"Oh, Brother Zhao, you're finally back!" Li Mingyue forgot her reserve when she heard the news and jumped up happily.

She hasn't seen Zhao Hao for almost a month.

"Pay attention to your image..." Zhang Xiaojing, who was following behind her, looked at the little county lady jumping three feet high and sighed helplessly. It was too late to remind her.

Zhao Hao was very happy. He greeted Li Mingyue warmly... and then politely said hello to Zhang Xiaojing.

"Mr. Zhao has lost a lot of weight and has dark circles under his eyes." Zhang Xiaojing observed very carefully.

"Oh, really?" Zhao Hao laughed and said, "Then I have to pay attention."

Li Mingyue clung to Zhao Hao's arm like a koala, and said with a smile: "It's okay, big brother is still as handsome as ever."

"Then I feel relieved." Zhao Hao laughed and asked, "Where's my godmother? I'll pay my respects to her first."

"Uh..." The two girls who were originally laughing and joking suddenly stopped talking. Li Mingyue leaned close to Zhao Hao's ear and whispered, "My mother was angry and was beating us with a stick, so we hid away."

"Why?" Zhao Hao asked in a low voice.

"That person came from the palace," Li Mingyue looked at the hanging flower gate in front of her and said softly, "My mother was ordered to return to the capital, but she just agreed and refused to leave. After I urged her several times, she was beaten..."

"Oh, what should we do?" Zhao Hao clapped his hands and said anxiously, "If we anger His Majesty, how can you play in the future?"

"I don't want to go back either." Li Mingyue twisted her body into a knot and muttered, "I haven't seen enough of the spring scenery in the south of the Yangtze River yet."

"I'll send you back to the capital. How about you stay for a few more months?" Zhao Hao said with a smile.

"Really?!" Li Mingyue's eyes lit up immediately.

"When have I ever lied to you?" Zhao Hao said with a smile.

"Let's go back to Beijing, right now!" Li Mingyue was eager to go home and asked, "When are we leaving?!"

"Uh, do you have the final say?" Zhao Hao looked at her.

"Not really..." Li Mingyue was immediately dejected, then smiled again: "But my mother used me and my brother as a cover, as long as we say we're going back, she will have no reason to stay in Kunshan."

Zhang Xiaojing, who was a step behind the other two, was shocked. What the hell was going on? If I knew this kind of royal secret, would I be silenced in the future?

~~

After entering the Chuihua Gate, Zhao Hao saw several Jinyiwei dressed as guards, pinning down a thin man and spanking him with a jujube wood stick.

But the eldest princess was not seen, only Liu Shanggong, who was supervising the execution, was in the yard.

She was heard whispering to a few Jinyiwei: "Just show your respect, but don't really hurt Eunuch Chang."

The Royal Guard nodded and said with an unnatural smile: "Don't worry, Shang Gong, I have my hands on it."

If it were normal, he would be beaten up, so what? But who made them wrong? The princess ran to the back of Kunshan County Office and stayed there for several months. If the eunuch who delivered the imperial edict held a grudge and went back to spread the news, they would be in big trouble.

However, the eunuch Chang obviously knew that people should be under the eaves. While screaming, he said: "Don't worry, Shang Gong and brothers, I am not an ungrateful person. I didn't see anything and I don't know anything. As long as Your Highness is willing to go back..."

Hearing this, Lady Liu sighed and said, "Do you think we don't want to?"

At this moment, she heard footsteps and quickly stopped talking, saying, "Hit me hard!"

"Pah! Pah! Pah!" The Royal Guards also intensified their beatings.

"Ouch, it hurts so much..." This was not an act.

Only when she saw clearly that the person coming was Zhao Hao did she breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that her savior had finally arrived.

If there is anyone in this world who can persuade His Highness, it must be someone with the surname Zhao.

Although he thought so in his heart, he just smiled reservedly on the surface.

"Where is my godmother?" Zhao Hao asked with a smile.

"His Highness is angry in the room." Liu Shanggong looked at the young county lady and said carefully, "Young Master, you are here at the right time. Go and persuade His Highness."

"Okay." Zhao Hao nodded with a smile, then turned around and asked Li Mingyue and Zhang Xiaojing to go find Ma Xianglan first. She had all kinds of gifts that he brought back for them from his tour of Jiangnan.

Then Master Zhao went into the pavilion alone.

~~

In the water pavilion, the eldest princess sat in front of the window with a stern face, staring blankly at the red apricot blossoms outside.

"Godmother." Zhao Hao called softly.

"My son is back?" Ning An turned around and a smile appeared on his face.

"My son kowtows to his godmother." Master Zhao was also unambiguous and knelt on the ground and kowtowed firmly.

"Hurry up and get up." Ning An pulled Zhao Hao up and looked him up and down, saying, "My son has lost a lot of weight. Why are you working so hard?"

Zhao Hao thought, isn't it because your Zhu family is too lame? This young master has to try to mend the cracks in the sky at such a young age?

But he smiled brightly and said, "It's not hard."

"By the way, didn't you say you would be home in early March?" The eldest princess suddenly became suspicious and asked, "How come you're back at the end of February? Could it be that my brother is putting pressure on you?"

"Mother, what are you thinking..." Zhao Hao said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "It's even a question whether His Majesty still remembers me."

"That's good." The princess felt relieved.

"I came back early because of the Yellow River peach blossom flood, which caused the Grand Canal to be blocked and the water transport was cut off." But Zhao Hao changed the subject and said, "Such a big thing, godmother, don't you know?"

"I don't know." The princess said shyly, "I was so busy...getting angry with my brother's people that I didn't pay attention to anything else."

As she spoke, she suddenly said in surprise: "Doesn't that mean that I can't go back to Beijing?"

"Hahahaha..." The princess covered her mouth with the back of her hand, trying to stop herself from laughing. "It's really pitiful. Son, let's set up a few more porridge factories. Mother will give me 100,000 taels first... See if my brother still has the nerve to ask me to go back?"

Zhao Hao thought, should we transfer Mr. Zhao Er to be in charge again? He couldn't help but sigh secretly, women in love are really scary.

"Godmother, don't worry about the relief." After the princess calmed down, Zhao Haofang said softly, "The problem now is that the grain transport has been cut off. What should we do with the capital?"

"Will the break last for a long time?" Ning An forced himself to use his love brain to think about the question raised by Zhao Hao.

"It will take several years to recover." Zhao Hao replied.

"That's going to be a big problem." Ning An was finally moved and said, "What about the food and fodder for the troops in the capital and the border?"

"Yes, mother. It won't be long before famine hits the capital, and the border troops will be short of food and wages. Then the Tartars will take the opportunity to invade, and the consequences will be disastrous." Zhao Hao said solemnly.

"It's true." Ning An felt a chill down his spine and quickly grabbed Zhao Hao's hand and said, "Son, you have the most ideas. Come up with a solution!"

"My son, I've thought about it. The only solution now is to transport the grain by sea." Zhao Hao blinked his big eyes and said with admiration, "Sea transportation is ten times more convenient than grain transport, and the cost is also ten times lower. Mother, can we get this done?"

"Not good." But his mother said firmly.

ps. Fourth update, please give me your monthly vote!