"Mrs. Zheng is too polite. That day, I just told the truth to Lord Long Live."
In the tea pavilion in the backyard of Baoxuguan, Taoist Priest Jingzhao looked at the gifts brought by Zheng Haizhu's master and servant, and entertained them with a gentle expression.
Zheng Haizhu said slowly: "The truth is the most important thing to say to save lives. Even though Long Live Lord is a sage, the Taoist priest's final words are also indispensable. In the past few days, new cloth has arrived from my hometown in the south, so I quickly asked the clerk to choose
These thick materials will be put to good use when the northwest wind blows, so don't despise them, Taoist priest."
Jingzhao smiled and nodded, and said a few complimentary words such as "Madam is really good at doing business, and can be a master for the prince." Her eyes fell on the cloth that the female apprentice took from Hua Er.
.
This is not the first time Jingzhao has seen this kind of Songjiang rhombus cloth with even indigo and dense texture.
She clearly remembered that when she and Ma Xianglin met again in the capital, the blue robe that General Pony often wore was made of this kind of cloth.
This Taoist Priest Jingzhao was the Hubo girl who was rescued by Ma Xianglin through subcontracting in the bandit village of Qiu Wanliang.
Amber was kept as a hidden stake outside the palace by Concubine Zheng. A few years ago, Cui Wensheng was sent to the bandit village in the water town to help Ma Xianglin deal with Qiu Wanliang, who was disloyal to Concubine Zheng and Prince Fu.
She pretended to be committed, became Lao Qiu's third wife, and gave birth to a son. Eunuch Cui ordered her to get rid of her own youngest son when cleaning up Qiu's rear family members and children.
Amber couldn't bear it, but fortunately she got help from Ma Xianglin, and there was no separation between mother and son.
At that time, Hu Bo never thought that after returning to Beijing, General Ma would take the initiative to find her, inquire about her safety, and be concerned about whether Concubine Zheng found out that she had not killed the son she had with Qiu Wanliang.
Then, when he heard that Amber had to foster his child in a farmhouse in Tong County in order to keep it secret, General Ma immediately mentioned that he had a close servant who lost an arm in a battle and could no longer carry a gun.
Instead of fighting, it would be better to let the childless housekeeper and his wife take care of the child for Amber.
While Amber felt deep gratitude, she could not help but have subtle reverie.
She secretly speculated that General Ma had developed an admiration for her, which was why he cared for her so much.
It wasn't until the Dragon Boat Festival of the following year that Hu Bo heard that General Ma was going to marry the daughter of Zhang Shilang, and congratulated him with mixed emotions. Unexpectedly, General Ma suddenly took off his armor. Although his face was still as cold and serious as a smile, he and Hu Hubo boiled the wine.
Drink freely.
Perhaps because of the drunkenness, or perhaps because he was facing a listener with deeper secrets, General Ma, wearing a Songjiang cloth robe, talked about Zheng Haizhu.
After drinking two jugs of wine, General Ma left in a daze. When he met Amber again later, he clearly showed a hint of regret for his drunken blunder. Naturally, Amber would not mention it again.
But Amber has no hostility towards the woman named Zheng.
On the contrary, from General Ma's narration, Amber even felt that the legendary story of a lone adventurer was more exciting than the romantic love story and could arouse her curiosity about a person of the same sex.
Therefore, when he entered the imperial city from Donghua Gate that day and learned from the Imperial Guard that the female lecturer led by the Chamberlain's Chamberlain was Zheng Haizhu, Hubo followed her from afar until he experienced the turmoil and stepped forward to defend her.
She testified.
Afterwards, in the Yikun Palace, Young Amber was reprimanded by Concubine Zheng for being meddlesome. Cui Wensheng on the side actually tried to comfort him, saying what Amber had done just made the emperor think that the concubine, Fang Congzhe, Yao Zongwen and others were not as criticized by the Donglin Party.
With such a connection, Concubine Zheng lost her anger.
At this moment, in the pleasant autumn light, drinking sweet lotus seed soup, listening to Zheng Haizhu talking about the scenery of various places, but not mentioning a word about her achievements that General Ma had said, Amber felt more and more that the woman in front of her was about the same age as herself.
, words make people feel comfortable and relaxed.
Zheng Haizhu, on the other hand, was ready to start testing.
She stopped chatting, wiped away her modesty, put on an air of loving others and said with a smile: "Taoist priest, our area in Susong is also a place where Buddhas and Taoists are worshipped. So when I first came to the capital, I
I went to Shichahai to take a look. The Guangfu Temple there, I heard, is the administrative office of Daolu Si outside the palace. The surrounding area is in Qingning, which is under purge. It is much better than this place. If the Taoist priest wants to move there, I can help you there.
The money and the teeth are in harmony and we will try our best to help each other."
Hearing this, Amber's good impression of Zheng Haizhu was like a clear and fragrant tea that suddenly fell into dust and changed slightly.
As expected, women who gradually gain fame and fortune become as self-righteous as those men.
Amber then spoke calmly: "Madam, it seems that this place is not a good place. As the saying goes, if you are far away from home, you can just watch the world outside and concentrate on meditation inside. I would like to thank Madam for your troubles, but I won't move away.
"
Zheng Haizhu looked stunned, and then apologized quickly: "I am ignorant and have said such offensive words. Please forgive me."
She estimated that she had left a certain impression of straightforwardness in Amber's heart, and stood up to leave.
Amber was delivered to the courtyard as a courtesy. Zheng Haizhu glanced in the direction of the vegetable patch and saw that the vegetable farmer and his son were still there, so he changed his tone of sympathy and sincerity: "Taoist priest, I just asked the old man a few words. It turns out that the baby and the
Like my nephew, he lost his mother when he was young. Fortunately, the Taoist priest is so kind. Well, we will also have Songjiang cloth shoes in our shop later. There are many for the baby, so I will send a few pairs to this child."
Amber nodded: "Thank you madam for taking the trouble."
After watching Zheng's master and servant go away, Hu Bo walked to the ear porch near the vegetable patch.
Ma Xianglin's confidant named Qi Hu saw the figure, got up hurriedly, and hurried over.
"Brother Qi, that lady has met and spoken to you?"
"I asked a few questions, but Ayong didn't answer her, and she wasn't annoyed either. She was quite friendly. Miss Hu Hu, who is she?"
Amber paused and said softly: "She is a close friend of General Ma. She never saw my face when we were in the bandit camp. She got into trouble when she entered the palace a few days ago, and I helped her out, so today, she came
Send a thank you gift."
Qi Hu said: "Oh, so, it turns out she is the woman that the young master has a high regard for."
"Well, she has a close friendship with General Ma, so she must be familiar with the Sichuan accent. Did she ask you where your hometown is just now?"
Qi Hu shook his head: "That's not true."
Seeing Hu Bo's thoughtful look, Qi Hu added: "Miss Hu Bo, there are people from all over the capital in the capital looking for a living. When my mother-in-law and I took Ayong with us, we didn't hide it from the neighbors in our hometown in Shu.
.”
Amber pulled himself out of his brief trance, looked at the flesh and bones not far away that he could not recognize, suppressed the sharp pain in his chest, and tried to say in a calm tone: "Brother Qi is right, General Ma's acquaintance,
Ding also has a good character. She said she would give the baby a few pairs of shoes in two days, so there is no need for you to dodge, lest she make her suspicious."
