Li Shimin watched the whole process from the corner, and his lungs were about to explode. When Fang Yiai scolded Li Chengqian just now, he could still hold back his anger, but when he saw this old woman treating Li Chengqian like this, he couldn't help it anymore and gritted his teeth.
He said: "Gao Gan, have you seen that she is a shrew! Is he bullying Cheng Qian because he is young?"
The senior official came from a poor family, otherwise he would not have become an eunuch. When he was a child, he lived in the market and never saw anyone. In his eyes, the old woman's level was just average. When Li Shimin saw Li Shimin, he was so angry that he wanted to attack her.
Seeing this, Eunuch Gao quickly grabbed Li Shimin and thought to himself, if the majestic emperor got into a fight with an old woman, if this was written down in the history books, it would really be a shame, no, it would be a shame for thousands of years!
Li Shimin was not unaware of this problem, but seeing Li Chengqian standing helpless in front of the old woman, Li Shimin still felt very uncomfortable. He gritted his teeth and said, "Can't we punish these unruly people?"
"Your Majesty can't do it yourself," Eunuch Gao glanced at Li Chengqian and said, "Your Majesty, maybe it's a good thing. The prince is the prince after all, and it's not like that he is always outside the palace. Maybe after this setback, he
I will no longer wander around the scenery outside the palace."
"Alas..." Li Shimin sighed and said, "That's what happened, but... I can't bear it." Before he could finish his words, Li Shimin suddenly let out a cry and asked, "Who is that person?"
How come it seems like I’ve seen it somewhere?”
Eunuch Gao looked at it carefully and said: "Your Majesty, this man is called Ergou. He is one of Li Mu's assistants and is quite popular. He is now in charge of Sihai Gambling House in Pingkangfang. I saw him last time when the gambling house opened.
Pass."
"Oh, no wonder it looks familiar." Li Shimin frowned and said, "He's not in Pingkangfang, what is he doing here?"
How could Eunuch Gao know, but he could guess right, and said with a smile: "How could Zhuluhou not care about the prince at all? He must have found someone to look after him. When he saw that the prince was being bullied, why didn't he send someone here?
Have you been rescued? Your Majesty, there must be something good to watch, so wait and see."
Eunuch Gao's guess was not bad at all. Ergou did come for Li Chengqian today, but he didn't know that he didn't come for this stall. He had been asked by Li Mu to see how Li Chengqian was doing as a city manager.
, I didn’t expect to encounter such a thing.
Ergou has been wandering around the West City for many years. Although he had not been doing well before meeting Li Mu, he still had good eyesight. He could tell who this old woman was with a single glance. If it had been in the past, he might have
There is nothing you can do with the old woman, but what is his identity now? That scoundrel in the East and West cities didn't call him "Dog" when he saw him? In the marketplace of Chang'an City, there is also a famous person, not how powerful he is, just
Because he is Li Mu's 'dog', in the eyes of the people in the market, Ergou is a man of heaven. Those who are not as strong as him do not dare to offend him, and those who are stronger than him do not dare to offend him.
However, Ergou can be regarded as a self-aware person. He has always been very low-key and seldom conflicts with others. But if there is a conflict, he is also a ruthless person. He has also thrown a lot of fish food under the Ba Bridge!
Ergou and his men had just turned around the street. When they saw such a scene, their pupils shrank. He thought to himself that this old woman was really seeking death in every possible way. The person in front of her was the prince. Sooner or later, he would be the king of the world.
Yes, you dare to humiliate him like this? Even though he was about to rush over, his footsteps moved and his mind suddenly moved. He was thinking about what Li Mu would do if he were here.
If he takes action directly, it is easy to accidentally expose Li Chengqian's identity. Li Chengqian is willing to conceal his identity and be a small city manager, which means that he wants to do this. If it makes him unable to do it, the favor will not be given.
On the contrary, I was offended.
No, you must not do bad things with good intentions.
Ergou's mind changed and he came up with a plan. He coughed and led the people out of the street to the front of the soup cake shop. The boys separated the onlookers and he stepped out of the crowd. He looked at it and was still crying.
The troubled mother-in-law curled her mouth and spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm in front of the old woman.
"I said, what are you doing? You don't want to do business, right? I heard that the soup cakes here are delicious, so I brought my brothers here to try them. What's going on, why are we going all the way in vain?"
The old woman looked at Ergou and then at the group of people behind him. She knew that he was not easy to mess with, but since there was a fuss today, she had to blackmail Li Chengqian for some money. How could she give up so easily, so she accompanied him carefully
, said: "My lord, something happened today and I won't do business anymore. Come tomorrow and I'll do it for free."
"Bah!" Ergou suddenly turned his face, pointed at the old woman and cursed: "Bah! You old man, how dare you scold me?"
The old woman was a little panicked: "Master, I didn't scold you. Neighbors, listen, I didn't scold you!"
"Oh, you didn't scold me?" Ergou snorted and said, "You said you would do it for free. What's the matter? Master, do I look like someone who eats for free? Ergou pulled out the gold chain hanging around his neck. This
It was all the reward money given to him by Li Mu, which he exchanged for gold, and got a "dog leash" like this to prove his identity. After all, not everyone can be the dog of Zhuluhou.
As soon as the gold chain was swung, the people in the market knew who it was. Zhao Ergou, the lackey of the Zhulu Hou family, known as the Dog Master among the people in the world! The old woman's face turned white immediately, and she lay on the ground, speechless.
Come. The old man who had been silent next to him had to stand up, crying and smiling, and said: "Master Dog, I am blind and didn't recognize you. Don't be angry. You want to eat soup cakes, don't you?"
This is done for you."
As he spoke, he pulled the old woman up, and the two of them boiled the soup cakes quickly, took out bowls one by one and put them on the table.
Ergou glanced at the people watching, bared his teeth and said: "What are you guys looking at? You haven't eaten? Let's eat together without eating. I, Ergou, are treating you today!"
Who dares to eat it!
All the spectators dispersed, and only Li Chengqian stayed. Of course he recognized Ergou. He glanced at the old couple, whose attitude was completely different from before, and said to Ergou: "Did your master ask you to come here?"
?”
Ergou whispered: "In reply to your words, the Marquis asked me to come over and take a look. Don't worry, leave it to me." After that, Ergou slapped the table and cursed: "Why are you so slow? You guys are starving to death.
, can you afford it?”
This was a deliberate attempt to cause trouble. The old couple was already very fast, but they did not dare to say anything. They laughed apologetically and tried to speed up.
Soup cakes are actually simple. Just add soup to cakes and add some seasonings. The most important seasoning is salt. The salt of Datang Salt Industry has not yet begun mass production, and even if it does, fine salt will be short.
It’s not the time for the people at the bottom to eat it. The coarse salt added to the soup cakes is not good salt. But it is indeed indispensable for the people at the bottom. Because of salt, they have strength.
This soup cake costs five cents a bowl, and at least one cent is spent on salt. In order to save, the old couple uses the salt carefully and uses as little as possible. But today they met the uncle Ergou, and they did not
I dared to skip it, so I added three days' worth of it at once. If it were given to ordinary guests, it would be a joy to eat, but Ergou came here today to find trouble, so naturally things would be different.
"Pfft!" Ergou only took a sip of the soup, then spat it out, threw the bowl to the ground, and cursed: "Damn you, you want me to die? I'm telling you, you have a grudge, right? Why don't you stop?
Can you light arsenic and poison me to death?"
The old woman cried: "Masters, I gave you more salt, but something went wrong!"
"You dare to talk back?" Ergou sneered, raised his hand and said, "Brothers, this black-hearted bully has hit my head, what should I say?"
"Smash it!"
A group of scoundrels were howling and yelling. Some people had already pulled up the bench and were about to start smashing it when Ergou gave the order.
"Then smash it." Before Ergou could wave his hand down, a voice suddenly rang out: "That's enough! Stop it!"
Ergou was stunned for a moment, then looked back at Li Chengqian who was speaking, and winked at him, wondering in his heart, I stood up for you, why did I do it wrong?
Li Chengqian straightened his chest, and the words 'urban management brigade' embroidered on his chest shone brightly: "I am the urban management brigade under the Imperial Guard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, number 49. I cannot allow you to beat people in the street. This is my duty.
If you leave now, I will not hold you accountable, but if you dare to hurt others, you will have to weigh the consequences yourself."
Some scoundrels who didn't know Li Chengqian found the words harsh and cursed, "What do you do? How dare you talk to us like this?"
Ergou was so frightened that his face turned pale. He quickly covered the naughty man's mouth and glared at him fiercely. He had acted before, although the second edition of Dou E's Injustice these days no longer required him to play the role of Zhang Donkey.
But his skills were still there, and he knew what he meant when he heard the words, and continued: "People from the Ministry of Internal Affairs? Okay! I can't afford to offend you, so I will give you a face today!" He turned to look at the old couple and bared his teeth: "
I can't afford to offend him, but I can offend you two. He can't stay here all the time. You two hear me clearly. Today's business is not over yet. I'll just wait and see you again when I have time!"
After saying that, he led a group of ruffians and left cursing.
The old couple was so frightened that they trembled all over and did not dare to say a word. For them, people like Ergou were much more frightening than official officials. The old woman who had been domineering with Li Chengqian just now actually started to cry.
: "Oh, what kind of evil wind is this? How did you get into trouble with these guys? It's over, it's over..."
Li Chengqian helped the two of them up, without complaining, and said: "You can lie to me. He is right. I can't stay in your shop all the time. Besides, it doesn't matter whether I will be a member of the urban management brigade tomorrow."
Well, if I'm not here tomorrow, you can take care of yourself."
After that, Li Chengqian took out another two cents, together with the five cents he had just picked up and put on the table, which was exactly seven cents, the price the old woman wanted.
Putting the money next to the soup cake that he had not eaten, Li Chengqian walked away silently. The old couple looked at the seven cents on the table, their faces burning with pain. Since the first day they met Li Chengqian, they never paid attention to this.
The two-year-old 'chaiye' was looked down upon because he was too young and believed everything he said. Unlike those servants at the Yamen Gate, all of them were difficult little devils.
But today, I still accepted his love.
The two of them wanted to return the seven cents to Li Chengqian and beg him to protect their shop, but they were too embarrassed to speak, so they had to watch him silently and disappear at the end of the street.
Li Shimin felt a little emotional and said to himself, as if asking Eunuch Gao next to him, "Seeing Cheng Qian being bullied by this old woman makes me feel uncomfortable. But seeing these two dogs bullying the old woman,
I feel uncomfortable in my heart. Why is this happening? Why can’t I understand this human heart?"
Eunuch Gao suppressed his laughter and said: "Your Majesty, there is a saying among the people that evil people will be punished by evil people. That Ergou was born in the market and knows what these people think and what they are afraid of. He will naturally be able to deal with them with ease."
Li Shimin looked at him and said: "Evil people have their own grinders, so who will grind them?"
"Uh..." Eunuch Gao was speechless for a moment, thought for a while, and said, "It's not enough for someone like Zhulu Hou."
Li Shimin asked again: "Who will grind Li Mu?"
"This..." Eunuch Gao didn't dare to answer and laughed.
Li Shimin suppressed his smile, glanced at the direction Li Chengqian left, and sighed: "Go back to the palace. If Chengqian comes back today, let him come to see me. If he doesn't come back, let him go. Sooner or later, the child will have to go."
When he grows up, I won’t be able to teach him much!”
Eunuch Gao secretly glanced at Li Shimin's expression and saw that he was in a bad mood, but he couldn't tell whether Li Shimin was in a bad mood because of Li Mu whom he just asked to take care of, or because of Li Chengqian's matter.
"Did you hear what I said?"
Eunuch Gao quickly responded: "Listen, I have taken note of it."
…
valley.
"Look, Your Majesty, do you recognize what it is? Yes, a cold melon!" Li Mu was leading Li Yuan to visit his 'Crystal Palace', which is also a greenhouse. The seeds of the big watermelon he drew out through the system lottery were also
He planted it, and now it has produced melon eggs.
As an emperor, Li Yuan has never seen anything. Although watermelon comes from the Western Regions and is a rare thing in Chang'an City, he has no shortage of melons to eat every summer. It's just that the season is wrong, and watermelons are all summer.
Eat, it’s just the New Year and it’s still winter, where did the watermelon come from?
Li Mu chuckled and said: "This is my skill, old man! Look, look left and right. Thousands of years, counting down... Well, anyway, this is my first job, growing green vegetables in winter, this is not my skill
Really? I guarantee that you will be the first one to eat this melon this year, and I will send it to you when the first one is ripe!"
Li Yuan agreed with a smile, looked around and said, "Li Mu, you are indeed capable. You have built such a big glazed house. How much does it cost?"
"It's not much." Li Mu dusted off the dirt on his hands, pressed it the same way as when Li Shimin said it, and said: "After my improvement, the cost of glazed glass has become cheaper, and it is equivalent to the same weight as silver. This glazed house is also