"Silly girl, why are you crying? Come on, follow the master to prepare lunch." Jian Ning pulled her to the kitchen. The restaurant in Danyang County had closed down long ago and had gone to other places to make a living. She could only invite Huo Jincheng and others to a banquet at home, and she had also prepared all the dishes in advance according to the date.
Since the emperor ordered the prince to take charge of the disaster relief in Danyang County, the task naturally fell on Huo Jincheng. Since the smallpox epidemic was eradicated in the capital of Jianning and hybrid grain was introduced with the support of the prince, the prince's reputation among the people has been gradually increasing. Knowing that Feng Qingzi and his two disciples were all dead, he no longer avoided the edge of Prince Yong, changed his previous yandere and indulgent attitude, gradually gained a foothold in the court, and was quite praised by the emperor.
Huo Jincheng had brought many of the people from the capital with him this time, members of the Ding clan. The common people who accompanied him along the way, delivering the live poultry, were well aware of the situation in Danyang and had all their provisions with them. Jian Ning only had to make them a pot of hot soup. Otherwise, she and Qiao Feng would have had to prepare meals for dozens of people, which would have been quite challenging. Simply selecting the vegetables would have taken considerable effort.
Qiaofeng had been away from Jian Ning for only half a year since she left Dingxian Village for the capital and then came here. However, she felt that she had been separated from Jian Ning for a long time, and it seemed that she had not cooked with Jian Ning for a long time.
It was great. At this moment, she was sitting in front of the stove, adding firewood and cooking soup. From time to time, she glanced at Jian Ning who was busy at the stove, and felt very at ease in her heart.
"Master, who helped me chop these firewoods?" Qiao Feng asked as she took out a piece of dry firewood while sitting on a small stool. In the past, Ding Yang and Ding Jian were the ones who took care of this job at home.
"Did Uncle Tong and Uncle Shi, who follow your master's master, chop it, or did they go to the neighboring county to buy it? The people here have been living in such hardship these years."
"Don't worry, with Master and Grandmaster here, their lives will get better and better, they definitely will!"
"You're getting sweeter and sweeter, girl. After dinner, Master will take you to the Nanshan Orchard. It's covered with green grass now. When we first arrived, there wasn't any green at all."
While her master and apprentice were cooking and chatting, Huo Jincheng and Ding Youtian were discussing the officials of Yancheng in the north in the government office. "Master Xiao from the Censorate has begun investigating Yancheng's past officials. Master Xiao has some friendship with my father, so I went to pay him a visit when I passed by Yancheng."
Huo Jincheng told Ding Youtian that what he heard from Lord Xiao was exactly the same as the news that Ding Youtian had submitted to the capital. In the early years, wealthy families in Danyang County had to move their families to other places and were interrogated by the government. Their destinations were recorded with the government, and they also signed and sealed a guarantee that they would not talk nonsense outside before they were allowed to leave. Ordinary people who wanted to go out to find a job could not leave the north even if they left the city gate. Therefore, the news was blocked.
Ding Youtian had learned all of this from Cao's mother and son when he was in Yancheng. The Cao family was from Danyang County, and Xu Dali had signed a confidentiality agreement because he was going out with the escort agency.
If Ding Youtian had not rescued him and Jian Ning had not saved his wife and daughter, Xu Dali and his mother Cao would not have dared to reveal the truth so easily. Therefore, although the people from the Ding family in Yancheng were well-informed, they had never been aware of the matter because they had never paid attention to it. As a result, they were all scolded by Huo Jincheng.
"There's one more thing." Huo Jincheng glanced at Ding Youtian. "When I went to see Lord Xiao that day, Prefect Yang was also there. He mentioned you and Judge Jiang, saying that he had been missing for several days. He probably knew he couldn't escape his guilt and had gone into hiding somewhere."
Ding Youtian smiled slightly. He had avoided mentioning the matter of Jiang Tongpan in his previous letter to Lord Yang. Lord Yang had been in officialdom for many years and must have guessed that he was involved, so he used Huo Jincheng to tell him that he didn't need to worry about this person anymore.
"Has he been dealt with by the princess?" Huo Jincheng knew from his reaction. Huo Jincheng was certain that Jian Ning's skills came from Nanyangzi. "Do you know who taught that Jiang guy?"
"You can tell me or not." If he didn't ask, Ding Youtian didn't know. Once he asked, Ding Youtian guessed that it was related to Feng Qingzi's three disciples.
really.
Huo Jincheng raised his eyebrows. "It's Feng Qingzi's eldest disciple, Rizhao. He originally had another master, and Rizhao taught him a few moves."
"The princess is truly remarkable. Not only did she not die at his hands, but she also helped you all escape unscathed."
Ding Youtian lowered his head and touched his nose, then raised his eyes and glanced at him, "Can't I have protected my wife?"
He also contributed that day, okay?
"You?" Huo Jincheng glanced at him, then looked around and shook his head. "This is the shabbiest government office I've ever seen. Lord Ding, how about I lend you some money to repair it? How about giving me a share of your winery in the capital?"
He suddenly changed the subject, and Ding Youtian followed up on him, saying, "You have no business talking to me about this. You should go find Bao'er's uncle. That's Bao'er's uncle and aunt's business, and it has nothing to do with me."
"People don't speak in secret. There's no need for you to hide anything from me. Let alone officials of all ranks in other prefectures and counties, there are many officials in the capital who own shops. They just don't show it openly."
"Another thing..." Huo Jincheng glanced at him, "Brother Ma is unfamiliar with the capital, but the winery has been able to thrive steadily. Do you really think I didn't contribute to it? Including your family's sixth brother's restaurant. If you only want a share of the winery, I'll give it to you for free."
Ding Youtian knew what he said was true. Whether it was Lao Liu's restaurant or the Ma family's winery, he and Jian Ning were the secret owners. The Pingnan Palace was inconvenient to take care of them, and they kept it secret from the Pingnan prince. Foreigners doing business in the capital needed a backer, and Huo Jincheng was the only one they could rely on.
"Don't even think about those two things; it's useless." Ding Youtian said with a smile, "I have another good thing for you. After dinner, I'll take you somewhere and tell you more about it when we get there."
"That's more like it. It's worth it for me to hide this matter for your master."
"My master?" Ding Youtian was stunned at first, and then he thought he was referring to the fact that Blind Liu's identity was not told to the Crown Prince. He disagreed in his heart. As long as he did not admit it, Blind Liu had gone to the Yue Kingdom again. What could Huo Jincheng do to him?
He waved his hand and said with a smile, "My master is a storyteller. What could you possibly have to hide for him? Oh, now I remember. You mean his 'Fog Mountain Strangeness', right? Those books were burned long ago."
Huo Jincheng pointed at him, "You're still hiding this from me? Meixiang's uncle, Pei Xiyuan, has now been appointed Crown Prince. Previously, no one favored him. The Yue Kingdom has always coveted our Central Plains, and his mother is from the Central Plains and was once a princess of the Qing Kingdom."
He paced back and forth a few times as he spoke, then stopped and looked at him. "You know, the Yue Kingdom hasn't had a crown prince of Central Plains descent in hundreds of years, and yet, in just a few months, someone helped him turn the tide. What do you think would happen if the emperor knew the identity of the person behind this?"
Ding Youtian felt a chill in his heart when he heard this. If Huo Jincheng reported Blind Liu's identity to the prince, no matter whether the prince recognized Blind Liu as the Nanyangzi from the past, he would probably suspect that his master would collude with Yue Kingdom to attack Dayan Dynasty.
As a result, his master might never set foot on the land of Dayan Kingdom again in this life.
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