"Reporting to Master, Young Master Du said he was grateful and would like to travel with us." After Su Peisheng ran to tell Young Master Du, he heard that it was an invitation for him to travel together, and naturally did not want to disappoint the kindness, so he agreed.
"Well, Si Hua and Shui Ling, would it be convenient for you to share a carriage with a strange man?" Lan Qin asked.
The two maids looked at each other, not wanting to refuse, so they could only say yes. Luckily, it wasn't just one maid; two people were acceptable, so it wasn't a situation of a lone man and woman.
After everyone came out of the porridge shop, Young Master Du walked up to Fourth Master and Lanqin, cupped his hands and said, "Thank you for the invitation, Brother Ai. I will waive the cost of renting the carriage and horses."
Fourth Master could only reply, "It's nothing to mention. It's a cause for celebration that Young Master Du passed the imperial examination this year. Why don't we go sit in the carriage over there and chat about today's autumn examination?"
Lanqin smiled and said, "Sihua, Shuiling, you two come with me in the big carriage!"
And so, Fourth Master and Young Master Du sat together in the carriage behind. Lanqin, on the other hand, pulled two maids and sat in the large carriage in front.
“Master, at first the master couldn’t stand that young master Du no matter what, but now he’s sitting in the same carriage as him,” Si Hua said.
“Shui Ling, can’t you see that? Our master doesn’t like our master having any contact with other men,” Si Hua said.
"You two maids, it seems we've spoiled you too much. How dare you make fun of your mistress?" Lanqin raised her hand, as if to hit them.
"Please forgive us, Master. We'll never dare to do it again," Shui Ling said with a smile.
"Well, I'll let you off this time!" Lan Qin said. "For some reason, the first time I saw this Young Master Du, I felt that he was no ordinary person, and sure enough, he passed the exam."
Si Hua and Shui Ling, unaware of Lan Qin's thoughts, assumed she had taken a liking to that Young Master Du. Startled, they hurriedly advised, "Consort, such words can only be spoken to us servants. Please do not say them to the master."
Seeing the two maids' terrified expressions, Lanqin knew what they were thinking and immediately said, "Listen to me, you two! This concubine is recruiting useful talents for the prince. Do you understand? It's not what you think. Besides, my prince is mighty, brave, and holds a high position. Would I be crazy enough to abandon him for someone else? Hmm?"
Si Hua and Shui Ling both nodded and said in unison, "Yes, it's impossible for a concubine to be interested in anyone else. No one in our Prince can compare!"
Pfft!
A muffled laugh came from outside the car; it sounded like Su Peisheng's.
Lanqin felt a bead of sweat trickle down her forehead. She had absolutely no privacy; even the Fourth Prince's personal eunuch could eavesdrop on her!
Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Fourth Master and that Young Master Du had already argued three times about the issue of land throughout the country. Su Peisheng, who had been riding alongside their carriage, was startled by the commotion and ran to Lanqin's carriage. Naturally, he also overheard Lanqin's confession to Fourth Master!
"Consort, the master is coming back. Please ask Miss Sihua and Miss Shuiling to go back to the carriage over there!" Su Peisheng said to Lanqin in the carriage.
"I understand." Upon hearing Su Peisheng's words, Lanqin dismissed the two maids and instructed them not to be disrespectful or disrespectful to Young Master Du.
After the two carriages stopped, the Fourth Master returned with a dark expression. The two maids had already gotten out of the carriage and served the Fourth Master before going into the other carriage.
When Lanqin saw that Fourth Master had a dark face, she knew that he had had another unpleasant encounter with that young master surnamed Du, so she quickly said, "Master, are you thirsty? Have a cup of hot tea!"
After Fourth Master was seated, he took the tea Lanqin offered and said, "This Young Master Du is simply... simply..."
Seeing that Fourth Master was so angry he could barely speak, Lanqin quickly asked, "Master, what's wrong with him?"
"He dares to say that the current land management system is a complete mess. Haha, if it were anyone else, they would have arrested him long ago. Would they have let him take up his post? How could they have chosen such a person!" Fourth Master said angrily.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin realized it was about land. Based on her understanding of the land system during the Kangxi era from historical documents, she learned that the relationship between peasants and landlords had become very tense in the later years of Kangxi's reign. Therefore, after Yongzheng ascended the throne, he implemented the "equalization of land tax and poll tax" policy.
"Master, he's a scholar who just passed the imperial examination and is about to take up his post. Naturally, he doesn't understand politics. Do these scholars think that the world is just a matter of theoretical discussion?" Lanqin quickly comforted him.
Upon hearing this, Fourth Master's expression immediately softened. He knew this young woman understood him, and was far better than the arrogant Young Master Du from before.
“But Master, Young Master Du comes from a humble background. He is a writer for scholars from poor families. By interacting with him, you can understand what those insightful people in the lower classes are thinking. Master, you are destined for great things, so winning over scholars from all over the world is essential. In this respect, Eighth Master is better than you,” Lanqin said.
As he spoke, the way Fourth Master looked at Lanqin changed, as if he were looking at a rare treasure.
"Master, why are you looking at me like that?" Lanqin noticed that the Fourth Master's gaze was a little strange.
"I've discovered that my concubine is truly my best strategist," said the Fourth Prince.
Lanqin smiled and said, "Your Majesty, the first purpose of this trip is to find virtuous men for Father Emperor, and the second is to let Your Majesty see what problems still exist in this world. Your Majesty is determined to govern well, so you need to understand the people's conditions."
Fourth Master nodded and pulled Lanqin into his arms. Every word this little woman said pleased him.
From then on, along the way, Fourth Master would occasionally chat with Du Zhiqian about various issues. Du Zhiqian didn't know Fourth Master and Lanqin's identities, but he could tell that Su Peisheng was different from ordinary people, and he roughly knew that Fourth Master's identity must be extremely noble.
"Ladies, I have a question I'd like to ask you." Du Zhiqian finally decided to inquire about the Fourth Master's identity from Si Hua and Shui Ling.
"Young Master Du, please feel free to ask anything you wish to ask." Si Hua had a good impression of Du Zhiqian, and when she heard him ask this, she lowered her head and blushed.
Shui Ling had long noticed that Si Hua had a bit of an affection for this Young Master Du, and she smiled from the side.
"Looking at Brother Su, he seems... seems to be a eunuch?" Du Zhiqian said somewhat embarrassedly.
Si Hua and Shui Ling exchanged a glance and could only nod. Lan Qin had told them not to reveal their identities, but Su Peisheng was clearly not a normal man, okay! There was no way to hide it anymore!
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