The carriage stopped in front of the main entrance of Uncle Xie Fang's mansion.
There was no need to dismount from the horse stool. Zhao Mengqi jumped lightly and landed firmly on the ground. Then he turned around and hugged Zhao Jin down.
Before Zhao Han could stand still, the lion cat got out of the carriage and jumped into her arms. Xiao Hei, who had followed the carriage all the way, was panting with his long tongue hanging out. He looked at his owner with nothing but no regrets in his eyes. regret.
"Humph! It's no use!" Qian Duo jumped to the ground as if to demonstrate, and looked at Zhao Jin with his lips curled up.
Zhao Han, however, was filled with the joy of being pampered and ignored her at all.
Uncle Xie Fang, who had been waiting behind the gate for a long time, was a little anxious to step out to greet her, but in the end he used his decades of skills to suppress him, which was able to maintain his final reserve.
"Your Highness, it's really wonderful to visit this humble abode. Please come in, please come in."
This is the official residence of Huaixinfang, and the imperial court provides accommodation for important officials. With Uncle Xie Fang's status, the regulations are naturally quite large.
However, after walking in, Zhao Mengqi didn't feel much aura of wealth. It was basically the original configuration of an official residence, without modifications or decorations. Compared with Prince Rong's Mansion, it even looked shabby.
It stands to reason that with the official position of Prime Minister and Privy Envoy and the title of Duke Hui Guo, as well as the staggering salary, Uncle Xie Fang will definitely not be short of money. According to the atmosphere of the Song Dynasty, there is no need for him to pretend in this regard, so it seems It can be concluded that he can only be simple by nature.
Uncle Xie Fang led Zhao Mengqi and others to the flower hall, but Zhao Mengqi waved his hand and said, "Today is a private visit, and we should perform secular etiquette. I am a junior, and I should pay my respects to the lady first."
"How did this happen?" Uncle Xie Fang was surprised.
"Let's go, you see, I'm taking my sister with me..."
Uncle Xie Fang couldn't resist, so he had to follow Zhao Mengqi's wishes and take him to the back house. In fact, he felt very happy.
Zhao Mengqi met Uncle Xie Fang's wife and family as a son-nephew, and exchanged some pleasantries. He didn't notice that in the crowd, a young lady who covered half of her face with a round fan kept looking at him curiously, with a twinkling look in her beautiful eyes. Exploring all the time.
"Qian Duo, you accompany Jian Niang to play in the back house. Remember, don't make her unhappy, or I'll beat you up!"
She had to talk to Uncle Xie Fang about something serious later, and it was hard to keep her sister around, and she was worried that Qian Duo would bully her, so she warned her specifically.
"Who bullied her!?" Qian Duoxing's eyes widened angrily.
Although Qian Duo was dressed as a palace maid, Uncle Xie Fang would not take her seriously. He said with a smile, "Mother Qiao, accompany the princess and Miss Qian to play in the garden."
Mrs. Qiao is the little lady holding the round fan. Her maiden name is Xie Yunqiao. She is the granddaughter of Uncle Xie Fang and is actually Qian Duo's best friend.
When she heard her grandfather's instructions, she put down her fan, Pingting walked out and said, "Okay, 'The first cherry blossoms are beautiful when they are stirring, and the algae are blooming brightly. The leaves have not yet opened, but the red flowers are already shining.' It is a good time to enjoy the cherry blossoms, I hope. The princess and Duo Niang will like it."
Oh, another young girl? It looks pretty good-looking.
Hearing this young lady opening her mouth to recite poems, Zhao Mengqi couldn't help but look at her twice.
Well, just to take a look, "Xie Xiang, you are a master of poetry and painting. I wonder if Xiao Wang would be lucky enough to ask for advice?"
"Thanks to His Highness's commendation, I am no longer afraid of showing my embarrassment. Please come here."
Poetry and painting are just an excuse. Zhao Mengqi doesn't have a few elegant bones in his body. In other words, Xie Yunqiao deliberately recited poems because he simply misunderstood him. Who told him to steal the "Linjiang Xian" song that was so dazzling?
When it comes to stealing, the Japanese are the better ones.
Just like this cherry blossom, in later generations, when talking about it, people think of the Japanese country. But what some people don't know is that cherry blossoms originate from Sichuan and Tibet. They were planted in palace gardens during the Qin and Han Dynasties, and became popular in the Tang Dynasty. In private houses, it was also very popular in the Song Dynasty.
During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Uncle Xie Fang's ancestor was drafted into the army and went to Weizhou to colonize and guard the border. He later married a local Qiang woman and settled in Weizhou. The Xie family also moved around several times and settled down in Xie Xigou, Taoping Township, Li County.
Therefore, Uncle Xie Fang loved cherry blossoms even more, and planted many of them in the garden, which was one of the few changes he made to the house.
As for the Japanese country, they stole many things from China during the Tang Dynasty, and cherry blossoms were just one of them. Later, they became their national flower.
One day, Zhao Mengqi wouldn't mind letting the cherry blossoms bloom more blooming on that island, the blood-red kind.
An old man and a young man came to the small flower hall and waited for the servants to serve the fragrant tea before they all left.
Zhao Mengqi sipped the tea and looked around the hall casually. He found that the furnishings were very simple, but there were many calligraphy and paintings hanging on the walls, and it seemed that there were many original works by famous artists from past dynasties.
Uncle Xie Fang pretended to sip the tea, but secretly looked at Prince Zhong from the corner of his eyes. Seeing that he was calm and calm, looking around without any intention of speaking first, he became anxious.
Perhaps this is the first time Uncle Xie Fang has been so worried about gains and losses in all his years as an official.
In the days when he first resigned, he thought he could neither be happy with things nor sad with himself, and regard power as a floating cloud.
But less than half a month later, Lao Xie, who was sitting at home, began to feel unwell and even a little lost. Otherwise, those old subordinates would not have come to his door. After a little persuasion, he agreed to the plan to deal with King Zhong.
Those old subordinates didn't need him to personally participate. When he nodded, they would split up to make arrangements, as long as Lao Xie made a brilliant appearance at the last moment.
But what these old subordinates didn't know was that Yang Dong later came to visit with Zhao Mengqi's promise, directly hitting Lao Xie's vital point.
Zhao Mengqi has seen many retired old men who have been in power in later generations, and he knows the crux of their retirement syndrome. The higher they once stood, the greater the psychological gap will be after they retire.
So Yang Dong just said something for Zhao Mengqi, "Let you take charge of the power again, and you can return to the center in the future."
Therefore, Lao Xie was very unruly and hid it from his old subordinates, betraying... no, surrendering.
In order to achieve the best effect, he even added drama on the spot and committed suicide by committing suicide. At that time, his original intention was to show off, but he didn't expect to grab the sword from Xue Jin and actually grabbed it!
Got it! He was confused at the time, but there was no director to call him, so he had to bite the bullet and continue acting, and he couldn't fake it anymore!
In fact, it was all due to a misunderstanding. Xue Jin knew that Lao Xie had defected to King Zhong, but he didn't know what he was going to do specifically. He thought that he would just cooperate, so not only did he let him snatch the sword easily, but he also did not stop the rescue. .
Thanks to Zhao Mengqi's quick reaction, the trick came true, otherwise Lao Xie would have been on the bed now.
Now that Lao Xie has done what he needs to do, all that's left is for Zhao Mengqi to fulfill his promise.
But how much and when to cash out, Lao Xie can only see whether King Zhong is sincere, and he is also a little worried about whether King Zhong has such a large ability to pay now, after all, he is not the emperor yet.
The unknown waiting is the most painful. Unable to bear it, Lao Xie spoke first, "Your Highness, Yuan Ze and Zhou Tan have been ordered to be exiled. I wonder where they will go?"
Hehe, these old bureaucrats still have to beat around the bush even when they are in urgent need of attention, so I will help you beat around the bush.
With this thought in his mind, Zhao Mengqi seemed as if he had not heard the question at all. Instead, he asked, "Xie Xiang, the Yushitai is now mostly empty. Do you have any suitable candidates?"
