After a heart-to-heart conversation in the pavilion, Mei Siyuan and his wife had all their doubts gone and were very happy. Xia Muchao mentioned the matter of picking up the wind again, and the two of them agreed immediately. The place would be Ruiyun Tower, and the time would be 2:00 noon.
Seeing that the matter was done, Xia Muchao did not delay and said with a smile, "Now that the morning court is over, I will go to see my father. It's not a bad idea to ask for the order at noon!" After saying "Haha", he laughed and went to the garden. Go outside. After walking six or seven feet, he turned around and said to Mei Siyuan, "Although the mansion is nice, you are not comfortable after all, so just take your wife and children out of the mansion for a walk. Just come to Ruiyun Tower at noon."
When Xia Muchao walked away, Mei Siyuan took a long breath, turned to his wife and sighed, "Your Majesty is so kind to me, and my sister has seen it now, but please don't say any disrespectful words again." Thinking of last night's warning to her husband to be careful with his jaw. Wang, Bai Lisi's face turned red and she explained coyly, "I always felt that the prince treated you very well before, so how could I avoid being suspicious? Why do you think so highly of you when you have been absent from the capital for many years? Now it seems that it is so good. Your Majesty has been supervising you for ten years. My husband acts with integrity and integrity. If there is such a reason, I am overly worried."
Mei Siyuan said with a smile, "You have always had such a suspicious temper!" Then he said seriously to Mei Yuanchen, "Chen'er, please don't tell anyone about this matter. Although the prince is sincere, he may not Then you won’t fall into the hands of others, so remember it!”
Mei Yuanchen nodded heavily and Zheng Sheng agreed, "The child will understand. When the child grows up, he will definitely follow his father and serve the prince."
The capital city is where the Dahua Court Hall is located. The general offices of all ministries and departments are located here. Forty percent of the court officials above the fourth rank are located here. Moreover, the tax system of one tax for every fifteen years was promulgated. Rich merchants and merchants gathered together, and today it is the most prosperous place. After that, Xia Ruren established the capital and sent out laborers. Within four years, he built a temple at the west foot of Guoshan Mountain in the north of the city, named Zhenwu Temple. Inheriting the wishes of the first emperor of the dynasty, successive emperors have given more support to Taoism. Therefore, for three hundred years, Zhenwu Temple has been prosperous and has not shown any signs of decline. It is a must-see for tourists.
The family of three returned to their bedroom in Yuqiong Langyuan, put on their fur clothes and left the palace.
The inner city of the capital is equipped with squares, alleys, markets and streets. The squares are where the common people live; the alleys are where the wealthy people, court officials, and relatives of the emperor live. The street refers to the commercial port, which is a place where private businesses gather and distribute; the market refers to the official port, which is the place where the government purchases and sells.
The family of three left the palace and walked for more than a minute before arriving at a street. Restaurants, teahouses, guesthouses, and medical clinics stand next to the streets. They have everything you need to eat, drink, and play. People flow here and there. Compared to Qingxi County, it is much more prosperous. Although Mei Yuanchen was old enough to dance spoons, her childlike innocence still remained, and she begged her parents to buy many gadgets and things.
After wandering for a while, Baili Siyuan said to Mei Yuanchen, "Chen'er, you've had a lot of fun in this street today, why don't we go to the official market to have a look?" Mei Siyuan looked at his wife with a look of affection, I couldn't help but feel something in my heart, "Sure enough, there is no better wife than a wife who knows her husband." Mei Yuanchen followed him obediently.
The official market and the commercial port were separated by a road, but the flow of people was quite deserted. At this time, only a few administrative officials were seen wandering around the port entrance. Mei Siyuan walked in front, went in, and took a closer look. Here are some rice, millet, oil sauce and silk clothes. Mei Siyuan went to the salt market and entered the inner hall. A man from Yan City's waiter came to greet him. He bowed his waist and said with a smile on his face, "Sir, please wait and see!" Yan Bi followed Mei Siyuan.
Mei Siyuan pinched a few grains of salt sand in his hand and put it into his mouth. His face became increasingly solemn and he said to the waiter, "Excuse me, brother, can you get a bowl of hot water?" The waiter saw the three of them wearing colorful robes. , guessing that he was from a noble family, he immediately agreed, "What's wrong with this? It's just that there are only three guests, and a bowl of water is not enough!" Mei Siyuan said with a bitter smile, "Brother is too worried, just one bowl is enough." If it's enough, please go and get it." The waiter turned back as he was told.
Baili Si walked closer, held her husband's right palm with both hands, and said in a warm voice, "The salt supply has been in short supply for more than ten years. It may not be cured for a while. Brother Yuan, please don't be too anxious." Mei Siyuan smiled. , held a pair of catkins in his wife's hands, and replied, "Yes."
In no time, the waiter brought the boss a bowl of hot water with a silly smile on his face. I saw Mei Siyuan taking the water bowl with one hand, grabbing a handful of salt sand and throwing it in, slowly shaking it away. The waiter looked confused and muttered to himself, "Is this how to drink?"
Mei Siyuan took a closer look and saw a rather conspicuous piece of dust sinking to the bottom of the bowl. He frowned, took out one ingot or one tael of official silver from his pocket, handed it to the waiter and said, "Thank you, little brother." !" He took his wife and left, leaving the waiter happily greeting her all the way. After coming out of the official market, the three of them no longer had the interest to go shopping, so Mei Siyuan led the two of them to Ruiyun Tower.
Ruiyun Tower is a first-class restaurant in the capital. The shopkeeper, Mingli, is a centurion who has lost his military position. In fact, it is an property of Prince Jia's palace. When the three of them reached the door, the shopkeeper came up to them and said with a smile, "Sir Mei, your banquet will be held in the Pojun Pavilion upstairs. If I have any inconvenience with you, please go by yourself." Pojun Pavilion is Xia Muchao's customary In the wing room, the shopkeeper would not dare to go there without King Jaw's invitation.
It was the Pojun Pavilion where Mei Siyuan and Xia Muchao had a drink before. Now he knew the way and went up alone with his wife and children.
The windows, doors, tables, stools, and screens in this pavilion are all made of carved sandalwood, which is extremely luxurious. When Mei Yuanchen was taking a closer look, he heard a sound outside, indicating that Xia Muchao had arrived. Mei Siyuan opened the door and saw Xia Muchao coming in, followed by a heroic young man of sixteen or seventeen years old. When everyone sat down at the table, Xia Muchao smiled and said, "Siyuan, I wanted to come and invite my colleagues from the court. Your wife and children are not here to eat or drink, so I said goodbye to all my colleagues. Today coincides with the return of my son Chengxuan from Shanghe County. , I will invite you to meet me, and I, my father and my son, will be the ones to welcome you, but don’t think it’s too deserted.”
Mei Siyuan stood up anxiously, clasped his hands and said, "Your Majesty!", and then said to Xia Mu, "Your Majesty has thought everything carefully, Siyuan is very grateful!" Bai Lisi and Mei Yuanchen also held hands and said in harmony. , "Your Majesty!"
At this moment, there was a commotion outside the door, and I could vaguely hear, "You bastard, our Prince Zhi is going up, but you dare to stop us!" Then there was a sound of "dong dong dong", which showed that A group of people came upstairs. Mei Yuanchen accidentally caught a glimpse of anger on Xia Muchao's face, clearly very annoyed.
After just a few breaths, I heard a group of people approaching, and they had already arrived at the Pojun Pavilion. Finally, a young man in Kong Wu's attire appeared in front of him, and a group of old men in rich robes were waiting on him.
The young man Kong Wu smiled and said, "Oh, Brother Jia Wang, are you here too?" It turned out that this young man Kong Wu was the seventh son of Emperor Yonghua, Prince Zhi Xia Muyang, known as "Prince Wu". In the current battle between the "Three Kings" for the throne, the "Wu Wang Faction" is the most popular. Not only does it have the most vassals in the court, but the most critical thing is that King Wu controls the "White Army" with the most powerful combat power in Dahua. At that time, the Dahua Dynasty had 1.8 million soldiers and generally lacked combat power. The 120,000 cavalry troops of the Gongyang family of Cangsheng County, the 140,000 red feather troops of the Huangfu family of Youmin County, and Prince Zhi commanded Xiahe. The county's 90,000 white-coated troops are the most powerful. Among them, Xia Muyang has practiced martial arts since he was a child, and the White Army has been under his rule for many years. He has been tempered in every possible way and has become the most courageous. Therefore, everyone calls him "King Wu's Army".
At this time, Xia Muyang looked at Mei Siyuan again, nodded, and said, "This must be Mr. Mei Siyuan, the new Salt Transport Administration Secretary." Mei Siyuan stood up to salute, but did not respond.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Xia Muyang actually approached Mei Siyuan, looked at her, and suddenly said word by word, "Master Mei, why don't you follow me? My brother Wang is very deep and scheming, and you can't offend him." Good to go!”
Mei Siyuan was still in a daze when he saw Xia Chengxuan's face turning red with anger. He slapped the table and yelled, "Uncle Seventh King, what are you going to do?"
