Xiao Yuanjin felt that his eyes had been opened. He asked Yu Zizhen, "Would your father and mother agree?"
Yu Zizhen smiled and picked up a piece of sizzling beef for him with chopsticks. "My father doesn't care about this little money. As for the princess, she can't control me."
Xiao Yuanjin was silent for a moment before asking, "You and your father, mother, and concubine..."
Yu Zizhen shrugged, "The former has an average relationship, while the latter has a bad relationship."
Xiao Yuanjin couldn't help but frown when he heard this. He looked at Yu Zizhen with a worried look on his face, "Don't tell anyone about this in the future. Whether the King of Zhenbei values you is related to whether you can live a stable and dignified life in the capital."
He immediately regretted it after he finished speaking, "I shouldn't have asked you."
Yu Zizhen smiled and said, "Don't worry, I am now useful to both the Zhenbei Palace and the Lu family. You don't have to worry about my safety for now."
"As for the future, as the old saying goes, if you rely on mountains, they will fall; if you rely on people, they will run away. Instead of relying on them to treat me well, I might as well seize the time to arm myself."
Xiao Yuanjin's eyes were sad. "But you are only seven years old."
What could a seven-year-old do? He was already eight years old, and he could only do the same thing as a few years ago, hiding behind his father in fear every day, enjoying his protection and love.
Yu Zizhen held his hand, using this gesture to soothe his anxiety and despair. She whispered, "But my enemies wouldn't go all out against me when I was seven years old."
Xiao Yuanjin was greatly shocked. His eyes were wide open. He clearly had a lot to say, but for a moment he didn't know where to start.
He kept saying "you...I..." for a long time and couldn't organize his words.
Yu Zizhen patted him and said, "I will help you. Let's become stronger together."
After a pause, she added, "We still have time, plenty of time."
Thinking of his recovered body, Xiao Yuanjin's heart surged. He suppressed the complicated emotions in his heart, "But you, why..."
Why help this disabled prince who can only survive by hiding behind the puppet emperor?
Yu Zizhen smiled and answered quickly, "I told you, I've liked you since the first time I saw you. I want to see you smile, I want to play with you, and I want to eat lots of delicious food and read lots of storybooks with you."
Xiao Yuanjin, who likes all the books in the library, but hates reading storybooks: ...
Although this reason sounded absurd, Yu Zizhen's expression and tone were so serious that he couldn't bear to doubt Yu Zizhen.
He did not ask any further questions. After all, as he said himself, he was just a disabled prince who could only survive by hiding behind a puppet emperor. What could anyone possibly plot against him?
Although Xiao Yuanjin has experienced the warmth and coldness of human nature, he still retains an innocence. He secretly made up his mind that since Yu Zizhen said that she liked him, said that she wanted to play with him, eat delicious food together, and read... storybooks, then he would do his best to satisfy her.
Yu Zizhen had no idea that Xiao Yuanjin had already shown signs of being completely obedient and indulgent towards her from this moment on. The two of them quickly conspired together, and then happily finished their lunch together.
After dinner, Yu Zizhen gave one of his bedrooms to Xiao Yuanjin.
She had always slept on the kang and had never used that bed once. Just as Xiao Yuanjin would be coming over often in the future, she simply gave the step-out bed that was as big as a small house to Xiao Yuanjin.
"This room belongs to you from now on. I haven't used the bed or the cabinet either."
She didn't have that many things, and the valuable ones were all kept in the system warehouse, while the worthless ones that took up space were all thrown into the west wing.
Now she has cleared out a room for Xiao Yuanjin to take a nap occasionally. All she needs to do is add some more daily necessities here.
Xiao Yuanjin was a little embarrassed. "I see that many courtyards in the palace are empty. Why don't I move to another courtyard?"
Yu Zizhen shook his head. "If you live in the house next to mine, I can protect you at any time. If you live far away, it won't be so convenient for me to keep an eye on you."
After all, this is a prince, and he is the prince who occupies the position of the emperor's eldest son and whom the Lu family secretly wants to get rid of. Yu Zizhen is not at ease letting him leave his defense range.
The two of them took a nap in the east side room and the east side room for about an hour respectively, and then Yu Zizhen took Xiao Yuanjin out again.
This time they were going to buy gifts for the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. As early as the morning, Xiao Yuanjin had already made a list of several alternative gifts for himself. Now he just had to pick the one he liked the most and buy it.
After he finished shopping, Yu Zizhen personally sent him to the palace gate. Only after he saw him enter the palace with his own eyes did Yu Zizhen turn around and get in the car to return to the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion.
There were still a bunch of things waiting for her to deal with in the palace. She picked out the gifts for the King of Zhenbei and others and asked Mr. Jiang to send them back to the King of Zhenbei's Palace in the northern border. As for the things she "broadcasted" for herself and her subordinates, she asked someone to move them directly to Lumingxuan in the third courtyard.
As she expected, although Mr. Jiang was very speechless about her attempt to take advantage of the situation, since the money she embezzled was less than one-tenth of the total value of the gifts she was planning to send back to the north, Mr. Jiang did not argue with her about the whereabouts of the thirty taels of silver.
In order to prevent Princess Zhenbei from making a fuss and writing to scold Yu Zizhen again for a mere thirty taels of silver, Mr. Jiang simply recorded the thirty taels she "spent incidentally" under the item of "Mid-Autumn Festival gift" when doing his accounts.
Yu Zizhen, who received the errand fee and lost wages in disguise, was very satisfied with Mr. Jiang's operation. She took Yaoguang out of the Zhenbei Palace again before the sun set.
She went to buy an erhu and find a suitable erhu master for Xiao Yuanjin.
According to the list of candidates and character introductions provided by the system, after buying the erhu, Yu Zizhen first approached a spice merchant in his forties.
This spice merchant had led his caravans to and from the Western Regions many times, and now he has a dozen musicians, dancers and singers at home whom he brought back from the Western Regions.
However, after Yu Zizhen explained her purpose, the other party refused to trade with her fairly, but insisted on giving Yu Zizhen the best musicians, dancers, singers, and a large number of new things he brought back from the Western Regions for free.
Merchants value profit, so giving things away for free is certainly not to make a loss-making deal. He is so enthusiastic and generous just to use this opportunity to curry favor with Yu Zizhen, a top dignitary whom he cannot normally contact.
However, he is smart, and Yu Zizhen is not stupid. Although she loves money, she will not be greedy for any advantage.
Given the spice merchant's calculating and greedy eyes, Yu Zizhen would not give him any reason to get involved with the Zhenbei Palace and herself.
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