The steward looked at him, smiled and shook his head with a firm and resolute expression. The hall was as bright as day under the lights. The two jade pendants swayed left and right in Li Hong's hands, flashing a crystal clear light.
Regardless of the material or the craftsmanship, in this age where people compare themselves to jade and love jade like crazy, even a layman knows that these two jade pendants are absolutely priceless.
"Young master, this is against the rules. I hope you will put the jade pendant back." The manager stood there and said to Li Hong who looked calm.
"That's right, put it back. It's already been given to others as a reward. There's no reason to take it back."
"My Tang Dynasty would never be like this."
"If we take this place back like this, people will laugh at us."
Li Zhi quietly looked at Li Hong and the manager on the stage. It seemed as if he had no idea what embarrassment was and he continued to watch with great interest.
Hua Menggang, who was behind him, wanted to rush forward, but was stopped by Li Zhi: "No need, these people will not harm Honger."
Li Hong looked at the steward, smiled and said, "This is really inappropriate. Your eyes have betrayed you. Let's put aside whether these two jade pendants are valuable or not, and put aside whether they are worth money or not. This is not something you can afford. I will come to support you another day, and I will definitely give you more than him." At the end, he did not forget to verbally criticize the businessman who was competing with him for wealth.
...
...
The steward still shook his head, looked at Li Hong, then looked at the young man's father who was sitting on the chair and drinking with great interest, and said lightly: "Young man, if you insist on doing this, we will not be able to do this business in the future. In the future, we will have to take back the rewards like you do, so how can we expect to make money?"
Just then, a voice rang out from the audience, saying, "How about I give money to this noble man?"
Li Hong was stunned. Could it be that he had acquaintances in Taiyi City?
Li Zhi was also stunned? This knight not only robbed the rich to help the poor, but also took care of things like rewards for brothels?
At this time, a middle-aged man about fifty years old stood up from the second row, looked at Li Hong and looked at him, and first saluted Li Hong respectfully.
As soon as he raised his body, he saw another big man, holding the chair with both hands and twisting his body to look at him. He suddenly tensed up and bowed hurriedly to Li Zhi.
Li Zhi looked at Li Hong and saw that Li Hong didn't look like he knew the person, and he didn't know him even more.
The steward looked at the man, smiling a little more, but still shook his head in embarrassment, saying, "It's not that I don't give face to Brother Dou, but the rules of Zuihonglou have never been changed by anyone, so please forgive me, Brother Dou."
Dou Yi? No wonder he would stand up for himself. This legendary businessman whose name has been recorded in history is also an absolutely generous person.
It is said that when Chang'an was building a temple, the government planned to raise money from the people, but the people were very reluctant to pay. When they were worried, they met Dou Yi who had returned from business. After hearing about this, he brought 300,000 strings of money the next day and handed it over to the government on behalf of the people.
The most legendary thing, of course, is that he saved Mi Liang, a Hu man next to him. When Mi Liang was wandering on the streets of Chang'an, it was Dou Yi who gave him a coin to help him.
In order to repay his gratitude, Mi Liang passed by a house in the West Market of Chang'an one day and found that the pillow used to beat clothes in the house was actually a piece of high-quality jade that had not been mined. So he told Dou Yi and persuaded Dou Yi to spend a huge amount of money to buy the house and get the jade. Dou Yi made a total of 140,000 strings of cash by processing and carving the jade.
Such a legendary wealthy businessman stood up to rescue Li Hong and his son at this moment, not because he was kind-hearted, but because he had participated in the Chamber of Commerce some time ago and met the Crown Prince of the current Tang Dynasty, so he stepped forward to rescue them.
Li Hong had heard of Dou Yi's name and knew the story, and he even had his eyes on the clothes-beating pillow, but later for various reasons...well, well, because he was confined to the harem by Wu Mei for half a year that year, so when he was able to leave the palace freely, the clothes-beating pillow had already been bought by Dou Yi.
So the poor prince was like a madman in those days, acting stupid and possessed by a demon whenever he saw anyone. Especially when he saw the jade pendant, he would hold it in his arms and wail in pain: 140,000, but 140,000, I just missed it in vain.
Because of the crazy behavior during those few days, Li Zhi and Wu Mei had many quarrels. It was not until about half a month later that the prince recovered as usual. However, he could not see things like jade. When he saw them, he felt heartbroken as if someone had cut off a piece of his flesh.
Seeing that the manager still disagreed, Li Hong walked up to him and asked with a smile, "When did you open this Zui Hong Lou? Who is the owner? Is it okay for me to talk to him?"
The manager smiled bitterly and shook his head, still disagreeing. In his opinion, no matter how high the status and position of this young man and his father were, they could not compare with the person behind them.
If I have to trouble the boss behind the scenes because of such a small matter, I don't need to work in Zuihonglou anymore and I'd better pack up and leave.
Dou Yi looked at the situation in front of him, and then looked at the way the prince looked at him just now. It was obvious that he knew who he was, and he also knew that he knew his identity.
But judging from the continued negotiations between His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the steward, he was obviously concerned about his status and did not want his identity to be known by everyone present.
He had already spoken, so he had to take care of the matter no matter what. So he walked quickly forward, saluted Li Hong again, and then whispered a few words in the manager's ear.
After he finished speaking, he looked at the steward, who still smiled bitterly and shook his head. The fact that they could afford to open the Zuihonglou in Taiyi City and employ so many monk slaves and Silla maids had actually shown everyone present how strong their backing was.
If someone breaks the rules, it would not only embarrass Zui Honglou, but also embarrass the big shots behind him.
Li Zhi watched impatiently as such a trivial matter was being entangled. He lost interest and stood up and said, "No matter whose property it is, let him come to me. Hong'er, let's go back."
Li Hong stood on the stage, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. It would be fine if he forced his way in like this, but if there was a scene, he would be skinned alive when he got back and his mother found out.
But seeing that his father had already moved on, he had no choice but to pick up the two jade pendants, patted Dou Yi on the shoulder, and said, "Take care of this matter, and come to me tomorrow when you are done."
After saying this, he jumped off the stage and followed Li Zhi.
As soon as he reached the door, he was surrounded by a lot of people. The person in charge also ran out. Although he didn't use any violence, his words were already a clear warning.
Dou Yi ran out awkwardly, looked at Li Hong, felt that he had failed to live up to his trust, and stood there not knowing what to do.
Things in the world are so intriguing. The more you fear something, the more likely it will come. Just when Li Zhi and Li Hong, surrounded by Hua Meng and others, were arguing fiercely with the manager and others.
Wu Mei, Bai Chun and others were also touring Taiyi City at night. Looking at the noisy crowd in front of a store, Wu Mei frowned and asked, "What's going on? Why are there so many people gathered?"
Bai Chun took a look, frowned, and said, "Maybe someone is drunk again, but don't worry, there won't be a fight in Taiyi City."
Wu Mei glanced at him again and said, "Forget it, let's not go forward, let's go back. What if His Majesty and Li Hong have already gone back..."
Wu Mei glanced over there while speaking. What a coincidence, she and Bai Chun saw a familiar figure at the same time. It was His Majesty? !
What is His Majesty doing now? His Majesty is being blocked by Yang Wu and is arguing with an ordinary citizen: "Tian Shenu, just wait, I will close your shop sooner or later, I took it away today! Let's see what you can do to me?"
"Sir, our Zuihonglou is a place where reason prevails. It is not gentlemanly to want to take back the rewards given to you!" The manager became anxious. He had never met such a person before. He wanted to take back the rewards after giving them, and his attitude was righteous, which always made people feel that he was superior and superior to them.
"Reason? How do you mean reason? If I don't want to give it to you, then I won't give it to you! Which article in the Tang Dynasty law stipulates that rewards cannot be taken back?" The emperor, who never joked and whose words were golden, had lost his mind at this time.
Li Hong felt ashamed when he heard this. After all, he was the emperor, and the law did not provide for this. But as an emperor, after giving rewards to your ministers, I never saw you ask for it back. You would be embarrassed to ask for it back, right?
But today's matter is different from what happened in the court. Moreover, the jade pendant was given by the queen mother. No matter what, it cannot be given as a reward to such a place. It can even be mortgaged to a restaurant, a hotel, or a teahouse.
But if it were to be mortgaged to such a place of entertainment, even if it was eventually returned, I'm afraid my mother would be unhappy for a long time. After all, this is a matter of great importance concerning the reputation of the royal family.
Li Hong saw that his father was getting anxious, so it was impossible for him to say that he was the prince in front of so many people. Even if he told the steward that he was the prince, he would probably be beaten and sent to the government.
Li Hong pulled Li Zhi's arm, signaling Li Zhi not to argue with him and just knock him down.
Li Hong was just about to signal Hua Meng and others to force their way in, but at this moment, suddenly the people who had surrounded them made way for a passage, and even the person in charge was looking at the end of the passage with a smile on his face.
Li Hong and Li Zhi were stunned. What happened? Their shopkeeper came?
Unfortunately, the shopkeeper didn’t come, but their savior did.
Li Zhi and Li Hong watched Bai Chun approaching slowly. Li Zhi was about to signal Bai Chun, but was stopped by Li Hong again. At the same time, he whispered in his ear, "Father, don't make a sound. We have to pretend that we don't know Bai Chun, otherwise our identities will be exposed. Also, I sense murderous intent. Mother must be here. Remember, it was you who wanted to come out, not me who brought you out. Put on the jade pendant first, so that Mother won't find out."
The two of them hurriedly began to put on the jade pendants, but they didn't know that the whole scene was seen by Wu Mei in the distance.
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