"Zhuzhu." Uncle Ming lifted up his wide sleeves and poured a cup of tea for Prince Chen: "Your Highness Prince Chen came here today to discuss something with your uncle. What do you think..."
"Uncle, business is more important. Please talk to His Highness slowly." Jiuzhu stood up and said, "I'll go get some more fruits and snacks."
"Sister." Ming Cunfu chased out of the courtyard gate and saw Jiuzhu skillfully climbing over by holding on to the wall. He silently raised his sleeves, covered his face with them, and sighed.
"Young Master." The servant walked up behind him and said, "Master asked you to go to the study and get some military books that he wrote himself."
"Military books?" Ming Cunfu had a bad feeling in his heart. Could his father be talking about the things he wrote himself?
"Did Master tell me which military books they were?"
"The old man said, the book in the third row from the fifth from the left."
It really is those things.
Ming Cunfu walked to his father's bookcase, found the third shelf from the top five on the left, took out all the books inside, and dusted them off. The flying dust made him cough repeatedly.
"Is this a loan for His Highness or a throwaway book?" Ming Cunfu was worried that one day his father would be exiled to the frontier again for offending Prince Chen.
He took down a carved wooden book box from the shelf beside him, and put the books into the box, filling it up completely. It barely looked like a collectible copy.
When he arrived at the yard with the book, the stone table was already filled with fruits and snacks. The little cousin was holding the teapot and pouring tea for the prince. The prince was peeling an orange in his hand, and before he finished peeling it, he broke off a petal and put it to the little cousin's mouth.
"Father, I've brought the book." Ming Cunfu put the book down and took the teapot from his little cousin: "Your Highness, please have some tea."
Prince Chen glanced at Ming Cunfu, put the orange that was passed to Jiuzhu into her hand, and turned to ask Ming Jinghai: "Master Ming, is your son planning to take the imperial examination?"
Ming Jinghai nodded.
"A scholar's time is as precious as gold. Young Master Ming does not need to accompany me here." Prince Chen lowered his head and peeled the entire orange, then stuffed all the flesh into Jiuzhu's hands: "Young Master Ming, go review your books first."
Finally, Ming Cunfu was driven back to the study. He touched the banknotes on his body, looked at the wall through the window, rolled up his sleeves and climbed out of the window.
Although it is indecent for a scholar to climb windows and walls, there is no need to be too particular about it for the sake of the girl of his dreams.
"Master!" the servant hurried into the yard, "Young Master broke his leg!"
"What's going on?" Ming Jinghai usually disdained his son, but at this moment he stood up honestly and walked a few steps to the servant.
"The young master was climbing the wall, but he accidentally slipped and fell down."
"The bones are dislocated. I have already put them back in place." Doctor Yu put a bandage around Ming Cunfu and washed his hands. "Don't worry, Master Ming. Your son is fine. He just can't move around these days. He needs to rest at home for a while."
"Thank you, Lord He." Ming Jinghai personally escorted Doctor Yu out of the room, and asked the housekeeper to escort Doctor Yu out as well. Then he sighed. Young people nowadays are too weak.
Prince Chen had never expected that the first time he stepped into Ming Jinghai's house, Ming Jinghai's son would fall and get hurt. He silently glanced at Ming Jinghai, wondering if Ming Xiaozhu's uncle had some ignorant superstitious ideas. What if he suspected that he was the unlucky one...
"You are so good that you can break your leg while climbing a wall." Ming Jinghai walked back to the house, scolding him mercilessly and covering Ming Cunfu with a blanket: "Even the dog that Jiuzhu raised can jump out of our yard."
Ming Cunfu: “…”
That was not a dog, but Jiuzhu's favorite short-legged white horse, and it couldn't jump over the wall either.
Prince Chen silently picked up the heavy book box, stood up and said, "Master Ming, please take good care of your son. I will take my leave first."
Leave early and never let Ming Jinghai think that all this is his fault.
Scholars love to think too much, so they must be careful.
"Your Highness, I'll take you there." Jiuzhu stood up.
"Jiuzhu, wait." Ming Cunfu stretched out his hand from under the quilt and grabbed Jiuzhu's sleeve stubbornly: "Please do Sixth Brother a favor."
Jiuzhu turned to look at Ming Cunfu, and Prince Chen also stopped.
"Sixth brother, if you have anything for me to do, just ask." Jiuzhu liked Ming Cunfu very much. On the way back to Beijing from Lingzhou, Ming Cunfu took good care of her. Worried that she would not be able to adapt after returning home, he told her about the people at home, the plants and trees at home, and how much they missed her.
"It's not a big deal." In front of his father and Prince Chen, who were outsiders, Ming Cunfu felt a little embarrassed and took out a collection of poems from under his pillow. "A few days ago, Miss Zhou wanted to find this collection of poems. I happened to have it here. I was going to send it to her today, but I didn't expect to hurt my leg. Please help me run the trip and deliver the collection of poems to Miss Zhou."
"No problem." Jiuzhu stuffed the poetry collection into her arms and said, "I'll go and deliver it now."
"Also, Miss Zhou is not at home. She is at Qingyun Tea House." Ming Cunfu fished out the 40-liang silver note that was not yet warm from his pocket, and then took out the 20-liang silver that he had saved for a month: "Accompany Miss Zhou to pick out jewelry. If she likes anything, you can buy it. The money... is paid by Sixth Brother."
"Thank you, Sixth Brother." Jiuzhu took the purse containing the silver, and when he went to take out the banknote, he found that it did not move.
"Spend it as you like, especially if Miss Zhou likes it. You must buy it for her. Don't save money for me." Ming Cunfu let go of her hand and closed his eyes: "Go ahead."
"Okay." Jiuzhu put the banknotes and purse away: "Sixth brother is really generous."
The only one who responded to her was Ming Cunfu, who silently pulled the quilt over his face.
"I have forty taels on me, and my sixth brother gave me sixty taels, which adds up to a hundred taels." Jiuzhu held the heavy purse in his hand and walked out of the door with unusually brisk steps.
Prince Chen, who was following behind her, snorted. Just one hundred taels, and she forgot about him. Could it be that he couldn't even compare with one hundred taels of silver?
"So happy?" He quickened his pace and walked to Jiuzhu's side, with his hands on his chest: "I'm leaving now."
"Yeah." Jiuzhu nodded with a smile: "Your Highness, take care."
"Is there anything else you want to say to me?" Prince Chen took two slow steps and turned to look at Jiuzhu.
"Ah?" Jiuzhu looked at King Chen blankly: "What did you say?"
"Nothing." Prince Chen jumped on his horse and said, "Have fun with your sisters. I'm going back to the Ministry of Rites."
Women are all little liars. They used to say that His Royal Highness the Prince was the best, but now that he has 100 taels and little sisters, they are not even willing to say a few more words to him.
Humph, he is a grown man, but he is too lazy to talk nonsense with a little girl. It would be easier if he just said less.
Jiuzhu held the purse in her hand, looked at the dust stirred up by the galloping horses, and waved to the receding King Chen.
Prince Chen turned around and looked at her waving arms. He raised the whip and waved it twice perfunctorily before disappearing around the corner.
"Your Highness seems to be a little unhappy." Jiuzhu frowned: "Is it because the Ministry of Rites has too much work to do?"
She touched the poetry collection in her arms and decided to go and be the messenger for Sixth Brother first. She couldn't let Sister Zhou doubt Sixth Brother's feelings for her because of her procrastination.
Arriving at the teahouse, Jiuzhu immediately saw Zhou Xiao looking towards the door.
"Sister Zhou." She hurried all the way and ran to Zhou Xiao, panting slightly: "Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."
Zhou Xiao glanced behind her, the smile on her face a little sad: "Hurry up and sit down and have some tea. Why are you running so fast? Why don't you bring the maid out with you?"
"I came out today to run errands for Sixth Brother." Jiuzhu took out a collection of poems and handed it to Zhou Xiao: "Sixth Brother heard that you were looking for this collection of poems, so he went to most of the bookstores in the city and finally found it."
As a younger sister, it is definitely not a lie if I embellish the process of helping my brother find a book.
Zhou Xiao flipped open the collection of poems and took a look. She smiled shyly, "It's just a small matter. Why do you need to come all the way here?"
"Originally I didn't have to make this trip." Jiuzhu drank her tea and said, "Sixth brother didn't let me tell you, but I think this kind of thing can't be kept secret. This morning, Sixth brother accidentally broke his leg, and the doctor asked him to rest at home for a few days, so he pulled my sleeve and wouldn't let me go, and told me to deliver the collection of poems to my sister."
"He fell and got hurt?" Zhou Xiao threw the poetry collection aside, grabbed Jiuzhu's hand and asked, "How badly is he injured? What did the doctor say?"
"Don't worry, sister. It's just a dislocated bone. Doctor Yu has already reattached it for him." Jiuzhu patted the back of Zhou Xiao's hand and the purse Ming Cunfu gave her. "Before I left, Sixth Brother specifically asked me to take you shopping. All this money was given to me by him. If you don't spend it, I won't be able to explain to Sixth Brother when we get back."
After hearing that Ming Cunfu was fine, Zhou Xiao's expression gradually recovered, but she no longer had the interest to buy anything.
"Good sister, just keep me company." Jiuzhu took her arm and said, "If you don't spend, I can't spend with you. It's like I ran errands for nothing today. Please have mercy on me."
"Okay, I can't let my sister suffer." Zhou Xiao was amused by Jiuzhu: "Then let's go."
She carefully put the collection of poems into her arms, and then left the teahouse hand in hand with Jiuzhu.
Jiuzhu smiled and took Zhou Xiao into a jewelry store.
"We spent so much effort to place people in Prince Chen's mansion, and now you tell me that Yun Duqing doesn't need spices anymore?"
"Master, we did not expect that the Prince of Chen would suddenly change his hobbies and throw away all the spices in the mansion. Could it be that he got the news in advance and took such action?"
"You mean to say there is a spy among you?"
"My Lord, you misunderstood. What I meant was that our people found Prince Qi's men in Prince Chen's mansion."
"Could it be that Yun Yanze secretly helped Yun Duqing?"
"I think this is possible."
"I remember that Yun Yanze is going to search the residence of a certain official today. If a family member suddenly attacks and injures someone, what do you think is the chance of him getting hurt?"
"Sister, this bracelet looks so beautiful." Jiuzhu and Zhou Xiao walked out of the jewelry store: "It's a pity that such a beautiful sight was seen by me. I wonder if Sixth Brother will be jealous of me?"
"Don't laugh at me. Your wedding with His Royal Highness Prince Chen will be on February 2nd of the following year." Zhou Xiao pinched Jiuzhu's tender face and said, "Who will laugh at whom then?"
"What's so funny about marriage?" Jiuzhu asked in confusion, "It's a happy thing for two people who like each other to live together."
Her eyes were pure, like a lake that had never been polluted. When she mentioned the word "like", there were no lustful thoughts or distractions, only pure happiness and innocence.
Zhou Xiao was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"There's a snack shop in front." Jiuzhu let go of Zhou Xiao's arm: "Sister Zhou, wait a minute, I'll go buy some."
Zhou Xiao stood there and watched Jiuzhu buy several different kinds of food after tasting them, and finally packed a big bag.
"Why did you buy so much? Can you finish it?" Zhou Xiao asked doubtfully.
"It's not for me." Jiuzhu held the oil paper package of snacks and said, "This is for His Highness and father. They have many colleagues in the Ministry of Rites. If they share it together, there won't be much left. Ah, I remember, Uncle Zhou is also an official in the Ministry of Rites, right?"
"Especially His Highness, he is a junior in the Ministry of Rites, and sharing food with the adults can promote the relationship between each other." Jiuzhu explained seriously: "Master said that no matter how high or low your status is, you can't be alone. Even if a person has all kinds of abilities, if there is no one to support him, it will be useless."
Zhou Xiao nodded and was silent for a moment: "Your master must be a learned person."
"Maybe." Recalling the way the two masters competed with each other to be lazier in order to avoid washing the dishes, Jiuzhu's tone was a little uncertain.
There were not many books to read in their temple, and the master usually taught her to write on a sand table.
Don’t ask why. The only reason is that they are too poor and want to save paper and ink.
There were cries and begging sounds coming from afar. Jiuzhu asked Zhou Xiao, "Sister, did you hear the crying of the woman and the child?"
"Don't go over there." Zhou Xiao held her back: "That's the home of a certain criminal, it's being searched."
Ming Jinghai just returned to Beijing yesterday, and this official was searched today. Anyone can guess that this official must have colluded with officials from other places and did things that harmed the people.
The Black-Faced Demon's reputation is well-deserved; any corrupt official he finds will never have a good ending.
"House search?" Jiuzhu was even more curious. She had never seen a house search before. "Sister, can we stand at a distance and watch?"
"Okay." Zhou Xiao was reluctant to admit it, but she was actually a little curious.
As a human being, if you like to watch the excitement, how can that be considered a bad idea?
The people of the capital are not surprised by the house confiscation. Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, countless corrupt officials have been arrested. Anyway, the lives of the people are getting better and better, and there are fewer and fewer bad officials.
There were guards surrounding the gate, and common people did not dare to get too close. They crowded into corners to peek in on the excitement.
"Who is that young man standing at the door? He is so handsome."
"The tiara he wears is inlaid with gems. He must be very rich."
"Don't talk nonsense, that is the famous Prince Xiande, His Royal Highness Prince Qi."
"Is that the prince who suppressed bandits and won the imperial examination?"
"The one who passed the imperial examination and donated a lot of money to attend the academy is the Prince of Chen. Are you from the capital? You can't even tell that?"
"Then Prince Chen donated money to fight bandits and take the imperial examination, so how come Prince Xiande became the Prince of Qi? Is your majesty partial to the Prince of Qi?"
"Don't talk nonsense, do you want to die?!"
"Your Highness, we seized 612,000 taels of silver and a number of jade and jewelry from your residence. This is a rough tally, and the exact quantities still need to be counted." The Ministry of Revenue official presented the seizure register to Prince Qi.
The King of Qi looked gloomy and said, "As an official appointed by the imperial court, you have embezzled so much money. It is really despicable!"
The officials from the Ministry of Revenue did not dare to say anything because this Lord Wang was the uncle of Princess Roude's husband, and could at least have some relationship with the royal family.
If it weren't for this, I'm afraid Lord Wang wouldn't be so bold as to collude with foreign officials and do something that would cost him his life.
In any case like this, there would be a long chain of events from top to bottom. What if the royal family was involved...
"Continue the investigation." Qi Wang bowed towards the palace and said, "Before I set out, my father ordered that whoever is involved in this case will be severely punished."
"Your Highness, there is a premature baby in the royal family's backyard. Look at this..."
"The women, the elderly, and the children should be locked up separately." The King of Qi looked at the crying baby in someone's arms and showed some mercy to Prince Consort Roude: "Lock the mother and the child together."
"Yes, I understand." The official turned and conveyed the prince's meaning to the clerk.
Looking at these people in shackles and in a state of panic, the King of Qi thought of his childhood, when he and his mother were locked up in a small courtyard, and his mother often sat in the house crying and muttering words of regret.
Later, his mother stopped crying and would often take out meat and snacks for him to eat while he hid in the house.
His mother told him that his uncle had someone secretly bring them into the backyard, and that his uncle had a way to rescue them.
His mother never told him what method his uncle had to rescue them, because not long after, a rebellious prince forced the palace to surrender. The palace was flooded with blood, and countless princes were dragged in. In the end, his father became the winner.
Later, when he asked about this matter in the palace, his mother's face suddenly became very ugly. From then on, he never asked about it again.
He didn't like seeing women cry, just like he didn't like the two years he was confined in the palace as a child.
"Your Highness, Your Highness." A woman in shackles saw him and looked over, kowtowing repeatedly: "Your Highness, please have mercy on me. My child is sick. Please have mercy on him and give him some medicine."
The woman knocked so hard that her forehead started bleeding after a while. The blood flowed down her eye sockets, looking both hideous and pitiful.
King Qi looked at this scene with indifference in his heart. However, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he had to put on a benevolent appearance and walked towards the kowtowing woman.
"Jiuzhu, please help me fix my hairpin, it's been squeezed crooked."
Nine beads?
When he was two steps away from the woman, King Qi heard a familiar name, suddenly stopped and turned to look at the bustling crowd.
At this moment, the woman who was still kowtowing suddenly picked up a sharp blade from her sleeve with her mouth and rushed towards King Qi.
King Qi subconsciously took a step back, and the sharp blade that was originally going to cut his throat only scratched his chest.
The blood quickly stained his clothes. He looked down at his injured chest and lightly touched the wound with his fingertips. The pain quickly entered his brain the moment he touched the blood.
"Protect the prince!"
The common people who were watching the excitement were stunned by this sudden turn of events. Fearing that they would be implicated by the assassin, the Guards also threw them into jail. They immediately lost interest in watching the excitement and turned around and ran away.
I will have the chance to see such a lively house search again in the future, but I will forget about being suspected of being an assassin and thrown into jail.
"Hiss." Seeing that the chest of King Qi was mostly stained with blood, Jiuzhu took a breath of cool air and whispered to Zhou Xiao: "That female relative doesn't look like an ordinary person."
Don’t you think about it? If an ordinary person’s hands and feet are tied, can he still kowtow repeatedly?
Is the King of Qi a fool? He couldn't even find such an obvious loophole?
"Let's not talk about it yet, let's go." Zhou Xiao dragged Jiuzhu and prepared to run.
"Please wait a moment, both of you. Who are you?" The guards saw that most of the people who were watching the excitement had run away, but there were still two girls in brocade clothes, so they quickly stopped in front of them.
"These two girls are the daughters of Minister Zhou and Minister Ming of the Ministry of Rites. You must not be rude to them." The King of Qi covered his chest wound with a pale face and said, "Miss Zhou, Miss Ming, this place is dangerous. Please leave as soon as possible."
Jiuzhu glanced at the woman who assassinated King Qi. She was lying on the ground, motionless, and it was unknown whether she was dead or alive.
Suddenly, she thought of something, picked up her skirt and ran away.
"Sister Ming, where are you going?" Zhou Xiao took two steps after her.
"I'm worried that His Highness is in danger, so I'll go to the Ministry of Rites first." Jiuzhu said hurriedly and ran a long way away, but she never let go of the snacks in her hand.
King Qi looked at Ming Jiuzhu, who was running in the street in a disgraceful manner, and frowned as he covered his wound.
"Your Highness, please go lie down in the yard and rest first. The doctor will be here soon." The deputy commander of the imperial guards was so frightened that his face turned pale and he was shaking even when he spoke.
"It's OK. Only the skin and flesh are injured. The stomach is not hurt. Don't worry, General." With the help of the deputy commander of the imperial guards, the King of Qi lay down on the soft couch that was prepared in the inner courtyard.
Listening to the panicked sounds around him, he narrowed his eyes. Which good brother was the one who plotted against him today?
Or is she some queen in the palace who wants to help her son solve his problems?
"Your Highness!" As soon as Prince Chen walked out of the gate of the Ministry of Rites, he saw Jiuzhu rushing towards him, as fast as a gust of wind.
Jiuzhu pulled him into the government office and then looked around nervously: "Your Highness, the guards of the Ministry of Rites are all very powerful, right?"
"Of course, these guards are carefully selected by the Dragon Camp Guards." Seeing her running out of breath, her cheeks flushed, and her forehead covered with sweat, the Prince of Chen took out his handkerchief and wiped her forehead while pretending to be disgusted and said, "Why did you get yourself into this state?"
Didn't he go to see his sisters with the silver in the morning, and didn't even want to say a few words to him?
Now you know to find him?
"I was in a hurry when I came here, but it's okay." Jiuzhu shook her head: "Your Highness, listen to me first. When you go out in the future, you must bring good guards with you, and don't approach unidentified people alone. The capital is too dangerous."
Hearing that Jiuzhu's tone was not right, the King of Chen stuffed the dirty handkerchief into his sleeve and turned around to let his attendant get a dry handkerchief: "What happened?"
"I just came out of shopping for jewelry with Sister Zhou. I joined in the fun and watched the house search. I didn't expect that the Prince of Qi was stabbed in the chest and bled a lot." Jiuzhu said hurriedly: "He is a prince, and you are also a prince. What if the bad guys want to hurt you?"
"You ran here from Wang's house?!" Prince Chen raised his voice, "You ran all the way from Wang's house to the Ministry of Rites?"
Jiuzhu blinked and looked at him in confusion: "What, what's wrong?"
And asked him what was wrong?
It would take more than half an hour to get from Wang's house to the Ministry of Rites, even by horse carriage.
She ran all this way on her own two legs just to tell him this?
"I feel relieved to see that Your Highness is fine." Jiuzhu stuffed the oil paper bag into the hands of the Prince of Chen: "Your Highness, take these snacks and share them with your colleagues. I tried them before buying them, and they taste very good."
"Ming Jiuzhu." Prince Chen stretched out his hand and gently wiped the dust beside her cheek with his fingertips, his voice soft and tender: "Are you a little fool?"
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