Chapter 54 Handling the First Publication on Jinjiang
Fu Mingzi rushed back to the Fu family home, but before he could even talk to Song Yan about the sixth daughter of the Yang family, his father dragged him to the study.
"This morning at court, someone suddenly reported to His Majesty that the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince should be allowed to leave the palace and establish their own residences. You should know about this, right?" The old man spoke half-heartedly, with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.
Fu Mingzi couldn't help but sigh: "You should know in your heart." He had told his elder brother before that the Crown Prince wanted to push Zhou Xiaoyan out. With his elder brother's personality, he would definitely tell the old man. How could the old man not see through this little scheme at the morning court today?
Upon hearing this, the Duke of Jingguo couldn't help but chuckle: "The Crown Prince is quite capable, but he's too high up in the hierarchy, and he's always prone to looking down on others. I think he'll most likely stumble because of this."
Although the Duke of Jingguo's words implied that Zhou Xiaoyan was not a puppet that the Crown Prince could manipulate at will, they also strangely coincided with the Crown Prince's future cause of death: being killed by a woman whom he held in the utmost contempt. If the Crown Prince knew this in the afterlife, he would probably be filled with regret.
"Did you call me here just to say this?" After marveling at the old man's foresight, Fu Mingzi immediately got down to business.
Duke Jingguo smiled and waved his hand: "Of course I'm not talking about that. I just want to ask you what you plan to do after the Fifth Prince enters the court. Do you have any plans? Now that your father is about to retire, I can only help you for a few more days. If you have any requests, just say so."
Fu Mingzi's face darkened. He suddenly remembered what Fu Yunjia had said about his later fate. Before the old man retired, he submitted a memorial to the emperor, who arranged for him to work in the Ministry of Works.
“No need.” Fu Mingzi didn’t like the ending in Fu Yunjia’s dream, so she refused decisively: “I will go to the Fifth Prince’s residence as an advisor.”
After saying this, he looked at the old man with a half-smile and said, "Who knows, in the future, the family will still have to benefit from my influence."
Seeing his ambition, the old man couldn't help but smile, but he wasn't too surprised by his decision. He knew very well that Fu Mingzi and Zhou Xiaoyan had a very close relationship, and he had expected this outcome.
"If that's the case, then so be it. Consider it a way of giving your old man some dignity, instead of making me, at my advanced age, have to beg before His Majesty."
Fu Mingzi's smiling face darkened with a hint of unease. The Duke of Jing's words were not empty rhetoric. For a member of the Fu family to be reduced to the point where his own father had to plead for his future was a failure in itself.
Thinking back, the reason I agreed to the old man's suggestion in my dream was so that I could help Zhou Xiaoyan when he entered the court in the future.
Thinking of this, Fu Mingzi clenched his fist even tighter.
"I'm fine now, you can go back and rest." Duke Jingguo didn't notice the change in Fu Mingzi's expression and waved his hand casually.
Fu Mingzi pursed her lips, said no more, and turned to leave.
**
Once back in the courtyard, Songyan welcomed him inside, helped him change into casual clothes, served him tea, and then they sat down.
"How is the Yang family's daughter doing now?" Fu Mingzi took a sip of tea and asked thoughtfully.
Songyan was taken aback, then hurriedly said, "Miss Yang has been staying indoors these past few days, but the two ladies of the Yang family have been busy making furniture, probably preparing their dowry." As she said the last sentence, Songyan winked at Zhou Xiaoyan.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiaoyan's face darkened slightly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I've heard that the Empress Dowager's birthday is in a few days. The Yang family should be going to the palace then, right?"
Songyan calculated the time: "Probably, but it's uncertain about the Yang family's daughter. She has been keeping a close watch on things these past few days and hasn't attended any of the banquets outside."
Fu Mingzi pursed her lips: "Don't worry about that for now. Have you found the house I asked you to find before?"
When this was mentioned, Songyan's face fell. Fu Mingzi had asked him to find a small house within a hundred miles of the capital. This was not a difficult task, but Songyan was a little scared when she thought about Fu Mingzi's intentions in finding this house.
They're about to get married, but they're looking for a house at this time. Does that mean their master wants to keep a mistress?
The thought of this made Song Yan's buttocks ache. If she were discovered, she would be the first one to suffer, and might even be beaten to death by the old man and the eldest son.
"Fifth Master," Songyan grumbled hesitantly, "What...what do you need this house for? We have enough space in our mansion..."
Fu Mingzi could easily see through Song Yan's little scheme, and couldn't help but sneer: "Well, now you dare to interfere with me? You've got some nerve, kid."
Songyan hurriedly smiled obsequiously, "Fifth Master, what are you saying? How could this servant dare to interfere with you? This servant is just, just..." He mumbled something but couldn't get anything out of his mouth.
"Alright." Fu Mingzi interrupted him, "This house of mine will be of great use in the future. In a few days, the Fifth Prince will probably be granted a title and a residence. At that time, he will definitely have many official duties outside the capital. I am also afraid that when the Fifth Prince goes out, he will not have a place to stay." Fu Mingzi spoke a lie full of holes without changing his expression.
But Songyan didn't have so many ulterior motives and immediately believed it: "So that's how it is. Why didn't you say so sooner, Fifth Master?"
Fu Mingzi snorted coldly: "Do I need to report to you what I want to do?"
Songyan smiled ingratiatingly: "How could that be? I am just a servant of some rank. I only need to do what Fifth Master tells me to do. Fifth Master, I have indeed found a few houses in that town that are about to be sold these past few days, but..." He then revealed a hint of difficulty.
"Speak your mind directly, don't beat around the bush," Fu Mingzi scolded.
"Yes, yes, yes." Songyan hurriedly replied, "It's all my fault. The town isn't very big. I only thought about your urgent needs and didn't consider that His Highness the Fifth Prince might also be staying there, so I found some small houses, the largest of which is no more than one courtyard. You see..."
Fu Mingzi frowned. It was indeed a bit unfair to Yang Shi to be so young, but then she thought that she wouldn't be going there to enjoy the scenery, but to hide from people. Staying too well would also be risky.
"Why be so particular?" Fu Mingzi's expression changed immediately upon thinking of this, and she said nonchalantly, "It's just a place to rest, as long as we can find a place to stay, that's fine."
"So what do you mean?" Songyan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Just settle on the best one, get the deed as soon as possible, and also find out about the neighbors' personalities; they should be easy to get along with," Fu Mingzi began to give her a long, rambling list of instructions.
Songyan found it a bit strange. Wasn't it just a temporary break? Why was he suddenly paying attention to the neighbors' temperaments again?
However, having already been scolded by Fu Mingzi, he didn't dare to ask any more questions and could only mumble his answers.
After Fu Mingzi finished speaking, she finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Alright, you can go now. I'm going out with Li Wei for a while, so don't come with me."
Although it's not that I don't trust Songyan, he's always been a servant in the household, and the indentures of the whole family are in Wen's hands. So I can't entrust such a secret to him.
The guards around him were different. They had grown up with him since childhood and were his personal soldiers. They would never betray him.
Song Yan knew how to be discreet, and seeing that Fu Mingzi was about to go out with Li Wei, she knew it was something important that she couldn't ask about, so she didn't dare to say anything and hurriedly withdrew.
Fu Mingzi took a short break, then took out paper and pen, wrote a note, changed into some clothes for going out, and went to the front yard to call Li Wei to come out with her.
The Yang family residence and the Fu family residence are not located in the same place. As civil officials, the Yang family lives in the southwest, while the Fu family lives in the due west. Therefore, it takes some effort to get there.
However, Fu Mingzi was not in a hurry. She led Li Wei around, stopping and strolling, until the sun was almost setting. Then they arrived near the Yang residence. Fu Mingzi glanced at the front gate of the Yang family and then walked along the wall to the back. As a female member of the family, Yang Liu Miss naturally lived in the back residence.
Following the path to the west side of the back courtyard, Fu Mingzi took out the note he had written earlier from his sleeve and handed it to Li Wei: "Give this to Miss Yang Liu, but be careful not to frighten her." Li Wei had accompanied him to Huguo Temple before, so he knew Miss Yang Liu.
Li Wei didn't even flinch when he heard this. He took the note, leaped over the Yang family's courtyard wall, and jumped over it.
Fu Mingzi wasn't worried at all about Li Wei being discovered. With civil officials like the Yang family, how could they have any highly skilled guards? Li Wei could come and go freely in the Yang family, but sending a message wouldn't be a problem. It's just that he did this rather carelessly. She only hoped that Miss Yang wouldn't be angry with him.
Fu Mingzi waited until sunset before Li Wei finally emerged from the yard, clutching a note in his hand.
"I apologize for keeping you waiting. There was someone in Miss Yang's room the whole time. I waited until everyone left before I managed to deliver the letter." Li Wei said coldly, but his words were very clear.
Fu Mingzi frowned at first, then nodded: "Sixth Miss replied to me?"
Speaking of this, Li Wei's face showed a strange expression, and he said in a low voice, "Originally, I was thinking of handing over the note and leaving, but the Sixth Miss suddenly called me back, read the note, and wrote back before letting me leave."
Fu Mingzi raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. It's no wonder Li Wei found it strange; he had probably never seen such a bold young lady as Miss Yang before.
"Give it to me." Fu Mingzi reached out and took the slip of paper.
This note was much more exquisite than any random piece of paper he had picked up. It looked like the kind of stationery a young lady would use in her boudoir. And on the stationery, there were no angry words that Fu Mingzi had imagined, only a single word: "Okay".
The character "可" (ke) looks beautiful, yet it contains a strong and unyielding spirit, perfectly matching the personality of Miss Yang.
Fu Mingzi smiled. In any case, it was good that he had agreed. Some things still needed to be discussed in person.
"Let's go." Fu Mingzi tucked the letter into her sleeve, turned around, and headed towards the Fu family home.
Li Wei didn't ask any more questions and silently followed behind.
After the two walked out of the Yang residence's street, Fu Mingzi finally spoke: "How's the household registration work going?"
Li Wei pursed his lips: "It's all done."
"Okay." Fu Mingzi nodded: "Give it to me another day."
Li Wei hummed in response, his thoughts unreadable, but he remained silent.
Fu Mingzi walked ahead with a smile on his face. He believed in doing things without asking unnecessary questions, which was also why he valued Li Wei.
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