She really had something to do, so after leaving Jiahuiyuan, she asked the coachman to take her to Qiongfangzhai.
Qiongfangzhai is located on Zhenhua Street, the most lively and prosperous street in the south of the city. There are many shops on both sides of the street, including restaurants, cloth shops, rouge shops, food restaurants... Almost every shop is a well-known old shop in Beijing.
On the streets, pedestrians and horses were coming and going in an endless stream, and the streets were bustling and noisy.
Qiongfangzhai is just at the end of the street. It is a two-story restaurant. There are not many customers in the restaurant now, and there are only two or three tables in the lobby on the first floor.
As soon as the shopkeeper saw the token that Gu Yanfei presented, he warmly invited her to go upstairs and walked all the way to the elegant Tu Su seat at the end of the corridor.
"Young lady, please." The shopkeeper knocked twice on the door of the private room, and then politely opened the door for Gu Yanfei.
Inside the elegant seat, there was a faint aroma of wine. By the window sat a thin young man in white, with a handsome face and a fair complexion, like the pure white snow lotus of the Tianshan Mountains.
After Gu Yanfei went in, the shopkeeper slammed the door shut again.
Gu Yanfei and Chu Yi were the only ones left in the private room; the hustle and bustle of the street outside made the place especially quiet.
"Please." Chu Yi gracefully raised his arm and invited Gu Yanfei to sit down. His delicate eyebrows and eyes seemed to be carefully outlined stroke by stroke.
Gu Yanfei sat down opposite him and subconsciously glanced at his left sleeve, remembering that Qingguang had sharpened his claws on his sleeve before.
His brand new snow-white cuffs were embroidered with delicate cloud patterns in silver thread, without even a single blemish of cat's paws getting in the way, and it was clearly not the same clothes he had worn before.
She chuckled out loud, then disguised her laughter by glancing at the ginkgo wood chessboard beside her. On the board, the black and white chess pieces were equally matched, dividing the world into two parts.
Gu Yanfei was just taking a casual glance at first, but when he saw it, he was stunned.
The chess game in front of her looked very familiar. It was clearly the unfinished game between her and him in Danyang City.
The last move was made by White.
Gu Yanfei raised his eyebrows, picked up a black piece from the chess box, and placed it down directly.
Chu Yi smiled lightly and poured her a glass of wine himself: "Try this Tusu wine."
The aroma of wine in the air became stronger, mixed with a hint of medicinal scent.
Gu Yanfei picked up the white porcelain wine glass and took a sip of the wine, savoring the mellow, sweet aroma of the wine with a strong medicinal flavor in her mouth. She squinted her eyes in satisfaction, and saw Chu Yi opposite her casually lifting the bamboo curtain hanging on the window, silently signaling her with his eyes to look outside.
The streets outside were bustling with activity. A luxurious black lacquered flat-roofed carriage stopped in front of another restaurant across the street. Two young men with different appearances and temperaments walked out of the restaurant side by side. One was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and the other was just a young man.
The young man, dressed in a purple silk brocade robe with the pattern of the Eight Immortals, was full of heroic spirit, proud and noble. He was none other than Prince Kang Chu You.
Gu Yanfei glanced from Prince Kang and the other man to the black lacquered carriage at the entrance of the restaurant, and found a gold-painted orchid mark engraved on the roof of the carriage.
Gu Yanfei thought about it, recognized the orchid mark, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Yuan family?"
This orchid mark is the family emblem of the Yangzhou Yuan family, the maiden family of the current empress dowager.
In fact, Gu Yanfei didn't know much about those aristocratic families. He only knew that the four major families of Wang, Xie, Yuan and Xiao were the top aristocratic families.
"Yes." Chu Yi picked up the white porcelain wine glass, spun it casually with his slender fingers, and sighed meaningfully, "There are no poor families in the upper class, and no noble families in the lower class."
What he said was the Nine-Rank System.
These aristocratic families occupied a large amount of land in the local area and held high positions for generations. Their status rose again and again over hundreds of years. They even raised troops privately, which was equivalent to ruling the states and counties where they were located. Even the court power was almost controlled by these clans.
After the establishment of the Dajing Dynasty, Emperor Taizu also intended to weaken these high-ranking families and tried to implement the imperial examination system in the court to show the court's determination to promote people based on their talents. Unfortunately, the country was just established at that time and its foundation was not stable. The Yue Kingdom in the south was also ready to make moves. Emperor Taizu was unable to take action for the time being and had to put it on hold for the time being.
Chu Yi looked down through the window, his eyes falling on the man next to King Kang, a man of medium build and elegant appearance dressed in a brocade robe.
"This is Yuan Zhe, the next head of the Yuan family, and the cousin of Prince Kang." Chu Yi introduced.
Empress Dowager Yuan is the younger sister of the current head of the Yuan family, and is Yuan Zhe's aunt.
Back then, when Emperor Taizu was selecting the empress for the previous emperor, he did not choose a girl from an aristocratic family, but instead chose Liu, who came from a humble family, with the intention of suppressing the aristocratic families.
However, after Liu passed away, the late emperor married Yuan, a woman from a noble family, as his successor.
This was undoubtedly a signal from the late emperor to show goodwill to the noble families.
"Now a quarter of the court officials are nominated by aristocratic families, including the direct descendants of the Yuan family." Chu Yi raised the corner of his lips with a smile, his eyes clear and cold.
These noble families who have been officials for generations united together in the court for their own interests, and even the emperor was subject to their control.
After he returned to Beijing this time, his father intended to let him attend the court, but these aristocratic officials jointly opposed it...
Chu Yi stopped there and said nothing more. The white piece in his hand landed lightly on the chessboard with a crisp and clear sound.
Gu Yanfei was so smart that he understood Chu Yi's current situation from just a few words. The four words "in dire straits" were not enough to describe it.
but……
Thinking of everything that happened in Danyang City, Gu Yanfei smiled slightly. It was obvious that Chu Yi was not a good person either.
Gu Yanfei stared at Chu Yi's face with interest.
The golden light outside the window gently and tenderly dyed his brows, making his facial features softer and more handsome than usual. The deep red teardrop mole made his skin look even more radiant like jade, just like a finely carved jade statue.
Chu Yi: “…”
Chu Yi also looked back at her quietly, his eyes were clear and almost straight, like a clear spring, as if they could reflect everything in the world, and as if even his soul was seen through by her.
Under this gaze, Chu Yi's expression remained unchanged, not even the corners of his eyes or eyebrows moved.
The private room was quiet.
Gu Yanfei stared at him for a long time, suddenly smiled with interest, and whispered silently: As expected.
Chu Yi raised his right eyebrow slightly and looked at her in confusion.
Gu Yanfei didn't say anything. He picked up a black piece and placed it down with his usual decisiveness.
As expected, he was not well-liked by Heaven either.
Just like me! (End of this chapter)
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