ling stared blankly for a moment, yet a myriad of helplessness welled up inside her.

Since ancient times, who on the road to power and influence has ever been a soft touch?

She is still too naive; in her mind, family comes first, which is why she cannot become a powerful minister like Gu Kang.

"Jiu Ling, do you care about me?" Xiao Yin's gaze toward Gu Jiu Ling grew increasingly intense.

Gu Jiu Ling felt no scorching pressure from Xiao Yin there, and her cheeks instantly flushed.

This fellow's angle is always so different; is now really the time to say this?

Xiao Yin sighed, leaned forward, wrapped Gu Jiu Ling in his arms, and lowered his head to kiss her soft hair.

He whispered in her ear: "Jiu Ling, I am waiting for the moment you let go of your knot."

"But you also know that going to Jiangnan is fraught with danger; if anything goes wrong, I fear I won't be able to return."

"Why don't you leave me an heir? Let's have another litter of kids to keep the two little ones company!"

Soon after, the door of the warm pavilion opened, and Gu Jiu Ling kicked Xiao Yin out of it.

Xiao Yin, disheveled, smoothed his sleeves; the maids in the corridor hurriedly lowered their heads and knelt, pretending not to have seen what just happened.

Gu Jiu Ling gritted her teeth and said, "Xiao Yin, do you think I look like a pig? Do you have babies in litters?"

Xiao Yin coughed once, and he didn't dare to anger the woman again; the pleasant atmosphere was ruined by him.

He had to go sleep in the study next door, but he felt that this woman really couldn't be indulged.

What exactly did he marry? Something you can only look at, not touch, and that flies off the handle at the slightest provocation.

Finally, peace came to Gu Jiu Ling's warm chamber, yet she just couldn't fall asleep.

At this moment, Gu Jiu Ling was truly a little afraid; although Jiangnan is nice, it's not suitable for Xiao Yin to go there.

Ling Feng watched as his own prince was driven out, lowered his head and coughed once, then stood respectfully to the side.

"What? Are you sick?" Xiao Yin's eyes turned cold.

"Reporting to the prince, I've merely caught a chill," Ling Feng dared not say anything else.

Xiao Yin snorted coldly: "By tomorrow morning, have the people on the list gathered and set off immediately for Yangzhou Prefecture; remember not to let anyone notice."

"Yes!"

After Xiao Yin handed the list to Ling Feng, he coldly gazed at the moonlight outside the window and smiled.

"You want to kill this prince? Let's see if you have the ability."

"Do you know what it means—easy to invite the gods, hard to send them away?"

"One or two want to drag this prince to Jiangnan—hmph, this prince is worried about having no money to spend, this Jiangnan…"

Xiao Yin said slowly: "What a fine place!"