HCB Chapter 159 Bitter Water Mountain
Chapter 159 Bitter Water Mountain
Due to his health, Crown Prince Xiao Qi of the Eastern Palace was unable to attend court every day and could only attend court every other day or two, which was described by interested court officials as "fishing and drying the nets at the same time."
When Xiao Qi heard the rumors, he pretended not to know and continued to do as he pleased, going to court to "fish" and listen to government affairs when his health allowed.
Emperor Qianyuan, who was in his middle age, always prepared a seat under the imperial steps for the crown prince, whom he had high hopes for, so that he could listen to state affairs comfortably.
In fact, Xiao Qi was very smart when he was young, and he often went to court with Emperor Qianyuan. At that time, he was in good health and full of energy. Later, for some reason, his health gradually weakened. He became worse day by day, and in recent years, he was often bedridden.
Emperor Qianyuan was anxious, but he couldn't find the reason. Since he had his grandson Xiao Yu, the emperor felt relieved. But at the beginning of the year, Xiao Yu accidentally fell off his horse, and Emperor Qianyuan began to worry about the possible competition for the throne among his sons.
But the ministers in the court knew clearly that the emperor's attitude was very clear. As long as Xiao Qi was still alive, the throne would not fall into the hands of anyone else!
In the study of the Eastern Palace, Crown Prince Xiao Qi, who was leaning back in a chair, had his grandson Xiao Yu, who was recuperating on a sickbed, carried into the study.
Now the royal father and son were listening attentively to Captain Feng Bing's report.
Feng Bing said that this action was jointly decided by Mr. Wei and Mr. Ouyang. The Crown Prince and the Grandson listened very attentively, fearing that they would miss something.
Crown Prince Xiao Qi wanted to know more about this child named Ouyang Wenche. Although he sent Lu Ziyu to draw a small portrait of him every year, that was only the child's appearance and nothing else could be conveyed.
Xiao Qi asked casually:
"How is Mr. Wei? What are you busy with every day?"
"Master, we have no business entering the Second Courtyard. We usually listen to Mr. Wei's summons and arrangements."
"Have you seen Mr. Ouyang with Mr. Wei?"
Feng Bing lowered his head, his expression unchanged, but he was extremely respectful. He paused for a moment before replying:
"Yes, he looks almost the same as the Young Master. Mr. Wei asked us to call him the Young Master as well."
Crown Prince Xiao Qi asked softly:
"Do you know what he usually does?"
“Mr. Wei once said that if the master works hard, we have no right to slack off.
He got up early every day to recite his lessons, and then began to study, working throughout the morning. He only had his meal at noon and then rested.
In the afternoon, he sat and talked with Mr. Wei. Two hours later, he looked at many things, all arranged by Mr. Wei. In the evening, after eating and resting, he would practice martial arts for nearly an hour. Before going to bed, he usually sat quietly in the yard and read.
He seems to love reading, reading many kinds of books, and only goes back to his room to sleep when he is sleepy."
"Do you know what books he reads?"
"Before I came back this time, I heard that the master sent someone to look for Guanzi. Dishu. I think he will read this book soon."
The prince repeated with interest:
"Oh, he loves reading."
"Yes, the young master loves to read all kinds of books, including the popular storybooks in Xunyang Prefecture. He has found and read them all."
The prince asked again:
"Does he like to talk? Who takes care of him when there is no one around him?"
"The guards around him are the 16 people with the word 'Yun' in their names. They live with him, but he does all his daily clothing himself. He doesn't like to rely on others to do his work, nor does he like to be disturbed when he is studying."
Xiao Yu asked:
"What's the name of the book he's reading?"
"It's called 'Journey to the West', and there's another one called 'The Knight-errant's Ode'. There are many more. He also read travel notes, the two travel notes written by the third young master of the Wang family. He found them all and read them. He also found maps and read them..."
The father and son asked this relative whom they had never met before very carefully. In the end, Feng Bing had nothing more to say, so the prince and Xiao Yu ended the conversation in disappointment.
Feng Bing sneaked out of the East Palace at night and remembered the prince's instructions: act according to Ouyang Wenche's instructions...
Wu Mei and Feng Jie, who followed the Cao family's convoy into the capital, unexpectedly met Feng Mei at the Dongsheng Inn.
"Sister Wu."
Feng Mei, who followed the two into the store, was carrying a small package and ran to catch up with them.
"Hey? You're here too! How's your leg?"
Wu Mei was genuinely concerned about Feng Mei, and even lowered her head to look at Feng Mei's injured leg, and after a split second Feng Jie reacted, she and Feng Mei nodded knowingly to each other, and both understood that they needed a chance to talk.
The three of them booked a single room in the Di building, and the three girls lived together. Wu Mei was in a hurry to go out to see her two brothers, so she found an excuse to go out and buy some local specialties.
Only Feng Jie and Feng Mei were left in the room. The two quickly exchanged information with each other. Feng Jie heard that she was being followed all the way but never noticed it, and she broke out in a cold sweat.
When I heard about Mr. Wei's remedial plan, I felt a little reluctant.
"But we are the master's guards, how can we serve civilians?"
"Mr. Wei's intention is to stay with Miss Wang for the time being. After this matter is sorted out, he will find a way to redeem himself and leave."
"But what if we don't have citizenship?"
"Don't worry about that. Mr. Wei will take care of it for us. We just need to stay for a while and cover up your incident..."
Thousands of miles away, Wang Jinyi kept sneezing while listening to Wang Jinlai's report on the entire journey to the Wen family.
Wang Jinlai had just told about his encounter with Wang Ping'an at the gate of Xunnan County, and about what he saw after arriving at Wenjia Village. Then someone reported:
"Mr. Wenbai is here."
After Wen Bai entered the room and greeted the young lady, he saw Wang Jinlai, who was in a dishevel. The man who had disappeared for more than half a month finally came back, but he was in rags and looked very dirty. But after all, he came back with his whole heart and seemed to be in good condition.
When Wang Jinlai talked about the encounter with robbers, Wen Bai was terrified, then extremely grateful, and was confused for a moment and didn't know what to say.
He just sat there quietly, staring at Wang Jinlai with his eyes wide open.
When Wang Jinyi heard that Wang Jinlai really brought back Miss Wen, and brought two people with him, she didn't think there was anything difficult to arrange, and her expression didn't change at all.
I thought that at worst I could just buy a mountain like my third uncle, Wang Shuyan.
So we started to arrange:
"Wang Jinlai, go to Tai Sheng to find Zhao Chunming and do as I say."
Wang Jinyi signaled Wenbai to take up writing, and soon a plan came out.
Just after noon the next day, Zhao Chunming and Wang Jinlai set out with the young lady's text message. At night, they finally arrived at Ningde Town, the edge of Xunyang Prefecture.
The next morning, the three of them split into three groups and began to investigate according to the young lady's arrangement. In fact, there were barren mountains everywhere. After two days of investigation, they finally bought a barren mountain called Ku Shui Mountain for 180 taels.
He had to go back to the city to handle the formalities. After reading the note given by the young lady, Zhao Chunming understood what she meant and registered Ku Shui Mountain under his own name.