Chapter 371 Zhao Duan: Princess, where are you practicing?
Chapter 371 Zhao Duan: Princess, where are you practicing?
Please ask Prince Jing to come over?
Feng Ju looked slightly surprised, and felt a little worried: "My Lord, are you going to..."
Going to visit the prince and asking the prince to come over are two different attitudes.
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "Just go ahead and do it. By the way, you can send the letter later. I will receive my people first."
"Yes." Doctor Feng responded immediately, putting himself in the position of an obedient subordinate.
The two discussed some details before getting up and leaving.
After the others left, the entourage who had been standing outside the main hall of the Humble Administrator's Garden came in.
"How's the settlement going?" Zhao Duan took out two yellow mangoes from the fruit plate and threw them to the Hai family's grandparents and grandchildren.
Haitang raised her hand to take it and said calmly:
"The accommodation has been allocated. This garden is really nice. It is rare in the capital."
The eunuch in the dragon robe smiled and ate the mango, saying:
"If you have nothing else to do, I'll go and rest first. Haha, the maids in this garden are all very cute and speak softly, which is very different from those in the capital."
So? How can you still enjoy it... Zhao Duan complained, not surprisingly:
"If we talk about gardens, the Huaishui area is indeed the best. I remember there is an emperor's summer resort in the Huaishui area? It's a pity that it's not here, otherwise I would like to go and see it."
"The royal villa," Eunuch Hai muttered as his memory drifted away.
"Then you have to go further south. Near Luoshan is the palace built when Taizu was enthroned. It's been six hundred years... Haha, you may have a chance to go there someday."
The eunuch in dragon robe's words seemed to have a hidden meaning, but Zhao Duan didn't understand.
He waved his hand to let the group go and rest first, and he stayed in the hall, ready to receive the guests.
……
Just as Feng Ju said, as early as when Zhao Du'an entered Huting City, many people were eager to visit him.
Not long after Lao Feng went out to deliver the message, guests arrived in the Humble Administrator's Garden.
However, the first person to come to the door was an "acquaintance" who surprised Zhao Duan a little.
"Madam Lin?" Zhao Duan sat upright in the main seat in the main hall. On the wall behind him hung a long scroll of an authentic landscape painting by an ancient famous artist.
Holding a Fengyao teacup in his hand, he looked in surprise at a young woman walking in from outside the hall.
She was beautiful and elegant, with an oval face and long brows. She was no longer wearing the plain white dress she had worn before, but was wearing a thicker and more conservative skirt and silk clothes. Her demeanor was completely different from when she was in the capital.
Lin Susu!
The "Sixth Lady", the concubine that "Little Prime Minister" Li Yinglong once forced upon him.
At that time, he teamed up with Zhao Du'an and took advantage of the fact that Li looked very similar to the previous emperor's concubine to set a trap for Li's father and son.
Later, Zhao Duan sent him back to the south and gave him the choice to join the imperial merchants.
"I, your humble daughter Susu, pay my respects to you, benefactor!" Madam Lin stepped over the threshold and bowed down with an excited look on her face.
A man who was about thirty years old and dressed as a businessman who was following her also knelt down.
"Stand up and talk." Zhao Duan smiled and looked at the man beside her, curiously asking:
"If I remember correctly, this is your husband? What nonsense..."
"Hu Xuezhai." The man hurriedly introduced himself, his eyes sincere:
"My husband and I suffered in the past. If it weren't for you, my benefactor, we would have been separated by the Yin and Yang. I have long wanted to visit you in person, but was delayed by other things. Now that I know you are here, I am sorry to bother you. I don't have much, but I have some small gifts. I hope you will accept them."
As he spoke, he presented the wooden box gift in his hand.
Zhao Duan smiled and ordered the couple to get up and talk. He then learned that Mrs. Lin had returned to Jiangnan in the past and rescued her husband, and she told them what happened.
Hu Xuezhai was also a lovesick man, so he tolerated it. The couple never separated. Madam Lin then took out the certificate given by Zhao Duan.
The two were merchants originally, the first batch to join the imperial merchants. Although the market has not yet been officially opened, in fact, the trade led by the court has been in trial operation for some time.
The couple also reaped the benefits and became representatives of the newly rising imperial merchants.
Zhao Duan chatted with them for a while, and then someone else came to visit, so he ordered someone to take the couple to the garden to rest.
The second person to arrive was still an acquaintance who surprised him.
"Sir, as you said, Dong'er has been waiting for you in the lake pavilion for a long time."
Wearing a dark-colored horse-faced skirt and a shawl, the "first widow of Dayu" from the Xiao family in Qingzhou walked over the threshold with a smile and gifts in hand.
He bowed towards Zhao Du'an, with two piles of fat snow faintly visible on his chest.
"Mrs. Xiao really kept her promise. Please sit down and talk." Zhao Duan invited her to sit down with a smile. He learned that after Mrs. Xiao left the capital, she did not return to Qingzhou, but came directly to the lake pavilion.
Have lived here for quite some time.
"Madam, why did Xu Zudi come here so eagerly? " Zhao Duan was curious.
Madam Xiao smiled sweetly, as gentle as a spring of water. She pursed her red lips and said with a smile:
"I have something to report to you, sir. I was afraid of alerting the enemy when I was in the capital, so I didn't dare to tell you. Xu Zudi asked Dong'er to come here and asked me to set an example at the meeting in the lake pavilion, represent the merchants of Qingzhou, and oppose the court and prevent the opening of the market."
Is this happening?
Zhao Duan was very surprised, and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He smiled and said, "Then why do you dare to come over?"
Madam Xiao smiled and said, "Everyone knows that my Xiao family wants to become an imperial merchant, but the court has rejected us three times. Why don't I dare to come?"
Zhao Duan sighed: "Madam is acting as a double agent."
Madam Xiao, who was very opinionated and good at using her beauty to her advantage, pretended to be flustered and said timidly:
"Sir, don't scare Dong'er. You know, the Xiao family only follows your lead. Xu Zudi is a complete idiot. I'm not afraid of him."
"Hahaha," Zhao Duan laughed heartily and said seriously:
"I have seen Madam's intentions. But please hold off for now and wait for my news before making a statement."
"Dong'er obeys your command."
"Okay, let's go to the garden and take a rest. There's no need to leave in a hurry." Zhao Duan served tea and saw the guest off.
Madam Xiao stood up gracefully and walked out.
The moment she stepped over the threshold, her temperament changed drastically, and she became the female head of the household who was, in the eyes of outsiders, aloof and graceful, with a noble demeanor, and who was cold and rude to men.
Next, several imperial merchants came to visit.
Everyone prepared gifts and was polite to the point of flattery.
Having been accustomed to seeing officials and nobles in the capital, it was more difficult for him to suddenly meet so many merchants and gentry. In comparison, the latter had to be more humble.
No one showed the slightest disrespect to Zhao Duan, this "big shot" who looked too young.
Everyone knows that this big shot is the King of Hell on earth who can easily destroy their families with just a glance.
"Master Zhao, long time no see, you are still as elegant as ever."
Finally, after meeting several groups of people, Zhao Duan heard a laughter as clear as a silver bell.
Looking up, she suddenly saw Xu Junling leading the maid Lushui towards the courtyard.
"Princess?" Zhao Duan stood up for the first time and greeted her with a big laugh:
"Come if you want to, what else are you bringing... Hey, don't take it back, I'm just saying, don't take it seriously."
Xu Junling couldn't help laughing. After all, the two of them had to get to know each other better, so he made a joke. The princess then smiled and said:
"I heard that you have done a lot of important things in the capital. When the news of Gao Lian's death came back, you don't know what the expressions of the Li Party families in Huaishui were like."
Zhao Duan said righteously:
"It is surprising that Governor Gao committed suicide out of fear of punishment, but he was willing to confess his guilt before his death, which shows that he still had a conscience."
Xu Junling blinked and inquired, "Did he really commit suicide out of fear of punishment?"
"Is this still false?"
"Hehe..." Xu Junling had a look on his face that said, "Do you think I'm stupid?" but he didn't delve into it further. He then brought up the matter of Mr. Zhengyang becoming his apprentice and kept asking questions. The talented princess was particularly curious about this.
Zhao Duan pushed the issue around and just said that it was the old villain Zhengyang who had bad intentions, but Xu Junling looked at him with an increasingly complicated look.
It seemed as if he wanted to see through him.
"I wanted to go visit Prince Huai'an in person later, but unexpectedly the princess arrived first." Zhao Duan changed the subject.
Xu Junling smiled and said, "You want to see my father?"
"Inconvenient?" Zhao Duan tested carefully.
Xu Junling was silent for a moment, then smiled. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a commotion coming from the gate of the Humble Administrator's Garden, accompanied by the loud shouts of the servants in the garden:
"Prince Jing is here!"
The two people in the hall were stunned, looked at each other, and said in unison: "Did you call him?"
Then their expressions became strange.
Xu Junling had never expected that Prince Jing would come to visit him in person. All kinds of thoughts flashed through his little head, and he didn't know what kind of drama he had imagined.
Zhao Duan was surprised that it was still early for him to ask Feng Ju to invite him, which meant that Prince Jing was not invited by him, but came to visit on his own initiative. A few hours ago, he had just repelled the prince on the river, and in the blink of an eye, the other party's father came.
"Here comes with bad intentions." Zhao Duan murmured softly.
Immediately, under Xu Junling's curious gaze, he stood up and said with a smile:
"My Lord, how about we welcome him together?"
The necessary etiquette is still there.
……
When the two men stood up and walked out of the main hall, all the imperial merchants who had visited the Humble Administrator's Garden before and were deliberately kept in the garden by Zhao Duan to rest and play, also came over after hearing the news.
Madam Xiao, Mrs. Lin and her husband all looked surprised.
"Prince Jing is here?"
Haitang and the old priest, as well as guards such as Lang Shiba and Ji Yue, also rushed over and took defensive measures.
Zhao Duan signaled them to be patient and looked towards the front of the garden.
I saw a group of people coming in a mighty procession, guarded by several servants from the palace, and leading the way was a family of three.
The prince Xu Jinglong, whom I had met not long ago, walked at the end, with his head slightly lowered, his expression unrecognizable, and a well-behaved demeanor.
In the front was an elegant middle-aged man who seemed to be in his forties, but his temples were already gray.
Above the luxurious robe embroidered with a four-clawed python dragon, his handsome face is full of awe-inspiring grace, and the slight curve at the corner of his mouth gives people a sense of nobility that is almost like that of an emperor.
There are white bodhisattvas wrapped around his sleeves and an excellent "safe and sound plaque" hanging on his chest. The color of the jade is orange-yellow and it is a rare warm jade from the South China Sea.
The first of the eight kings.
The most powerful vassal kings who pose the greatest threat to the empress's throne are Jiancheng Dao and Prince Jing Xuwen!
Zhao Duan's eyes met with his, and he was then attracted by a beautiful woman with a gentle face standing next to Prince Jing.
She was wearing a long tasseled skirt, had a plain face without any makeup, thin eyebrows and eyes, and her hair was tied up in a bun.
Although she is no longer young, she still has a unique feminine charm. The few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes add to the rich fragrance of a woman's years, as mellow as wine.
Zhao Duan recalled the information he had read before and guessed his identity:
The current Princess Consort of Jing is Lu Yaner.
After Xu Jinglong's biological mother died, the position of princess was vacant for a while. Several princesses in Prince Jing's mansion wanted to fight for it, but Prince Jing never expressed his position.
One day, he actually married a nun from a Taoist temple in Jiancheng Dao and brought her back to the palace to be made the new princess.
It’s this Lu Yaner.
It once became a hot topic among the people. There were rumors that this Taoist nun was Prince Jing's old lover and that their old love had rekindled, but there was no evidence.
In addition, it is said that this princess, perhaps because she had returned to secular life after becoming a nun, was different from ordinary women and was not averse to showing her face in public.
Whenever Prince Jing went out, he and his wife would travel together.
At this moment, sensing Zhao Duan's gaze, the gentle and unworldly beautiful woman also looked over with her bright black eyes.
Zhao Duan was slightly stunned.
As the two looked at each other, the Taoist woman who had returned to secular life frowned slightly, turned her head and looked away, as if she rarely was looked at so rudely and almost unscrupulously by a man outside.
In the Humble Administrator's Garden, many people also noticed that Lord Zhao was staring at the princess with a strange expression.
I just thought it was just his nature. But being so rude, aren't you afraid of getting His Majesty angry, or angering Prince Jing?
"Prince Jing is here to visit us. It is a great honor for my humble home. I have not received any news and I am here to greet you in advance. Please forgive me."
Zhao Duan realized it a little later, withdrew his gaze, and laughed.
However, he still felt strange in his heart. He had never seen the Princess of Jing before, and he could not tell what was special about her.
But when we looked at each other just now, I inexplicably felt a sense of "familiarity", which was very strange.
It seemed like I had seen it somewhere.
"Jun Ling greets Uncle Wang." The little princess also bowed.
The powerful prince who was the head of the eight princes smiled calmly, as if he had not noticed Zhao Duan's actions just now, and nodded with a smile:
"Jun Ling is here too. Your father isn't here?"
Xu Junling smiled sweetly: "My niece is familiar with Lord Zhao, and my father didn't know that I came here this time."
Prince Jing nodded, pretending to believe it. He turned his head and looked at Zhao Duan deeply, and said meaningfully:
"Are you Zhao Duan? The favorite of His Majesty?"
Inexplicable.
There was a sudden silence in the Humble Administrator's Garden. No one dared to speak, and even everyone held their breath.
Zhao Duan smiled and looked into the eyes of the elegant and powerful man in front of him.
The two met for the first time today, but it was not the first time they fought.
At first, Zhao Duan investigated the Zhang brothers and accidentally implicated the secret agents of Prince Jing's Mansion. Later, he set a trap in the Shenji Camp and brought down the military officer that Prince Jing's Mansion had painstakingly recruited, and eliminated the second secret agent.
Then Prince Jing used the Governor Gao Lian as a pawn to play chess with the empress from a distance, trying to force Li Yanfu to rebel and split the court... Zhao Duan was also involved.
At this moment, the two finally saw each other's true faces.
"Your Highness is too polite. I am not worthy of the title 'celebrity'."
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "It's just a matter of loyalty to the emperor."
"What a way to eat the emperor's food," Prince Jing's smile seemed to hide a deep meaning, "I came here uninvited, Lord Zhao, why don't you invite us in and have a seat?"
"Haha, please."
Zhao Duan greeted them with a big laugh, and led the Jingwang family into the main hall. When he turned around, he glanced at Eunuch Hai and others beside him.
The latter understood what he meant and walked outside the main hall, separating the inside and the outside.
Xu Junling blinked and wanted to follow in, but was suddenly stopped by the female detective, Si Haitang:
"Princess, go and rest here."
Xu Junling smiled sweetly: "...Alright."
……
……
In the main hall, after the host and guest were seated, the servants served tea and carefully closed the door.
There were only four people left in the room.
Zhao Duan's smile was gentle, without any arrogance or domineering in sight:
"When I was in the capital, I always heard His Majesty mention the princes. He said that among all the princes, only Prince Jing had great talent and strategy, and had the ability to govern the country. He managed Jiancheng Dao in an orderly manner. Among all the local officials sent by the entire court, only the officials of Jiancheng Dao were the least troublesome and laborious, because all the affairs of the Dao were taken care of by Prince Jing's Mansion."
This is heartbreaking.
Prince Jing seemed not to have heard the hidden meaning. This prince, who looked much younger than his actual age, smiled warmly, his eyes full of admiration:
"It's rare that His Majesty still cares about my uncle. Your Majesty was entrusted with the task of managing the government in a time of crisis. It must have been extremely hard. Fortunately, there are young talents like you to assist you.
I am now in Jiancheng. Although the journey is long, I have heard a lot of news from the capital. When I first learned that Your Majesty had found a foot soldier of the imperial guards to serve you, I was very surprised.
It was not until later that I learned that the White Horse Supervisor Zhao Shijun was famous in the capital that I realized that Your Majesty was better at employing and judging people than I was. "
Standing next to it in the house.
When Xu Jinglong, who didn't even get a seat, heard the word "serve", his drooping face visibly darkened.
When he felt his father's gaze on him, he quickly calmed down his thoughts and controlled his expression.
Prince Jing sighed:
"Jinglong is much older than you, but he is not as good as you, a member of the Imperial Guard. Not long ago, I learned that he had a collision with you while playing on the river, causing unpleasantness, so I brought him here to apologize."
Zhao Duan's eyes narrowed.
Prince Jing Xu Wen said in a low voice: "Why are you still standing there?"
Xu Jinglong stepped forward, put down the gift box in his hand, and bowed respectfully:
"I bumped into you on the river, sir, and I hope you can forgive me."
Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes and laughed heartily:
"What is your Highness doing? It's just a misunderstanding. I have already explained it to the prince. Why is there a need to make a fuss?"
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly eased.
The originally heavy and almost solidified air also began to flow quietly and slowly.
After briefly mentioning the matter, Zhao Duan exchanged greetings with Prince Jing. The ambitious prince praised Zhao Duan's past "achievements", and Zhao Duan also showed humility and took advantage of the other party's tactics in return.
Neither of them mentioned the word "opening the market".
After changing the topic, Zhao Duan suddenly smiled and looked at the elegant and gentle Princess Jing who was sitting next to the middle-aged prince:
"I heard that the princess was also a Taoist monk? On which mountain did she become a nun? Did she practice cultivation?"
……
Cavan
(End of this chapter)