Earl Yongle said with a smile, "I have a young lady at home. She is beautiful, intelligent, and has a generous dowry. Her manners and etiquette are all top-notch in the capital. As soon as I saw Your Highness, I was delighted. That's why I shamelessly came to your house to test your feelings. I wonder if you would be honored to do me this favor?"

Zhongli Zhou frowned. "I've only been in the capital for two days, so the people there don't know much about me. If Earl Yongle is truly sincere, why not ask the Emperor first?"

Zhang Juzheng also frowned and looked at Earl Yongle with some displeasure.

It has only been two days since the prince arrived in Beijing, and these people have already come running over to send their young ladies over. They simply don't take the prince and princess seriously.

How could you go straight to the person involved and talk about this without going through the elders?

"As a man, as long as you like it, everything else is trivial! As long as the prince agrees, I will naturally go to the palace to explain the situation to His Majesty. How do you think?"

Yongle Bo pursued him relentlessly, as if he couldn't understand the refusal at all.

The smile on Zhonglizhou's face also faded: "Not very good."

Yonglebo's face froze: "What do you mean, my lord?"

"What do you think?"

Zhongli Zhou watched with interest as Earl Yongle's expression changed. Finally, he forced a smile and said, "This old minister knows this is a bit sudden. In that case, why not give the Crown Prince some time to consider? It's getting late today, so I'll come another day."

Zhonglizhou put down the teacup and said, "Take care."

Zhang Juzheng watched as Earl Yongle left and spoke in a deep voice, "I wonder if the Crown Prince has made any arrangements for his marriage? Before coming here, the Princess specifically instructed me to keep an eye on this."

Zhongli Zhou looked at him with a smile: "Oh? Did my mother specifically mention it to Master Zhang?"

Zhang Juzheng couldn't figure out what his tone meant, so he looked up cautiously and said, "Yes, Your Majesty means that perhaps Your Highness could consider my daughter? After all, you know her well..."

"Master Zhang!"

Zhonglizhou didn't let Zhang Juzheng continue. "I have my own plans for my marriage. Your daughter is lively, cheerful, and straightforward, but she's not within my consideration. There are many good men in the world. Lord Zhang should have a broader vision."

This blatant rejection made Zhang Juzheng sigh inwardly.

It’s true!

"I am sorry for being so presumptuous. Since Your Highness has already made up his mind, I will not ask any more questions. However, you still need to be careful. I'm afraid these princes may have ulterior motives!"

After knowing this result, Zhang Juzheng gave up and tried his best to remind Zhonglizhou.

"Thank you, Master Zhang. I understand."

Zhang Juzheng left the study with heavy steps, thinking about how to explain it to his daughter.

Zhonglizhou called over Lieutenant General Yang and asked, "Have you found the Lai family I asked you to investigate?"

Lieutenant General Yang nodded. "I've found out! The Lai family only rose from poverty to become a well-off small family in the capital after Your Majesty ascended the throne. There aren't any particularly outstanding individuals in the Lai family, but if there is one, there is one."

"who?"

"The Queen's chief steward, Nanny Lai."

A figure flashed through Zhonglizhou's mind. He looked at Lieutenant General Yang in surprise, "Are you sure it's Nanny Lai?"

"I have confirmed it, it is Nanny Lai!"

Zhongli Zhou felt a little unbelievable.

That Nanny Lai had followed the Empress since before she entered the palace, and the two had a special relationship. But what could the Lai family have done that the Emperor could have exiled the entire clan, and the Empress did not even stop it?

"Why were you exiled?"

No matter how Zhongli Zhou thought about it, he felt that this matter was somewhat unusual.

"It's said that because Nanny Lai violated etiquette in front of the emperor, offended the emperor, and was disrespectful to the empress, the emperor, in a rage, sentenced all nine members of the Lai family to tattooing, reduced to pariah status, and exiled to the southwest. Because the Lai family wasn't a prominent figure, there were few people to intercede for them. The Criminal Investigation Department acted quickly, and within two days, the Lai family was reduced to its current state."

"Where's Madam Lai? Why isn't she among the exiled people?"

Lieutenant General Yang was embarrassed: "Madame Lai is in the palace, and it's hard to get information from her. I haven't found out yet."

Zhongli Zhou frowned and waved his hand to let him go.

The emperor obviously hates the Lai family.

But what could the Lai family do to make the emperor so angry?

Ah Ying obviously knew it, but since he had asked her at that time, why didn't she say it?

Is it because it's too complicated to talk about? Or is it... related to him?

——

In the post house.

Gongye Hong was preparing to go to the palace tomorrow to bid farewell to Emperor Mingde, and then set off back to Northern Yan.

Luo Chengwu and the others were all packing their things when a guard hurried in: "Your Highness! General! Good news!"

Seeing this guard running in covered in snow, Luo Chengwu couldn't help but scold him, "How disgraceful! Why don't you clean yourself up before you come to see His Highness!"

The guard's next words made them lose all thoughts: "Potato! I saw Potato today! There is news about Potato!"

Luo Chengwu, who was originally a few meters away, was in front of the guards almost instantly: "What did you say? You saw it? Where?!"

"It's in the White Crane Tower! It was someone from Princess Hua's clan who told me that. I thought I'd misheard, so I tampered with the bag and broke it open. And out fell a bunch of red and yellow oval-shaped things. They said they were potatoes!"

Luo Chengwu patted his guard's shoulder excitedly, "Great! You've done a great job! You deserve a reward, Your Highness!"

Gongye Hong forced himself to suppress his inner excitement: "Go call the Minister of Agriculture! Tell him the whole story later."

When the Grand Minister of Agriculture arrived, he listened to the guards' observations and descriptions of the potatoes and paced around the room excitedly, "That's right! Absolutely right! It's exactly as the Taoist priest said!"

Luo Chengwu no longer thought that he was an old charlatan: "Hahaha! I see that Taoist priest has the appearance of an immortal, how could he be lying!"

"I personally saw them take something upstairs. It is said that it is a specialty of Princess Hehua's hometown, sent specially for Princess Hehua."

The guard was very happy and racked his brains to tell everyone the news he had heard.

"A specialty from Princess Hehua's hometown? Her hometown seems to be Liangzhou."

"We should send someone to Liangzhou to inquire about the news now, but the journey is too long and it's obviously too late."

"I'll go straight to your house and ask!"

While the two were discussing, Gongye Hong kept chewing over Wuyouzi's words in his mind: "He who saves flowers can save the country... Could it be that this is the answer?"

Luo Chengwu's eyes widened: "Could it be that you are referring to..."

"Princess Hehua!"

The Grand Minister of Agriculture did not hesitate.