After listening to Wu Shilai's story, Zhao Hao felt upset.
On the return journey in the carriage, he tucked his head into his crane cloak, leaned against the wall of the carriage and said nothing.
It was the first time that Zhao Shizhen saw his uncle so depressed. He was smarter than Wang Wuyang and others. He guessed the reason immediately and couldn't help but whispered to comfort him:
"My uncle suggested that the royal family provide disaster relief. This was well-intentioned and a good thing. There is no reason to blame myself."
Zhao Hao glanced at him and did not deny it. After a while, he sighed and said, "You don't have to comfort me. This time, I didn't understand the court's thoughts, nor did I conduct actual research. I rashly came up with this idea, which in itself is a metaphysical mistake..."
"I should first understand the court's intentions, then understand the refugees' true thoughts, and then come up with a more appropriate plan. Instead of simply treating the refugees the same way they treated the disaster victims." After a pause, Zhao Hao took off his crane cloak and said in a deep voice:
"They are different after all..."
Zhao Shizhen nodded silently. The victims were survivors of the disaster. As long as they had something to eat and were not frozen to death, they would be thankful and content.
Refugees are people who leave their homes and families, hoping to live somewhere else, so their requirements are naturally higher...
He was racking his brains to comfort his uncle, but he saw that Zhao Hao's eyes were unusually sharp and his fighting spirit was high.
My uncle stood up and announced loudly:
"Okay, the lesson has been learned. Let me solve this problem!"
In Zhao Shizhen's eyes, his uncle's image suddenly became majestic.
“Ouch…”
Unexpectedly, Zhao Hao was too excited and hit his head against the roof of the car with a bang. Fortunately, he had a high bun on his head, otherwise he would have had a big bump...
~~
Zhao Hao's original plan was to leave Wu Shilai's house and go to wish his elder brothers and classmates a happy new year... Of course, given their prominent status, they probably wouldn't have time to see him today.
But the idea of clinging to someone powerful has been deeply engraved in the mind of a certain young man.
Zhao Hao had nothing to do originally, and thought it would be a good idea to go and get to know the family. What if the other party would take the time to meet him for the sake of being an older brother, wouldn't that be a good deal?
But now he had something on his mind, so he naturally didn't want to join in the fun. He was going to send a 'flying note' to have his guards deliver it, just to celebrate the New Year...
Zhao Hao ordered Gao Wu to go straight to Shiwangfu Street.
Unexpectedly, not long after entering East Chang'an Street, the carriage was stopped.
"What's going on?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but frown.
"A Grand Secretary's ceremonial procession is passing by..." Zhao Shizhen lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked out. He saw a team of Jinyiwei escorting a four-man silver-topped blue cloth official sedan chair slowly passing by.
In the city of Beijing, the only civil servants who needed to clean the streets were the cabinet ministers and the officials of the Ministry of Personnel who passed through.
Normally, Zhao Hao would wonder which gentleman was sitting in the sedan chair? Was it Li Xinghua, Chen Nanchong, or Zhang Jiangling?
But at this moment, all his thoughts were on how to persuade his godmother later, so naturally he had no time to gossip.
Traffic on the street resumed only after the Grand Secretary's sedan chair passed.
Gao Wu drove the carriage forward.
~~
In the carriage, Zhao Shizhen introduced to Zhao Hao: "That was the house that the emperor gave to Gao Xinzheng. Even after Prime Minister Gao stepped down, he didn't take it back. The one who just passed by was Prime Minister Zhang Jiangling. I heard that he is the most handsome man in the capital..."
"Never mind him, let's go to the Princess's Mansion first!" Zhao Hao shook his head, focusing on his own affairs more than ever before.
When the carriage stopped again, they arrived at the Princess's Mansion.
Without Gao Wu's help, Zhao Hao jumped out of the car lightly. He saw a red paper bag with the words "Receive Blessings" written on it pasted on the closed vermilion lacquered door.
This red paper bag is used to hold flying invitations from visitors, which is the so-called "throwing a letter at the door".
After acknowledging her as his godmother, Zhao Hao came to pay his respects again before the New Year. The guard at the gate recognized her at a glance, and hurriedly smiled and clasped his fists to greet her, saying, "Young Master, I wish you a happy New Year and a long and prosperous life!"
"Happy New Year to you too, Brother Hou." Zhao Hao didn't bother to argue with him. He just threw out a red envelope, which was equivalent to ten thousand auspicious words.
The smile on the captain's face became even more cordial. He hurriedly opened the tightly closed left door and respectfully invited the young master in.
~~
In the back garden, the eldest princess had already gotten up and dressed.
She said she wanted to make up for the morning sleep, but she lay in bed without any sleepiness. Her mind was full of the good news that Concubine Li told her before she left the palace this morning.
Your Majesty will announce at today's grand court meeting that your eldest son Zhu Yijun will be appointed Crown Prince!
Although this was a foregone conclusion, the eldest princess thought that it would take at least a few years for Zhu Yijun to make a decision.
Establishing a crown prince early is naturally a great thing for the Ming Dynasty, for the emperor's brother, and for the emperor's nephew.
But it was not a good thing for the eldest princess.
After all, she was a married woman, and it was not right for her to manage the royal property for her brother's family.
Although Empress Chen was a soft-hearted person and had no children, she would not care about these things.
But Concubine Li was a strong-willed person, and her father, Li Wei and his son, were notoriously greedy for money. It was impossible for them not to have any thoughts about the imperial farms and stores that made a fortune every day.
Before, Concubine Li had remained silent, but it was only because her position was not stable and she did not want to displease Longqing.
Relying on a woman's intuition, the eldest princess dared to assert that as long as her son was made the crown prince, Empress Li would no longer have any worries and would naturally set her eyes on her own territory.
In theory, she should have taken the initiative to give up her property at this time.
But the eldest princess was not a saint who had no desires. On the contrary, she had the competitive blood of the Zhu family running through her veins. Even though she knew she shouldn't linger, she was unwilling to give up the business she had run for many years.
"At worst, I can give up a portion to Li Wei and feed her family first?" The princess thought silently, "At least when my brother is here, she won't be embarrassed to snatch it from me again, right?"
But who knows, will she be content?
The princess has seen a lot over the years, and she knows how greedy people can be. Including herself, isn't she the same? She doesn't want to throw anything away, she wants to hold everything in her hands.
In this world, perhaps only a kind and honest gentleman like Zhao Lang would not be greedy, right?
Thinking of Zhao Shouzheng, the princess felt hot all over and finally lost all sleepiness.
It was a waste of time to roll around in the room, so she stood up and asked people to wash and dress her, then went to the main hall to accept the New Year greetings from the eunuchs and palace maids.
At this time, the palace servants reported that Zhao Hao had arrived.
The eldest princess hurriedly asked Ji Sizheng to welcome him in.
As soon as he entered the door, Zhao Hao kowtowed to his godmother and wished a happy new year without saying a word, offering a set of auspicious words.
The eldest princess was so delighted that she smiled from ear to ear. She asked Lady Liu to help him up and then moved a brocade cushion to be placed next to the phoenix throne.
The princess then placed a big red envelope in his hand, then took his hand and asked affectionately, "My son, didn't I ask you to come for lunch? Why are you here so early in such a cold day?"
"Isn't it better to wish godmother a happy new year as early as possible?" Zhao Hao's face was full of admiration and he said, "If I wasn't afraid of disturbing godmother's sleep, my son would come to kowtow at dawn."
"Oh my, what a good boy." The princess looked at Zhao Hao with satisfaction. Seeing that he looked just like Zhao Shouzheng when he was young, she couldn't help but love him even more and said, "This time, I will not let you go back no matter what. You can't stay until the 15th."
Upon hearing this, Lady Liu smiled bitterly in her heart. Your Highness would not give up until he achieved his goal. If Young Master Zhao did not stay in the mansion for a few days, she would definitely get into trouble.
But Zhao Hao looked embarrassed.
"What's wrong, child? It's inconvenient again?" The eldest princess' expression froze, and her heart ached. She thought to herself, this child is really too restrained, probably because he lost his mother when he was young.
Just when she was about to love Zhao Hao even more, she saw him sobbing.
ps. The fifth update, and another update for 6,800 votes... Also, today, no, when you all see it, I should say that yesterday was my birthday, and I’m asking for monthly votes to congratulate me~~ Today there are nearly 12,000 words.
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