Fu Ge and his friends didn't return until dusk. Zhu Changge and Zhu Qingruo led them home, while the others went off somewhere else.
Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu bought a lot of food, and Dafu, Sanfu, and Wufu also bought a lot of things. As soon as they got back, they ran to Xingxing's courtyard and said they wanted to let her choose what she liked to give her.
“Look at these hair accessories. I’ve seen a lot of young girls in Beijing wearing them, so I bought some for you. Do you like them?” Zhou Wufu looked at her like he was showing off a treasure.
Xingxing nodded. "I like it, thank you, Fifth Brother."
"Xingxing, eat this. It's delicious. We don't have this in the South." Zhou Erfu handed over an oil paper package.
"Mmm, it's delicious. Second brother, you should have some too. All the brothers should have some." Xingxing tasted one and praised it as delicious. Actually, she had already eaten during the day. She had tried almost all the snacks in the capital. If she hadn't been too full to eat anymore, she would have continued to try more.
At this moment, Zhu Changge walked in. She didn't disturb Fu Ge and Xingxing, but just gave Zhu Lin a look. The boy immediately understood and walked with Zhu Changge to a corner of the courtyard outside.
“We saw Prince Gong’s men on the street today, and my eldest brother and the others went to follow them. They probably won’t be back tonight,” Zhu Changge said in a low voice.
Zhu Lin: "Does it really require a whole group of people to follow?"
"No need for that. It's just that when we came back, we found a group of people loitering around suspiciously nearby. Third and Fourth Junior Brothers were so bored that they wanted to play games with them." Zhu Changge winked, hinting at something.
"Was it someone sent by that fake princess in the palace? They're quick." The young man's expression was not good.
“That fake princess is still a child, just a puppet. Shui Li Niang infiltrated the palace and stayed by the fake princess’s side as her savior. This woman is not simple. She knows our whereabouts like the back of her hand and even came to the Zhu family. We can’t let her have her way too much.” Zhu Changge’s eyes darkened.
In fact, they sensed that someone was following them on their way to the capital, and that the person was quite skilled. Every time they tried to find the person, the person would notice in advance and quickly escape.
But it would reappear every few days, a persistent and annoying ghost. However, since the other party didn't make a move, Zhu Lin and the others were busy traveling and didn't bother to take it down.
“That guy hasn’t shown up since he arrived in the capital. He’s smart enough to know what’s good for him, otherwise he wouldn’t be alive to be causing trouble. He dares to challenge us, so he must be very confident in his abilities. I really want to have a go with that guy,” Zhu Changge said, narrowing his eyes.
"It was bound to happen sooner or later. It's rare to find someone like this under Prince Gong. He's quite interesting." The young man gave a slight twitch of his lips, not taking the other party seriously.
It's really boring to always be one-sidedly crushing someone; it's only challenging when there's someone with real strength.
The two didn't talk for long, ending in less than fifteen minutes. When Zhu Lin returned to the living room, he saw that Fu Ge and the others were still chattering around Xingxing. He blinked but didn't say anything to disturb them.
The little girl was wronged today. Let Brother Fu talk to her more; it should make her feel better.
"Brother Phosphorus, come and eat! Second Brother and Fourth Brother bought a lot of delicious food. This roast chicken and roast duck are things we've never tried before. They taste really good. You should try them." Xingxing turned around and waved to him, and the boy walked over.
Soon the servants started setting out the food, and Fu Ge and his friends ate together with Xingxing in this courtyard. The food was plentiful, and Fu Ge and his friends said that they would come over to eat with Xingxing tomorrow as well, and asked the servants not to send food to their courtyard.
“Okay, I’ll talk to the manager later.” Zhu Lin readily agreed.
"The steward of the Zhu family is quite mysterious. No, all the servants in the entire mansion are secretive. They only show up during mealtimes. Where do they hide the rest of the time?"
Zhou Erfu was really curious about this. They had been in the capital for three days, and during those three days, they could only see servants during mealtimes. They couldn't see a single person at other times.
"The steward and the servants live in the small house next door and come in through the side door to do their work. My senior brothers and sisters and I prefer quiet, so the servants don't usually show up unless there's a problem," Zhu Lin explained in a low voice. What he didn't say was that the servants all knew martial arts, so they could enter and leave the mansion without making a sound.
“Actually, we can cook for ourselves. We don’t need to spend money to hire someone else. The five of us brothers can take care of cooking the meals every day. You don’t need to interfere.”
Zhou Dafu genuinely wanted to save Zhu Lin money. The five brothers were going to stay at the Zhu residence for a long time, and they felt bad about just eating and living there for free. They wanted to do something to help out, since their masters and Zhu Lin wouldn't accept any money they offered. Even the most shameless of them would feel embarrassed.
Zhu Lin knew what Fu Ge was thinking, so he spoke calmly, "Don't act like outsiders. Xingxing's family is my family. I can afford to provide for their food and drink. You don't need to feel pressured. If you really want to do something, then study hard and practice your skills. Starting tomorrow, don't go out shopping or playing anymore. Stay in the manor and study hard."
Speaking of this, Fu Ge chuckled. They had indeed been playing around these past few days and had fallen behind in their studies. They had also been in a hurry to get on their journey and hadn't read much along the way. It was time for them to pick it up again and take it seriously.
"I want to study too. I haven't studied properly or practiced calligraphy in a long time. I can't go on like this. Starting tomorrow, I won't go out of the mansion to wander around anymore." Xingxing raised her voice to make her stance clear, meaning she wanted to share weal and woe with Brother Fu.
At General Dingyuan's residence, the imperial physician was realigning the dislocated arm of a girl in red, causing her to burst into tears from the pain. "Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
The imperial physician stroked his beard and said slowly, "She's fine now. Miss Zhang, just use the medicinal wine I prescribed for two more days. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
