Chapter 385 arranged a marriage for them.
The emperor was deeply moved, thinking that having such a son by his side was a good thing.
He patted his hand and said, "My son, then I'll have to trouble you."
The Seventh Prince smiled and said, "It's not hard work."
The emperor quickly beckoned to Eunuch Zhang, who was standing nearby, and asked him to give some silver and treasures to the seventh prince.
The seventh prince left the emperor's palace with the reward and returned to his own chambers. He thought about it and felt that Manager Du, whom he had met that day, was quite familiar, especially her three children. The more he looked at them, the more he felt that he had seen them somewhere before.
He couldn't sleep because of this, so he secretly left the palace at night with some silver and went to a tavern.
The tavern was newly opened, and the proprietress's surname was Duan. I heard she came from Qingzhou Prefecture.
The Seventh Prince has always loved wine, so he came to this new tavern to try it out.
This Lady Duan used to be a maid in the household of Prefect Zheng of Qingzhou Prefecture. Later, her parents redeemed her and wanted to sell her to an old man in the capital as a concubine.
She arrived in the capital by carriage, only to find out on the day of the wedding ceremony that she was to marry an elderly man in his sixties.
Later, she knocked out the matchmaker and tried to elope. On the way, she accidentally bumped into Zhou Feng. Zhou Feng had seen her before at the Zheng Prefect's residence. Seeing that they were both from Cheng'an County, he gave her some silver and helped her elope. She then opened a tavern in the capital.
After the tavern opened, Madam Duan discovered that Zhou Feng had not yet returned, even though she had specially written a letter and sent it to the Zhou residence the day before.
After receiving the message, Du Wanchun sent someone to the tavern to tell Duan Niangzi that Zhou Feng would be returning in a few days.
To express her gratitude, Lady Duan sent Du Wanchun several jugs of wine early in the morning.
It was quite a coincidence that Duan Niangzi's business started to improve after she gave away a few jugs of wine.
And sure enough, even the Seventh Prince came tonight.
Duan Niangzi immediately took out her finest peach blossom wine.
The seventh prince smelled the fragrance and drank more than ten cups in a row.
Just before closing time, two little girls came begging.
Madam Duan quickly took out a few copper coins from her bosom and handed them to them, and hurriedly went into the house to get some food.
"Take all of these."
Duan Niangzi spoke softly to the two children, her eyes filled with heartache.
She was the same way when she worked as a maid in the prefect's household.
The Seventh Prince watched silently from the side. For some reason, perhaps because he had drunk a bit too much tonight, he noticed that the young lady in the tavern was really beautiful. Under the moonlight outside the window, she was breathtakingly beautiful.
His heart was pounding, and he unknowingly spilled the wine in his hand.
Lady Duan walked to his side and said softly, "Sir, here's your wine."
The seventh prince immediately snapped out of his daze and put down the wine cup in his hand.
He deliberately changed the subject, asking, "What happened to those two little beggars?"
Madam Duan wiped the table with a handkerchief. "They went home. Their home is nearby, but their parents died early, leaving only a disabled grandfather."
The Seventh Prince sighed deeply, "Then how did they survive?"
Madam Duan brought him another pot of wine, saying, "He survived by relying on us neighbors."
The Seventh Prince listened to her words, but his gaze kept involuntarily falling on her face.
His heart was beating faster and faster.
Seeing that he was lost in thought, Madam Duan quickly asked, "Sir, is my wine not good?"
The Seventh Prince quickly looked away and nodded, saying, "Delicious, delicious."
Madam Duan breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good then."
The seventh prince asked her, "Where are you from? I don't think I've seen you before."
“I’m from Cheng’an County,” Duan Niangzi replied.
The Seventh Prince muttered to himself, "Why does this county sound so familiar?"
Madam Duan smiled and said, "Manager Zhou and Manager Du of the Zhou Family Rice Shop are also from Cheng'an County."
The seventh prince suddenly realized, "So that's how it is."
Madam Duan then asked, "Does the gentleman know Manager Zhou?"
The seventh prince shook his head. "I don't know him. I've only met him once or twice."
After he finished speaking, he went to get the wine pot, but his hand accidentally touched Duan Niangzi's hand, and his face turned completely red.
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