Chapter 371 Zhao Duan: Princess, where are you practicing?
Please ask Prince Jing to come over?
Feng Ju's face was slightly surprised, and he felt a little worried: "My lord, are you going to..."
Going to visit the prince and asking the prince to come over are two different attitudes.
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "Just go ahead and do it. By the way, you can send the letter later. I'll receive my people first."
"Yes." Doctor Feng responded immediately, putting himself in the position of an obedient subordinate.
The two discussed some detailed arrangements before getting up and leaving.
After the people left, the entourage who were standing outside the main hall of the Humble Administrator's Garden came in.
"How's everything going?" Zhao Duan took out two bright yellow mangoes from the fruit plate and threw them to the Hai family's grandparents and grandchildren respectively.
Haitang raised her hand to take it and said lightly:
"The accommodation has been allocated. This garden is really nice, rare in the capital."
The eunuch in the python robe smiled and ate the mango, saying:
"If you have nothing else to do, I'll go and rest first. Haha, the maids in this garden are all very lively and speak softly, which is very different from those in the capital."
So? How can you still enjoy it? Zhao Duan complained, not surprisingly:
"When it comes to gardens, the Huai River area is definitely the best. I remember there was an imperial summer resort in the Huai River area. It's a pity it's not here, otherwise I would have loved to go and see it."
"The royal villa," Eunuch Hai muttered as his memory drifted away.
"Then you have to go further south. Near Luoshan Mountain, there's the imperial palace built when Taizu performed the Fengshan ceremony. It's been there for six hundred years... Haha, you might have a chance to visit someday."
The eunuch in the dragon robe's words seemed to have a hidden meaning, but Zhao Duan didn't understand.
He waved his hand to let the group go and rest first, and he stayed in the hall, ready to receive the guests.
…
Just as Feng Ju said, as early as when Zhao Du'an entered Huting City, many people were eager to visit him.
Not long after Old Feng went out to deliver the message, guests arrived in the Humble Administrator's Garden.
However, the first person to come was an "acquaintance" who surprised Zhao Duan a little.
"Madam Lin?" Zhao Duan sat upright in the main seat in the main hall, with a long scroll of authentic landscape paintings by ancient masters hanging on the wall behind him.
Holding a Fengyao teacup in his hand, he looked in surprise at a young woman walking in from outside the hall.
She was beautiful and elegant, with an oval face and long eyebrows. She was no longer wearing the plain white dress she had worn before, but had changed into a thicker and more conservative skirt and silk clothes. Her demeanor was completely different from when she was in the capital.
Lin Susu!
The "Sixth Lady", the concubine that "Little Cabinet Minister" Li Yinglong once forced upon him.
At that time, he teamed up with Zhao Duan and took advantage of the fact that Li looked very similar to the previous emperor's concubine to set a trap to trap the father and son of the Li family.
Later, Zhao Duan sent him back to the south and gave him the option of joining the imperial merchants.
"I, Susu, pay my respects to you, benefactor!" Madam Lin stepped over the threshold and bowed down with an excited look on her face.
A man who was about thirty years old and dressed like a businessman and was following her also knelt down.
"Stand up and talk." Zhao Duan smiled and looked at the man beside her, curiously asking:
"If I remember correctly, this is your husband? What nonsense..."
"Hu Xuezhai." The man hurriedly introduced himself, his eyes sincere:
"My wife and I suffered in the past. If it weren't for your help, we would have been separated by the Yin and Yang. I have long wanted to visit you in person in Beijing, but was delayed. Now that I know you are here, I am sorry to bother you. I have little money, but I have some small gifts. I hope you will accept them."
As he spoke, he presented the wooden box gift in his hand.
Zhao Duan smiled and ordered the couple to get up and talk. He then learned that Madam Lin had returned to Jiangnan in the past and rescued her husband, and she told them what happened.
Hu Xuezhai was also a lovesick man, so he tolerated it. The couple never separated. Madam Lin then took out the certificate given by Zhao Duan.
The two were merchants, the first group to join the imperial merchants. Although the market has not yet been officially opened, in fact, the trade led by the court has been in trial operation for some time.
The couple also reaped the benefits and became representatives of the newly rising imperial merchants.
Zhao Duan chatted with them for a while, and then someone else came to visit, so he ordered someone to take the couple to the garden to rest.
The second person to arrive was still an acquaintance who surprised him.
"Sir, as you said, Dong'er has been waiting for you at the lake pavilion for a long time."
Wearing a dark horse-faced skirt and a shawl, the "first widow of Dayu" from the Xiao family in Qingzhou walked into the house with a smile and gifts.
He bowed to Zhao Du'an, and two piles of fat snow were faintly visible on his chest.
"Mrs. Xiao really kept her promise. Please sit down and talk." Zhao Duan smiled and invited her to sit down. He learned that after Mrs. Xiao left the capital, she did not return to Qingzhou, but came directly to the lake pavilion.
Have lived here for quite some time.
"Madam came here so eagerly, so what did Xu Zudi say?" Zhao Duan was curious.
Madam Xiao smiled sweetly, as gentle as a spring water. She pursed her red lips and said with a smile:
"I have something to report to you, my Lord. I didn't dare tell you when I was in the capital, fearing I might alert the enemy. Xu Zudi has asked Dong'er to come here, asking me to set an example at the Lake Pavilion meeting, representing the Qingzhou merchants, opposing the imperial court and obstructing the opening of the market."
Is this really true?
Zhao Duan was greatly surprised, and he was a little amused and said with a smile: "Then you dare to come here?"
Madam Xiao smiled and said, "Everyone knows that my Xiao family wants to become an imperial merchant, but the court has rejected us time and again. Why don't I dare to come?"
Zhao Duan sighed, "Madam is acting as a double agent."
Madam Xiao, who was very opinionated and good at using her beauty to her advantage, pretended to be flustered and said timidly:
"Sir, please don't scare Dong'er. You know, the Xiao family only follows your lead. That Xu Zudi is a complete idiot. I'm not afraid of him."
"Hahaha," Zhao Duan laughed heartily and said seriously:
"I have noticed Madam's intentions. However, please remain silent for now and wait for my news before making a statement."
"Dong'er obeys."
"Okay, let's go to the garden and take a rest. There's no need to leave in a hurry." Zhao Duan served tea and saw the guest off.
Mrs. Xiao stood up gracefully and walked out.
The moment she stepped over the threshold, her temperament changed drastically, and she became the female head of the family who, in the eyes of outsiders, was aloof and graceful, with a noble demeanor, and who treated men coldly and rudely.
Next, several royal merchants came to visit.
Everyone prepared gifts and was polite to the point of being flattering.
Having been accustomed to seeing officials and nobles in the capital, it was much more difficult for him to meet so many merchants and gentry. In comparison, the latter had to be much more humble.
No one showed the slightest disrespect to Zhao Duan, a "big shot" who looked too young.
Everyone knows that such a big shot is the King of Hell in the world who can easily destroy their families with just a glance.
"Master Zhao, long time no see, you are still as elegant as ever."
Finally, after meeting with several groups of people, Zhao Duan heard a laughter as clear as a silver bell.
Looking up, he suddenly saw Xu Junling leading the maid Lushui into the courtyard.
"Princess?" Zhao Duan stood up for the first time and greeted her with a big laugh:
"Come on, what else are you bringing? Hey, don't take it back. I'm just saying it, don't take it seriously."
Xu Junling couldn't help laughing. After all, the two of them had to get to know each other better. He made a joke, and the princess smiled and said:
"I heard you've done a lot of great things in the capital. When the news of Gao Lian's death came back, you wonder what the expressions of the Li Party aristocratic families in Huaishui were like."
Zhao Duan spoke righteously:
"I am truly surprised that Governor Gao committed suicide out of fear of punishment. However, he confessed his guilt before his death, which shows that he still has a conscience."
Xu Junling blinked and inquired, "Did he really commit suicide out of fear of punishment?"
"Is this true?"
"Hehe..." Xu Junling had a look on his face that said, "Do you think I'm stupid?", but he didn't delve into it. He then brought up the matter of Mr. Zhengyang becoming his apprentice and kept asking questions. The talented princess was particularly curious about this.
Zhao Duan pushed the blame and said that it was just the old villain Zhengyang with bad intentions, but Xu Junling looked at him with an increasingly complicated look.
It seemed as if he wanted to see through him.
"I originally wanted to visit Prince Huai'an in person later, but unexpectedly the princess arrived first." Zhao Duan changed the subject.
Xu Junling smiled and said, "You want to see my father?"
"Inconvenient?" Zhao Duan tested cautiously.
Xu Junling pondered in silence for a moment, then smiled sweetly. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a commotion coming from the gate of the Humble Administrator's Garden, accompanied by the loud shouts of the servants in the garden:
"Prince Jing has arrived!"
The two people in the hall were stunned, looked at each other, and said in unison: "Did you call him?"
Then their expressions became strange.
Xu Junling had never expected that Prince Jing would come to visit him in person. All sorts of thoughts flashed through his little head, and he didn't know what kind of drama he would imagine.
Zhao Duan was surprised that it was still early for him to ask Feng Ju to invite him. In other words, Prince Jing was not invited by him, but came to visit on his own initiative.
A few hours ago, I had just defeated the prince on the river, and the other party's father came in the blink of an eye.
"He comes with bad intentions." Zhao Duan murmured softly.
Immediately, under Xu Junling's curious gaze, he stood up and said with a smile:
"Princess, how about we welcome him together?"
The necessary etiquette is still there.
…
When the two men stood up and walked out of the main hall, all the imperial merchants who had visited the Humble Administrator's Garden before and were deliberately left in the garden by Zhao Duan to rest and play, also rushed over after hearing the news.
Madam Xiao, Mrs. Lin and her husband all looked surprised.
"Prince Jing is here?"
Haitang and the old priest, as well as guards such as Lang Shiba and Ji Yue also rushed over and took defensive measures.
Zhao Duan signaled them to be patient and looked towards the front of the garden.
I saw a group of people coming in a mighty procession, guarded by several servants from the palace, and leading them was a family of three.
The prince Xu Jinglong, whom I had met not long ago, walked at the end, with his head slightly lowered, his expression unrecognizable, and a well-behaved demeanor.
In the front row was an elegant middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties, but his temples were already gray.
Above the luxurious robe embroidered with a four-clawed python dragon, his jade-like face is dignified and the slight curve at the corner of his mouth gives him an almost imperial nobility.
White Bodhi is wrapped around his sleeves, and on his chest hangs an excellent "Peace and Happiness Plate", which is orange-yellow in color and is a rare South China Sea warm jade.
The first of the Eight Kings.
The most powerful vassal kings who pose the greatest threat to the empress's throne are Jiancheng Dao and Prince Jing Xuwen!
Zhao Duan's eyes met with hers, and he was then attracted by a beautiful woman with a gentle face standing next to Prince Jing.
She was wearing a long tasseled dress, had a plain face without any makeup, slender eyebrows, and her hair was tied into a bun.
Although she is no longer young, she still has a unique charm of a woman. The few wrinkles at the corners of her eyes add to the rich fragrance of a woman's years, as mellow as wine.
Zhao Duan's mind flashed with the information he had read before, and he guessed his identity:
The current Princess Consort of Prince Jing is Lu Yaner.
After Xu Jinglong's biological mother died, the position of princess was vacant for a while. Several princesses in Prince Jing's mansion wanted to fight for it, but Prince Jing never expressed his position.
One day, he actually married a nun from a Taoist temple in Jiancheng Dao and brought her back to the palace to be made the new princess.
It’s this Lu Yaner.
It once became a hot topic among the people. There were rumors that this Taoist nun was Prince Jing's old lover and that their old love had rekindled, but there was no evidence.
In addition, it is said that this princess, perhaps because she had become a nun and returned to secular life, was different from ordinary women and was not averse to showing her face in public.
Whenever Prince Jing went out, he and his wife would go together.
At this moment, sensing Zhao Duan's gaze, the gentle and unworldly beautiful woman also looked over with her bright black eyes.
Zhao Duan was slightly stunned.
As the two looked at each other, the Taoist woman who had returned to secular life frowned slightly, turned her head and looked away, as if she rarely was looked at so rudely and almost unscrupulously by men outside.
In the Humble Administrator's Garden, many people also noticed that Lord Zhao was staring at the princess with a strange expression.
I just thought it was his nature. But being so rude, aren't you afraid of getting His Majesty angry, or angering Prince Jing?
"Prince Jing's presence is a great honor to my humble home. I had not received any news, so I welcome you in advance. I hope you will not blame me."
Zhao Duan realized it a little later, looked away, and laughed.
However, he still felt strange in his heart. He had never seen the Princess of Jing before, and he could not tell what was special about her.
But when we looked at each other just now, I inexplicably felt a sense of "familiarity", which was very strange.
It seems like I've seen it somewhere.
"Jun Ling greets Uncle Wang." The little princess also bowed.
The powerful prince who was the head of the eight princes smiled calmly, as if he had not noticed Zhao Duan's actions just now. He nodded with a smile:
"Jun Ling is here too. Your father isn't here?"
Xu Junling smiled sweetly: "My niece is familiar with Lord Zhao, but my father didn't know that I came here this time."
Prince Jing nodded, pretending to believe it. He turned around and looked at Zhao Duan with a deep gaze, and said meaningfully:
"Are you Zhao Duan? His Majesty's favorite?"
Inexplicable.
The Humble Administrator's Garden suddenly became quiet. No one dared to speak, and even held their breath.
Zhao Duan smiled and looked into the eyes of the elegant and powerful man in front of him.
The two met for the first time today, but it was not the first time they fought.
At first, Zhao Duan investigated the Zhang brothers and accidentally involved the secret agents of Prince Jing's Mansion. Later, he fished in the Shenji Camp and brought down the military officer that Prince Jing's Mansion had painstakingly recruited, and eliminated the second secret agent.
Then Prince Jing used the Governor Gao Lian as a pawn to play against the Empress in an attempt to force Li Yanfu to rebel and split the court... Zhao Duan was also involved.
At this moment, the two finally saw each other's true faces.
"Your Highness is too polite. I am unworthy of the title 'celebrity'."
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "It's just a matter of loyalty to the emperor and eating his salary."
"What a way of eating the emperor's food," Prince Jing said with a smile that seemed to conceal a deep meaning. "I have come here uninvited. Would Envoy Zhao not invite us in for a seat?"
"Haha, please."
Zhao Duan greeted them with a big laugh, and led the Jing Wang family into the main hall. When he turned around, he glanced at Eunuch Hai and others beside him.
The latter understood and walked outside the main hall, separating the inside and the outside.
Xu Junling blinked and wanted to follow in, but was suddenly stopped by the female detective, Si Haitang.
"Princess, go and rest here."
Xu Junling smiled sweetly: "...Alright."
…
…
In the main hall, after the host and guest were seated, the servants served tea and carefully closed the door.
There were only four people left in the room.
Zhao Duan's smile was gentle, without any arrogance or domineering attitude:
"While I was in the capital, I always heard His Majesty mention the princes. He said that among all the princes, only Prince Jing was a man of great talent and strategy, with the ability to govern the country. He managed Jiancheng Dao in an orderly manner. Among all the local officials sent by the entire court, only the officials of Jiancheng Dao were the least worried and laborious, because all the affairs of the Dao, big or small, were taken care of by Prince Jing's Mansion."
This is really heartbreaking.
Prince Jing seemed not to hear the hidden meaning. This prince, who looked much younger than his actual age, smiled warmly, his eyes full of admiration:
"It's rare that His Majesty still cares about me, your uncle. Your Majesty has been entrusted with the task of managing the government in times of crisis. It must have been extremely difficult. Fortunately, you have young talents like you to assist you.
I am in Jiancheng. Although the journey is long, I have heard a lot of news from the capital. When I first learned that Your Majesty had found a foot soldier of the imperial guards to serve by your side, I was very surprised.
It was not until I later learned that the White Horse Supervisor, Zhao Shijun, was famous throughout the capital that I realized that Your Majesty’s ability to employ and discern people was even better than mine.”
Standing next to him inside the house.
When Xu Jinglong, who didn't even get a seat, heard the word "serve", his drooping face visibly darkened.
When he felt his father's gaze on him, he quickly calmed down and controlled his expression.
Prince Jing sighed:
"Jinglong is much older than you, but he's not as good as you, a member of the Imperial Guard. Not long ago, I learned that he had a run-in with you while playing on the river, causing unpleasantness, so I brought him here to apologize."
Zhao Duan's eyes fixed.
Prince Jing Xu Wen said in a low voice: "What are you still standing for?"
Xu Jinglong stepped forward, put down the gift box in his hand, and bowed respectfully:
"I bumped into you on the river, sir, and I hope you will forgive me."
Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes and laughed heartily:
"What is your Highness doing? It's just a minor misunderstanding. I've already explained it to the Crown Prince. Why make such a fuss?"
The atmosphere in the hall suddenly eased.
The originally heavy and almost solidified air also began to flow quietly and smoothly.
After briefly mentioning the matter, Zhao Duan exchanged greetings with Prince Jing. The ambitious prince praised Zhao Duan's past "achievements", and Zhao Duan also showed humility and took advantage of the other party's tactics in return.
Neither of them mentioned the word "opening the market".
After changing the topic, Zhao Duan suddenly smiled and looked at the elegant and gentle Princess Jing who was sitting next to the middle-aged prince:
"I heard that the princess was also a Taoist monk? On which mountain did she become a nun? Did she ever practice cultivation?"
…
Kavin
(End of this chapter)
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