Chapter 445: Even More Stylish Than the Crown Prince
From Jiutouzhai to Xiangcheng, the relationship between Xiao Fu and Xiao Jiuyue, father and daughter, made rapid progress.
"Yu'er, be careful when you get to Xiangcheng. The Emperor attaches great importance to this flood control plan and has specially sent the Minister of Works to assist and the Second Prince to supervise."
When they arrived in Xiangcheng, Xiao Fu reminded them, looking at Xiao Jiuyue's beautiful face, and thinking about the Second Prince's love for beauties...
For a moment, Xiao Fu seemed to feel that he had forgotten the Second Prince and should not have brought Yue'er here.
"Dad, it's okay, I can dress up as a man." Xiao Jiuyue said, and in front of Xiao Fu's stunned eyes, she performed a transformation, from a beautiful, bright and generous young lady of a noble family to a handsome servant.
"Master, the younger one is Xiaojiu." Xiao Jiuyue lowered her voice, which became clearer, but no longer sounded like a girl's voice.
After Xiao Jiuyue changed her clothes again, Xiao Fu circled around her and said, "Yuer, no, Xiaojiu, you really look like a servant, except that your eyes are prettier."
Xiao Jiuyue can make her appearance more delicate, but she can never hide her lively eyes.
"There's nothing I can do about it, it's natural!" Xiao Jiuyue suddenly became proud. Originally, she wanted to act ugly, but then she thought, wouldn't it be even more suspicious if an ugly boy followed his father?
"Hahaha~" Xiao Fu laughed and said, "Xiaojiu, you have to stay with me!"
Xiao Fu was worried that his daughter was being bullied by others in a place where he couldn't see. He looked at Donggui and Huaqing. The two were not dressed in men's clothes, but were wearing thugs' clothes. They looked like they were not easy to mess with.
When the Minister of Works and the Second Prince saw the people around Xiao Fu, the Second Prince jokingly said, "Master Xiao, I didn't expect that you have a female guard with you?"
Donggui and Huaqing were obviously female guards. They had their hair tied up high like men, and held swords in their hands, looking as if they didn't want anyone to approach them.
"My wife picked it out specially for me." When Xiao Fu mentioned his wife, his eyes were full of helplessness.
"I've heard for a long time that Lord Xiao and Madam Xiao are a loving couple, and they don't even have concubines or maids. Now it seems that Madam Xiao is too strict."
The second prince sat in the main seat in a nonchalant manner. From his clothes to the jade crown in his hair and the jade pendant on his collar, everything about him exuded luxury, even more so than the crown prince.
Xiao Jiuyue lowered his eyes and stopped looking at him, acting seriously as a servant, but he was silently calculating in his heart that the Imperial Noble Consort was only one step away from the position of Queen, in charge of the six palaces, and very much favored by the Emperor. Now it seems that this is true!
The late queen died young, and if the prince did not have such a powerful backer as the prime minister's grandfather supporting him at court, he would probably be a prince in name only.
The second prince relied on the favor of the imperial concubine to have a comfortable life in the palace. It seemed that the previous incident in the Eighteen Villages had no impact on the second prince.
He just gave him a scolding, but now he assigns him to do such a good thing. The emperor is really biased.
"Your Highness, it's already the end of March and spring sowing has begun. The flood season is about to begin. If the construction is delayed, it will be difficult to explain to the emperor." Xiao Fu was not polite at all in front of the second prince.
They came to Xiangcheng not for pleasure, but to divert the flow of water. Living in the Xiangcheng prefectural capital and enjoying the hospitality of the prefect, could the water in the Jinjiang embankment be cured by itself?
The Second Prince's expression changed as he sneered, "Master Xiao, you misunderstood. I was just worried that Master Xiao would rush back to Shengjing from Lingnan, and then rush from Shengjing to Xiangcheng without stopping. If he collapses from exhaustion, that wouldn't be a good thing."
"Since Lord Xiao insists on going to the Jinjiang River embankment tomorrow, I am naturally willing to do so. I will complete the task assigned by my father as soon as possible so that I can report back."
The Second Prince was holding a folding fan and gently waving it. As he stood up and passed by Xiao Fu, he said, "Master Xiao, you should pay more attention. After all, whether the Xiao family can recover depends on whether this dam will collapse this year!"
"Master Du, come on, I'll take you to listen to some music." The Second Prince turned around and called the Minister of Works over. Du, smiling, followed the Second Prince and instructed the people behind him, "Minister Liang, stay here with Master Xiao and discuss the diversion and water management. His Highness will be inspecting it tomorrow."
After he finished speaking, Minister Du quickly caught up and said, "Your Highness, I know a theater that performs really good opera!"
As Minister Du's flattering voice gradually faded, Xiao Fu remained expressionless. He looked at Liang Li and asked, "Minister Liang, do you have any advice?"
"I'm not worthy of your advice." Liang Li shook his head quickly. He replied seriously, "I think Lord Xiao's plan is very good. However, we need to recruit people and mine stones to fill the embankment. I'm afraid it will take a lot of people."
Xiao Fu finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Liang Li's words. Shangshu Du didn't work and only cared about trying to please the Second Prince. Fortunately, Liang Li was a hard worker. Xiao Fu said, "Xiangcheng is in ruins right now, and there's no shortage of people. However, if they come to work, they have to be fed."
…
"Dad, the second prince is even more arrogant than the crown prince!" After returning to the house, Xiao Jiuyue whispered to Xiao Fu that when he first met the crown prince, the crown prince also liked to play, but at least he didn't interfere with his business.
But what about the second prince?
They have been in Xiangcheng for a few days. The second prince has quite a few favored girls. Every day he is either listening to music or boating on the lake, under the pretext of inspecting the embankment!
Xiao Jiuyue really wanted to laugh. The Second Prince was just a fool who only had eyes for beauties.
"Xiao Jiu." Xiao Fu looked around and gave Xiao Jiuyue a warning. If someone who was a fence-sitter heard these words, wouldn't that just make people jealous?
"Master, I'll just tell you quietly when no one is around." Xiao Jiuyue frowned and looked serious. She really should be more careful.
"Yeah." Xiao Fu looked at her serious expression, afraid of scaring her, and said, "Yuer, it's okay to talk about it in front of Dad."
Xiao Jiuyue: “…” Her father really puts her in a difficult position. Should she tell him or not?
"His Highness is doing well in the city. If he really follows us to the Jinjiang River embankment, I'm afraid we will have to distract ourselves to take care of him." Xiao Fu was very satisfied. Now he can devote himself to diverting water flows.
"That's right, Liang Li is quite good, he's a man who gets things done." Xiao Jiuyue added, "Dad, I've already sent someone to look for Zhu Jiuliu. If he's around, I think he can accomplish a lot."
"Zhu Jiuliu?" Xiao Fu sighed upon hearing this familiar name, "He's also a man with a miserable life."
"Master Xiao!"
Speak of the devil, and here he is. When Zhu Jiuliu arrived, he saw Xiao Fu and knelt before him, kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Sir Xiao, for saving my life!"
Without Xiao Fu, their entire family would have been gone long ago.
"Zhu Jiuliu, get up. I have heard about your family's affairs from Yue'er. Please accept my condolences." Xiao Fu helped Zhu Jiuliu to get up. This time the diversion and water control was successful. In the future, there will not be thousands of poor people like Zhu Jiuliu.
"Sir Xiao, if my father and the others knew that the village would not be flooded again, they would definitely rest in peace." Zhu Jiuliu knew that Xiao Fu came here specifically to build a dam.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
