Gao Gong had originally made up his mind not to go no matter who invited him, but when he heard the other party's surname was Zhao, he immediately became interested.

He lifted the car curtain and asked in a deep voice, "Is it Neijiang or Xiuning?"

No matter who it is, he is interested in meeting them and venting his frustration!

"The old master is Lord Xiuning." The old man answered respectfully.

"That old castrated donkey..." Gao Gong finally laughed, and said with a loud laugh: "I never thought that he would be the one to send me out of Beijing in the end."

"So shall we go?" Gao Chao asked in a low voice.

"Go, why not? I still have something to ask him!" Gao Gong nodded heavily and said, "What I love most is the Hongmen Feast!"

~~

Zhenkong Temple is not far ahead, and it is a temple with a lot of incense. Because it is right on the official road, a small village has emerged, with more than a dozen restaurants, tea stalls and hotels along the road.

Zhao Liben booked the best inn here, sat in the pavilion in the backyard, drank tea and waited for Gao Gong to arrive.

Hearing the noise coming from the front, Zhao Liben walked to the front with his hands behind his back, and saw Gao Huzi and his wife getting off the carriage.

Mrs. Gao had obviously suffered from heatstroke and looked like she was about to die. Gao Gong was not much better. His half-worn cloth robe was soaked with sweat and stuck to his body. He looked as miserable as could be.

In contrast, Zhao Liben was wearing a well-cut summer silk Taoist robe embroidered with Suzhou, which was spotless. He had a large, eerily green jade pendant hanging around his waist and a large ring in his hand. A beautiful maid was fanning him from behind. He did not sweat at all, just like an unemployed prince.

The two people's situations are now completely different.

Gao Gong was a little embarrassed and sneered, "If you come to see me make fun of myself, you're really watching."

"Don't be ungrateful. Am I that superficial?" Zhao Liben shook his head and asked Han Tao to quickly help Mrs. Gao to the back, and asked his health doctor to take her pulse and prescribe medicine for her.

Fortunately, the old lady just suffered from heatstroke. After taking a tube of Huoxiang Zhengqi water, she would be fine after a day of rest.

Over there, Gao Gong was also led by Cai Lian to take a shower, change into a cool Taoist robe made of fine gauze, and come to the pavilion to meet Zhao Shouzheng.

Lao Gao could only reluctantly bow and say, "Thank you."

"Now you know I'm not here to watch the fun?" Zhao Liben smiled and asked him to sit down, and personally poured Gao Gong a glass of wine.

In fact, he came here just to see Gao Gong's joke...

The biggest setback the old man suffered in his life was the one in the first year of the Longqing reign. Not only did he lose his official position, but his property was almost confiscated.

Although he had many burrows and had already arranged a retreat, he ended his official career from then on and did not achieve his goal of becoming a minister and retiring as an orphan.

And all this was caused by Gao Gong coming to power.

One is that the two had a deep-seated grudge and had even fought in public. Many people had witnessed that scene and had talked about it with relish for years.

Secondly, Gao Gong was promoting the imperial examination at that time, and everyone believed that he was going to be punished by Gao Gong, so they put the blame for the deficit of the Ministry of Revenue on him, which was also a good use of waste...

Otherwise, with Zhao Liben's skills, he would never have failed.

Fortunately, Gao Huzi soon overturned, and Zhao Liben felt relieved. Otherwise, he would have died of anger...

But three years ago, he was forced by his good grandson to travel thousands of miles to Gaojiazhuang, to try his best to please others and to beg Gao Huzi to make a comeback.

As a result, Gao Huzi turned against them, took advantage of them, and started to frantically suppress the Sweet Party. Don’t you think it’s infuriating?

Now that he's finally dead, how can Zhao Liben not come to watch the joke?

But if you make fun of a joke and then add insult to injury, that would be beneath your dignity. Now Gao is happy even though he owes her a debt of gratitude.

~~

"That's hard to say." Gao Gong snorted, clinked glasses with him, and changed the subject: "How did you know my schedule in advance?"

"Hehe..." Zhao Liben smiled proudly and said, "The hermit has his own clever plan."

"I know it even if you don't tell me. It must be the East Factory who is watching me. Is Feng Bao worried that I will cause trouble? I know that eunuchs have the heart of a needle!" Gao Gong snorted, "It seems that Feng Bao and Zhang Shuda are really in collusion. It's ridiculous that he is pretending to be so insincere!"

"Hey, who can you blame for your blindness?" Zhao Liben said with a smile.

"You are also involved in this? I was wondering why Uncle Da became so strange. It turns out that birds of a feather flock together! You have led him astray!" When these things were mentioned, Gao Gong could not suppress his anger. He glared at Zhao Liben with his big eyes as if he wanted to eat him.

"Don't slander me. I'm just an ordinary retired old man. Who would listen to me?" Zhao Liben naturally didn't admit it. He poured him another glass of wine and said, "Okay, don't get excited. You are very lucky to be able to escape unscathed this time and not completely break up with them. What else are you dissatisfied with?"

"Indeed..." Gao Gong's anger immediately dissipated.

These days, even when he calmed down, he still felt a wave of fear. If it weren't for the magic medicine of Jiangnan Hospital, if the emperor died, would Feng Bao spare him? He would definitely beat him to death...

"No matter what, I have to thank you this time... grandson." Thinking of this, Gao Gong raised his glass and clinked it with Zhao Liben, saying, "He is a good child. The emperor's love for him is not in vain. This old man... also benefits from it."

It is already very rare for Gao Gong to say such words.

"Hey, you should have said that to him directly." Zhao Liben said with a look of disdain, "Do you know what kind of life that kid has been living for over the past year? The prime minister is messing with him, how many people will follow suit and add insult to injury? He has lost several million taels of silver alone!"

Of course, the stocks of Xishan Group and Lugouqiao Company, affected by the major positive factors, have recently surged, not only regaining lost ground, but also setting new highs. He did not mention the fact that Mr. Zhao and his godmother made tens of millions of taels of silver.

"Alas." Gao Gong sighed and said frankly: "I seek wealth for the country, not for myself..."

Then he sighed and said, "However, we should communicate with him first and come up with a solution that both sides can accept. I am just being arrogant..."

At that time, Minister Gao was the man of his word and his words were the law. How could he have imagined that Zhao Hao would dare to play non-violent non-cooperation with him for more than two years?

In the end, Gao Gong was just angry and naturally would not talk to Zhao Hao anymore.

"It's not easy for you to say such words." Zhao Liben looked at him with admiration. He had never admitted his mistakes in his life.

"I am now an old man with nothing to lose. What's the point of admitting my mistakes?" Gao Gong glanced at him and said, "You are the only one who is so stubborn!"

"I am just this kind of person. I can't change, and I don't want to change!" Zhao Liben said with a pout.

"You said you came all the way to Gaojiazhuang last time, so what's wrong with admitting your mistake and apologizing to me?" Gao Gong spat, "Maybe if I forgive you, your grandson will be much better off in the next few years. You've suffered a lot in your life because of this mouth!"

"Oh..." Zhao Liben sighed deeply, took out a cigar and asked Zan Ju to light it, and taught Gao Gong how to smoke it.

Then he lit another cigarette for himself and puffed out smoke for a long time before he used the smoke to cover his mouth and said, "Actually, I wanted to talk it out with you last time, but then I thought about it, since I came here to ask you to come back, and talking about what happened back then, wouldn't it change the meaning?"

"So you just kept fishing all afternoon without telling me anything?" Gao Gong suddenly realized something and started coughing from the smoke. He thought, what's so good about this crap? Uncle Zhang also likes it...

"Now I am also an ordinary citizen, and there is no way I can make a comeback. You can always tell me, right?" Gao Gong said with a heavier tone, and roared like he was going to eat someone. "Tell me about the good things you did!"

"If you want your wife to hear it, just yell." Zhao Liben sneered.

"Please speak." Gao Gong lost his arrogance in an instant.

"Well, I'm afraid I'll never see you again in this lifetime, and I'll feel suffocated if I don't say it out loud." Zhao Liben took a deep puff of cigarette before starting a conversation with the other person.

~~

This old grudge actually has to start with Gao Gong.

It is said that Gao Gong was sixteen years old at that time, and he lived in Beijing with his father Gao Shangxian, who was an official in the Ministry of Finance.

Although Gao Huzi is like this now, he was a handsome young man in his youth. In the sixth year of Jiajing, Emperor Shizong was selecting a son-in-law for his sister Princess Yongchun. Gao Gong, who was talented and handsome, made it to the final round - he entered the palace with two other candidates to be selected by the empress dowager and the princess.

Princess Yongchun fell in love with Gao Gong at first sight, but her mother, Empress Dowager Zhangsheng, chose another man named Xie Zhao. Because Gao Gong was still a young man at the time, he looked a little childish, not as stable as Xie Zhao, the type that middle-aged and elderly women loved the most.

Therefore, Gao Gong did not take the shortcut of becoming a royal consort, and could only go home to study hard and barely pass the imperial examination to make a living...

Although the princess was unwilling, she could not persuade her mother, so she had to marry Xie Zhao crying.

Unexpectedly, this time the Queen Mother was really mistaken. When entering the bridal chamber, the princess discovered that not only was Xie Zhao's face growing rapidly, but his hair was growing even faster!

He was actually half bald! He couldn't even tie his hair into a bun! He shouldn't be called Xie Zhao, he should be called Xie Ding...

Besides, he is not even twenty years old yet, and there are only a few sparse hairs on his head. How could the princess's heart not be broken?

But the royal family had to strictly abide by the current etiquette, and the princess could not return the princess. She hated her husband very much and had not let Xie Zhao ↑ herself for several years.

Later, Prince Consort Xie took great pains and gradually got closer to the princess. In the thirteenth year after their marriage, he could finally get a taste of what the princess was like.

This is nothing surprising, because the princesses and their husbands in the Ming Dynasty did not live together, and usually the husbands would be invited to come only when the princess wanted. Otherwise, the husbands were not allowed to enter the princess's house.

Who would have thought that at this critical juncture, Gao Gong Gao Jieyuan passed the imperial examination and was selected as a Shujishi, enjoying great fame for a time!

Many people still remember that he was the unsuccessful consort. Soon, a joke called "Ten Funny Things" spread in the capital. The last line was "Ten Funny Things, the consort got his retribution in this life." It was a joke that the princess had chosen the wrong consort. She chose a disgraceful guy instead of the Wenquxing.

When the princess heard the wicked lyrics, all the efforts of the consort were wasted. The princess was angry with him all day long, belittling him to the point of being worthless. Life was completely unbearable.

The prince consort sighed all day long. He had a good friend who used to go to brothels with him, Zhao Liben, who gave him an idea...

ps. Post first and revise later.