Zhao Mengqi stretched out his hand to catch the water running down the eaves. The coldness in his palms sobered his mind.
"It turns out it's a big bug, but it's a bit difficult to fight..."
Qian Xiaopang jumped up and said, "Alang, the Liu family is in charge of the military and government, and is also secretly amassing a private army to amass money and food. I'm afraid he has evil intentions. A gentleman would not build a dangerous wall. It's too dangerous here. Let's go immediately It’s best to go back to Lin’an and let the court send people to investigate.”
"Although the fat man is a little timid, what he said makes sense." Wu Qiong rarely disagreed with Qian Long and also tried to persuade him, "Alang, if the Liu family finds out about your identity, it's hard to say that they won't jump over the wall. It is a conspiracy to plot a bandit army, which is a serious crime of treason. I think it is better to be cautious and take Mrs. Jiang back to Lin'an first, and then deal with the Liu family after being prepared."
Hou Tao also spoke carefully, "Your Highness, the Liu family has been in business for decades and has deep-rooted influence in Wujiang. It can use at least thousands of troops. If you really have evil intentions, we will be in a worrying situation. Why did you come to Wujiang? It’s been achieved, it’s better to leave now.”
"Perhaps, the Liu family already knows my identity..." Zhao Mengqi shook the rainwater out of his hand and said calmly, "In retrospect, Liu Weizhen's behavior before leaving was a bit weird. Maybe he guessed who I am."
Hou Tao immediately became nervous, "As long as the people of the Liu family are not fools, they will definitely think of the water bandits attack. At that time, Jiang Manhai was flying the banner of Fangtang. They will definitely be worried that His Highness will go to investigate deeply and humbly suggest that he will wait for Chang. After the commander arrives, His Highness should leave overnight. If we wait for the Liu family to react, it will be too late."
"It is possible." Zhao Mengqi looked up into the dark night and rubbed his fingers, "Maybe someone is already watching here in the dark."
Qian Xiaopang took off the raincoat hanging on the wall and put it on his body, "Then I will go to the Jiang family's old house now and inform Sister A and Mrs. Jiang..."
"Don't worry, you have to calm down when something big happens." Zhao Mengqi waved his hand to stop him, with a calm look on his face, "The worst possibility is that the Liu family knows my identity, but they don't know whether I really know about them and Fang Tang contact."
This roundabout statement made everyone dizzy, and then they heard Zhao Mengqi continue, "The Liu family will not act rashly unless it is absolutely necessary, otherwise, whether they catch me or kill me, they will all be executed, or Fleeing overseas in a hurry. For them, this is difficult to accept, and the best outcome is that I don’t know, then they can just let their nephew light a lantern and everything will be business as usual."
"Everyone has a sense of luck. In the face of life and death, what choice will the Liu family make? The key question is whether I know about it. If we leave overnight, not to mention the possibility of being intercepted, it is equivalent to telling them the answer. This Come on, even if the Liu family doesn't jump over the wall, they will destroy all evidence and clues as much as possible. In that case, the consequences will be unacceptable to me. "
After listening to Zhao Mengqi's analysis, everyone thought about it and roughly understood what he was thinking.
Hou Tao asked, "Your Highness, what you mean is that we pretend we don't know anything and stabilize them first?...Does that mean that all the water bandit leaders were killed on the spot?"
Zhao Mengqi shook his head, "Don't do anything deliberately. Everything should be done according to the normal reporting procedures. Just add big bosses like Jiang Manhai to the kill list. The Liu family will have a way to find out."
"Then should we send a police officer to monitor the Liu family?"
"It's better not to use it. The Liu family's influence in the local area is deeply entangled. If a stranger appears near them at this time, it will definitely arouse alarm."
"Then? How do we know the Liu family's movements?"
"Don't worry, if my prediction is good, the Liu family will come to test it out early tomorrow morning. Then it will be a guessing game..."
"Then we can't just do nothing. Your Highness's safety is the top priority. If something goes wrong, how can a person like Chang Commander protect your Highness?"
Zhao Mengqi thought for a while and said, "You are right. After the Liu family's crimes are found out, they will need to be wiped out by force. However, any mobilization of surrounding troops may not be able to hide the Liu family. The mobilization of Lin'an troops has to go through the Privy Council, and the movement is also It’s no big deal, let’s do this, I’ll write a warrant and secretly transfer the first three phases of Dongwei.”
"This... Your Highness, please forgive me for speaking bluntly, although Dongwei is (this chapter is not finished!)
178. The Liu family comes to visit
His Highness built it with his own hands, but after all, time is still short, how can it withstand the battle? "
"Hey, don't worry, I won't play with my own life. Besides, there are Gu Qing and the Zhejiang Navy. Besides..."
Hou Tao's eyes lit up when he heard this, "My subordinate understands."
It rained all night, and in the morning it became increasingly pouring.
In this kind of weather, there were still people going out. A two-car boat sailed into Tongli Town and followed the river in the town to the Jiang family's old house.
A chariot is a type of ship that has existed since the Tang Dynasty. It is generally used as a warship. Just like a chariot, there are paddles on both sides of the ship's side, connected by a solid shaft that runs across the hull. It is called a chariot, and a double chariot is called a chariot. Four paddles.
At this time, the shipbuilding technology of the Song Dynasty was unparalleled in the world. There were even thirty or forty vehicles and ships. The largest vehicles and ships could carry more than a thousand soldiers, which shows how huge they were.
Cars and ships are driven entirely by human power. One car requires two people to pedal. It can be faster than a sailboat and is not affected by the wind direction, so it is very suitable for military use.
But because it requires manpower, it is not durable and cannot run long distances, so it is not suitable for civilian use. Moreover, large vehicles and ships cannot sail in shallow water, which is also a big limitation.
However, for the powerful class, these are not problems, as long as it is convenient, and most of the rivers in the south of the Yangtze River used for transportation have no problem at all in passing two-carriage boats carrying more than 20 people.
This two-car boat has a very luxurious and exquisite appearance. It also has a baffle covering the propellers, which is both beautiful and can protect the propellers to a certain extent, but it is obviously not a military ship.
In the cabin of the ship, Liu Xiuren, who had not slept all night, was in a very solemn mood, but tried hard to look calm and calm.
Last night, there was no movement at the Jiang family or the tea shop, and the manpower deployed on the canal found no abnormalities. This made him feel a little more relaxed, as things did not develop to the worst case scenario.
Sitting opposite him, Liu Weizhen looked brand new. His clothes were luxurious but not exaggerated, and he looked elegant and solemn. However, his expression was blank and he looked very depressed.
"Uncle, why do we have to go to the Jiang family? Wouldn't this make King Yan even more unhappy?"
"Has all your previous wisdom been eaten up by dogs!? You can't even understand this? I'm so disappointed!"
Liu Xiuren was now increasingly angry with his nephew, whom he had valued highly in the past, for not arguing with him. However, this matter was of great importance and he did not dare to make any mistakes, so he had to be patient and explain.
"If it's just because of your marriage, no matter how unhappy King Yan is, he has no reason to do anything too extreme to our family. But if he wants to find out about our family's background, then let's not talk about whether our family has a way to survive. , at least the foundation built over the past few decades will be destroyed in one fell swoop.”
"If we don't know that he is King Yan, then under normal circumstances, if your engagement is annulled by the Jiang family, we should naturally come to ask for an explanation and try to save the marriage. Do you think this is true?"
Liu Weizhen was finally not hopelessly stupid and understood, "Just so, if we remain silent, King Yan will think that his identity has been leaked and will be more vigilant towards our family."
"That's right, so after you get to the Jiang family, you'd better say less. Even if you do, just treat him as an ordinary person. In addition, we have to judge from his attitude towards us whether he knows about our family and Fangtang. relation……"
"My nephew understands."
The Jiang family's house occupies an area of less than an acre, with only about ten rooms, so naturally not many people can live there. The Yuewan Tea House is quite large and has many rooms, and it was originally a place to house orphans.
After Wanwan came back, she asked all the girls to move to Jiang's house, cleared out a place and opened a tea shop. The teenagers still lived in the backyard of the tea shop.
In order to avoid suspicion, Zhao Jian and the three young ladies returned to Jiang's house with Wanwan, while Zhao Mengqi and the other men stayed at the tea shop for the night.
After getting up in the morning, Zhao Mengqi couldn't wait to bring Wu Qiong and others to Jiang's house. He said he wanted to eat breakfast made by Wanwan, but in fact he was more greedy for her beauty.
In Jiang's house, in addition to Wanwan's mother and daughter and the orphans, there were six older women and two veterans who were guarding the home. They were all recruited from the Fenghua Army. After all, there were not many others in the Fenghua Army. The widows and veterans But quite a few.
Eating at the Jiang family is quite interesting, just like in the military. The children line up neatly, from the youngest to the oldest, to get their meals in order, and they all stay calm while eating (this chapter is not finished yet!)
178. The Liu family comes to visit
Quietly, implement the scholar's silence when eating.
Wanwan stood by the big table, holding a big spoon and filling each child's big bowl with food. Sometimes she would give some instructions or whisper a few lessons. The smile on her face that had taken off the veil never broke.
Zhao Mengqi also found a big bowl and lined up behind all the children. Qian Xiaopang and others also wanted to queue, but he drove them away, saying that they were not qualified.
After a while, it was finally his turn. He smiled evilly and handed the bowl to him, "Thank you for your hard work, ma'am."
The title "Niangzi" was widely used by people in the Song Dynasty. Men called their wives Niangzi, and servants called their mistresses and masters' daughters "Niangzi". If they were other people's wives, they would call them "Niangzi". If they were other people's wives, they would call them "Niangzi". An unmarried girl would be called "Niangzi" and she would be the emperor. When calling concubines, you also add a surname and call a certain lady.
In this era, you should never call others Miss, as you will easily get beaten, because just like in later generations, only romantic women are called Miss, and so are "Ai Qing".
That's why the kids just called her "Ms. Wanwan", but Zhao Mengqi obviously wasn't that pure in calling her that way.
Wanwan couldn't help but glance at Zhao Mengqi, but her charming peach blossom eyes could not bring out murderous intent. Moreover, after removing the veil, her beautiful and fragrant appearance became even more enchanting, "You're causing trouble again! It's not good to be honest and eat." What?"
"Hey...how can you say it's a mischief? This is called fun!"
"I'm too lazy to pay attention to you..." qs
While talking, he still filled Zhao Mengqi's meal with a spoonful of white rice, half a bowl of fish soup, a piece of fried fish, a few slices of mutton, a boiled duck egg, a few boiled vegetables, and some Vegetables with a little salt.
The food is rich and nutritious. Judging from the children's behavior, it is the same on a daily basis, not just occasionally.
Although Jiangnan is rich in products, ordinary people do not dare to eat it every day at home, especially mutton, which is a precious thing. For the price of one kilogram, you can buy thirty or forty kilograms of fish.
With so many children, it’s no wonder Wanwan is working so hard to make money.
It's a pity that Zhao Mengqi still didn't finish eating with Wanwan, because she had to send food to her mother, and they waited until all the children had eaten before eating.
There was less beauty, but the deliciousness of the food still made Zhao Mengqi feel full.
After the meal, Zhao Mengqi thought about lending a hand to put away the tableware, but the children didn't give him a chance at all. They went to the sink to wash themselves one by one, and then put them back in the cabinet.
Zhao Mengqi took a few glances and found that the children had eaten cleanly. There was no leftover food or residue. There was almost no need to wash the bowl. Even the fish bones were put away in a basin. There was basically no need to clean the place.
Just as he was sighing at the self-consciousness of these children, the veteran guarding the gate came to report, "Lang Jun, someone from the Liu family is here to see me, do you think so?"
"Uh? Shouldn't you ask your mistress and mistress?" Zhao Mengqi was surprised.
Lao Jun smiled innocently, but his eyes were shrewd enough to see through the world, "I asked you the same thing."
"Okay..." Zhao Mengqi pinched his chin, "The Liu family arrived quite early, so let them wait for two-quarters of an hour while I go discuss it with you ladies."
"Okay, old man, I will listen to you." Lao Jun slowly walked towards the front door with his hands behind his back.
178. The Liu family comes to visit
