The disgraced official I took care of was actually Zhu Houcong's childhood friend.

Chapter 544

"Please wait a moment, Lord Fang. I'll take my leave now."

The eunuch returned the greeting to Fang Hong, and then left the Fang residence with the entourage behind him.

After the eunuchs left, Princess Deqing came out of the room.

"It seems His Majesty values ​​your child very much. You must raise this child well. If you don't know how to raise him, you can ask Zhou Hengqi. He has a lot of experience in raising children. He raised the youngest daughter of the Lu family from a young age. Look how capable she is now. And my second son, if it weren't for Zhou Hengqi, I don't know what he would be like now."

Princess Deqing couldn't help but give another word of advice.

Princess Deqing couldn't be too explicit in front of the servants, but the meaning was clear: Zhou Chu was Fang Heng's biological father, and Fang Heng's opinion should be sought regarding how to raise him in the future.

"By the way, has the child been named yet?"

Princess Deqing asked.

"Your Highness, this child's name is Fang Heng."

Fang Hong said.

"Fang Heng... What a good name. I hope he can persevere in whatever he does in the future."

Princess Deqing seemed quite pleased with the name, and smiled broadly.

..........

In the second month after Zhou Chu entered Tibet, Xie Qian requested to resign for the third time, and was finally approved by Jiajing with a reluctant expression on his face.

At this point, Xie Qian breathed a sigh of relief. His trip to the capital had been a complete success, and he could now truly enjoy his retirement.

At his age, he had long since lost his ambition. Being able to secure a future for his son, Xie Pi, was already the most perfect ending.

In the sixth month after Zhou Chu entered Tibet, Hai Rui and others, with the help of craftsmen from the Southern Garrison, finally developed the first generation of steam engines.

However, this steam engine was only just starting to operate, and it failed to satisfy Hai Rui and others in any way, let alone be used as a power source.

Over the next six months, Hai Rui and his colleagues worked continuously to develop and improve the steam engine. The steam engine fully met the requirements Zhou Chu had mentioned and could even be used as a power source for trains.

However, the energy conversion ratio was still too low. After several experiments, Hai Rui and others were still very dissatisfied and decided to continue to improve it.

In the past year or so, the imperial court has seen many new faces, all of whom were officials who had been investigated and punished before.

Zhou Chu had been away from the capital for over a year, and many people's minds began to stir. Of course, Xia Yan was not among them.

The psychological trauma Zhou Chu had left on Xia Yan was too great, so Xia Yan decided to observe for a while longer. He didn't understand why Zhou Hengqi would voluntarily go to Tibet, but he really hoped that Zhou Chu would die in Tibet. Once Zhou Chu was dead, he could finally live a carefree life.

As for Grand Secretary Yang Yiqing? He can't suppress Xia Yan at all. Yang Yiqing is too old and won't last many more years.

However, Xia Yan will not act rashly before receiving definite news.

Even after Xie Qian resigned, Jiajing specially promoted him to the Grand Secretariat, and Xia Yan became a Grand Secretary, yet he remained frighteningly low-key.

Xia Yan knew very well that the reason the emperor promoted him to the cabinet was simply to balance the opinions of Yang Yiqing, Yang Shen and others. If the cabinet members only had one voice, the emperor would not be able to sleep at night.

Xia Yan handled this matter perfectly. In court, Xia Yan could always refute Yang Yiqing or Yang Shen's words at just the right time. However, Xia Yan only did what he was supposed to do and did nothing superfluous.

Until Xia Yan received a visiting card.

Li Xian's niece, Wang Mingyue

The name on the invitation card puzzled Xia Yan, but he was quite familiar with Li Xian. As one of the former representatives of the Jiangnan faction, Xia Yan was naturally no stranger to Li Xian, the president of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce.

But who is this Wang Mingyue? Why would she send me a visiting card? Isn't she afraid I'll expose her identity?

Xia Yan immediately ordered an investigation into Wang Mingyue's identity and background.

When Xia Yan received Wang Mingyue's information, he fell silent.

Based on this information, Wang Mingyue probably isn't afraid of revealing her identity, since she has had no connection with Li Xian since childhood and seems to have a deep-seated hatred for him.

Li Xian's actions have brought disaster to his family, but the so-called disaster to his family only applies to the indenture that is openly related to Li Xian. From any perspective, Wang Mingyue has no connection with Li Xian, and Xia Yan has no evidence to prove their relationship.

As for this visiting card, it hardly qualifies as evidence; such evidence can be easily overturned.

"Greetings, Lord Xia."

In the end, Xia Yan still met Shen Mingyue. When Shen Mingyue looked at Xia Yan, she immediately felt a sense of kinship. Shen Mingyue knew very well that this Grand Secretary in front of her had managed to save his life from Zhou Chu several times, and his methods were by no means ordinary. This was also the reason why she sought out Xia Yan.

"Who are you? What business do you have with me?"

Xia Yan looked at Shen Mingyue in front of him with an unfriendly expression.

"My lord, please do not worry. I only wish to help you deal with Zhou Hengqi, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Shen Mingyue said with a smile.

Xia Yan's face grew even uglier upon hearing this.

"Stop talking nonsense. When did I ever intend to deal with Lord Zhou?"

Xia Yan would never admit that he hated Zhou Chu to the bone. The woman in front of him had an unknown background and purpose. How could someone as cautious as Xia Yan easily reveal his secrets?

“I know that the adults don’t trust me, and even look down on me, wondering what right I have to deal with Zhou Hengqi.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Mingyue remained unperturbed and smiled.

“My biological father is Li Xian, but I am mortal enemies with Li Xian. Zhou Hengqi killed Li Xian for me, so I will not hate him or be his enemy because of this.”

Shen Mingyue said calmly.

Xia Yan was even more puzzled upon hearing this.

"If that's the case, why did you say those things just now?"

Xia Yan is very careful with her words; she won't say a single word that she shouldn't.

"Because Zhou Hengqi seems to be full of compassion for the common people at the bottom of society, which I completely disagree with. Those farmers at the bottom of society are all incredibly stupid, wicked and foolish. My mother was forced to her death by those people back then. After I became the eldest daughter of the Shen family, these people shamelessly came to me again, asking me for money. If I didn't give them enough, they would slander me everywhere. These kinds of people deserve to stay at the bottom of society. Why should they be able to turn their lives around?"

As Shen Mingyue spoke, she became increasingly agitated and violent, until finally her entire demeanor changed.

Hearing this, Xia Yan basically believed Shen Mingyue's words. After all, he had someone investigate Shen Mingyue before and knew very well how Shen Mingyue's mother died.

"Then what makes you think that you, a woman, can help me?"

Xia Yan looked at Shen Mingyue with a hint of amusement.