Upon receiving the summons, Wang Can put on his clothes and was guided into Qinming Hall by a eunuch.

Huanan Xin was drinking tea by the jumping candlelight. The scar on the corner of his mouth was scalded by the warm tea from time to time, and his eyebrows twitched a few times uncontrollably.

"Long live, Your Majesty."

When Wang Can entered the door, he noticed the small wound on the Emperor's face, but he didn't know it was left by a woman.

He just glanced at the Emperor and immediately lowered his eyes in shock, and he bowed his head respectfully.

"Oh, Xingzhi, just stand up."

He was addressed by the Emperor by his courtesy name. Although it seemed close, it somehow made Wang Can feel a little uneasy.

Back in the embassy four hours ago, he had put on a good show with the Ninth Prince and finally found out the truth of the two murder cases of the envoys of Ying State.

But before the two of them stepped out of the gate of the embassy, they were brought into the Palace by the Imperial Guards.

Everything seemed to be prearranged and mysterious, causing Wang Can be inexplicably nervous in such a large and silent space.

Just as he lowered his head cautiously and secretly looked around for the Ninth Prince, the Emperor said slowly, "Xingzhi, this time we caught the real culprit who poisoned Yuancang so smoothly and found out the cause and effect of the two cases. You have contributed a lot. I should reward you."

Wang Can hurriedly stopped his wandering eyes, stared straight at the upper of his boots, and raised fist salute respectfully.

"Your Majesty, thank you. I’m flattered. We were able to quickly find out the murderer because the Ninth Prince was very smart and came up with an excellent plan. I just tried my best to interpret the languages of the two countries, so I don’t dare to take the credit alone."

The true meaning of the Emperor’s words was somewhat incomprehensible for him.

Everyone knew that during the two years that the Ninth Prince lived in Jing City, all his expenses for food, clothing, and entertainment had been provided by Emperor Renxian for free.

It could be seen that the relationship between the Emperor and his Ninth Uncle was quite good.

So Wang Can thought that it would be appropriate for him to answer this way.

The Emperor stopped his cup suddenly and looked coldly at Minister Wang, "Well, I know this time my Ninth Uncle asked you to go to the embassy with him..."

The expression on Wang Can's face changed slightly, and he could hear obvious dissatisfaction in the Emperor's voice.

Then Huanan Xin said coldly, "Wang Can, I’m asking you whose minister you are?"

Huanan Xin suddenly placed his cup made of jade on the royal desk.

Wang Can was terrified by the Emperor's sharp and straightforward question. He felt dizzy, like in a dream. His knees felt weak and he fell to the ground, sweating all over

He realized something and kept kowtowing, "Your Majesty, of course, I am a minister of yours. I went to the embassy with the Ninth Prince because His Highness cared for you a lot and didn't want you to be troubled by the cases all day long. He wanted to solve the cases as soon as possible. I’m not dependent on the Ninth Prince. Please believe me, Your Majesty."

Huanan Xin stared at him for a moment and suddenly smiled confidently. He got up from his chair leisurely and held Wang Can, who was very frightened, to his feet with a smile, "Xingzhi, you don't have to be nervous. I know you. You have always been a wise and dedicated man and never interacted closely with others."

"Your Majesty, you’re right." Wang Can finally felt a little more at ease.

The Emperor paced and said eloquently, "Since the death of the deceased emperor, my only close relatives in this world are the Imperial Mother of Cining Palace and my Ninth Uncle. He is the one whom I ordered to take back from the western tribes to Jing City to be taken good care of. My Ninth Uncle and I both have the blood of Imperial Family Huanan, and I will never hold any grudges against him. You helped him with the cases, and you helped me, too."

Wang Can stood respectfully and responded cautiously, "Your Majesty, you’re truly benevolent and wise."

Satisfied with Wang Can’s words, Huanan Xin smiled with coldness in his eyes when he looked at Wang Can's nervous face, "I just made an imperial edict to promote my Ninth Uncle to Prince Regent, and he will leave soon to escort the envoys of Ying State back home."

Wang Can raised his eyes in surprise. The moment he met Huanan Xin's smiling eyes, he quickly lowered his head.

This was unexpected for him.

The two things of "welcoming the envoys" and "solving the murder cases" were enough to prove that the Ninth Prince was a talented man.

If he could join the court to share political affairs, it would be better than him being idle all day long.

However, among the two people killed in the murderer cases of the envoys of Ying State, one was the favored minister of the Ying Emperor while the other was an important advisory general of the Ying State.

Even if the truth of the cases was revealed, they had died in Da Yi's Palace anyway.

This would undoubtedly worsen the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

At this juncture, the Ninth Prince was sent across the sea to Ying State.

Just as he was pondering, his shoulder was suddenly patted.

Huanan Xin smiled, and he patted Wang Can on the shoulder meaningfully, "Xingzhi, you are a Jinshi in the eighth year of Emperor Jingxiao’s dynasty. You have served as county chief and deputy governor in southeast areas and northern provinces. Now you have been an official in Jing City for a few years. Now tell me how Su Changxuan is?"

Su Changxuan was one of the vice assistants of the cabinet who had been secretly deposed. Now he was still held in the central prison in the Court of Judicial Review, and his fate was unknown.

Some gossip said that the collapse of Su’s Mansion overnight was somewhat related to the fact that Concubine Liang had suddenly fallen out of favor.

The Emperor suddenly asked about him right now, which made Wang Can feel terrified. While answering it truthfully, he was secretly nervous, "Your Majesty, I didn't have many errands during my tenure as Vice Ritual Minister, and I only met Su Changxuan several times. In my view, he is a very knowledgeable, mature, and meticulous man, but unfortunately... He wasn’t good at disciplining his daughter and eventually made a big mistake."

The Emperor held his hands behind his back and laughed loudly, pointing at Wang Can, "Oh, Xingzhi, your writing is excellent, and you speak six languages. I admire your talents and want to communicate with you sincerely. You don't need to talk in a euphemistic way today. Just say bluntly, Su Changxuan is bad at teaching his daughter."

Wang Can put on a dry smile and hastily raised fist salute, "Yes, I understand."

The Emperor paced back and forth and said, "Besides, Zhang Tong, another important member of the cabinet, as a scholar, he should be open-minded. But because of his narrow-mindedness, he had a domineering granddaughter. Mrs. Zhang, as the wife of the former Ritual Minister Shi Shu'an, fought with his husband in the street on the big day of welcoming the envoys and ended up being talked about and laughed at by common people. Officials like Zhang Tong can't be retained, and I have already asked him to mourn for his parents' death."

His eyes turned to Wang Can, and he smiled, "Now two of the six key officers of the cabinet have gone, and the other three are sophisticated and shrewd. They mostly follow Shi Ling, the head of the cabinet, but they’re not hardworking. It is time to change such a team."

Wang Can's eyes lit up slightly. He lowered his head and eyes, "Your Majesty, please make it clear."

The Emperor took a step closer and smiled, "Xingzhi, I appreciate you, and I know that you have been wronged under Shi Ling and his son for the past two years. Right now, I have decided to give you a chance to shine. Tomorrow, I will order you to enter the cabinet to replace Su Changxuan."

Wang Can was so shocked that he fell silent for a while. He stared at the Emperor blankly. When he regained his senses, he fell to his knees, shaking with excitement.

"I… Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Get up. Please get up." The Emperor waited for him to get up, smiled, and said, "As for who is loyal to me, I can see it with my eyes. When Shi Ling was Father-in-law of Emperor, he seemed mature and prudent, but in fact, he was disloyal and petty. He even tried to use Yuancang’s dying words to get back at you. It’s forbidden to form cliques for personal gain and to use one’s position to get even with another person for a private grudge in the court, but I still couldn't punish him. But you are so knowledgeable, upright, and generous that you might be isolated. Since I want to put you in an important position, I will lecture you from time to time, not to punish you but to help you, and I hope you know it. From now on, I hope you can understand who is kind to you and who you should be loyal to."

It was a speech with both grace and prestige.

Wang Can kowtowed again gratefully.

At this time, he still had fear in his heart, and he had a mixed attitude towards his entry into the cabinet. He was too confused to tell how he felt.

He cautiously exited Qinming Hall, only to see that it was pitch black and the night was dark and lonely.

Before going down the steps, he heard someone whispering at the corner of the corridor, "Master, hasn't His Majesty been dreaded His Highness, the Ninth Prince, for a long time? Why did he order to promote him to Prince Regent?"

Given his shrill voice, it was not hard to imagine that the person asking the question was a eunuch.

The man answering his question sounded like Liang Zhen, the Imperial Chief Eunuch, "Well, you don't understand the brilliant point of His Majesty’s plan. Promotion is followed by a mission to Ying State. Once he goes there, can he come back? The Seal of Prince Regent will only be awarded after he returns to Jing City. This is all empty talk. You just watch and learn!"

"..."

Wang Can was instantly shocked. He ran down the long steps and ran hurriedly on the dark palace road.

In front of him, there were hundreds of thousands of glorious palaces in the daytime, large and small, but they were now just rolling and causing eerie shadows against the night.

Wang Can finally stopped in the middle of a certain palace road, panting heavily.

He looked into the endless sky and wondered sadly how many sins were hidden in those dark places.