Survival countdown

They spent too long hanging out at night, and Zhao Baiyu didn't wake up until the sun was up.

When he woke up, he was found lying on Huo Jingtang's back, both of them were naked from the upper body, covered with a blanket up to the shoulder blades, the charcoal fire that had been burning in the room all night had been extinguished, Zhao Baiyu was Waking up from the cold.

Staring dimly at the tooth marks that are close at hand, on Huo Jingtang's shoulder, Zhao Baiyu can bite into the tooth marks with just one mouthful. scold.

Zhao Baiyu was startled, got up quickly, picked up the clothes on the ground and wrapped them around his body, opened the curtain with his bare feet, went to the small flower hall to look at the closed door, there were dozens of shadowy figures standing motionless at the door.

The eunuch outside scolded a little maid: "The water is cold? Go, quickly change to warm water. It needs to be used at any time. Do you want the nobleman to wait for you? You have no eyesight!"

"It's a palace man."

Huo Jingtang appeared at Zhao Baiyu's side at some time, with a single shirt on his upper body, and a white fox fur cloak in both hands, which was draped over Zhao Baiyu's shoulders.

"It's cold. Worried about freezing."

Zhao Baiyu was a little embarrassed: "Didn't you say that no palace people came?"

Huo Jingtang: "I didn't say anything."

Zhao Baiyu thought about it carefully. Huo Jingtang really only said that the place is remote. According to common sense, it is impossible for the lights to be on here without guards from the palace. He couldn't help covering his face: "How long have they been waiting?"

"Generally speaking, you have to come here before dawn."

Have to wait outside the door for an hour or two?

Zhao Baiyu groaned uncomfortably, probably not everyone in the inner palace knew that they sneaked here to hang out last night.

Others are watching the age, they are prostitution——

Zhao Baiyu suffocated and muttered: "I'm ashamed to see people." He grabbed the cloak and buried his head to his feet, and asked in a muffled voice: "Will your majesty know?"

Huo Jingtang was silent for a long time before returning to him: "Your Majesty takes care of everything every day, so he won't care about these trivial matters."

The fact is that because of Emperor Yuanshou's suspicion, all disturbances in the harem must be under his control.

But Zhao Baiyu just wanted to be a coward right now, so he chose to believe Huo Jingtang's words, at least he had psychological comfort.

Huo Jingtang raised his voice: "Come in."

With an order, the palace people filed in one after another, washing his face, dressing his clothes, and even buttoning his clothes. Zhao Baiyu felt deeply uncomfortable, and refused when the palace lady helped him tie his belt, and did it himself.

Huo Jingtang adapted well, and he accepted the servants of the palace naturally with every gesture, his expression was indifferent, alienated and noble, he was less casual and unruly in the county prince's mansion, and he was a little more disciplined.

At this moment, Huo Jingtang convinced Zhao Baiyu that he had really lived in the palace for nearly ten years, and that he was a genuine nobleman.

After Zhao Baiyu washed his face, Huo Jingtang was already waiting for him at the porch.

"Go back to the county palace?"

Before Huo Jingtang could speak, the leading eunuch hurriedly said: "Your Majesty has ordered you to invite the young prince and concubine to have a meal at Funing Palace. Your Majesty the prince, your majesty hasn't had breakfast yet, and he said that he will wait for you two, and he will not Let the servants urge, saying that it is the beginning of the new year, and the whole world celebrates, so that you two can get enough sleep. Except for the Queen Mother and His Royal Highness, the servants have never seen anyone who can call His Majesty to wait. Your Highness, look at this Fu'an Hall, ten years after you left In the coming year, people will come to clean and dust every day, and people will not be moved in, and the things inside will not be damaged... Now there are several little princes and princesses in the palace, but in His Majesty's heart, it is still the most important thing. I love you, little princess."

Huo Jingtang put his hands in his sleeves, his expression was cold: "Eunuch is so talkative, it's better to hang him."

The leading eunuch covered his mouth reflexively, then put it down with a smirk: "You're joking, His Royal Highness."

Huo Jingtang: "This king seems to be joking?"

The nickname of the Confused Demon King is by no means a vain name, although it won't really wring his tongue, it is enough for him to suffer.The leading eunuch quickly bowed his head respectfully, not daring to talk too much and being self-righteous.

Perhaps Huo Jingtang saw that he was weak and hadn't lived in the imperial palace for more than ten years, so he asked these maids and eunuchs to look down on him, and any eunuch would dare to persuade them by relying on their elders.

When they arrived at Defuning Palace, all meals were prepared, but Emperor Yuanshou was not there.

The eunuch respectfully paid his respects and explained: "The queen mother heard that His Royal Highness is staying in the palace for the night and is planning to stay in the palace for dinner, so she said she would come over. Your Majesty will go to greet her in person. Your Highness and the princess will wait for a while."

Zhao Baiyu was a little nervous, it was different from the usual cautiousness when meeting the emperor, now he was meeting Huo Jingtang's blood relatives, the same reason as meeting his father-in-law at his fiancée's house with his boyfriend, he didn't know how to put his hands and feet, he was afraid that he would not be able to get on the table.

Just when he was at a loss, a group of people came in. Most of the eunuchs in the palace stayed outside the palace, and a small part came in to serve. The first ones were Emperor Yuanshou in bright red uniform and the empress dowager in dark blue private clothes.

The Empress Dowager is sixty years old this year. She was supposed to hold a big birthday banquet in her [-]th year. Unfortunately, there was an eventful year. It happened to be the time when the Huainan flood and the epidemic broke out at the same time. Stopped by the Queen Mother, she only did it in her Ciming Hall.

If the ancients could live to sixty, they would be considered long-lived, and ordinary people would congratulate them, let alone a queen mother of a country.

But when the people's livelihood was very difficult, the queen mother stopped and discouraged Emperor Yuanshou from going his own way. It can be seen that she is a woman with great political foresight and extraordinary courage.

The Empress Dowager came in from outside the hall. She was tall and well-proportioned. Although she was sixty, she was well-maintained. She had thick black hair, few wrinkles on her face, and smooth skin. She could vaguely see that she was in the prime of life when she was young.

Huo Jingtang lowered his head and cupped his hands: "Jingtang has seen the imperial grandmother, and seen His Majesty."

Zhao Baiyu followed and saluted: "I have seen the Queen Mother, and I have seen Your Majesty."

Huo Jingtang turned to look at him, and said silently: "It's a wrong call."

Zhao Baiyu, who was so nervous that his kidneys were convulsed, just pretended not to see.

"Get up." The Empress Dowager came to Huo Jingtang, cupped his cheeks and looked at him: "You look good, have you recovered?"

Huo Jingtang's expression was as usual: "It's just a minor illness, who is going to talk about it in your ears?"

"Still hiding it from me?" The queen mother patted Huo Jingtang's arm and pulled him to the table: "If it wasn't for the incident caused by Prince Jing a while ago, wouldn't I have to wait until your mourning hall is set up before I know? You guys?" These children and grandchildren always like to learn the so-called 'filial piety' of reporting good news but not worrying, and fearing the fear of the elders! You must not do this in the future."

Holding Huo Jingtang's hand, the queen mother was like the most ordinary grandmother in the world, and she babbled and said: "If something happens to you, how can I explain to Cui Guogong? How can I have the face to see you again when I go to the Nine Springs?" Your mother?"

Huo Jingtang responded with a smile: "Grandson Jiren has his own aura, isn't he all right now?"

The Empress Dowager folded her hands together and recited Amitabha Buddha: "Kill less and recite more Buddhas. The Buddha has spirits and will bless you all in peace... Do you often copy the Heart Sutra? Do you recite the Heart Sutra silently every day? Do you go to Baohua Temple to eat fast and chant Buddha on the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year? "

Huo Jingtang: "I don't go often on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, but there is a fast."

The queen mother nodded in satisfaction when she heard the words, and looked at Huo Jingtang with loving eyes: "Among the grandchildren under Ai's knees, Zixi is the most kind-hearted."

Zhao Baiyu: "..." Perhaps today, we have caught a glimpse of Huo Jingtang's guide to Buddhism.

The Empress Dowager sat at the main seat, Emperor Yuan Shou was beside her, Huo Jingtang was on the other side, Zhao Baiyu was still hesitating.

Huo Jingtang said naturally: "Xiao Lang, sit here."

Zhao Baiyu subconsciously paid attention to the reactions of Emperor Yuanshou and the Empress Dowager. Emperor Yuanshou looked as usual and didn't look at him, but the Empress Dowager smiled kindly at him.

"Come here." Seeing Zhao Baiyu sit down, the queen mother kept looking at him, and said after a while, "It's not like Changping, but like the number one scholar 20 years ago. Emperor, do you look like it?"

Emperor Yuan Shou looked up at Zhao Baiyu: "It's really not half like Changping."

The queen mother said abruptly: "The temperament is not the same either."

Zhao Baiyu's eyelids trembled, and the hands hanging by his sides unconsciously curled up, as if he had only realized that he had this superficial relationship with the Queen Mother and Emperor Yuanshou at this time.

Queen Mother: "Are you nervous?"

Zhao Baiyu bowed his head and said softly: "This minister speaks lightly and has little knowledge. This is the first time I have dinner with the Queen Mother and Your Majesty, and I am afraid that the emperor will lose his dignity."

The queen mother laughed, "You are honest and kind-hearted." Seeing the Buddhist beads on Zhao Baiyu's wrist, she couldn't help asking: "Do you also believe in Buddhism?"

Zhao Baiyu was holding the Buddhist beads, and before he could answer, Huo Jingtang took his hand and said to the queen mother: "On the grandson's wedding day, the emperor's grandmother went out to worship the Buddha and didn't meet her. Can I make up for the newcomer now?" Tea?"

The Empress Dowager immediately smiled and said, "Emperor, is there something in your words?"

Emperor Yuanshou smiled lightly: "Ask for a gift from you. On his wedding day, he accepted the gift but turned away the guests. I have never seen anyone in Beijing who is as generous as him!"

The queen mother was overjoyed, and called Zhao Baiyu to stand beside her, then took off the pure jade bracelet on his left wrist and stuffed it into his hand, carefully looking at his facial features, as if looking for the shadow of Changping through his outline.

After all, no similarities were found, the Queen Mother's enthusiasm weakened imperceptibly, she just patted the back of Zhao Baiyu's hand and said: "This is the second day of Ai's big wedding, and I entered the palace with the first emperor to meet my mother and concubine, and she gave me a meeting gift." .”

Zhao Baiyu refused: "It's too expensive..."

"No matter how valuable it is, it's a dead thing, and it's nothing compared to a living person. You are both my grandson and my granddaughter-in-law. Isn't the relationship worth a bracelet?" The queen mother stared at the jade bracelet for a while, and asked casually: " Is there any correspondence with Changping in these years?"

Zhao Baiyu raised his eyes: "No."

The Empress Dowager looked straight at him: "Could it be that you haven't seen Changping since you were born?"

Zhao Baiyu: "The empress dowager forgot that the princess is a sinner, she was demoted to the south of the Yangtze River, and she can't go back without an edict."

"Ah, yes, Ai's family is confused." The queen mother seemed to remember something, and said: "Look at me, I am too busy talking, and I sit down to eat, don't be cautious, today is a family banquet, just relax as if you were at your own home."

Zhao Baiyu responded with a smile, not daring to relax the whole time.

There was no talking when eating or sleeping, and the dinner was very quiet. It was not until the meal was over that the queen mother said to Emperor Yuanshou: "I won't bother you, go back to my Ciming Hall first, and Ziji stay a little longer to catch up with the emperor." .”

Huo Jingtang: "I found the lone copy of Master Xuanzang's journey to the West from the Great Xia imperial family before, and I have had someone translate it into scriptures, and then I have someone send it to the imperial grandmother's palace."

The Empress Dowager sincerely respected the Buddha, and she was so happy that she could not close her mouth from ear to ear: "Okay, Aijia is waiting."

Sending off the queen mother respectfully, Emperor Yuanshou asked people to withdraw from the banquet.

Huo Jingtang immediately cupped his hands: "The minister's family is still busy, so I will take my leave first."

"Stop!" Emperor Yuan Shou stared at him, unable to vent his anger, like a father who felt guilty and couldn't take it for granted.He flicked his sleeves and pointed at Zhao Baiyu casually: "You stay and play chess with me."

Huo Jingtang stood sideways in front of Zhao Baiyu, with a cold expression: "He is my young man, he should enter and exit with the minister."

One mouthful, one minister, one mouthful, one young man, all jumping on the sensitive and irritable points of Emperor Yuanshou.

"I didn't ask you. Zhao Qing, tell me."

Zhao Baiyu walked out, cupped his hands and said respectfully: "Return to Your Majesty, the minister presided over the county prince's mansion, and did not return all night. I am afraid that the affairs in the mansion will pile up, so I have to go home quickly."

"If I asked you to stay here in the name of uncle, would you refuse?"

The eunuch behind Emperor Yuanshou kept winking, signaling to the two of them not to be stubborn, and quickly followed Emperor Yuanshou's words to stay. Didn't you hear the anger in His Majesty's voice?

Zhao Baiyu lowered his eyebrows and lowered his eyes: "There is a difference between superiority and inferiority, I dare not."

The eunuch didn't look at it directly, but when he saw the corner of Lin'an Xiaojun's mouth turned up, his face was full of bitterness. These two are really a pot with a cover. The little county king's bad temper is indulged by His Majesty. How big is it?

"Okay! There's no difference between superiority and inferiority! Get out - get out of here, since you like staying at home so much, don't leave the house during this time!"

Grounded?

The eunuch was so frightened that he quickly knelt down and prayed desperately for the two desperate masters to quickly admit their mistakes, apologize, and give His Majesty a step down.

Huo Jingtang and Zhao Baiyu clasped their hands together and said in unison, "Thank you Lord Long En."

After saying that, they all left the stage.

Emperor Yuanshou: "——!" He slapped his heart and got angry, but he couldn't hold back and told the two to get back.

So on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Emperor Yuanshou paced back and forth in his bedroom, his mind full of doubts about himself. Could it be that he has become so disgusted by people that the two juniors have no respect for him? Affection?

At noon, the East Palace, the fifth prince and other princes asked to see him.

Emperor Yuanshou was upset and irritable, and he didn't want to refuse, but suddenly stopped the eunuch and ordered him to take out the cakes in the palace, saying that they were rewards for the princes, and everyone had a share.

When the eunuch came back, Emperor Yuanshou asked, "How did the prince and others react when they received the pastries?"

The eunuch: "The princes are grateful and tearful, and their admiration is beyond words."

Emperor Yuanshou nodded with satisfaction, feeling a little relieved.

Chief eunuch: "..."

That is to say, why this?

***

On the royal road, Zhao Baiyu and Huo Jingtang walked slowly.

"I was very scared and nervous just now, and I didn't eat enough."

"I can see it." Huo Jingtang took out a pastry hidden in the scarf from his wide sleeve robe, and looked at him with a smile: "I found it by chance, Xiao Lang didn't notice it."

Zhao Baiyu was very surprised: "Under the watchful eyes of everyone, there is such a superb skill of leading the sheep!"

Huo Jingtang raised his chin: "It's time to do it. The royal banquet is boring, and it takes several hours to end. If you don't steal some pastries to pad your stomach, you will be so hungry that your chest will stick to your back."

Zhao Baiyu: "This trick is powerful, teach me, teach me."

Huo Jingtang: "This is called grafting flowers and trees. It pays attention to eyesight and hand speed. Xiao Lang's superb gambling skills also require eyesight and hand speed. It has the same effect...I will teach you back home."

Zhao Baiyu was happy, biting pastries while walking.

***

Ciming Palace.

When the queen mother came back from Funing Palace, she devoted herself to worshiping the Buddha, burned the copied Heart Sutra, and saw Emperor Yuanshou waiting in the flower hall.Emperor Yuanshou replaced Mammy and helped the Queen Mother to sit on the collapsed platform, and then sat on the side of the Queen Mother.

"No one stayed?" The queen mother understood, and poured tea to Emperor Yuanshou herself: "The child has grown up, and some tempers are normal."

Emperor Yuanshou drank the tea in his cup in one gulp, and couldn't help saying: "His temper is too stinky! As the saying goes, father and son have no overnight feud, he and I—"

"Emperor!" The Empress Dowager yelled majestically, looking at the people in the palace, fortunately they were all sent out. "If Ziji was really angry with you, would he still try his best to listen to you, complete the tasks you gave him, and guard Dajing Jiangshan for you? It doesn't matter. He has fought in the northwest all these years and conquered the Turks, Great Xia and Southern Xinjiang. , solve so many shady things for you in secret, make a young child believe in Buddhism more than me, an old man who is about to die, what's wrong with playing a bit of a temper? Let me tell you, he has to be more domineering to be worthy of these things years of dedication."

Emperor Yuanshou said embarrassingly: "I just complained, I didn't really do anything to him... Besides, he has been acting absurdly lately, and he took it seriously when he married a man. That's his cousin!"

"Cousins ​​and cousins ​​can still get closer. Besides, the previous dynasty was open, and there is no precedent for male wives. Besides, the emperor didn't push for this matter?"

Whether it is her own son, the queen mother can guess what Emperor Yuanshou is thinking.

Emperor Yuanshou was silent, and after a long time he whispered: "I just—"

"It's just hard to get over the water."

Seeing that Huo Jingtang had no cure at first, he wanted to use him to the end, but when he found out that he was cured, he regretted it. Think once there is a crack in the heart, how can it be so easy to repair?

The Tian family is cool, and the emperor is even more outstanding.

There are some truths that the queen mother knows by heart, but she won't say it, even if the man opposite him crawls out of her belly, the emperor.

"That child is very similar to Zhao Zaizhi." The Queen Mother suddenly whispered, "It doesn't look like Changping at all, neither does it look like Changping, nor does it look like temperament. I don't know who he is. , not like my mother, but like a bodhisattva who came to the world to pass the catastrophe."

Emperor Yuanshou couldn't hide his surprise. The Empress Dowager believed in Buddhism. To her, using the word 'Bodhisattva' to describe someone was the highest evaluation. So is Zhao Baiyu worth it?

The queen mother raised her eyes, her eyes were wise and penetrating, and she went straight to the heart: "In order to maintain the balance of several parties and calm the anger of the Zhao family, the emperor and the Ai family have been in the capital for 20 years. He grew up in the back house of the Zhao family. The Zhao family has resentment in their hearts, and they may not treat him well, so Li Daitao's stiffness can be seen."

Emperor Yuanshou: "Growing up in such an environment, it is indeed commendable to be able to maintain the loyalty of a child."

The queen mother slowly closed her eyes and fiddled with the beads: "Just now I asked, Ai Jia found out that Changping was so cruel that he abandoned Zhao Baiyu and ignored him for 20 years, but when he mentioned Changping, there was no resentment or haze in his eyes. It’s because he doesn’t hold any grudge against Changping.”

Emperor Yuan Shou frowned, not agreeing.

In his view, no matter what the parents did wrong, they should not feel resentment as a son of man, even resenting their biological parents, which shows that narrow selfishness deviates from human nature, and they are not considered human.

The queen mother knew that Emperor Yuanshou's silence was not acquiescence, but his filial piety.

Emperor Yuanshou has been the emperor for more than twenty years, and his monarchy and patriarchal power have reached their peak. Naturally, he forgot that when he was still in the East Palace, he was jealous and resentful because the former emperor repeatedly favored King Jing, and he had the heart to kill his father and king.

But it's all the past, the queen mother will not mention it unwisely, so as not to hurt the mother-child relationship.

***

Once Zhao Baiyu and Huo Jingtang returned to the mansion, Uncle Hai, Wei Bo, Adjutant Cui, Yan Bing, nuns and girls who were waiting in the flower hall all rushed over, especially the girls pushed Huo Jingtang away, Worryingly asked Zhao Baiyu why he didn't return all night,

Even the mothers in the mansion complained veiledly that the little county king should be ignorant, and even took the mansion's young gentleman to hang out outside, how could he not come back to watch the new year?

Huo Jingtang coughed lightly, "Xiao Lang and I watched the new year in the palace last night."

"Really? To watch the new year with His Majesty?"

"I came back after dinner with the Queen Mother and Your Majesty."

The nuns and Uncle Hai were very pleased when they heard the words. This shows that the relationship between the Xiaojun King and His Majesty has broken the ice.

The real inside story is different from the expectations of the people in the house, Zhao Baiyu averted his eyes calmly, but his ears were actually turning red.

"It's a good thing to come back. I have to visit others today. I made a list..."

As soon as Uncle Hai took out the list, Uncle Wei came to Zhao Baiyu first and said, "Wu Lang, this is the person we have to visit today. The first one is your teacher, Mr. Chen."

Uncle Hai was dissatisfied: "Master Zhao has to go with the king of the small county."

Wei Bo: "Yes. But we have to take care of our Goro and visit our mentor first."

Uncle Hai rolled up his sleeves and argued with Wei Bo. Zhao Baiyu easily responded to the questions of everyone who cared about him in the crowd, and gradually moved himself out of the crowd and slipped to Huo Jingtang's side.

Huo Jingtang said casually, "Go take a nap?"

Zhao Baiyu: "Let's go."

The people in the mansion behind them were arguing, but the couple leisurely went back to the main courtyard to catch up on sleep.

After the quarrel was over, it was discovered that the person was gone, and I asked for instructions on how to arrange it, and got a reply of "his Majesty grounded me", no one needed to argue, and the meeting ended.

Talking about confinement, the two of them really lived a small life in the mansion, but Zhao Baiyu asked someone to send gifts and invitations to Chen Shidao's mansion, Daoming the reason why he couldn't come to the mansion to pay New Year's greetings in person, his words were sincere and sincere, So much so that when Chen Shidao went out to pay New Year's greetings, he deliberately raised his mouth to let others know that he had such an excellent student.

From time to time, court officials would visit the mansion, discuss scriptures with them, cook tea in the snow and admire red plums, and the days of confinement were very pleasant.

Time passed without knowing it, and when it was the Lantern Festival, Emperor Yuanshou ordered the two of them to enter the palace to celebrate together, which was the meaning of the confinement.

***

As soon as the Lantern Festival holiday is over, people's livelihoods are in their respective positions, the imperial court resumes its operation, and the court officials call their posts on time, so the official affairs accumulated over the years have to be resolved.

The most troublesome thing is the arrangement of Zhao Baiyu's official position. Emperor Yuanshou didn't say hello, just letting the officials arrange it. Who would have expected that Zhao Baiyu would be so popular.

Three provinces, six ministries and three divisions were all vying for him, especially Duzhi envoy and household deputy envoy came to Wende Hall to discuss official business like Dianmao, and finally turned to Zhao Baiyu without exception.

The Duzhi envoy implicitly hinted that there was an urgent shortage of manpower, so he almost said bluntly, "I might ask the tax department, and I want Zhao Baiyu to fill the vacancy."

As for the Deputy Envoy of the Ministry of Household Affairs, no one is more straightforward than him. He opened his mouth and kept saying 'Zhao Baiyu', with the three characters 'Zhao Baiyu' written on his face, and the word 'confidant' engraved on his forehead, and his desire to make friends is clear. expose.

The Ministry of Punishment and the Ministry of Industry also wanted it, but Emperor Yuanshou first ruled out the six departments, and the power of the East Palace and the prime ministers penetrated into the six departments. No matter which party Zhao Baiyu fell into, it was not the result he wanted to see.

Emperor Yuanshou naturally set his sights on the third division, and the household department... must not work, leaving Du Zhisi.

The Metropolitan Taxation Department is currently a yamen opened up to specialize in the management of commercial taxes. Among them, the Kyoto Prefecture Water Transport Commercial Tax was allocated from the Ministry of Households to the Taxation Department in only four or five years, so it is still a new yamen.

With the opening of the market tonight, business development is booming, and tax evasion and other phenomena will inevitably occur.

The tax envoy was originally held concurrently by Du Gong, who had been ineffective for many years and did not have much energy to manage it, so handing it over to Zhao Baiyu was a good choice.

Before that, he knew the affairs of the lower yamen's memorandum and departmental expenses very well, and he used it skillfully to turn difficult problems into his own use. He might be the best candidate for the tax envoy of the capital.

After careful consideration, Emperor Yuanshou made a decision in his heart.

***

East Palace.

"The transfer of the Ministry of Officials has come down. He is the Tax Envoy of the Metropolitan Government. He is in charge of the four canals of the capital. From the fifth rank, for Zhao Baiyu, except for the experience of the envoy, it is rare to be promoted to three levels in a row. It can be said that The future is boundless." The fifth prince gloated: "However, the Water Transport Office of the Metropolitan Taxation Department has been established for less than five years, and there are no written rules and prestige.

"The tax envoy of Dushang... is very good. It can't be used by someone alone, nor can it be used by others. It's a good thing to open up wasteland in the new yamen." The prince was a little worried: "However, the taxation of the merchant ship is the big one, you have to protect it, and you can't be used by it." He snatched it."

The water boat is an official ship, and the transportation of goods is subject to taxation, and the profits are extremely considerable.

The Fifth Prince: "The Ministry of Households has been operating on the Siqu for many years, and Zhao Baiyu, no matter how evil he is, can't just grab it..."

While talking, the fifth prince lost his confidence and felt uneasy.

"How about keeping an eye on someone?"

"Ah."

The two once mighty brothers faced each other, trying their best to hide their embarrassment.

The fifth prince changed the subject: "Second brother, how to solve the sixth brother's matter?"

The prince glanced at Zhao Changfeng in the hall, the fifth prince understood and ordered Zhao Changfeng to go out.

As soon as the people left, the fifth prince said: "Zhao Changfeng is on the same front as us, why are you guarding against him now?"

The prince's face was solemn: "In the entire Zhao Mansion, only Shi Lang is sincere to me. The others, Zai Zhi, Zhao Dalang, Zhao Sanlang...the attitudes of each are vague. This is because I saw that my position is not stable, and I didn't dare to bet on it."

The fifth prince was shocked: "The Zhao family has two hearts!"

Prince: "Their loyalty has never been placed in the East Palace. Forget it, let's talk about the sixth brother. Since Gu promised to find a way to transfer him back to the capital, he will naturally do what he said, but he can't speak without reason. He must find a good teacher." Timing. The [-]th birthday of the emperor’s grandmother passed due to the flood of the Yellow River last year. With his father’s filial piety, he must be deeply saddened. Reason, father will not refuse."

The fifth prince nodded: "It is possible."

They whispered, and Zhao Changfeng outside the court looked up at the night sky and listened to every word.

...Are you a tax envoy?

If you don't rely on shade, don't take the imperial examination, and earn a fifth-rank Beijing official, if you are a child of someone else's family, you can probably be called Guangzong Yaozu.