Chapter 353: Mr. Song, right? My master invites you.
Chapter 353: Mr. Song, right? My master invites you.
Prince Heng rebels...I will follow your Majesty's lead...
In the "Tea Room", the cold wind of late autumn startled the autumn trees in the courtyard, and a few sparks flew up from the red stove inside.
Zhao Duan finally showed a surprised expression. He sat up slightly straighter and stared at this famous widow.
Surrender!
The other party was so frank and honest, and handed in his letter of allegiance without any concealment!
"Mrs. Xiao, do you know what you are talking about?" Zhao Duan asked with narrowed eyes.
Xiao Dong'er's eyes did not avoid or evade, and her expression was still firm and resolute.
She knew that once this sentence was spoken, it would be equivalent to pushing the entire family onto the gambling table. Either they would win big and become a truly wealthy family, or they would fall to the bottom and their century of accumulation would be destroyed!
"Sir, if you didn't hear clearly, I can say it again." Xiao Dong'er said calmly.
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment, then asked, "Why?"
He was not surprised that a family head of this level could see through the world situation, nor was he too surprised by this woman's decisiveness and gambling nature, but he was very curious about what gave her the basis for making her choice.
The empress had been on the throne for only three years and the eight princes were already eyeing her covetously.
Even Zhang Yanyi, who is an expert in deduction, couldn't figure out who would win in the end.
Xiao Dong'er said frankly:
"Because the Xiao family cannot be tied to Prince Heng. Today, although the remnants of the Kuangfu Society are rampant, they have already lost their way and are destined to be unable to compete for the throne. His Majesty is gradually gaining a firm foothold and has the aura of an emperor. Although there are rumors in the streets that the eight princes may have the ambition to challenge for the throne.
Perhaps the eight of them could fight together, but even if the eight kings won, there was only one throne for the emperor, so who could sit on it? Who couldn't sit on it?
It is generally acknowledged that the strongest person is King Jing of Jiancheng Dao, followed by King Mu of Yunfu Dao... In terms of the ranking, King Heng is roughly in the middle. Although he is much stronger than King Lingnan, if we are to compete for the throne... In the thousands of years of history of Qingzhou Dao, there has never been an emperor."
She spoke eloquently, and as a woman, she had a unique sense of courage when it came to commenting on the world situation.
Zhao Duan said calmly:
"So, you are sure that King Heng will not win. Even if the eight kings join forces and really do something extraordinary, when the credit is divided, King Heng will not be among the top three. And by then, how can the one sitting on the throne tolerate someone else sleeping beside his bed?"
Xiao Dong'er nodded and said:
"Your Excellency is wise. Therefore, if your majesty wins, then my Xiao family will be tied to King Heng, and there will be no good results. If unfortunately a certain prince wins, the Donghu Xiao family, which is tied to King Heng, will still not have a good result. In this case, why not make a bet?"
Why not gamble?!
At this moment, she spoke very frankly, and even with a hint of madness.
Zhao Duan was silent. He could probably guess that this woman chose to bet on the empress because she had been bullied by Prince Heng's Mansion for too long.
But still...very...
Crazy.
"You know, just based on those few remarks you made about state affairs, I can throw you into the imperial prison." Zhao Duan suddenly said.
Mrs. Xiao smiled sweetly and was not panicked. She picked up the baked rice cake and presented it.
Zhao Duan took it and said:
"How can I believe what you said? What if you were sent by Xu Zudi to act here?"
Madam Xiao smiled and said:
"If you agree, I will go out with you and record what we just said. Or, since my Xiao family does not make any profit from the business, even if it is fake, it will not harm the court, right?"
You've thought it through very carefully... Zhao Duan took a bite of the rice cake and said:
"Is this the decision of the entire Xiao family?"
"I am the head of the family. If I do this, there will be no turning back for the entire family."
Xiao Dong'er replied calmly, "As long as we become the Imperial Merchant, no matter how angry King Heng is, at least he can't do anything openly, and my Xiao family can withstand it."
You are dragging the entire tribe to the gambling table, what a crazy woman... Zhao Duan stroked his chin and said:
"last question."
He suddenly smiled evilly: "Since you came to me to beg me, how can you please me?"
Mrs. Xiao was stunned, and suddenly a trace of sadness and sigh appeared in her eyes.
After hesitating for a while, she seemed to have finally made up her mind. She stood up slowly, took off her shawl, and said in a soft voice:
"My Lord, you can do whatever you want Dong'er to do."
She was thinking wrong.
Seeing that Zhao Duan didn't answer, this widow, who was extremely famous in the entire Dayu Dynasty, gritted her teeth, took a few steps closer, and was about to kneel down...
But he was stopped by an iron fork.
"Madam, what do you mean?" Zhao Duan said with a smile.
Madam Xiao was stunned for a moment, hesitating and unable to speak, as if she finally realized that she might have been wrong:
"I……"
Zhao Duan said calmly:
"I do need you to do something. In a while, the court will open a market in Huting. Did you know that?"
The topic change was too abrupt. Madam Xiao's brain briefly stopped working before she nodded:
"Of course I know. This is the most important event that merchants from all over the country have been paying attention to recently. It is said that the court will hold a meeting at Huting to announce the first batch of imperial merchants and all the business strategies."
Zhao Duan nodded and said calmly:
"I can give you a place as an imperial merchant, but not now. I need you to attend the meeting at the lake pavilion and wait for my news. Maybe then I will need your Xiao family to publicly set an example."
Madam Xiao was startled at first, then showed surprise, and bowed her head respectfully:
"Yes! The Xiao family will live up to your trust!"
"Go back. Before that, don't alert the enemy." Zhao Duan ordered.
Mrs. Xiao was so overjoyed that she quickly responded and thanked him several times before putting on her cloak again and leaving in a hurry.
In a blink of an eye, Zhao Duan was the only one left in the courtyard, roasting himself by the fire.
He picked up the cup of hot tea with milk and took a sip, feeling the hot flow rolling into his esophagus, and suddenly smiled to himself.
“There are surprises everywhere in the world.”
Zhao Duan just had an idea and made a move. Although some plans in his mind were not clear, things in the world are unpredictable and will not follow a predetermined trajectory. Just as he could not have imagined that a contest with Xu Zudi would actually attract the Xiao family of Donghu to join him.
Similarly, who can say what miraculous effect a chess piece he casually places on the chessboard will have in the future?
When Yuan Li was making the chess layout, he could only barely be a chess player in the corner.
When the Empress and Prince Jing played chess with Taicang, he became the pawn charging into battle.
Now, he first deployed spies to deal with Zhuang Xiaocheng, and then used Xiao Dong'er to control Prince Heng, but unknowingly, he had the momentum of planning a counterattack.
Shaking his head and putting this unexpected episode aside for the time being, Zhao Duan drank the milk tea in the cup, looked at the sky, muttered something, then stood up and left.
The meeting with Mrs. Xiao was just a temporary addition. His real plan today was to target Mr. Zhengyang.
"Look at the time, it's time to set off. Hey, Zhengyang, ah Zhengyang, let's test your quality first."
……
……
the other side.
Madam Xiao walked out of the tailor shop, with her maid still holding a few wrapped garments, and got on the carriage. The group returned directly to the magnificent courtyard they had seen yesterday.
This place was originally the Xiao family's property. Xu Zudi forced his way here and got free food, drinks and lodging here.
As soon as the group of people entered the courtyard, they caught a glimpse of Xu Zudi, a young man in gorgeous clothes, practicing boxing.
There is actually a bit of vigor and vitality.
Madam Xiao resumed her humble, harmless vase image and stood aside, watching silently.
After finishing a set of punches, Xu Zudi exhaled slowly, staring at Xiao Dong'er, who looked desolate, with a half-smile:
"How about it, Master Xiao, can you knock on the door of the government office today?"
Madam Xiao shook her head in frustration.
Xu Zudi laughed loudly, with undisguised joy on his face:
"I have already said that the imperial court will not allow you to enter the market, but you just don't believe it. What do you think? You don't want to be a good family head, but you insist on going to the government office to curry favor with the government."
Madam Xiao sighed softly, as if accepting her fate: "What the prince said is right."
Xu Zudi was in a good mood and suddenly said:
"After a while, the court will open a market in Huting. You can go there."
Madam Xiao was stunned for a moment: "Your Highness, what are you doing..."
Xu Zudi smiled proudly:
"Since the court doesn't want you, then Patriarch Xiao should understand that he should stay with our Prince Heng Palace wholeheartedly. It just so happens that during the meeting at Lake Pavilion, merchants and big families from all over the world will gather here. You can set an example for them so that they can see the situation clearly and know which side to stand on."
"..."
Madam Xiao's eyes looked extremely strange, but this emotion only lasted for a moment before disappearing. She bowed slightly and said with an incomprehensible meaning:
"As ordered."
……
……
The capital city is becoming more and more lively.
If the news of the academic discussion had just spread yesterday, then today it has already caused a sensation, and even people who are not scholars have heard about it.
At the gate of the Imperial College.
Mr. Song and a group of scholars from the "Zhengyang School" were almost driven out.
This move caused a burst of anger among his companions:
"What a great Imperial College! They couldn't argue with us uprightly, so they just let people drive us away! They are really unworthy of being scholars!"
"That's right! You are nothing but a bunch of thieves who know they can't win the argument with Mr. Zhengyang, so they resort to such means to block his mouth! But you can block us, but you can't block the mouths of scholars all over the world!"
"Brothers and fellow students, it's still early, let's go to the literary gatherings in the city and make sure to clear the name of the master!"
"Go together! Go together!"
A group of scholars were so excited that they took Mr. Song and turned around and left.
Four days later, the academic debate between Dong Xuan and Zhengyang began, but public opinion outside the academic debate was also an important factor.
Therefore, in the past few days, the more than one hundred disciples who followed Zhengyang into the city began to contact their classmates and old friends in the city, organize various literary gatherings, and build momentum in advance.
Today, they entered the Imperial College to build momentum, and ended up having a heated argument with a group of students. However, they were discovered by the Imperial College's chief academic officer, who ordered them to be kicked out.
Mr. Song was caught up in the crowd, but he was after all an old man in his fifties and not as energetic as his younger brothers in the school.
After the fight, he was exhausted and had to wave goodbye to the other people from the "Zhengyang School". He walked alone along the long street and returned to the inn.
Mr. Song has been very excited these days.
At first, he actually planned to send Mr. Zhengyang to the capital and leave. After experiencing the Gong Taicang case not long ago, he was wary of the bloody disputes among the upper echelons of the court.
I don't really want to get involved in it.
But later on, the other fellow disciples were shouting loudly that they would never retreat, and Mr. Song, who was very concerned about his reputation, was stopped... He was too embarrassed to say that he wanted to leave.
He entered the city in a daze, and after entering the city, he found it even more bustling. Mr. Song was swept up in the fanatical scholars and also felt a heroic spirit to uphold the orthodox learning and reshape the rites and laws for the people of the world.
In short, it's addictive.
He even had the impulse to think that he had lived in vain for the past few decades, and that after studying all his life, he should fight a battle like this and die for the teachings of the sage without regrets.
"I am an old man, but I am still as wild as a young man..."
Mr. Song was walking down the long street, feeling very excited, until a young man suddenly appeared in front of him and smiled at him:
"Mr. Song, right? My master wants to see you."
(End of this chapter)