Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 334 Blocking the Road
In the small courtyard, Chen Xuan and Gao Jingming were happily toasting each other with cups and glasses, and Chen Xuan kept urging him to eat more.

Meanwhile, on Guixiang Street, 'Wu Hou' was patrolling as usual in the night rain, but he was feeling miserable. This was clearly a pampered institution, and they were usually treated like the bosses wherever they went, with ordinary people having no access to them at all. Yet, they had to brave the rain to do this lowly job, so it would be strange if they could be in a good mood.

"Still eating? I'll catch you if the boss gives the order!"

Someone was passing by the alley outside Xiao Ming's residence and heard the sounds of eating and drinking inside, and murmured in his heart.

The order they received was to come here and serve as low-level martial marquises for a few days, paying attention to every move and word of the man named Chen Xuan, but not to show any abnormality so as not to be discovered by him and be confused.

But what can I do? I have to obey the order from my superiors.

In fact, not only do they have people in Wu Hou, they also have members among the peddlers and even the servants of some of the surrounding families. To some extent, this area is like the Truman Show.

Although Chen Xuan noticed such changes as soon as he came back, those people behaved too normally. He didn't have the ability to read minds, and he had just arrived in the capital and had never offended anyone. Besides, they were not targeting Chen Xuan alone. They were quite professional and treated everyone equally, so they didn't associate it with himself.

In fact, strength is his confidence. As long as he is not offended, he doesn't care. He doesn't suffer from paranoia, so how can he be on guard against people around him all the time?

These people were arranged by Emperor Shang Xuan. This matter concerns the little princess, so the real reason cannot be known to those in charge...

It was about this time of night. In a magnificent and solemn mansion in the capital, a middle-aged man with an imposing appearance of nobleness had a thoughtful look on his face and tapped the table lightly with his fingers. People around him dared not breathe when he looked like this. Only an elegant man in black could calmly drink tea.

The middle-aged man is Prince Jiang Zhou Hong, the third son of Emperor Shang Xuan. He is older than the current crown prince. When Emperor Shang Xuan celebrated his 70th birthday, he went to Beijing in the name of filial piety and has never returned to his fiefdom. He stayed there for seven years. Anyone can guess what he is thinking.

When it was dark, he got secret information that his half-sister was meeting with a young man in private. He became like this after getting this secret information.

However, this person was extremely cunning. Even though this news was of great importance to him, he did not show his emotions on his face.

After some thought, he dismissed his attendants, leaving only the black-clad trusted aide. He smiled and asked, "Mr. Wen, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

As his trusted aide, the other party was responsible for giving him advice. Naturally, he had told him about the little princess's meeting with Chen Xuan, and was now asking for his opinion.

Prince Jiang was unwilling to be inferior to others, especially as Emperor Shang Xuan was getting older. The little princess Zhou Xianning was a relatively important part of his plan and no mistakes could be made.

His plan was proceeding step by step, but suddenly such an incident occurred, which was likely to affect the follow-up. Therefore, even though it was night, he urgently called his most trusted staff to discuss it.

Zhou Xianning is just a chess piece in his plan. In order to sit in that position, there is no brother-sister relationship.

Normally, he could have solved this kind of minor unexpected incident with just a few words, but to be on the safe side, he thought it would be better to discuss it with his staff. If one is determined to succeed, no matter how small the matter is, he cannot ignore it.

The black-robed scholar put down his teacup and pondered, "Your Highness, this matter is too strange. Although it may affect your plans, you must not act rashly. There are some things that I cannot say carelessly, but Your Highness, you also know that there are some things that are beyond your control right now."

Nodding, Prince Jiang asked, "What do you think, Mr. Yiwen?"

"Based on my preliminary understanding, that person is just an insignificant little character. He somehow had an intersection with that prince by chance. It's insignificant, but in order not to affect the plan, we can't be too extreme. Just give him a warning. I think as long as he is not too stupid, he should know what to do," said the black-clothed scholar with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Prince Jiang thought quickly, considering all the possible scenarios. He came to a conclusion and said calmly, "I know what to do. I'll make the arrangements later. If the young man doesn't know what's good for him, then it's not my fault."

"Well, since Your Highness has made up his mind, I will take my leave," the black-robed scholar stood up and said.

Prince Jiang Zhou Hong had already been crowned king and established his own government, so naturally his staff could pay homage to him. This was a matter of etiquette and would not satisfy any rebellious intentions.

As someone who wanted to accomplish great things, Zhou Hong naturally understood the principle of respecting the virtuous and humble. He stood up and said, "It's just a small matter. I'm really sorry to trouble Mr. Wen to come so late at night. I'll give it to you. I recently found a Xiaoyao Pill that was priceless a few years ago. Take it back and take care of your health."

"It is my duty, Your Highness, and I am grateful for your kindness. I would not accept any other gifts without merit, but I will accept the Xiaoyao Pills with a thick face," said Mr. Wen with a happy face.

Zhou Hong suddenly smiled heartily. He was not afraid of the people below having many demands, but he was afraid of no demands. As long as there were demands, they would work well for them. Everyone has needs, such as Mr. Wen, who had no choice but to do so in his middle age. Xiaoyao Pills were a well-known product.

There weren't many Xiaoyao Pills released back then, and seven years later, anyone who could still get their hands on one was a master of his craft...

On the other side, deep in the palace, in an exquisite attic, Zhou Xianning sat by the window. The desk was already filled with several pages of storybooks. She really took time to create every day.

At this moment, she was holding her cheek with one hand and holding the pen with her slender fingers in the other. Looking at the drizzle outside the window, she didn't know what happy things she thought of. She smiled, stuck out her tongue to moisten the tip of the pen, and her lips were stained with some ink. She continued to write quickly.

"We'll meet again some other day. Tomorrow is another day, right?" Thinking of this, her mood grew even happier, and her joyful mood inspired her to write. The little girl had never had any friends before, but now, finally, she had found someone who matched her taste. She couldn't wait to stay together and chat, with no other thoughts in her mind, like a child who had found a favorite toy.

Poor old father, his hair has turned white with worry, he didn't take good care of his precious daughter, and now this little boy suddenly appeared out of nowhere? Although his hair was already white, he couldn't bear the risk of his little Baicai being kidnapped. The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. It was so annoying. This matter was not over yet, it had to be resolved as soon as possible, and he couldn't let his precious daughter be sad. It was difficult.

Chen Xuan kept urging Gao Jingming to eat more and poured him wine. After drinking half a jar of wine, Gao Jingming was so happy that he took a shower and went to sleep.

Seeing that the lights in Gao Jingming's room were off, Chen Xuan withdrew his gaze feeling a little guilty. Wow, a meal cost nearly four thousand taels of silver.

But when he saw the messy table, his back straightened up again. I didn't feel guilty at all. Almost all of that food went into Xiao Gao's stomach. I didn't eat much. He ate it all by himself, which was equivalent to him spending his own money on food and drink. The guilt disappeared immediately...

Nothing happened that night, and the rain stopped the next day. It looked like good weather was coming.

Inside the palace, Zhou Xianning got up early, washed up, and said, "Aunt Mei, please prepare a set of men's clothes for me. We're going out of the palace later."

"Your Highness, you don't want to go look for that friend of yours, do you?" Xia Mei hesitated outside the screen, her heart almost hanging in the air. Only one night had passed, and she couldn't wait to go see him?
The little princess said bluntly, "He has finally come to the capital, and he might leave at any time. As a friend, I can't just leave him alone, especially since I made an appointment with him yesterday."

"Okay, I'll prepare it right away," Xia Mei said helplessly. The princess is just a child, and she will probably be fine once the novelty wears off.

Zhou Xianning had simply changed into men's clothing, leaving her graceful figure and appearance undisguised. Just as she was about to leave the palace, a eunuch arrived, saying, "Your Highness, the Emperor has issued an order requesting that Your Highness come to dinner. He also stated that His Majesty would have no appetite without the Princess."

"Ah? I...Okay, wait for me to change my clothes." The little princess's good mood disappeared instantly.

After all, I am a daughter. My father is old. If he can't even eat because I am not around, it would be a big sin. I will wait until I make my father happy before leaving the palace. This little time is not a big deal.

The little girl didn't know that she had no chance of leaving the palace today. The old emperor had racked his brains for more than a dozen ideas to keep her in the palace.

In order to prevent his little Baicai from being kidnapped, Lao Deng couldn't say it out loud, and even considered pretending to be sick if all else failed. He was so insidious and shameless...

Chen Xuan had a good sleep and immediately forgot about the fact that he had spent a large sum of money that day. It was a small matter and not worth mentioning.

He didn't want to go and play with the little princess. He had just seen her yesterday. There was no reason for him to go and play with her the next day. They were just friends they had met once. If he was too eager, she might think he had some ulterior motives, and then they might not even be friends.

After finishing the usual things in the morning, he felt lazy again. As the sun rose, he felt a little sleepy and planned to take a nap. He didn't have to tour the whole city.

But as soon as he lay down again, he thought of something, got up, took some money, said goodbye and went out.

The little princess will be turning 18 next month. Although I won’t be attending her birthday party, I still have to go back on my word about the gift I promised her.

Considering that he was a poor guy and the money he had was borrowed from Xiao Gao, and that consumption in Beijing was expensive and he could not afford expensive gifts, he simply made them himself.

"I'll make her a cake myself. It's something new that doesn't exist here yet, and the little girl will definitely like it. Although I don't know how to make it, I have some idea of ​​the general process. The ingredients are not expensive. Her birthday is still about twenty days away, so it shouldn't be difficult to make it with some practice."

With this thought in mind, Chen Xuan went out and keenly noticed that Guixiang Street was full of "plainclothes officers". He thought to himself, I don't know what happened. The court made such a big fuss. Forget it, it's none of my business.

The people living on Guixiang Street are either rich or noble, and there are almost no shops. Chen Xuan went to several streets away to buy all the ingredients for making the cake, but the things were not expensive.

Normally, this kind of thing could be done by simply instructing the servant, but he didn't know how to bake a cake yet, so he had to try secretly to avoid the little princess finding out in advance and giving her a surprise.

He had just bought the materials and was walking back, and was about to start to work secretly. As a result, when he was passing a bridge over a small river, a middle-aged man in gray blocked his way.

The other party has innate cultivation and is coming for him.

Chen Xuan didn't take it seriously at first, but the other person spoke directly when he passed by.

The other person stood on the small bridge, looked at the river below and said: "My little brother, your name is Chen Xuan? Can you stay and listen to me?"

Chen Xuan paused and thought to himself, I've only been in the capital for a few days, and someone's already coming to my door?
However, the other party's attitude was quite good, so he smiled and said, "I wonder where this big brother has heard of me, and what advice do you have for me?"

……

(End of this chapter)