Chapter 260: The King of Zhennan comes to the door
In the east city of the capital, in a courtyard with three entrances, there are two magnificent stone lions in front of the door, with the two characters "Shu Mansion" written on them. The writing is powerful, showing the style of the owner.
It was almost noon, but the middle door of the house was wide open. A man wearing an ordinary brocade robe and a group of servants from the mansion were waiting in front of the door.
This is none other than Shu Liang, the eunuch in charge of Dongchang!
As the most prosperous capital city in the Ming Dynasty, the capital has always been said to be rich in the east and rich in the west, while in the south it is despised and in the north it is poor.
There are many yamen in the capital, and most of them are concentrated in Xicheng.
For the convenience of going to the Yamen, most of the elders purchased houses in Xicheng, and so did the nobles.
This resulted in the people living in Xicheng being high-ranking officials.
The Dongcheng side is very popular among businessmen because it is connected to the water transport terminal and has convenient transportation.
At the same time, due to the gathering of businessmen, Dongcheng is also a gathering place for various shops, and it is the most prosperous.
Logically speaking, Shu Liang is now in charge of the East Factory and can be considered a powerful party, and is qualified to purchase a house in the West City.
But in fact, all the admirals of the East Factory in the past dynasties, including other eunuchs who were qualified to buy houses outside the palace, basically lived in Dongcheng.
If not for anything else, most of the houses in Xicheng have been occupied by ministers of the court, and the elders are not willing to associate with eunuchs.
Therefore, although Lu Zhong, the commander of the Jinyiwei, was appointed by the emperor to purchase this house, he still bought the east city.
But this also has the advantage, that is, there is no one in Dongcheng who Shu Liang needs to greet with a smile.
He doesn't want to smile in front of those civil servants every day!
But today is different.
Shu Liang deliberately turned down his errands and stood in front of the mansion to greet him. It had been almost half an hour, but he didn't mean to be impatient at all.
This provoked a group of merchants living around to stand in the distance in twos and threes, wondering what kind of person it was that could allow the powerful Dongchang factory owner to greet him like this.
They soon had their answer.
In the distance, a huge ceremonial guard came slowly, with a large flag held in front of them with the three characters "King of Zhennan" written on it.
Not long after, the honor guard stopped in front of the Shu Mansion. Shu Liang bowed his head and cupped his hands.
"I have met the prince."
The fat King of Zhennan was supported by his servants and got out of the carriage, with a usual smile on his face and said.
"I have made Eunuch Shu wait for a long time. I set out early in the morning, but I never thought that as the New Year is approaching, the capital is bustling with people, and I was delayed for a while on the road. Eunuch Shu does not need to be more polite."
As he spoke, the fat prince enthusiastically held Shu Liang's arm and straightened his body.
Shu Liang then raised his eyes and found that behind the fat prince, there was a young man of about twenty years old, as handsome as jade, gentle and elegant.
It was none other than the young man who followed King Min that Shu Liang saw at the city gate that day.
Seeing Shu Liang turn his gaze over, the man nodded slightly, bowed slightly, cupped his hands and said.
"I've met Eunuch Shu."
Shu Liang turned his head hesitantly, and King Zhennan still said with a smile.
"This is my prince's eldest son, whose name is Yinxi."
Hearing this, Shu Liang quickly stepped aside and said repeatedly.
"It turns out that the prince is in front of you. We are just slaves of the Tian family. How dare we be treated as gifts by the prince?"
The young man Zhu Yinqi put down his hand and said.
"My father-in-law, don't worry. I came here with my father today to apologize to my two uncles. I have been very polite. Since my father-in-law is the admiral of Dongchang appointed by His Majesty, he is naturally different from ordinary internal servants, so he should be polite."
Shu Liang smiled bitterly and said.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you are so polite. You two can come to our courtyard today, and the humble abode has been rejuvenated. How dare our family be so generous?"
"The banquet has been prepared in the mansion, please come in quickly."
Welcoming the two people into the house, Shu Liang smiled kindly on his face, but secretly became wary in his heart.
Ever since the incident at the city gate that day, Shu Liang knew that the chubby King of Zhennan was not an easy person to deal with.
His performance outside the mansion just now strengthened his suspicion.
In the final analysis, he, Shu Liang, is just a eunuch.
That day at the city gate, because he came on behalf of the emperor, he accepted the courtesy of King Zhennan calmly.
But today, he entertained King Zhennan in a private capacity.
As Shu Liang himself said, even the admiral of Dongchang is nothing more than a slave of the emperor.
Given his status, he should be the one to salute Zhennan Prince and his son.
However, the fact is that King Zhennan accepted the gift from him, but he accepted the gift from King Zhennan, the crown prince.
This is against the rules, but there is no doubt that it will make a concubine like Shu Liang feel respected.
King Zhennan did not express the slightest dissatisfaction with the prince's behavior, indicating that it must have been discussed beforehand.
As the saying goes, when you treat others with courtesy, you must ask for something.
For the father and son to be so careless about their status, it shows that they must have their own goals.
In the front hall, the banquet has been prepared, and the singing and dancing are also ready.
After everyone sat down, exquisite dishes were served one after another, and music, singing and dancing began.
Shu Liang exchanged a few more pleasantries, toasted with a glass of wine, and then asked.
"That day at the gate of the city, the prince originally said that the prince should come. Our family already felt that it was very inappropriate. However, we never thought that today the prince would condescend to the throne and come in person. This is really a disgrace to our family."
King Zhennan drank the wine, still smiling on his chubby face, waving his hands.
"You are so polite, Eunuch Shu. Regarding the city gate matter, it was my two bastard brothers who were not sensible enough to offend Eunuch Shu. I have been very uneasy these days."
"That's why I just came to apologize today."
As he spoke, he winked, and the entourage next to him led someone and placed a gift list in front of Shu Liang's eyes.
Shu Liang took a closer look and saw that there were fine silks and ancient paintings inside, all of which were valuable, so he quickly declined.
"Our family doesn't dare to accept this. It's already a huge honor for the prince to come to our door today. How dare we continue to be ignorant of good and evil?"
Even so, Shu Liang did not return the gift note.
The smile on the fat prince's face became thicker and thicker, and he kept saying.
"It's just a thought, Eunuch Shu, there's no need to refuse."
As he spoke, he sighed and said.
"Speaking of which, my father-in-law said that day that after returning to the palace, he would report the truth to the emperor. I wonder what the emperor's attitude is. Can you tell me something?"
Shu Liang thought for a while, but did not answer directly, but asked instead.
"I wonder what is in your heart, how do you want your Majesty to deal with it?"
King Zhennan was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile.
"I'm a little embarrassed to say it. After all, we are my own family members. I definitely hope that the big issue can be minimized. However, the two of them are domineering. Now they offend the people they shouldn't offend, even if they are lightly punished, they will not be punished.
That’s right.”
After appreciating the meaning of Pin's words, Shu Liang raised a playful smile on his lips, put down the cup in his hand, shook his head and said.
"This, I'm afraid, will disappoint the prince. The prince said that a trivial matter is not worthy of his decree. He rewarded our servants with some medicine, and the matter was over."
The King of Zhennan on the side looked stagnant, obviously a little disappointed, but he quickly covered it up and said.
"Eunuch Shu is joking. This is a good thing. I am too late to be happy. There is nothing to be disappointed about."
On the other hand, Crown Prince Zhennan spoke softly and said.
"It is indeed a good thing, but it can also be seen that Your Majesty still loves Eunuch Shu. A mere chamberlain is injured, and for His Majesty to ask for your attention must be because of Eunuch Shu's face."
"The medicine in the palace is the best. I believe the injured chamberlain under Eunuch Shu can also recover faster."
These words seemed to be addressed to Shu Liang, but in fact, when the prince spoke, he kept looking at his old father...
