After waiting for Mr. Zhao to fall asleep soundly, Zhao Hao covered him with a quilt and tiptoed out of the master bedroom.
Seeing the young master go out, Xiaoqing and Xiaohong, who were on duty tonight, walked in quietly. They would take turns to take care of Master Zhao all night.
Don't be fooled by her green, red, black, white, thick legs and big cock. She is more manly than a man, but she is a strictly trained palace maid. In terms of taking care of people, she is actually much better than the four useless maids of the old man.
Mr. Zhao naturally had nothing to worry about, but these four sisters always reminded him of the Four Heavenly Kings. Not the four of Jacky Cheung and Andy Lau, but the four of Mo Liqing and Mo Lihong.
He heard from Yu Men that the four heavenly kings were brought by the eldest princess when she went to Kunshan for the winter last year. At that time, no one thought much about it and just thought that they were female bodyguards hired by the prince. Who knew that before the godmother returned to Beijing this spring, she actually kept the four heavenly kings. She said that her cousin couldn't be left alone to take care of him, and she could only rest assured if they took care of Zhao Shouzheng... in various senses.
Mr. Zhao was so upset that he wanted to cry. When he was playing mahjong with his subordinates, Bai Shouli just said that after his cousin passed away, he would find a few cute little girls to take care of the master. It was definitely not a sexual bribe, but to take better care of the lives of the elderly parents for the people of Kunshan!
Although Zhao Shouzheng said no, no, no, he was already angry in his heart. He was looking forward to the princess's return to Beijing, but she suddenly left the four great warriors, completely cutting off Mr. Zhao's thoughts.
This made him suspicious. Did the princess have spies around him and knew that his men were going to give him the little girl?
Doesn't that mean that these four guys were left behind by the princess to monitor her?
Now Zhao Shouzheng didn't dare to send them to chop firewood or feed the horses, so they had to stay by his side.
Oh my god! Every night when he wakes up to go to the bathroom, he opens his eyes and sees these four abstract faces, which scare him so much that he always pees on his shoes.
So Mr. Zhao stopped drinking water after dark, and finally he didn't have to get up at night.
But I still have nightmares!
That's why Zhao Shouzheng held his son's hand tightly, wanting him to keep watch for the Four Heavenly Kings so that he could sleep well.
Who knew that Zhao Hao had no awareness of being a filial son at all? Seeing that his father had fallen asleep, he asked the Four Heavenly Kings to watch over his father for him...
As a result, Mr. Zhao had another nightmare tonight.
~~
Zhao Hao walked into the patio. The sky outside was already full of stars, but the summer heat was still there, only slightly stronger than during the day.
The only bad thing about Guangdong is that it's damn hot! Zhao Hao couldn't stand it in Jiangnan, let alone the midsummer in Lingnan, where it was so hot that he could die.
He simply took off his clothes, wearing only a pair of trousers, and asked the guards to fetch well water for him to take a shower.
Two buckets of ice-cold well water were poured over his head, and Zhao Hao finally felt a chill running through his body.
When he finished showering and wiped the water off his face with a cotton towel, he saw Chang Kaiche coming in front of him.
"What's up?"
"Sir, the mouths of those who were captured have been pried open." Chang Kaiche reported softly.
"Who?" Zhao Hao was stunned.
"Those who attacked Marshal Yu." Chang Kaiche had no choice but to remind him, "Didn't you say that we should report it as soon as we get the confession?"
"Oh, tell me about it." Zhao Hao nodded calmly, showing no sign that he didn't remember anything.
"They are not villagers along the Han River, but boat people." Chang Kaiche hurriedly reported.
"Danmin?" Zhao Hao was stunned for a moment, then he understood and said, "You mean the Tanka people?"
"Yes." Chang Kaiche said, "The Tanka households are also called Tanka people, or Lianjia boat people. Fujian people call them Yacht people, Guangdong people call them Baishuilang, and there are also derogatory names such as 'Yan'. They are lowly people, use boats as their homes, and drift on the water all their lives. It is said that ordinary people will get seasick when they get on the boat, but they will suffer from 'land sickness reaction' when they go ashore. Because they have been on the boat for a long time, they are physiologically not adapted to the land environment."
"But what really prevented them from going ashore was the discrimination of the common people against the Tanka people. It was said that the Tanka people could not wear shoes when they went ashore, because they would be robbed. Even if they bought clothes, they had to put patches of other colors on them before they dared to wear them ashore, to show that they were old clothes and they should not be robbed again." Chang Kaiche was worthy of being the head of the General Affairs Section. He collected intelligence very well and knew what the young master wanted to hear. That was why he gradually gained the respect of Young Master Zhao and appeared on screen more and more frequently.
Of course, not all respected people will appear frequently on camera, such as that person...
"Tanka people are generally born with thick arms and hips, wide waists, hard waists, and feet bent inward. These characteristics are related to their activities on boats all day long. They are also more conducive to their activities on boats. They are a group of natural sailors, active on the rivers, lakes and seas in Fujian and Guangdong, making a living by fishing and water transportation. Some of them have bad intentions and also do some robbery."
"Hmm." Zhao Hao nodded in satisfaction and said, "Speaking of the Tanka people, the boat porridge they make is quite delicious. Let's go to the dock tomorrow and buy a pot for breakfast."
~~
The next morning, Zhao Hao was having breakfast in the back hall of the Tongzhi Yamen when he saw his father walk in, rubbing his temple and yawning.
"Why don't you sleep a little longer?" Zhao Hao personally served a bowl of boat porridge made with fresh fish, shrimps and crabs to Mr. Zhao Erye, who had become the hero of the Divine Condor.
The guards followed his instructions and went to the dock early in the morning to find the boat with a yellow flag with the word "Zong" written on it. That was the boat of the Tanka people selling boat porridge.
"I can't sleep. No matter how lively the celebration is, it can't change the mess in Chaozhou Prefecture. Until now, the whereabouts of the Lord of the Prefecture is still unknown!" Zhao Shouzheng said worriedly: "Yesterday, the gentry asked me what to do next. What should I do as a father, son?"
As he was talking, he naturally and habitually threw the difficult problem to Zhao Hao.
Hearing this, Master Zhao raised his head and looked at his father. This made Master Zhao feel uneasy, and he said awkwardly, "Dad knows you are busy, so forget it if you don't want to help."
"No, that's not what I meant," Zhao Hao said sternly, "I'm here to apologize to my father. I underestimated you before. You're really amazing."
"Hahaha, of course, otherwise how could I have given birth to such an outstanding son?" Mr. Zhao touched the back of his head, so happy that he forgot everything else. "The people in our Zhao family are all very capable and powerful! Of course, I am no exception."
Zhao Hao didn't gag this time, he just shook his head slightly and said, "In fact, what I admire most is that although I was scared to death, I didn't show it at all. I tried my best to play my role well and completed the task of leading the people to defend the city."
"Uh, am I scared?" Mr. Zhao was stunned and scratched his head, "I don't think so?"
"Father, are you still pretending to be with me?" Zhao Hao said with a smile, "I heard everything last night. You kept shouting in your dream, 'I'm so scared, who can save me!' 'Don't do it again, I can't stand it!' 'It's endless, who can stand this?' 'Help me, I don't want to die here...'"
"Puff..." Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhao almost spat out a mouthful of porridge on his face and started coughing with a red face.
"Father has become more shameless than before." Zhao Hao quickly patted him on the back.
"Haha, that's right..." Zhao Shouzheng laughed. He didn't dare tell his son that he didn't dream about the battle to defend the city at all, but another form of battle.
What was even more terrifying was that in this dream, the Four Heavenly Kings actually cheered him and Ning An up...
"Ugh..." Thinking of this, Mr. Zhao almost vomited.
"It doesn't matter if my father doesn't like to drink it." Zhao Hao didn't think much about it and asked someone to serve Mr. Zhao a bowl of sour bamboo shoot soup to sober him up, and half a tablet of Pian Zai Huang.
With these two measures, Mr. Zhao finally felt more comfortable and opened his mouth out of concern for his son. "Son, this place is too small. Why don't you move to Prince Consort Xu's mansion tonight?"
"No need. When we were in Caijia Lane, the place we lived in was not ten times smaller than it is now, right? Didn't we get here too?" Zhao Hao shook his head.
"That's right." Mr. Zhao recalled the past with a nostalgic smile. After a while, he smiled and said, "Then let's squeeze in with Dad first. Fortunately, our stay here is only temporary. When everything is in order here, we will go to Anbu. I heard that the Coast Guard Office there is newly built, large and magnificent..."
"Father, you'd better make some preparations to welcome the governor." Zhao Hao slowly reminded Master Zhao as he dealt with the barbecued pork rice rolls in front of him.
"What? Lin Zhongcheng is coming to inspect?" Mr. Zhao was shocked. Although he had not been under Lin Run for a long time, he was already full of awe for this young governor. Chaozhou was in such a mess at the moment, and there were problems everywhere.
What’s worse is that the prefect disappeared, and he, the deputy prefect, unfortunately became the one who took the blame.
"Why are you afraid? Hero." Zhao Hao said half-jokingly, "You have made great contributions. Lin Zhongcheng is here to comfort you. What is there to be afraid of?"
"That's good, that's good." Zhao Shouzheng wiped his sweat, but shook his head decisively and said, "Lin Zhongcheng is not a person who shoots without a purpose. He must have other things to do in **zhou this time!"
"..." Zhao Hao looked at Master Zhao again and thought that he had really gotten the idea. He couldn't hide it from him.
However, Master Zhao had not thought of hiding it. "Father, don't be careless. You still need to prepare seriously for this inspection."
As he said this, he winked at Zhao Shouzheng and smiled, "Perhaps when Lin Zhongcheng is happy, he will let father act as the governor of Chaozhou Prefecture. Then, we won't have to go to the Haifang Tongzhi Office and can just stay in Chaozhou City peacefully."
"That's great..." Master Zhao wiped his saliva. Even if he was insensitive, he knew what it meant to be the acting prefect.
"But your father has only been the Tongzhi for a few days? You should not be too impatient." But the next moment, he followed his heart and said, "Don't you always say that if you take too big a step, you will get hurt."
"Kuafu chased the sun, but he never caught anything!" Zhao Hao rolled his eyes and said, "When a golden opportunity comes, you have to grab it regardless of the consequences. My father is much older than his peers. How can we succeed if we don't seize the opportunity and take a few steps?"
As he said this, he ordered in a deep voice: "Anyway, father, you should catch up on your studies recently. Learn to look at things from the prefect's perspective, and you will win!"
Although Zhao Hao and Lin Run were close friends, the latter was not a person who would show favoritism. Master Zhao had to show his true ability to get this seemingly ordinary but crucial promotion.