"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 the wall. He silently raised his sleeves, covered his face with them, and sighed.
"Young Master." The servant walked up behind him and said, "The master asked you to go to the study and get some military books written by him."
"Military books?" Ming Cunfu had a bad feeling. Could it be that his father was talking about the things he had written himself?
"Did the master tell me which military books they were?"
"Master said, the books 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 off the books. The flying dust choked him and made him cough repeatedly.
"Are you lending the book to His Highness or throwing it away as junk?" Ming Cunfu was very worried that his father would be exiled to the frontier again one day because of offending the Prince of Chen.
He took down a carved wooden book box from the shelf next to him. After putting the books into the box, the box was filled to the brim, making it look like a barely 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 to pour 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 handed it to the little cousin's mouth.
"Father, I've got the book." Ming Cunfu put the book down and took the teapot from his cousin: "Your Highness, please have some tea."
Prince Chen glanced at Ming Cunfu, put the orange that he had 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 you here." Prince Chen lowered his head to peel the entire orange and stuffed all the flesh to Jiuzhu: "Young Master Ming, go review your books first."
Finally, Ming Cunfu was driven back to the study. He touched the silver bills 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 scholars to climb windows and walls, there is no need to be too particular about it for the sake of the girl you like.
"Master!" The servant hurried into the yard: "The young master broke his leg!"
"What's going on?" Ming Jinghai usually said he 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, and he accidentally slipped and fell down."
"The bone was dislocated. I have already bent it back into place." The imperial physician bandaged Ming Cunfu and washed his hands. "Don't worry, Master Ming. Your son is fine. He just can't move around recently. He needs to rest at home for a while."
"Thank you, Lord He." Ming Jinghai personally escorted the imperial physician out of the room, and asked the butler to send the imperial physician out before he sighed. The young people nowadays are too weak.
Prince Chen did not expect that Ming Jinghai's son would fall and get injured the first time he stepped into Ming Jinghai's house. I silently glanced at Ming Jinghai. I wonder if Ming Xiaozhu's uncle has any ignorant superstitious ideas. What if he suspects that he is the one who brought bad luck upon me...
"He's really a loser. He can break his leg while climbing a wall." Ming Jinghai walked back to the house, cursing 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 little white horse, and it couldn't jump over the wall.
Prince Chen silently picked up the heavy book box, stood up and said, "Master Ming, please take good care of my 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 a minute." Ming Cunfu stretched out his hand from under the quilt and stubbornly grabbed Jiuzhu's sleeve: "Please do Sixth Brother a small favor."
Jiuzhu turned her head to look at Ming Cunfu, and Prince Chen also stopped.
"Sixth brother, if you need me to do anything, just tell me." Jiuzhu likes her brother Ming Cunfu very much. On the way back to Beijing from Lingzhou, Ming Cunfu has been taking good care of her. Worried that she wouldn't be able to adapt after returning home, she told her about her family, the plants and trees at home, and how much her family missed her every day.
"It's not a big deal." In front of his father and the Prince of 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: "I'll go deliver it now."
"Also, Miss Zhou is not at home. She is at Qingyun Tea House." Ming Cunfu took out the 40-liang silver note that was still warm in his arms, and then took out the 20-liang monthly salary that he had saved for a month: "Accompany Miss Zhou to pick out some jewelry. If there is anything she likes, 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 tried to take out the banknotes, he found that it did not move.
"Spend it as you like, especially if it's something Miss Zhou likes. 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 person 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 her hand and walked out of the door with unusually light steps.
Prince Chen, who was following behind her, snorted. Just for a hundred taels, she forgot about him. Could it be that he couldn't even afford a hundred taels of silver?
"So happy?" He quickened his pace and walked to Jiuzhu's side. Prince Chen crossed his arms and said, "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 looked back at Jiuzhu.
"Ah?" Jiuzhu looked at King Chen blankly: "What did you say?"
"Nothing." Prince Chen got 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 a hundred 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 said less.
Jiuzhu held the purse, looked at the dust kicked up by the galloping horses, and waved to the King Chen who was going away.
Prince Chen turned around and looked at her waving arms, raised his whip and waved it twice perfunctorily, then disappeared around the corner.
"Your Highness seems a little unhappy." Jiuzhu frowned: "Is it because the Ministry of Rites is too busy?"
She touched the poetry collection in her arms and decided to go and help Sixth Brother as a messenger 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 walked hurriedly all the way, ran to Zhou Xiao and panted slightly: "Sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."
Zhou Xiao glanced behind her, the smile on her face was a little lonely: "Hurry up and sit down and have some tea. Why are you running so fast? Why don't you bring the maid out?"
"I came out today to help Sixth Brother run errands." Jiuzhu took out a collection of poems and handed it to Zhou Xiao: "After Sixth Brother heard that you were looking for this collection of poems, he went to most of the bookstores in the city and finally found it."
As a sister, it is definitely not a lie to embellish the process of helping your brother find a book.
Zhou Xiao flipped open the poetry collection 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 imperial physician asked him to rest at home for a few days, so he pulled my sleeve and wouldn't let me go, and asked me to deliver the collection of poems to my sister."
"He was injured?" Zhou Xiao threw the poetry collection aside, grabbed Jiuzhu's hand and asked, "How is he injured? What did the imperial doctor say?"
"Don't worry, sister. It's just a dislocated bone. The imperial physician has reconnected it." Jiuzhu patted the back of Zhou Xiao's hand and the purse Ming Cunfu gave her. "Before we 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 complexion gradually recovered, but she no longer had the interest to buy things.
"Good sister, just keep me company." Jiuzhu took her arm and said, "If you don't spend, I can't spend with you. Today's trip is equivalent to running errands in vain. Please have pity 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, then left the teahouse hand in hand with Jiuzhu.
Jiuzhu smiled and pulled 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 that's why he did this?"
"You mean to say that there is a traitor among you?"
"Master, you misunderstood. What I meant was that our people found the Prince of 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 a certain official's residence 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 I saw such a beautiful scene. I wonder if Sixth Brother will envy me?"
"Don't laugh at me. Your wedding with His Royal Highness Prince Chen will be on February 2 after the Chinese New Year." Zhou Xiao pinched Jiuzhu's tender face and said, "Who will laugh at me then?"
"What's so funny about marriage?" Jiuzhu asked in confusion, "It's a happy thing for two people who love each other to live together."
Her eyes were as clear as lake water that had never been polluted, and when she mentioned the word "like", there were no desires or distractions, only pure happiness and innocence.
Zhou Xiao was stunned, and for a moment, she didn't know 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 saw Jiuzhu buy several different kinds of food after tasting them, and finally tied up 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, "I bought this for His Highness and father. They have many colleagues in the Ministry of Rites. If we divide it among them, 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 how the two masters were trying to be lazier with each other in order to avoid washing dishes, Jiuzhu's tone was a little uncertain.
There were not many books to read in their temple, so when the master taught her to write, she would write on a sand table.
Don’t ask what the reason is; the answer 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 criminal. It's being searched."
Ming Jinghai just returned to Beijing yesterday, and this official was investigated 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 Evil lives up to his reputation; any corrupt officials he finds never have a good ending.
"House search?" Jiuzhu was even more curious. She had never seen a house search before. "Sister, can we stand far away and watch?"
"Okay." Zhou Xiao was reluctant to admit it, but she was actually a little curious.
As a human being, how can it be considered a bad idea if I like to watch the fun?
The people of the capital were 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.
The guards surrounded the gate, and the common people did not dare to get too close. They all crowded together in the corners to watch the excitement.
"Who is that young man standing at the door? He is so handsome."
"The crown he wears is inlaid with gems. He must be very rich."
"Don't talk nonsense, that is the famous and virtuous prince, His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi."
"Is that the prince who suppressed bandits and took the imperial examination?"
"The one who passed the imperial examination and donated a lot of money to build the academy is the Prince of Chen. Are you from the capital? You can't even tell that?"
"Then Prince Chen suppressed bandits and took the imperial examination and donated money, so how did the virtuous prince become the King of Qi? Is your majesty partial to the King of Qi?"
"Don't talk nonsense, do you want to die?!"
“Your Highness, 612,000 taels of silver and a number of jade and jewelry were confiscated from the Wang family. This is a rough statistical list, and the exact quantity still needs to be counted slowly.” The official from the Ministry of Revenue presented the confiscated register to the King of Qi.
The King of Qi's face darkened: "As an official appointed by the court, he actually embezzled so much money. It's really hateful!"
The officials from the Ministry of Revenue did not dare to speak, because this Lord Wang was the uncle of Princess Roude's husband, and could barely be linked to 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, a long chain of people would be involved from top to bottom. What if the royal family was involved...
"Continue investigating." Qi Wang bowed in the direction of the imperial palace: "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 Wang 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 intention to the clerk.
Looking at these people in shackles and in a state of panic, the King of Qi thought of his own childhood. At that time, he and his mother were locked up in a small courtyard. His mother often sat in the house crying and muttering some words of regret.
Later, his mother stopped crying and often took out meat and snacks for him to eat while hiding 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 that, the rebel king forced the emperor to abdicate. The palace was flooded with blood, countless princes were involved, and 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, and kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Highness, please have mercy on me. My child is sick. Please have pity on him and give him some medicine."
The woman hit the stone so hard that blood appeared on her forehead after a while. Blood flowed down her eye sockets, looking both hideous and pitiful.
The King of Qi looked at this scene with indifference in his heart. However, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he had to put on a kind appearance and walk 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, the King of Qi heard a familiar name and suddenly stopped and turned to look at the crowd watching the excitement.
At this moment, the woman who was still kowtowing suddenly picked up a sharp blade from her sleeve with her mouth and rushed towards the King of Qi.
The King of Qi subconsciously took a step back, and the sharp blade that was about to cut his throat only scratched his chest.
The blood quickly dyed his collar red. He looked down at his injured chest and lightly touched the wound with his fingertips. The feeling of pain quickly spread to his brain the moment he touched the blood.
"Protect the prince!"
The people who were watching the excitement were stunned by this sudden turn of events. They were afraid of being implicated by the assassin, so the guards threw them into jail as well. They immediately lost the mood to watch the excitement and turned around and ran away.
You will have a chance to see the excitement of house raiding again in the future. It is not worth it to be suspected of being an assassin and thrown into jail.
"Hiss." Seeing that the chest of the King of Qi was mostly stained with blood, Jiuzhu took a breath and whispered to Zhou Xiao: "That female relative doesn't look like an ordinary person."
Don’t you think about it? Can an ordinary person kowtow repeatedly with his hands and feet tied?
Is the King of Qi a fool? He can'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?" Seeing that most of the people who came to watch the excitement had run away, and there were still two girls in brocade clothes left, the guards hurriedly stopped them.
"These two girls are the daughters of Minister Zhou and Minister Ming of the Ministry of Rites. You must not be disrespectful." The King of Qi covered the wound on his chest, his face pale. "Miss Zhou, Miss Ming, this place is dangerous. Please leave as soon as possible."
Jiuzhu glanced at the woman who assassinated the King of Qi. She was lying on the ground, motionless, and no one knew 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 chased 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 very untidy manner, and frowned while covering 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 Guard was so frightened that his face turned pale and even his voice was trembling.
"It's okay, only the skin and flesh are injured, not the abdomen. General, don't worry." With the help of the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, the King of Qi lay down on the soft couch that was temporarily 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 gate of 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 that she was running out of breath, her cheeks were red, and her forehead was covered with sweat, Prince Chen took out a 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 guards with you, and don't approach unidentified people alone. The capital is too dangerous."
Hearing Jiuzhu's tone was wrong, the King of Chen stuffed the dirty handkerchief into his sleeve, turned around and asked his attendant to get a dry handkerchief: "What happened?"
"I just came out from buying 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 also want to hurt you?"
"You ran here from the Wang family?!" Prince Chen raised his voice, "You ran all the way from the Wang family to the Ministry of Rites?"
Jiuzhu blinked and looked at him in confusion: "What, what happened?"
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 carriage.
She ran so far 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 tasted them before buying them, and they tasted very good."
"Ming Jiuzhu." Prince Chen stretched out his hand and gently wiped the dust on her cheek with his fingertips, and said in a gentle and affectionate voice: "Are you a little fool?"
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