treacherous world

Zhao Pu entered the palace together with Bao Zheng and Pang Ji. After Zhao Zhen asked about the situation at the border, he took Zhao Pu behind the screen and chatted privately.

Pang Ji and Bao Zheng strained their ears but couldn't hear a word, scratching their ears anxiously.

After a while, Zhao Pu came out, seemingly confused, Pang Ji nudged Bao Zheng, "Oh, just ask."

Bao Zheng raised his eyebrows, "I have to go by myself."

The two were arguing, and Zhao Zhen coughed behind him, and the two quickly fell silent, feeling a little out of control.He saluted Zhao Zhen respectfully and followed Zhao Pu out.

When everyone left, Zhao Zhen sighed softly, the smile on his face disappeared, and he reached out to caress the center of his eyebrows.

"Your Majesty." Chen Banban brought Zhao Zhen ginseng tea, "Don't worry, you haven't eaten well these days."

Zhao Zhen smiled, "I and Uncle Jiu have joined hands to defeat the enemy for so many years, and every time we can be killed and become auspicious, but this time is a little different."

Zhao Zhen stood up and walked to the window with his hands behind his back, "Sometimes, it's not that the emperor is ruthless, but that others don't appreciate it..."

After Zhao Pu got out of the palace, he got on his horse and rushed back to Kaifeng Mansion, with Bao Zheng and Pang Ji walking behind in sedan chairs.Bao Zheng still disliked it, "I said, you fat man, if you don't go back to the Grand Master's residence, why do you keep following me?"

Pang Ji raised the curtain to greet him, "Can I see my son go?"

Bao Zheng looked at him distrustfully.

Pang Ji chuckled and rubbed his chin, "There must be a good show today, you can't just watch it."

Bao Zheng shook his head, this old fox.

After Zhao Pu got off his horse, he entered Kaifeng Mansion and saw Xiaoyu walking towards the backyard holding a jar of honey.

"My lord is back!" Xiaoyu cheerfully greeted Zhao Pu.

"Well, where's my grandson?" Zhao Pu was in a good mood as always, and reached out to grab a handful of honey to eat, and nodded, "Well, good stuff, I'll make a honey cake for those children later."

"Well, Madam also said the same." Xiaoyu smiled, "Sir is meeting guests inside."

Zhao Pu was slightly taken aback, "What guest?"

"Eighth Prince, and..."

"Ninth Uncle."

Zhao Pu and Xiaoyu were talking when they heard someone shout, looked up, and saw a young man walking out from the backyard quickly, dressed in fine clothes, what did he look like...

Zhao Pu recognized it, surprised, "Zhao Cong?"

"Uncle Nine, I haven't seen you for many years." Zhao Cong ran out and was about to salute Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu quickly reached out to help him, "Have you returned to Kaifeng Mansion?"

Afterwards, many people followed.

Gongsun and the others who came out from the main hall, Zhan Zhao and others who came out from the backyard, and Pang Yu and Bao Zheng who came in from behind.To everyone's surprise, why was Zhao Pu so surprised?

Everyone thought about it, yes—when they went to the border, no one mentioned Zhao Cong's matter, and Grand Master Pang told them about it behind his back.After arriving in Kaifeng, Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were the first to meet Zhao Cong, and they didn't mention it to Zhao Pu. In the end, it was Zhao Pu who just entered the palace.Originally thought that Zhao Zhen would definitely tell him, but seeing Zhao Pu's surprised face now, could it be that Zhao Zhen didn't mention it to him?That's weird, why did Zhao Zhen ask him to enter the palace?

Zhao Cong was also a little surprised, his expression changed a little bit, and he couldn't tell what it meant, it was all in an instant.

Pang Ji raised an eyebrow at Bao Zheng—what's the situation.

Bao Zheng stroked his chin in a contemplative manner, finally smiled, and gave Pang Ji a thumbs-up, which meant that the emperor was getting more and more powerful.

Seeing Bao Zheng giving him a thumbs up, Pang Ji happily patted his fat stomach, and said, "Old Bao, you finally know the benefits of this old man!"

The corner of Bao Zheng's mouth twitched, he flicked his wrist, thumbs down, and then shook him, making Pang Ji grind his teeth in anger.

Zhao Pu hadn't seen Zhao Cong for several years. In his memory, he was still a child. He had been fighting all the time, so he didn't see him last time. He reached out and patted him on the shoulder, "Good boy, he's grown up so much."

Zhao Cong was also happy, "Uncle Jiu, you are only a few years older than me, don't act old."

At this moment, the Eighth Prince also came out, "Ze Lan, is the border affairs over?"

"Well, don't worry, starling." Zhao Pu nodded, seeing that the Eighth Prince looked very good, he was also relieved.

Zhan Zhao lightly tugged at Bai Yutang's clothes - no, during the meal just now, Ziying was so angry that she mentioned Zhao Cong!

Bai Yutang frowned—he didn't say it clearly... With Zhao Pu's nerves, maybe he didn't pay attention?

Thinking of this, the two looked at each other again—or was it just pretending?Is it too much pretending to be like that?

Zhao Pu stretched out his hand to pick up the fourth son who ran out with Xiao Liang, and went to Gongsun, "Oh, bookworm, the emperor just told me that Concubine Pang seems to be pregnant again, and I want you to get a pulse check tonight."

"What?!"

This time it was Pang Ji who was surprised, Grand Master Pang was about to jump up, "Really? My lord, don't lie to me, last time I said that I got the result and it turned out to be a stomach problem, which made me happy for nothing."

Zhao Pu smiled, and pointed to his ear, "Grand Master, didn't you hear it just now? The emperor took me behind the screen and said it. I saw you and Prime Minister Bao pricked up your ears outside, and thought you were listening."

Pang Ji and Bao Zheng were stunned for a moment, they both patted their legs, and asked the emperor to put on a show, dare to say that Zhao Zhen is not testing Zhao Pu, he is testing the two of them.

Pang Ji didn't care about pursuing it anymore, he didn't care whether Zhao Cong was Zhao Cong or not, so he pulled Pang Yu, who was happy, into the palace to see his daughter.

Everyone entered the room and sat down to continue talking, and soon they all left, leaving only Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang in the courtyard.

Holding the sword in his arms, Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, "Oh, what do you think..."

Bai Yutang shook his head, "Zhao Pu, if he tries to hide it, no one will be able to see through it, probably..."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "Well, I also think only Gongsun should know."

"By the way, where did you say you were going?" Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao when he saw that no one was there.

"Go shopping for antiques." Zhan Zhao replied inexplicably, and cheerfully pulled him out.

"Antique..." Bai Yutang frowned, "Don't say that in front of my master."

"It's our master." Zhan Zhao smiled, and Bai Yutang's mood inexplicably improved a lot, but he was a little hungry. For some reason, he had just eaten.

The two left Kaifeng and came to a street in the north of the city. This is an antique market, most of which sell paintings and calligraphy.

Bai Yutang understood Zhan Zhao's meaning, "Cat, do you want to see if someone brought something from the imperial tomb, come here to get rid of it?"

"I can always inquire. I'm not good at observing words and expressions. I'd better do something." Zhan Zhao replied casually, shaking his head, "Oh, I feel pitiful when I think of the Eighth Prince, who has worked so hard for so many years to teach the emperor. Both Zhao Pu and Zhao Pu are so outstanding, but his own son... Who do you think Zhao Cong looks like? The prince, Lord Chai, is obviously a good person. Sigh? Do you think Zhao Pu pretended to be something in order not to make the Eight Kings feel sad? None?"

Zhan Zhao muttered, but Bai Yutang didn't respond, turned his face away, and Zhan Zhao stomped his feet angrily—Bai Yutang ran to a colored glaze stand beside him at some point, looking curiously at the colored glazes that came from the Western Regions.

Zhan Zhao frowned and walked over, looking at him.

Bai Yutang raised his eyes, "Mao'er, is your face so ugly?"

Zhan Zhaoxin said, you do know.

"Is it uncomfortable again?" Bai Yutang reached out to touch Zhan Zhao's forehead, Zhan Zhao's anger was half gone, and he leaned over, "I've been healed a long time ago, what are you looking at?"

"Master Zhan, Fifth Master Bai." Almost everyone in this area knew them, and the clerk who looked at the shop greeted them, "This is the ice amber glaze brought by Tianshui in the Western Regions. It's a good thing!"

"Aren't you a fellow of Tianyuhang?" Bai Yutang glanced at a majestic gate not far away. The house almost occupied the entire street. The big characters, flying like dragons and phoenixes... are Zhao Zhen's own inscriptions.

"Hehe, Lord Wu still remembers me." The clerk was so happy that his face blossomed, "Isn't this the proprietress who likes to play with colored glaze recently? She brought a big cart from Tianshui. I sell some small items here, and there are big ones inside. Fifth Master, are you interested in entering the house and taking a look?"

Bai Yutang also wanted to inquire about the proprietress of Tianyuhang, and was about to leave when he saw Zhan Zhao standing by the stall watching.

"Ice amber glass, the crystal clear ones are very beautiful." Zhan Zhao took a fancy to a chubby rabbit, and reached out to pick it up, but was picked off by one hand first.

Zhan Zhao turned his face subconsciously, and saw two young men standing beside him at some point, one should be the young master, wearing silk and jade, very decent.Behind him was a young boy in black, very clever.The young man may be ten years old, and the servant looked at Cai sixteen or seven.

The boy picked the little rabbit and showed it to the boy, "Do you think this rabbit looks good?"

"Second young master is pretty good-looking, why don't you just buy this?"

"Yeah." The second young master nodded, and asked the buddy happily, "How much money is this?"

The guy looked at Zhan Zhao, this was the one he saw first.

Naturally, Zhan Zhao wouldn't grab things from a half-grown guy, so he smiled at the clerk and signaled—it doesn't matter.Bai Yutang saw that he seemed to like Liuli, so he stood aside and waited for a while, Zhan Zhao might be interested in something else.

The man told the second young master, "Ten taels of silver."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang felt that it was a little expensive. This colored glaze was not a jade item. It was probably a shopkeeper doing business. They thought that the second young master was well dressed, so they wanted to ask a high price so that he could counter the price.

Unexpectedly, the second young master frowned, "Tsk... so cheap, I can't give it away."

When the guy heard the truth, he turned around and slapped himself. He knew it was more important just now.

"Master, he is already going to be expensive." The young man said to his master sharply, "This glass is not jade, it is worth one or two taels. The stalls here sell cheap goods. That's what's expensive."

The waiter was not happy, "Oh, it's not right for this young master to say that. My stall was also set up by the big shop in the back. Naturally, there are expensive and cheap things."

The second young master was silent for a while, then raised his eyebrows, "So this thing is worth one tael, but you sell it for ten taels?"

The clerk quickly waved his hand, "I can't say that, I'm an ice amber colored glaze from Tianshui, it's different from ordinary colored glaze, think about it, how much is the travel fare!"

"Heh." The little boy fanned the flames, "It's amazing, you all buy goods one by one, and the purchase price is only a few dollars when you share the purchase price. It's just that you are dishonest in your business."

Seeing that there was a tendency to quarrel, Bai Yutang decided to leave.

The buddy didn't bother to quarrel with the two of them, so he went aside.

The boy hung the rabbit back and said to his young master, "Let's go, young master."

The two turned around and left.

Seeing that the two of them no longer wanted it, Zhan Zhao took the little rabbit and looked at it. The more he looked, the more he looked like the little four, so he asked the waiter, "Six taels for sale?"

Zhan Zhao used to walk around this area and knew the rules.Generally, things called ten taels cost three or four taels, and usually the five taels guys bought them, so the customers basically counter-offered to five or six taels.Occasionally there are some special ones, just like Tianzun, who charge a high price. If he is not short of money, he will lose money. This cannot be said that the merchant is cheating. After all, he is willing to buy and sell, and he sells real things. He is kind. It's not kind, it's a butcher.

The buddy hehe nodded at Zhan Zhaole, "Six taels, will you buy it back for the fourth son? If yes, I will charge you four taels of silver."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang raised their eyebrows—look!How big is the little four.

Zhan Zhao gave him five taels of silver, but before the money reached the guy, a hand stretched out from the side and snatched the money away.That hand looked familiar to Zhan Zhao, wasn't it the hand that snatched the jade pendant just now?

The guy frowned when he saw it—it was still the second young master.

The young master looked at the clerk, "You profiteer, why did you give him four taels but give me ten taels?"

The man rolled his eyes, "I said, this young master, you don't care how I do business!"

"Your business is unfair!" The boy was quite able to jump around, "Oh! I understand, we are the first to look at this colored glaze. I saw him smile at you just now. Did you ask you to ask for a high price? Blackmail our money? So that we can share the spoils on the spot?!"

The man was stunned when he heard what the boy said, and it took him a long time to understand. He said that he and Zhan Zhao had agreed to blackmail someone, and he laughed, "I said you have never seen the world, go home quickly. Stop arguing here, I can't even explain it to you."

"How dare you say I'm ignorant?!" The young master quit, reached out to grab the little rabbit glass that the waiter was going to wrap up for Zhan Zhao, and threw it on the ground.

"Ah!" The buddy was in a hurry, such a throw must be broken.

At the same time, the figure flickered... The man saw the blue figure flicker in front of him, Zhan Zhao stretched out his hand again, and the glazed rabbit was already in his hand.

Bai Yutang thought it was troublesome, so he threw another ingot of silver to the clerk, and pulled Zhan Zhao, "Let's go."

"Wait!" The second young master quit, reaching out to pull Zhan Zhao's arm, "give me the rabbit!"

When Bai Yutang moved Zhan Zhao lightly, the boy felt a pain in his hand, as if someone had patted it, but he didn't see it, so he raised his head wondering.Bai Yutang's face was slightly unkind, and he thought that you didn't touch the cat.

At this moment, Zhan Zhao took a closer look at the second young master. It was true that he was ten years old, but although he was dressed as a Han nationality, he seemed a bit like a foreigner, because his facial features were slightly different from those of the people from the Central Plains.But Zhan Zhao couldn't tell where he was from, probably not from those countries in the Western Regions.

"Our young master has taken a fancy to this rabbit." The boy threw back Zhan Zhao's five taels of silver, and gave the clerk another four taels of silver, "We bought it."

After finishing speaking, he snatched back the glass that Zhan Zhao was holding and handed it to the second young master, "Young master, you can throw it away, we have plenty of money, we can buy his entire shop and smash it up!"

The young master's mouth twitched slightly, as if he was in a better mood, he reached out and took the glazed rabbit, raised his hand and threw it out.

But as soon as Bai Yutang raised his hand... the Liuli Rabbit got into his hands somehow, the guy saw that it was a mess, and provoked Bai Wuye.

Zhan Zhao stretched out his hand, took the glass over, and patted Bai Yutang gently, "Oh, you can't go empty-handed to see Mrs. Tianyu, you can buy two jars of good wine."

Bai Yutang saw Zhan Zhao staring at the left corner of his mouth, and knew that the cat must have disliked the young man, and with his meddling temperament, came up to teach him a lesson.Nodding his head, Bai Yutang turned around and went to a nearby winery to buy wine.

This Tianyu Store is the largest jade store in Kaifeng Prefecture.

The owner of the jade shop is a widow named Feng Tianyu, her deceased husband was a good friend of Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao, Jiang Manhu, known as a jade idiot.Jiang Manhu is a great talent, fell in love with Feng Tianyu, a woman from Jianghu, and opened the Tianyu Tour for her.It's a pity that heaven is jealous of Yingcai, he was plagued by strange illnesses at a young age, and he was already dying. Gongsun Leng rescued him, but he also said in advance that he would live for another two years at most.Feng Tianyu and Jiang Manhu had a deep relationship, and after they lived together for another three years, Jiang Manhu passed away quietly.Feng Tianyu inherited the jade shop from then on, and it grew bigger and bigger.

Feng Tianyu originally had a strong background in Jianghu, and after living in Kaifeng, he had a lot of friends, Zhan Zhao knew that Bai Yutang took advantage of this moment to ask Feng Tianyu for news.

Seeing that Zhan Zhao picked up the glazed rabbit again, the second young master was very dissatisfied, "Give me back the rabbit, I will throw it away if I don't want it!"

Zhan Zhao smiled, "That's right, so this rabbit is not yours anymore."

"what?"

"You said you don't want it anymore, if you lose it, the one I picked up will naturally belong to me."

The man hurriedly collected the money and nodded, "I saw it!"

"Okay!" The boy jumped, "You really belong together."

Zhan Zhao still smiled slightly, "You said you could buy and smash the whole jade shop, why do I not believe it so much?"

"You think I can't afford it?" The young master was annoyed.

Zhan Zhao looked him up and down, "You don't look very rich."

"Damn!" The second young master looked at the waiter, "How much money is this shop?"

The buddy was also happy, "I said, young master, don't even think about the big shop behind me. The purchase price of colored glaze in this stall is 3000 taels."

"Ha, isn't it only 3000 taels!" The boy took out the silver ticket and smashed it on the waiter's table, "Master, let's smash it!"

"Okay!" The young master picked up the jade and threw it on the ground... But the strange thing is, after he was out of breath and smashed all the things, they all fell into Zhan Zhao's hands.

The buddy cheerfully charged 3000 taels.

Zhan Zhao returned all the jades to the guy.

"What are you doing?" The young master didn't understand.

"I picked it up but didn't want it, so I gave it to the buddy for free." Zhan Zhao smiled, "If you have the ability, you buy it again and then throw it away? You have no money."

"Grandpa has a lot of money!" The young master blushed with anger, and asked the boy to buy the money, and when he smashed it again, Zhan Zhao still picked it up and gave it to the boy.

In the end, the young master couldn't move anymore. He was so tired that he leaned against the stall. The more he looked at Zhan Zhao, the more angry he became, "You bastard...give me the money! I don't believe you can't smash it."

The guy was so happy that he was holding tens of thousands of taels of silver. Isn't this money for nothing?

The young man tugged at his young master's sleeve in embarrassment, "Master, we are out of money."

"what?"

"Otherwise, I'll go back and get it?" The servant cried sadly.

The young master's face flushed red.

The clerk cheerfully teased him, "Oh, there is no money, my jade shop is still doing well!"

The second young master seemed to hate him very much, stomping his feet and glaring at the guy angrily, "Businessman! Just wait, I'll have someone tear down your shop."

The clerk raised his eyebrows, "I said you are the little bastard. Everyone in Kaifeng Mansion is reasonable and demolishes the shop every now and then. Are you a bit of a king?"

The boy was so angry that his face wrinkled together, and the servant behind him muttered something, throwing away tens of thousands of taels for nothing.

Seeing that it was almost done, Zhan Zhao returned the jade to the waiter and raised his eyebrows.

The clerk also laughed, and returned all the silver to the boy, "Take the money."

The two teenagers looked at each other, both a little puzzled.

"This is the lord of the yamen, why would you join me in extorting money from you, but you are too arrogant." The clerk stretched out his hand to wrap the little rabbit in glass and handed it to Zhan Zhao. "He has been on this interface for a long time, and he knows that this young man must have a lot of background with so much money with him. One thing more is worse than one thing less, and he can't cause trouble for the proprietress, so he doesn't want to fuss with him anymore.

The fourth son collected the money to see the second young master.

The second young master looked at Zhan Zhao, "You are good at martial arts, my name is... Liu Du, what's your name?"

Zhan Zhao was about to answer, when he saw Bai Yutang approaching not far away, holding a wine jar in his hand and giving him a light nod.Zhan Zhao ran over, and went to Tianyu Store with Bai Yutang to ask Feng Tianyu for news.

After everyone left, the second young master asked the buddy, "Oh, buddy."

"what?"

"Who was that person just now?"

"You're not a local, are you? You don't even know him." The man laughed, "That's Mr. Zhan Zhaozhan, the well-known southern chivalrous man."

"Zhan Zhao?" The second young master folded his arms and frowned, "So he is Zhan Zhao."

"Master, Master."

The second young master was in a trance when he felt the fourth son beside him tugging at his sleeve, his voice was still trembling.

"Why are you?"

The boy was very frightened and motioned him not to look far away.

As soon as the second young master turned his face, he saw a man in his 20s standing at the entrance of the alley not far away.He was wearing blue clothes, leaning against the wall of the alley.The roof of the nearby house happened to cast a shadow slantingly on the wall, covering his face. From a distance, he couldn't see his appearance clearly.

But the boy's face turned pale in an instant, and the servant beside him whispered, "Hurry up and go back, master."

The guy was a little curious, and looked back. The people in the alley were turning around and walking into the alley. He only saw a figure from behind, frowning slightly - he had seen many people, and instinctively felt that the person seemed to be good at skills, and...had a Eerie feeling.

The second young master, who was quite arrogant just now, has faded away for some reason, and timidly dragged the young man forward, and chased into the alley.