Fortune tellers give eggs, the stepmother is a Taoist boss

Chapter 109: Whose car is riding in?

The commendation banquet did not last long and broke up at the end of the third quarter, because Master Shen Shi Yuan Fei Dao wanted to meditate and cultivate internally and could not delay.

After declining the emperor's invitation to meditate together and comprehend the great ways of heaven and earth, Jiang Fuyuan and Zhong Liefeng prepared to leave the palace and go home.

As soon as they arrived at the gate of the palace, the coachman came with a grimace and reported that something was wrong with the horse. It seemed that he had a bad stomach. Now he could not pull the cart and needed to get new horses.

Zhu Wenyan, who was one step behind them, happened to hear the driver's words and raised his hand to greet them: "General Zhong, Mu Xiangu, if you don't mind, I will give you a ride."

His carriage was parked next to them. The two horses were fat and snorting. It was no problem to pull three adults.

They were both old acquaintances, so the two of them were more respectful than obeying orders. They thanked each other and got on Zhu's carriage.

Normally, Zhu Wenyan would abide by etiquette and not ride with women, but today he had something to talk to Jiang Fuyuan, and with Zhong Liefeng present, he was not alone, so he didn't care about these details.

After the three of them sat down, Zhu Wenyan's eyes fell directly on the wooden box in Jiang Fuyuan's hand.

"Is this the 5 taels of silver that the Palace Master lost to you?"

Jiang Fuyuan nodded, then shook his head: "More than 5 taels."

After saying that, she put the wooden box on her knees and opened it. Inside was a thick stack of banknotes.

She also did not shy away from Zhu Wenyan. After counting on the spot, she said: "8 taels, that guy is indeed a rich man."

Zhu Wenyan sighed after hearing this: "It's just a rat."

With regret in his eyes, he pointed to the wooden box and said: "A Taoist priest can easily afford 8 taels in gambling capital, but the Ministry of Household Affairs cannot allocate [-] taels to buy winter food and grass for the soldiers fighting in Vietnam."

Zhong Lianfeng frowned: "I heard His Highness mention that the national treasury is tight. Is it already so tight?"

Zhu Wenyan nodded: "Yes, all the grain stored in the treasury was emptied by Shuo Shu from the Taoist Palace."

"At the beginning of the year, they said they were going to build a Taoist temple and pay for the next quarter's expenses. But in the next quarter, they had to build a Dharma altar and hold sacrifices to heaven. They had to make advances here and there. The money budgeted for the Taoist temple has long been used up."

"Yin eats a lot of food. When there is no more food later, he reaches out to the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Husbandry, and even the Ministry of War."

Zhu Wenyan rambled on, his eyes constantly glancing at Jiang Fuyuan.

Jiang Fuyuan frowned, opened the banknote with his green and white jade fingers, counted out 3 taels with a swipe, and stuffed it into Zhu Wenyan's hand.

Zhu Wenyan was stunned: "That's not what I meant..."

Jiang Fuyuan glanced at him and whispered to Zhong Liefeng: "Does he want it all? Is he buying grain and grass with these 8 taels?"

Before Zhong Lianfeng could answer, she said to herself: "That's all, I can't give the dirty money of the stinky rat to the bastards, it will damage the moral character."

After saying that, she stuffed the remaining silver notes and the wooden box to Zhu Wenyan: "I give them all to you."

Zhu Wenyan:......

"That's really not what I meant." He paused, with a hint of pleading in his voice, "We have all seen the magic power Mu Xiangu displayed in front of His Majesty today. I would like to ask Mu Xiangu to consider it carefully and not to collude with the Taoist palace... …”

Looking at the emperor's attitude towards Jiang Fuyuan, if Jiang Fuyuan sided with the Taoist Palace, then they would have no chance of winning.

They need to get Jiang Fuyuan on their side before the Dao Palace.

He was eagerly looking forward to Jiang Fuyuan's answer, but Jiang Fuyuan was surprised: "You actually believe in ghosts and gods?"

Zhu Wenyan:?

Is this the point?

He smiled bitterly: "The second prince is right. If it can benefit the people, it doesn't matter if I believe in ghosts and gods."

Jiang Fuyuan hummed. Zhu Wenyan was indeed a standard scholar. All his actions were based on the four sentences of Hengqu. He established his mind for the world, established his destiny for the people, inherited his unique knowledge for the past saints, and created peace for all generations.

She looked at Zhu Wenyan now, with a hint of admiration in her heart.

Jiang Fuyuan nodded slightly under his eager eyes: "I will never associate with those stinky rats." After thinking about it, she added: "When necessary, I can also kill rats."

Anyway, I still have a steamed bun at home that is very appetizing, so eating a few mice is no big deal.

After receiving her assurance, Zhu Wenyan finally breathed a sigh of relief and solemnly stood up to bow to express his gratitude with scholarly etiquette.

Suddenly, the carriage stopped, and Zhu Wenyan, who was half-bent down, almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, Zhong Lianfeng had quick eyes and quick hands and helped him.

He was about to angrily ask the coachman what was going on, but the coachman's voice sounded first: "Master, there is someone blocking the road ahead!"

The three of them opened the curtain and saw a thin young man driving a carriage about the same size as them not far in front of the carriage, blocking their way.

Zhu Wenyan recognized the person and raised his voice: "Ding Shaoqing wants to go? Then let's step aside first."

After saying this, he motioned to the coachman to pull the carriage aside and let the young man pass first.

Ding Zhaoliu jumped up, jumped off the carriage and walked towards them. He walked to the front of the carriage and cupped his hands and said, "Master Zhu, is Mu Xiangu in your carriage?"

Zhu Wenyan was stunned and turned to look at Jiang Fuluan and Zhong Liefeng in the car.

Seeing his actions, Ding Zhaoliu became more sure of his guess and raised his voice: "I heard from the guard at the palace gate that Mu Xiangu got into Master Zhu's carriage. She must be in the car now, right?"

His voice became louder: "Mu Xiangu, Ding Zhaoliu, the young minister of Dali Temple, is asking for an audience."

Jiang Fuyuan had never been stopped by someone before, so she curiously asked, "Are you looking for me?"

Seeing the face that had been engraved in his mind not long ago, Ding Zhaoliu's voice was filled with joy: "Yes, I heard that there was something wrong with the fairy's carriage. My carriage happened to be idle, so I wanted to send the fairy home."

"No need." Jiang Fuyuan pointed at Zhu Wenyan, "It's the same if I sit in Mr. Zhu's carriage."

She didn't understand what Ding Zhaoliu said, but Zhu Wenyan, who had been in officialdom for a long time, understood it.

Ding Zhaoliu had something to ask Jiang Fuyuan, but it was difficult to talk about it outside, so he wanted to take the opportunity of sending him home to tell him in private.

I'm just afraid that something might go wrong with Jiang Fuyuan's carriage, and it has something to do with him.

Ding Zhaoliu, who was caught off guard and rejected, had a smile on his face. He couldn't think of a better excuse for Jiang Fuyuan to get on his carriage.

He was secretly anxious in his heart. If he couldn't let the fairy get on his carriage, he couldn't be alone with the fairy. If he couldn't be alone with the fairy, he couldn't tell the fairy about that...

Zhu Wenyan observed his expression for a while, then took a step back and whispered to Zhong Liefeng: "General Zhong, the position of Dali Temple has always been wavering. The second prince and the Dao Palace are trying to win their support, and Ding Zhaoliu is in Dali Temple." But he is quite eloquent..."

The implication is that he hopes to take this opportunity to win Ding Zhaoliu's side.

Zhong Lianfeng also understood that the power of Dali Temple played a decisive role in the court game, but if Jiang Fuyuan did not want to be involved with Ding Zhaoliu...

He was silent for a moment and decided to leave the choice to Jiang Fuyuan.

"Little Phoenix..."

As soon as he called out, Jiang Fuyuan turned around and took his hand and said, "It's okay, let's go see what he wants to do."

Zhu Wenyan's little thoughts were quite obvious. The carriage was only so big, so it was useless no matter how low he whispered. His words seemed to be addressed to Zhong Liefeng, but in fact they were addressed to Jiang Fuyuan.

It doesn’t matter who’s car they’re taking, so what if they take Ding Zhaoliu’s car?

Ding Zhaoliu looked happy when he saw Jiang Fuyuan getting off the Zhu family's carriage, and then his joy froze when he saw Zhong Lianfeng also getting off.

When both of them got on his carriage, he was stunned.

Ding Zhaoliu looked at the two people's intertwined hands and asked blankly: "You two... can Fairy Lady still have emotions and desires?"

Jiang Fuyuan raised her eyelids: "I never thought that fairy aunt could have a baby."

Ding Zhaoliu:......

(End of this chapter)