Ah Liu had obviously gone outside to look after the wind. This was when he had just moved into his new home, and the neighbors were quite far away from the study. At this time, there was clearly someone moving outside. How could Zhang Shou not be there?
Do you know who it is? After all, the only one who came was Zhu Ying who he allowed Ah Liu to let in most of the time.
He thought about it for a while, and then he didn't pretend not to hear the sound, and strode to the door. Sure enough, as soon as he opened the door, he saw the beautiful woman in front of the door with a face full of surprise and incomprehensible, staring at him with big eyes.
"Yingying, when did you come?"
"Ying...Yingying?" Zhu Er also stuttered and called out.
Zhu Ying glanced at Zhang Shou, then looked at her second brother, and then said angrily: "I didn't want to eavesdrop on what you were talking about. It was Ah Liu who said it was okay and asked me to come. I didn't expect you."
You are actually talking about this! Second brother, I didn’t expect that you have never been good at anything since you were a child, and you have always been afraid of wolves and tigers, but you are so bold this time!"
Zhu Er's face became hot when Zhu Ying said it, but just as he was about to argue for himself, he saw Zhu Ying actually laughing: "But this time you made a good determination, and A Shou trusts you.
Then I will help you once! I will find a way for my parents and grandmothers, but you must have enough protection, otherwise who can defeat you with only one weak force? At the critical moment, you may have to fight against the eldest prince!"
At the critical moment, we have to fight for the eldest prince... Sister, I went to Cangzhou to investigate those things that Emperor Taizu dreamed about, but I had never heard of in the Ming Dynasty, and at the same time, I wanted to see if I could follow the clues to find the whereabouts of Emperor Taizu.
, I’m not going to fight! With my small body, I’m not like you or your big brother. I will definitely hide as far away as possible when I encounter the eldest prince!
Until Zhu Ying dragged him onto his horse and rode home, Zhu Er was still thinking about the words Zhu Ying said. When he got off his horse at the door of his house, he was about to walk in, but was suddenly stopped by the concierge.
Come down.
"Second Young Master, your horse doesn't seem to belong to us?"
"Whose family does it belong to if it's not ours? Could it be that the second brother can steal a horse?" Zhu Ying joked casually, but when she turned back and took another look, she found that the horse was indeed withered.
, not at all like the horses in her own stable, she immediately turned around in surprise and stopped Zhu Er who was distracted, pointed at the horse and asked, "Second brother, did you tune the wrong horse with someone?"
Zhu Er just woke up from a dream. After taking a look at the horse, he immediately slapped his forehead and said: "I wanted to go to the market at noon, so I went to the horse and carriage shop near the Imperial College to borrow a horse.
Ma, then I met Ah Liu while walking around, and then went to my brother-in-law’s... ahem, I went to Zhangyuan, and I completely forgot about this incident."
Zhu Ying was relieved when she learned that this was the case. She immediately ordered a servant to help Zhu Er go to the horse and carriage shop to return the horse, then dragged him up and walked in. All the servants of the Zhu family knew this.
This brother and sister have been getting along like this since they were young, so most of them looked at Zhu Er with sympathy, thinking that the second young master had offended the eldest lady again.
And Zhu Er really didn't dare to offend Zhu Ying - the reason why he ran away from home was already known to Zhu Ying. Even if he had a high-sounding excuse, if she was allowed to make her jealous in front of her father, brother and grandmother, he would
There was absolutely no way he could escape that good fight, and even his stepmother, who had always been kind to him, might not come forward to intercede for him again.
So, when he saw Zhu Ying passing through his Ziyan Pavilion without entering, she actually dragged him straight into her boudoir, Liushuang Pavilion. He immediately complained secretly - even though there was a rule that brothers did not enter sisters' houses, because Taizu had
He sneered at him and denounced it as his nature of isolating family ties. It was not very popular in recent years, especially among the noble families of Wumen. However, because of some of his criminal records, his grandmother banned him from entering the Liushuang Pavilion.
As for the reason... because he once secretly sold a few pieces of jewelry that were never touched at the bottom of Zhu Ying's dressing box.
Because the ban has not passed yet, Zhu Er couldn't help but look around, fearing that the powerful mothers around his grandmother would suddenly descend from the sky and invite him to Qingantang without a smile. But what he didn't expect was that Zhu Ying
He actually directly told Zhan Jin who came out: "Go to your grandmother's place and tell her that I have brought my second brother back to talk to him about his future marriage."
Seeing that Zhan Jin didn't have the consciousness of being a mole at all, he left with a smile. Liu Yin, who came out a step later, made a face at him, and then quietly sneaked to the entrance of the courtyard, obviously to look for the wind. Zhu Er was relieved and waited.
Zhu Ying dragged him into the house, and he said with a smile on his face: "Yingying, I am very grateful that you can help me, as long as you hide it for me in front of my grandmother, father, mother and elder brother..."
Before he could finish his words, Zhu Ying let go of her hand, squatted down in front of the dressing table, and opened a rosewood floor-standing dressing box with five drawers in front of her. There were countless thousands of gold in it.
of various jewelry.
Some of them were left by Jiuniang to her daughter when she left home, either as a dowry or as a reward from the palace and the dowager, and some were given to her by Zhu Jing during the two or three years when she was most in love with her. Even if she returns home now,
She was willing to take it back. The other part was the Dowager's own dowry and her income over the years. She gave it all to Zhu Ying on the pretext that she was old and didn't like wearing gold, jade and precious stones.
As for the other large part, they are the rewards from the empress dowager, the emperor, and concubine Yu. Of course, the empress, who has always disliked Zhu Ying, is not willing to give even a gold hairpin except for the winning money she has to give.
.
When Zhu Ying celebrates her birthday every year, only a few of the so-called birthday gifts that are filial to her family and servants will be chosen by her.
There is no chance to see the light of day. Because she can wear so many jewelry that she can wear something different every time she goes out all year round.
So, at this moment, Zhu Ying directly opened the first drawer at the bottom, grabbed a lot of things, and then stood up and sprinkled a layer on the dressing table. When she turned around and saw Zhu Er, it was like
With extremely shocked eyes, she smiled and said: "Second brother, didn't you take my jewelry to exchange for money? Why did you still look straight at me?"
"How dare I take so many. I just picked two plain gold hairpins." Zhu Er forced his eyes away from the pile of golden things, and then whispered, "My monthly... my monthly money for a year
You may not even be able to afford one..."
"That's because both my grandmother and my father said that boys should be raised in poverty, while girls should be raised in wealth." Zhu Ying confidently raised her chin slightly, then picked out the sharp hairpins on the dressing table, and then squatted down again
She went down to the drawer and grabbed a handful of things. After waiting for a while, she found a silk handkerchief and wrapped the dozen or so heavy pieces of red gold jewelry together.
"They are all rings, earrings, bracelets and the like of ordinary workmanship. There are no pearls or jade inlaid on them. They are just perfect for taking out for travel."
Turning around and walking up to Zhu Er, Zhu Ying smiled and stuffed the bag of jewelry into Zhu Er's arms, then took two steps back and said, "In the past, when you asked me to borrow money, I asked you clearly what you were borrowing for, and most of them didn't let you.
You are empty-handed, and this time you have to do such a big thing, of course it is the same. And if something happens later, I will say that I gave you the money, and I will also shoulder half of the responsibility for you."
Zhu Er was immediately moved and shocked: "Yingying, didn't you say you could convince your grandmother and eldest brother..."
With a distressed sigh, Zhu Ying returned to the dressing table and sat down, holding her cheek and looking at her face in the bronze mirror, and then said helplessly: "I said that in front of Ah Shou to make him feel at ease.
, otherwise what if he hears that his grandmother, father, and eldest brother may not agree, so he changes his mind and lets others go? After all, you are the acting chief of the Banshan Hall, and it would be shameful to retreat without a fight."
"Second brother, I know that you have always envied your eldest brother for his versatility in both civil and military affairs, and you have always known that you are not as good as your eldest brother, but you don't know where to work hard."
Zhu Er's face turned red when Zhu Ying said it, but it was not the redness of shame and anger when his sister exposed his weakness, but the redness of mixed feelings and excitement when his sister understood and recognized him.
He clutched the bag of jewelry tightly and whispered: "Yes, I have never known what I am good at, and besides, I have a big brother here anyway, so I just muddle along. Anyway, I need a rich man... Dad and
No matter how strict my eldest brother is, at least he will not let me suffer from poverty. But the bad news about dad and eldest brother before... I was really scared, really..."
"What I was thinking about at that time was not such a big family, which will be mine from now on... What I was thinking about was how will I be able to support this family in the future? All I have is that fat man-like friend, and some are just full of friends.
The reputation of being mediocre is known to everyone in the capital... That's why I lost my mind..." At this point, Zhu Er's words stopped abruptly, because it didn't make much sense to say this anymore.
He was silent for a moment, and then continued: "Actually, I have never farmed before. It is really difficult for people to believe the word "good farmer". But you heard what my brother-in-law said this time.
What if...what if there is really such a glimmer of possibility?"
Although it was supposed that there would be no eavesdroppers in Zhao Guogong's mansion, and there was a Liu Yin lookout outside the door, Zhu Er still cautiously skipped the title Taizu Emperor, and then whispered: "So, Yingying, thank you.
.If I can really gain something this time, then it will all be your credit...well, and my brother-in-law's credit. If I gain nothing...then it will be my life."
"Bah, bah, bah!" Zhu Ying was immediately angry. Huo Ran got up and kicked Zhu Er. But when she found that she had kicked his calf, but he still didn't move, she couldn't help it.
He grabbed his collar.
"Second brother, please listen to me. You have to believe in yourself in everything and don't believe in your life! Go ahead with all your might. If you overshoot, you may have to turn around and continue. You just can't admit defeat!"
As she spoke, she let go of her hand angrily, and then snorted softly: "The reason why I gave you jewelry is because I used all the money I had before to do other things with Ah Shou, and I didn't want to join in for the time being.
My elder brother will come and count my golden melon seeds if he has nothing to do, but he won’t come to check my jewelry, and he can’t count them either... By the way, I’ll give this to you too.”
Zhu Ying suddenly turned around and came to the dressing table, took out a jade pendant from the first drawer, and then handed it to Zhu Er: "A year ago, I sent a guy from Banshan Hall to go over there... and quietly collected it.
An old shop specializing in cotton yarn. If you take this pendant and throw the jewelry over there, they will find a way to change it for you. Otherwise, if you lose the pawn rashly, you will definitely be regarded as a thief."
It turns out that Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying had made preparations in Cangzhou long ago!
Zhu Er took a deep breath and couldn't help but think of Zhu Ying's words again. Is it really possible for him to compete with the eldest prince when he goes to Cangzhou? He can't compete!
Seeing Zhu Er nodded silently after being stunned, Zhu Ying whispered: "As for the time, it is when Ah Shou and I take the third and fourth princes out of the city to live in Zhaoyuan. By then, how many people will I give you?
I'll take you away if you don't do it. Don't think that if you don't find fault with others, they will treat you as if you don't exist. As long as they find you, I bet they will make you look good!"
"Yingying, can you not scare me?" Upon hearing that the eldest prince would definitely find trouble when he recognized her, Zhu Er simply lost the strength to sigh, "If you keep saying this, I may regret it."
"My second brother will not be so worthless!" Zhu Ying took a few steps back, raised her head and looked at Zhu Er with a smile, and then said softly, "Second brother, you have to fight for your reputation, otherwise I will be arrested with you later.
You'll be punished by kneeling in the ancestral hall, how shameless!"
Zhu Er finally almost stopped laughing. But when Zhu Ying said the next sentence, he couldn't laugh anymore.
"Besides, I guarantee that if you succeed in this matter, you will have a wife after you come back, and she will definitely be the kind of virtuous and virtuous woman you want, who comes from a famous family!" Before Zhu Er could say anything, Zhu Ying became lighthearted.
Di jumped forward, as if he was a child, grabbed Zhu Er's hand and squeezed it gently, then quickly let go, "Don't let me live up to the private money I helped you with!"
Zhu Erwei could only smile bitterly. Whose girl's private money can just grab a handful of jewelry, which is worth at least a few hundred dollars? If you take it all out, maybe you can buy it for a whole street?
Really, the five-story dressing box is just a drop in the bucket of Zhu Ying's property. The most valuable ones are the various land deeds and house deeds... Zhang Shou was really able to make a fortune by marrying Zhu Ying, but his future brother-in-law relied on his sword.
Go off the beaten path and make others jealous!
Zhan Jin's tip-off only brought some conversation materials to Mrs. Qingantang and Jiuniang. At most, she just laughed and said that Zhu Ying had decided to get married by herself, but her interest in being a matchmaker became more and more intense. She didn't think of anything else at all.
place.
Today, Zhu Tingfang, who went on a trip to attend to his mentor Liu Zhiyuan's affairs, returned home and heard that Zhu Er had been lingering in Zhu Ying's boudoir for a long time after following Zhu Ying back from Zhang Yuan. He didn't take it too seriously. He knew very well.
Although Zhu Ying was usually rude to Zhu Er, in fact she often favored Zhu Er. He felt relieved when he found out that Zhang Yuan's move was without any twists and turns.
Lu Wan resigned, and someone recommended Zhao Guogong, Zhu Jing, to command the three battalions of Ruiqi, Shenwu and Weiyuan. Jiangge Lao and his disciples and old friends rose up to attack them. For two or three days in a row, black clouds pressed down on the city and wanted to destroy it.
.And in this unspeakable atmosphere, Zhang Shou finally ushered in another holiday for himself, and quietly took the third and fourth princes with Zhu Ying and Zhu Er out of the capital to Zhao Yuan.
For a very few people who knew about it, this trip could at best be regarded as a random act of the emperor’s capriciousness and his disciples.