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The Eighth Prince rolled his eyes, feeling somewhat disappointed with Xia Zhixu's careless appearance, and then said, "Xia Fengxiang has a lot of plans for us, especially since Su Changan showed up. I'm afraid Su Changan also has plans for us. Don't cut off the spies in the capital after you take over. Be more careful. Anything in the capital that concerns Su Changan must be taken seriously!"
"Also, how did the Jiaodong officials handle it?"
Hearing this, Xia Zhixu shook his head: "I haven't seen it yet, but isn't it very difficult for my brother to deal with it?"
The Eighth Prince frowned, "What's the point? Your elder brother is just a waste! Civil officials have birds embroidered on their clothes, and military officials have beasts embroidered on their clothes. After putting on this skin, who is not a beast in human clothing? It's just that the benefits are not enough. After your elder brother's funeral is over in two days, you can go with me."
Xia Zhixu nodded.
The Eighth Prince was in a good mood when he thought that Xia Zhixu actually took him so seriously. He looked at Xia Zhixu and asked, "You talked about marriage before. What marriage? Did your mother tell you about marriage when we went to the capital?"
Xia Zhixu immediately said, "How could that be possible? The other party came to me on their own. It was the old woman named Shulü Guanyin from the barbarians who contacted me and said she wanted to marry her daughter to me. She also said she was very beautiful."
The Eighth Prince began to frown slightly, but the next moment he suddenly looked at Xia Zhixu: "The Barbarian Queen Mother contacted you?!"
Xia Zhixu nodded seriously, but after thinking for a while, he said, "But Dad, I actually like Su Changan, but it seems unlikely. So, how about I sacrifice my beauty and marry the daughter of the Barbarian Queen Mother? If I marry her, I think your son's little dream will still have some hope."
……
The rain in the capital started falling in the second half of the night.
At first it was just a light rain and no one in the capital paid much attention to it. Until suddenly, the sound of rain became a roar and the sky seemed to have cracked into countless pieces. The heavy rain gathered into a waterfall and poured down towards the earth.
People in the capital began to panic, seeking shelter from the rain or hurriedly fleeing back home.
And it is in Lingqi Pavilion.
The heavy rain outside made the night even colder.
But inside Su Changan's room, it was warm and Su Changan and Xia Fengxiang, a young couple lying on the bed, were sweating profusely.
Both of them were covered with a quilt.
Among them, Xia Fengxiang was panting, lying on Su Changan's chest, his face was pink, his eyes were full of waves, he just stared at Su Changan, his charm was beyond words.
Su Changan said honestly: "Let's be honest, I need to rest for a while."
After Xia Fengxiang rolled his eyes at Su Changan, he put his arms around Su Changan's neck, and his pretty face was like a ripe peach, looking at him eagerly.
Su Changan put his arm around Xia Fengxiang's waist.
But Xia Fengxiang glared at Su Changan: "I want to talk to you about something serious, what are you doing!"
Su Changan pursed his lips: "I really can't keep calm when I'm in your arms."
Xia Fengxiang glared at Su Changan, and all kinds of emotions disturbed Su Changan's heart.
However, Xia Fengxiang only said: "I will go out of the palace in a few days, you can accompany me."
Su Changan hugged Xia Fengxiang, feeling the touch of their skin and the softness.
Xia Fengxiang naturally knew what Su Changan was up to, but he didn't say anything. He let Su Changan do whatever he wanted, and then continued, "You didn't even ask me what I was doing! You just want to do bad things, don't you?"
Su Changan immediately said: "A gentleman is lustful but not lewd, and does not get distracted when a woman's arms are in his arms, unless the woman he is holding is his own little wife."
Xia Fengxiang burst out laughing when he heard this: "You are using the words of the sage like this. If the old masters in the Imperial College knew about this, they would drown you with spit!"
After saying that, Xia Fengxiang said, "The results will be announced in a few days, let's go and see the so-called "selecting a son-in-law" under the list. Besides, you don't think much about our marriage, do you? The people in the capital are now making big red lanterns and so on. They are all thinking about our marriage, but you don't care, do you?"
Su Changan immediately said, "It's unfair. How could I not have thought about it? I think about it every day. But what's so interesting about the list of candidates for son-in-law? Just to see which official is hooking up with which official?"
Xia Fengxiang rolled his eyes at Su Changan: "Yeah, what else can we see? And with so many people this year, it should be very lively, so it's a good opportunity to go and have a look. And the anti-gangster and anti-evil work you asked Yang Guofu to do these few days is not a big deal. We have to go to the streets in a few days to see the results. Isn't that what you think? So it's a good opportunity for us to take a look together."
After saying this
Xia Fengxiang looked at Su Changan, who was sweating profusely. He reached out to help wipe the sweat off his forehead, rubbed it for a while, then bit his lower lip and looked at Su Changan, his cherry lips raised. He lay sideways beside Su Changan, then turned his head to look at Su Changan.
Su Changan was stunned for a moment.
Xia Fengxiang kicked his legs and said, "You are so stupid. You have been resting for such a long time!!"
Su Changan understood immediately, then looked at Xia Fengxiang and said, "I'm on top, right?"
Xia Fengxiang closed his eyes, his cheeks rosy, and he looked as if he didn't care.
How could he remain indifferent when seeing this?
When the quilt was lifted up, it completely covered the two of them!
It's pouring rain outside and the weather is stormy inside!
…………
PS: Happy National Day. I’m asking for monthly votes on the first day of October. I’ll continue to write 10,000 words every day this month. Go for it!!
Chapter 219 You said something bad about the Queen, leave! ! Leave quickly!
Time passed, and in a blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed since the young couple spent the whole night shamelessly together.
When Frost comes, the weather turns cold, the wind blows the leaves and grasses yellow, the autumn chrysanthemums wither and disappear, and the morning light shines on the vast expanse of white.
Ever since the Frost Descent, especially after mid-November, the temperature in Luoan City has become increasingly cold.
but
The bustle of the entire Luoan city is in stark contrast to the cold weather; instead, it is bustling with activity.
On the streets, there are many more vendors selling big red lanterns, red paper, door stickers with big "囍" characters and other festive items than usual.
Everyone has a happy look on their face. Even the vendors who used to hide and dodge as if they were afraid of everyone, now stand with their heads held high these days. They are no longer afraid of being disrupted when setting up their stalls, or calculating in their minds how much money they have to pay.
Therefore, the vendors were all happy from the bottom of their hearts, with sincere smiles on their faces.
At first glance, looking at the scene on the street, if you don’t count the date, just looking at the scene on the street, you would think it is New Year’s Day!
Today is the day when the imperial examination results are announced.
Therefore, the entrance to the Imperial Examination Hall was already filled with students waiting to see the list.
However, among the students, there were also quite a few luxuriously dressed gentlemen and ladies, most of whom were accompanying their own children.
Or they are here to find a son-in-law from the list.
It is precisely because of the reason for catching a son-in-law under the list that many common people at the very outside are waiting to watch the fun with a happy look on their faces.
Every year when the imperial examination results are announced, many people in Luoan City are happy to go to the entrance of the Imperial Examination Hall to join in the fun.
If for no other reason, I just want to see the scene of selecting a son-in-law from the list.
It's because in previous years, the son-in-law-catching competition was always entertaining. For example, two wealthy families fought over a student who was on the top of the list and even came to a fight. There was also a case where a talented woman was on the top of the list and a talented man came with his mother. As a result, the woman didn't like the man but his mother instead, and the man collapsed on the spot. Fortunately, the woman had lost her husband early, otherwise the fun would have been even greater.
And this year, His Majesty has shown great grace and created so many names, the number of people on the list is several times more than in previous years.
So this excitement made the people unable to wait any longer a few days ago.
There were crowds of people in front of the Imperial Examination Hall. The eyes looking at the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall showed anxiety, confidence, piety, and prayer.
In short, it has everything.
The confident students have naturally started talking about the grace feast scene after being on the list.
The nervous students didn't dare to say much, they just clenched their fists, and some even took the silk in their hands and began to wipe the sweat from their foreheads.
Some people have studied hard for more than ten years, and the winner is decided by this list today.
The tea stall outside the Imperial Examination Hall was also full of people. Finally, there was an empty seat, and several middle-aged men dressed as wealthy businessmen immediately sat down.
This made some of the others who didn't sit down in time frown slightly. Then they looked around, sighed helplessly, and had to continue standing.
The middle-aged rich man looked around with curiosity in his eyes, and then he looked at the boss who came forward to pour tea and asked, "Old man, as I walked along, I noticed that the capital city is much busier than in previous years near the end of the year, and it seems that people from foreign countries in the market are also coming here to stroll around?"
The boss was an old man. After hearing this, he looked at the people and asked with some doubt: "Judging from your accent, you should be from Luoan."
The middle-aged man immediately smiled and said, "We just came back from doing business in the Western Regions. We heard that the results would be announced today, so we came to see the excitement. However, after strolling through so many markets, it felt like the New Year was coming. Moreover, every household had blessing envelopes hanging, and many even had big red lanterns hung, so we were very curious."
When the boss heard this, he immediately smiled and said, "So that's how it is. You should know about the marriage between our Majesty and the Queen."
The middle-aged man nodded and said, "I've heard people mention this a lot on the road."
The boss went on to say: "It's so festive because it's to celebrate the happiness of His Majesty and the Queen. And..."
At this point, the boss's originally cheerful face turned a little sad, and then he continued, "How should I put it? It's true that they wanted to use the good fortune to wash away the Queen's illness. It's also true that they wanted to use the good fortune to wash away the Queen's illness! Our Queen is a good person, but pitiful. I don't know what strange disease she has contracted, and it can't be cured. Even the miracle doctor Mr. Zhang Wenjing can't do anything about it."
As soon as this was said, a middle-aged man who had some Western blood but mostly Han Chinese appearance beside the middle-aged man smiled and said, "Boss, I don't quite understand this. The Queen is ill. I see so many people in Luoan City are praying for blessings, and it's so festive. Is it an order from above? If there is an order, we have to do it too. Don't be called unruly."
The boss frowned slightly when he heard this: "Sir, please don't say that. We are not ordered to do this. We are all people who admire the Queen and want her to get better. We are doing this voluntarily. You are insulting the Queen by saying this!"
Hearing this, the people at the table looked at each other. The middle-aged man in the lead looked at the shop owner with a surprised expression: "Spontaneous?"
The boss nodded immediately, and then nodded with joy, then pulled the new cotton-padded jacket on his body and said, "See, it was given by the Queen Mother. And it's not just me. Look around, poor common people like me have such new cotton-padded jackets, and they even have quilts at home! It's all because the Queen Mother was worried about us after the rain more than ten days ago, and the weather has really turned cold, so she instructed her brother [Dian Jiangchun]'s chief shopkeeper to give it to poor people like me. Not only people in Luoan City have it, but people in the surrounding counties also have it."
Hearing this, the middle-aged men were surprised. They were businessmen and could tell at a glance that this cotton coat was not some cheap one, but a real one. The price of one or two pieces was not very high, but if it was really given to so many people, it would be a lot of money. A conservative estimate would be at least 10,000 or 20,000 silver coins.
They had heard about Dianjiangchun on their way back, and had even seen the product with their own eyes. It was better than the rouge from the Western Regions, and the price was more affordable. They also heard that nowadays, almost all men and women in the capital who put on makeup used Dianjiangchun rouge.
So there is no need to say much about how this business is, but.
The important thing is that he casually took out 10,000 or 20,000 yuan of silver as a base, which shows great courage!
The boss smiled and continued, "And there's more. After you finish watching the excitement here, you can see a herbal medicine shop not far ahead called Changsheng. But now it should be called Dianjiangchun. They provide free medical treatments over there. The herbs and other things are all free! Especially the doctors who treat the patients are old doctors invited from the Imperial Medical Bureau. They are really capable! When it first started a few days ago, Mr. Zhang Wenjing was in charge!"
"That's it. This is also the order of our Queen. Because the Queen has long said that we need to solve the problem of the common people having difficulty seeing a doctor and getting treatment. And the New Year is approaching, so we can help our boss solve the problem as much as possible. So before Mr. Zhang builds that medical school, we will help him take care of it like this."
Having said this, the old man's smile became even more intense, and he looked even more relieved. The wrinkles on his face that had appeared due to so much suffering were smoothed out by this smile.
Hearing this, several businessmen were surprised again and looked at the shop owner in surprise.
The shop owner continued, "Is this what surprises you? It's not over yet! You guys seem to be big business people, so you probably don't come into contact with many people. But look, there are a lot more small stalls like ours on the street, and those hooligans who usually walk around are gone."
As soon as these words came out, the man in the lead suddenly realized that there were many more stalls along the way. Most importantly, he didn't see those gangsters that he would definitely see when he came back in previous years.
Thinking of this, the middle-aged man in the lead immediately asked with a smile: "Why is this? Could it be related to the Queen?"
The shop owner immediately smiled and said, "Of course it is. It was the Queen who asked Yang Du, cough cough, Lord Yang Guofu, and Lord Luo Anxu to work together to do the 'sweep away gangs and eliminate evil' thing. They arrested all the hooligans who bully us in the streets and alleys of Luo'an City! And they have been arresting people every day for more than ten days!"
"Otherwise, how dare I set up a stall like this today? Can those girls over there bring flowers out to sell? If it were in the past, would they dare to do this without paying? Their stall would have been overturned long ago, and I don't know what would happen to those girls. Most importantly, not only were they arrested, but the Queen also asked Lord Yang to return all the money that those hooligans had extorted from us ordinary people. Hehe. To be honest, it is because of this that my wife and I can eat meat this year."
Hearing this, several people at the table were stunned. One of them couldn't help but say, "Will Yang Guofu be obedient and give the money? Old man, I know that Yang Guofu is a man who takes advantage of others. Can he give it all? Moreover, he has to pay for it himself. It was heard that a domineering man like Yang Guofu didn't even take His Majesty seriously before. Now, can he listen to the Queen?"
Upon hearing this, the boss immediately said, "If you dare not listen, just try! He is no longer the Lord Yang. Now, all the people in the Yang Party are keeping their heads down! If they dare to make a mistake, His Majesty will kill them immediately. In this campaign to eliminate gangsters and evil, several minor officials of the Yang Party who were involved in murder or did dirty things were all killed, and Yang Guofu personally supervised the execution. Why is it that our Majesty is capable! What about listening to the Yang Party? It has been turned upside down now!"
"As for Yang Guofu, I didn't see him with my own eyes, but I heard that he was very obedient and servile in front of the Queen. In short, the Queen is a good person. She did these things for the common people. What else can I say? Every generation has its own things to do. Since she has taken the position of Queen, there are some things she must do as soon as possible. Alas, such a good Queen fell ill, so there was the incident of using happiness to overcome illness as I mentioned at the beginning."