"Their information network is quite good."
Jing Zhe smiled.
Liu Jinghong, standing beside him, frowned, looked Jing Zhe up and down, and pursed her lips.
"Where did you go? Why are you only coming back now?"
"Oh dear, His Majesty went hunting and kept me waiting for quite a while. I just came out and heard from Hanhan that you were all here, so I came right away!"
Jing Zhe spoke calmly, without blushing or panting.
"Did they just come out?"
"yes!"
Jing Zhe pointed at Hanhan: "If you don't believe me, you can ask Hanhan. He's so honest, he definitely wouldn't lie to you, right?"
As she spoke, she secretly gave Hanhan a "it's up to you" look, while Liu Jinghong and Zhu Xinning also looked at Hanhan.
The honest and simple-minded man suddenly felt immense pressure.
He's lying; he definitely didn't do it.
"Don't throw it away," Jing Zhe had already instructed him, and even made him a weapon that looked like an axe but was called a hammer. Hanhan quite liked it.
After hesitating for a long time, he finally lowered his head and gave a muffled reply.
"Yes, young chieftain... is right..."
His round, flat face was suddenly as red as a monkey's bottom.
Seeing this, Jing Zhe wished he could kick him to death.
Damn it, if you've decided to lie, can't you at least make it believable? What you're doing is hardly the same as telling the truth!
Sure enough, seeing Hanhan's strange reaction, Liu Jinghong immediately asked, "But the ministers who came to deliver these gifts all arrived in the morning. They even said they saw you come out of the hunting grounds before they came. Tell me, where have you been all this time?"
At this moment, Liu Jinghong was like a detective, asking questions based on details, which made Jing Zhe break out in a cold sweat.
"Really? Perhaps you're mistaken?"
"One person might be wrong, but if everyone says the same thing, do you think it's a mistake?"
Jing Zhe wiped his sweat and didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "Fifth Sister, who are these ministers? Could you write down their names for me?"
"what are you up to?"
Liu Jinghong asked suspiciously.
"I won't do anything. They've given me so many generous gifts. I'll have to thank them properly after I take office!"
The last sentence was said through gritted teeth; if he had thanked him, he probably would have felt quite uncomfortable.
"Don't you dare do anything reckless!"
Liu Jinghong also noticed his odd behavior and, while reminding him, continued to ask, "Don't change the subject, tell me where you went!"
"this…"
Jing Zhe scratched his head and suddenly laughed, "Actually, we did come from the hunting grounds this morning, but we passed a blacksmith shop on the way. I wanted to make a handy weapon for Hanhan so that he wouldn't be unarmed when he encounters bad guys in the future, which would be too much of a problem. That's why we were delayed."
Liu Jinghong turned to look at Hanhan again.
"Is everything he said true?"
"Yes, General Jinghong! The young chieftain did indeed forge a hammer weapon for me!"
Because it's a true story and doesn't involve lying, Hanhan spoke about it with much more ease.
hammer?
weapon?
The more Liu Jinghong looked at Hanhan, the more she thought he was a fool, and continued to ask, "Where's the fool?"
"The hammer... isn't finished yet. The young chieftain explained the shape and material of the hammer to the blacksmith, who said it would take four or five days to make, so we came out."
"I can't believe it," he said honestly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Jing Zhe knew in his heart that something was wrong.
Sure enough, after he finished speaking, Liu Jinghong immediately asked, "Then you didn't spend much time at the blacksmith's shop, right? At most, it couldn't have been more than half an hour, could it?"
The simpleton kindly corrected Liu Jinghong: "No way! General Jinghong is mistaken, it's only been a quarter of an hour!"
"A quarter of an hour? You went out this morning and only stayed at the blacksmith's shop for a quarter of an hour. What happened to the rest of the time?"
"Forehead…"
Hanhan looked at Liu Jinghong, then at Jing Zhe, completely bewildered.
Suddenly, she clutched her head and cried out, "My stomach hurts!"
He dashed out in a flash.
It has to be said that only at this moment did the simpleton begin to show signs of being influenced by Jing Zhe's presence. Unfortunately, it was too late!
"Tell me, what exactly did you go to do?"
Liu Jinghong gritted her teeth. If it weren't for the presence of so many outsiders, she would have prepared to teach Jing Zhe martial arts properly again!
That bastard is too cunning!
In the short time I haven't seen him, he's gone off to meet with the garden owner in secret?
And who exactly is the owner of this garden? How dare she seduce my brother?
Don't let me catch you!
"..."
...
"Hey, these gifts from my dear nephew are quite nice!"
Just as Jing Zhe was frantically trying to find an excuse, Madam Zhu spoke up, interrupting the awkward situation.
Jing Zhe had never been so grateful to Madam Zhu. He immediately replied, "When I last visited your residence, Uncle was not home. Today is my formal visit, so I have prepared a small gift. I hope Uncle will not find it offensive!"
Zhu Tong glanced at the gift boxes. The packaging was similar to the gift boxes on the table, but upon closer inspection, he could tell that the ones he had brought were actually more exquisite.
He waved his hand and said, "Your father and I were close friends back then, which is why I call you nephew. We're family, so there's no need for such formalities. You don't need to go to such lengths next time you come!"
Jing Zhe nodded repeatedly.
Liu Jinghong was stopped by these words, and the subsequent questioning could not be carried out. She secretly calculated in her mind that she must ask him a lot of questions when she got back that night!
"Nephew, may I open these gift boxes and take a look?"
Considering that Madam Zhu had just helped him, Jing Zhe did not refuse. Pointing to the pheasants and rabbits, he said to Zhu Tong, "Uncle, these are wild game that His Majesty hunted in the hunting grounds. He rewarded me with some. Uncle, please have someone take them to the kitchen and stew them. Let's have a taste!"
Zhu Tong nodded and immediately sent someone to take it away.
At this moment, Madam Zhu had already opened the first gift box.
"Huh, it's osmanthus cake?"
Mrs. Zhu was taken aback when she saw what was in the box.
Although there are many osmanthus trees in Jingzhou, due to the terrain and climate, the osmanthus trees grow much worse than those in southern cities such as Jiangling and Ruzhou, and they are not very suitable for making osmanthus cakes. Therefore, osmanthus cakes are relatively rare in Jingzhou.
The osmanthus cake in the gift box was impeccable in both texture and shape, clearly made by a famous shop in the south, which is why Madam Zhu was curious.
Seeing this, others also gathered around.
Zhu Xinning looked at the osmanthus cake, lost in thought.
Then he smiled and asked, "Zhe'er, can you eat it?"
"Of course!"
Jing Zhe didn't think much of it, mainly because he didn't know the details and thought it was just an ordinary osmanthus cake.
"Everyone, have a taste! Second Sister, Fifth Sister, eat up!"
As he spoke, Jing Zhe took out two pieces of glutinous osmanthus cake from the box and handed them over.
Zhu Xinning took it and tasted it.
He chewed gently for a moment and uttered four words softly.
"The fragrance of osmanthus fills the air."
————
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