The sedan chair bearers were carrying the sedan chair toward the Prince's Mansion.
Sitting in the sedan chair, Jin Jiande lowered his head, pursed his lips, and looked at the broken leg. Only loneliness remained on his pale face.
After an unknown amount of time, Jin Jiande heard laughter coming from outside.
The voice was both familiar and unfamiliar.
He then lifted the curtain on the sedan chair window and looked out, realizing that they were almost at the entrance of the Prince's Mansion.
In front of the mansion, several men dressed in strange clothes were chatting. Among them, there was a figure that looked familiar, who seemed to be his long-lost younger brother, Jin Jianzhong.
But looking at his clothes and hat, they didn't seem to match his younger brother's attire, and they looked rather strange. Jin Jiande couldn't be sure for a moment.
But it was clear that they had just arrived at the Prince's Palace, and there was a group of carriages and horses around them.
The next moment, Jin Jiande saw the old steward, Uncle Fu, smiling as he came forward and led the group inside. The man wearing a black hat was greeting Uncle Fu familiarly.
Only then did Jin Jiande finally confirm that it was indeed his younger brother, Jin Jianzhong.
"Jianzhong! Jianzhong!"
A smile finally appeared on Jin Jiande's pale face. He stuck his head out of the sedan chair window and shouted loudly.
The man wearing a hat had just reached the door when he heard the shout and immediately turned around.
He immediately saw the sedan chair bearers carrying the sedan chair in the distance. When he saw the face peeking out of the window, his eyes lit up and a smile appeared on his face.
"Second Brother!"
After shouting, Jin Jianzhong said to a middle-aged man beside him, "Sir Merrily, my father has prepared a banquet to welcome you. Please follow the butler inside first, and I will follow shortly."
Unlike the dry men, the middle-aged man wore a black, knee-length coat that was extremely tight-fitting, with a silver badge on his chest bearing the symbol of an eagle.
The most striking features of the man's fair face were his deep-set eyes and his high, hooked nose.
Upon hearing Jin Jianzhong's words, he nodded.
Then, carrying his cane and wearing his shiny leather boots, he followed the crowd inside.
Jin Jianzhong, with one hand holding down his hat, jogged towards the approaching sedan chair, a broad smile on his face, and called out from several dozen paces away:
"Second brother, I'm back!"
"It's good that you're back. Don't run away anymore, I'm about to go home."
"I thought you wouldn't be back until after the New Year," Jin Jiande greeted with a smile.
The return of his younger brother, whom he hadn't seen for a year or two, greatly eased Jin Jiande's depressed mood.
Seeing his younger brother running towards him, Jin Jiande was surprised by his strange clothes, but seeing his swift steps and energetic spirit, his doubts were quickly replaced by the joy of reunion.
The sedan chair bearers continued carrying the sedan chair forward. Jin Jianzhong arrived at the sedan chair at this time. He walked to the window, looked at Jin Jiande, and smiled:
"Second Brother, it's been a long time!"
Jin Jiande smiled and nodded, "Yeah, you went overseas and haven't come back for so long. I didn't recognize you at first glance."
As he spoke, his gaze swept down from the black hat on his younger brother's head, and then he smiled:
"You're dressed so strangely, what is all this?"
Jin Jianzhong laughed heartily, stood still, pressed his hat down with one hand, spun around once, and said with a smile:
"This is called submitting to foreign ways!"
"It's much better than drying our clothes!"
“Overseas, everyone dresses like this; only we Dagan people wear those vulgar and ugly long clothes.”
As he spoke, he took off his hat, revealing shiny greasy hair and a smug look on his face.
Jin Jiande smiled and shook his head, jokingly saying:
"What are you saying? Wouldn't it be better to just focus on making clothes?"
"You went overseas, and now you're back and already making things up about our big project?"
"What, you've seen something new and exciting and you look down on us now? Heh."
Jin Jianzhong waved his hand with a smile, "Hey, second brother, what are you saying?"
"By the way, Second Brother, did you see them just now? My friends have all arrived. One of my friends is of noble status, from the Kingdom of Sa Ri. He has long wanted to come and see what we can do."
“My friend is a very nice person, both generous and sincere. He said it was his first time visiting, so he specially prepared a lot of gifts.”
As he spoke, he pointed to his clothes: "He has given us the best clothes in our family, almost the same as mine."
"The men's clothes are alright, they're all pretty much the same, but the women's clothes are absolutely gorgeous! My sister is so beautiful, she'll definitely look like a fairy in them."
"I bet my little sister will be overjoyed to see the clothes, haha."
Seeing his happy expression, Jin Jiande shook his head: "Well, I'm afraid that's not necessarily true."
"A lot has happened recently..."
By the time we got to this point, the sedan chair had already been carried to the door.
Jin Jianzhong's smile gradually disappeared; he knew what his second brother was talking about.
Since arriving in Dagang from the South China Sea not long ago, he has been hearing more and more bad news on his way to Nanjing.
Firstly, in the East China Sea, Japan is causing chaos, and coastal cities are already engulfed in war.
However, this is currently limited to the East China Sea, and compared to another piece of bad news, it is relatively minor.
The worst news was that Qin Ze, who had been enfeoffed as the Prince of Zhenbei a few months ago, had now rebelled and was leading a large army south, causing the imperial forces to suffer repeated defeats along the way.
As they approached Jinling, Jin Jianzhong heard the news that in the Battle of Yanluo Mountain, the traitor Qin Ze had led his rebel army to kill hundreds of thousands of barbarians and imperial troops.
This news was truly shocking. Jin Jianzhong never expected that such a great turmoil would occur in the country during the time he was busy with his major undertakings.
In his memory, when he was making his big move, the Qin family was under house arrest in Nanjing.
According to the letter sent by his father, Qin Ze was only appointed as the Prince of Zhenbei a few months ago, and now, less than a year later, he has not only rebelled, but has also marched south with overwhelming force.
Jin Jianzhong was always deeply surprised when he thought of this.
Therefore, in the days leading up to his arrival in Jinling, Jin Jianzhong was depressed the entire time.
At this moment, seeing his younger brother remain silent, Jin Jiande forced a smile onto his pale face:
"Come inside first. Come to my room and let's have a good chat."
“Okay, Second Brother, I’ll go tell my friends first, I’ll be right back,” Jin Jianzhong said.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a voice called out from the lobby entrance:
"Jianzhong! Hurry up and come here!"
“You brought people here, how can you leave them here? Everyone is waiting for you.”
The speaker was none other than Kim Geon-in.
Upon hearing this, Jin Jianzhong bowed slightly to Jin Jiande with a hint of apology and said:
"Second brother, I'm going now."
I'll come see you again later.
Jin Jiande nodded silently.
Meanwhile, inside the main hall, Prince Qing was already chatting with the guests who had come from afar.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com