After rebirth, I joined forces with my mortal enemy to seek revenge.

Pei Jiaoran looked thoughtful as he watched the King of Wu's humble face. It seemed that the King of Wu had been well taught by Jia Gonglu recently, and his previous noisy and erratic behavior had been swept away.

Noticing Pei Jiaoran's gaze, the King of Wu looked over. Seeing the other person's indifferent expression, he couldn't help but reveal a bit of ruthlessness in his eyes. If it weren't for his father's obstruction, how could he not recruit this great talent of the time.

Thinking of this, the King of Wu secretly glanced at the Crown Prince who was sitting beside him. Although his elder brother had always been quite humble to him, he did not like him very much. In the past, he had Wuchangli as his helper, and he had a hard time. Fortunately, Wuchangli was demoted, which gave Jia Gonglu a chance, and he also had a chance to compete with the Crown Prince.

It's just that the emperor is too peaceful. In his opinion, the emperor should also assign Pei Jiaoran to his think tank, so that he can be regarded as a tiger with wings.

The prince noticed the King of Wu's gaze, turned his head and looked over, and smiled faintly. In fact, he knew his brother's thoughts clearly, and always wanted to surpass him in every way, including in the matter of recruiting Pei Jiaoran. Unfortunately, it didn't go as he wished.

At this time, the Emperor of Wei suddenly spoke, his tone still in a leisurely manner, "The situation is unstable now. After all departments have completed their accounts in August, let's put aside the budget. How much money does Zuozang have that can be allocated?"

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Revenue has sent a memorial, estimating that there are about 15 million strings of cash available for the Zuozang to allocate." Jia Gonglu glanced at Pei Jiaoran and continued, "If it is wartime, this money is far from enough to support the army's expedition."

Emperor Wei nodded. "How are the investigations of the provincial governors in Jiannan going? Shu is also a rich land. The mountains are high and the roads are long, but a bunch of termites have grown here. Now that Tubo and Nanzhao are ready to make a move, they are also needed to defend Shu. Let the Censorate stop there and don't be too harsh."

After that, he said to Pei Jiaoran, "You were once the Minister of Revenue, and now you are the Transport Commissioner of Jianghuai Salt and Iron, and you are the one who reformed the three towns of Heshuo. Although the taxes of the three towns have not been sent to Chang'an for many years, now they have acknowledged their belonging, you still have to supervise them more. The relationship between people depends on maintenance. If the three towns are forever submissive and King Ji's affairs are accomplished, it can be regarded as a good story of connecting the north and the south."

Pei Jiaoran lowered her eyes and listened to the words of the Emperor of Wei, and agreed with a smile. In the past, the Emperor of Wei would not be willing to allow the central government officials and the governors to get too close, and would not allow the two to have any personal exchanges. She was also very aware that when the three towns sent envoys to Chang'an, she did not meet them when the envoys came to see her.

She would not do something stupid like throwing her head under the knife. After all, it was too easy for those in power to fabricate charges of treason.

The parliament between the monarch and his ministers was now drawing to a close.

After taking a quick look at everyone, Zhang Rang walked towards the Emperor of Wei and whispered a few words.

Upon hearing this, the Emperor of Wei waved his hand and said gently, "You have worked hard, so please go away."

Everyone left one after another, leaving Pei Jiaoran behind. He smiled at the Crown Prince, then turned to the Emperor of Wei and said, "Yesterday, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince sent someone to send me his recent reading experience, which was quite insightful. I thought Your Majesty could examine it a little."

As soon as he finished speaking, the prince stared at her.

Pei Jiaoran avoided the prince's gaze, straightened his clothes, bowed, and stepped out.

After staying up half the night, Pei Jiaoran was very tired, so he declined the dinner party in the Secretariat and went straight to the residence in Wubenfang. He took off his coat and lay down.

When Pei Jiaoran woke up, it was already dusk. As soon as she opened her eyes, a magnified handsome face appeared in front of her.

"When did you come back?" Pei Jiaoran yawned and said lazily, "Why do you smell so good? Did you go to Pingkangfang?"

After hearing a series of questions, Li Xiujing stretched out his hand and pinched Pei Jiaoran's face, "If I go to Pingkangfang, I might be impeached by you, Prime Minister Pei, tomorrow. I got off work early and went to the incense shop and rouge shop in the West Market to ask how to make Impatiens juice. How about I paint your nails for you after dinner?"

Pei Jiaoran suddenly smiled as she approached Li Xiujing. She really couldn't imagine Li Xiujing humbly asking for advice from the ladies in the rouge shop.

"Stop laughing and get up quickly. The food is getting cold." Li Xiujing said helplessly after catching the mischief in Pei Jiaoran's eyes.

Pei Jiaoran stood up as he was told and looked at the dishes on the table. He glanced at Li Xiujing again, "Your Majesty asked about the taxes that Zuo Zangke could allocate today. It's about 15 million guan. In addition, Your Majesty also intends to take action against the governors in Jiannan. The two sides together can make up about 20 million guan."

"There is no way to go from Chang'an to Jiannan by water, and the land route is too expensive. If we want to collect grain locally, we still have to leave some leeway for the Jiedushi of Jiannan." Li Xiujing poured soup into Pei Jiaoran's bowl, looking worried, "We also have to consider whether the local area can supply rations for the army."

Each of these issues deserves its own discussion.

Looking down at the water shield soup in the bowl, Pei Jiaoran said, "Zhang Rang cannot get his hands on Zuo Zang at the moment. The money in Zuo Zang can probably fully support this expedition. You should have saved a lot of Hui Yi money."

"It's okay. But I don't want to spend it all. The post-war pensions from the court alone are not enough to support the soldiers' families." Li Xiujing said.

"Let's take it one step at a time. If Nanzhao behaves well, the pressure on the court can be relieved a lot." Pei Jiaoran put down the silver spoon. "But the envoy sent to Nanzhao has received a letter. He mentioned in the letter that Nanzhao has strong soldiers and horses. This is also worth our attention. Anyway, as long as I am here, Zhang Rang can't reach Zuozang."

Just as he finished speaking, there was a hurried knock on the door.

"It's almost closed, who would come?" Pei Jiaoran raised his lips slightly, "Could it be your fifth aunt?"

Li Xiujing put down his chopsticks and said, "I'll go take a look."

Pei Jiaoran frowned as he watched Li Xiujing leave. He stood up and followed him on tiptoe.

As soon as the door was opened, the sound of crying rang out. The slightly plump woman wanted to kneel down to pay her respects, but was held back by Li Xiujing.

"Fifth aunt, what are you doing?" Li Xiujing asked with a frown.

The woman looked up behind Li Xiujing and saw that there was no one behind him. She cried even louder, "Erlang, please be kind. Go find Pei Xianggong and ask her to be lenient and spare your uncle this time. I can assure you that he will never dare to do it again in the future."

Listening to the crying of Li's fifth aunt, Pei Jiaoran couldn't help but sneer.

"Fifth Aunt, it's not that I'm unkind. Fifth Uncle has violated the job law and is still under investigation. How do you want me to ask Mr. Pei for mercy?" Li Xiujing said helplessly.

"But doesn't Mr. Pei have a good relationship with you? She won't stand idly by. If it really doesn't work, take me to see her. I will risk my old face and go to beg her in person." The fifth aunt of the Li family said while covering her face and crying.

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xiujing heard a bird singing from behind the screen wall.