Zhu Yi thought his ears had heard it wrong. He raised his head and glared at the steward Cao Chen who was standing in front of the door.
Manager Cao understood immediately, closed the door behind his back and went out to wait.
Zhu Yi squinted his eyes and looked at Xiao Yu curiously: "Little prince, you just said...what do you want?"
""Erotic Palace", do you have it?"
The young prince asked seriously. This seriousness made Zhu Yi feel on guard. This young prince really didn't act according to common sense.
He said sternly: "Young prince, don't look for Zhu's happiness here. Zhu is an official of the imperial court and a second-rank official. How can there be such low-level things that undermine elegance."
Xiao Yu sighed: "Forget it if you don't have it. I thought Zhu Shizhong's place was the Dragon Palace? There are all the good things."
Zhu Yi raised his eyebrows and looked around: "Young prince, take a look for yourself; Zhu's Mansion is such a big place, and there are only more than 200 people in his family. In terms of ostentation, it cannot be ranked as high as in Jiankang City." No."
"It's precisely because of this that the emperor trusts you so much!"
When he said this, Xiao Yu didn't take it seriously. He originally wanted to say something nice to Zhu Yi, but he seemed to miss something.
He saw Zhu Yi's brows knitting together immediately. At the same time, he also noticed a detail. One of Zhu Yi's legs suddenly started to tremble unconsciously.
He is scared or nervous...
Xiao Yu's brain was spinning rapidly. It must be something he said that hinted at Zhu Yi.
He knew that people who were too thoughtful always liked to speculate on what others were saying, and Zhu Yi happened to be this kind of person.
Suddenly, Xiao Yu seemed to understand something, and he couldn't help but feel shocked.
Could it be that...the emperor has begun to distrust Zhu Yi? Does this indicate that Zhu Yi may lose power?
And today, the scolding Princess Xiao Yuwan of Yongning came to the house had another meaning. Was it a hint that she wanted to cut off all relations with Zhu Yi?
The expression on Xiao Yu's face kept changing. If he really wanted to clear up the relationship, it would be difficult. Zhu Yi was like an octopus with eight legs, using various means to attract the target he was interested in.
There was no such thing as pie in the sky. Xiao Yu originally didn't understand how a powerless young prince like himself could be worthy of Zhu Yi's efforts to fawn over him.
As soon as the pattern was opened, he seemed to understand that Zhu Yi was equivalent to a small sampan. He could only be stable in the storm by being tied to another small sampan, such as him, and would not be overturned by the waves.
This metaphor seemed inappropriate. Xiao Yu looked back and thought, what this old and cunning guy wanted was not himself, but the Jiangxia Palace, his father, and that was a building! Even an aircraft carrier!
Xiao Yu secretly scolded Zhu Yi for being insidious. He was probably not the only one in the capital who had his money stolen from the royal family.
If he wants to perish, he must bring with him the nobles who have benefited from him. Therefore, the nobles will not let him perish.
Thinking of this, Xiao Yu looked at Zhu Yi again and felt that his honest expression looked so hateful.
At this time, he had regained his composure and his legs no longer shook.
"Haha... The young prince is ridiculous. I don't dare to take it. I really don't dare to take it. Zhu Yi is loyal to His Majesty and works hard. He only knows how to do things sincerely. He doesn't know how to adapt in front of the ministers. He has offended many people unintentionally. Haha... ...Fortunately, the emperor knew Zhu’s painstaking efforts, which made him closer to and more trustworthy, and that’s why he got his current position. If one day His Majesty no longer needs Zhu, Zhu is also thinking of resigning and returning home..."
Zhu Yi spoke passionately. If you didn't know him, you would really think he was such a loyal minister.
Xiao Yu regretted that he had not paid much attention to the Northern and Southern Dynasties in the past. Otherwise, he would have known more about what kind of traitor Zhu Yi was in the history books.
Xiao Yu put on a look of regret: "If Shizhong Zhu returns home, then I will definitely miss you, and those big wooden boxes..."
"Well, forget about those external things, let's just get married! Zhu is not a talent lover, but some people often send Zhu some antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and out of favor, Zhu has to accept them. The young prince even sees it. When we arrived, Zhu's residence was only a palm-sized place and it couldn't be accommodated, so he borrowed it from the warehouse at the young prince's home. There was nothing valuable. If the young prince thought the bottles, cans, calligraphy and paintings were useful, he could directly Just take it and sell it."
Zhu Yi said it politely, but he only said that the things he sent were for storage.
"When Shizhong Zhu changes to a big house and has room in the warehouse, I will definitely return all of it."
"No need to pay it back, no need to pay it back, Zhu is used to living a rough life, and he will live here for the rest of his life!"
The two of them humbly resisted for a long time. Looking at Zhu Yi's hypocritical smile, Xiao Yu felt that he had become hypocritical.
"Okay, it's time for me to leave! I won't disturb Zhu Shizhong Mu Xiu."
Xiao Yu stood up and was about to leave. As he walked to the door, he suddenly heard Zhu Yi shouting from behind: "Little prince, please stay!"
Xiao Yu turned back curiously: "What else is there?"
He saw Zhu Yi rummaging around on his bookcase and said: "The children in the family are ignorant and incompetent. A few days ago, the servants took advantage of him and got some...picture albums. They were seen by Zhu. I don’t understand what’s on the painting, so please ask the young prince to go back and comment.”
Not long after, Zhu Yi pulled out a purple wooden box from under a pile of books. The wooden box was exquisitely made and not something that ordinary people could afford.
Xiao Yu curiously took the purple wooden box and was about to open it when Zhu Yi held it down with his hand.
Zhu Yi's face turned red and his expression was a little weird. He whispered: "This thing... this thing... don't open it here. Go back and hide it. It's quiet at night and no one will open it again..."
Xiao Yu understood, and the two of them looked at each other and smiled tacitly.
Zhu Yi wanted to go out and give him a ride, but Xiao Yu refused.
"Zhu Shizhong, how can you give it to me while you are wearing underwear? I understand. I will come back another day. I will return the items to you after I have finished reviewing them!"
"No need to pay it back, no need to pay it back, Zhu is afraid that it will be stolen by a junior in the family again."
Zhu Yi smiled warmly and asked Cao Chen to see the young prince out for him.
As soon as Xiao Yu left, the smile on Zhu Yi's face disappeared immediately as he closed the door.
He slowly sat back on the chair, raised his head, closed his eyes and rested.
A concubine walked out from behind the screen, speaking softly and charmingly, wanting to please her husband.
Zhu Yi had long since lost interest and waved his hand impatiently.
"Go! Go! Go……"
The concubine snorted and left angrily.
Zhu Yi looked at his concubine's swaying buttocks, but his mind was somewhere else. He seemed to think of the house named after Cao Chen again.
It was really a hot potato. There were problems for two days in a row, and the Forbidden Army was involved.
He could vaguely see the troublemaker behind him. Compared with him, Pei Zhi, as General Zhige, could only be regarded as a vicious dog.
What he seemed to see in the fog was not one person, but several people, and their outlines were slowly becoming clearer.
Someone was about to fight back, but now he had lost the opportunity and was being beaten passively. At this time, he could only give in and retreat.
He was particularly concerned about the emperor. In these days, the saint was moody and some were deposed for no reason. Fortunately, they were not killed.
This seemed to indicate that a bigger thunder wrath was slowly brewing. He could only be cautious and did not dare to make any big moves for the time being.
As for that house, what should be done with it next seems to be another problem, especially those barbarian prisoners locked inside.
And all of this was due to Cao Chen's fault, he was the one who harmed himself. Thinking of this, Zhu Yi's face became as cold as ice, and murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
"It's all your fault. Don't blame me for being so ruthless..." Zhu Yi couldn't help but mutter to himself.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Cao Chen came back. Zhu Yi pretended to write a few more words and said:
"Come in."
Cao Chen closed the door behind his back and walked in, stopping in front of the case.
Zhu Yi looked up at him and asked, "Have you accepted them all?"
"All accepted."
Zhu Yi then put his pen down, breathed a long sigh of relief, and leaned against the backrest comfortably.
"No one noticed?"
"No, the cars went in three ways, or entered through the side door. Even the stewards of Prince Jiangxia's Mansion didn't know what was inside."
"That's good..." Zhu Yi nodded thoughtfully, "Cao Chen, why did you bring him back today?"
Manager Cao had a look of helplessness on his face: "He came here by himself. I'm a little confused and can't understand what the young prince wants to do. A Lang, what did he tell you here?"
Zhu Yi didn't like Cao Chen always asking about other things, but he didn't scold him, and continued: "I asked for a few books that Benxiang treasured, and then went back. Benxiang didn't understand what he was here for. .”
"oh……"
"He said something to help guess the truth."
"Please clarify, Alang."
Zhu Yi thought for a while, "He said no wonder the emperor trusted me so much..."
Manager Cao was confused after hearing this. He thought about it for a long time and couldn't figure it out. He just stood there and said nothing.
"I wonder... if someone is using him to send a message to me." Zhu Yi quickly rejected his idea, "That's not possible. Except for Pan Duo, he hardly makes friends with any noble and royal family, but he would like to Mixed among a bunch of beggars, if it weren't for his father's help, who would care about a guy like him who can't stand up to the wall."
Although Zhu Yi said so, in his heart he may not really despise the young prince.
"Alang, there is one more thing, I don't know whether I should talk about it or not."
Zhu Yi glanced at Cao Chen coldly: "Now that I have said everything, what else is there that should be said and shouldn't be said?"
"Yes, yes... Ah Lang, the gang of unruly people who went to make trouble at the house in Chaogou yesterday are the same group of people who often hang out with the young prince. General Zhige also has some friendship with the young prince..."
Zhu Yi stroked his beard and pondered for a while, then smiled: "You want to say that the young prince is taking advantage of the truth while destroying the truth?"
Manager Cao lowered his head and said nothing.
"No, no... you think too highly of him. The truth has been staring at him for many years, but the facts tell the truth that in addition to having a good skin, no matter how forbearing he is, the blank space in these years is enough. It has rendered him useless.”
"And what happened last night. The remnant soldiers trapped in the camp had a conflict with the villain's subordinates. It is said that they blocked the road to prevent the villain's subordinates from passing, and finally deliberately let the men in black go."
Zhu Yi disagreed: "That's your business, it has nothing to do with the truth, so why bother with the truth, but... you have to wipe your own butt, otherwise the truth can't protect you."
"The villain knows." Manager Cao replied respectfully.
Zhu Yi waved his hand, and Cao Chen exited the study.
Zhu Yi sat alone inside for a while.
The room was getting dark, and the sun had already set.
He wanted to light the lamp in the room, but after thinking about it, he forgot. He returned to the desk and took his right hand into the secret compartment under the desk. The letter was still there.
He touched the letter, then retracted his hand, pretending to be nonchalant.
…
Although the distance between Wuyi Lane and his own palace is not too far, the curfew was still caught up on the carriage's return journey.
The sound of dusk drums sounded, and the soldiers of the Right Guards who were preparing to patrol the night began to drive away the vendors and pedestrians on the roadside, and also took the opportunity to gain some benefits.
Xiao Yu's carriage was stopped by a few right guard soldiers, who swaggered forward to ask for tolls, otherwise they would not let him go.
Manager Cui wanted to give him some silver to settle the matter, but Xiao Yu refused. He took out the token that Zhu Yi had given him and threw it out of the window.
The soldiers on the right guard were so frightened by the token that they dared not speak. They were all arrogant and domineering at first, but now they were like a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Several soldiers bent down and confessed.
A young voice came from inside the car: "Bring me the token back!"
Manager Cui on the side raised his head with a nonchalant expression.
A leading young officer laughed twice, picked up the token from the ground, carefully blew the dust off it, held the token in both hands, bowed his waist, and handed it to Manager Cui.
Manager Cui didn't want to talk to these soldiers anymore. He took back the little master's token with a cold snort and let the carriage move forward angrily.
As soon as the carriage started moving, a rapid sound of horse hooves was heard from the side.
I saw a few young men in bright clothes and angry horses running towards this side, making strange screams from their mouths, trying to provoke the soldiers of the Right Guards.
Several young soldiers were so angry that they stepped forward to block the road. Seeing that the horses did not slow down, the young soldiers hurriedly gave way and hid on the side of the road.
The older soldier laughed at the new recruits and bowed to the young men.
Xiao Yu frowned slightly as he looked at this scene.
At this time, a young man took out his slingshot and shot a projectile towards Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu dodged, but the projectile had already shot through the window paper and hit the purple wooden box given to him by Zhu Yi, and finally bounced into Xiao Yu's arms.
The young man shooting the slingshot kept moving. As his companion passed diagonally in front of the carriage, he seemed to have not changed his voice yet and spoke like a child:
"Then Mr. Kanemaru doesn't want it anymore, so I'll reward you!"
Xiao Yu was not angry, he just felt it was novel. He picked up the bullet in his hand and looked at it carefully under the last ray of light. It was indeed a golden pill of high quality.
Xiao Yu opened the car window and looked out. The young men had already galloped away.
And the dozen or so right guard soldiers were still standing in formation, watching the young men leave.
During this period, Xiao Yu's action of pushing the car window also attracted the attention of a soldier who looked like a veteran.
When he saw Xiao Yu, his neck shrank and his whole body seemed smaller.
Xiao Yu didn't hold any grudge, he opened his mouth and asked: "Who are those people?"
The old pawn didn't speak at first, but when he realized that the noble young master in the car was asking him, he hurriedly bent down and answered, with surprise in his eyes: "Don't you know them, young master?"
"Don't know them? Why should I know them?"
The old pawn saw that Xiao Yu was a noble person. He didn't know the intricate relationships among the upper class, so he just assumed that they were not in the same circle.
"Young Master, please forgive me. Those young men are all famous nobles in the capital. I don't know them all. I only know that the leader is named Cui Hong, and he is the direct grandson of the current Prime Minister Cui."
"Cui Huijing's grandson..." Xiao Yu asked again, "Who is the one who uses the slingshot?"
The old soldier looked a little panicked. He looked at his comrades beside him. They had already dispersed and started doing their "old business" again.
Xiao Yu threw out a broken piece of silver, which happened to fall into the hands of the old pawn.
He smiled sheepishly, in a flattering and coy way, not like an old man.
He leaned closer to the door and window, and when he saw Manager Cui's eyebrows raised, and his mask looking particularly scary in the night, he felt a little tempted to retreat.
Xiao Yu waved his hand, and Manager Cui snorted coldly and walked towards the carriage.
Xiao Yu hooked his hand at the old soldier.
"who is he?"
The old pawn showed his gapped teeth and said, "Sir, you can't afford to offend him. I'll let it go."
Xiao Yu smiled: "I didn't say I was going to seek revenge. I just mentioned a name. What are you afraid of? Who is that young man?"
"Young Master? Young Master, don't you think she talks like a woman? She is just a woman, just like a tigress."
"tigress?"
"Her grandpa is General Wei Rui, does Wei Rui know it?"
"of course I know."
The old soldier whispered: "Marquis Wei is nicknamed Wei Hu, and the daughter of his family is naturally nicknamed Tigress! Young Master, please don't mess with this tigress. They say that this tigress will eat people when she is unhappy. It only bites the extra bits of man."
Xiao Yu had some surprise on his face.
At this time, the old pawn was called away by his companions, and the carriage started moving again.
Xiao Yu closed the car window and played with the golden pill in his hand.
"Tigress..." Xiao Yu smiled when he read the name, "I really don't know what Wei Rui thought about naming his daughter Tigress..."
He suddenly felt that something was wrong. She was not called "Tigress", but the old soldier hadn't told him the little girl's name yet!
But the carriage had already driven far away, and the young prince, with a little regret, was blurred in the hazy night.
