Chapter 223 The Wise King

If Princess Ronghua Zhu Huaizhen was not curious, then she would not be called Princess Ronghua.

Zhu Huaizhen deliberately dressed up as a maid and sneaked out through the back door.

Tu Mi originally wanted to follow, but Zhu Huaizhen arranged for her to listen to the opera at Haiyue Cottage.

As the saying goes, you have to do the whole show.

After leaving Haiyue Cottage, Zhu Huaizhen went to Jingzhao Prefecture specifically and asked the prefect of Jingzhao to convey a message to Lou Li, the commander of the Jinyiwei of Southern Yan: A Li, what's the matter with creating a king?

Of course, Zhu Huaizhen knew that the only one who received this news was Chen Mingan.

Once upon a time, she was open and honest with Chen Ming'an and would not hide anything unless necessary.

Now, she is taking advantage of it if she can.

Next, she went to the teahouse to listen to storytelling jokes.

Some bold folk storytellers would adapt current events into jokes and tell them vividly.

If the superior takes it seriously, then it means he admits it.

Zhu Huaizhen heard the story about the virtuous king in the teahouse.

The virtuous king was the late emperor's youngest brother. He had no fiefdom, only a palace.

The palace was dilapidated, falling into disrepair and leaking constantly. The servants had long since been disbanded, leaving only the virtuous prince and the old eunuch to depend on each other for survival. The old eunuch sold straw sandals, and the virtuous prince made them. The virtuous prince also wanted to sell straw sandals, but the old eunuch advised him to consider the royal family's reputation. Upon hearing this, the virtuous prince did not resent the royal family's indifference, but instead nodded with great kindness.

This time when the young emperor ascended the throne, he rewarded a group of relatively obedient royal children as a sign of his favor.

The virtuous king was among them and received three hundred taels of silver.

He made some simple renovations to the palace, with a shop in the front and houses in the back.

The shop was set up to sell wontons. Five cents a bowl, a reasonable price, a small profit margin and a high turnover. Sometimes, if they met the elderly, the weak, women and children, they would even cook a bowl of steaming wontons for free.

His reputation started with wontons.

The wonton skin is thin and the filling is rich, full of meaty flavor.

He was responsible for wrapping and cooking wontons, while the old eunuch was responsible for collecting money.

He never called himself a prince, everyone called him Xiao Zhao.

Xiao Zhao once gave a bowl of wontons to a young woman holding a chubby boy. The woman didn't look like she was from Southern Chu, speaking with a Southern Yan accent. She had come looking for her relatives. She lamented the poor security situation in Southern Chu, complaining that even in broad daylight, people could be robbed. Fortunately, she and her child had only lost their belongings, and were unharmed.

After the young woman ate the wontons, she had enough milk to feed the big fat boy.

Xiao Zhao was kind-hearted, so he asked the young woman which relative she was looking for, hoping he could help.

The young woman thought for a long time before taking out the token, which was a melon-shaped pendant with peach tourmaline.

Coincidentally, Xiao Zhao recognized the totem on the token, which was a watermelon, which symbolizes many children and good fortune.

The Zheng family of Nanyang had few descendants, so they used watermelon as their totem.

So, Xiao Zhao helped the young woman to the end and sent the young woman holding the fat boy to the Zheng family's mansion in Nanyang.

It turned out that the fat boy was the posthumous son of the eldest brother of the head of the Zheng family in Nanyang.

Back then, the eldest brother of the head of the Zheng family in Nanyang, the former young master, insisted on marrying a woman from Nanyan. He was opposed by the entire family, so he ran away from home and never returned.

Unexpectedly, the young woman left behind a child for the late young master.

The head of the Zheng family in Nanyang took in several concubines but was unable to give birth to a son.

Now that the former young master has a child, it is equivalent to him also having a child, so he is naturally very happy.

In order to express his gratitude to Xiao Zhao for his help, the head of the Zheng family in Nanyang immediately paid him a visit. Only then did he learn that Xiao Zhao was a prince, ranked eighth, and was given the title of the Wise King, which was very appropriate.