Chapter 103 The taste was different from what she expected...

The truth was too profound, and Chaoyang didn't understand it at the moment. She was just walking ignorantly on the path planned by the people around her.

There is nothing wrong with this; at least it ensures that she won't make big mistakes during her ignorant years.

Shen Zhiwei's education of Chaoyang is always brief and to the point. He never talks at length, let alone preaches big truths. Even adults cannot listen to so many big truths, let alone children.

So after entering the hall, Shen Zhiwei began to chat with Chaoyang about things like archery and wrestling. These were Chaoyang's favorite games, and she and Shen Zhiwei had a lot to talk about.

Shen Zhiwei actually likes to play, but she is too tired from work. When she finally gets a break, she just wants to lie down and doesn't want to move at all. If it weren't for exercising, Shen Zhiwei would never go out!

Unlike Shen Zhiwei, the otaku, Chaoyang likes to travel around and run outside when she has nothing to do. She is interested in strolling around the city or enjoying the natural scenery outside the city. She is exploring this new world in her own way.

As the crown prince and the emperor's only son, many people were reluctant to let Chaoyang leave the palace. It was too dangerous for her outside. No one knew where an audacious assassin who wanted to restore the old master or disrupt the world would emerge.

After hearing it so many times, Chaoyang became more restrained. She knew that those ministers who kept nagging her were actually doing it for her own good. They were really doing it for her own good and for the sake of her life.

After spending a leisurely parent-child time, Shen Zhiwei continued to work, serving the country like a beast of burden, while Chaoyang played around with her palace servants. She rested today, but she had to go to school tomorrow.

When Shen Zhiwei looks at the rising sun, he always imagines those modern children who have to attend a lot of remedial classes since childhood. He sighs that no matter which era, children who live in the Chinese elite education have the same miserable life. They are born as qualified little cows and horses needed by society.

After a few days, it was the twelfth lunar month and things started to pile up. In order to prepare for the arrival of the new year, the busy Shengdu seemed even busier.

Only the execution ground was temporarily free. After entering the twelfth lunar month, in order to prevent blood from colliding with ancestors and gods, the execution ground was temporarily sealed and no blood was seen.

Those damned sinners will be sent off one by one after the New Year.

Almost all the people had been arrested, and Gui Yang could take a break. Then he plunged into countless official duties. He had not been in Shengdu during this period, and had accumulated some non-urgent matters. He accumulated a little today, and a little tomorrow, and before he knew it, there were so many that he couldn't count them.

He didn't have time to deal with it before, and now he doesn't have to follow up on the investigation of the smuggled salt, so all his time has to be used to deal with these official duties.

Fortunately, the six ministries all shared his worries, and he also handled some of them when he was at the salt field. There is always a time to stop the busy work. After his hard work, before the New Year, Gui Yang finally dealt with the accumulated things.

He had wanted to spend a peaceful and happy New Year, and even planned to take his mother to a hot spring villa outside the city during his rest time. The hot spring villa under his name was given to him by Shen Zhiwei this time. Shen Zhiwei had personally supervised its construction. Shen Zhiwei cherished it very much, and now that she was willing to give it to him, of course he had to enjoy it.

Unexpectedly, before they set off, the "good news" of overtime work during the New Year came from the palace, and the villa could only be enjoyed by the old mother alone.

When Gui Yang sent her mother out of the city, she couldn't even force out a smile. She watched her mother's convoy leave with her eyes wide open. Although she was still in Shengdu, her soul had already drifted away with her.

"What is the Prime Minister doing?"

Wen Tao was touring the streets alone when he saw Gui Yang standing on the street from a distance. After all, whenever Gui Yang went out, she was always followed by three or five strong men. It was said that she was afraid of being beaten or assassinated in the street.

Wen Tao thought about Gui Yang's character and felt that Gui Yang should bring more people with her.

She approached and saw that there was still some trace of Gui Yang's mother's carriage, so she asked with a smile, "You want to go out for a trip with your mother? There have been a lot of things going on in the court recently, so it seems that the Prime Minister cannot go out with your mother this time."

"Master Wen, you have to work overtime in the palace during the New Year."

Having been with Shen Zhiwei for so long, Gui Yang had already learned some of Shen Zhiwei's strange words, and Wen Tao also understood what they meant.

Hearing this, Wen Tao spread his hands, shook his long sleeves, and said: "Tao is free from worries. In previous years, the New Year celebrations were just a mess in the mansion. This year, I believe everyone will celebrate in the palace. Just thinking about it makes it lively."

Wen Tao's relatives are all in her hometown, so she basically lives alone in Shengdu. During the Chinese New Year, the Wen Mansion is empty, and Gui Yang knows it.

Because Gui Yang would visit Wen Tao's home every year. Even though they always quarreled in the court, they actually had a good relationship in private. Otherwise, Wen Tao would not have come over when she saw Gui Yang and would have taken a detour long ago.

"Alas, there is happiness in being free from worries." Gui Yang said, looking gently towards the city gate, "There is happiness in having worries."

"That's a good point, reward!"

Wen Tao took out a piece of silver from her bosom and threw it to Gui Yang. Gui Yang took it in a hurry, weighed it, and looked at Wen Tao speechlessly.

Since the founding of Dajing, the monetary system has been updated, and copper coins, silver ingots and gold ingots have replaced the original Dazhou currency.

Shen Zhiwei used salt, iron and grain as the benchmark to stabilize the monetary system. During the previous war period, each country had its own currency, and the right to sell salt, iron and grain was not in the hands of the court, which made the monetary system very fragile. Many people did not recognize the currencies of various countries and would rather barter or use cloth as money.

With the salt, iron and grain sold by the court as a basis, the people quickly accepted the Dajing money. Shen Zhiwei has recently been thinking about whether to launch a central bank, that is, a money house endorsed by the state, so that large transactions can use silver bills to avoid the need to transfer a large amount of gold back and forth for large transactions, which is heavy and takes up space.

"As a great imperial tutor, is it appropriate for you to reward someone with one ounce of silver?"

Gui Yang didn't even want to say anything to Wen Tao, how could she be so stingy!

Wen Tao pondered for a moment, a trace of shame appearing on her face. Then she reached out and took the silver back from Gui Yang's hand, untied the purse at her waist, rummaged through it, and finally found a slightly dirty copper coin.

"It's indeed inappropriate. You and I serve in the same court, and the Prime Minister's rank is half a level higher than my Grand Tutor. How can I give him a reward? Prime Minister, please give me some face and take this penny as a reward."

Gui Yang was so angry that he pointed at Wen Tao and didn't know what to say.

"You, you, you, if others knew about this, how would they view you as the Grand Tutor?"

"Isn't a penny money? If the Prime Minister doesn't want it, forget it."

Wen Tao pretended to take the penny, and Gui Yang hurriedly said, "Hey! You finally took out some money, don't take it back. I can't let you get away with it this time. Give me the money too. I'll go to the restaurant to book a table, and your money will be used to share the table with me."

Gui Yang couldn't stand anyone taking the money from her, especially when the person giving her the money was the miser Wen Tao.

Wen Tao rolled her eyes, threw the silver over, and put the copper coins back into her purse. She would not give Gui Yang more money. If she had known, she would have given her only one penny at the beginning.

Gui Yang was given a cold look, and she felt indignant. She pointed at Wen Tao and said, "Look at you, you're all alone in Shengdu, with no elders to support or children to look after. The backyard is clean enough for horses, and no one eats or drinks what you give. Why are you so stingy?"

"I'm never stingy with others. The Prime Minister has 3,000 retainers, and people who pay tribute to you line up from the west to the east of the city. You're much richer than me. If I don't spend some of that money for you, won't you just be sitting on a mountain of gold and sleepless nights? The Prime Minister's backyard is empty too, so why don't you think of spending more money? If I save this money, will it go to one of the Prime Minister's distant relatives?"

This is the downside of being too familiar with people. Wen Tao knows exactly where Gui Yang's weakness lies.

This time it was Gui Yang's turn to roll his eyes. He felt that meeting Wen Tao today was really a disaster. Then he simply waved his hand and decided to spend money to avoid disaster today!

"Bah! You'll all be buried with me after you die, and you won't even give those people a penny! Come on, come on, today I'll treat you to the best restaurant and the most expensive meal!"

Wen Tao naturally wouldn't refuse the chance to have a good meal, and she wouldn't go alone. By the time the restaurant opened, the hundreds of seats were almost all occupied.

There were officials from Gui Yang's faction and officials from Wen Tao's faction. The one sitting in the main seat was not Gui Yang, but Shen Zhiwei who came specially from the palace.

How can we not invite the emperor who loves to eat to enjoy such a good thing as a free meal?

Emperor Shen Zhiwei was usually quite dignified when handling state affairs, but privately, all the officials who spent a long time with her knew that she loved to eat delicious food, sleep in, play and make noises, and in short, she did not have the airs of a monarch at all.

But if you think that the emperor is good-tempered and can be bullied at will, you are totally wrong.

Fortunately, the officials present had all worked with Shen Zhiwei for at least five years and had already figured out the monarch's temperament, so they were not restrained when they were in the same room and dining together.

"Your Majesty, try this. It's our newest dish, called Jiangnan Vinegar Fish. It's said to be a southern flavor. Try something new."

When there were more people, they ate at separate tables. Gui Yang and Wen Tao sat on the left and right sides of Shen Zhiwei. As the host of the banquet, Gui Yang was naturally the one who introduced the dishes and recommended new dishes to Shen Zhiwei.

When Shen Zhiwei heard Gui Yang's words, he knew that the taste of this dish was probably average, or even not delicious, because Gui Yang was well versed in the art of speaking. He thought that if it tasted good, it was delicious, if it tasted average, it was home-style, and if it tasted bad, he would say it was fresh.

Hearing the name, Shen Zhiwei suddenly thought of a modern internet-famous dish. She had never eaten it, but had only read the reviews online. She remembered that many people called it a dark dish.

"That vinegar fish tastes very strange. It may be that the taste of people in Shengdu and the people in the south are different." Wen Tao reminded her so that Shen Zhiwei would not be unaware and take a big bite into her mouth.

Shen Zhiwei nodded, and felt that this thing was a modern internet celebrity dish. She didn't expect that after going around in circles, she could still catch up with the trend. So does the person who invented this dish have to make it?

Taking a bite into his mouth, Shen Zhiwei chewed it and swallowed it.

The taste is not very good, but it is not so bad that you want to vomit. You can only say that it is not delicious.

She thought it was some disgusting dark cuisine, or maybe this world was just an improved version? Anyway, it tasted different from the internet-famous dishes she'd imagined.

For some reason, she felt a little disappointed.