Chapter 32: Suzhou, Here We Come

When Jiang Jiu arrived in Sucheng, Xiao Yimo had already bought a yard in Sucheng.

It is neither big nor small, with three courtyards, and is very clean.

Xiao Yimo, Chu Yu and other girls lived in the second courtyard, while Jiang Jiu and Lu Yunyang lived in the third courtyard.

In previous years, when Lu Yunyang came to Suzhou, he always stayed in an inn. Now he insisted on living with Jiang Jiu, saying that it was to save money.

In order to allow Lu Yunyang to take her into Prince Qi's Mansion, Jiang Jiu endured it.

Nanny Qian and Xia Zhi were cleaning the house.

Xia Zhi said happily, "Young lady, you are really good at keeping Chun Xiao at home. Now Madam can no longer monitor you."

Nanny Qian smiled. It turned out that they all knew that Chunxiao was the spy left by Jiang Liu by Jiang Jiu's side. And this time when he came to Su City, Jiang Jiu only brought Nanny Qian and Xiazhi.

Jiang Liu's spy, Chun Xiao, was left in Lu's mansion, under the pretext of letting her look after Mudan and the others at home.

Jiang Jiu has already made arrangements for Lu Yunyang's family. As long as Mudan and the other concubines don't slack off, make snacks, sell vegetables and bamboo shoots, and run the Jiuwen Supermarket well, they will never have to worry about food and drink.

Everyone thought that Lu Yunyang was just bringing Jiang Jiu to Suzhou to live for a few days, but they never expected that Jiang Jiu would not go back.

And because of this move, Lu Yunyang got to know Jiang Jiu's background clearly.

In a villa outside Suzhou City, the scenery was pleasant and flowers were in clusters. Nichang was serving tea to Lu Yunyang. He was leaning lazily on the beauty couch while two women were kneeling there serving him.

The musicians next to them were playing lively music, and seven or eight dancers were dancing to the accompaniment of the music. Lu Yunyang was enjoying himself so much.

Lu Ming was reporting the investigation progress in detail.

"Ms. Jiang Jiu opened a casino in Suzhou City, and there are rouge shops on several streets. That girl also came to Suzhou City with her son. She is the head shopkeeper of the rouge shop, and her boss is still Miss Jiang Jiu."

Lu Yunyang smiled, very happily and proudly.

"Jiang Jiu, Jiang Jiu, should I call you my wife or Ninth Brother? I knew you must be hiding something from me. Sure enough, you still can't escape my grasp."

"Rouge shop, gambling house, red sleeves, all the businesses that make money, she is involved. I was wondering, she is so good at business, how could I not know about it."

Lu Ming: "Master, now that the ninth sister of Xiang County has been found, you can temporarily use her to make money for us."

Lu Yunyang waved his hand and said, "Stop right there, Nichang, go get that colorful feather robe for me."

The colorful feather clothes, as the name suggests, show sparkling colorful colors under the sunlight. The clothes are light and breathable like feathers, and the base color is pink.

The styles made of this fabric look good no matter how you wear it.

"Jiang Jiu helped us out of our urgent need. We should thank her. Lu Ming, go home."

Lu Yunyang was about to leave when suddenly, Nishang stopped him.

"Master, this dress is made of cloth given by the Queen Mother. If I give it to Miss Jiang, she is so smart that she might guess your identity..."

After Nichang's reminder, Lu Yunyang was stunned.

"Yes, this piece of cloth was a tribute from Jiangnan weaving factory in the past. It is not suitable for her to wear now..."

Lu Yunyang raised his eyebrows: "Put this dress back, Lu Ming, let's go to the best cloth shop in Su City and make her a new one..."

Compared to Xiang County, Sucheng is much larger, has more people, and is more lively. The road surface, paved with bluestone slabs, can accommodate three horse-drawn carriages at the same time.

The overall layout of the city is also very reasonable. It is surrounded by a moat, and shops and residents are intertwined. Rich people live in the north city. There are houses and shops on the east and west sides of the Prince Qi's Palace. Poor people live in the south city. Although it is a bit crowded, it is not chaotic.

Jiang Jiu's yard is in the north city, and there are shops in the east and west cities. I just came to Suzhou, a strange place, so I always have to walk around and get familiar with it.

"Sucheng is really lively, with quite a lot of people. I heard that there are no corrupt officials in Sucheng. There is a big drum in front of Prince Qi's palace. Anyone who finds that the Sucheng government is unfair or corrupt can beat the drum to complain."

Xia Zhi told Jiang Jiu all the information he had heard.

Jiang Jiu only had a slight impression of the Ninth Prince, Prince Qi: "No matter what, he is a person who is unwilling to suffer losses. Whether it is fair or not is up to the people."

When they first met, the Prince of Qi was just a child. To put it bluntly, he had escaped from the capital just like her.

The Ninth Prince was the last son of the late emperor, so naturally the emperor loved him more as the youngest son. However, he had nothing to do with the throne. After the late emperor passed away, the Ninth Prince returned directly to his fiefdom on the pretext of being frail and sickly.

The Yunmengze area in the south of the Yangtze River is an important food base for the Nanli Kingdom. Sucheng and Shenhu Town, two thousand miles to the east, are the fiefdoms of the Prince Qi's Palace.

In fact, apart from Suzhou, which is a bit prosperous, Shenhu Town in the east is basically just a few small fishing villages where farmers make a living by fishing and are extremely poor.

The Ninth Prince was able to manage Su City to be so prosperous and lively, which showed that he was a talented person. However, he was frail and sickly, and it was rumored that he would not live past the age of twenty.

Jiang Jiu felt that the rumors might not be true.

Just like Lu Yunyang, everyone said he was a playboy, but the people he made friends with were all rich young men except government officials, and he was also the boss behind Hua Man Lou.

As a second-generation rich man, he works so hard to make money, so he can't be considered a playboy.

"Did the little girl send Xiao Shitou to school?" Jiang Jiu asked.

Xia Zhi pointed to the alley in the east and said, "King Qi has opened two official schools in the east and west cities. As long as you have enough knowledge, you can go to school. Yesterday I saw Xiao Shitou reciting his lessons seriously. He said he was going to take an exam... I think he is so well-behaved, so he should be able to go."

Free is the most valuable thing. In order to improve the knowledge of local people, King Qi stipulated that children of all ages, regardless of gender, can go to school for free when they reach the age of seven.

Jiang Jiu admired this rule alone.

You know, in ancient times, preference for boys over girls was everywhere, not to mention free schools.

I heard that the teacher in the school is a retired scholar from the Hanlin Academy and a former tutor to the crown prince. If the children can get his guidance, they will definitely pass the imperial examination as long as they work hard.

The bustling coming and going of people in Suzhou also made Jiang Jiu happy.

Jiang Jiu entered a garment shop, selected two types of fabrics, and was about to pay when suddenly someone threw a bag of silver over to him.

"I paid her money."

Jiang Jiu turned her head and saw the man with a pair of slender red phoenix eyes looking at her with a smile.

"What? Girl, you don't recognize me so soon?"

Jiang Jiu was still confused, and the man suddenly smiled: "Miss, you are really a noble person who forgets things easily. On the way to Suzhou City, I was grateful for a meal from you."

Xia Zhi suddenly realized: "So, you are the beggar sleeping in the temple...you, you..."

The man was wearing brocade clothes and silk satin, and he looked completely different from the beggars in the temple.

"It is me. My last name is Gu, Gu Chengyan. I am an aide to Prince Qi's palace. I just came back from the capital that day and was very tired. That's why I acted so wildly. I'm sorry to embarrass you, young lady..."

When Jiang Jiu heard that they were from Prince Qi's Palace, his attitude changed subtly.

"It turns out to be Mr. Gu. My apologies."

Gu Chengyan laughed out loud: "It's not surprising that you didn't know. Besides, I was really hungry that day. The girl's meal came just in time. Otherwise, I would have to go back to Suzhou with an empty stomach, tired and hungry, and I would have been very tired.

Uncomfortable. "