Chapter 79 Extravagance
The ship is moored at the shore.
Zhuang Dongqing: "Wow."
Cen An'an: "Wow—"
Cen Yan: "..."
Cen Yan looked at Zhuang Dongqing, who pointed to a row of neatly dressed officials below the boat and said seriously, "Never seen them before."
It's not that there's no chance to meet. Cen Yan's reputation wasn't used like this when he was in the capital. Besides, there are many officials in the capital. Even if they were to welcome him, it wouldn't be necessary for all the officials in an office to line up and greet him.
Yes, judging from the style of the official robes and the number of people, Zhuang Dongqing felt that those standing on the shore were probably all the officials, big and small, from Hangzhou.
Cen Yan then looked at Cen An.
The chubby little dumpling snuggled close to Zhuang Dongqing, "Daddy's here~"
"An'an wants one too."
Got it, the main focus is on creating a wow atmosphere.
Cen Yan chuckled and pinched Cen An'an's little cheek, and then Liu Qi came in.
"The Sixth Prince came to ask if we should put two boats together and have the Prince lead the way down together."
Li Yang, who had never seen such a scene before, was also a little flustered, even though he had always been a hands-on worker.
Cen Yan thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay, go and make the arrangements. It's fine to dock later. Just get the planks set up so people can get across."
They must have thought that Li Yang also needed to discuss things with others, so they left some time to go ashore and discuss countermeasures.
Cen Yan's prediction was correct. Just as the plank was set up, Li Yang and his third brother Li Zhuo came to the boat. Li Yang really had no idea what to do, and Li Zhuo seemed to be just there to join in the fun.
Cen Yan: "What are your thoughts, Third Prince?"
Li Zhuo: "The salt inspection has always been handled by the Prince and my sixth brother. Just follow your usual practice."
Cen Yan paused for a moment. Li Zhuo declined, but he didn't tolerate Li Zhuo's evasive tactics. He quickly proposed a plan, which Li Yang agreed to.
Li Zhuo noticed something, but only observed it from the side. Cen Yan knew about it, but didn't care.
So they reached the shore, and Cen Yan carried Cen An'an off the boat. Li Yang followed closely behind, while Li Zhuo lagged behind, finally having a little time to talk to Zhuang Dongqing.
Of course, despite having a wild imagination, Zhuang Dongqing didn't guess any of them correctly, but she felt... quite satisfied.
Hopefully, Dasheng will have more people with brains like Li Zhuo, so he can stay hidden for as long as possible.
It has to be said that Cen Yan's move was brilliant. At noon, he carried the drowsy Cen An'an off the boat. Cen An'an kept rubbing her eyes. After greeting the officials, Cen Yan used the excuse that the young prince was too young to withstand the fatigue, and led the group of people from the Prince's Mansion, leaving Li Yang and Li Zhuo behind, and returned to their residence in Hangzhou halfway.
This house is quite large.
But it's not as good as the one in Suzhou.
The mansion in Suzhou was built with more care, exuding a grand and quiet atmosphere amidst the hustle and bustle, a rare find. The one in Hangzhou, on the other hand, is more like a royal palace in the capital, clearly inhabited by nobles, and is very proper and orderly.
But even after moving to a different house, Zhuang Dongqing remained curious, especially with the addition of a little kid.
So while everyone was tidying up, the two of them ran around the house like crazy. And... the two of them didn't go in the same direction, so they would often see one but not the other. Zhuang Dongqing was okay, but her energy was limited. The little one was so small. Everyone was not familiar with the house, so they would soon "lose" the little one in various places, within sight. But after shouting around, they would find that Cen An'an was actually very well-behaved and had not gone far at all.
Why didn't you answer when I called out?
Oh, it's Cen An'an, who's engrossed in new things. It's perfectly normal that she can't hear you.
At the end of the day, Zhuang Dongqing had a great time, while Liufu and Grandma were exhausted.
But the day after they settled in, the Hangzhou officials invited them again, saying they wanted to host a welcome dinner for the imperial envoys. They had received the invitations that morning and knew that Cen Yan cared for the crown prince. They even thoughtfully arranged to only take up one meal time, avoiding all of Cen Yan's excuses.
Cen Yan read the post, raised his eyebrows, and found it somewhat interesting.
With such enthusiasm, I naturally have to go.
For no other reason than that the people he wanted to deal with were among this group of upright and powerful officials, there was no reason not to go.
However, Cen Yan underestimated the various bribery methods employed by officials.
The post was split into several places, and the way they were "treated" varied from place to place.
They dared not act recklessly towards him.
but,
Liu Qi, dripping with sweat, walked to Cen Yan's side and whispered, "Master, um, cough, the Sixth Prince was led onto the pleasure boat by them."
Cen Yan raised an eyebrow: "Li Yang has this hobby?"
As far as he knew, the pleasure boats floating on West Lake today were not engaged in any respectable business; they were all used to keep young women for the amusement of high-ranking officials and nobles.
Liu Qi wiped his sweat again. "Master, well, the young master just went to talk to the Sixth Prince."
"?"
Cen Yan's smile faded: "They brought Zhuang Dongqing up with them."
No, not only that.
"What's the meaning?"
"Whether you stick your neck out or not, you're still going to get hurt," Liu Qi thought to himself, then closed his eyes and said, "As you know, the young master definitely didn't want the sixth prince to go to these places, so he refused on the sixth prince's behalf."
"That's right, the way you refused wasn't quite right."
"for example?"
Cen Yan's face turned cold. He didn't think Zhuang Dongqing couldn't say anything. On the contrary, as his beloved, there was nothing Zhuang Dongqing couldn't say.
Liu Qi could tell at a glance that Cen Yan had misunderstood.
But he couldn't care less about that and said in one breath, "When Liu Fu came back to report, the young master probably wanted to refuse more thoroughly. He said, 'The Sixth Prince is not fond of women.' I didn't expect that they would pick up on that."
"It is said that not all the 'skinny horses' are young girls; there are also handsome young men among them. We sincerely invite the Sixth Prince to board the ship and find out for himself."
Cen Yan was taken aback.
Liu Qi, seemingly undeterred by death, said, "I guess they wanted to see how far they could win him over with extravagance. The Sixth Prince... he agreed."
Cen Yan: "..."
Cen Yan sorted things out: "So, Qingqing was taken along by that idiot? And there was a whole boatload of handsome, skinny horses on board?"
Liu Qi nodded in despair, never imagining that Hangzhou's industries were so developed.
For a long while, Cen Yan remained silent.
Of course, it would be even better if Liu Qi couldn't read Cen Yan's expression or hear the quiet grinding of his teeth.
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