147, Young Master and Servant
147, Young Master and Servant
Their carriage passed through the city gate smoothly.
At this time, Lu Mingfei and Zhao Lang were sitting together in the carriage. To be precise, it was the young master Zhao Lang who was sitting, and he was kneeling beside him to make tea for the young master, because he was playing the role of the young master's servant today.
"Master, please have some tea." Lu Mingfei handed the brewed tea to the young master who was half leaning on the cushion.
When Zhao Lang took the tea, he glanced at Lu Mingfei and a smile flashed in his eyes.
"Hehe, Master, try the tea I... your servant brewed and see if it tastes good." Lu Mingfei remembered that he was now playing the role of a servant, so he changed his address.
"You are not a slave." Zhao Lang corrected.
"I know. I mean, we are now, you are the master and I am the servant, shouldn't I call myself a slave?" As Lu Mingfei spoke, he couldn't help but raise his hand to touch his face. His hand touched a layer of soft skin, just like the skin growing on his face.
This ancient disguise technique was truly amazing. After the person who had just disguised him pasted this layer of stuff on his face, his face was completely changed. If there were no mirror here, he would have wanted to take a good look at his face and study how this disguise technique was done.
"Stop touching it, or it will fall off." Zhao Lang grabbed Lu Mingfei's hand that was touching his face and reminded him.
"...You have a point." Lu Mingfei chuckled and then withdrew his hand, resisting the urge to touch his face.
Sitting in the carriage, they could hear the clatter of horse hooves and the sound of wheels turning outside.
Knowing that they had now successfully left the city and were probably some distance away from the city gate, Lu Mingfei dared to lift a corner of the curtain, took a peek outside, and then lowered the curtain.
After making sure there was no danger around and that no one would suddenly come and lift the curtain of their carriage, Lu Mingfei changed his posture from kneeling to sitting cross-legged. He picked up the teapot on the low table and poured himself a cup of tea. After taking a sip, he put the cup on the low table and looked at Zhao Lang and said, "I didn't expect that we would be able to leave the city so smoothly."
"Hey, if we want to leave the city in the future, isn't it easy?"
"Well, it's not difficult." Zhao Lang put the teacup in his hand on the coffee table and looked in the direction of Lu Mingfei.
Meeting Zhao Lang's gaze, Lu Mingfei seemed to see what Zhao Lang was thinking. He understood what Zhao Lang meant by "not difficult". It was not difficult to come out occasionally, but it was unlikely to leave Kyoto Prefecture completely at the moment.
He also knew Zhao Lang's situation in Kyoto Prefecture. If Zhao Lang disappeared for a long time and did not appear in public, it would definitely attract other people's attention. When the emperor in the imperial city found out, he would definitely hold Ding Wang Mansion and Zhao Lang accountable.
Over the years, the emperor has been worried about not having the opportunity to punish these princes. If Zhao Lang dares to run away, it will be the evidence for punishing Prince Ding's mansion in the hands of the emperor.
So even if Zhao Lang could get out of Kyoto Prefecture and escape, he could not leave this place.
What trapped Zhao Lang was never a city gate, but his identity as the Prince of Ding and his concern for his parents and relatives.
"Let's just take it as an occasional walk out to get some fresh air. No one can predict what will happen in the future. Maybe in the future the person in the imperial city will feel that the princes from all over the country are no longer a threat and will be willing to let you go home." Although Lu Mingfei felt that this possibility was not very high.
Over the past few years, he had lived with his family in Kyoto Prefecture and had heard all sorts of news about the feudal lords and the imperial court. Therefore, Lu Mingfei could somewhat guess that the emperor and the imperial court were definitely trying to weaken the power of the feudal lords. He was afraid that the emperor would suddenly find a reason to deal with the local feudal lords, and the local feudal lords would definitely not surrender willingly. Then, the princes who were held hostage in Kyoto Prefecture would be the ones to be sacrificed.
Therefore, Zhao Lang and other hostages left in the capital were nothing but bargaining chips for the emperor and the court to control the princes from all over the country.
Lu Mingfei also discovered something: in all the years he and Zhao Lang had known each other, he had never heard Zhao Lang mention his parents and family back in Beijun. Therefore, he could somewhat guess that the longer Zhao Lang stayed in Kyoto, the weaker the bond and affection between him and his family would become.
A few years ago, he'd heard diners at their stall talk about how Princess Ding, Zhao Lang's mother, had given birth to another son. Now, Prince Ding had more than just Zhao Lang as his legitimate son. He also had many wives, concubines, and illegitimate sons and daughters, all of whom were not beyond the reach of the Crown Prince, Zhao Lang.
The same situation was also found in many other princes.
So, to a certain extent, Lu Mingfei still sympathized with these princes who were sent to Kyoto Prefecture as hostages since childhood.
Imagine yourself being sent to Kyoto as a hostage by your family when you were young. But your parents would still have children, and you weren't the irreplaceable child of the family. You were a hostage here while your brothers enjoyed themselves at home, even snatching away your position as the crown prince. Even your parents didn't care about you that much anymore. Lu Mingfei felt that if he were one of these crown princes, he would be locked up here for too long, his heart would gradually become twisted, and he would eventually turn into a pervert who wanted to destroy the world.
He didn't know any of the other princes, only Zhao Lang. However, he found that after Zhao Lang grew up, his personality became colder, he was not very talkative, but he did not develop any antisocial personality.
At this point, he felt that this was probably because Zhao Lang's character was good in itself. If it were someone with a more paranoid personality, he would have gone astray long ago.
Although Zhao Lang had never told him about his own affairs, he knew a little bit about it in his heart. Facing Zhao Lang's gaze, Lu Mingfei knew that his words did not comfort Zhao Lang, and he touched his nose in embarrassment.
"You're right. No one can predict what will happen in the future." Zhao Lang held Lu Mingfei's hand that was touching his nose, and there was a little more determination in his eyes when he looked at Lu Mingfei.
Seeing the light in Zhao Lang's eyes, Lu Mingfei knew that Zhao Lang had not bowed to fate. He smiled and encouraged Zhao Lang: "That's right, our life has not yet begun, and there is still a long way to go in the future. Let's plan step by step, take our time, and don't rush."
"Yeah." Zhao Lang nodded, and felt a little more expectant about the life that Lu Mingfei talked about.
Their carriage was on the road, followed by four mounted guards.
When leaving the city today, Zhao Lang did not bring too many guards with him in public for fear of attracting the attention of the soldiers guarding the city. However, there were some secret guards with disguised faces following behind him.
***
After they left Kyoto Prefecture, they walked a long way.
It was not until their carriage turned into a small road that Lu Mingfei pulled open the curtain and looked out. Seeing the fence not far away, he was surprised to find that the place Zhao Lang brought him to was right next to the land they had bought.
"I came here with my parents a few days ago. Look over there, the area enclosed by the fence is the land our family bought." Lu Mingfei pointed to the fence in front and turned back to tell Zhao Lang.
Zhao Lang sat up straight and looked in the direction Lu Mingfei pointed, and saw a wall surrounded by a fence.
This place is very far away from Kyoto Prefecture. It is hot in summer and the carriage is a bit stuffy. Lu Mingfei simply hung up the curtains to let the outside wind blow into the carriage, and they can also see the scenery outside through the windows.
Just as he was passing by his own land, he sat cross-legged in front of Zhao Lang and told him that they had fenced off their land and raised many livestock there, and that they were planning to set up a workshop there.
When Zhao Lang heard Lu Mingfei say that he wanted to use duck feathers to make clothes, he asked in confusion, "Can duck feathers be used to make clothes?"
"Yes, clothes filled with duck down are warmer than clothes filled with cotton. And there is goose down, which is actually warmer than duck down. But there are fewer people raising geese, so it is not so easy to collect goose down. We also raise a few geese here, and we plan to raise those geese to lay eggs, hatch eggs, and raise goslings." Later, Lu Mingfei talked about the functions and benefits of duck down and goose down in keeping warm.
When Zhao Lang heard Lu Mingfei's words, an idea flashed through his mind, but he didn't ask it out loud.
Their carriage drove straight into a large house, and the two men got out of the carriage.
"Your servant greets the master." The steward who received the news came and hurried over to pay his respects when he saw their master getting off the carriage.
"Get up." Zhao Lang glanced at the person who came and signaled him to take them in to take a look.
"Yes, master, please follow me." The steward made a gesture of invitation, letting the master walk in front, and he followed half a step behind at the side of the master.
Zhao Lang turned his head slightly and motioned Lu Mingfei to follow before he stepped inside.
Lu Mingfei lagged behind Zhao Lang half a step, walking on the other side. It was his first time in this place, so as he followed Zhao Lang, he looked around curiously.
The accompanying guards followed behind them and the group went inside.
Before they reached the backyard, they heard the sound of tinkling and knocking.
When they walked in, they saw many stoves built outside the corridor, and many shirtless masters were hammering iron here.
Walking further in, I saw some carpenters working here.
Seeing them come in, the working masters stopped what they were doing and countless pairs of eyes looked at them.
"Everyone, continue working." The steward gestured for the masters to continue working, then turned back to ask their master: "Master, how about I call a master over? You can ask him if you have any questions."
"Yeah." Zhao Lang glanced at Lu Mingfei, and when his gaze returned to the steward, he nodded. Author's words: Thank you Bole 9492239 (9492239) for your support, mua! To know more exciting content, please leave me a message on Liancheng Reading.
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