Chapter 170: Test (Two chapters in one)
Yan Xia looked down and saw that there were two dogs lying under the table, and two cats were sleeping on the two seemingly empty chairs.
No wonder they don’t share tables. How can they share tables if they are already full?
He murmured "Excuse me" and sat down at the table opposite, which was only half a step away from each other.
He reached out and called the waiter, and asked for a pot of Maojian tea and four kinds of dim sum. When he looked up, he found that the waiter looked familiar. Upon closer inspection, wasn't this the young man who was reading the storybook?
By the way, the young man mentioned his name that day. His name was Chen Wangxing.
Shen Wangxing grinned at him, revealing a row of white teeth.
Yan Xia subconsciously looked around. He just thought that there were not many customers at this time, but now he looked again, there were indeed not many customers. However, these few customers were all martial artists.
Based on his experience in solving cases, these were not guests at all; they were all guards, guards for this pair of grandparents and grandchildren!
At this time, the storyteller who was telling the story with all his heart was actually only telling it to this pair of grandparents and grandchildren.
This teahouse was booked by this pair of grandparents and grandchildren!
No, if it was booked, Chen Wangxing wouldn't be a waiter, right? Could it be...
He looked at Zhao Shiqing and asked, "Did you buy this teahouse?"
Zhao Shiqing: "I didn't buy it, my grandpa did."
Zhen Wuduo: "Yeah, I just bought it yesterday."
Yan Xia laughed. He was indeed the famous Zhen Wuduo. He bought such a big teahouse without any hesitation. Yan Xia even suspected that the reason why Zhen Wuduo bought this teahouse was because his granddaughter chose this place to meet.
Since there were no outsiders here, Zhao Shiqing was being naughty by driving him to this table.
Yan Xia suddenly understood why his mother still wanted to have a daughter even in her middle age. It would be very interesting to have a quirky little sister at home.
He stood up again and saluted Zhen Wuduo, "Yan Xia greets Old Master Zhen. I'm honored."
Zhen Wuduo smiled and said, "No need to be so polite, Prince Yan. Please sit down and have some tea."
At this moment, the storyteller slammed the gavel and said, "To know what happens next, please wait for the next chapter!"
Zhen Wuduo shouted loudly: "Okay, there is a reward!"
Chen Wangxing ran quickly and delivered a silver ingot that he had prepared long ago to the storyteller. The ingot weighed ten taels. The storyteller thanked him again and again before leaving.
Now, there's really no one else here.
Zhen Wuduo stood up and said to Yan Xia, "Prince Yan, please enjoy your meal. I'm going to go for a walk."
Zhen Wuduo walked away with the two dogs. Yan Xia was a little envious: "Your family takes really good care of the cats and dogs."
He has liked dogs since he was a child, but he has raised three dogs in succession, and all of them died after two or three months. His mother said that he was unlucky with dogs and forbade him to raise any more.
Zhao Shiqing's eyes twinkled: "Hey, you like cats and dogs too?"
Yan Xia nodded: "I also like horses."
Zhao Shiqing's eyes lit up. "My sister likes horses, too. She has more than a dozen horses, all of which are rare and excellent."
Yan Xia was excited when he heard this. There were more than a dozen fine horses. He really wanted to see them with his own eyes.
But, her sister? Was Zhao Shiqing talking about her sister?
Zhao Yunnuan?
Yan Xia suddenly remembered what Madam Yu had told him, and the usually carefree Prince Yan suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
Zhao Shiqing then started the next question: "I heard that the sons of noble families have concubines at the age of fourteen or fifteen, and fathers at the age of fifteen or sixteen. Is it the same for you?"
Yan Xia wanted to say, if I were like this, my mother would scratch me to death.
He shook his head: "I'm not, I don't."
Zhao Shiqing looked at him and continued, "You are the eldest grandson of the eldest son's family, shouldering the responsibility of carrying on the family line. If your wife can't give birth to a son, will you take a concubine?"
Yan Xia: Can't give birth to a son? Then it means giving birth to a daughter? Is that a good thing?
He shook his head again: "Our family has no shortage of men, and we don't have any rules about taking concubines."
If Yan Xia had not reacted when Zhao Shiqing asked the first question, then if Yan Xia still didn't understand now, he shouldn't stay in the Ministry of Justice.
Could it be that what A Niang said has reached Zhao Shiqing's ears?
So what about Prince Liang’s Mansion?
Where is the eldest princess?
Do they know it all?
He said seriously, "Second Miss Zhao, did you ask me to come here today because of the eldest princess?"
Seeing that he had guessed it, Zhao Shiqing stopped beating around the bush and said, "Someone wants to facilitate your marriage with my sister, and they want to use this marriage to force you to submit. Prince Yan, what do you think?"
She didn't mention anyone by name, but how could Yan Xia not have thought of it?
"The man Miss Zhao was talking about is a certain prince, right? Our Yan family has an ancestral precept that we will not participate in the struggle for the throne among the princes. We will protect whoever becomes the emperor. If anyone wants to make a big fuss about this, our Yan family will not sit idly by."
Zhao Shiqing thought of her sister's death in that life and said, "The Yan family is a glorious family, but what if someone uses you to harm my sister and then uses this as leverage to threaten you?"
Upon hearing this, a cold light flashed in Yan Xia's eyes. Although Zhao Shiqing was young, after several contacts with her, it could be seen that she was definitely not the kind of person who spoke nonsense. Since she said that, she must have discovered some clues and someone really wanted to harm Zhao Yunnuan.
"First of all, I will do my best to protect the Grand Princess. When she married me, she became my wife, my family, and a member of the Yan family! How could I possibly harm her? As for someone using this as a handle, haha, if I were really stupid enough to be tricked and even risk the Grand Princess' life, then that person wouldn't have the chance to threaten me. I would die with him to avenge the Grand Princess and never give up!"
Yan Xia's voice was resounding and filled with the anger of a young man, echoing in the teahouse.
Zhao Shiqing was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Who said my sister would definitely marry you? You haven't even met my sister, so how can you be sure that she would like you?"
Yan Xia then realized that he had said the wrong thing in his anger. He actually said that if the eldest princess married him, she would be his wife. How could he say such a thing?
Zhao Yunnuan is such an extraordinary woman, who is as brave as any man, yet he actually said such offensive words in front of her sister.
"Well, isn't this a matter of arguing with me? I really don't have any intentions. No, this matter hasn't even started yet. Miss Zhao Er, I'm a rough man and I don't know how to speak. If I have offended you, I apologize."
As he spoke, he stood up and was about to bow. Zhao Shiqing hurriedly said, "The person you should apologize to is not me, but my sister. If you are lucky, you might be able to meet my sister. When you meet her, you can apologize to her."
Yan Xia didn't know what to do for a moment. Zhao Yunnuan was far away in Liang. Unless she married into the capital, he would have no chance to see her, let alone apologize to her in person.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: if the emperor really arranged a marriage between him and Zhao Yunnuan, it would be considered a good thing.
Yan Xia's heart was like a thousand horses galloping, but Zhao Shiqing was very satisfied with today's meeting. She had reminded Yan Xia of everything she needed to, and also tested him.
At least for now, it seems that Yan Xia is a good person.
But it's only now, who knows what will happen in the future.
People change, who knows if Yan Xia will become the person he hates the most in the future.
However, Zhao Shiqing did not worry too much about these things that have not happened yet. Future matters can be left to time, but the most urgent task is the present matter.
Yan Xia came out of the teahouse and looked at the sun in the sky. Needless to say, he missed the time to draw the red circle again today.
The Imperial College student who supervised the person with the red circle was very strict. When the time was up, he would lock up the attendance book.
The room where the attendance book was kept originally had an ordinary lock, but it was later pried open. The new lock that has been replaced is said to be made by a famous craftsman, and even a god cannot pry it open.
Yes, every student in the Imperial College who was driven crazy by the red circle, except Yan Xia, all thought about picking the lock. As for Yan Xia, he is a hero, and heroes would not sneak in to pick the lock.
Although Yan Xia was a stubborn member of the Justice Hall, he had not felt embarrassed before today.
How many people in this world could study at the Hall of Justice? He had been there for six years, so what was there to be embarrassed about?
But today, he suddenly wanted to pick the lock and fill all the 700 red circles so that he could graduate from the Hall of Justice.
Alas, if Zhao Yunnuan knew that he had been in the Hall of Justice for six years, she would dislike him. Dislike is a small matter, but she wouldn't think he was an idiot, right?
Yan Xia stood there for a long time and finally decided to go to the Imperial College. As soon as he arrived at the Imperial College, he saw Li Jiancheng, who was in charge of attendance.
Yan Xia came over and put his arm around Li Jiancheng's shoulders.
Li Jiancheng was startled, and when he saw that it was Yan Xia, he became even more frightened: "Hero Yan, there is no one in our family who commits crimes, really not."
Yan Xia: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I'll treat you to tea. Let's go."
Li Jiancheng's legs felt weak. Master Yan invited him to have tea. Do we want to go to the Ministry of Justice for tea?
......
Emperor Yongjia walked out of the imperial study and was about to go to the Queen's Palace when he heard that the third prince had entered the palace.
Liu Daban smiled and said, "Knowing that you were in the Imperial Study, His Highness the Third Prince did not dare to disturb you, so he kowtowed outside the door. Now you must be going to pay your respects to the Imperial Concubine."
Emperor Yongjia thought of the recent grievances suffered by the third prince, and felt a little reluctant in his heart. After all, this was his most beloved son.
Of all the princes, the third prince is most like him.
"Let's go, let's go too. I haven't been to Concubine Qiao's place for two days."
Fatty Liu said hurriedly, "Oh, if the Imperial Noble Consort knew that you went to see her as soon as you came out of the Imperial Study, she would be very happy. I will send someone to tell you right away."
Emperor Yongjia was in a good mood. He said, "No need to report the news. Let's just go there directly."
A moment later, Emperor Yongjia met Concubine Qiao and the Third Prince. Seeing his sudden appearance, the mother and son were a little surprised. Emperor Yongjia was suspicious by nature, and he saw a trace of embarrassment on the faces of Concubine Qiao and the Third Prince.
"Why, I came at the wrong time?"
The Third Prince said hurriedly, "No, no, I was asking Mother for help, but before Mother agreed, Father arrived. I had a lot of words to say to please Mother, but now they are all useless."
Emperor Yongjia laughed heartily. "I see. Tell me, what favor do you want from your mother?"
The Third Prince was a little embarrassed. "It's like this. The Imperial Concubine has a close friend. Her father is Lang Jing, who was transferred to the capital last year. She's about the same age as the Imperial Concubine, but she's still single. She's been wanting to marry a good man from the capital, and now that she's found someone she likes, she wants to ask Mother to help bring them together. But Mother won't agree."
Emperor Yongjia's brows furrowed in a frown. "Lang Jing? Isn't that Feng Ke's daughter?" Lang Jing's daughter was said to be very beautiful. He had heard that the Lang family wanted to send their daughter to the Third Prince's residence. Miss Lang was always with the Third Princess, but Concubine Qiao seemed to dislike her and had therefore held back on the marriage.
How come Miss Lang has someone she likes now? Does she no longer want to marry into the Third Prince's mansion?
For the powerful, marriage has never been about love between men and women, but about the complementary strength of two families.
Even though Lang Jing was only a fourth-rank official, he was Feng Ke's man, so his daughter's marriage was not a simple matter.
Emperor Yongjia asked, "Who has the Lang family chosen?"
The Third Prince subconsciously looked at Concubine Qiao with an embarrassed expression, as if he didn't know what to say.
Concubine Qiao snorted, her tone still gentle as usual, but with a hint of complaint.
"When you were talking to me just now, weren't you quite good at speaking? Why are you afraid to speak now that your father is asking? So you know it's hard to help, so why are you still begging me?"
The Third Prince quickly said coquettishly, "Mother, I was entrusted with this task. Please don't blame me in front of my father."
Concubine Qiao rolled her eyes at him and said to Emperor Yongjia, "It's that Lang Yuyu I told you about last time. You said she could fall in love with anyone, but she chose Yan Xia. If it were anyone else, I could even summon the mistress of the house to the palace to complain, but that Madam Yu... well, she's just so arrogant and unreasonable."
Speaking of Lady Yu, the wife of Duke Weiguo, Emperor Yongjia also had a headache. During the New Year, all the ladies had to enter the palace. On that morning alone, Lady Yu scratched three people, scolded two people until they cried, and made another person faint from anger. That person was an old feudal lord of the same generation as her mother-in-law, who had already tortured two daughters-in-law to death, but unexpectedly, Yu would make him faint from anger. He was really fainted, not pretending.
Those ladies who were scratched, scolded and fainted by Madam Yu hated and feared Madam Yu. They did not dare to resist, so they asked the men in their families to submit a memorial to accuse Duke Weiguo of not managing his family properly. The memorial was sent to Emperor Yongjia, who had to call Duke Weiguo over to scold him. Unexpectedly, Duke Weiguo came with a face full of nail marks, which were caused by his wife's scratches!
Emperor Yongjia sighed. Yu was so cruel that the weak Concubine Qiao was of course afraid of her and didn't want to confront her. So she had to praise the Queen. Only the Queen could talk to Yu calmly.
However, no matter how cruel Yu was, she was just a woman in the harem and was not to be feared, so Emperor Yongjia did not take her to heart.
And there are more important things now.
"The Lang family has set their sights on Yan Xia? What do they want to do?" Emperor Yongjia looked solemn.
To him, the Yan family is different. They are loyal ministers who will always stand by the emperor's side.
Emperor Yongjia looked at the Third Prince with a gloomy look. He asked in a deep voice, "Is this what your father-in-law meant?"
The third prince seemed startled and fell to his knees with a thud.
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