The King of Qi smiled gently, seemingly unaffected by the cold gaze of Marquis Gu.
"I overheard you asking that storyteller outside. What's so hard to guess?"
Gu Jinghui didn't believe it.
"I only asked him to say that Duan Guan Yu was reading the Spring and Autumn Annals at night, and you found out?"
King Qi raised his chin and laughed, "Of course there's a reason for this. Do you want to know? If you do, why don't you buy me a couple of drinks, and I'll tell you slowly."
Lord Gu looked at Prince Qi warily and said coldly, "What wicked scheme are you plotting now?"
The chief secretary of the Prince's residence, who was accompanying the Prince of Qi, said unhappily, "How can you speak like that, Lord Gu? Our Prince meant well."
Lord Gu chuckled lightly and ignored him.
The chief secretary of the Prince's residence had a dark expression on his face.
King Qi pretended not to see the chief secretary's embarrassment and chuckled, "Gu Jinghui, what's wrong? After all these years, you don't even dare to speak to me anymore?"
"Why would I be afraid of you?" Gu Jinghui retorted sarcastically. "Even if you, you black-hearted sesame dumpling, have eight hundred more schemes in your mind, I'm not afraid of you anymore. I'm not the same as before."
King Qi said, "That's good. I didn't bring any money with me when I went out, so the money for this meal and wine is taken care of."
He waved his hand, and the chief clerk quickly called out to the waiter.
"A pot of sparrow tongue tea, lotus flower steamed buns, eight-treasure duck..."
Before I knew it, we had ordered more than a dozen dishes.
Gu Jinghui said unhappily, "Why are you eating so much?"
Why put on airs in the theater instead of at the Prince Qi's mansion? What were you thinking?
"You're being too extravagant. In the north, I only had two dishes per meal. When I returned to the capital, I gave the leftovers to the maids and servants."
The reward from his concubine is the same as the reward from him, no problem.
"If I can't finish it, I'll give it to the beggar outside. See that one standing outside the shop looking into it?"
As he spoke, King Qi vaguely pointed out the window and downstairs.
Gu Jinghui remained silent with a dark expression.
King Qi said casually, "Why are you so upset about eating this little bit of your food? Our relationship isn't that bad. You know what happened to Qingyun back then, and it wasn't my fault..."
Before he could finish speaking, Gu Jinghui tossed a silver ingot onto the table and got up to leave.
King Qi was not in a hurry. He played with the jade pendant at his waist and said, "Guan Yu was reading the Spring and Autumn Annals at night. Cao Cao wanted to test Guan Yu's loyalty to Liu Bei. Do you know why?"
Gu Jinghui stopped in his tracks.
King Qi nodded down with his chin and said, "How could a storyteller be as good at reading people as I am? Let me guess, instead of staying home with your newlywed wife, you came to the entertainment district to listen to a storyteller. Is someone implying something to you? Qin Jijiu is the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. We don't need to delve into how much real talent he has, but he certainly has the reputation of being a pillar of the literati. You've encountered such a family of in-laws, how could you possibly know the deeper meaning behind their few words?"
Gu Jinghui sat down and said in a low voice, "The Qin family is very good, you shouldn't talk like that."
King Qi's eyes flickered slightly, and a smile appeared on his face. He asked, "Don't you mind that the Qin family is exchanging a concubine for a legitimate son?"
Gu Jinghui stood up again and said, "If you want to talk about your sister-in-law like that, then don't. And don't come to me with these irrelevant things in the future. I don't like to hear them."
King Qi quickly stood up, grabbed his arm, and said, "Since you still acknowledge me as your brother, why don't you speak properly?"
"What else is there for us to say?"
King Qi looked directly into his eyes and saw that his sharp and handsome face was already tinged with agitation. He patiently said, "Third brother, I used to call you third brother when we were young. I'm only saying this because I feel indignant on your behalf. I'm not happy to see the Qin family do such a thing."
Gu Jinghui sighed and said, "Things are different now. Mind your own business, my wife..."
He paused, withdrew his hand, and said, "I'm very satisfied. I wouldn't have liked the original one."
King Qi paused for a moment, and seeing that he was about to leave again, he immediately said, "But I didn't lie to Third Brother just now. The Qin family seems to have some dissatisfaction with you, otherwise why would they tell this story?"
Gu Jinghui was stunned.
King Qi smirked triumphantly and said, "Third brother, sit down and let me explain things to you properly."
...
Wutong Garden.
Hongye said, "Didn't Miss ask me to supervise the tea room? The old women in the tea room know so much. I'm afraid there's nothing in this mansion that can be kept from them. A couple of days ago, when I tried to talk to them, they were still hiding things. Now that they've seen how capable Miss is, I can hear news from every old woman I bump into when I go out for a stroll."
Cui Ming couldn't help but chuckle softly.
Qin Yuan also smiled.
Hongye asked, puzzled, "What are you laughing at?"
Cui Ming smiled and said, "The way you were just now, you looked exactly like a petty person who had gotten his way."
Hongye was both annoyed and amused, so she went to tear open Cuiming's mouth.
Qin Yuan suppressed a laugh and changed the subject, casually saying, "To be honest, Sixth Master is quite the ladies' man. He's only had Concubine Zheng for a few months, and he's already set his sights on someone else. Concubine Zheng must be quite expensive; Sixth Master can't afford her with his monthly allowance."
Master Gu has no official duties, and the monthly allowance from the Marquis's mansion is probably not enough to go out and compose poetry and drink.
In his previous life, Lin Ziqi wanted to make friends through poetry, but the cost of forming a society was too high, so he could only participate occasionally. It wasn't until after he married her that he began to frequently form societies with others.
The scholars in the poetry society were a mixed bag, including all sorts of people.
There were those like Master Gu, who enjoyed discussing romance and feigned refinement; there were also those with genuine talent and eloquent speech; and there were even those who acted as brokers...
Of course, some people also gain favor with influential people because of their talent, which saves them a lot of trouble and setbacks on their path to fame and success.
Judging by the days, it's about time for Lin Ziqi to meet his benefactor from his past life.
In this life, without her to polish his writing, I don't know what will become of him.
Qin Yuan idly twirled the round fan in her hand, glancing at the golden cicada embroidered on the fan surface. The contrasting shades of the same color silk threads, with just a few strokes, captured the delicate and translucent feel of the cicada's wings.
"Her skill was as thin as a cicada's wing," Qin Yuan suddenly thought of this phrase.
What she did for Lin Ziqi in her previous life was probably considered so frivolous and insignificant in Lin Ziqi's eyes, or even as trivial as it should be.
now……
Qin Yuan smiled slightly, came back to her senses, and listened carefully to what Hongye was saying.
"With Madam Six making money, does Master Six ever worry about not having enough to spend?" Hongye said smugly. "Those old women say that every time Master Six wants to take a concubine, he makes a scene with Madam Six, and in the end, Madam Six always gives in. Would Madam Six really use her own dowry to help Master Six take a concubine?"
Cui Ming was stunned.
Qin Yuan said, "Even a small sewing shop with meager profits has tampered with things, so you can imagine it."
The Sixth Madam had no old grudges against her; her repeated sabotage was merely for the sake of managing the household affairs.
If the Sixth Madam cannot benefit from managing the household affairs, why should she do this?
He traveled thousands of miles to become an official, all for the sake of wealth.
All the Sixth Madam was doing was trying to make money.
"Sixth Madam is busy making money, while Sixth Master is busy squandering it. This couple is really..." Cuiming stopped talking.
As a servant, it is always taboo to criticize one's master.
Hongye didn't have so many reservations and said, "This time, Sixth Master really went all out to make trouble with Sixth Madam. I don't know what they argued about, but Sixth Madam scratched Sixth Master's face so many times that it was covered in bloody marks."
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