The two men sat down in Wu Mei's palace. Lian Tie respectfully placed the tea in a convenient place for Li Zhi, and then served tea to Wu Mei.
Li Zhi took the small wooden box on the table, the same one that Li Hong gave him, opened it and took out the crystal plate inside. The phoenix on it was graceful and vivid, and the azure blue flame was faintly flowing and dancing on the surface of the phoenix, which made people love it at first sight.
Li Zhi looked at the six-curved silver plate with a gilded phoenix pattern on the table at the side and couldn't help but sigh and said, "Things in this world are afraid of comparison. Look, the auspicious thing that Hong'er gave you is very different from the phoenix on the gilded phoenix pattern. It's rare that he has such filial piety and knows to give this good thing to you."
Wu Mei also looked at the crystal phoenix card in Li Zhi's hand and said, "Yes, I was really shocked when I opened it last night. I don't know how he got such a beautiful thing. It looks even better under the light. I put it next to my pillow when I slept last night."
"Then why doesn't the Queen wear it like me? Are you reluctant to part with it?" Li Zhi asked as he handed the Phoenix pendant to Wu Mei with a smile.
Wu Mei took it and stroked the phoenix pattern on it, saying lovingly, "It's too precious. Think about the exquisite tower he broke in Linhu Palace that day. No wonder Hong'er didn't like it. But... why did he know about such a crystal clear treasure?"
"Isn't it often rumored in the palace that Hong'er is the god of literature? Regardless of why he knows this, I'm afraid he won't tell you the truth even if you ask him." Li Zhi said as he admired the crystal dragon badge on his waist. He pretended to remember something important and blurted out, "Oh, right, I almost forgot something important."
As soon as Wu Mei saw Li Zhi's innocent and pretending-to-be-serious expression, alarm bells immediately rang in her heart. She hadn't seen this expression for nearly a month, but whenever this expression appeared, the next words would definitely be related to Li Hong, and nine times out of ten he would be pleading for Li Hong.
Wu Mei's charming face, as if bathed in the spring breeze, suddenly became expressionless. Her jade-white brows were filled with black lines. She stared at Li Zhi beside her without saying a word. She wanted to see what trouble Li Hong could make when he was not in the palace.
...
...
Li Zhi felt a little uncomfortable with Wu Mei's silent but angry gaze. He twisted his body and asked unconfidently, "Why is the queen staring at me like that?"
"Tell me, Your Majesty, I can bear it. I have been beaten and tortured by you and your son in the past few years. Tell me, what happened to that naughty boy?" Wu Mei clenched her fists tightly, and all she could see was Li Hong's smirk, as if he was asking for a beating.
At this moment, she wished that Li Hong was right in front of her. Seeing his father's expression, Wu Mei felt that she could completely ignore the truth and not ask right or wrong. She could just drag the monkey to her and beat him up first, and then ask him about anything else! This was the experience she had summed up in the past two years.
Li Zhi felt a little weak when he saw Wu Mei's expression. His original intention of pleading for Li Hong was suddenly thrown out of his mind. He was still thinking about sleeping here tonight. If he said it out loud, he would probably be kicked out.
So he chuckled twice, took out a note from his sleeve pocket and handed it to Wu Mei.
Wu Mei looked at the guilty Li Zhi warily, then at the note handed over. A bad premonition suddenly filled her heart. Is this naughty boy going to go crazy outside for a while?
I took the note and unfolded it, only to see a simple sentence on it: "Twenty yuan for a lucky crystal plaque, and half a month's vacation!"
"That's all?" Wu Mei looked at Li Zhi.
“No more.”
"Yes?"
“Okay…”
"You...you, you were bribed with 20 yuan? You are the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, how can you do this?" Wu Mei teased the embarrassed Li Zhi, and was trembling with anger at Li Hong's note. She was thinking about how to deal with Li Hong when he came back!
Li Hong, who was in Prince Pu's mansion, didn't know that his mother had been watching him. At this time, he was in high spirits and took Lanling and Chengyang to visit the workshop at the back, and also showed them the market value of the crystal card.
Finally, Chengyang and Lanling each invested 20,000 strings of cash in Li Hong's workshop, and were allowed to open a shop to sell their wares, with each holding 10% of the shares.
Chengyang and Lanling knew very well that this was Li Hong's disguised help to them. Although they were princesses, they were not as well off financially as they were before Taizong's death.
A mansion as big as the princess's, as well as the servants on the fiefdom, all require a large amount of money to manage. They can still cope with it now, but there is no guarantee that they will become short of money in a few years and will not be able to cope with such huge expenses.
At this time, Li Hong came to their aid like a timely help. Nominally, he asked them to invest 20,000 strings of cash each. In fact, they did not have to pay for this money. Instead, it was slowly deducted from their initial share. This meant that after Li Hong earned 40,000 strings of cash, they could divide the spoils.
The two were deeply moved by Li Hong, but they didn't know that Li Hong was also taking advantage of the sales channels of the rouge and powder shop in their hands for nothing.
After seeing Lanling and Chengyang off, the sun was about to set. Li Hong looked at the two carriages leaving with great satisfaction. After all, this was all he could do to help. As for his other aunt, Xincheng, he would just give her 10% of the shares after a while.
Li Hong's next plan was to continue to have fun in Chang'an City for a few more days. He had already assigned the twenty crystal plates promised to his father to the two hardworking people. Half a month was enough time to make them. As for what to carve, Li Hong let them decide for themselves. After all, they were for royal use, or intended to be given to his father to reward court officials. Anything auspicious, festive or joyful would be fine.
Just as he returned to his palace, he saw Mangzhong running towards him with a serious expression, "Prince Dai, Bailu is gone."
"Missing? When did it happen? The palace has already received the Buddha amulet she sent. Look for it in the mansion. She likes embroidery. See if she has gone there to teach the maids in the mansion how to embroider." Li Hong said easily.
"Reporting to King Dai, we have...searched everywhere, and also asked the guards at the door. He has not returned since he went out last night." Mangzhong said nervously and uneasily.
"What? You haven't come back since yesterday?" Li Hong was shocked. Bai Lu was not the kind of palace maid who would act on her own. She was usually well-behaved and smart, and didn't seem like someone who would run away. Besides, he treated her well.
Li Hong pondered for a moment and then asked, "Did you look for her? Did she escape secretly or was there any accident?"
"We've looked for him. It doesn't look like he escaped on his own, but rather he was kidnapped." Mangzhong said carefully.
"Kidnapped? How can you be sure? Oh, by the way, shouldn't you have a special way of contacting each other, or a secret code?" Li Hong was quick-witted. He could infer from the fact that Mangzhong did not seem to have escaped secretly but was kidnapped, that they must have been looking for Bailu. They did not find him, but discovered some unique signs of their Li Jingmen.
"Replying to King Dai, there are secret codes left by Bai Lu, but they are not very complete and are intermittent. We cannot determine where she was lost and where she was kidnapped to."
"Have you left Chang'an City?"
"No." Mangzhong said firmly: "The secret code first appeared in Taipingfang, and then disappeared between Daode and Datongfang. No secret code was found again."
Li Hong walked out of the house and sat down on the steps. He looked at the setting sun that dyed half the sky red and thought, "So, it is impossible for Bai Lu to come out of Chengtian Gate. That would be a long way from here. Hanguang Gate is across the street from Taipingfang. That means she was kidnapped not far from Hanguang Gate?"
"Yes, King Dai, this is also what I judged."
"Well, otherwise your secret code would not continue to appear after passing our Yankangfang. Daode and Datongfang are not far from Chang'an City. Have you checked it, or found any secret code outside the city?" Li Hong said as he walked out.
This was no small matter. The four palace maids and four eunuchs around him were all highly skilled in martial arts, otherwise they would not have been assigned to him by his mother. Moreover, he had been out of the palace for a long time, and neither his father nor his mother had assigned him any more people, which clearly showed that they had great confidence in these eight people.
It is obviously not something an ordinary person could do for a young woman who is skilled in martial arts to be kidnapped. It must be organized and premeditated, but I have not offended anyone.
The other seven people followed Li Hong and began to look for clues on the street after leaving Prince Pu's Mansion. According to the place where Mangzhong found the secret code, the seven people strolled on the bustling streets of Chang'an City, looking for suspicious people and things.
Hua Meng, Liebao, Jingzhe and Mangzhong formed a small circle, protecting Xia Zhi who was holding Li Hong, and Xiaoxue and Xiaohan on both sides in the middle to prevent any accidents.
Mangzhong walked in front, looking for the secret code discovered today, while explaining the uniqueness of the secret code to Li Hong.
The seven people unknowingly walked to the place where the secret code disappeared. There was a wide street between Datong and Daode blocks, with Datong on the left and Daode on the right. In addition, there was Feng'an Block right next to the street on the left side of Daode.
Standing on the wide road, Mangzhong pointed out that the clues ended here. Going three blocks forward, you will reach the city wall of Chang'an.
Li Hong looked thoughtfully at Datongfang and Feng'anfang next to Daodefang, shaking his head from time to time with his index finger in his mouth. Seeing that King Dai was thinking, no one dared to disturb him.
"Give up the clues of Datong, go in from Feng'anfang and see what kind of people are around Daodefang." Li Hong frowned.
Looking for someone like this is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Chang'an is the largest city in the Tang Dynasty, no, it is the largest city in the world in this era, with a population of nearly one million. It is hard to find someone. And he doesn't dare to report it to the police. If he reports it to the police, if a small matter becomes a big matter, his mother will know, and he will be in trouble.
Besides, this place is only three blocks away from the city wall, and there are many Taoist temples and Buddhist temples, with a large floating population. It would be easy to take one person out of the city. Li Hong, with the mentality of trying his best, directed several people to go to the Daodefang. He had not figured out what to do if he couldn't find it.
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