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Although Su Changzhen was a little curious about who Zhao Junchen was waiting for, and why he postponed the ceremony of acknowledging his ancestor and returning to the clan specifically for this reason, he still suppressed his curiosity after seeing Zhao Junchen's inquiring eyes. Confused, he explained in detail: "It's strange to say that these days, factory guards have been moving around and arrested many officials in Suzhou, most of whom are close associates of Suzhou Magistrate Zhou Suhai. They are obviously targeting Zhou Suhai... and even... The gentleman behind Zhou Suhai, however, Zhou Suhai not only did not worry, but also behaved in a much more high-profile manner, banqueting guests for many days in a row, and actually had the intention to entertain and sing every night, as if he had a plan in mind, which makes people a little strange. "
Speaking of this, Su Changzhen's expression became more and more confused.
According to Su Changzhen's thinking, if this matter happened to him, he would probably be nervous, panicked, sleepless all night, and might even be frightened half to death, let alone a banquet with guests and partying every night, so Su Changzhen Zhen also couldn't understand Zhou Suhai's behavior at all.
At this point, it would be unreasonable to say that Zhou Suhai had not seen the seriousness of the matter and thought that he would be fine relying on the protection of his chief minister Zhou Shangjing. Su Changzhen and Zhou Suhai had been officials in the same place for many years, and they knew each other very well. Zhou Suhai's character - in Su Changzhen's eyes, Zhou Suhai has extremely high requirements for himself. Every move he has made over the years has been trying his best to imitate his grandfather Zhou Shangjing. Although he is somewhat imitating Zhou Shangjing, he has also imitated Zhou Shangjing 60% to 70%. Cheng Fu is by no means an indulgent and ignorant dandy.
What's more, even if Zhou Suhai couldn't see the seriousness of the matter, couldn't Zhou Shangjing also see it? Now, as the situation in Suzhou changes. Many discerning people have already seen that Emperor Deqing is going to fight Zhou Shangjing again, and many changes will inevitably occur in the situation between the government and the opposition. Moreover, the breakthrough that Emperor Deqing found this time was Zhou Shangjing's eldest grandson and the prefect of Suzhou, Zhou Suhai! With Zhou Shangjing's sophistication, how could he not have any precautions and counterattacks?
Because of this, Su Changzhen could not see through Zhou Suhai's purpose even more.
exactly. What Su Changzhen couldn't see through was Zhou Shangjing standing behind Zhou Suhai. He didn't understand what Zhou Shangjing was planning now!
However, long before the southern tour, Zhao Junchen had predicted the current change and had made many deductions in his mind, so although Su Changzhen could not understand Zhou Shangjing's plan. But Zhao Junchen was able to guess a little bit.
So, after Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, he asked again: "Oh? I wonder who the guests Zhou Suhai has entertained these days?"
After Su Changzhen thought for a while, he replied: "There are no important people. Most of them are prestigious Confucian scholars. There are also some guests who are prominent figures among merchants in the south of the Yangtze River. On the contrary, they are rare in the officialdom."
Sure enough!
After hearing Su Changzhen's answer, Zhao Junchen narrowed his eyes, and then suddenly smiled and complimented Su Changzhen: "Master Su is worthy of being the governor of Southern Zhili. Although he is in Yangzhou with His Majesty now, for I am still very familiar with all the goings-on in Suzhou... I got a lot of news from Mr. Su today and benefited a lot. I only hope that Mr. Su will give you more advice in the future... As Zuo Shangshu said, today's temple The situation is unpredictable and undercurrents are turbulent. Although we are staying out of the incident, we cannot be aware of it later. Otherwise, once we are involved, we will be at a loss and be at a loss. However, in the territory of South Zhili, I really don’t have much business, so I am a little slow in collecting information. So I hope Master Su can help me more in the future."
Su Changzhen is now eager to marry Zhao Junchen, so he will naturally not refuse Zhao Junchen's request. On the contrary, he agreed repeatedly with smiles on his face, and he felt that his relationship with Zhao Junchen was getting closer.
Next. Regarding the current situation in the temple, Zhao Junchen discussed a lot with Su Changzhen and Zuo Lanshan, but they each had their own reservations, and the three of them did not reveal their true feelings.
Among them, Zuo Lanshan's concern about this matter only stems from politicians' sensitive instincts about changes in the political situation. Perhaps they also want to fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the opportunity. There are many hints and encouragements to Zhao Junchen in his words, but Zhao Junchen Junchen did not respond for a long time.
Su Changzhen had the deepest inside knowledge of this matter, and he was even one of the parties involved. However, after he received certain guarantees from Emperor Deqing, he now had other plans and placed all his hopes on himself. Regarding the marriage with Zhao Junchen, it seems that it has nothing to do with him and he just looks on indifferently.
As for Zhao Junchen, he hid his thoughts the most. On the surface, Zhao Junchen just looked interested and watched the fun, but no one could guess what his real thoughts were.
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While the three of them were chatting, half an hour had passed unknowingly.
According to the time, the reunification ceremony should have started long ago, but Zhao Junchen was still waiting for someone, but had no intention of getting up. He still kept chatting with Su and Zuo.
The vestibule of the Zhao family's ancestral home is the venue for the grand reunification ceremony. All the guests have been waiting here for a long time, but the celebration has not started yet, and Zhao Junchen has not shown up. Naturally, the guests are a little upset. Being impatient, there was inevitably a lot of discussion and speculation about the reason for the postponement of the celebration, and all kinds of rumors kept popping up because of this.
Although the Zhao family members were anxious, they did not dare to rush Zhao Junchen. They just tried every means to appease the guests.
At this moment, an ordinary-looking carriage drove slowly outside the door of the Zhao family's ancestral house, and then two men, an old man and a young man, got out of the carriage.
Soon after, Xiao Wenxuan hurriedly came to the hall where Zhao Junchen, Zuo Lanshan, and Su Changzhen were sitting, bowed to Zhao Junchen and reported: "Sir, he is here."
"Oh? They finally arrived? Fortunately, they didn't waste too much time." After hearing Xiao Wenxuan's report, Zhao Junchen raised his eyebrows, finally stopped the conversation, stood up, and turned to Su Changjin , Zuo Lanshan and others asked: "I am going to welcome a distinguished guest. Can you two adults go together to welcome him?"
When they heard Zhao Junchen's invitation, Su Changzhen and Zuo Lanshan were both curious. They didn't know who the distinguished guest was. Not only did Zhao Junchen deliberately postpone the start of the ceremony for him, but he also solemnly went out to greet him in person!
It stands to reason that unless Emperor Deqing comes in person, even the chief minister Zhou Shangjing will not have such a great reputation!
But in any case, since Zhao Junchen values this much, it means that the identity of this distinguished guest is definitely of great importance. Naturally, Su Changzhen and Zuo Lanshan were not willing to miss the opportunity, so they said in unison: "Since this distinguished guest can be valued so much by Master Zhao, , I will naturally go to greet you."
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…(To be continued)
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