After traveling for ten days, the team returning to Beijing arrived at Fengyang from Yingtian.
When passing through other prefectures and counties along the way, the prince did not enter the city to set up camp. Instead, he stayed at the inns and accepted the worship of local officials.
But Fengyang is different. This is the ancestral land of the old Zhu family. The descendants of the Zhu family pass by and want to go to the city to pay their respects.
As early as half a month ago, Fengyang Palace was packed out, and everything was arranged after entering the city.
All civil and military officials from the entire Jiangbei Province came. More than two hundred people were waiting outside Fengyang City to welcome the arrival of Prince Zhu Jingyuan.
Regardless of whether his position is stable or not, at least now Zhu Jingyuan is the crown prince, so how can these local officials not come?
The opportunity to meet the prince is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most of them.
After the welcoming ceremony, these officials followed Zhu Jingyuan into the city, and then they will formally worship in the main hall of the palace.
In other words, all Zhu Jingyuan's time in the afternoon will be occupied by these officials.
Of course, there were some people who came to Zhu Jinghong to be polite, but in the end, Zhu Jingyuan was the protagonist.
"Thirteenth Master, the dormitory has been arranged. According to your wishes... there is a palace wall separated from the Crown Prince!" Deng An was full of joy and came to claim the credit.
"Fart, it's obviously your intention, making it seem like I don't want to live with the prince!" Zhu Jinghong said angrily.
"The slave is talking nonsense, the slave is talking nonsense!"
Deng An apologized repeatedly and even started to slap him, which made Zhu Jinghong feel embarrassed.
"Okay, okay, who are you showing it to? Take me over and have a look!"
"Yes...Master Thirteen please!"
Compared with Yingtian, Fengyang Palace is smaller in scale, but it is still an extraordinary building.
After wandering around casually, Zhu Jinghong felt bored, and Deng An saw the right opportunity and said: "Master Thirteen, how about I call Miss Yinglian back?"
If there is a woman talking together, the time will undoubtedly be much better. After all, it is not tiring to work with men and women!
A dignified prince didn't even have a maid to serve him, so he had to find one in private. Zhu Jinghong felt aggrieved every time he thought about this.
"Forget it, I'll be back soon!"
Every day at noon, Yinglian would come back to serve Zhu Jinghong's meal.
Through these days of study, Yinglian's knowledge has really improved a lot, and her speech has become more literal-minded.
When Zhu Jinghong was bored, everyone in the Xue family also entered the city, but they were still worried about where to live.
Although there are many inns in the city, the Xue family's mother and daughter are not willing to be crowded together with business travelers. They have to find a clean and spacious place to stay.
Such "high-end" places are really limited, and they are occupied by a large number of foreign officials. As a result, they have been in the city for more than an hour, but they still haven't found a place to stay.
A group of domestic slaves have no independent opinions and have to ask Aunt Xue for instructions on everything, resulting in extremely low work efficiency. If a man like Xue Pan was here, they might have already found one.
It was nearly noon, and Xue Baochai was still discussing knowledge with Yinglian, but he was obviously distracted.
"Miss Bao, you haven't found a good place to live yet, why don't you ask Master Thirteen to think of a solution?" Seeing Baochai's worries, Yinglian came up with a solution.
Xue Baochai smiled, took care of the green hair on Yinglian's temples, and said: "Why trouble the Thirteenth Master for such a small matter, we can solve it!"
"Oh...I'll go back first and come back to you in the afternoon!"
Baochai nodded and said: "I've been in the palace for the past two days, and it's not very convenient to get in and out. Let's wait until we set off!"
"That's it, then I'll come back in a few days!"
"Go!"
When Yinglian left, Xue Baochai suddenly looked sad. How could she not be worried about not being able to find a place to live.
At this time, someone outside was heard shouting: "But the Jinling Xue family is here?"
Are there any acquaintances here?
Sitting in the carriage, Xue Baochai asked: "Yinger, who is shouting outside?"
"I don't know, my wife has ordered someone to ask!"
After a while, the Xue family servant returned and led a man on horseback.
"Mrs. Qi, Uncle Zhen of the Zhen family in Tongzhou is here to pay his respects!"
As imperial merchants, the Xue family has been dealing with foreigners all year round. Naturally, they have a lot of contacts with the Zhen family who promoted the shipping department.
In the past 20 to 30 years, the relationship between their two families has been very close, and it is not an exaggeration to call them family friends.
Zhen Qi is Zhen Mingcheng's eldest son. He also brought his sister to Beijing this time, but it happened that she came to Fengyang today.
"My nephew Zhen Qi, meet my aunt!"
In the carriage, Aunt Xue raised the curtain slightly, and seeing that it was really the eldest son of the Zhen family, she said, "It turns out to be my nephew, why did you come to Fengyang too?"
Zhen Qi replied: "The concubine in the capital has been summoned, and my father ordered me to take my sister to the capital for an audience!"
"What a coincidence, we are on the same path!"
"Auntie also goes to Duzhong?"
"That's right. There are some things that need to be dealt with in the capital. It has been delayed for a year or two!" Aunt Xue replied, but did not say what specific things to do in the capital.
"Why don't you see Brother Pan?" Zhen Qi was very curious.
"He's busy with something. He'll be here in a few days!"
Zhen Qi asked again: "Auntie has just arrived in Fengyang, has she found a place to live?"
"I'm looking for it now. Although Fengyang City is big, it's not easy to find!"
Zhen Qi smiled and said: "Since we haven't found it yet, why don't you and I live together and take care of each other?"
"Have you found a place to live?" Aunt Xue said with joy in her tone.
Zhen Qi looked embarrassed: "We haven't found it yet, but my nephew is planning to take someone to look for it!"
Aunt Xue said calmly: "I see, it's hard to find in the city now, you have to work harder!"
"My nephew is going now. I asked my sister-in-law to stay here temporarily. I hope my aunt will take care of me!"
Aunt Xue said with emotion: "Is she Girl Qin? I haven't seen her for many years, and I'm afraid I don't even recognize her now!"
Zhen Qi waved back, and a carriage was pulled over, with the girl from the Zhen family sitting inside.
This time when they went to Beijing, the Zhen family also came with more than a dozen cars, and there were forty or fifty servants and maids. Now they were gathered together with the Xue family, and they formed a circle directly on the city wall.
"Second sister, come and meet Aunt Xue!"
Under the guidance of Zhen Qi, a girl with a veil was helped out of the carriage by a maid, and then arrived outside Aunt Xue's car.
If Zhu Jinghong can definitely recognize it now, this is the girl from the Zhen family who wants to bribe him with official gold and silver to escort her home.
"Meet Aunt Xue!"
Aunt Xue raised the curtain again and said with a smile: "This is not the place to talk. My dear niece, you don't need to be polite. Go back to the car quickly..."
Zhen Qin returned to the carriage, and under the guidance of the Xue family servants, stopped side by side with Baochai's carriage.
After settling down her sister, Zhen Qi took her personal entourage and left, so that things could be done more conveniently and quickly.
The last time the Japanese pirates invaded, he lost his sister. He searched for her day and night for several days, and he almost went crazy.
Fortunately, the sky has eyes, Zhen Qin was rescued by the army and sent to Yixing. He found an acquaintance and sent a message to Zhen Ji, and then he led his slaves to take her back.
Zhen Qin is a restless person. After hearing the conversation between Baochai and Ying'er, she finally couldn't help but ask: "Are you Baochai?"
The two of them were each in their own carriages, and Zhen Qin was talking through two curtains at the moment.
While Baochai was wondering, Zhen Qin continued: "I heard my mother mentioned you!"
(End of chapter)
