The street was bustling with people. Prince Chen looked at the lively teahouse and walked inside. After two steps, he turned around and saw Jiuzhu standing outside the door without following him: "What's wrong?"
Jiuzhu shook his head: "Nothing."
She took small steps slowly and followed behind Prince Chen.
Prince Chen looked at her with a half-smile, suddenly reached out and grasped her wrist, then pulled her upstairs.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu walked beside him obediently and whispered, "There are many female guests upstairs..."
"It doesn't matter. I don't care about these things." Going upstairs, Prince Chen heard some women's cheers. He lifted the pearl curtain and saw many female guests sitting inside. There were a few scattered male guests sandwiched among the women, with looks of despair on their faces.
Zhou Shucheng was one of them. He glanced at his spirited sister, sighed deeply, and turned around with a startled look. Why was Prince Chen here?
He bent down, trying to hide himself with other guests: "Sister, let's go quickly."
"Wait a little longer." Zhou Xiao was unmoved: "The overbearing prince will soon come to suppress the bandits and save the beauty!"
"I saw the tyrannical prince holding a nine-foot-long spear and charging into the bandit's lair on horseback. In an instant, sand and rocks flew everywhere, and the sun and moon lost their light!"
Cheers from women came from the audience. Zhou Shucheng silently covered his face with his hands, no longer daring to look at Prince Chen's expression.
"The bandits were so impressed by the prince's heroic demeanor that they knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, like drowned dogs."
Upon hearing that the overbearing prince had saved the weak woman from the woodshed and disappeared into the night covered in moonlight, the female guests excitedly began to give him tips.
Looking at these crazy female guests, Prince Chen turned to look at Jiuzhu and pulled her to sit at an empty table in the back. The attendant hurriedly ordered the waiter to bring fruits and snacks.
"Come, eat and listen." Prince Chen pushed the snacks in front of Jiuzhu and teased, "How can a prince go to suppress bandits alone? Unless your brain is filled with mush."
Jiuzhu's hand holding the snack trembled and she quietly retracted it.
"Why don't you eat?" When Prince Chen saw her take her hand back, he changed the plate of snacks for her: "Don't you like it?"
"One more paragraph, one more paragraph!"
A wealthy female guest threw a piece of gold on the table. The lady looked at the shining gold, picked up the tea and took a few gulps: "Since you are so enthusiastic, I will continue to tell you the story of how the overbearing prince returned to the capital after suppressing bandits and was rewarded by the emperor."
The storyline became more and more exciting. A female guest in the audience whispered, "I don't know what the real Prince Chen looks like. It's a pity that the princes and nobles can't get close to him easily, otherwise I would definitely take a good look."
When Prince Chen heard this, what did the overbearing prince with a bad brain in this story have to do with him?
"Your Highness, I also think these stories are boring." Jiuzhu tugged at the sleeve of the King of Chen: "How about we go back first?"
"Wait a minute." Prince Chen broke a pear with his bare hands and gave half to Jiuzhu. Thinking that dividing a pear had a bad meaning, he stuffed the other half into her hand and sneered, "I want to hear how absurd the story of this overbearing prince is."
Jiuzhu took a bite of the pear in her left hand, then took another bite of the pear in her right hand. Her mouth was full. She secretly looked at the expression on Prince Chen's face and began to think about what she should do if His Highness was angry.
"The overbearing prince took the golden hairpin awarded by the emperor and rode to the young lady's house. The young lady's father promised that if he succeeded in suppressing the bandits, he would marry his daughter to him."
"Heh." Prince Chen sneered. Which minister in the court dared to treat the prince with such an attitude?
How could anyone like such a messed up story?
"Tell me, did Prince Chen give his fiancée a golden hairpin?"
"Yes, I have heard about it. Not long ago, the Prince of Chen bought a lot of gold and silver jewelry at the Painting Gold Building and had it delivered to the residence of Minister Ming."
"real?"
"Of course it's true. My aunt works at the Jinhua Building and is responsible for receiving female guests. She came back and told us that the Prince of Chen was very generous and bought a lot of jewelry for his fiancée."
Hearing the female guests' low conversation, Prince Chen tilted his head to look at Jiuzhu, who lowered her head and silently ate a pear.
The story ended and the guests left the teahouse one after another. The Prince of Chen sat on a wooden chair with his arms folded across his chest. He glanced at the female teacher on the stage who was bending over to collect the reward money, then lowered his head and took out a handkerchief from his sleeve.
"Student greets His Majesty." After the guests left, Zhou Shucheng could no longer hide, so he had to bite the bullet and pay his respects to Prince Chen.
Handing the handkerchief to Jiuzhu, Prince Chen glanced at Zhou Shucheng, and seeing that he was wearing the clothes of a student from the Imperial Academy, he frowned slightly. How come even a scholar with thick eyebrows and big eyes likes to listen to such messy stories?
"Today I accompanied my sister to the teahouse to listen to a story, and I never thought I would meet the prince." Zhou Shucheng didn't know how the prince viewed him, but at this critical moment, he still wanted to distance himself: "Prince, are you here to listen to a story as well?"
Prince Chen asked back, "Do you think I am someone who likes to listen to this kind of story?"
Zhou Shucheng was silent.
Does it look like it? Aren’t you here?
"Sister Ming." Zhou Xiao packed up her things and turned to see Jiuzhu and King Chen. Her expression changed slightly. After she bowed to King Chen, she asked Jiuzhu in a low voice, "When did sister come here?"
The point is, did the Prince of Chen hear the story told by the female teacher?
Jiuzhu held the handkerchief of the Prince of Chen and whispered, "The lady said that the prince... when the prince killed the bandit leader, we came here."
Zhou Xiao gave Jiuzhu a look. Why not take your men and leave quickly while the prince hasn't reacted yet?
Jiuzhu perked up: "Your Highness, now that we have heard the story, let's..."
"Miss, is that you?!" The lady walked towards Jiuzhu with a purse full of reward money in her hand, smiling: "I haven't seen you for a few days, I haven't had a chance to thank you properly."
Prince Chen turned his head to look at Jiuzhu. Jiuzhu was silently moving towards the door, but was caught back by him.
"Fortunately, I listened to the young lady's advice last time. Since I told the story of the evil prince, the tips from the guests have increased. Now, storytellers in all the streets and alleys are following my story." The female teacher bowed to Jiuzhu and said, "Thank you, young lady, for pointing out a way to make money for me."
Jiuzhu said with a lack of confidence: "I just asked you to tell more stories about him. These stories are not told by me."
"Miss, you are so kind. You pointed out a way to make money for us who are struggling to make a living, but you didn't take credit for it." The female teacher was extremely grateful to Jiuzhu. "Miss, if you want to hear any more stories next time, just tell me. I will tell you according to your preferences."
"No, no need." Jiuzhu didn't dare to look at King Chen's face: "You go ahead, I have some things to deal with."
The lady glanced at the handsome man beside Jiuzhu and smiled considerately: "I won't bother you anymore, young lady. Please feel free to do as you please. Goodbye."
The female teacher left tactfully. Zhou Xiao looked at Jiuzhu worriedly. Zhou Shucheng did not dare to disturb Prince Chen and forcibly pulled her away.
"Stop the outside and don't let anyone else in." Prince Chen raised his head and asked the guards to guard outside. The attendants looked at each other, bowed and retreated behind the pearl curtain.
Knock, knock, knock.
The Prince of Chen tapped the tabletop lightly with his index finger knuckles and looked at Jiuzhu who dared not even breathe: "Come, sit down and talk."
"Your Highness, I didn't mean it. I didn't expect things to turn out like this." She blinked at the Prince with her watery eyes: "Please don't be angry with me, okay?"
Seeing her pitiful appearance, Prince Chen laughed instead of getting angry: "Tell me first, what's going on?"
"It all started on a sunny morning..."
Prince Chen reached out and gently poked her bun head: "Speak to the point."
"I went to the teahouse to listen to the story, and I found that the story told by the female teacher about the beautiful king and the evil king had a hidden meaning, so I stopped her from telling the story." Thinking of the money she spent that day, Jiuzhu felt a little pain in her heart: "In order to let the female teacher change the story, I spent two months' salary, two months."
"How much do you get paid a month?" Seeing how distressed she was, Prince Chen became curious.
Jiuzhu held up two fingers.
"Two hundred taels?" Prince Chen sighed. This showed that Jingzhou was an honest official, and it seemed to be true.
Jiuzhu opened his eyes wide: "How can there be so much, it's twenty taels."
Twenty taels is already a lot. When she was in the Taoist temple, she and the masters could not spend that much in a year.
Twenty taels?
Prince Chen looked at Jiuzhu with pity. What kind of poor life did this little girl lead?
No wonder he only gave his general a piece of silver as funeral expenses. It turned out that he was too poor.
"In the story, the beautiful prince is good in every way, and the evil prince is said to be so bad. It is obvious that some bad people are deliberately smearing your highness." Jiuzhu Chao whispered: "Your highness is so good, why do you let the bad people smear you?"
"So you spent all your money on changing the story?" Prince Chen looked at the girl with a bun, feeling indescribable strangeness in his heart. He just wanted to poke her fair face again.
"Although I feel a little sad, as long as no one says bad things about Your Highness, it is still a good deal." Having said this, Jiuzhu lowered her head guiltily: "It's just that I didn't expect that the story would become more and more outrageous..."
Faced with such a pitiful face, who would have the heart to blame?
Is this Ming Xiaozhu’s fault?
It was clearly the fault of those storytellers. How could Ming Xiaozhu have any bad intentions? He just wanted to protect him.
"It's just a story. The overbearing prince is the overbearing prince. Anyway, he didn't mention me by name." Prince Chen raised his eyebrows: "Next time you encounter this kind of thing, you don't need to pay, just say my name, and see who dares not to listen to you."
Jiuzhu shook her head: "Your Highness, this is not good. Storytellers are just trying to make a living. If I bring up your name, it will only make her anxious and restless, and she will live in fear for the rest of her life."
Prince Chen stood up and said, "Let's go."
"Where are you going?"
"I'll take you back."
The carriage stopped in front of the gate of Minister Ming's mansion. Jiuzhu got off the carriage, looked up at Prince Chen riding on the horse, and smiled brightly.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I just think it's great to meet Your Highness." Her eyes were clear and bright, with a clear reflection of Prince Chen in her pupils.
"Your Highness is not only gentle and kind, but also tolerant and generous." Jiuzhu tilted her head: "Your Highness is really a god who has descended to earth, right?"
Because of her, His Highness never blamed her even though there were so many messy stories about overbearing princes in the capital. If he wasn't a god descending to earth, how could he be so gentle?
Prince Chen looked at the serious girl, and the tips of his ears instantly turned red.
Do all women who grew up in Lingzhou speak in such a sticky way?
This king is strong and sturdy, what does that have to do with being gentle and kind...
"What do you know, little girl?" He rubbed his ears, which were a little hot. "Go home early, so that your father and mother won't worry."
"Yeah." Jiuzhu nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait." Prince Chen took out a stack of banknotes from his arms and handed them to Jiuzhu: "Take it."
Jiuzhu looked at her in confusion: "Your Highness?"
"If there are any stories you want to hear in the future, you can ask the storyteller to change them however you want." Stuffing the banknote into Jiuzhu's hand, the Prince looked up at the sky awkwardly: "Spend it as you like, I have money."
Isn’t it just a somewhat outrageous story about a domineering prince? If the little girl likes to listen, just let her listen.
He is a grown man and there is no need for him to bother with a little girl.
Jiuzhu took a deep breath when he saw the denomination of the top silver note.
Five hundred taels? !
She had never seen a banknote of such a large denomination!
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu quickly stuffed the money back into Prince Chen's hand: "This is too much money. I won't be able to sleep if I carry it with me."
If it was lost or stolen, she would cry for three days and three nights.
"Promising." The Prince of Chen dismounted helplessly, rummaged through his body, found a twenty-liang silver note and a few pieces of silver, and handed them to Jiuzhu: "You have to accept this little money."
Seeing that Jiuzhu still wanted to refuse, he said with a straight face: “If you don’t accept it, I will be angry.”
"Your Highness?" Ming Jingzhou saw a carriage parked in front of his house from a distance. He walked in and found that it was his daughter and His Highness Prince Chen.
A closer look at what the Prince of Chen wanted to give to his daughter turned out to be a twenty-liang silver note and a few pieces of silver that totaled less than four or five liang.
He looked at Prince Chen with subtle eyes, his mood was very complicated.
The Emperor doted on Prince Chen very much and rewards were sent to his mansion from time to time. Prince Chen was almost the richest among all the princes.
I didn't expect such a wealthy prince to be so stingy with girls.
Prince Chen noticed the way Ming Jingzhou looked at him: "..."
He had lived for twenty-one years, and this was the first time someone suspected him of being stingy, and this person was the father of the future princess.
"Father." Jiuzhu was very happy to see Ming Jingzhou: "Are you on duty?"
"Yes." Ming Jingzhou bowed to Prince Chen and said, "Your Highness is visiting. I am sorry for not welcoming you in person. Please come to my humble abode for a cup of tea."
"No thanks." Prince Chen put on a stern face and stuffed the banknotes and silver into Jiuzhu's hand: "I have something else to do in the palace, so I won't bother Master Ming."
"Farewell, Your Highness." Ming Jingzhou smiled politely.
"Your Highness, wait a minute." Jiuzhu was afraid that if she refused the money, His Highness would really get angry, so she had to accept it. She took out the jade pendant from her purse: "Your jade pendant..."
"I'll give it to you." Prince Chen got on his horse and said to Jiuzhu, "Ask a master to consecrate the jade pendant. You can hang it anywhere you like."
With this jade pendant, Ming Jingzhou should no longer suspect that he is stingy with women?
Jiuzhu watched the Prince of Chen riding away with his guards. He turned around and saw his father smiling in the direction where His Royal Highness Prince of Chen left. "Father?"
"It's okay, come home with your father." Ming Jingzhou looked at the jade pendant in Jiuzhu's hand with a smile. He put his hands behind his back and walked into the gate leisurely.
In Taiyang Palace, Emperor Longfeng had just put down his red brush when Liu Zhongbao walked in.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Chen requests an audience."
"Let him in." After looking at the sky outside, Emperor Longfeng stood up and took a few steps.
"Your son greets you, father." Prince Chen walked into the hall and bowed deeply.
He must be asking for something since he is performing such a formal ceremony. Emperor Longfeng asked, "What trouble did you cause outside again?"
Did he make the civil officials faint due to anger, or did he have an argument with the military generals?
"Father, I have been studying hard in the Ministry of Rites recently. When have I ever gotten into trouble?" Prince Chen said confidently, "I just sent Miss Ming back home. I was feeling emotional about something and wanted to talk to you, Father."
"Oh?" Emperor Longfeng raised his eyebrows.
"Minister Ming is incorruptible, wholeheartedly serves the people, and is frugal in spending on food, clothing, and daily expenses." Prince Chen was full of admiration: "This style of work makes this son admire you."
Emperor Longfeng waited patiently for what was to come.
"It's just that Miss Ming is a delicate and tender girl. She needs to spend money on rouge, powder, hairpins and jewelry. It's not appropriate to be short of money." Prince Chen looked at Emperor Longfeng: "After all, she is your future daughter-in-law. If she can't take out a few taels of silver, it will be a disgrace to our royal family, right?"
"I remember you have a lot of silver on you..."
"Father, what you said is not right. Miss Ming and I have not yet married. I gave her silver notes, but she is unwilling to spend them." Prince Chen coughed dryly and said, "What your son means is that you can find a reason to reward the Ming family with some gold and silver. With you in the spotlight, it will be a fair and aboveboard matter, and no one can say anything about it."
"It seems that my son likes Miss Ming very much."
"I just don't want the future princess to lose face for our royal family." Prince Chen's ears were red as blood: "Father, you misunderstood."
"Forget it." Emperor Longfeng sighed, "I originally planned to confer a title on Miss Ming because of your regard for her. Since you don't have much affection for her, let's forget about it. Tomorrow I will summon Ming Jingzhou to the palace and confer him 100 taels of gold so that he has enough money to spend on his daughter's dowry."
Give Ming Xiaozhu a title?
Prince Chen said quickly: "Father, my mother loves Miss Ming very much. She will marry me sooner or later, and I can give her this title."
With the title, Ming Xiaozhu could receive a salary every month, so she wouldn't have to worry about dozens of taels of silver before marrying him.
When he heard the word "marry", a tingling and numb feeling rose in his heart.
"After all, it is a title, and it cannot be given lightly." Emperor Longfeng shook his head: "I will think about it again."
"It's just a small title. There are many women in our Yun family who are given the title of Princess or County Princess." Prince Chen thought for a moment, took the tea from Liu Zhongbao, and handed it to Emperor Longfeng: "Why don't you give Miss Ming the title of Princess of the County, which is neither eye-catching nor dignified."
Seeing his son nodding and bowing to him, Emperor Longfeng pretended to be embarrassed: "In this case, considering that your mother likes the daughter of the Ming family, I will give her the title of county lady."
"Thank you, father. Your Majesty is wise and brave, loyal, kind and forgiving, and loves the people like his own children." Prince Chen flattered him, then walked to the imperial desk and said, "How about I grind ink for you now?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
