Chapter 111 Six-Fingered Cannibal
The maid paused as she was leaving.
You said if it’s recorded in the palace’s account, then it should be recorded in the palace’s account?
The Ninth Prince has his own account book. Even if you agree, the Emperor may not agree.
The maid didn't dare to refute and just went to do it obediently.
In less than an hour, the best red charcoal was delivered.
But Jiang Jiu didn't expect that the person being escorted was actually the Sixth Prince Zhao Zhuoran.
At that time, Jiang Jiu was in the room, painting with Zhao Zhuoxi, and Zhao Zhuoxi insisted on painting a portrait of Jiang Jiu.
Jiang Jiu was lying on the imperial concubine chair, with a lazy posture and exquisite figure. She was only covered with a layer of white gauze, and her slender body was faintly visible, which was extremely beautiful.
"Your Majesty, Prince Ling has arrived."
Prince Ling is the title of the Sixth Prince Zhao Zhuoran. His fiefdom is not bad. Jinling and Yangzhou are both his fiefdoms, but he has always lived in the capital.
Upon hearing that there were outsiders, Jiang Jiu was so scared that she nearly fell off the imperial concubine's couch. She quickly ran inside and was dressed properly with the help of the maid.
Zhao Zhuoxi chuckled and covered the unfinished painting with a cloth.
"Why is Sixth Brother here?"
Zhao Zhuoran walked in, stood for a moment, smiled, and then walked out of the house.
He understood that it was difficult to enter other people's rooms.
"The day after tomorrow, there will be a plum blossom viewing banquet at the Left Prime Minister's residence. I'm here to ask if my ninth brother is interested."
Plum blossom viewing party?
unimportant.
The important thing is that the banquet was organized by the left prime minister Chang Mingyuan and his wife, Mrs. Chang.
Madam Chang, the cousin of Queen Zhou, and a woman from the royal uncle's family.
Zhao Zhuoxi thought about it for a moment and nodded: "Okay, I haven't been back to the capital for many years. It's a good opportunity to have some fun. But I'm not in good health, so I may not be able to stay for long."
The Sixth Prince Zhao Zhuoxi smiled slightly: "It's okay, I didn't want to stay too long anyway."
"You know, the main purpose of the banquets held by the Left Prime Minister's Mansion and other families is to arrange blind dates. Either the East family likes the West family, or the West family likes the East family. My ninth brother is old enough, but he has not yet married. My brother and sister-in-law are very worried."
Zhao Zhuoxi also laughed and said, "It seems that Sixth Brother has participated quite a few times and has become a regular."
The emperor's two brothers have never been married. They have no parents to look after them, and he is busy all day long, so it is difficult to manage them.
Since the eldest brother had married his father, he asked Empress Zhou to find a way to find a marriage for the Sixth Prince.
The Sixth Prince's marriage is indeed difficult to arrange.
The powerful families in the capital all wanted to marry their daughters to the emperor or the prince, or to marry each other.
People without real power would rather marry someone with real power.
No one would really look up to a lazy prince like the Sixth Prince, unless his family was a noble one and did not like to associate with other people.
But the Sixth Prince is the Emperor's younger brother and has a high status. If noble families were to seek marriage with him, they would be branded as flatterers.
In addition, the Sixth Prince himself was picky, and as a result, his marriage was really delayed.
Later, Queen Zhou organized several more banquets, but the Sixth Prince didn't want to go.
However, this banquet was very popular among other officials, so almost every month there were two or three noble families who held various banquets under various pretexts.
In fact, all the socializing in the capital city takes place in the back house.
After Zhao Zhuoran told Zhao Zhuoxi about this, he left.
Zhao Zhuoxi originally wanted to invite him to stay for dinner, but seeing that he left so quickly, he didn't call him.
Jiang Jiu packed up and came out, looking at Zhao Zhuoran's tall back and counting with his fingers.
"He's already in his thirties. At his age, he's almost a grandfather. Why hasn't he started a family yet?"
Zhao Zhuoxi touched his chin and said, "Who knows? I remember that when I was in the capital, when my father was still alive, he seemed to have been arranged to marry someone, but it didn't work out..."
As for why it didn't work, Zhao Zhuoxi didn't know.
Jiang Jiu glanced at the invitation in Zhao Zhuoxi's hand: "Left Prime Minister? Chang family?"
The Chang family has two unmarried girls, one is Mrs. Chang's legitimate daughter, and the other is the daughter of concubine Mei. Now there is another one, but this daughter's conditions are not very good, she is a widow.
Precisely because one of her daughters was a widow, Mrs. Chang invited many people this time. Usually they were court officials above the third rank, but this time she invited several below the third rank, and even a few military officers who had lost their wives.
Everyone knew it tacitly and unspokenly that the purpose was to choose sons-in-law for the three daughters.
The Sixth Prince was a frequent visitor, but this time, the Ninth Prince, who frequently visited the capital, was also invited.
As the Ninth Prince's maid, Jiang Jiu naturally followed the Ninth Prince.
They showed up late. Almost everyone had arrived, and the Ninth Prince only showed up when the banquet was about to start.
There are rumors in the capital that the ninth prince, Zhao Zhuoxi, is weak, lustful and greedy, has countless concubines at home, and is a dying waste.
But... today...
The luxurious carriage stopped in front of Chang Mingyuan's house. When everyone saw the passenger, they consciously made way for it.
The curtain opened, and a stunningly beautiful young man wearing a purple sable cloak, a golden crown for black hair, a dark purple embroidered robe, and a golden python belt around his waist slowly walked down from the carriage.
The bright peach blossom eyes seemed to be smiling as they scanned everyone, with a smile on her face but a look of arrogance and indifference.
With her delicate facial features and thin lips, the girls in the crowd immediately blushed and gasped.
"Is this the Ninth Prince, Prince Qi? I only heard that he was weak, but I didn't expect him to be so handsome."
"Everyone says that the Sixth Prince is the most handsome man in the capital. After all, the Sixth Prince is old, and the Ninth Prince is outdone in no time."
The Ninth Prince slowly straightened his cloak and stood up straight. He had a natural air of nobility and looked down upon everyone. His amorous peach blossom eyes were extremely aggressive and made people dare not look directly at him.
Just go to that station, there is
A kind of majestic air of dominating the world.
As soon as Chang Mingyuan saw his carriage, he hurried over and saw him get off the carriage, lead the crowd, and kneel down.
"Your servant Chang Mingyuan has met His Majesty the King of Qi. May the King of Qi live a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand thousand years."
Don’t underestimate Zhao Zhuoxi because he is young. He was personally conferred the title of Prince Qizhu by the late emperor.
The Crown Prince was only seven pearls, but his status was comparable to that of the Crown Prince. This was the reason why he competed with the Emperor for the throne after the previous Emperor passed away.
This was also the reason why he had been secretly assassinated by Queen Zhou for more than ten years.
After all, the emperor was the eldest son and had a son, and he was only seven years old at the time.
The Zhou family behind the emperor did their utmost to help him ascend the throne, but he only had the late emperor to rely on.
If he had not claimed to be sick or shown weakness and had simply run away, he would probably have lost his life.
Jiang Jiu, who was following behind him, did not realize until this moment that Zhao Zhuoxi's identity was so noble.
Although it seemed incredible to Jiang Jiu to see so many people kneeling down, this feeling was really refreshing.
Zhao Zhuoxi raised the corners of his lips and opened his lips slightly: "No need."
Chang Mingyuan waited for the others to express their gratitude before he dared to stand up, but he was still afraid to straighten his body.
"I heard that the prince was coming. I am so honored to be here. I learned that the prince was not feeling well, so I specially prepared the warm room. Your Highness, please come in."
Zhao Zhuoxi smiled with satisfaction: "Is Sixth Brother here? If he hadn't come to the mansion in person to invite me, I would have been too lazy to come."
The implication was that if Zhao Zhuoran hadn't asked him to come, he wouldn't have come.
Chang Mingyuan quickly replied, "Prince Ling has arrived and is waiting for you in the warm room."