The Thirteenth Niang twisted the handkerchief in her hand over and over again. Seeing Chu Shou come down and sit in front of Lu Xiaonian, her heart sank a little. She turned around and greeted the stage, and the babbling sound started again.
"Everyone, keep listening to the show, keep on! Keep on!"
She approached with a smile, and said with caution: "Master Lu, why are you in the mood to come today? You saw so many guys, you scared away all my guests."
Lu Xiaonian raised his eyes and glanced at Thirteenth Niang, with a wicked smile on his lips and said: "My main purpose today is to see someone."
"Looking for someone? Are you going to charge protection money again?"
Chu Shou crossed his arms across his chest, raised his head and looked at him, asking suspiciously.
Lu Xiaonian has been ignorant since he was a child. Taking advantage of his family's wealth, he gathered a few younger brothers to look for trouble.
It was precisely because of his tyranny that Chu Shou and Chu Shou got into trouble. At that time, Shang Musi, the seventh eldest son of the Shang family who was best friends with Chu Shou, was often harassed by Lu Xiaonian because of conflicts between his family's business and the Lu family. This man was a
After being a scoundrel and trying to reason to no avail, Shang Musi found Chu Shou.
Enemies were extremely jealous when they met each other. As the two people on the list of the most troubled children in Kyoto, they spent a lot of time fighting each other.
Lu Xiaonian had a bad temper, and Chu Shou could often arouse his anger just by talking, and he suffered a lot. However, the Lu family concentrated on business and did not involve officialdom. In addition to the old general in the family, Chu Shou also had a
Zaifu's uncle had the support of the rising Wu clan far away in Youbei, so naturally he was suppressed in every aspect. It could be said that he had been grudged for a long time.
"Protection money?" Lu Xiaonian raised his head and laughed loudly, as if he had heard an old joke.
He turned to look at Chu Shou and said firmly: "I have long heard that the princess has returned to Beijing. Today is a busy day, so I came here to catch up with the princess."
"Thirteenth Mother, please find a quiet place upstairs."
Lu Xiaonian stood up, and without waiting for Chu Shou to say anything, he walked upstairs with his long legs. He raised his hand, and the dozen or so people turned around and walked out one after another.
Chu Shou turned his head in confusion and looked at his back. The corners of his mouth twitched and he cursed: Why did you pretend to be...
Seeing that the man was gone, Su Tiying rushed to push down Chu Shou who was about to get up, frowning and worried: "Hey! Do you really want to go up with him? I feel like he can knock both of me down with one punch... or...
Don’t go, let’s go home.”
Ah Shui patted her on the shoulder and reassured her, "This Young Master Lu has always been our miss's loser. Miss Su Er, don't worry!"
"Yeah, there's me too!" Sanqian patted her chest, her skills were not in vain.
Su Tiying was dubious, and after thinking for a while, she said, "Okay, let's do this. If he dares to do anything to you, he'll throw a cup as a sign, and we'll rush in."
Isn’t that how it’s played on TV…
Chu Shou looked at the anxious Su Tiying with a smile. She just had never seen such a person, he was so stupid.
Everyone always took it for granted that as the princess, nothing could go wrong with her.
She has offended a lot of people on weekdays, but mostly because of the power behind her. She is very close to them on the surface, but she doesn't know what to criticize behind her back.
Kyoto is a place that is neither big nor small. When Chu Shou first came here, she was as naive as Su Tiying. The good she saw in her eyes was good and the bad was bad. However, she had no problem with it. Instead, she let someone eat her.
He has gone through a lot of hardships. If she could wake up early, now he would have parents to take care of him and his brother to protect him. Maybe he would have a happy marriage and have many children under his knees. He would accumulate good deeds throughout his life. He would have enough fun in this world.
Continue to be the god described by our ancestors...
Even if the two of them meet in a flash, it will be much happier than living in pain all day long.
Chu Shou smiled, his eyebrows curved, and he said brightly: "I am not that weak, I am the one who saved you."
@
"It's okay. I've asked Qing Feng to guard him. Although Lu Xiaonian is a bit naughty, he shouldn't deliberately cause trouble in public."
After saying that, Shen Yi glanced hard at the two women standing in front of him and continued: "The limelight has been exhausted, it's time to get down to business."
Song Yanqing was sitting behind the screen, her figure dim. For a moment, she tilted her head slightly and said in a deep voice, "I'll show you two ladies some tea."
His voice was cold, with no trace of sadness or joy.
Two secret guards walked out of the darkness of the room, both carrying knives at their waists. They looked serious. One poured tea on the left and the other on the right, and invited the two people to sit down. One was Gao Zhishui and the other was Xue Ying.
Gao Zhishui turned around and saw that there were two secret guards guarding the door. She squeezed the teacup tightly and said with a twitch in her throat: "Two adults, I...both my father and brother are officials in the court, although they are not..."
Before he finished speaking, a chuckle came from behind the screen, and Song Yanqing said lightly: "If you want to mention the two fathers and brothers, I'm afraid it's not the two young ladies who are talking to me at this time."
Shen Yi had a cold face, took out a piece of letter paper and a greeting card in his hand, stepped forward and put them on the table, "Ms. Gao doesn't want to admit it, right?"
This letter and greetings were delivered to the Metropolitan Procuratorate by Gao Zhishui. She was able to make a big splash today. First, she wanted to thank the earrings she picked up from behind the uncle's carriage when she left the palace that night. If it hadn't been for these earrings, she would have wanted to If you don't dress the way you do today, you won't be able to outshine all the noble ladies.
And the most important thing is that she was able to attend the banquet with the Imperial Censor who had just arrived in Kyoto, and it was also thanks to this earring.
Gao Zhishui knew very well that the earrings were accidentally dropped by the female assassin when she escaped from the palace at the Qianqiu Banquet that day. The figure flashing in the grass was the assassin. Whether the assassin could be caught or not was none of her business. She wanted it. It will be able to steal the show at the subsequent gathering.
Everyone said that it was dangerous to get involved with the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but if you wanted this glory, why fear the danger? So she handed over a letter and sent the news about the female assassin to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but the condition He wanted Song Yanqing to go to the elegant gathering with him.
She had not seen the Metropolitan Procuratorate before she arrived at Yichunju. The carriage stopped and saw Song Yanqing, dressed in red and with a gold belt, standing in the night with Shen Yi, hands folded. She was stunned.
It was just a transaction, at least that's what she thought when Song and Shen entered the room.
"The play hasn't ended yet, Miss Gao, don't leave in a hurry."
Song Yanqing stood up as he spoke and walked slowly out from behind the screen. His eyes were heavy and his mouth was smiling. The red rope wooden pillar hanging from his waist swayed with his robe. The two of them lowered their eyes and did not dare to look again.
"Sir Song, what do you mean by this?" Xue Ying opened her big eyes and looked around. She originally thought that Gao Zhishui had really invited Mr. Song to the elegant gathering, but now it seems that this is not the case. Water? This is..."
Song Yan tilted his head, with a smile in his eyes, and looked at the tassel earrings worn on Gao Zhishui's ears.
Gao Zhishui noticed his gaze and his eyes flickered. The eyes were filled with a smile, but it sent a chill down the spine.
"Don't worry, Miss Xue, it's just a deal between Miss Gao and the Metropolitan Procuratorate."
He stepped forward, raised his arm, and touched her ear with his slender fingers. Suddenly, with a sudden force, the earring fell off and lay safely in the palm of his hand.
Gao Zhishui exclaimed in pain and quickly covered her right ear. Blood seeped out from her fingers. She turned around anxiously and hurriedly asked Xue Ying to check, "My ear... look at my ear." .”
The pain was as if her ear had been torn. What she was most proud of in her life was her body, which she had carefully cared for every inch. If her earlobe was really torn, it would be far more unacceptable than losing her body.
Xue Ying quite understood what she was thinking and immediately checked and said: "It's fine, just a little blood seeping out."
Gao Zhishui raised her head angrily, tears of pain were about to flow out. She bit her lip with tears in her eyes and said, "Master Song has already obtained this earring, is this the end of the deal?"
Song Yanqing pinched the earring, raised it in front of his eyes, and looked at it carefully under the candlelight and moonlight. The inner body was transparent, without any impurities, and there were still some blood stains on it. When he heard what Gao Zhishui said, he raised his eyebrows. With a smile on his lips, he turned around and walked around: "What I hate most in my life is being threatened by others. This matter - it's never over."
He turned around, threw the earrings towards Shen Yiqi, crossed his arms across his chest, walked slowly to the screen and sat down, drank some tea, and left two words: "Let's examine it."
@
At that time, Chu Shou was also sitting on Fang Fang's side. She held up her skirt and robe, stared at Lu Xiaonian opposite, and slid to sit by the window.
Outside Yichun Ju, it was still very lively. Vendors were shouting tirelessly. A row of lanterns was set up on the bank. Men and women gathered there, playing lantern riddles. Lu Xiaonian looked at the night scene outside and saw something strange.
"Lu dog thief?" Chu Shou called his name, raised his foot and kicked him, and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Lu Xiaonian rested his forearms on the table, his big hands hanging down helplessly. He turned around and took out a small book from his arms. There were three big words printed on the book - "Historical Records".
He pushed the book in front of Chu Shou and said calmly: "I have been planning to open a bookstore recently, and I want to include your book. You authorize it to be published, and I will print it and sell it for money. You are six and I am four. I don't know what to do." What do you think?"
Chu Shou leaned back steadily, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, raised his hand to pick up the book, looked at it suspiciously, and said: "It's easy to discuss..."
Lu Xiaonian drank a cup of tea and continued: "There are many pirated books on the market, and I can help you take them back one by one. How sincere is this?"
"I am seven and you are three. This is called sincerity. I will only support your family, how about it?" Chu Shou smiled and pushed the book back.
Lu Xiaonian lowered his eyes and smiled. He had already guessed that she would bargain. It was expected. Without hesitation, he nodded and said: "Okay, it's a deal."
Seeing how happy he was, Chu Shou was a little stunned. He always felt that he had lost a lot of money invisibly...
After that, Lu Xiaonian took out another folded piece of paper and handed it to Chu Shou. His face was a little solemn and he lowered his voice and said, "I have one more thing to come to you for today."
"Oh?" Chu Shou responded, opened the paper, glanced at it briefly, his eyes darkened, stood up, held the beating candle with one hand, and handed the paper into the fire with the other.
The candle flame instantly ignited the paper, and as the flying fire spread, the yellow paper turned into ashes and fell piece by piece.
When Lu Xiaonian saw the fire and was about to burn her fingertips, he raised his arms and reached out, took it, twisted it with his fingers, gathered it together and inserted the paper into the tea cup. After a while, the fire was extinguished, leaving only ashes.
Chu Shou sat down, with the same solemn expression, and then she spoke slowly and asked in a deep voice: "There are three departments in Kyoto, including the Criminal Department, Dali Temple, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and you can surrender to them. Why do you want to come to me?"
Lu Xiaonian laughed helplessly, shook his head and said: "I only know that my eldest brother bribed senior officials, smuggled jade from the border areas, and enriched his own pockets. As for which senior executive he colluded with, and which senior official protected him, I don't know at all. If I make the wrong investment,
If I file a complaint and deliver the wrong news, wouldn’t I be asking for trouble? I thought about it and I originally planned to go to Youzhou to find you, but I didn’t know you came back on your own.”
Chu Shou stretched out his hand and knocked on the table and asked: "What are you doing? Killing relatives for righteousness?"
Lu Xiaonian waved his hands and said with emotion: "No, I'm not that noble. They say it's easy to conquer a country, but it's hard to defend a country. Now my father is gradually letting go of business, and most of it is in the hands of my elder brother. Although I don't have any ambitions, I still have to
If you want to survive, you don’t have to lend money and collect debts every day. It’s annoying to death, so you still have to fight..."
"The Qingzhou Copper Mine incident has been causing quite a stir recently, you don't know that, right?"
"Copper mine?"
"Someone was privately mining copper in Qingzhou. They traveled a long way to the border between Mingqi and Youyan. They were considered smuggling. They were stopped by the pass. Only then did they trace Qingzhou step by step. I heard that it was the bandits from Linglong Village in Qingzhou who did it.
ghost."
"Bandits?"
Lu Xiaonian raised his hand to pour himself a cup of tea, raised his head to drink it, and continued: "Yes, it is the bandits. His Majesty was assassinated, and it was the assassins sent from the north. Especially along this small country, the bandits are also ready to join forces.
Mining copper ores and making weapons is a very ambitious thing."
Then he reminded: "Recently, I have seen you getting close to the Prince of Prince Xing, and I want to give you a piece of advice. No matter how much he bears the title of Prince, he is still a proton. Who knows, this man who secretly mines copper mines
Does the matter have something to do with him..."
After Lu Xiaonian finished speaking, he took the tea cup and looked out the window. The night was a little dark, the lights were dim, and the songs and laughter floated in along the window pavilion, but he was stunned as he looked at it.
After Chu Shou listened to this long series of words, he digested it silently in his heart. He looked out the window and saw the sparkling lights reflected on the lake, and he looked lost.
After a cup of tea, Lu Xiaonian turned his head and looked at the person opposite who was thinking. He frowned slightly, his eyelashes hung straight in front of his eyes, he pursed his lips slightly, and his brown eyes looked steadily into the distance.
At this point, he thought of the situation in the past when he had a battle of wits and courage with Chu Shou but was repeatedly stabbed in the back, and he couldn't help but curl up the corner of his mouth. Are there really people who haven't changed at all in five years?
He asked curiously: "Has the princess come up with any good ideas?"
Chu Shou was still looking out the window blankly, shaking his head numbly and saying: "No, I can't think of it now."
After finishing speaking, she came back to her senses, let out a long sigh, leaned heavily on the table, and said vaguely: "There is the northern border above and the Youyan below. There are internal and external troubles. I might as well think of a way to urge Zhao Wuji."
Hurry up and treat His Majesty..."
"However, I have a small favor for you to do." Chu Shou said, his eyes brightening.
As the saying goes, life is full of helplessness. How can she take care of all the bad things?
She is now in Kyoto, neither in the north nor in Youyan. The combined length of her two hands is only one table long. She has not solved the problem at hand, so how can she have the time to reach outside Kyoto?