Chapter 7 [Becoming a laughing stock]

The residence of the Minister of Rites.

"Second Master Lin, my father is an honest official with clean hands.

Logically speaking, it is our Guo family’s responsibility to donate money to charity.

But, as you can see, there has been a severe drought this year, prices have skyrocketed, and my family is barely able to make ends meet.”

Guo Baokun felt a little scared when facing Lin Gong.

As a disciple of the crown prince, he was also the compiler of the Eastern Palace and a subordinate of the crown prince.

Now, the prince is raising donations for charity, but he is here to sternly refuse them.

No matter how I thought about it, I had no idea.

However, thinking of what his father had just told him, Guo Baokun calmed down immediately.

He spoke slowly and steadily, following his father's instructions, word by word, to get the job done.

Lin Gong's face looked very bad. Holding the sword in his hand, he had the urge to chop this guy to pieces.

However, the other party is the Minister of Rites and the son of Guo Youzhi after all, and his status is noble, so he cannot be touched without authorization.

In the end, nothing was found except a pile of junk.

Not even a single ounce of silver was raised.

During these three days, Li Chengqian was busy reorganizing the people around him and investigating the spies.

Lin Gong, with his men, personally went to the six ministries of the imperial court and the residences of officials of the fifth rank and above to raise funds for disaster relief.

Moreover, he was carrying Li Chengqian's identity token.

Logically speaking, with the title of crown prince and his status as the second son of the Lin family, all civil and military officials would have to give him some face.

However, the result was unexpectedly bad.

Before setting off, Lin Gong had already thought that those officials who had joined the Second Prince's army might simply donate a small amount to get by.

But in reality, these people didn't donate even a penny.

After running for three days, I didn't see a penny.

The officials under the Second Prince not only refused to donate, but even ridiculed him.

No face given at all.

It was obvious that these people had received instructions from the Second Prince.

Otherwise, how would he have the courage to offend both the Eastern Palace and the Lin Mansion at the same time.

Of course, Lin Gong cannot represent the Lin family.

It is well known that Lin Ruofu has always chosen to remain neutral in the fight for the throne.

This old fox would avoid court affairs as soon as they were related to the fight for the throne.

Therefore, at this time, if they did not give face to Lin Gong, they would naturally not offend Lin Ruofu, the prime minister of the current dynasty.

Those neutral officials did not dare to raise funds, for fear that the Second Prince would misunderstand them.

There is another part, such as the Guo family, where the Minister of Rites Guo Youzhi seems to be under the command of the prince.

But in fact, the Guo family supported the eldest princess Li Yunrui.

And now, the eldest princess and the crown prince seem to be having an unpleasantness.

This matter was no secret to the top leaders of Qing State.

So, after running around, Lin Gong didn't raise a penny, but only got a pile of junk.

This incident was a hot topic of conversation in Kyoto.

A simple thing reveals two problems.

First, the prince does not have many followers in the court.

Second, once he loses the support of the eldest princess, his position will be in jeopardy.

Conversely, if the eldest princess turns to support the second prince, it is not impossible that the throne of the Eastern Palace will change hands.

Third, Lin Ruofu’s attitude is enough to prove that he is indeed neutral.

However, the second son of the Lin family is the confidant of the Eastern Palace.

If he was not a confidant, he would never have run all over Kyoto for him to collect donations and lost face because of this.

The view that the prince was incompetent further became a consensus among the court officials.

East Palace.

Lin Gong sat on the steps in frustration, looking angry but with nowhere to vent.

Next to it, there were some broken things. "Second Master, what are you doing..." Chunchan asked.

"I want to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Lin Gong said angrily with an angry face.

"Wait a moment, Second Young Master. I will report right away."

Before leaving, Chunchan took a look at the pile of junk.

Lin House.

"Prime Minister, the Second Young Master has been looked down upon this time and has become a laughing stock in Kyoto."

Lin Mansion’s military advisor, Yuan Hongdao, was also known as Mr. Yuan.

He not only possesses unparalleled wisdom, but is also a ruthless master of interrogation.

In the Lin Mansion, he holds a very high status and is deeply trusted by Lin Ruofu. He is a true confidant.

At this moment, he told Lin Ruofu everything that Lin Gong had experienced in the past three days.

The two are playing chess.

Lin Ruofu regretted his moves eighteen times, so the winner has not been decided yet.

"It's okay. He has been too lucky these years. It's not a bad thing to hone his skills a little." After Lin Ruofu said this, he wanted to regret his move.

Yuan Hongdao gave a helpless smile and could only let his opponent regret his move.

He was already used to this.

The "Prime Minister" he mentioned was just like the legendary one when it came to Go: he was not very good at it but loved to play it.

In order not to lose, I always regret my moves.

Sometimes, a game of chess can be played for a whole day without being defeated.

Most of the time, in order to end it early, Yuan Hongdao had to expose some flaws and let the other player make a move.

Moreover, there are some rules to follow when giving up chess.

If it is too obvious, it would be inappropriate and the prime minister would be angry again.

The consequence of being angry is to drag him into another game.

Therefore, over the years, Yuan Hongdao has gone further and further on the path of how to release water without being noticed.

In this way, his chess skills not only did not regress, but improved a lot.

"My Lord Prime Minister, do you think that the Crown Prince can do something to meet the expectations of His Majesty in this disaster relief effort?" Yuan Hongdao asked again.

Lin Ruofu placed the piece on the chessboard, and seemed to feel that it was not right, so he picked it up and changed its position, and then he spoke:
“He is only bringing shame upon himself by doing this.

At such a critical moment, he actually had a conflict with the eldest princess.

Without the financial support of the eldest princess, I am afraid that the daily expenses of the entire East Palace will be reduced a lot.

This prince is still as cowardly as ever."

Yuan Hongdao pondered for a moment and prepared to make his move, but he saw Lin Ruofu regretting his move again, with the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"The prince's move is indeed unwise.

His Majesty's intention in providing disaster relief this time is to see what abilities this Crown Prince has.

Now it seems that Your Majesty will be disappointed."

After saying that, he noticed that Lin Ruofu opposite him had a smile on his face.

Lin Ruofu did not help the Crown Prince or the Second Prince, so he just wanted to watch the show and was naturally happy.

In fact, Yuan Hongdao was also clear about Lin Ruofu's strategy of advance and retreat.

So, I have to say, he is really an old fox.

"If the prince fails to do his job well this time, it is possible that his foundation will be shaken."

Lin Ruofu made another move and killed Yuan Hongdao's big dragon.

The implication is that this time, not only will the prince fall, but his position in the Eastern Palace will also be shaken.

"But it's hard for the Second Young Master." Yuan Hongdao sighed.

"You lost!" Lin Ruofu regretted his moves twenty times and finally won the victory, with a look of joy on his face.

"Your Excellency, your chess skills have improved rapidly. I am willing to admit that you are superior to me." Yuan Hongdao stood up and bowed.

"Come, accompany me to kill some more. As for the prince's disaster relief, we will just wait and see the joke." Lin Ruofu said.

"Come again?" Yuan Hongdao had a bitter look on his face, but he had no choice but to sit down.

He thought to himself, if one day the Prime Minister encounters someone who makes him dare not regret his moves, he will probably realize how bad his chess skills are.

(End of this chapter)